The Knovel University Challenge is Back!

Enter to win a Wii, iPod Nano or Free Music starting on 9/29/08

Go to Knovel University Challenge for more information.

Posted by Kevin Lindstrom Liaison Librarian for Materials, Electrical and Computer, and Chemical Engineering

Over the last year, our national broadcaster – CBC came with a series of podcasts called “how to think about science”

Listen to all of them here – they are more than 20 episodes – http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/science/index.html

** Photo by estherase

We’ve got ebooks on almost any topic under the sun and pdf’s are a lot lighter to carry than paper.

You want books on how to write code in Python or how to fix your new laptop running Microsoft Vista? Have a look at the Books 24X7 IT Collection.

Trying find some good stuff on biodiesel? Heres’ a hot title
Biodiesel – A Realistic Fuel Alternative for Diesel Engines

Need some physical property data like the viscosity of Cl2 gas? A search of Knovel.com will link you to the Chemical Properties Handbook and Yaws’ Handbook of Thermodynamic and Physical Properties of Chemical Compounds

Need some good information on climate change? Here’s a good starting point Assessing Climate Change.

Circuit diagrams for operational amplifiers? Check out the Electrical Engineering Handbook.

All in all, you have access to more than five thousand science and engineering ebooks.

For a complete list (not including Books24X7 titles) go to the Science & Engineering Ebook site. There you can find A-Z titles lists of ebooks as well as the search interfaces for the ebook collections you have access to. Make sure you look at the Springer Ebooks as well. Springer is a major science and engineering publisher.

Remember that these resources are not freely available on internet, so if you are connecting from off campus, go to UBC’s VPN site for instructions.

Posted by Kevin Lindstrom Liaison Librarian for Earth and Ocean Sciences, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Physics.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14699

The article discusses the experiments, provides a video and the images from the Collider that started to operate TODAY!

** Photo by µµ

Brought to you by the University of Nottingham the Periodic Table of Videos includes 118 videos about each element.

**Image courtesy of NSDL. Reusable NASA images.

Today’s news article from BBC reports that:…”ice shelves in Canada’s High Arctic have lost a colossal area this year”

Also from the article:

Loss of ice in the Arctic, and in particular the extensive sea-ice, has global implications. The “white parasol” at the top of the planet reflects energy from the Sun straight back out into space, helping to cool the Earth. Further loss of Arctic ice will see radiation absorbed by darker seawater and snow-free land, potentially warming the Earth’s climate at an even faster rate than current observational data indicates.

To explore this topic more , take a look on the subject guide we have compiled for Atmospheric Sciences – http://toby.library.ubc.ca/subjects/subjpage1.cfm?id=969

** Photo by Yukon White Light

PRO/UAW, the union that tried and failed in 2006 to organize the postdocs on the 10 University of California (UC) campuses, has received official notification that it succeeded on its second try. On 19 August, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) faxed a letter to the organizers stating that the union, known formally as Postdoctoral Researchers Organize/International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, had submitted valid signatures from a majority of the approximately 5000 UC postdocs eligible to petition for union representation. Under state law, unionization is therefore automatic. The move brings an estimated 10% of U.S. postdocs into UAW, an AFL-CIO-affiliated national union that represents more than a million other members, including UC academic employees, such as graders, teaching assistants, and lecturers.

Read the full article at here

Submitted by kevin lindstrom Science and Engineering Liaison Librarian

Here is the NYT article from August 10, 2008 that discusses water-recycling plants. An interesting lunch-time read.

We have hundreds of books on the topic, not to mention ebooks or electronic databases… Check out the following two links:

1. Water–Purification (almost 200 books)

2. Sewage–Purification. (almost 200 books)

Moreover, we have a couple of online books about the topic, for instance – “Handbook of water and wastewater treatment technologies” from Knovel. Check those out!

** Photo by elbisreverri

On August 22, 2008 the Greenheart Canopy Walkway officially opened.

The 308-metre walkway reaches heights in excess of 17.5 metres. Visitors and researchers can experience the unique biodiversity of a Pacific Coastal Rainforest canopy, which includes treetop mosses, lichens, birds, insects and other invertebrates. It also offers “bird’s eye” views of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser River.

Sustainable construction technology has been used to secure the walkway’s eight platforms and nine bridges to trees in the UBC Botanical Garden’s 15-hectare David C. Lam Asian Garden. The walkway is secured by a patented “Tree Hugger” system of interlaced steel cables, provided by Greenheart Conservation Company, a private eco-attraction company from Vancouver. The cable system is designed to expand allowing for normal tree growth.

For more information on Greenheart Canopy Walkway, including hours of operation, fees and group rates, visit http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/visitorinfo/greenheart-canopy-walkway.php.

** Photo by Daniel Mosquin

Here is the handout for the session presented for the UBC JumpStart folks today – August 20th, 2008:

Here is the PDF copy (100KB)

Here is online copy embedded below: