I thought I would post this so we could think about it before the meeting on Thurs
Science is a huge category and we could flounder around. We need a firm plan to go forward.
We can be mainly about tools and doing, that is very much part of the Maker philosophy or we can look at the other part of Maker philosophy which is Educate, The best would be a combination of both.
Educate is likely the easiest one to do, since the costs are less. There is a HUGE need for science education outside of colleges and no place to turn to for it.
A problem with this, is that it really does not demand a lot of space, concentrating on just it, could easily meant that we become a special interest group.
Make/build is the other main direction, this will cost more and require space. It also means that we need to work on things that are doable and such. I will be happy when the laser is tuned and it can be used for education.
I would love to see us pursue chemistry, but the lack of water is an issue. Physics is a possibility, but while some of us are fascinated by it, it is perceived to be a difficult science,
I have an idea, and it think it would be interesting. The DFW area sets on a series of shale and chalk formations, we have several different types of clay soil. I would love to see use develop a series of experiments with soils from the area. We could look at the way they expand and contract with moisture for one set. This would be helpful to anyone with a home in the area. I would love to see some way to see which are more fertile, but that really needs a greenhouse , and I donāt see a way to do that. We could also slack them and prepare them as clay and then fire them and see how they shrink and at what temp they vitrify. I am sure that I could think of other experiments with them or others can.
Letās make this committee and important part of Makerspace
I think a combination would be best as you stated. Tools to be able to do our own experiments and learn would be great along with classes to help start interest in science or further interest in science for our members.
I agree with the Education priority, but ultimately Science needs to be a
project/experiment based committee if it is to survive. The tools need to
be able to enable the projects and education. (Incidentally, I intend to
teach several classes ā one on Brain Computer Interfaces and another one
on Electromyography)
It would be great if we could get help from A/V and/or PR folks to document
our completed projects and put them out there on YouTube and/or Instructables.
Creating tangible documentation will increase the value of what we do to
the general Maker community.
As we are a part of the all-volunteer Makerspace, projects will be driven
(and should be led) by individual members. They can be educational (e.g.,
learning about clay/soil composition as Cairenn suggested) or lead to a
product (e.g., what Scott Renkes and the rest of us in the Neural
Interface Working Group are doing to create an open-source, multi-channel
electromyography system for prosthetic device control).
I personally see the Science Committee/Area as a means to pursue low-budget
research projects which you canāt pursue elsewhere. These can range from
something which you might have entered as a Science Fair project in high
school to legitimate research/development which you are unable to pursue
elsewhere (for example, I am a graduate student but what I am able to
pursue at school is limited by the scope of the lab I belong to).
Here are some suggestions on what I would personally be interested in
seeing:
(I realize it is impossible to do all of these ā but Iām putting the list
out there to spur further ideas and measure interest)
Low magnification microscopy/Macro photography setup (to enable other
projects, as well as for use in microscopy classes).
Waterproof Webcam for the Aquaponics fish tank (this was my first
Makerspace project when we were around 30 people)
A class on microscopic staining techniques for higher magnification
microscopy
DIY water quality analysis (Is there lead in your water? E-coli? Other
heavy metals?)
Experiments on freezing/reconstituting lettuce (see me for details ā I
have some preliminary results and ideas for cryoprotection).
Letās come up with some ideas and general principles at the meeting
Thursday. Ultimately, we need to keep our projects interesting to the rest of the group and doable on a low budget.
Iād really like to see a remote telescope observatory. An array of two, maybe three telescopes, all with different specs to accomplish a wide range of viewing things from the solar system to messier objects, or just general deep sky imaging.
I think this build kills two birds with one stone. It adds alot of value to DMS because all members could have access to astro-photography equipment. I canāt speak for everyone else, but I would be absolutely smitten with being able to explore and image the solar system. ( it would make for great wall art at DMS )
The other benefit is it doesnāt take up precious floor space. This equipment would be on the roof, and after the build is complete, other than maintenance and support, science could move onto the next project.
I donāt know much about astronomy (I guess I learned stuff when I went here in University: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/haleakalanew/ )ā¦ but wouldnāt light pollution be a problem from the roof of our building?
My thought as an observer and Space neighbor is that Science needs to first focus on the scientific method. Focus not on what, but why. Not on toys, but what questions they may answer. I would say that projects would benefit from beginning with a proposal that includes what question needs to be explored (rather than answered, since much of science doesnāt lead to answers, but more questions), materials needs, minimum number of participants needed and what number is planned for (planning for a minium of one participant may not be the best use of resources), and a timeline.
Many art based businesses, including mine, suffer from the lack of a business plan. (One of my over winter jobs is to work on one). Science needs something similar.
It doesnāt have to be complex or written in stone, but we need some thing to aim for,
I love many of the suggestions posted, water testing is another one I had thought about.
I love the telescope idea. Light pollution is a problem, but there are still things that are observable, and remote is a possibility. The Texas Astronomical Society would be a good resource for that
Iāll throw in my 2 Cents here. Please donāt take this as anything other than a stream of consciousness, and not even a well thought out one at that.
I donāt think that having ongoing projects, Hydroponics, Laser, Robot hand etc, are bad concepts and in my mind fall into cool projects that fit into the broader āScienceā category. However, having a project completed and just stored at the space indefinitely for no reason other than ālook what we didā doesnāt have anything to do with Science.
I certainly could have missed them, but have any classes been offered on Hydroponics in the last couple months? I know that the Laser was a work in progress, but what was the goal for it at the end of itās creation? Does āthe handā move or does it just sit there?
I assume that a lot of these projects are now effectively dead, but no matter what Cairenn decides to do, my opinion is that finishing a project and then storing it to collect dust is bad form. That said, if there was a 2-3-4 month project that didnāt fit into Scienceās physical area, I would support a temporary expansion of their space into the general workspace with the knowledge that once the experiment has been completed, that it would need to leave.
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