Rocket Launches

We launched a whole bunch of rockets on the lower field at an (unofficial) club meeting on Friday, Oct. 8. Here are some videos, courtesy of Joe Barnard:

This was actually before clubs started this year. It's actually the lamest rocket kit ever… the fins and launch lug are one big plastic bit that is held on just by fitting tightly–no glue–and apart from that there's the shock cord/mount/streamer thing, the nose cone, the body tube, and the thrust ring…

This one is awesome. It's an Estes Eagle boost glider, meaning it's a glider hooked onto a rocket. When the streamer ejects on the rocket, the glider is knocked loose and flies around a bit. Though it landed in a tree, we have recovered it now and will launch it again later…

I TOLD NICKS AND CLIP IT WAS A BAD IDEA TO ANGLE IT INTO THE WIND.

This is the Snapshot. It's meant to take pictures but it needs some kind of fancy film… and now it's in the graveyard…

…And… the X-Wing. Clearly designed for looks and not stability.

Not pictured is Joe's Estes Wizard, a tiny little one that (although we didn't know at the time) is apparently designed to fly VERY VERY HIGH. We put a B in thinking it'd not go very far but be recoverable… but boy were we wrong… It ZOOMED up and then we saw something falling very fast into someone's yard. I think either the ejection charge didn't eject the streamer or the rocket exploded. Nicks insisted it had to be a C engine, but we counted how long it took in the video and determined it to be a B6.

Welcome to 2010/11!

The BSEC continues into the 2010/11 school year! We are under new management:

John French–Co-President

Joe Barnard–Co-President

Noah Goldstein–Co-Vice-President

Diego Fiore–Co-Vice-President

And we are going to do lots of awesome things! For instance we are planning a huge and awesome rocket launch, which will include the ginormous E-powered Mean Machine and possibly an F-powered flight (if we can figure out how to do that…) as well as an attempt to launch the 10 or so Sword rockets that everyone (attempted to) build at once, and a couple of boost gliders! It'll be exciting.

We also have some thermite in the closet… And dry ice will certainly return…

Any ideas? Post them in the comments!

Welcome the Second Administration

In one final act of mismanagement, I sent out an obnoxious email yesterday before lunch asking folks to come by to see some thermite and to find out the results of our election. You see, I was going to announce that stuff at Morning Meeting, but we had no announcement time. But I was still in the mindset of wanting to announce it in person or whatever, so I tried for the next best thing. Of course, I completely overlooked the fact that all Juniors were off-campus. Oops! (We didn't do any thermite yesterday, FYI.)

So let's just do this. None of this "bait" stuff. The results of our close election are:

THE SECOND BSEC ADMINISTRATION

President: Willy Tucker
Senior Vice President: Brooke Parker
Junior Vice President: Sam Lynch

Assistant Vice Presidents:
Sarah Barrié
Sabrina Brown
Luke Fraser

(Everyone gets a title! Woohoo!!! :) )

Thanks for a great three years, folks! I'll be in touch...

Final Meeting Preview: Thermite!!!

Tomorrow, as many of you may realize, is a special day. It's senior send-off. It's our (seniors') last day of classes. (So sad...) And last but not least, it is the final meeting of the 2007-2008 season of the science club.

If you go to one meeting all year, I'd recommend you go to this one. We are very pleased to say that we have procured a bit of thermite for fiery fun. We basically have no clue what we're doing, but that's what adult supervision is for. :) Thermite burns at 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here's a video of some experts playing with thermite. And here's a few kids who have hardly any clue what they're doing.

ADDITIONALLY, and even more important in the long term, we're voting for next year's leaders of the science club. (If you want to be on the ballot but haven't talked to me, please reply ASAP.)

By the way, re: the thermite--it'll melt basically ANYTHING, so if anyone has any ideas, bring something in. We're also looking for someone to bring in an old cast-iron pot or pan that will not be returned (aside from maybe as a glob of melty metal) or some dry sand. Let me know.

I hope to see you all there! It's shaping up to be a great final meeing!

Tenth Meeting: The Shape of Things to Come

(Ninth real meeting. :))

Today we had a nice little meeting. We were supposed to work on our bridges, but that's sort of falling apart, haha. But Willy did a random little rocket thing, and we talked about the future. The Petovek Administration is nearing its end; we have just one meeting left (and early signs are that it'll be an especially good one...).

A new era approaches. When Year Four begins, it will be under entirely new leadership. Our survey a couple weeks ago asked whether people were interested in being one of that new batch of leaders. Nine people said maybe or yes. I've emailed those people; if you didn't get it but are still interested in a leadership position, please let me (Toph) know.

The gist of it is that in a week or so, we'll send out a list of candidates, and you guys will vote. And something like the top 3 finishers will be our new fearless leaders. That'll be a little later; this is for now just a heads-up.

But in addition to co-presidents, we have a couple special positions open: Blogger and videographer. We want our work here to continue, so that folks who can't come can still read about and see some of the stuff we do. If you're interested in taking over the blog, or if you're interested in filming our meetings and putting them on YouTube, or both, please let me know.

Final comment: the T-shirt issue. On surveys, 9/15 people said they'd buy one, 4 said maybe, two said no. So that seems pretty positive, but we just don't know where to go with it. If anyone has any t-shirt ideas--designs, text, etc.--please let me know.

Video coming soon. Maybe. :)

Is it immoral to want to be immortal?

Humanity has strived toward immortality for thousands of years. Chances are it's not exactly right around the corner, but without a doubt, people are living longer. How far is too far to go?

MSNBC.com: "Buying time?" section
Opinion: It's not immoral to want to be immortal

Ninth Building: Bridges

Today we had a quiet little meeting; we got started on building some little bridges out of wood sticks. They have to be 2 feet long and at least 6 cm wide. The goal is for your bridge to support more weight (hung from the bottom) than the other team's.

Next meeting we'll finish them and test them. And then, since it's one of the last meetings before the seniors take off, we can burn a few bridges on our way out. Ha! Get it? It's a pun.

But knowing us, it'll also probably come true.

DIY: How To Shoot Fireballs

Make a Fireball Shooter! - video powered by Metacafe

DIY: How To Shoot Fireballs