10 Best iPhone Apps for Science Majors

Admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:18:55 +0000

iPhone apps and science go hand in hand. Maybe you need to quickly refer to the Periodic Table, or perhaps you need help with your solubility calculations. Whether you are planning for a career in science or you just need to pass a science class in college, here are 10 iPhone apps you shouldn’t be without. Photo by: Okko Pyykko on Flickr Creative Commons 1. Chemical Elements (Free) This chemistry app is a versatile reference tool that presents a list of the elements in portrait mode. Flip it to landscape, and it turns into a touchable periodic table. You can sort elements by atomic number or alphabet. Common features of the elements are given with some with photos. 2. Atom in a Box ($9. 99) This physics app displays an interactive, visual representation of what a hydrogen atom looks like via real-time rendering of its electrons’ orbitals. See the three-dimensional states that the electron occupies in hydrogen. View animations and mathematical descriptions of all 140 eigenstates up to the n=7 energy level. Even if you are not familiar with Quantum Mechanics, it still looks cool, and your friends will think you are smart. 3. Get All the Science (Free) This news aggregator app gives you up-to-date news from the science industry. Stay on top of the latest stories with news feeds from “Nature,” “New Scientist” and several other interesting science publications, all in one place. 4. Uranus ($9. 99) This is a must-have if you are taking astronomy, but it’s also a good prop for romantic evening strolls if you want to impress your date. With a database of over 100,000 stars, planets, galaxies and more, this GPS-enabled app acts as a guide to the night sky wherever you happen to be standing on Earth. 5. Genetic Decoder (Free) Biology students, behold the Genetic Decoder app. Simply tap your mobile device to change RNA codons, and the corresponding amino acid information will be displayed. You can browse information by selecting an amino acid from the list. All amino acid and molecules are represented with colorful pictures. 6. Starmap ($11. 99) Another pocket planetarium app, Starmap is designed for more advanced star gazers as it provides a fully portable way of locating stars, planets, constellations, meteor showers and deep-field objects in the night sky. Calibrate your location or use iPhone’s GPS feature to toggle between north-, east-, south-, and west-view sky charts. 7. Equivalence ($3. 99) Equivalence is the ultimate conversion tool. Designed for engineers, the Equivalence iPhone app converts all sorts of measurements such as temperature, mass, volume and currency. Tilt your iPhone/iPod on its side and get the equivalence calculator. 8. Spacetime 4. 0 ($24. 95) Algebra and calculus students, rejoice. Touted as the most powerful mathematics and graphing program, Spacetime 4. 0 allows you to graph 2D and 3D function, parametric, spherical and cylindrical plots. Rotate, pinch and move 3D graphs in real-time. Spacetime also performs both numeric and symbolic algebra and calculus (including some advanced functions) and supports scripting. 9. Epocrates RX (Free) This app is sure to please medical students and hypochondriacs alike. With this pocket pharmacy, you can look up more than 3,300 drugs, including pill pictures, infectious disease treatment guides, medical calculators, a commonly-used pregnancy wheel, unit conversions and more. It is said that doctors use this app. So why not get one yourself to make sure your busy doctor isn’t missing anything? 10. iCut DNA (4. 99) This app allows you to search the Restriction Enzyme Database (REBASE) for enzymes and the DNA nucleotide sequences they cleave. Find commonly used (type II) restriction enzymes by name or by specifying the recognition sequence. Information from the database for each enzyme includes references, suppliers, isoschizomers and methylation site. April Lentini writes for apartmentguide. com

Science Fiction Books – the Literature of Ideas

Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:51:36 +0000

Science fiction is the literature of highly creative ideas. By the mid ’70s, the genre of science-based ideas had grown. Apart from book, science fictions come in the form of art, television, film, theater and game. Science fiction can be synonymous with the broader definition of ‘speculative fiction’ in organizational or marketing contexts. This is a highly creative works incorporating imaginative elements which is not found in contemporary reality. This includes horror, fantasy and related genres. This kind of books are also used to raise awareness of ecological ideas, narrates dystopia future. Frank Herbert and Kim Robinson are the well known names for their serious concern with ecological issues. This kind of fiction books are written on various themes like, cosmology, creation of universe, quantum suicide, the future, symbiont, ultimate fate of the universe etc.

Out of all the genre of books that have been written so far, science fiction seems to be one that is a class apart. The feeling towards the genre is either one of extreme hatred or fanatic following. One of great science fiction books that one can remember today are “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” by H. G. Wells, “The “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley, “Servant of the Bones” by Anne Rice, “Idoru” by William Gibson and “The Time Machine”. Today these hot listed names have been replaced with modern classical space operas like Robert A. Heinlein’s “Citizen of the Galaxy and.” This kind of science fiction has a certain epic scope in the stories. They contains fighting of galaxies, a twisted concept of time, phenomenal depictions of aliens, and many more.

Fortunately, to write for this genre it is not necessary to be a “techie,” or have to be a degree holder in quantum mechanics. Good sci-fi books, could not be popular if it is not about people. It examines the human condition, perhaps in a whole new atmosphere or in a new landscape or from an “alien” perspective. To create that all-important empathy between character and reader.

The “terminal Experiment” is one of Amazon.com’s top 50 best selling science fiction title of all times. The “Harry Porter” was the best selling book of last year.

By: Alden Jerry

Earth Science » Quantum Mechanics

10 Best iPhone Apps for Science Majors

Science Fiction Books – the Literature of Ideas