Cosmos Education: Engaging, Empowering, Inspiring

[SirUlli]

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known ? Carl Sagan

These are the words on the back of more than 200 T-shirts the SETI Institute donated to Cosmos Education ? a grass-roots non-profit dedicated to science and technology education and the role of science and technology in health, the environment, and sustainable development. Our model is simple ? we seek to engage, empower, and inspire youth in developing countries through hands-on learning activities and experiments. Students learn about the molecular structure of water by pretending to be oxygen and hydrogen atoms; they learn about how soap works by doing experiments with soap, water, and oil; they learn about the HIV virus by constructing a human chain model of DNA. These and our many other activities capture the curiosity of students and get them asking questions about the world in which they live.

Indeed, the name Cosmos Education is in part a tribute to Carl Sagan and his capability and vision for synthesizing ideas and information across so many disciplines. When our team enters a classroom, one of our key goals is to get the students thinking about the many challenges facing humanity today and how so many of those challenges are intimately linked. Health and the environment, the environment and pollution, pollution and technology, technology and development? the list goes on. The challenges we face can only be overcome by thinking about the system as a whole ? by recognizing that our planet, our pale blue dot, is indeed our collective home.
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Full Story

http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=851901

by

http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179064
By Kevin Hand SETI Institute

Sir Ulli

 

[Fardringle]

That sounds like a neat program. Better education - particularly for those who might otherwise not have any education at all- is always a good idea. 🙂

 

[SirUlli]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1015741">Setting SETI's Sights: Latest Planet Discovery Suggests New Targets
</a>

by Douglas Vakoch, SETI Institute

SETI scientists are taking notice of the latest discovery of a ?Super-Earth? beyond the solar system as they fine-tune their list of stars to target in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence. With the recent announcement of a planet seven to eight times the Earth?s mass circling an M dwarf star, the chances for habitable worlds seem greater than ever. ?It may well be that there are far more habitable planets orbiting M dwarfs than orbiting all other types of stars combined,? explained Frank Drake, the Director of the SETI Institute?s Center for the Study of Life in the Universe.



?This is really exciting news for those interested in life beyond Earth,? said Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, commenting on the discovery of a planet around Gleise 876, a small, red M star located just 15 light years from Earth. ?To begin with, it's at least a tentative indication that small planets -- those more or less the same heft as our own world -- might be commonplace. Secondly, it's proof that dim, little M dwarf stars, which are roughly eight times as plentiful as stars like the Sun, can also host rocky planets.?
...

According to Boss, who will also participate in the workshops, the timing of the recent discovery of a small planet around Gleise 876 is auspicious. ?M dwarfs are the most common type of star in our galaxy so that is good news for looking for Earths, and in particular for the July workshop at the SETI Institute.? Tarter agreed: ?Most of the stars out there are M stars,? she said. ?They haven?t been on our target list. Maybe they should be. And if that?s the case, the list just got a whole lot bigger.?

more Info

http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.ph...=thread&order=0&thold=0%BB%3CA%20HREF=

and

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050613_super_earth.html

Sir Ulli