Editing Portal:Science/Featured

This page is for keeping track of [[Wikiversity:Featured|featured content]] on [[Portal:Science]]. If you change/update content in the portal, please be sure that the record of past content is updated here.

==Featured learning activity==
*[[What is science?]] - participants explore and discuss the nature of science.

==Selected image==
[[Image:William Fettes Douglas - The Alchemist.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"The alchemist" by William Fettes Douglas (1822 - 1891).]]
'''Modern alchemy'''<br>
The goals of alchemy were transmutation of any metal into either gold, to prolong life indefinitely and to create human life. It can be argued that all of the key elements of traditional alchemy have become incorporated into conventional sciences. Transmutation of elements has been accomplished by [[Portal:Physical Sciences|physicists]]. Modern [[School:Medicine|medical science]] is devoted to the treatment of disease and the prolongation of life. [[School:Biology|Biological]] techniques provide a significant level of control over the creation of new life from non-living [[School:Chemistry|chemical]] precursors.

All of these alchemy-inspired activities within modern science continue to force us up against the boundaries of conventional science. Transmutation is difficult and expensive. Immortality is a dream of many [[w:Transhumanism|transhumanists]]. Only the most primitive forms of life can be constructed from scratch. Artificial life is still in its infancy. Creation of a robotic artificial life form with human qualities might be viewed as one way of satisfying the dream of creating life. [[Portal:Genetics|Genetic]] engineering has begun to provide tools for the creation of new forms of biological organisms.

==Featured research project==
[[Image:M101 hires STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Pinwheel Galaxy]]
Participants at the Wikiversity [[Astronomy Project]] access public astronomy databases and explore outer space. Learn astronomy "on the job" by participating in analysis of astronomical observations that are available in public databases.

==Science news==
The Wikiversity [[Science Journalism|Science Journalism Center]] is a content development project where Wikiversity participants can collaborate to develop learning resources for science journalism. The 2006 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] was awarded to Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello for their discovery of [[RNA interference]].

==Did you know?==
[[Aristotle/On the Soul: discussion group|Aristotle]] (384-322 BC) is said to have studied marine organisms at the island of [[w:Lesbos Island|Lesbos]]. Aristotle identified observed crustaceans, echinoderms, mollusks, and fish. He knew that cetaceans are mammals, and that some marine vertebrates release eggs that hatch outside the body while others have eggs that hatch within the body. Aristotle is often referred to as the father of [[Topic:Marine Biology|marine biology]].

==Quotes==
"...I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted." - [[History of artificial intelligence|Alan Turing]]

"the equation E = mc², in which energy is put equal to mass, multiplied by the square of the velocity of light, showed that very small amounts of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy and vice versa." - [[Conservation of energy|Albert Einstein]]

==Featured learning projects==
*[[Science as religion|Science as Religion]] - the relationship between science and religion
*[[Topic:Science research and the Law|Science research and the Law]] - how various governments regulate scientific research
*[[Open source science|Open content science]] - Wikiversity content development project for [[w:Open content|Open content]] science.
*[[Category:Time|Topic:Time]] - how scientific studies have resulted in altered human concepts of time
*[[Consilience]] - can all knowledge be unified within a scientific world view?
*[[Exploring science through fiction]] - where is boundary between science and science fiction?