Concrete canoe? Science NonFiction!

You Thought Your Canoe Was Heavy!

My Rating: *****

If you remember the Algonquin trip, you might have noticed that I didn’t carry any of the canoes. I have trouble balancing a canoe on my shoulders. But my classmates said the canoes were light. Well, this canoe is definitely not light!

If you’ve fashioned anything out of concrete before, you will know that it will be heavy. Heavy things that are solid chunks will sink, like chunks of concrete. So how do you make concrete float? It’s difficult to make a functional boat out of concrete. I know because I actually did this. During the summer, I did this engineering camp at McMaster University. One of our projects we did was building a boat out of concrete. Mine didn’t work. But hey, that’s engineering. You break stuff until you figure out how to make it so it doesn’t break.

This canoe of concrete, however, is different from the concrete boats that we made at McMaster’s engineering camp. First of all, it’s bigger. Second of all, they’re racing them against each other. Third of all, it must be fast and easily maneuverable. Even for a team of second year university engineers, that’s a difficult task. But it all pays off in the end, even if you don’t win.

I liked this article because it was both outdoorsy and scientific at the same time. I bet portaging that concrete canoe must be an elephant (or at least a few bison)

article avaliable at: http://www.canoerootsmag.com/features/features-canoes/1366-you-thought-your-canoe-was-heavy.html

Staying Ahead of Hype

Helmets: Free Choice or social obligation?

My rating: ****

Ski Canada published an interesting article about ski helmets. It really stuck in my head because I skied bareheaded until I was roughly seven or eight. My mom still goes bareheaded, and it sort of makes me feel left out. She’s not the only one: plenty of skiers go sans helmet. I am also not alone, it’s more or less mandatory for pros to wear helmets on the slopes. That doesn’t stop me from feeling left out.

I see a bunch of pictures of people skiing and compare them to myself. I think what separates them from me, and then I come to yeah, they’re not wearing helmets. They should be, though. While it’s true that a helmet provides some degree of protection, it’s not going to make you invincible. And it shouldn’t be abused as a moral litmus test (in fact, I’m really fed up with these people saying that magazines should depict all skiers with helmets, because these magazines have a duty to portray things as they really are).

Taking all of this in, it was a good article, and it seemed to portray the issue in a neutral light. Well written, and makes a good point.

Works cited

Koch, George. "Helmets: Free choice or social obligation?" Ski Canada. 12 Feb. 2008: n.pag. Web. 28 Dec. 2012. <http://skicanadamag.com/2008/02/12/gear/helmets-choice-or-obligation>.