The Scout Report -- Volume 21, Number 21

The Scout Report -- Volume 21, Number 21

The Scout Report

June 5, 2015 -- Volume 21, Number 21

A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison




Research and Education

  Symmetry Magazine: Dimensions of Particle Physics
  NASA: Magnetospheric Mission (MMS)
  Mid-State Technical College: Career Coach
  The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Galleries
  Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies: Research
  Norman B. Leventhal Map Center: Nautical Charts
  Zoo Atlanta: Animals
  Comprehensive Assessment of Mercury in Streams Explains Sources, Cycling, and Effects

General Interest

  YaleNews: Business, Law, Society
  StarTalk Radio Show
  Guided to Safety
  250+ Killer Digital Libraries and Archives
  artnet News
  Damn Interesting
  eHistory
  HASTAC Blogs

Network Tools

  PrintFriendly
  Yapp

In the News

  18th-Century Slave Ship Discovered Off of the South African Coast



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Research and Education

Symmetry Magazine: Dimensions of Particle Physics

·http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/

Symmetry is a free online magazine for physics lovers. A joint publication from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the periodical veritably bursts with up-to-date information about particle physics and its connections to other aspects of life and science. Readers will find articles featuring the cutting edge world of research into everything from the Higgs boson particle to the mysteries of galaxy-swallowing black holes. In addition to the articles that are continually updated on the homepage, the site is categorized by departments (breaking, commentary, essay, feature, gallery, etc.) and science topics (astrophysics, cosmic frontier, dark energy, extra dimensions, etc.). The site can also be scouted by browsing the archives, where full PDF versions of the magazine are available for download. For science educators looking to pique the interest of their students, as well as anyone fascinated by the latest breakthroughs in particle physics, this site will not disappoint. [CNH]


NASA: Magnetospheric Mission (MMS)

·http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mms/index.html#.VQrodWTF_K0

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission is a fascinating attempt to better understand magnetic reconnection, "the mix of positively and negatively charged particles that make up the stars, fill space, and account for an estimated 99% of the observable universe." In 2015, NASA plans to launch four identical spacecraft that will orbit Earth and send back data from the dynamic magnetic system surrounding the planet. This site does a wonderful job of brining the mission to life. From the home page, readers can Learn More about the Spacecraft and Instruments or the Science behind the mission. Additionally, there are numerous Images, Videos, and Media Resources that will immerse readers in NASA's groundbreaking and fascinating exploration to understand the nature of the universe. [CNH]


Mid-State Technical College: Career Coach

·https://mstc.emsicareercoach.com/

For educators, counselors, parents, and students, Mid-State Technical College's Career Coach provides a welcome resource. Designed to help high school and college students clarify their future educational and career goals, the two-minute testimonial video is a great place to start and helps explain how Career Coach works. From there, the site can be explored in four simple ways: job hunters can start with a specific career in mind and Search Careers; narrow in on possibilities by starting with a desired Degree or Diploma type; peruse Hot Jobs to find careers that pay well and have positive growth potential; or take a 6 question assessment that will provide career recommendations based on user interests and personality. Search results, including Employment statistics, Wage, and Job Postings, are determined by users' geographical area and can be downloaded as a PDF for offline use. [CNH]


The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Galleries

·http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/museum-map/galleries

The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired its first object, a Roman sarcophagus, on November 20, 1871. When its doors opened to the public in December of 1902, the Met became a hub of intellectual activity, with wings dedicated to a multitude of arts and artists from around the world. Readers can now peruse the world renowned galleries of the Met online. Here, visitors will find an easily digestible overview of the more than four hundred galleries housed throughout the museum. For instance, The American Wing's 73 Galleries can all be found here, each paying tribute to important examples of American Art ranging from the "vast, light-filled spaces" of the American sculpture room to the cozy comforts of the New York Dutch Room, 1751. Each Gallery is accompanied by edifying descriptions of art work and gorgeous photographs of the objects on display. [CNH]


Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies: Research

·http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/research/index.php

The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison is comprised of four researcher centers: The Center for Climatic Research (CCR); the Center for Culture, History and Environment (CHE); the Land Tenure Center (LTC); and the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE). From the Nelson Institute's homepage, readers may select any one of these dynamic institutes to find out more about their research, news, symposiums, and resources. For instance, readers may select CCR to browse the center's work on global and regional biogeochemistry, its assessments of past and future climate impacts, and much more. With its emphasis on bringing together the best of the humanities, engineering, business, and law with groundbreaking work in biological, physical, health, and social sciences, the Nelson Institute is always breaking new ground. [CNH]


Norman B. Leventhal Map Center: Nautical Charts

·http://maps.bpl.org/highlights/nautical/nautical-charts

The collection of 401 Nautical charts at the Boston Public Library's Norman B. Leventhal Map Center are a pleasure to behold. With documents that date back to the 16th century and created by cartographers from Spain, France, England, and other European countries, the charts detail the lands and waters of Nova Scotia, Boston Harbor, Maine, the West Indies, South Carolina, and many other locations. Readers may scroll through the charts one by one, or filter by author, publisher, date, location, and subject. In addition, the Map Center features a Teacher Resources tab, where educators can find lesson plans and activities that facilitate the use of maps in the classroom. [CNH]


Zoo Atlanta: Animals

·http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/animals#u-ZE2

This website from the Atlanta Fulton County Zoo is packed with fascinating facts about animals from around the world. The site is divided into Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians sections. Within each, readers will find lists of wonderful creatures. For instance, selecting Mammals navigates to a list that includes the Black-and-white-ruffed lemur, the Drill monkey, and the Wolf's guenon. Each animal is accompanied by their Scientific Name, Conservation Status, Habitat, a few Fun Facts, and, best of all, Photos and Videos. For some additional variety, adventurous readers can navigate to the Plants and Horticulture section of Zoo Atlanta, which contains a similar classification system. [CNH]


Comprehensive Assessment of Mercury in Streams Explains Sources, Cycling, and Effects

·http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2015-01-28-mercury_circular.html

This article on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website summarizes the findings from a comprehensive assessment of mercury in waterways across the nation. As the article mentions, mercury, which can travel long distances in the atmosphere, is often the product of coal burning for energy production. In the study featured here, about one in four of the predator fish sampled exceeded EPA guidelines for safe consumption. Readers who would like to learn more may access a number of resources on the site, including the full 100-page report, and over a dozen Related Headlines from around the USGS site. [CNH]


General Interest

YaleNews: Business, Law, Society

·http://news.yale.edu/

YaleNews is not just for Yalies. As one of the world's great educational institutions, the goings-on at Yale provide a glimpse into what's happening around the world across a range of topics. Readers can browse the site by area of interest, including Arts & Humanities, Campus & Community, and World & Environment. In addition, readers may like to scroll through the Headlines section to explore what's fresh and view the Videos or the Photo Galleries for visually stimulating content. Recent articles have tackled ISIS' destruction of cultural antiquities, Yale's sustainability initiatives, and advances in breast cancer surgery, among many other topics. Interested readers can even subscribe to receive the YaleNews by email. [CNH]


StarTalk Radio Show

·http://www.startalkradio.net/

As the "nation's expert on space," Neil deGrasse Tyson is well-known for his best-selling books and his role as host of NOVA ScienceNOW. Yet he is also the host of StarTalk, a commercial radio program that "bridges the intersection between Pop Culture and Science with clarity, humor, and passion." The radio show is currently in its sixth season and episodes, which run just short of an hour, have ranged from rocket science to pseudoscience to gravity. Tyson is accompanied each week by a range of co-hosts and special guests that have included Richard Dawkins, Ann Druyan, and Eugene Mirman among others. It's easy to get hooked on these fascinating explorations into the universe, and readers will be happy to note that podcasts of each episode are available for free on the website as well as on iTunes. [CNH]


Guided to Safety

·http://guidedtosafety.org/

While Guided to Safety was founded to serve a particular community in Northern California, the website also features a number of educational resources that can be helpful for anyone trying to understand domestic violence, teen dating violence, and sexual assault. These are not pleasant topics, but as the website notes, learning to speak about difficult subjects is often a first step toward solving problems. Each of the site's sections (Domestic Violence, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Assault) opens to information about a number of subcategories. For instance, under Domestic Violence, readers will find information about the Cycle of Violence and helpful instructions for what to do if one is a witness to or a victim of violence. [CNH]


250+ Killer Digital Libraries and Archives

·http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/250-plus-killer-digital-libraries-and-archives/

This 2013 blog post from the Open Education Database's iLibrarian Blog lists over 250 digital archives and collections from around the United States. The collection focuses mostly on localized and regional libraries that provide open access to anyone. It also includes larger collections and archives focused on U.S. History. The collections and archives are organized alphabetically by state, starting with all the resources in Alabama and proceeding to Wyoming. For researchers looking for new resources or readers who love browsing archives, this resource from iLibrarian will open up a world of documents, archival footage an photographs, and primary texts. [CNH]


artnet News

·http://news.artnet.com

artnet News is a 24-hour global art market newswire. With reporters and editors in Europe, Asia, and North America, artnet seeks to track the art market minute-by-minute via this section of its website. Readers will learn a great deal here by scouting News to Know, In Brief, and Featured on artnet, which looks at individual artists. There is also a Topics section that connects to subjects running the gamut from Art Crime to Auctions to Interviews. Recent articles have explored art therapy with Islamic extremists in Saudi Arabia and a recently uncovered portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. [CNH]


Damn Interesting

·http://www.damninteresting.com/

This site, which is curated by Salt Lake City web designer Alan Bellows, is a welcome find for those curious about obscure but true stories. The contents are free, the graphics are beautiful, and the writing is, indeed, interesting. For example, Article #361, "The Derelict," focuses its narrative on the sudden death of a luxury cruise ship captain on September 7, 1934. Out at sea with storms approaching from both the north and the south, there may or may not be a communist revolutionary aboard waiting to set the boat on fire. In addition to the riveting narrative and the period photographs, Bellows provides links to more information and related articles. Other entries cover a range of topics, from the travels of a French family in the 18th century to a history of potatoes. Readers can enjoy each story in written form on the website, as a podcast episode, or as as an e-book for offline reading. [CNH]


eHistory

·http://www.ehistory.org/

University of Georgia historians Claudio Saunt and Stephen Berry founded eHistory "in the belief that new technologies make possible a new kind of research in the humanities, one in which students, scholars, and a broader public are full partners and collaborators." Similar to "citizen scientist" websites like zooniverse.org, eHistory seeks to "crowd-source" history research. On the website, readers can browse what others have added or contribute their own knowledge and resources to projects like Pox Americana (which covers the smallpox epidemic of the late 18th century), IndianNation (which collects the stories of the Native Americans who were displaced by European colonization), CSI Dixie (which uses coroners records to explore the antebellum South), and others. A number of these projects are wonderfully interactive and illustrate the way knowledge about the past can be created and consumed in today's digital world. [CNH]


HASTAC Blogs

·http://www.hastac.org/blogs

The Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC, pronounced "haystack"), is comprised of nearly 13,000 humanists, artists, social scientists, scientists and technologists working to "transform the future of learning." Online since 2002, the HASTAC website provides a variety of methods for its members to collaborate and share content, one of which is this blogs section. It includes recent blog entries, as well as some curated entries selected by HASTAC staff. Recent posts range from Helen Haswell's "Exploring New Models of Digital Distribution and We Are Colony," to Tiffany Chan's "Practical Project Management Tips for Making a Personal or Small-Scale Project." Blog posts are tagged and categorized for easy searching and browsing. For example, topics include Pedagogy & Teaching; Research & Methodologies; and 21st Century Literacies, to name just a few. Follow HASTAC on Twitter or subscribe to its RSS feed, so you don't miss anything. [DS]


Network Tools

PrintFriendly

·http://www.printfriendly.com/

When printing pages from the Internet, it can often be a struggle to get rid of useless images that waste ink and page space. Enter PrintFriendly, a free, easy-to-use tool that cleans and formats web pages for printing. Simply copy and paste a URL into the website's "print preview" text box and PrintFriendly will remove ads as well as navigation and web images. A clean content-based copy will then be created that can be printed, emailed, or downloaded as a PDF. [CNH]


Yapp

·https://www.yapp.us/

Yapp presents a do-it-yourself advance into the world of mobile apps. The introductory service is free, and creating an app for a conference, a wedding, a sports team, or some other event or organization is surprisingly easy. First, select an app design from dozens of themes and then enter text, photos, and other personalizing content. Pressing Publish generates a link that can be shared with friends or coworkers so they can download and use the app you've created. From there updates and push notifications can be sent in real time. For most users, the process of creating and sharing an app can take less than ten minutes. [CNH]


In the News

18th-Century Slave Ship Discovered Off of the South African Coast

Grim History Traced in Sunken Slave Ship Found Off South Africa
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/world/africa/tortuous-history-traced-in-sunken-slave-ship-found-off-south-africa.html?_r=0

Wreck Of A 221-Year-Old Slave Ship Is Confirmed Off South Africa
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/31/411044691/the-wreck-of-a-221-year-old-slave-ship-is-confirmed-off-south-africa

S.Africa Shipwreck a ‘Milestone’ in Slave Trade Study
http://news.discovery.com/history/us-history/s-africa-shipwreck-a-milestone-in-slave-trade-study-150602.htm

Smithsonian to Receive Artifacts From Sunken 18th-Century Slave Ship Found Off the Coast of South Africa
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/sunken-18th-century-slave-ship-found-south-africa-180955458/?no-ist

South Africa beach service to honor slaves drowned in 1794 shipwreck
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/01/cape-town-beach-service-honour-african-slaves-drowned-1794-shipwreck

Smithsonian Newsdesk: Slave Wrecks Project
http://newsdesk.si.edu/factsheets/slave-wrecks-project

On December 27, 1794, the Sao Jose-Paquete de Africa, a Portuguese slave ship carrying more than 400 enslaved people from Mozambique, was wrecked near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Destined for Brazil’s sugar plantations, the ship foundered on submerged rocks about 100 yards from shore. While the Portuguese captain, crew, and half of the slaves survived, an estimated 212 of those enslaved were trapped onboard and perished in the rough waters. For some time, researchers have suspected that what was previously identified as the remnants of the Schuyenlenburg, a Dutch vessel that sank in 1756, was actually the wreckage of the Sao Jose. Quietly working since 2010, an international team of investigators from the Slave Wrecks Project, a long-term collaboration between six core partners, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and the South African Heritage Resource Agency, has recently confirmed the slave ship’s final resting place.

How did the team know this was the shipwreck of the Sao Jose? Iron ballasts that were used to offset the weight of human cargo in the hold were discovered near the wreckage, under layers of sand and surging currents. “The more cargo that you have that is living, the more ballast you need because live cargo moves and is not as heavy as, say, tubs of molasses,” said Paul Gardullo, historian and curator at the NMAAHC. “Ballast becomes a signature for slaving, and a direct corollary to human beings.” This discovery was paired with archival records from Portugal, diagnostic tests from other material gathered during dives at the wreck site, and even the captain’s account of the ship’s last moments above water to confirm the ship’s identity. Objects retrieved from the site will soon be on display at the NMAAHC and will help tell the story of the 12 million people who were sold into bondage and forcibly moved from Africa to North America, the West Indies, South America, and Europe. “Perhaps the single greatest symbol of the trans-Atlantic slave trade is the ships that carried millions of captive Africans across the Atlantic never to return,” noted Lonnie G. Bunch, founding director of the NMAAHC. The discovery of the Sao Jose is all the more significant, added Bunch, “because there has never been archaeological documentation of a vessel that foundered and was lost while carrying a cargo of enslaved persons.” [CBD]

The first three links cover the discovery of the Sao Jose by the New York Times, NPR’s “The Two-Way,” and Discovery News, respectively. Next up, the Smithsonian Magazine details the NMAAHC's acquisition of artifacts from the Portuguese slave ship. Iron ballast, a wooden pulley, and other items will be a primary focus when the Museum opens its doors on the National Mall in 2016. The fifth link will take readers to a thoughtful write up from the Guardian’s David Smith. Here, Smith details plans for a memorial service on one of South Africa’s most popular beaches to honor the more than 200 slaves who drowned when the Sao Jose sank. Finally, interested readers can read about the Slave Wrecks Project - it’s history, efforts, and partners - courtesy of the Smithsonian’s Newsdesk.





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