Teaching science via the net?

[killa]

Talking to a friend of mine at work she is very interested in lerning more about science in general.
Ive mentioned certain things to her after we got onto space/time, the large collider, nano technology etc. I linked her to a few pages i have read and found interesting. She is wanting to get some basics to begin looking into science further.

I have told her to browse New Scientist as i find it is great for picking up news and events happening in the science world, but she needs some more background i guess.
Hard to summerise i know but im looking for some links to things that will help her get a broad understanding of what has been and what is now the key stuff you'd want to know regarding science.
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[the grim reaper]

Um, you might have to be a bit more specific than just 'science'. This is the internet, if you googled for 'Albanian lesbian having sex with goat', you'd probably get too many hits and have to specify which type of goat.

Any specific areas (of science, not goats)?

Cheers

Grim
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[killa]

Yeah sure ok.
It is hard to specify as it was just general discussion about a few things but so far ive mentioned nano technology, she didnt even know what it was until i told her a couple things.
She is interested in aliens and possibility of other life, so talk about space time and probability of life being humanoid etc she was interested in.
Energy, and the large collider, i couldnt find something which kind of gave a brief over view of what it is and what it can/will do.
I wanted to find a good article on the experiment about the 'observer' the strange occourances when firing particles from a special made device and how the particles reated when being watched (im sure some of you know of this one). I hope this gives more of an idea, maybe just fire some really interesting stuff you've found yourself. I dont think she's wanting to understand the universe right now in formula's, maybe that will come later.
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[Fawbish]

Some of the smaller things Ive found most interesting (and half of it on wikipedia, totally reliable )

Have been:


Superconductors (and their applications in Hover Technology models etc)

All to do with magnets and shit like that, very interesting.

Nano-technology is brilliant to read about and imagine the concepts that become available thinking about applications etc.

I get a magazine called IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) always has a few interesting (more news than scientific) articles to read about.

For instance a "Cosmic Sail" that used electrical fields to harness physical light rays (commonly known as cosmic winds) that, if harnessed, could accelerate how fast we could reach the edge of our solar system by about a quarter (60 years would become 15, if I remember correctly) - quite clearly Im paraphrasing, so dont quote me

Obviously, as with a lot of science, theres always conjecture, and theorems, and nothing is ever actually in production Lots of concepts etc. I prefer this though. I dont have to have a PHD in Astro-physic time travel juggling to be able to read about new (in general or new to me) and interesting concepts. This is why wiki is for the most part fine, as Im looking for good outlines. Not every single gritty detail.


Why not start on something thats pretty interesting but fairly simple? For instance, the grandfather paradox?
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[GhostRider]

The trouble with new scientist is that now every week they bang on about a new theoretical particle that will change how we think about time and space, half of the article is only of interest to quantum physicists, hence why I didn't bother to renew my subscription.

You might want to purchase the books they do ie does anything eat wasps? How to fossilise your hamster etc they are geared towards people who don't know too mucH about science but are still thought provoking and interesting.

I'd recommend learning the basics of immunology too, simply because it is fascinating how the body has developed it's own defenses and relates to evolutionary biology as well, truly mind blowing.

GhostRider
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[colin1]

wikipedia has it all, in nice easily digestible bits
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[Phoenix]

[Annabella]

A Brief History of Time is essential reading - find it in your old fashioned interweb... the local lending library
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[colin1]

[Ste]

[killa]

Nice one Ste, gonna get me some them!
I cant really explain what 'she' would like to read, just the subjects mentioned lead to other topics and so on. Talking of life forms i dont mean the usual way media portrays them, more like why they wouldn't be anything like what we think because its quite vain. You need to take into account cell form and environment, aliens aren't going to be all that similar as we are a bloody odd mix of chance.
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