Ron Edge’s research while affiliated with University of South Carolina and other places

The mechanism is presented whereby ``sun dogs'' are formed. These are the bright colored spots appearing on either side of the Sun in the presence of atmospheric ice crystals.

The first U.S. team was sent to the International Young Physicists Tournament in May of 1999. Now, for a second time, the United States fielded a team to participate in the IYPT, held in Espoo, Finland, in May 2001. This tournament differs from the International Physics Olympiad because the team members work together, leading to a presentation, whereas the Olympiad is strictly an examination. The IYPT questions have a reseach flavor, e.g., ``When drying a starch solution, you will see cracks forming. Investigate and explain this phenomenon.''

Here is a little string-and-sticky-tape demonstration, requiring only a pencil and a couple of paper clips, which illustrates the conversion of potential to kinetic energy.