The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 29

The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 29
July 21, 2017
Volume 23, Number 29

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

In the News

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Research and Education

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Livingstone Online
Social studies

Livingstone Online is a digital museum and library dedicated to the British missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Launched in 2004, the project is an ongoing international collaboration between distinguished scholars and institutions, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This extensive and skillfully designed website includes no fewer than 15,000 digitized images and 7,000 digitized transcripts, along with critical essays. The result is a website that tells the story of Livingstone's life while illuminating realities about British imperialism, African colonialism, and Victorian medicine, among other topics. Visitors less familiar with the story of David Livingstone may want to start with the Life and Times section, which features detailed essays accompanied by select primary documents. Visitors may also explore the extensive manuscript collection in the In His Own Words section, which includes the explorer's famous 1857 manuscript, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, along with diaries, maps, and letters. Recently added to this collection are Livingstone's 1870 and 1871 Field Dairies, the later made available thanks to spectral imaging technology. [MMB]

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National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science: Cut It Out!
Science

The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science has created this lesson plan to help young scientists understand contemporary scientific research and issues. Authored by Grace A. Farber of the University of Sciences and Amy T. Hark of Muhlenberg College, this lesson is designed to engage high school or college students with the CRISPR Cas9 system for genome editing. During this lesson, students read four interrelated case studies about different members of a single family. One of these individuals is a woman who hopes to conceive a child and meets with a genetic counselor after learning that she is a carrier for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). As students read through each case study, they explore supplemental activities that introduces them to how CRISPR gene editing works. Supplemental readings are scaffolded so that students examine increasingly complex resources with each case. These resources include a TED talk by Jennifer Doudna (one of the inventors of CRISPR technology), an article in Science Magazine, and research papers in Bioessays and Science. Instructors will need to have access to these supplemental materials as they are not included with the lesson plan. [MMB]

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SFMOMA: Teacher Resources
Arts

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) offers this collection of 100 educational resources for K-12 teachers. Many of these resources may also be of interest to youth librarians and teachers in out of school contexts. This collection can be browsed by grade level, subject area, or theme (e.g. Power, Community, or Narrative Process). One highlight of this collection is the Open Studio series, which features classroom activities suggested by contemporary artists. Some of these activities are accompanied by short videos featuring the artist. Another highlight is a series of printable artist guides, which feature short readings and photographs of artwork by a famous artist, accompanied by activities for students to complete. Featured artists include Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Louise Bourgeois. This collection also offers a series of discussion guides designed to engage learners of all ages with a variety of work found in SFMOMA. Finally, younger learners may be drawn to the playful Country Dog Gentlemen video series, which follows dogs from Roy De Forest's painting by the same name as they learn about various artists. [MMB]

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Not So Standard Deviations
Mathematics

Not So Standard Deviations is a bi-weekly podcast about data science and data analysis. This podcast is hosted by Roger D. Peng, a scholar of Data Science at John Hopkins University and Hilary Parker, who earned a Ph.D. in biostatistics from JHU and currently works as a data scientist for the company Stitch Fix. In each episode, Peng and Parker explore new developments and research in data science in both academics and industry; most episodes include conversations about multiple topics and news stories in an informal, conversational style. For example, one recent episode includes a discussion on the growing field of Explainable Artificial Intelligence, or "XAI," which seeks to develop models of AI that are more easily understood by people. Another recent episode ponders cybersecurity in cloud storage. Other episodes discuss statistical doctoral programs and what it is like to interview for data science or data analyst jobs. While much of this podcast is accessible to readers interested in data science, these particular discussions may especially appeal to those considering entering the field. [MMB]

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Library of Congress: Sigmund Freud Papers
Social studies

The Library of Congress is home to this extensive collection of materials relating to Sigmund Freud, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Sigmund Freud Archives, a New York-based organization, founded by a team of psychologists in 1951 and committed to collecting items about the founder of psychoanalysis. This collection, numbering over 50,000 items in total, consists of personal correspondence by Freud and also includes university records, interviews, and more. As of this write-up, approximately 2,000 of these items have been digitized for visitors from around the world to view. Visitors may browse these items by date or by collection (e.g. General Correspondence; Interviews and Recollections; and Oversized). This items, which include papers in both English and German, will also serve as a valuable resource for those studying philosophy, history, or psychology. [MMB]

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YouTube: Numberphile
Mathematics

This YouTube channel, courtesy of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and the Simons Foundation Science Sandbox, describes its offerings as "videos about numbers - it's that simple." These videos come from Brady Haran, who also produced the popular Periodic Table of Videos series (see the 03-27-2009 Scout Report). Each episode of Numberphile varies in length, between just over a minute to about fifteen minutes, and includes quick brain teasers, hands on demonstrations, interviews, and short lessons. Videos also frequently feature guest scholars. Recent videos include an exploration of the links between the fields of mathematics and physics; an explanation of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem by Professor Marcus du Sautoy of the University of Oxford; and a brainteaser about how to fairly slice a cake. Some videos are organized into playlists for easy browsing, including Prime Numbers, Dice, and Fermat's Last Theorem. [MMB]

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The Programing Historian
Social studies

For scholars of History, along with individuals in other disciplines interested in Digital Humanities, the Programming Historian offers "novice-friendly, peer-reviewed tutorials that help humanists learn a wide range of digital tools, techniques, and workflows to facilitate their research." As of this write-up, the Programming Historian contains over 60 tutorials, organized into units, or "series," including Data Management, Data Manipulation, Mapping and GIS, and Digital Exhibits and Augmented Reality. Each lesson includes step-by-step instructions along with explanations of vocabulary terms and helpful visuals. Each tutorial is designed specifically for historians, with sample tasks and datasets centering on historical research. Visitors experienced in the digital humanities are invited to contribute their own lessons, while all visitors are invited to provide feedback or ask questions on the project's Github page. The Programming Historian is available in both English and Spanish. [MMB]

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General Interest

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Electric Literature
Language Arts

Founded in 2009 as a quarterly publication and revamped as a non-profit in 2014, Electric Literature aims "to expand the influence of literature in popular culture by fostering lively and innovative literary conversations and making exceptional writing accessible to new audiences." Today, the publication includes two weekly online magazines. The whimsically titled Scuttlebutt magazine features short news stories that will be of interest to book lovers. Here, visitors can find out about a Jane Austen letter that reveals the author's fondness for Gothic literature and learn about the first Scottish translation of Harry Potter. Meanwhile, Recommended Reading features a short essay each week highlighting a new short story or novel. In addition to these two weekly magazines, Electric Literature also features Okey-Panky, "a series of literary oddments for busy people," such as poems, offbeat short essays, and comics. Electric Literature also features regular book reviews (which can be found in the Books tab) and Essays. [MMB]

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Atlas of Living Australia
Science

Australia is home to a remarkable amount of biodiversity, including mammals, birds, and fauna. The Atlas of Living Australia, part of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), is a collaborative project from numerous Australian museums and research institutions. The Atlas offers an extensive one-stop shop to explore photographs and data about the many species that make up the continent. This collection will appeal to those who live in Australia (or who are planning to visit), along with biology researchers and nature lovers around the world. Visitors are invited to explore the collection by species, location (where visitors can enter a specific address to view nearby species), or collection (e.g. Fauna, Plants, Microorganisms). By selecting an individual species, visitors can check out complete classification information, a map of where to find the species, and an extensive gallery of photographs. There are also research papers and datasets, which may be browsed on their own. [MMB]

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The Looking Glass: New Perspectives on Children's Literature
Language Arts

Edited by a team of literature scholars from across the United States, The Looking Glass: New Perspectives on Children's Literature is an online journal that includes analysis of both classic and contemporary children's and youth literature. Founded in 1997, the journal releases a new issue once or twice a year and is aimed at "academics, librarians, teachers, parents and anyone else fascinated by the world of children's literature." The journal is divided up into several sections and includes peer-reviewed academic papers alongside "more general commentary" and "light and quirky pieces." On this website, visitors may read the current issue of The Looking Glass and all previously published issues in HTML format. In the Vol 19, No 1 (2016) issue, readers will find an analysis of hunger in youth novels by Sarah Hardstaff; a consideration of literacy education by Kevin K. Thomas and April M. Burke, both of Central Michigan University; and a consideration of three recently published books about the Harry Potter series. [MMB]

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Pro Hoops History
Physical Education

Authored by veteran sports writer and basketball historian Curtis Harris, Pro-Hoops History is "dedicated to spreading and creating knowledge related to the history of professional basketball." Harris earned an MA in History from American University, where he wrote his thesis on the early history of basketball between 1891 and 1910 (visitors can download and read his thesis via the April 30, 2014 post on this blog). Here, readers may learn about many aspects of basketball history, from its late nineteenth century origins through the present. Blog posts include profiles of players throughout history, statistical analysis, franchise histories, and more. Harris also discusses Irish basketball; an excerpt from a new biography of Earl Lloyd (the first African-American NBA player); and what the NBA record book looked like in 1964. Those interested in learning more about the history of basketball will want to check out the Historiography and Sources section. Basketball fans will also want to check out Harris's Facebook page, @ProHoopsHistory. [MMB]

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Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
Arts

Established in 1977 and housed at The Ohio State University, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum "houses the world's largest collection of materials related to cartoons and comics, including original art, books, magazines, journals, comic books, archival materials, and newspaper comic strip pages and clippings." The museum is named after Ohio cartoonist Billy Ireland and features a wide variety of comics published since 1700, from popular newspaper strips to underground publications. For readers who can't make the trek to Ohio, the museum offers a number of online resources. Visitors may want to start with the museum's extensive collection of online exhibits, available via the Resource tab. Many of these exhibits highlight the work of a single cartoonist or publication with accompanying essays. Meanwhile, the Collections tab features an Arts Image Database along with a Digital Collection, both of which can be searched by text. In addition, the Digital Collections can be browsed by categories such as time period, genre, subject, and creator. [MMB]

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Sacred Places, Sacred Ways
Religion

From the Esri Story Maps team comes this spectacular story map that brings to life five spaces that are sacred to different religions: Mecca (Islam), Varanasi (Hinduism), the Way of St. James in Northern Spain (Christianity), the Western Wall in Jerusalem (Judaism), and Lumbini in Nepal (Buddhism). This story map features gorgeous photographs, bird's-eye views, and maps, accompanied by explanations of each site's significance and history. These descriptions also explain common rituals performed at each site and note how these sites have changed in recent years. As the introduction explains, these sites reveal a commonality between the five major religions (and other religions): "to regard the journey to a holy place as sacred: the act of traveling to a religious destination is itself an act of devotion." [MMB]

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Oxford American
Language Arts

Founded in 1992 in Oxford, Mississippi, Oxford American is an award-winning literary magazine "dedicated to featuring the best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South." Released quarterly in print, this magazine offers a number of web-only features. For instance, between April and December of 2017, the magazine will feature The By and By, a series of essays released twice a week, authored "by some of the South's most gifted and promising talents." Meanwhile, the weekly Eyes on the South series highlights the work of a variety of photographers. Other web features include "12 Things to do with a Just Picked Heirloom Tomato" by Ronni Lundy, the author of three cookbooks; a new song and accompanying short essay by Nashville musician William Taylor; and Kiese Laymon's forward to History Between the Folds: Personal Narratives by the Eleventh Grade at George Washington Carver High School, a collection of writings authored by high school juniors mentored by Laymon in New Orleans. [MMB]

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Network Tools

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Bitwarden
Science

Passwords are often the weakest link in many computer security settings. Good, strong passwords are also difficult to remember, which can prompt users to reuse a small number of passwords on a large number of sites. But whenever passwords used on one site are exposed in a security breach, all sites where those passwords were reused are at risk of a secondary breach. Bitwarden is an open source password management solution designed to help with these issues. It generates a new, unique, random password for each site, such that passwords are never reused. These passwords are then synchronized across any number of devices using industry-standard encryption (AES-256, PBKDF2 SHA-256). Bitwarden's free tier supports sharing collections of passwords with another user (e.g. a spouse) for secure access to shared accounts. Plans that support sharing with three or more users are available for a fee. Bitwarden is available as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Vivaldi. Extensions for Microsoft Edge and Brave are in development. Bitwarden is also available for iOS and Android devices. [CRH]

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Keybr.com
Educational Technology

As computers play an increasing role in our professional and personal lives, the ability to touch type quickly and accurately is becoming an increasingly necessary skill. Numerous typing tutors exist, but most rely on repetitive exercises made up of nonsense words. In contrast, Keybr.com follows phonetic rules to generate lessons made of pronounceable "words." New users will start with a small number of keys, with new keys being added as the user gains proficiency. As a user progresses, the site personalizes lessons for them, putting more emphasis on keys that the user has trouble with. Keybr.com can generate lessons according to the phonetic rules of English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian. It also supports a variety of alternative English-language keyboard layouts, like Dvorak and Coleman. Users can view detailed statistics on their typing as they progress. In addition to individualized lessons, the site also supports typing races with other users currently on the site. [CRH]

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In the News

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New Study Reveals There Are 8.3 Billion Metric Tons of Plastic on Our Planet

Plastic is Everywhere And Recycling Isn't the End of It
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/19/538166682/plastic-is-everywhere-and-recycling-isnt-the-end-of-it

Earth is becoming "Planet Plastic"
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40654915

The Immense, Eternal Footprint Humanity Leaves on Earth: Plastics
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/climate/plastic-pollution-study-science-advances.html

Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700782.full

How a Crazy Laboratory Accident Helped Create Plastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML0PN_zvML8

The British Plastics Industry - 1945 Educational Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i38Yz4pFQRk

Plastic was invented in 1907. In the 1950s, the material became ubiquitous in a wide range of products. Today, there are 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic on our planet. That's roughly the weight of 25,000 Empire State buildings, and enough to cover the entire country of Argentina. This alarming finding comes from Roland Geyer, an industrial ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Jenna R. Jambeck of the University of Georgia College of Engineering, and Kara Lavender Law of the Sea Education Association, who published their study in Science Advances on Wednesday, July 19th. Of this 8.3 metric tons, 79 percent of plastics are in landfills, 12 percent are incinerated, and a mere 9 percent is recycled. The study also notes that the greatest proportion of plastic is created for packaging (42 percent) and construction (about 20 percent). Perhaps most frighteningly, Geyer and his fellow co-authors predicted the amount of plastic on Earth to expand to 12 billion metric tons by the year 2050. Geyer, Jambeck, and Law were also part of the team that authored a 2015 study that estimated that between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic enters the ocean each year. Geyer notes, "Virtually all the plastic we ever made is non-degradable. [It] will be with us for hundreds of years." [MMB]

The first three links take readers to summaries of this new study, courtesy of Christopher Joyce of NPR, Jonathan Amos of BBC News, and Tatiana Schlossberg of The New York Times. Those interested in reading the study in full may do so via the fourth link. The fifth link takes visitors to a video from Discovery News' DNews Plus about the chemistry behind plastic and the material's invention. Finally, the last link takes visitors to a 1945 promotional video from the British Plastics Industry. This video, which depicts how plastics were manufactured in factories at the time, offers historical insight about the moment when plastic became a mass-produced and mass-marketed material.
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