Educational software has really come a long way in the last couple of years, and an update to my big darn list is long overdue.  Some of the biggest changes over the last few years have come through the introduction of the iPad and iPhone.  iOS in particular, with its attendant application store has emerged as a powerhouse environments for developing and distributing very high quality software at extremely low cost, a great boon for schools of every grade level.

I just finished reading Tim Harford's book, "The Undercover Economist" and can heartily recommend it to anyone who has even the slightest interest in how all sorts of markets work from coffee shops, supermarkets, to sulfur and carbon emissions markets all the way through national economic policy surrounding globalization and free-trade. The subtitle reads "Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, Why the Poor Are Poor--And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!" As the Economist magazine quotes inside the front cover, it's really "A playful guide to the economics of everyday life." The whole book is a witty and quick 250 page read. I would even go so far as to say that it is probably the best, most witty and readable articulation of fundamental economics principles that I have come across. And while I enjoyed Steven Levitt's Freakonomics book, this one was much better at articulating and detailing fundamental principles. Now many folks might be put off by that description, but trust me, the whole work is an engaging read with stories and anecdotes that relate the principles in the process, quite unlike any boring textbook on the subjects. Here is ...

You just have to love a school project wherein 4 students send a balloon up to an altitude of 20 miles to capture NASA quality photos  on a budget under a few hundred bucks.  Incredible.  This should be a model for all school science programs!  More Images, video, and detailed blog links after the break.

I'm a big fan of disruptive technologies, and  I love it even more if there is a nice basis in applied physics.  So check out the Jenga Pistol. It will allow you to instantly crush your old-school opposition using the simple principles of impact and inertia.  It's also instructive to consider some winning Jenga strategies using finger flicks even when you are forbidden the latest technologies!  Video after the break.

Here's another rev of a couple of my favorite working Lego pneumatic engines, a new V8 and a smaller inline 4.  The new models sport several innovations that improve the balance in the crank and cam shafts (important if you have flexible shafts that suffer from torsion), and reduces the number of valves and moving parts.  The resulting models are smaller (cheaper), and much more efficient, producing a lot more torque per unit weight.

Last week's post on the Globalization of Leadership ended with a clarion-call for change. Given that the entire US economy is built upon a foundation of energy and energy policy, it makes sense to start looking there to see where the biggest economic levers lie.  Here, I offer a somewhat more analytical approach than can be found in the general media.

A stunning new technology out of UCSF and recently published in Science is producing some of the most amazing 3-D images of living cells. "We threw the conventional microscope out the window and began again," says John Sedat, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco.

Art and science complement each other very nicely in this incredibly cool and simple paper kit to build an articulated horse by James Watt from Clockwork Robotics.  (Any relation to the Steam Engine linkage inventor James Watt?) It may not look all that interesting in the static photo above, but check out this video of the model in motion!

I've been fiddling around with all sorts of compressed-air engines over the past few years, but these Lego Technic engines by Alex Zorko are really something.   Check out these two examples, an inline 4 cylinder and a V8, each of which goes over 1000 RPMs.  You really can make anything with Legos.  Assembly instructions, parts lists, and live videos of the running engines after the jump.

The strange looks combined with the gasps of horror are starting to get to me. I thought that after all these years I was getting used to it, but it happened again at a recent conference.  At Stanford, no less.  I had made the mistake in public company of mentioning how much I loved math and getting kids excited about it through WISE.  "Really?  Uhmm, that's nice," they said just before wandering off to refresh their drinks.