On February 9, 1865, American photographer and pioneering weather scientist Wilson Alwyn Bentley was born. After experiencing the Vermont winter snows for almost two decades, Bentley followed his passion for capturing the beauty of snowflakes for others to share. He managed to figure out…
On February 5, 1947, American astronaut Mary L. Cleave was born. Plant and soil sciences intrigued her as she grew up. She specialized in microbial ecology then concerned herself with what might be possible if she could apply scientific and engineering principles to the…
Twenty-eight years ago on January 22, 1992, STS-42 carried the first International Microgravity Laboratory [IML-1], dozens of experiments, and seven space shuttle crew members into orbit. Over 200 scientists from 13 countries contributed to the crew’s onboard research tasks in the physical and life…
On January 13, 1957, Wham-O began production of its “Pluto Platters”, the plastic flying dish today called a Frisbee™. Invented by Fred Morrison, the lightweight and elegant airfoil becomes a vehicle of remarkable precision in the hands of a skilled hurler. Inspired by pie…
On October 5, 1911, botanist, educator, and ecologist Pierre Mackay Dansereau, CC GOQ FRSC, was born in Montréal. A working botanist-theorist, he developed defining insights into ecology through a lifetime of field research from the Alps to the Arctic and teaching at 20 universities…
On September 18, 2023, the Slumgullion Earthflow continues moving downhill from Mesa Seco… a slow, thousand-year-old journey! Produced in tectonic activity, the San Juan Mountains formed tens of millions of years ago in southwest Colorado. As climate altered the volcanic residue in the Mesa…
On April 7, 1795, France introduced the metric system of measurement with the original units for length, area, volumes and mass. The main feature of the metric system is the standardized set of interrelated base units that include a standard set of prefixes in…
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space. He made a 108-minute orbital flight in the fully automated Vostok 1 space capsule. Gagarin did not land in his space capsule. Vostok 1’s reentry into the atmosphere…
On February 22, 1857, German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was born. He was a student and protégé of the great Hermann von Helmholtz. Hertz began his career as a university lecturer and quickly established himself as an accomplished speaker. In his lab, Hertz demonstrated…
On February 17, 1858, educator, illustrator, biologist, photographer, and writer Margaret Warner Morley was born. After graduating as a teacher in New York City, she studied at what is now the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods…