science – Ruth E. Hendricks

Whisper Dishes Work

There’s 60 feet between the Whisper Dishes in the Big Science Park outside at CoSI.

That’s Charlie in the teal shirt. He whispers and I can hear him, clear as a bell, all those sixty feet away. Amazing.

“Whisper dishes, also known as acoustic mirrors, are parabolic-shaped devices that collect and reflect sound waves, allowing for communication over distances, even at a whisper. They work by focusing sound waves onto a focal point, where they can be easily heard, and then reflecting those waves to another dish, where they are focused and amplified again”

August 3, 2025 by Ruth Categories: PhotographyTags: acoustics, Columbus OH, COSI, family, photography, postaday, science, sound, whisper, whisper dishes 9 Comments

Water Bells at COSI

COSI Center of Science and Industry in Columbus

Surface tension of water molecules illustrated in this exhibit.

Here’s an article **Fun With Water Bells** you can try this at home

Charlie stuck his hand in the flowing water you can see how it created a divide

“It turns out that this effect was already studied for the first time in 1833 by the famous French physicist Félix Savart and has fascinated many great physicist ever since (Boussinesq (1869), Taylor (1959) and, recently, Clanet (2001)). They found that the shape of the bell can be understood as an delicate interplay between inertia, surface tension and gravity” click for more information from a physicist‘s perspective

May 1, 2023 by Ruth Categories: PhotographyTags: Columbus OH, COSI, family, photography, physics, postaday, science, water, water bells, water molecules 11 Comments

Mushroom Risotto

The only risotto I’ve eaten was made in fine restaurants. Although I always loved eating it. I’d never made it myself.

I’ve been binge watching lots of cooking shows. One episode of Master Chef Junior had Joe Bastianich demonstrating how to make risotto. Then I found a video of his mother Lidia Bastianich at Harvard demonstrating the science behind the cooking of risotto at a public lecture on Science and Cooking. I watched them and felt confident but upon a second look I heard that you use 1/4 c of wine not the one cup I thought I heard. Good thing I watched again.

You need the Arborio rice to begin with so I bought the correct ingredients (except I did not have a hunk of Grana Padano cheese and used some Parmesan to finish it) cook with wine you would drink, no cooking wine.

The best 22 minutes I’ve spent in a long time, and standing at the stove stirring constantly wasn’t difficult. Can’t wait to make it again.

January 28, 2021 by Ruth Categories: Cooking and Eating, PhotographyTags: baby Bella mushrooms, cooking, cooking shows, food, irish butter, Italian cooking, Joe Bastianich, kitchen, Lidia Bastianich, parmesan cheese, photography, postaday, risotto, science, shallots, wine 20 Comments

Space Station Sighting Sunday Night

You might have to strain your eyes to see it in the photo. The space station sighting on Sunday night. The little white dot to the left,over the neighbors house roof, is the space station. Traveling 4.7 miles per second. Erika’s dad knew what time to see it in the sky, thanks to an app he has.

It tells him where and when to see satellites and such in the night sky. It was really bright. Although it was over Sunset Beach Florida when we saw it, we were standing in Columbus, Ohio.

My iPhone was the camera.

May 20, 2018 by Ruth Categories: PhotographyTags: astronomy, Columbus OH, family, grandchildren, iPhone photography, night photography, night sky, Satellites, science, sky guide, space station, star watch, stars, Sunset Beach FL, technology, travel 15 Comments

Tag: science

Whisper Dishes Work

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Water Bells at COSI

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Mushroom Risotto

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Space Station Sighting Sunday Night

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