Artificial intelligence (AI) has made remarkable strides in recent years, finding applications in various fields, including chemistry research and industry. Its integration into chemistry education has gained attention more recently, particularly with the advent of generative AI (GAI) tools. However, there is a need to understand how teachers'…

The typical sound of George Lucas' laser blaster in the "Star Wars" series is well known. What does a laser blaster in "Star Wars" sound like, and why? Here we show a simple way to produce this sound by using low-cost lab material, like a spring or a Slinky. Building on the work of Crawford, who analyzed the sound of a Slinky…

Granular flows appear frequently in the natural world and in civil engineering applications. These flows can exhibit features which are surprising and counter-intuitive and are often used to test the limits of the classical continuum approximation for modelling of fluid flows. An important sub-class of the granular flows are the gravity-driven…

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic prevented students from attending on-site classes. Consequently, their face-to-face interactions decreased. Thus, it became crucial to design learning activities to enhance the motivation of students and inspire them to achieve the desired learning outcomes during the long disruption of on-site classes. Mobile…

A modern cybernetic potentiostat plays a significant role in realizing various electrochemical measurements. This technology report describes a general-purpose, scalable, handheld (10 cm[superscript 2]), yet affordable hardware-software framework for a potentiostat, galvanostat, and electrochemical impedance spectrometer with high capabilities:(1)…

We review software for exploring biological evolution from a fun and educational perspective. Our goal is to provide a background explanation of the methods used, terminology, and user experience, and learning outcomes of desktop and mobile evolutionary simulators. Freeware and commercial programs are detailed, with a discussion of how certain…

In anatomical research and education, three-dimensional visualization of anatomical structures is crucial for understanding spatial relationships in diagnostics, surgical planning, and teaching. While computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offer valuable insights, they are often expensive and require specialized resources.…

Virtual laboratory simulations can contribute to the educational objectives related to practical classes, especially in situations of online or hybrid teaching. We present a proposal for laboratory activity involving the quantification of proteins with the biuret reaction and measurement by visible light spectrometry. The student will be able to…

Understanding the relationship between protein structure and function can be challenging for students. Molecular visualization software aids students in this problem by allowing manipulation of structures from new and deeper perspectives. In this communication, an activity using iMolview Lite, structure visualization software for portable devices,…

The natural sciences, by their very nature, are based on the exploration of the physical world, and digital mobile devices are considered appropriate to support this exploration (Suárez et al., 2018) since they offer the tools that make this investigation more accessible but also ubiquitous (Crompton et al., 2017). Inquiry-based learning is a…

Computation is intertwined with essentially all aspects of physics research and is invaluable for physicists' careers. Despite its disciplinary importance, integration of computation into physics education remains a challenge and, moreover, has tended to be constructed narrowly as a route to solving physics problems. Here, we broaden Physics…

The new normal imposed on us by the COVID-19 pandemic restricted the traditional ways we would teach high school students who are eager to participate in introductory astronomy projects on our university campus. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were forced to come up with creative ways to get around this obstacle. The outcome is…

Epidemiological models have enhanced relevance because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this note, we emphasize visual tools that can be part of a learning module geared to teaching the SIR epidemiological model, suitable for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students in disciplines where the level of prior mathematical knowledge of…

A simple computer interface for controlling a compact spectrograph for use as a spectrophotometer in an undergraduate teaching laboratory was developed. The project was implemented on a Raspberry Pi computer which permits the integration of a light source into the software. The interface was written in Python to facilitate modification by the user…

Amy Goods's software review article "V-Note: A video analysis tool for teacher | researchers" stimulated our interest in adopting this software to understand social bonding dynamics in a group of 10th-grade science students' during a science inquiry project. Three of us employed V-Note to analyze two video files for the same lesson in…