2011 Events.

[anatomydude]

What will the systems for anatomy be?

[maggymay]

Also, what is the topic of JYC going to be next year?

Nobody knows what the topic of Junkyard will be until the Building committee gets together after Nationals and decides what they want to implement.

So when will that info be released? I promised my team that I would start over the summer so I didn't get -200 points at the first invitationals like I did this year...

The official event-list isn't released until September.

[paleonaps]

What will the systems for anatomy be?

If I am correct, Muscular and Digestive.

[amerikestrel]

Will helicopter come in for B, C, or both?

[maggymay]

Does anybody think that EggONaut will or will not be back for next year? I was kinda hoping it would be back because I think I finally might understand it ...

[blue cobra]

Most likely Egg O will be gone next year and replaced by helicopters

[maggymay]

Most likely Egg O will be gone next year and replaced by helicopters

Do you think it will be helicopters like the Trial Event?http://soinc.org/sites/default/files/up ... -09%29.pdf

I'm not at all familiar with this event at all... What in the world does "rubber-powered motor" mean anyway? Powered by a wound rubber-band?

[walkingstyx]

Yes it does mean "powered by a rubber band." You twist up a rubber band and it slowly untwists, making the blades spin.
And yes, it should be very similar to those rules. The main changes will be in size and mass requirements so that you can't just use the same helicopter from this year.
And you're not supposed to be familiar with this event. I think one of the main reasons they created it, instead of Wright Stuff, was that no one goes around building helicopters for fun like they do planes so no teams have an advantage starting off.

[maggymay]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, no advantage except for the states that have had it for a trial/pilot event like, oh I don't know, New York?... After I posted I took a look at the Helicopter B/C thread and some of the YouTube stuff. Helicopter looks like one of those seemingly easy events that end up making you tear your hair out, simple yet excruciating.

And what was throwing me off about the description was the 'rubber-powered motor'...I was thinking the words were referring to some strange new electronic gizmo that was powered by liquid rubber or something, plus I never quite thought of a wound-up rubber-band contraption (like on a toy plane) as being a 'motor'.

[AustinRHL]

The apparent addition of Sumo Bots perplexes me. For one thing, it isn't going to be a particularly fair event; since it's one-on-one, you might have one of the best robots but be pitted against the eventual winner in the first round, so you won't get the medal that you deserve. But the more pressing issue in my mind is the scheduling: how on earth can you predict when you're going to be occupied with the Sumo Bot, so that you can know what other events you can do? I also think that Protein Modeling is a stupid way to replace Cell Biology, although it could be worse. In my opinion, assuming that they bring back Sounds of Music, they should have half of the score be based on a test, much as Physics Lab and It's About Time currently are.

In my opinion, the best set of Science Olympiad events (C division) would be the following. What do you all think?

Biological Sciences
Anatomy
Cell Biology
Disease Detectives
Ecology
Ornithology

Physical Sciences
Chemistry Lab
Circuit Lab
Food Science
Forensics
Physics Lab
Storm the Castle/Trajectory (either is fine, although why on earth does SO put them here?)

Earth and Planetary Sciences
Astronomy
Dynamic Planet
Remote Sensing
Rocks and Minerals

Inquiry
Experimental Design
Fermi Questions (I was crushed to see this one gone after 2008, because I loved it)
Technical Problem Solving
Write it/Do it

Engineering
Egg Drop
Electric Vehicle
Elevated Bridge
Wright Stuff

It's a real pain to decide between all of the good build events. Perhaps Robot Ramble should be included, but I have no idea what it would replace. There is also a very small selection for the four events that, at least in the minds of those who decide the rules, have to fill the Earth and Planetary Sciences category. By contrast, I consider this year's biology events perfect, although Health Science or Heredity could definitely replace Anatomy or Cell Biology, respectively.