Poesia e Ciência

Rubidium

Mario Markus

The best you can do

if you loose your inner rhythm

is to eat

a clock.

One with Rubidium,

which also helps

against depression,

epilepsy

and microbes.

Engineers

have good reason

to put it in turbines.

And so do stars,

which fill up

with it

before they die.

Use it as a timer

for comets and moons.

And never forget:

If you loose the beat,

then swallow

a clock.

Fonte: http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/6173301/Chemical_Poems_Rubidium.html

Poesia e Ciência

Tripartite Brain

David O'Neal

Our human brain is tripartite:

Part reptile, mammal, and primate

And often doesn’t get things right.

The oldest part of it’s the snake’s:

The reptile brain that’s all instinct

That fights or flees or fakes and makes mistakes.

The mammal part's like a dog’s or cat’s:

It's called the limbic system

And emotes and fosters feelings - even in rats.

The third part’s the neocortex,

The newest and, some say, the best:

It thinks and plans and is the most complex.

The neocortex knows just what to do:

It apologizes endlessly

For the shameless goings-on

Of the other two.

In: McAlister, N.H., McAlister, Z. ed. Science Poetry. Ontario, 2011. p.39. Disponível em: <http://www.durham.net/~neilmac/sciencepoetry.pdf> . Acesso em: 20 set. 2013

Poesia e Ciência

Mathematics of Light

David Morley

The wavelengths of daylight

register on bright equipment:

flutterings across a spectrum

from infra-red to ultraviolet.

Discover me at an ice age,

at a midnight of colour,

in a place where rainbows

unbind themselves completely.

But you stand in the noon.

Shadows are inventing themselves

over your quickening retina;

the day moves on to shade

when spires are like pen-strokes

in the heat haze… It’s

like Newton’s gold trances

as he skimmed slates on the sea,

like Einstein’s chatter over tea,

borealis, wispy cigarettes. It’s 

down to the human to live it, take

it in. Keep my sunlight warm for me.

Fonte: http://www.liv.ac.uk/poetryandscience/poems/mathematics-of-light.htm

Poesia e Ciência

Para fecharmos a semana, um poema inspirado pela ciência:

Discovering the Night Sky

Ancient civilisations distinguished between stars and planets,

They understood then, Moon phases and how the Sun rises and sets.

Through joining of the night sky stars they enabled navigations,

Using imaginary lines to make patterns (constellations).

The Egyptians created our calendar of 3 6 5 days,

Greeks discovered that reflected sunlight lit the Moon with bright rays.

Nicolaus Copernicus theorised that planets orbit the Sun,

By studying night skies, many important discoveries were won.

But it was not till Galileo, a famous astronomer,

First used a telescope to see the night sky, clearer than it were.

Then, scientific discoveries could more accurately be made,

And conventional views were challenged, and thus soon began to fade.

Galileo didn't just observe the fascinating night sky,

He also applied scientific methods to find out just why,

Using simple logical thinking and mathematical laws,

With his observations, to help discover the possible cause.

Galileo sighted some darkness on the surface of the Moon,

These dark areas amazingly grew and shrunk back rather soon.

Depending on their true position in relation to the Sun,

He deduced that these were just mere shadows, when next day there were none!

Cast by the Moon's odd-looking surface craters and mountains up high,

This was an important revelation - uncovered with a sigh,

As it was widely believed and also very commonly thought,

That the Moon's surface was quite smooth, as had previously been taught.

Most importantly, Galileo Galilei discovered then,

The four major, visible moons of Jupiter, in 16 10.

He observed that the surrounding moons of planet Jupiter moved,

And with further investigating and calculation he proved,

That around planet Jupiter the large rings actually revolved,

This was a major discovery - a curious mystery solved,

As it was previously truly believed by most common folk,

That all things in the universe revolved around Earth - what a joke!

Galileo's confirmation that planet Earth orbits the Sun,

Meant that the Copemican System's popularity was won.

Furthermore, the rings of Saturn that Galileo uncovered,

Are other fascinating phenomena that he discovered.

His observations motivated people to further explore,

Foremost, Galileo encouraged many people to be sure,

To always apply maths laws and logic to their observations,

In a quest to understand the universe and situations.

Many important, great discoveries were made throughout history,

By studying the night sky for the benefit of you and me.

Today, major advances such as the Hubble Space Telescope,

CCD imaging, observations in infra-red give hope.

Also, improved optical telescopes, ultra-violet, X-rays,

Continue to aid discoveries in more technological ways.

Future generations need no longer yearn or ask to know why -

Most questions can now be answered about the amazing night sky!

Ellysia Oldsen, 14 years

Australia

Fonte: Science Education Review, 10(2), 2011 p.31