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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Chemistry In Second Life, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley Oct 2009

Chemistry In Second Life, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

This review will focus on the current level on chemistry research, education, and visualization possible within the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life. We discuss how Second Life has been used as a platform for the interactive and collaborative visualization of data from molecules and proteins to spectra and experimental data. We then review how these visualizations can be scripted for immersive educational activities and real-life collaborative research. We also discuss the benefits of the social networking affordances of Second Life for both chemists and chemistry students.


Chemistry In Second Life, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley Oct 2009

Chemistry In Second Life, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

This review will focus on the current level on chemistry research, education, and visualization possible within the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life. We discuss how Second Life has been used as a platform for the interactive and collaborative visualization of data from molecules and proteins to spectra and experimental data. We then review how these visualizations can be scripted for immersive educational activities and real-life collaborative research. We also discuss the benefits of the social networking affordances of Second Life for both chemists and chemistry students.


Beautifying Data In The Real World, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley, Rajarshi Guha, Pierre Lindenbaum, Cameron Neylon, Anthony J. Williams, Egon Willighagen Jul 2009

Beautifying Data In The Real World, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley, Rajarshi Guha, Pierre Lindenbaum, Cameron Neylon, Anthony J. Williams, Egon Willighagen

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

There are at least two problems with collecting "Beautiful Data" in the real world and presenting it to the interested public. The first is that the universe is inherently noisy. In most cases collecting the same piece of data twice will not give the same answer. This is because the collection process can never be made completely error-free. Fluctuations of temperature, pressure, humidity, power sources, water or reagent quality, precision of weighing, or human error will all conspire to obscure the “correct” answer. The art in experimental measurement lies in designing the data collection process so as to minimize the …


The Spectral Game: Leveraging Open Data And Crowdsourcing For Education, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley, Robert J. Lancashire, Anthony J. Williams Jun 2009

The Spectral Game: Leveraging Open Data And Crowdsourcing For Education, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley, Robert J. Lancashire, Anthony J. Williams

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

We report on the implementation of the Spectral Game, a web-based game where players try to match molecules to various forms of interactive spectra including 1D/2D NMR, Mass Spectrometry and Infrared spectra. Each correct selection earns the player one point and play continues until the player supplies an incorrect answer. The game is usually played using a web browser interface, although a version has been developed in the virtual 3D environment of Second Life. Spectra uploaded as Open Data to ChemSpider in JCAMP-DX format are used for the problem sets together with structures extracted from the website. The spectra are …


Visualizing Atomic Orbitals Using Second Life, Andrew Lang, David C. Kobilnyk Apr 2009

Visualizing Atomic Orbitals Using Second Life, Andrew Lang, David C. Kobilnyk

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Visualizing Atomic Orbitals Using Second Life, Andrew Lang, David C. Kobilnyk Apr 2009

Visualizing Atomic Orbitals Using Second Life, Andrew Lang, David C. Kobilnyk

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

We demonstrate the usefulness of Second Life as a platform for enlivening major concepts in chemistry education. These concepts include absorption spectra, selection rules, quantum numbers, and atomic orbital shapes. We have built several exhibits in Second Life which provide 3-dimensional interactivity for each of those areas: an interactive experiment showing the absorption spectrum of hydrogen, an interactive model of selection rules showing allowed and forbidden transitions for each state, a 3-dimensional grid of orbitals showing the constraints on the values of quantum numbers, and a large-scale interactive orbital display allowing the user to choose and rotate to-scale atomic orbitals …