Over fifteen hundred people died when the "unsinkable" Titantic sank in 1912, just days into the passenger steamship's first trip from Southampton, England to New York City. Collision with an iceberg undisputedly
caused the tragedy, but recent news has raised the possibility that human error also played a role in the accident.

Suspicions and possibilities floated to the surface last week as news sources reported on Louise Patten's claim that her grandfather, Charles Lightoller, second officer on the Titanic's only trip, claimed to have had reports from the captain and first officer that a steering mistake had turned the ship into the iceberg rather than away from it. The mistake, if indeed it happened that way, may be attributed to a change in steering systems at that time, a move away from the "tiller" system (where you push right to go left and vice versa) to a system more like modern cars—you turn the way you want to go.

While Patten reportedly told his wife his account of what happened after the tragedy, he never revealed the possibility of human error in his meetings with investigators. Most likely, the truth will never be known for certain. But the news offers ground for speculation, and it's at the heart of a new novel by Patten.

The following projects might be smooth sailing for those interested in hydrodynamics and curious about events that may have coincided to down the famed ship:

• How Much Weight Can Your Boat Float? (Difficulty: 4)
• Rocking the Boat (Difficulty: 4-5)
• Making It Shipshape: Hull Design and Hydrodynamics (Difficulty: 5-8)
• Archimedes Squeeze: At What Diameter Does an Aluminum Boat Sink? (Difficulty: 4-5)

Just a reminder, our free Professional Development Webinar for teachers is today, Wednesday, September 22 at:

• 4 p.m. Pacific


• 5 p.m. Mountain


• 6 p.m. Central


• 7 p.m. Eastern

If you are not registered yet and would like to join us, it's not too late! Please register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/389772962

To find out more about today's virtual tour of the Science Buddies website, see our previous blog entry.

Cocoa beans in a cocoa pod. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service.

Cocoa is the key ingredient in chocolate, and while it may seem like the candy display at your local store is never at risk of running on empty, the U. S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) reports that "worldwide demand for cacao now exceeds production." Adding to the problem is the fact that cocoa farmers face a large number of environmental risks each year. Fungal diseases and pests that target cacao trees can cause widespread damage, destroying seed-bearing pods and contributing to hundreds of millions of dollars of lost sales each year. Drought, too, is responsible for the loss of cocoa crops each year.

Working Together

In 2008, the USDA-ARS, the Mars food company, and IBM announced collaborative plans to work on sequencing the cocoa genome, a project predicted to help more than 6.5 million farmers worldwide&emdash;and help pave the way for a more sustainable cocoa industry.

While the US chocolate industry weighs in at a hefty $17.3 billion a year, the economic reach of chocolate is worldwide. Labeled one of the top ten global agriculture commodities, 70% of the world's cocoa is farmed in Africa, where the cocoa industry is an important economic industry.

The hope is that sequencing the cocoa genome will allow targeted breeding of cocoa plants, enabling cocoa farmers to raise healthier crops with higher yields. This kind of breeding may also enable the development of crops that are more resistant to environmental changes and more pest and disease resistant.

Ahead of Schedule

The preliminary release of the cocoa genome sequence was announced last week, three years ahead of expectations. The sequence is called the Theobroma cacao Matina 1-6 genome sequence (referred to as Matina 1-6) and contains 1782 "supercontigs," the first ten of which account for approximately 92% of the genome. Work continues to sequence the complete genome, but the preliminary release involves 35,000 genes.

In addition to USDA-ARS, Mars, and IBM, National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR), Clemson University, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Indiana University, and Washington State University were involved in the researching and sequencing of Matina 1-6.

The gene sequence is freely available to the public at: http://www.cacaogenomedb.org/

Genomics at Work

With the public availability of Matina1-6, chocolate-loving students with an interest in genomics can join the investigation and build a science project around the search for specific types of resistance in genes. For example, students could predict which cacao pathogens the Matina 1-6 cacao plant is resistant to based on the genome sequence. One place to start might be to do background research on common threats to the cacao plant—fungi and other pathogens that commonly attack cacao. Then search for genes in other plants that are known to convey resistance to those pathogens. Examining Matinal 1-6 for similar genes would allow students to make predictions about resistance.

Those looking for an introduction to genomics will find science project ideas in the Science Buddies genetics & genomics section.

And, for those who like their chocolate unsequenced:

• M&M Survival Challenge (Difficulty: 1-3)
• M&M Math (Difficulty: 3)
• M&M Geometry (Difficulty: 3)
• Temper, Temper, Temper! The Science of Tempering Chocolate* (Difficulty: 6)

September 18 is International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN), a night where astronomy enthusiasts around the world—including students and families—will be gazing at the moon. A global celebration organized by Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) and NASA, InOMN encourages discussion of the moon and awareness of recent lunar missions, including NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), developed by Northrop Gruman.

The following Science Buddies science project ideas are perfect for home or classroom moon-minded discussions and exploration:

• Measuring the Moon (Difficulty: 3)
• I See a Full Moon Rising...and Shrinking...or Do I? (Difficulty: 7-8)

  
  

  (Medtronic is the sponsor of Science Buddies projects in the area of Health and Human Biology)
  

Due to technical difficulties, the Webinar last week was interrupted and has been rescheduled.

The new date and time is: Wednesday, September 22 at 4 p.m. PDT.

Even if you had registered to attend the August 29 webinar, we need for you to re-register using the link below.

During the one-hour guided tour of Science Buddies, you'll find our how to use Science Buddies resources in your classroom. In this comprehensive online guided walk-through of the Science Buddies website, we'll show you how our:

• Huge library of Project Ideas and our Topic Selection Wizard tool can help students find a project they are excited about, even if they don't think they are "into" science.
• Our Teacher and Parent Resources can help you implement an inquiry-based curriculum or organize a science fair.
• Our resources can guide students through the process of creating and presenting a science project, even if they lack parental support.

Please register to join us for this free event:

Date:

• September 22

Time:

• 4 p.m. Pacific
  
• 5 p.m. Mountain
  
• 6 p.m. Central
  
• 7 p.m. Eastern

Where:

• Online

System Requirements:

• PC-based attendees
  Required: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000
  


• Macintosh-based attendees
  Required: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Space is limited, so please register ASAP to reserve your slot. The first 5 people to sign in, attend the whole webinar, and complete a post-webinar survey will receive a copy of Norton 360, courtesy of Symantec. At the end of the webinar, we will randomly select attendees to receive a variety of great door prizes. One lucky attendee will win a $100 Best Buy gift card! If you have any questions, please contact Meghan O'Hare at meghan@sciencebuddies.org.

Reserve your seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/389772962