Christmas science gifts promotions, EURion constellation, Scale of the Universe

[Nostromics Newsletter]

Nostromics Newsletter

Nostromics science gifts product news, educational resources & science tidbits

Nostromics Newsletter, 10 November 2010 - You are welcome to share this mail

Like the Nostromics page on Facebook, follow @Nostromics on Twitter

Christmas science gifts promotions

Are you looking for original Christmas gifts ideas for you and your science geek friends? Visit Nostromics Store in the next weeks of the holiday 2010 season for time-limited sales, coupons and savings. Get T-shirts, apparel, mugs, mouse pads and more featuring unique science and technology designs.

A banner on the home pages of the Nostromics Store and Nostromics sites will remind the current deals. Click the banner for promotion dates and terms. Questions? Contact us.

The constellation EURion

Did you ever wonder how photocopiers recognize banknotes from different countries and prevent you from making copies? They look for the constellation EURion, but not in the sky.

The constellation EURion is a pattern of symbols in the designs of banknotes of many countries, which helps the detection of banknotes in digital images by computer software. Color copiers recognize it and refuse to make copies.

The pattern consists of 5 small colored circles vaguely resembling the arrangement of stars in the constellation Orion, and is repeated with different orientations across several areas of the banknote. Its name comes from the international symbol of the Euro currently, EUR, and the constellation name.

You can compare the constellation EURion with the design of our Orion apparel and gifts, such as the Orion Dark Sweatshirt, women's dark T-shirt, Orion mouse pad and more in the Constellations -> Equatorial region section of Nostromics Store. More science gifts and products at Nostromics Store.

Scale of the Universe

Scale of the Universe is an online interactive tool showing the hierarchical structure of the universe, from the smallest subatomic particles to the full universe. It displays schematic representations of natural and man-made objects, living beings and phenomena together with size data. This tool is a great educational resource.

Visit the Scale of the Universe site and click "Play" to start. The slider shows the current scale and lets you change it. Click and drag the blue thumb to interactively change scale by zooming in or out. The atom, person, planet and other icons below the slider give a rough idea of object sizes for coarse scale setting.

-- Paolo Amoroso & Mauro Arpino (Nostromics), science educators - Milan, Italy