3-D glasses aren't only for the movies!

When you see the sun in pictures you usually are looking at a 2-D yellow circle. Actually, the sun has way more depth then you might think. A group of journalists and scientists were seen wearing 3-D glasses in a room. You might think that 3-D glasses are only for the movies, however, they're used for the sun as well! The space craft STEREO took 3-D pictures of the sun. NASA says it will now be easier to see eruptions on the suns surface. These two space crafts were launched in October. One was in front of the other making the 3-D image possible. As I previously mentioned, this helps out scientists a lot. Now, they can learn more about solar flares, a type of solar eruption called coronal mass ejection, overloading power lines and disrupting satellite communications. Also, scientists have been researching solar storms on other planets and the sun. Solar flares are one of the main types of eruption on the sun. Solar flares blow a billion tons of the sun's atmosphere into space at a speed of 1 million miles per hour. Scientist are also now worried that the eruptions can endanger astronauts on spacewalks. This means that the solar flares heat can greatly effect the temperature in space. When I first saw this article I was intrigued by the 3-D picture so I wanted to read more about how they managed to get the picture taken. After reading I've learned that new discoveries are occurring almost everyday and these discoveries could maybe help us and our future.

My information....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/23/solar.eruptions.ap/index.html

The Red Planet

From Earth using just our eyes we usually can't see Mars, but Mars is right next to us, we might ask ourselves. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, and there are so many unanswered questions about it. Earth's mysterious neighbor has been being watched throughout so many years by many scientists. One specific detail that the scientist's have discovered was that Mars southern ice cap is slowly deteriorating, this may be because of Global Warming. Without a doubt, almost everyone knows that Mars has an outer layer that contains mostly dust. Scientist noticed that the dust on Mars has seemed to move in various places. Also, Mars had changes in brightness as well. It is said that Mars has developed many dust storm's that trap heat, therefore as a result, the planet's temperature is rising.
A group of scientist, called Fenton's team, compared thermal maps from 1970 with maps gathered more than two decades later by the Global Surveyor. They recognized that large pieces of the surface have darkened or brightened in the past three decades. The changes they saw were that the winds have definitely strengthened and that is the main reason why the planet's heat is rising. Scientists believe that the recent changes on Mars should be an important part of our future studies on atmosphere and climate change. I, myself, have always wondered about the planet Mars. From reading this article I have learned that Mars is experiencing Global Warming just like Earth is. Maybe another two decades from now Mars southern polar ice caps will be slowly melting away until its all gone.

To learn more about Mars visit...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/04/mars.climate.reut/index.html

Waves!

When most people hear the word waves their first thought would probably be an ocean wave. An ocean wave is a type of wave however there are other types of waves as well. The two most known waves are Transverse Wave and Longitudinal Wave. A Transverse Wave are waves that move the medium at right angles to the direction in which the wave is traveling. If you have ever seen a Transverse Wave you might motice that it is moving sideways. This is so, because the word transverse means "across." A Transverse Wave has many important parts but there are two parts to this wave that describes its motion, the crest and trough. The crest is considered the highest point of the Transverse Wave. The trough is known as the lowest point. Next, a Lonitudinal Wave moves the medium parallel to the direction in which the wave is moving. (A medium is the material through which a wave travels.) Also, like the Transverse Wave the Longitudinal Wave has to parts to describe its motion, compression and rarefraction. Lets say a spring is our Longitudinal Wave, when the coils are close together this shows compression. When the coils are spread apart it is called rarefraction. Speaking about springs there are many ways you can see waves in your everyday life. Here are some interesting facts about waves!

Fact 1:

The most basic properties of all waves include wavelength, amplitude, and frequency. All these properties are related to each other is a mathematical formula. The formula is...

Speed= Wavelength x Frequency

In addition if you know about two of these properties and you want to find out about the third one you can also use math...

Frequency= Speed over wavelength

Wavelength= Speed over Frequency

See Science and Math go hand in hand!

Fact 2:

As I said before waves are seen everywhere. For example, waves can be seen in the sport gymnastics. In gymnastics some people use ribbons. ( ribbon dancers) These ribbons are attached to a stick and when the dancer twirls the stick the ribbon makes waves. However, it's not the ribbon thats creating the wave it's the dancer. The dancer is giving their energy to the ribbon, the ribbon is not able to stay still so therefore it is able to form a wave. This wave would be called a Transverse Wave.

Fact 3:

Most waves have mediums, however, some waves don't need them. Waves that require a medium are Mechanical Waves. Waves that can travel without a medium are known as Electromagnetic Waves.


From learning about the many types of waves I have experienced a lot. I know that waves form from energy. Energy from us, nature, and other items. In addition, we can see, hear, and touch waves. Now I know that there are more types of waves then just the ocean waves!

To learn more about waves visit these two sites...

http://id.mind.net/~zona/mstm/physics/waves/waves.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/10796/ch8/ch8.htm