Our Oregon state legislature is considering a bill to ban the sale of products containing mercury. Apparently Minnesota, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire already have similar bills. Mercury is extremely toxic and the disposal of mercury-containing products is a big problem. This is just one more reason for using our LabPro and Stainless Steel Temperature Probes.

We have been shipping our Digital Control Unit (DCU) for about two years. At first it only worked with the original CBL and, therefore, only for use with calculators. When LabPro came out, it became possible to control the DCU with a computer. We have now rewritten the DCU manual and included sample programs to help you with that programming. We explain how to use Visual Basic (Windows) and REALbasic (Macintosh), and we include sample programs in each language. The sample programs and new manuals are available at www.vernier.com/dcu/dcuprogs.html.

Biology Labs Revised to Meet AP ® Objectives
There is good news for those of you using our sensors and interfaces to do the recommended AP Biology labs. Some of the experiments in our Biology with Computers and Biology with Calculators books have been updated to include activities that will help meet the recommended objectives. Of the 12 AP labs, seven of them can now be done using our data collection products: Diffusion and Osmosis (Exp. 4 and Exp. 22), Enzyme Action: Testing Catalase Activity (Exp. 6), Photosynthesis (Exp. 10), Transpiration (Exp. 7), Cell Respiration (Exp. 11), Primary Productivity (Exp. 25), and Heart Rate & Physical Fitness (Exp. 27). A correlation of AP Biology lab objectives and our objectives can be accessed from our News page at www.vernier.com/news.html. Those of you who already own our biology lab books can receive the new experiment Word files by e-mailing your request to gstahmer@vernier.com. Please include your zip code in your request for verification.

AAPT Photo and Video Contest
The 2001 AAPT high school physics photo contest is open to any high school student. Photos must be 8x10, in black and white or color. A paragraph (<250 words) describing the physics involved in the photograph must be included. There are two categories: Natural and Contrived.

The video contest is open to any student or faculty member. Submitted videos should demonstrate physics in action. There are two categories, Faculty and Student. Entries for both contests will be displayed and judged at the AAPT meeting in Rochester, NY. Vernier Software & Technology supplies the prizes for both students and teachers. For more information and contest rules, visit www.aapt.org/aaptgeneral/geneinfo.html.

Spectrophotometers and Logger Pro
Do you have a spectrophotometer that you would like to be able to interface with your computer? If so, you will be happy to learn that you can use Logger Pro software to collect data from Spectronic 20 series spectrophotometers (Spec 20, Spec 20+, Spec 20D, and Spec 20D+) with your Vernier interface. Note that these models all feature analog outputs, and are the ONLY spectrophotometers that are compatible with Logger Pro.

If you have a Spec 20, 20+, 20D, or 20D+, all you need is a cable (order code SPC-DIN for Serial Box Interface or ULI, or SPC-BTA for LabPro, $25) to connect your spectrophotometer to your computer interface. The Colorimeter folder in Logger Pro contains experiment files for Absorbance vs. Concentration and Absorbance vs. Time. We have added an additional experiment file for Absorbance vs. Wavelength to this set. To download all three, go to our web site and click on “Downloads.” Under “Free Stuff” click on “Spectrophotometer Program.”