When the road is wet (there is a water layer on the road surface), the road marks become blurred and drivers are distracted. We discuss the contributing processes and identify which processes are dominant to the occurrence of this phenomenon. Modelling and a simple experiment demonstrate that the dominant processes are: (a) refraction of light by…

An important aspect of science education involves helping students learn to read and communicate scientific information and arguments. In this note, I would like to share a resource that I have come across which I have found to be a useful tool for helping students improve those skills, learn content material, and acquaint them with a great…

A fly is buzzing around in the kitchen. You sneak up on it with a flyswatter, but just as you get close to it, it flies away. What makes flies and other insects so good at escaping from danger? The fact that insects have eyesight that can easily detect moving objects is one of the things that help them survive. In this month's Science Shorts,…

This article takes a brief walk through two complex cultures, looking at similarities and differences between them. Visual perception is vital to both art and science, for to see is to understand. The article compares how education in each subject fosters visualization and creative thinking.

Understanding vision is not a simple task. Nevertheless, a great deal is known about vision, more than about any of our other senses. The articles collected in this volume were chosen and organized with the intention of providing a survey of a number of different areas of vision research. Three major sections focus on the general categories of…

Discusses various issues related to colorblind students performing titrations with visual indicators. Includes tables showing precisions in the titration of a weak acid by colorblind students using phenolphthalein and thymolphthalein and in the titration of a weak base by colorblind persons using methyl red and bromcresol green. (JN)

Going to the movies or watching Saturday morning cartoons has become a fixture of contemporary American life, but have you ever stopped to contemplate how those "moving" images on film are conveyed to our eyes and brain? The movement that we see on film is actually a series of still images, every image separated from the next by brief spaces of…

Reviews research done on the nature of vision from a neurologic perspective. Proposes a multiplex filter model to explain patterns in the signals transmitted to the brain from the retina. Describes experiments done to test the model. (CW)

Describes an experiment enabling students to apply concept of diffraction, determine limits of their color perception, learn how to measure wavelength with a simple apparatus, observe continuous and line spectra, and associate colors with corresponding wavelengths. The homemade diffraction-grating spectrometer used is easily constructed. (JN)

Describes inexpensive method of determining harmonic content of a repetitive signal such as a sound wave and demonstrations of the precession of a bicycle wheel and inversion shadows on the retina. Also describes a resonance demonstrator (made from scrap material) driven by a portable jigsaw. (JN)

Provides background theory and an experiment relating to chemometrics. Describes the phenomenon where solutions are dichromatic or dichromic. Discusses the difficulty students have in describing such solutions that appear to be several different colors at the same time. (TW)

Describes some of the capabilities of the Apple Macintosh computer in constructing stereo pairs for three-dimensional viewing. Discusses various software packages which can produce the desired graphics. Provides examples of how to use these stereo images in geology, chemistry, and psychology. (TW)