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◦We have researched about magnets and fuel options. The magnet are because we hope to be able to use magnets to help guide the vehicle on the track. We will place the magnets on the outside of the track and the metal in the tires will not be able to go off the track because of the magnetic force. For our fuel options we are currently using the wood pellet and other natural things.  We are using this because Disney is surrounded by trees and wildlife. It is also eco friendly.   2(�GI*

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"By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew."
Those are the words of J.K. Rowling - the author whose book series has been translated into 73 languages, sold millions of copies and accrued over $20 billion through movie adaptations and sponsorships. So why does she admit to being such a failure?

Creating her book series wasn't as easy as scribbling down notes on a few dinner napkins. It wasn't a one, two or even three step process. It would take years of perseverance to become the success she is today.

Soon after conceiving the idea for Harry Potter, Rowling began writing, but was immediately pulled away from her work by the devastating death of her mother. Rowling ceased working on the book and sank into a deep, grieving depression, getting little to nothing accomplished in that time.

In the hopes of digging herself out of grievance, she took a job teaching English in Portugal for a year. Her goal in venturing abroad was to get away from her troubles and more importantly, use her time off to continue working on her book. She set the goal of having the first Harry Potter book done by the time she returned from Portugal.

Things did not go as planned.

Not only did she fail to make progress on her first book, but after falling in, and then out of, love, she ended up with a failed marriage and a baby daughter she now had to raise alone. She came back to nothing. She had no job, no finished product and two mouths to feed. She had hit rock bottom. As she struggled with depression, raising a child on her own and living off meager unemployment benefits, she resumed work on her book in cafes while her daughter was asleep.

Despite numerous setbacks, she found solace in doing what she loved - writing. In fact, she found that the little she had was enough to be moderately happy. She had ended up in exactly the position she had feared most and found that it wasn't that bad. There wasn't anything left to be afraid of and her worked showcased that mindset.

When Rowling finally finished the first three chapters, she sent the manuscript off to a publisher - They quickly passed on the project.

She sent it to another publisher. Again, the answer was no. Her mailbox filled up with rejection letters, but she didn't let it stop her.

"Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me." --- J.K. Rowling

After sending her manuscript to 12 different publishers and getting rejected by every single one, Rowling began losing confidence in her book. Finally, the editor at Bloomsbury Publishing company sat down to read the manuscript. And so did the editor's 8 year-old daughter. The little girl loved the opening chapters, and begged to read the whole thing. This made the publisher agree to publish Rowling's novel. But Rowling was left with a warning: that she should get a day job, because she wouldn't make any money writing children's books. Once Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published, though, she proved everyone wrong.

J.K. Rowling went from being a jobless single mother living off unemployment benefits to one of the best selling authors of all time. But it didn't happen over night. She faced rejection and constantly strived for success. She worked hard at her craft before anyone noticed her. That practice, along with strengthening herself against rejection, was what made her work unforgettable. Looking back, the Harry Potter series has earned over $400 million in book sales, and the last movie alone earned $476 million dollars in ticket sales... on opening weekend. She was the first female to become a billionaire author, not that many authors make it that far in the first place.

If you have a dream or a passion and you keep getting rejected or running into failure, don't let that stop you. If you're going through a tough time in your life, but working on something you really believe in, don't give up. If you do, you'll never know what could have been. Who knows, you might end up breaking records.

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default." --- J.K. Rowling

For more inspiration, check out our fellows page to read about what the amazing people in our community have done.

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Failure. Rejection. Success: The J. K. Rowling Story

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"By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew." Those are the words of J.K. Rowling - the author whose book series has been translated into 73 languages, sold millions of copies and accrued over $20 billion through movie adaptations and sponsorships. So why does she admit to being such a failure?

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Biogas is produced as a byproduct of wastewater treatment plants. The amount and quality of the gas depend on the quantity and composition of the effluent being treated by the plant. The gas can be utilised to produce electricity, using positive displacement engines (same type as a car engine). Burning the gas in an engine also produces heat which can be utilised elsewhere in the plant - for example to heat up the digester to optimum temperature. Where biogas is not sufficient natural gas is used to augment biogas as fuel for the engines. Where excess biogas is produced it is flared. Due to the complexity of the process and the disturbances caused by variable biogas production the controls for the engines can become unstable, causing unnecessary engine trips and biogas flaring with a simultaneous high natural gas usage.

The total process consists of:
> Seven digesters producing biogas. Each digester has a biogas flowmeter.
> Gas is fed into a low pressure gas holder, intended to be a buffer in the system
> Four flares that will flare of gas once the low pressure gas holder reaches its upper limit
> Four gas blowers to raise the pressure of the biogas from 2.5kPa to 45kPa required for optimum engine performance
> Pipe lines transferring the gas across the plant to where it is being consumed by the engines
> Two engines that can blend natural gas and biogas - these are primary engines for controls
> Two engines which can either run on 100% natural gas or 100% biogas
> All engines are equipped with a flowmeter for biogas and natural gas consumption flow measurement.

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Biogas is produced as a byproduct of wastewater treatment plants. The amount and quality of the gas depend on the quantity and composition of the effluent being treated by the plant. The gas can be utilised to produce electricity, using positive displacement engines (same type as a car engine).

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Dear Fellow Third Grader,
My name is Lilly, and I go to Hampton Cove Elementary School, in Huntsville, AL. I like lilies, (the flower kind) and that is why this letter is on flower paper.  My Gate teacher’s name is Mrs. Parker, and my best friends in Gate are Lily Baker, Morgan, Ella Grace, Juliet, and Gabrielle. My favorite things to do are read, make up stories, draw, play sports, and go to school. My favorite author is J.K. Rowling, and my favorite color is blue. I hope the water in Flint, Michigan is getting better. In your next letter could you describe what it’s like? What are your favorite things to do? Please write back to me.

Your Pin-Pal,
Lilliana

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By Kristen Coyne
Many of us believe our daily experience with magnets begins and ends on the refrigerator door. There's that cute shot of the kids in the magnetized frame, the clip holding the grocery list, the realtor's business card and the haiku composed of magnetized words.

In fact, those are just one of several types of magnets that span a broad range of sizes, shapes, materials, strengths and applications. You may not see them, but magnets are everywhere – in our car motors, phones, tape recorders, credit cards, stereo speakers and computers, to name just a few practical applications. That's not even to mention the enormous – and enormously powerful – magnets used at the Magnet Lab and other research institutions.

PHYSICS FACTOID

Scientists believe the Earth's magnetic field is a result of convection currents in the planet's liquid outer core, which makes a good conductor because it is made up largely of iron. This is called a geodynamo.

Some magnets last lifetimes, others come and go in the blink of an eye. Some are multi-ton behemoths, others only visible through a microscope. Some are molded by nature, others by man. Magnets also span a vast range of possible magnetic field strengths.

On the following pages we'll review the basic types of magnets. But remember that there are properties that all magnets have in common. They all exert a magnetic force on each other. They all have a south pole and a north pole (just like the Earth, which itself is a magnet); opposite poles attract, like poles repel. By convention, magnetic field lines point away from a north pole of the magnet and towards the south pole. These fields are what produce forces on other magnets that follow specific physical laws.

Permanent Magnets: A Study in Sticktoitiveness

There are two basic kinds of magnets – permanent and temporary. We'll take on permanent first – which is appropriate, because before humans could invent and exploit temporary magnets, they had to discover the permanent kind first.

People first happened upon magnets sometime before 600 BC with the discovery of the mineral magnetite, a naturally occurring magnet. One type of magnetite, lodestone, has the additional property of polarity – it aligns itself with the Earth''s magnetic field. The lodestone made possible the invention of the compass, which was used in navigation as early as 1086.

Unlike temporary magnets, the permanent ones (such as those on your fridge) stick around for awhile (no pun intended). While they may not last forever, you often have to go to some effort to demagnetize them. You can't turn them on and off with the power switch. Permanent magnets all belong to a class of materials referred to as ferromagnetic.

The other major difference between permanent and temporary magnets is what the magnetic fields look like on an atomic level. These are two different phenomena entirely.

All magnetism comes down to electrons. In the electromagnets we'll discuss in a minute, magnetic fields result from electron flow through a conductor. In the case of permanent magnets, it's the of the electrons that creates magnetism, not their movement through a conducting material.

You know that the Earth is a great big magnet. Well, electrons are teeny tiny ones. They have a north and a south pole, too, and spin around an axis. This spinning results in a very tiny but extremely significant magnetic field. Every electron has one of two possible orientations for its axis.

Most materials are either naturally magnetized, or can be induced to be magnetic. In most materials, atoms are arranged in such a way that the magnetic orientation of one electron cancels out the orientation of another.

Iron and other ferromagnetic substances, though, are different. Their atomic makeup is such that smaller groups of atoms band together into areas called domains, in which all the electrons have the same magnetic orientation. Inside each of these domains, the electrons are oriented in the same direction. But the iron is not magnetic because these domains themselves are not aligned.

If you put that piece of iron within a magnetic field, though, the domains all begin to point in the same direction. The result? A magnet! A permanent magnet is nothing more than such an object in which all the domains are aligned in the same direction. There are only four elements in the world that are ferromagnetic at room temperature and can become permanently magnetized: iron, nickel, cobalt and gadolinium. (A fifth element, dysprosium, becomes ferromagnetic at low temperatures.)

Open our interactive tutorial and try this yourself!

Your new magnet could remain magnetized for a good while, depending on what it is made of. Pure iron, for example, will stay magnetized just a few minutes, although magnetization of many iron alloys will be much more "permanent." Ceramic and alnico – a combination of aluminum, nickel and cobalt – are two common types of permanent magnets. But even more "permanent" magnets could lose their magnetism with, say, a good swift blow from a hammer to knock the aligned domains out of alignment. When it comes to magnets, "permanent" doesn't necessarily mean "forever"!

Temporary Magnets: When is a Magnet Not a Magnet?

PHYSICS FACTOID

Naturally occurring magnets were formed when lightning struck magnetite on Earth.

Though permanent magnets can last a long time, they fall short in the power department. Scientists measure magnetic strength in units called tesla and gauss; one tesla equals 10,000 gauss. Your fridge magnet is a modest 10 gauss. The Earth's magnetic field is about .5 gauss (or 0.00005 tesla). The most powerful permanent magnets available produce fields about 1.5 tesla. While that's hardly shabby – magnets of that strength are used in MRI machines – it's still pretty limiting for many scientific and other applications. Theoretically you could make more powerful permanent magnets, but with all that metal in it, it would be extraordinarily heavy and impractical.

Luckily, there's more than one way to make a magnet. Take electromagnets: They aren't permanent, but they can be far stronger than the strongest permanent magnet.

But before we get to the really heavy stuff, let's start with other, smaller types of temporary magnets.

Click here to open a new window and see a random smattering of soft iron filings. (Iron nails or paper clips would also do the trick here).

Nothing special about these filings. Pretty hum-drum.

Now click the "on" button to expose these filings to a magnetic field and see what happens.

Presto-chango! Now that they're in a magnetic field, these filings have themselves become magnets. Just like the piece of iron you saw in the previous section. Except that these filings won't retain the property in the absence of a field. The second you take the magnet away, they're demoted again from miniscule magnets to run-of-the-mill iron filings. Easy come, easy go. Soft iron and other types of iron alloys behave this way. That's why they are used as temporary magnets in telephones and electric motors.

Let's move on to a type of temporary magnet that can flex some more muscle.

Electromagnets: Two Forces Team Up

Resistive electromagnets, another type of temporary magnet, combine the powers of electricity and of magnetism to enormous effect. Although superconducting electromagnets, which we'll discuss soon, offer many advantages, certain laws of physics prevent them from reaching the field strengths electromagnets are capable of.

Some of the world''s most powerful resistive magnets here at the MagLab; they can generate a sustained magnetic field of 35 tesla. (We're not counting here our world-record hybrid magnet or the stronger, short-lived fields of pulsed magnets, both of which we'll explain shortly.) Scientists use these high fields to do a wide range of experiments concerning physical, chemical and biological processes of different types of matter.

But electromagnets don't have to be hugely powerful. Whether in your toaster or TV, even small ones can be quite useful. To make one, you start out with some wire.

Now, plug that wire in so that a current runs through it. The result? A magnetic field (depicted in blue) - and a temporary magnet that you switched on with the current. Think of this as the simplest kind of electromagnet.

Turns out, there's a magnetic field circling every electrical wire, a fact famously stumbled upon by an astounded Dane named Hans Christian Ørsted in 1819, who noticed the magnetic needle of a compass align itself perpendicularly to a nearby current-carrying wire.

PHYSICS FACTOID

Ever hear of "animal magnetism"? Some doctors once believed magnetic fields ran through the human body, and that applying magnets to them could cure various ills. Some people today believe magnets have special healing properties.

That's because electrical current - the flow of electrons through a wire - always generates a magnetic field. You can tell which way the invisible lines of that field are traveling: If you point the thumb of your right hand in the direction of the current, the magnetic field travels in the direction that your fingers, curved as if clasping a rod, are pointing. (This web site features an interactive tutorial on the magnetic field around a wire, if you'd like to learn more.)

The magnetic field around a household electrical wire, and household appliances, is pretty small. About a foot away from a whirring ceiling fan, for example, the magnetic field measures just a few milligauss. To create a much more powerful magnet, we need to take it to the next level. Let's see what happens when we take that same wire and coil it around once in a circle.

What do you know? With that simple step, all the smaller, separate magnetic fields circling the wire have joined forces to create a far, far greater magnetic field.

If that's the effect of creating a single coil, what will happen if we make a bunch of them – 10, let's say? Let's try it and find out.

Very cool! Our new magnetic field is about 10 times more powerful. This special type of coil, by the way, is called a solenoid, and the magnetic field it produces increases proportionately to the number of coils you include. Coiling the wire also makes the field more uniform, a property important to scientists testing the effects of magnetic fields on different materials.

We can improve the magnetic field power of this solenoid even more by inserting an iron alloy core in the middle. Remember our iron atoms of earlier, and how each was a tiny little magnet? Well, when you put the iron alloy core into a magnetic field, all the atoms in the iron align with it and, in so doing, boost the magnet's field strength significantly – yet without using more electricity! Speaking of electricity, the more power you add to your solenoid, the greater your magnetic field.

You can improve on this basic solenoid by replacing the coils with specially designed Bitter plates that better withstand both the pressure resulting from high magnetic fields and the heat resulting from electrical current. These plates were first invented by a fellow named Francis Bitter in 1936. In the 1990s MagLab scientists greatly improved on his design, inventing the Florida Bitter plate, which enabled the creation of more powerful magnets. Most large electromagnets used for research use Bitter plates, which is why they are sometimes called "Bitter magnets."

These electromagnets are called "resistive" magnets because, as in any machine running on normal electricity, the electrons that make up the current encounter resistance as they bump into atoms and other electrons along their journey. This inefficiency costs when it comes time to pay the electric bill; in fact, the Magnet Lab uses about 7 percent of the electricity consumed in Tallahassee, a city of about 160,000 residents! If we didn''t have magnets to operate, our on-site power source could light up some half-million 100-watt light bulbs – at the same time! The MagLab also uses a considerable amount of water, which is forced through the holes of the Bitter plates to prevent the magnets from getting too hot.

So resistive magnets eat lots of electricity and drink lots of water, two expensive habits. This is where superconducting magnets, the next type of temporary magnet we will explore, offer some advantages.

Superconducting Magnets: Power Unplugged

Superconductivity is a very cool phenomenon in which electrical resistance is overcome with the help of very cold temperatures – colder than anything this side of Pluto!

PHYSICS FACTOID

Most superconducting magnets are made using an alloy called niobium-titanium – "Ni-Ti" for short.

You could think of it this way: In a superconducting current, the atoms that make up the conducting material stay the heck out of the way of the electrons that make up the current: They're just too cold to make any trouble! It's easy street for those electrons; once you get 'em started, they'll chug along well after you've unplugged the thing, as long as you keep things chilly.

Superconducting magnets are powered this way, rather than by conventional electricity. While you save on the electric bill, these magnets are more expensive to build, and you need a constant supply of cryogens – liquid helium and liquid nitrogen to keep them good and cold. In fact, if you look at a superconducting magnet (such as the one pictured below), you'll notice that most of it is made up of the materials devoted to keeping it cold.

Superconductivity is an awesomely powerful phenomenon, one that scientists have only just begun to exploit. For years doctors have used it in the powerful superconducting magnets of MRI machines, which take noninvasive pictures of their patients' insides. Researchers are also aggressively studying how superconducting magnets can be used in levitating trains.

The Magnet Lab is home to one of the most powerful superconducting magnets on the planet, a 900-megahertz machine used for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies that delivers a field of 21 tesla. At Japan's National Institute for Materials Science, a slightly more powerful superconducting magnet is in operation. Magnet designers continue to push the envelope, struggling to overcome problems with critical fields, the point at which superconducting materials cease to superconduct. At the Magnet Lab, scientists are working on superconducting magnets with fields upwards of 38 tesla; they have already demonstrated the technology to make these magnets.

Let's see. We've learned that the highest fixed field created by a superconducting magnet is about 21.6 tesla, and the highest field created by a resistive electromagnet is 35 tesla.

So you can't get any higher with a steady magnetic field?

Sure you can. You just need to do a little math!

Hybrid Magnets: Best of Both Worlds

Unlike most of the math that goes on at the Magnet Lab, the equation you need to make a more powerful continuous field magnet is pretty easy. Take a very powerful superconducting magnet – say, 11.5 tesla – and a very powerful resistive magnet – say, 33.5 tesla – and put them together. What do you get?

You get a magnet mutt (although around here we prefer the term hybrid). The combo produces a magnet with the most powerful sustained field in the world: the 45 tesla hybrid magnet designed and operated here at the lab. This 35-ton behemoth is in wide demand among scientists across the globe.

PHYSICS FACTOID

There are almost 4 miles of superconducting cable in the Magnet Lab's 45 tesla hybrid magnet.

Though designs of hybrid magnets differ, the MagLab hybrid consists of a resistive magnet encircled by a superconducting magnet. Most of the 22-foot tall device is made up of systems that keep the magnet cold enough to operate. Vast amounts of deionized water are used to keep the Bitter magnet cool - about 400 liters a second.

One of only a handful of hybrids in the world, this mighty marvel uses in its superconducting portion enough copper wiring for 80 average homes. And that part of the magnet is kept mighty cold (in the neighborhood of -452 degrees Fahrenheit, or -269 degrees Celsius) almost all the time, even when not in use. If the magnet gets to room temperature, it takes at least six weeks to cool it down to operating temperature!

As impressive as this tool is, magnet engineers here at the lab, widely recognized as the best in the world at what they do, are already at work creating the next generation of hybrid. The Series Connected Hybrid will generate high magnetic fields while using just one-third the power of traditional "all-resistive" magnets.

Pulsed Magnets: Brief Shining Moments

So, 45 tesla is the greatest field strength ever achieved by a magnet?

Yes – and no. It's the greatest continuous field strength ever achieved by a magnet. But a type of magnet called a pulsed magnet can achieve far higher strengths. But there's a trade-off: The field lasts just a few seconds or less.

The Magnet Lab has several of these magnets, which were designed and built in Tallahassee then shipped to the lab's Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory for operation. Designers must choose their materials carefully, taking into account the incredible stresses and heat produced by such enormous magnetic fields.

Pulsed magnets come in two types, destructive and non-destructive, the latter of which we'll discuss first.

Non-destructive magnets can be short-pulse, long-pulse. The "short" vs. "long" is a reference to how long the magnetic field lasts. In this context, long is relative – at most 2 seconds. Short is measured in milliseconds. Long-pulse magnets are motor-generator driven, and short-pulse are fueled by capacitors. In either case, they work pretty much the same way.

PHYSICS FACTOID

The incredible field strengths achieved by these destructive pulsed magnets are over before the operator's finger leaves the "On" button – less than 10 microseconds. A microsecond is 0.000001 second.

The magnets are impressive for the fields they generate and the amount of energy they consume doing it. The Magnet Lab''s most powerful non-destructive magnet generates a field of 100 tesla. When turned on, this multi-shot magnet contains the energy of more than 100 sticks of dynamite and is the most powerful magnet of its type in the world. Magnet designers are further developing that magnet, which came online in October 2006, in the hope that it will eventually reach 100 tesla. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.

If you're ever in the vicinity when one of these magnets is in operation, be sure to use earplugs. It emits a kind of shriek that has been compared to Godzilla on a rampage. That's because these tremendous magnetic forces produce enormous pressure – on the order of 200,000 pounds per square inch. That's one reason the magnet operates so briefly: Left to run any longer, it would either succumb to pressure or melt from the awesome heat generated by all the power surging in.

While scientists usually try to avoid destroying their equipment, they are sometimes willing to do just that, in exchange for a phenomenal magnetic field. In fact, in destructive magnets, scientists actually detonate explosives around the pulsed magnet at the same time they turn it on. This compresses and boosts the magnetic field to as high as 1,000 tesla – for the few microseconds before the whole shebang explodes. Now that's what you call a temporary magnet!

You may well wonder what the point of such an exercise is: After all, you're not just blowing up a magnet, you're blowing up your whole experiment! Truth is, some destructive magnets (called single-turn magnets) don't really blow up – they blow outwards – so the sample is conserved. For those magnets that do blow up, scientists have become adept at measuring and collecting data during their microseconds-long window of opportunity – so all is not lost, after all!

So there you have it: From your fridge to your hospital's MRI clinic, from an infinitesimal electron to the MagLab's 35-ton hybrid. Magnets and their fields are everywhere, hard at work in innumerable ways and forms. That's our story – and we're sticking to it!
Thanks to this story's science adviser, Deputy Lab Director Eric Palm.

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If your knowledge of magnets ends with posting a to-do list on the fridge, add this to the list: Learn more about magnets! You can start here with a straightforward rundown of magnet types, uses and strengths, explained in a way that will help make the facts stick.

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Alternatives to fuel for the Mickey Mobile

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With $4.00/gallon gas prices a not-so-distant memory, alternative fuels are all the rage. But what about the vehicles that run on them? Between hydrogen fuel cells, bio diesel, electricity and compressed air, the industrialized world is hard at work creating the next generation of non-oil consuming vehicles. These new, eco-friendly chariots deserve at least as much attention and fanfare as the fuels that power them, especially these 7 models.

Compressed air

Perhaps the most tantalizing of all the alternative fuels is compressed air. That's all it takes to run this car, which was designed by French engineers and will be available to American drivers by 2010. Hard as it may be to believe, this little car that could requires nothing more than compressed air to cruise around town at speeds of up to 35MPH. (If your conscience can withstand using a few drops of oil, the engine can heat and compress enough air to let the car get up to 90MPH.) Best of all, this car will be affordable to virtually everyone at a sub-$20,000 price tag.

Vegetable oil

Environmentalists everywhere have been salivating at the idea of running a car on vegetable oil ever since the idea was first proposed, and we have now taken the leap from concept to reality! Volkswagen aficionados can now drive with a clean conscience in this entirely bio diesel-powered Beetle, and they don't have to wait for it, either. The Beetle shown here belongs to a fleet at Bio-Beetle, the nation's first-ever 100% bio diesel car rental agency headquartered in Maui.

Hydrogen fuel cells

The prospect of hydrogen-powered cars has been enticing eco-friendly motorists for years. And while car makers are currently grappling with a whole host of technical challenges (such how to efficiently store hydrogen in a vehicle or how to prevent it from freezing and/or catching fire), that hasn't stopped the creation of deliciously fuel-efficient, hydrogen-powered proof of concept cars. A case in point is this model from luxury vehicle giant Mercedes. (Just don't expect this bad boy to be as affordable as the air-powered vehicles!)

Ethanol

Most of us are already using ethanol in our vehicles, as federal law requires a certain percentage of it to be in the gasoline we buy. But by 2010, Suzuki Motor Company begin selling cars that are completely, 100% powered by it. The first such car (pictured above) will be the E25 sedan, which goes on sale in Brazil this March. US models are soon to follow!

Water (yes, water!)

This Japanese car (called the Genepax) can travel roughly 80 kilometers per hour, for an hour, on just one liter of water as its fuel source. The ar uses hydrogen electrons from water to produce electricity which, in turn, powers the electric motor of the car. To all the critics who so dismissively assumed no car could ever run on water, the Genepax is a most welcome retort!

Electrical power

It might look like this car could only exist in a movie, but the Moovie is real and drivable by flesh-and-blood human beings. The space age looking, 2-seater concept car from French automaker Peugeot boasts 2 huge front wheels that can rotate at different speeds and swivel a full 360 degrees. No word on when or if this car will be available for sale, but its mere existence is encouragement enough!

Wood pellets (aka Biomass)

If you aren't already astonished that there are cars that run on air and water, this one is sure to pique your interest. The car pictured here literally runs on wood pellets. That's right - essentially the same thing one might burn in a wood stove or campfire for heat is what powers this rugged, outdoors-y vehicle. It's all part of what is known as biomass, a catch-all term referring to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel.

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7 Alternative Fuels and Fuel-Powered Vehicles - WebEcoist

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With $4.00/gallon gas prices a not-so-distant memory, alternative fuels are all the rage. But what about the vehicles that run on them? Between hydrogen fuel cells, bio diesel, electricity and compressed air, the industrialized world is hard at work creating the next generation of non-oil consuming vehicles. These

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Save your bookmarks and favorite websites online with Symbaloo! The best way to store, manage, and organize your bookmarks on the web. Create a free account to share your favorites with friends, colleagues or students. With over 10 million users, Symbaloo is a trusted edtech tool of teachers and educators worldwide!

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Harry Potter is a boy wizard character created by British author J.K. Rowling. Rowling's books became a sensation not long after the first was published in 1997.

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Innovation Nation Episodes - The Henry Ford

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Watch all your favorite episodes of The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca online. Dig deeper and browse articles and artifacts related to each episode.

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"By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew."
Those are the words of J.K. Rowling - the author whose book series has been translated into 73 languages, sold millions of copies and accrued over $20 billion through movie adaptations and sponsorships. So why does she admit to being such a failure?

Creating her book series wasn't as easy as scribbling down notes on a few dinner napkins. It wasn't a one, two or even three step process. It would take years of perseverance to become the success she is today.

Soon after conceiving the idea for Harry Potter, Rowling began writing, but was immediately pulled away from her work by the devastating death of her mother. Rowling ceased working on the book and sank into a deep, grieving depression, getting little to nothing accomplished in that time.

In the hopes of digging herself out of grievance, she took a job teaching English in Portugal for a year. Her goal in venturing abroad was to get away from her troubles and more importantly, use her time off to continue working on her book. She set the goal of having the first Harry Potter book done by the time she returned from Portugal.

Things did not go as planned.

Not only did she fail to make progress on her first book, but after falling in, and then out of, love, she ended up with a failed marriage and a baby daughter she now had to raise alone. She came back to nothing. She had no job, no finished product and two mouths to feed. She had hit rock bottom. As she struggled with depression, raising a child on her own and living off meager unemployment benefits, she resumed work on her book in cafes while her daughter was asleep.

Despite numerous setbacks, she found solace in doing what she loved - writing. In fact, she found that the little she had was enough to be moderately happy. She had ended up in exactly the position she had feared most and found that it wasn't that bad. There wasn't anything left to be afraid of and her worked showcased that mindset.

When Rowling finally finished the first three chapters, she sent the manuscript off to a publisher - They quickly passed on the project.

She sent it to another publisher. Again, the answer was no. Her mailbox filled up with rejection letters, but she didn't let it stop her.

"Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me." --- J.K. Rowling

After sending her manuscript to 12 different publishers and getting rejected by every single one, Rowling began losing confidence in her book. Finally, the editor at Bloomsbury Publishing company sat down to read the manuscript. And so did the editor's 8 year-old daughter. The little girl loved the opening chapters, and begged to read the whole thing. This made the publisher agree to publish Rowling's novel. But Rowling was left with a warning: that she should get a day job, because she wouldn't make any money writing children's books. Once Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published, though, she proved everyone wrong.

J.K. Rowling went from being a jobless single mother living off unemployment benefits to one of the best selling authors of all time. But it didn't happen over night. She faced rejection and constantly strived for success. She worked hard at her craft before anyone noticed her. That practice, along with strengthening herself against rejection, was what made her work unforgettable. Looking back, the Harry Potter series has earned over $400 million in book sales, and the last movie alone earned $476 million dollars in ticket sales... on opening weekend. She was the first female to become a billionaire author, not that many authors make it that far in the first place.

If you have a dream or a passion and you keep getting rejected or running into failure, don't let that stop you. If you're going through a tough time in your life, but working on something you really believe in, don't give up. If you do, you'll never know what could have been. Who knows, you might end up breaking records.

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default." --- J.K. Rowling

For more inspiration, check out our fellows page to read about what the amazing people in our community have done.

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Failure. Rejection. Success: The J. K. Rowling Story

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"By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew." Those are the words of J.K. Rowling - the author whose book series has been translated into 73 languages, sold millions of copies and accrued over $20 billion through movie adaptations and sponsorships. So why does she admit to being such a failure?

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See, learn, and explore the US with this US map. Extending clear across the continent of North America, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the United States is the 3rd largest country in the world. (The US also includes the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii.) The United States borders Mexico on the south and Canada to the north, and the Gulf of Mexico touches states on the south-east.

We welcome all comments on your experience with our maps and software.
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All Material Copyright 1998-2016 Owl and Mouse Educational Software except as noted.
All pages and downloadable software may be freely used for individual and classroom instruction but may not be sold, redistributed or reposted without permission.
Javascript and CSS coding by Ashton Shapcott.
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United States Map Puzzle - U.S. States and Capitals

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See, learn, and explore the US with this US map. Extending clear across the continent of North America, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the United States is the 3rd largest country in the world. (The US also includes the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii.)

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Welcome to KENKEN!

No matter what you're looking for - learning or fun - KenKen.com has it! Free online puzzles. Cool math games. Number games. (More addictive than Sudoku or Kakuro? You decide!) Educational games for kids. Visit our For Teachers section for math teacher resources, our free KenKen Classroom program, and a message from Tetsuya Miyamoto, the Japanese educator behind KenKen. Miyamoto, chess master David Levy, and the rest of Team KenKen have crafted these math puzzles into great games for learning and brain training. Need even more KenKen? Check out our Will Shortz Presents books. Try our mobile app on iPhone and iPad or our Kindle version. Play on the New York Times puzzle page and NCTM website. Regardless of why, how, or where you play, KenKen are the math puzzles that make you smarter!

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Play KenKen Math Puzzles - Free Math Games & Logic Puzzles!

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No matter what you're looking for - learning or fun - KenKen.com has it! Free online puzzles. Cool math games. Number games. (More addictive than Sudoku or Kakuro? You decide!) Educational games for kids. Visit our For Teachers section for math teacher resources, our free KenKen Classroom program, and a message from Tetsuya Miyamoto, the Japanese educator behind KenKen.

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A Free flash online countdown, quick easy to use countdown timer! also an online stopwatch!

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Over 5,000 Award-Winning Lessons

Tynker empowers over 100 million students and serves over 150,000 schools worldwide.

Mod Minecraft

Make your own skins and experience basic Minecraft modding with Tynker.

Learn Python

Learn to code browser-based games using Python, pen drawing and Turtle graphics.

Explore AI

In this exciting elective course, you'll explore artificial intelligence and machine learning - with JavaScript.

Empower the Next Generation with Tynker -
Unleash Creativity and Innovation in Kids Everywhere

Approved by Educators.
Loved by Kids

Story Based Lessons

Kids learn with block-based coding before transitioning to text-based languages like JavaScript and Python.

Built-in Tutorials

Tynker's interactive lessons break down coding fundamentals as they solve fun puzzles.

Interactive Assessments

Quick practice quizzes and assessment tests evaluate's a child's comprehension of subjects taught.

Explore Curriculum

Why Should Kids
Learn to Code with Tynker?

Because technology is so integrated into virtually every aspect of our lives, learning about it is more important than ever. Our coding platform makes it convenient and fun for kids and teens to gain knowledge that will serve them well throughout their lives. You can count on our trusted methods to help them develop and grow their capabilities with computers.

Tynker isn't just for schools and coding camps, though. Parents who value STEM education and want their children to know how to code should know that our kids programming platform can be used at home, too. Tynker offers a range of coding for kids solutions with icon-coding for pre-readers, block-based coding, and advanced courses in Python, JavaScript, data science, art, and image processing. There are quarterly, yearly and lifetime plans which include access for up to 3 children, and our online classes for all ages are an excellent way for them to gain the supplemental STEM skills needed for their future.

Trusted by Leading Brands

Our methods for learning to code all are provided within a safe, moderated community that is built around encouraging students to gain confidence in their abilities and do so without fear of failure.

Frequently asked questions

Is coding good for kids?

We're living during a high-tech revolution, witnessing life-changing advancements in medicine, environmental conservation, and much more. At the core of all these amazing projects and discoveries is CODE. Code can be the thing that differentiates your child from peers and allows them to stand out as an asset for companies when they are looking for employment. The children who learn to code today will become the creators of the technology tomorrow. Learning how to code can help children make a major contribution to the world that they live in and make a lasting impact.

As kids and teens learn to code, they also build essential skills like critical thinking, logic, and problem-solving. They learn to logically sequence events, create playable games, tell good stories, and model real situations. They also learn computational thinking by developing algorithmic and design thinking abilities. Coding for kids has become an essential element of a child's education and an excellent way to express their creativity and imagination.

How do I start my child coding?

Coding, otherwise known as programming, is a creative activity for all children. Your child might not care about writing data processing algorithms, but they might enjoy creating games, programming music, designing websites, or just playing with code. Learning to code is for everyone; you don't have to be good at math or a "techie" to learn how to code. Kids as young as five can learn to code and pick it up faster than most adults.

When your kids are starting, pick a program like MIT's Scratch or Tynker Junior app. The visual style of these programs makes it easy for young children to learn to code. Scratch and Tynker have a graphical interface that works. Drag-and-drop code blocks snap together. Pieces of code that don\'t make computational sense won't fit together, making syntax errors impossible.

Older children can learn to code with Python by building games, art, music, and more. Some programs like Tynker offer a placement test to set your child on the right track for their age and experience level.

What age is best to introduce coding to kids?

Every child learns at their own pace. They can learn different subjects at varying rates and ways. Experts believe that children should learn coding at an early age. According to MIT, the best age for kids to start learning coding languages such as Scratch Jr or Tynker Jr is from 5 to 7. Many programs allow your children to progress at their own pace or hire an instructor to help them move along.

With Tynker, a placement test will place your child on the correct path based on age and skill level, and Tynker supports children up to age 18 with real-world text languages like Python and JavaScript. Children progress to more difficult coding courses with the support of interactive tutorials and video instructions at their own pace.

Which is the best coding for kids program?

With so many great services available, learning to code has never been easier! For example, Scratch and Tynker provide innovative visual coding languages that make coding fun. Coding is a great way to broaden your child's worldview and develop their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Here are a few coding for kids options to review:

Game-based learning -Game-based platforms such as Tynker and the challenges on Code.org motivate kids to use code to complete game levels.

Independent learning with Scratch -Scratch from MIT is a great way of getting started with code. Although they don't have courses, there's a vibrant community to learn from.

Online courses-Enroll in a Python or JavaScript course on Codecademy or Tynker or learn to code with Processing on Khan Academy. Tynker offers advanced courses like Processing 1, using p5.js to introduce the foundational concepts of art and computer science.

Build an app-Learn to build your own iOS app using Swift. Install the Swift Playgrounds app by Apple.

Use a book-Learn by following along with books like Mission Python, Super Scratch Programming Adventure, or Coding with Minecraft. Tynker has a series of super-informative coding activity books, including Code These Games, Code These Minecraft Mods, and Code This Art.

Why is coding needed?

Coding is the method of giving a computer instructions to perform a specific task. You may also hear coding referred to as software programming or computer programming. These instructions are communicated using a language that computers can understand, like visual blocks, JavaScript and Python.

Coding for kids lays the groundwork for our world's technology, from microprocessors in everyday items like refrigerators and water heaters to sophisticated programs that run our cars and buildings. Learning to code is a great opportunity for children of all ages to develop their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, while building the necessary focus and organization to see projects through to completion.

Coding usually begins with drag-and-drop visual programming in which children connect blocks together to make programs. Visual programming teaches the fundamental concepts without typing or syntax by placing the focus on the logic behind the code. Once they've learned the basics, children can transition to real-world programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and C.

From online coding courses and games to offline learning, from in-person coding instruction to live online tutoring, there are endless coding resources available. The best coding platforms and programs like Scratch, Code.org and Tynker give children of all ages and experience levels the ability to code while making the process fun and engaging.

Why should we use Tynker coding for kids?

Tynker is the world's number one coding platform for children ages 5 to 18 for a reason-it works! Tynker powers the creativity of over 100 million students and serves thousands of schools and educators worldwide.

Tynker's award-winning, gamified courses and coding for kids activities encourage kids to complete projects as they have fun, allowing them to progress from novices to experts using languages like Python. Tynker's interactive lessons have built-in tutorials for all ages and skill levels. Our highly-rated mobile app (4.7 stars) lets students take Tynker on the go. Learning how to code with Tynker unlocks and empowers children's creativity, teaching them life-long skills they can use today and into the future.

How do I teach my 7 year old code?

Learning to code is for everyone; you don't have to be good at math or a "techie" to learn how to code. Kids as young as five can learn to code and pick it up faster than most adults. Tynker Junior is a fun, interactive way to spark your kid's interest in coding. Kids (ages 5-7) learn coding basics by connecting picture blocks to move their characters. Tynker's immersive game-like coding courses and interactive lessons with built-in tutorials are perfect for beginners 5+ through experts 18+.

What options are there for coding for teens?

Code.org has a year-long course in Computer Science Principles that introduces students to the foundational concepts of computer science and challenges them to explore how computing and technology can impact the world.

Tynker has coding for kids courses that align with subject standards like CCSS-ELA, CCSS-Math, NGSS and CS standards such as CSTA, ISTE, CA CS, UK National Curriculum, and several state-level standards like TEKS.

Tynker is recognized by College Board as an endorsed curriculum provider for AP Computer Science Principles and AP Computer Science A.

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Coding For Kids, Kids Online Coding Classes & Games | Tynker

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Tynker makes it fun and easy to learn computer programming. Get started today with Tynker's easy-to-learn, visual programming course designed for young learners in 4th through 8th grades.

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By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies.

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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