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

Creepy, cool, creatures!

Without a doubt I know that most people have never heard of a sea cucumber, orange sea stars, fan-finned ice fish, and many more exotic creatures. Most people have never heard of these creatures because they are located under the ice in the Antarctic. The Antarctic has very thick ice so it is unlikely for anyone to discover creatures without highly developed equipment. Read below to find out how these creature were found!

Who:

A man named Chapelle along with a few other scientists went to the area to learn more about underwater life.

What:

Exotic sea creatures were discovered. For example there were blue ice fish, long-limbed sea stars, sea squirts, and sea cucumbers. Blue ice fish are unusual fish with fins that look like fans. In addition this fish lacks the amount of red cells that are expected. Next, long-limbed sea stars are creatures that are similar to the ice fish. Some of the sea stars found had over five arms!
Sea squirts are found in thick settlements, and look like jelly blobs. Sea cucumbers are known to move in groups and in only one direction. Scientists collected over 100 of specimens. The scientists referred to these creatures as shrimp-like amphipods because the mostly fit into the category of cnidarians, organisms related to coral, jellyfish and sea anemones.

Where:

These sea creatures were found of the Antarctic Coast on a land surrounded by ice.

When:

these sea creatures are almost 5,000 years old! Some ice layers have weakened throughout the years. For instance, one happened 12 years ago and another occurred 5 years ago!

Why:

These sea creatures were discovered because of the Global Warming occurring. The ice around the Antarctic was melting. Glaciologists say that the ice was like a dam because it delayed the glaciers as the move over towards the coast. This then cause some ice layers to collapse and therefore it made a great opportunity for the explorers to investigate. Before, all explorers would have to look through holes which they would make by drilling deep into the ice.

My Opinion:

I found this article very intriguing. To tell you the truth, this article would have to be the most interesting out of all of my current events! What this article means to me is that a whole other species has been discovered! I really enjoyed this passage because it shows me how the world is growing everyday. Before today I have never heard of sea squirts. From reading about sea squirts it told me interesting facts about this new creature.

If you would like to learn more about these creatures visit...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/02/25/antarctica.icecreatures.reut/index.html

Chimps and their tools

Could chimps have used tools 4,300 years ago??? Archaeologist Julio Mercader says so. These reasearchers found old tools near West Africa . These are the oldest tools (used by a chimpanzee) ever found! Chimps would use these tools to crack all sorts of nuts, as they still do today. This is amazing becuase the last known tools found was in the 1600's.

Who:

A group of Archaeologists lead by Julio Mercader found the tools, however the chimps were the ones who used them.

What:

The tools date back 4,300 years ago. The archaeologists examained the tools and observed that the stones were the size of cantaloupes with vairious patterns on it (probably from when the chimps cracked their nuts). These stones are too big for our hands but just right for the chimps hands because they are much stronger than ours. The reasearchers are not exactly sure how the chimps learned how to use the tools but they suspected that they picked it up from the local farmers in the area. However, some say that there werent many farmers 4,300 years ago so how could the chimps learn how to use the tools? The hammers found, had many sctraches on it and some starch. The people say that it was probably from the dirt after being underground for so many decades.

Where:

These tools were found in West Africa and along the Ivory Coast.

When:

The tools were used about 4,300 years ago, however they were discovered only a few weeks ago.

Why:

These tools could be the answers to the past. Did the humans learn from the chimps? The human life dates back to seven million years ago and the chimps life dates back to five million years ago, so this means that some human sites could be found at the chimps sites.

My Opinion:

This article has really taught me about how the chimps used tools and it has shown me a lot about the past. This article has also taught me how when you set out in search of something, never give up because you might find what your looking for. I hope that the acheologists are looking for human tools where they found the chimps tools because I would really want to learn more about the stone age.

If you would like to learn more about chimps and their tools please take a look at this site...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/02/12/chimps.with.hammers.ap/index.html

Meiosis, it's that easy!!!

I know that almost everyone has never heard of Meiosis before we learned about it in science class. Well, Meiosis is not very difficult if you read my blog entry you will find it quite easy to understand.

Meiosis is one of the basic units of life. Almost everyone knows that humans have half the number of body cells (46) than they do sex cells (23), well Meiosis produces those sex cells. Here, I will walk you through the steps of Meiosis. Before Meiosis starts each chromosome in the parents cell is copied. Next, the chromosome pairs line up in the middle of the cell. After that, the pairs split and go to different sides of the cell. Then, the two cells end up having half the number of chromosomes then what they started with. This first process is known as Meiosis one. This next process I will show you is known as Meiosis two. The chromosomes move to the center of the cell again. Later on, it splits and moves to opposite sides of the cell. Finally, four sex cells are produced.

I have learned many interesting facts while researching Meiosis, they are....

1. As I have previously stated humans have a total amount of 46 chromosomes an 23 sex cells, therefore there are eight million different gametes ( a reproductive cell having a single set of chromosomes) in a single cell.

Comment: When I read this it immediately caught my attention because I saw the number eight million gametes in a single cell and i thought that was truly incredible.

2. Genes are made up of DNA and DNA replication in meiosis passes on traits from parents to their offspring.

Comment: I didn't know that genes, DNA, and meiosis worked that much together just to make up a human and their traits.

3. There is about 64 trillion different offspring that can be created by a man and a woman.

Comment: WOW!!!! There were 64 trillion different ways I could have looked. This makes me wonder about what I could have looked like and it makes me think about Punnett Squares and recessive and dominant genes.

To learn more about Meiosis visit this website...

www.brown.edu/Courses/BI0032/gentherp/genIB2.html

Are we the cause of Global Warming???

I'm sure that when you 're watching the news or when you 're walking outside on a bright sunny day you hear or think about Global Warming; however, you just ignore it and think that the world will go on as it always has. Well, Global Warming is very important to our future, and believe it or not, we are the cause of it. You may not realize it, but whenever you or your parents use gas you 're polluting the air and contributing to Global Warming.

Who:

We are the cause of Global Warming around the world.

What:

Global Warming is man made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We create these gases by fuels like methane and carbon dioxide releasing into the air. These gases trap heat near the surface- this is known as the greenhouse effect.The greenhouse effect is when human activities burn energy. When this happens the planet's temperature rises and effects the climate.

Where:

Where is Global Warming happening? Well, it's Global so it's occurring all around the world. Almost eleven out of the last twelve years have been the hottest years on record. We can notice it in the Northern Hemisphere and we can see it in the global sea rise. IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE!

When:

Scientist's say that the1990's were the warmest decade on record! They also observed that the Global Warming over the last 50 years was "due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations due to human activities" George Bush says that he is planning on stopping the growth of carbon dioxide from cars, light trucks and other vehicles within 10 years!

Why:

Global Warming has been happening for many years. Because of our human activities we have caused hotter days and nights, terrible heat waves than ever before, heavier rainfall, and major droughts in some regions of the world.

My Opinion:

When I first started reading this current event article I, too, never really cared much about the Global Warming. I knew that we polluted quite a bit but never thought that much to create so much Global Warming. The humans are to blame for this. If we want the world to flourish with warm days in the summer (but not too warm) and cold days in the winter, we need to take more care of our Earth. During the winter of 2006 and 2007 I was really disappointed because we didn't really get any snow. Then, I realized that it was because of all the Global Warming occurring. Because of all the carbon dioxide we are effecting the earth. We need to be more considerate and think before we drive down the block when we could easily ride our bikes or walk there. So, START RIDING YOUR BIKE, and the world will be a better place. <33

If you want to find out more about Global Warming, visit this website!!!!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/02/02/climate.change.report/index.html