At last, the new launch date for long awaited James Webb Telescope.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be the largest space telescope. Photo: sciencemag.org

The new launch date was announced by NASA after the latest delayed of the James Webb Space Telescope that caused by the covid-19 pandemic. The last suspended was in March 2020 for the integration and testing. NASA, however, announced the new launch date will be on October 31, 2021 from French Guiana.

James Webb Space Telescope development started as early as 1996 with the original launch date planned for 2007. There were many delays before, in the development of this telescope for good that increased its original budget from USD500 millions, to USD 8.8 billions.

Preparing JWST for test is not an easy task. Photo: wired.com

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) works differently from the Hubble Space Telescope, in term of how it conducts its observation in the near ultraviolet, visible and near infrared. These capabilities will allow JWST to see more objects than its predecessor (Hubble Space Telescope) capable of. This is also one of the reasons, why there are many delays in the preparation of JWST during the development of this project.

The design of the Telescope also so unique to allow it to be fitted in the small Ariane 5 rocket for launch. As the result, the 6.5 meter diameter gold-coated reflector need to be folded in 18 separated panels. Other than that, it also equipped with a special sunshield made of silicon-coated and aluminium-coated Kapton to keep its instruments below 50 K (−220 °C; −370 °F).

The comparison in size between Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. Photo: scitechdaily.com

More details about this amazing telescope can be found here from few sources such as Wikipedia and NASA itself. We all can't wait to see this future telescope in action.

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Science Museum, London

At the entrance on the Science Museum

The Science Museum is another major attraction in London all together with few other museums that located nearby where it is located. Even though I thought I could not visited on my short visit to London, I actually stopped in this museum for 2 hours to get the ideas how is it looks like.

Same as any other museums, the Science Museum has a long history and how in ended on where it is located now. Start as part of the Royal Society of Arts and the surplus items from the Great Exhibition in 1851 in the same building that today known as Victoria and Albert Museum. It also was known as the Museum of Patents in 1858, and the Patent Office Museum in 1863. As the collection of the Art Museum became larger, the Science Collections were separated on 26 June 1909 and start to be known as the Science Museum.

One of the giant steam engines at the Energy Hall.

The Science Museum, where it is located today was designed by Sir Richard Allison, and open in a few stages over the period of 1919-28. The construction that has begun in 1913 was temporarily halted by the World War 1. However, it was resumed and keep on expanding with additional blocks to accommodate more galleries until 1980. The last additional Wellcome Wing was added in 2000 to extend it to the Queen’s Gate.

Same as many other major museums in London, this museum is very big. It is important to study a little bit about the museum before the visit. If there are any specific things that you want to see, it is more important to know where it is located (which gallery and which floor). It is also important to check on their website for gallery closures to make sure the item that you want to see is open to the public – or else you can contact the museum to get a permission.

Material used in producing products.

Interesting Invention - what is it?

On my short visit to this museum, what I can see is the different approaches of presentation in the exhibition. There are so many items in every gallery (and most of them are so important in order for us to understand about the development of certain technologies). There are few places where I wish more information to be provided (however, I can do extra research about it from the internet or some of it already available through this museum own online resources).

There are many interesting features available that also adds different experiences here in the Science Museum as there are many hands-on items to the IMAX 3D theatre. Different styles of presentation in order to enhance understanding of the viewers for the related topics. All of these features make it suitable for visitor of all ages - and make it guaranteed suitable for a family visit.

Historical item.

Time gallery exhibition.

There are many galleries available with different topics and different kind of approaches and for more details you can see it from this link. As I only visited a small part of the museum, I can’t tell the details of the whole museum (but base from the part that I visited) and at the same time I did go through their website to know more about this museum - and that’s how I know they have good online resources.

I do love science as I do love nature (as I spend more time at the Natural History Museum) and I wish to spend a whole day here if I can - maybe in my next visit. Here I also have some photos I posted at my fanpage. There is also few other post that you might find interesting of my visit to KewGardens, NaturalHistory Museum and Royal Institution.

If you are in London, don’t miss your chance to visit this museum as this is one of important attractions – located in the main attraction area. You also can make your donation to the museum, donate an object, join volunteering and many more to contribute to this museum. All the details can be found in their website www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. If there is any information you want to add to this article please feel free to write in the comment or send it to me through the request form (only available on the web view).

The Cave of the Crystal Giants

It's hard to believe the picture if you never heard about the Cave of the Crystals or Giant Crystal Cave (Spanish: Cueva de los Cristales) located in Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico. The cave was discovered by miners excavating for new tunnel for mining company Industrias Peñoles in April 2000 while drilling through Naica fault at the depth of 300 meters (980 ft). The cave was discovered by the brothers Eloy and Javier Delgado.

The crystals formed in the cave known as selenite crystals (gypsum, CaSO4·2 H2O), some of the largest natural crystal ever found. The largest crystals so far is 12 m (39 ft) in length, 4 m (13 ft) in diameter and 55 tons in weight. The minerals crystallized at very slow rate over the course of at least 500,000 years to form the crystals found today.

In 1910 miners discovered another cave that was known as Cave of Swords (Spanish: Cueva de las Espadas). This cave is located at the depth of 120 meters (390 ft) above the Cave of Crystals. It also contains crystals formation with 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long crystals.

The cave will never be open to public since the condition inside the cave are not suitable for human. The temperature can reach up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent of humidity. Exploration to the cave requires special suites. The geologists ever visited into the cave worn a special designed suits, strewn with ice packs. Without a proper suit, human can only endure approximately 10 minutes of exposure to the condition.

To know more about the cave you also can watch Discovery Channel program Naica: Beyond The Crystals Cave in 2011 production.

The cave was reported to be re-flooded by Penelope Boston in February 2017 to the BBC for the mining operations had been ceased.

10 Inventions With Greatest Impact To The World

The blueprint of Wright Flyer.

All inventions are important but some of them lead to bigger changes in human lives than the other. In this article we are going to see for the 10 most important inventions that give biggest impact to how we living in this world today.

Printing Press (1950)

Print was invented earlier with slower and complicated process. Anyway printing press machine invented by Johannes Gutenberg 1440 not just allowed the printing works to be faster but also make books available at cheaper price. This is what contributes to any other knowledge to be spread exponentially.

Before printing machine was invented, the knowledge texts only available to few selected people. These materials prepared by selective people consist of monks and few learned individuals. With this invention however changed the whole Western Europe by 16^th century by mass produced texts with diversity of topics.

Telescope (1609)

Human always fascinated with stars in the sky but only with the invention of telescope that allow us to understand more about them. Even though invented earlier by Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani in 1611 the good quality telescope only produced later by Sir Isaac Newton in 1668 with his reflecting telescope.

Besides telescope another same optical apparatus that look at smaller objects also considered one of the most important inventions is microscope. Before microscope was invented no one knows that we living in the world with full of microscopic organisms that also have bigger impact in our lives.

Steam Engine (1712)

Even though steam engine no longer used today as how it’s been used before, most electricity generated by huge steam turbines to rotating it’s giant magnets. The steam machines evolve from the first machine produced in Egypt by Hero of Alexandria in the first century AD.

Steam engines were incredibly inefficient until few popular figures in steam engines come with better improvements such as Thomas Newcomen, James Watt and Matthew Boulton. Steam engines are the first machines that allow industrial practices to be implemented and created mass production of materials.

Plastic (1856)

Plastic is another invention have bigger impact to the world until today. Even though today we think the usage of plastics give negative impact to the nature, yet the invention of plastics creates many products at cheaper price. On the negative sides today we struggle to clean up all the plastics that float in the ocean and endanger their creatures.

Plastic was first invented by Alexander Parkes in 1862. A few years later American inventor John Wesley Hyatt came out with first synthetic man-made plastic. Today there are many types of plastics with different characteristics to allow many other materials to be produced with most of our household products contained plastics.

Telephone (1876)

Telephone was invented by two men separately and only one of them known as the inventor since he arrived at the patent office earlier. They are Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray in producing device that can transmit voice electronically.

Bell keeps on upgrading his invention that allows his invention to be more successful from any other inventor work on similar device. On March 10, 1876 he uttered the first word to his assistant Thomas A Watson: “Mr Watson, come here, I want you.”

If we look on how our phone works today, it will be far different than the first phone invented by Graham Bell, where today we have computer instead of phone on our hand.

Airplane (1903)

Airplane was another great invention in human history, while human already can fly with glider in short distance but not truly flying - without engine that provide enough force to keep on flying.

Orville and Wilber Wright also known as Wright Brothers were businessman with bicycle shop. It took them few years to develop Wright Flyer the first plane that flies on 17 December 1903 for 36.6 meters with its own engine. One year later Wilber flew and improved Flyer II for five minutes.

With advancement in aviation technology today the air travel not just become easier but also cheaper. Keep on travelling.

Television (1926)

Television is more complicated device with more electronics parts in it. Start with visionaries of the invention of such product to the invention of the product itself was not produced by single man. Television requires different discoveries by different inventors to further develop the fully functional television set.

First thought to be nothing good will comes out of it until to be one of the devices we can find in every home. The television becomes the most popular electronics in 21^st century that also used to spread ideas, commercials, news and entertainment.

Touch Screens (1965)

Touch screens was invented earlier by English engineer EA Johnson in 1965 that simplify the input device to computer. Anyway it took very long until touch screens technology to become cheaper to be able to use with smaller device such as smart phone.

There area to types of touch screen: resistive and capacitive. In the early introduction resistive touch screen was more popular, while today capacitive touch screen usage is wider. With touch screen the control of devices become easier, faster and more accessible by everyone.

GPS (1973)

GPS was technology developed for military usage to allow them to firing missiles accurately. It was developed by American Ivan Getting and Professor Bradford Parkinson on military request. Then the GPS network was proposed with network of radio transmitters with each having an in-built clock. That’s requires an atomic clock for high precision measuring of time.

GPS satellites were launched by the US military in 1978 and were used for military purposes only, public usage of this technology only available in early nineties. Originally there were 18 satellites in 1979 and 24 by 1988, that number is now closer to 30.

Internet (1960 & 1989)

The best invention that allows the acceleration of information to be transfer, share and to make it more accessible is the invention of internet. Anyway the invention of internet itself requires the platform of network system.

The invention of the network start as early as 1960’s when Advance Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of US Department of Defence created ARPANET. This network allows the communication between computers across the network.

While the internet as we know it today start with the invention of websites (the World Wide Web) that was invented in late-Eighties. It all start when the researcher at CERN called Tim Berners-Lee and his colleagues develop a system that will allow user of the internet to access text-based ‘pages’. This is possible by the usage of HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), allowing communication between network servers and computers. They released the early web browser to the public in 1992 and the advancement of internet begun.

Those are among 10 best inventions that shape out our world today. There are many other best inventions, but these ten are inventions that allow the other inventions possible or inspiring it to happened. Well, we know it can’t be just 10, as we all have our own criteria of what best inventions is. Anyway, it is better to keep on inventing than just rather to talk about which one is the best than the other.

Games That Improve Your Child's Interest To Education

Such games can helps your children in developing their talents.

Our environment in today's modern world is much different from the situation once where child where we were more exposed to interaction with the outside world while playing that help in stimulating the development of a smarter brain. But today's children depend on games that are available (toys) in addition to the popular games mainly video games.

As a parent or guardian, determine the right type of games for children are important. This is to help them develop smarter thinking, creativity, decision-making and so on. Without your help, this is difficult for them to choose the game which can provide such kind of benefits.

In choosing the right game for your kids, choose few key features such as;

1) How does it help your child think to solve the problem of the game?

- Games like Lego stimulate children's thinking ability in solving designs to be produced. In addition, it also includes some of other benefits.

- Games like the abacus also have the same benefits, but it requires training and attention from you or other individuals.

Lego is one of the best stimulant games for your kids.

2) Does it have to do with the of everyday’s life, particularly education that includes science, geography, astronomy, economics, creativity, cognitive and so on?

- Some games are built to stimulate child interest in careers such as doctoral (doctor’s game sets), astronomy (telescope), scientists (microscope), culinary (cooking sets), music (musical instruments), and sports and etc.

- Some games equipment constructed by using the principles of science that can stimulate children's interest too, for them find out more like a pendulum, lava lamp, magnetic games, gyroscope, Magnetic Field Viewer, Super Springy and many others. These are the games that require some skills to explain how it works.

- Games like these are the starting point for determining the likelihood of your children interest at the early stage. These will help you to identify their interest instead of your interest for them.

Science and astronomy toy.

A game that stimulate thinking ability.

3) Does it help to provide other benefits such as sensor motor, balance and health-related benefits?

- Some playground equipment has other benefits such as health and flexibility of the body system. Games such as roller blade, skateboard, badminton, bicycles or other sports equipment have these kinds of benefits. At the same time they also stimulate the benefit of thinking skills.

- For such kind of games, parents and guardians should make sure children get enough exercise and comply with safety guidelines to prevent any possible injuries.

"Roller blades" requires high balancing ability.

4) How can you help to make the sure the game can achieve the desired benefits?

- Parents or guardians need to ensure how the selected games can provide positive benefit to the development of education and children's creativity. This will allow parents or guardians to ensure the objectives of the games are reached.

- Although it seems like a burden, but it will be more fun when you yourself involved with the games played by your children. At the same time this will indirectly making them more focused on the outcome of the games.

- Some games also require additional training such as music and professional sports. Parents who can detect a tendency talent of their children at an early stage will have the opportunity to help them hone this at the early stage.

"Magnetic globe" - using magnetic principles.

Wonderful magnetic game "klikyballs".

There are still plenty of rooms for us to make sure our children get a worthwhile entertainment. Through our involvement with proper monitoring will make sure they can develop interests, abilities and talents. It also gives you a chance to discover something new if you've never been involved with the games that they played before. At the same time can also foster closer family ties.