Oasis of the Seas

Since the dawn of time, people have always been trying to break through and develop the latest technology. We try to build things bigger and better. In 1912, the R.M.S. Titanic was constructed by the White Star Line. It was the largest ship of its time, hence the name. The luxury far surpassed any other boat in that age. Titanic sank on its maiden voyage, but its luxury and size will always be remembered. Now, Royal Carribean Cruise Lines have made a new ship, which surpasses the Titanic's size by a large amount. Oasis of te Seas is 1,180 feet long and weighs 100,000 pounds. Oasis of the Seas stands 20 stories high and is as long as four football fields. Such features include a rockwall, a zipline, several shows and a unique surfing pool. With such a gargantuan structure, it is remarkable that the cruise can stay afloat. Well, as we went over in class,the density of air is less than the density of the water, hence forth the ship stays afloat. To maintain stability, the hull was built extra wide to displace the water. The Oasis of the Seas is truly a remarkable breakthrough of the 21st century. I wuld love to gain passage on this marvelous boat and lets hope that unlike Titanic, Oasis of the Seas has a long, sucessful career.

Cornstarch: Liquid or Solid?

Today in class, we did a lab to test whether or not cornstarch and water was a liquid or a solid. This was a confusing lab for I was not sure what form of matter this substance was for when we first started with the mix it appeared to be liquid. I scooped some up and was suprised to feel a hard bottom. For an instant, the mix was like clay in my hand. However, it soon turned to liquid again. So I rolled it in my hands and it became clay again. Yet when I squeezed it, it liquified. My hypothesis (If the goop is handled, than its form of matter will change.) was accurate. This lab was very fun and very messy. So, it turns out that this substance of cornstarch and water was either a Newtonian liquid, or an amorphous solid when handled. Overall, this was a fun lab.

Lightning Storms on Saturn

Millions of miles away from Earth, a lightning storm has been occurring in Saturn's atmosphere. This storm, which has been going on for 7.5 months, has broke the record for the longest known lightning storm in the solar system. The spacecraft Cassini has recorded nine storms since its orbit began July 2004. The storms have been giving off powerful radio waves. An astronomer from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, George Fischer, presented his observation of the storms. He said, "These lightning storms are not only astonishing for their power and longevity, the radio waves that they emit are also useful for studying Saturn's ionosphere, the charged layer that surrounds the planet a few thousand kilometers above the cloud tops," Fischer said. "The radio waves have to cross the ionosphere to get to Cassini and thereby act as a natural tool to probe the structure of the layer and the levels of ionization in different regions." So, some scientific benefit is coming from these storms and that is always a good thing.

Valuable info from: http://www.livescience.com/space/090914-saturn-lightning-record.html

Salt Marshes

In class yesterday, we were shown how toxins flow into the ocean and how fish are dying of it. We were shown through a neat model. On a model of a sloped and coastal community, we added soil, sand, pieces of trash(paper), animal waste(chocolate sprinkles), and oil, fertilizer and pesticide(all different colored food coloring). We added rain(sprinkled water), and all of the additions we had added flowed into the ocean at the bottom of the community. The water was filthy and turbid from all of the toxins. No wonder that large amounts of fish die overnight after being in that water.The toxins that they are breathing in cannot be good for their health. So, we conducted the experiment a second time, however, this time we added a sponge at the bottom of the model that would act as a salt marsh. A salt marsh is a coastal wetland that can be found all along the coast of New Jersey, but they are more dense in southern New Jersey. Lots of wildlife can be found in marshes, including many crustaceans, horseshoe crabs and various birds. Anyway, when we simulated the rain, the polluted water went down the landscape, but it came past the sponge and came out much cleaner than without the marsh. The marsh's high grasses can use the pesticides and fertilizers to its advantage, and though the waste, trash and oil might pollute the water, it is not as severe as it would be without the marsh. Marshes are one of the only natural cleaners found in nature, so it is important to preserve these valuable wetlands.

Plasticity

In class, we did a lab to see how the mantle flows and has the property of plasticity. So we put cornstarch into a beaker and combined it with water. At first, it looked like a liquid batter. But when I put my hand in it, and then rolled it around, it hardened and felt like hardened wax. When I poked my finger in quickly, it made an indent that filled in quickly. I poked it slowly, and the mixture settled around my finger. So, supposedly, this is similar to the mantle's texture.

October Sky

During a unit day, we watched the movie October Sky. This movie is full of scientific and character ed connections. For instance, Homer and Quentin had to apply Newton's Laws and aerodynamics when building the rockets. Also, Ms. Riley had Hodgekins Disease, a type of lymphoma, a cancer that originates from white blood cells. In addition, Coalwood Mining Company was digging through the Earth's crust to mine coal. And the Sputnik flight, which occured in the beginning of the movie, had to do with astronomy for it was the first object launched into space.

Character ed was present in this movie many times. First of all, Homer, Quentin. Roy and Odell all have to overcome their differences to work together in buildding the rockets. And Homer's father becomes more accepting of Homer's new passion to build rockets towards the end.

Response to Genetic Disease

After I learned about Patau's Syndrome for my genetic disorders blog, I looked around for other people's blogs and I found an emotional blog regarding Downs Syndrome. Apparently, people with Down Syndrome can never perfect their fine motor skills. In addition, Downers have shorter lives and take longer to develop language skills and speaking abilities. They also have lower I.Q.'s, but that is not there fault. Some people that I have seen with Down Syndrome have odd faces, for the extra chromosome they recieve that causes Down Syndrome can do that. This blog made me feel sad. These people are born with different features and phycological abilities which make them a deviation from most kids. Unfortunately, they are bound to be mocked. I give credit to all of the people with Down Syndrome who continue to go out into the world and face life. They are saying, "Hey, I might be different, but everyones different, so come at me."

Reflective off of http://hershey96.blogspot.com/

Patau's Syndrome

Of all the horrible abnormalities, Patau's Syndrome takes the top. Patau's Syndrome was discovered in 1657 by Eramus Barthalon. The cause for this is that a fetus has three copies of chromosome 13, as opposed to the normal level of two. This random genetic accident can result in many abominations. The symptons include incomplete eyesight and smelling nerves, deafness,cleft lip and/or palate, a flat face, lowered or malformed ears, extra fingers or toes along with deformed hands and feet, respiratory difficulties and heart defects, severe organ deformities, and basically anything else that could be wrong with someone. In addition, the brain may not divide into lobes or hemispheres and would be unusually small. And the child is almost always mentally retarded. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this terrible syndrome that mars the patient's body severely. However, surgery can be done to try to mend some of these deformities, yet this is more for the patients comfort than anything else. The mortality of Patau's Syndrome is truly sad. 82% of the patients that survive being born die within the first month of infancy. 5-10% pass away after one year. The oldest known person with the Syndrome survived up to 33. About one in every twelve-thousand infants have Patau's Syndrome and survive to their first birthday. One in every sixteen-thousand fetuses have Patau's and result in a miscarraige. No fetus is more vulnerable or safe from Patau's Syndrome then the next. The presence of the extra chromosome is just a random genetic accident. Hopefully, scientist will be able to find a cure, but there is nothing that could prevent Patau's at the time.

Valuble Info From: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2601/is_0010/ai_2601001030/

DNA Conclusion

Recently in class, I extracted DNA from my saliva. I swished Gatorade around in my mouth and spit it into a test tube, added lysome and inverted the tube causing bubbles to come to the top of the surface. Then I added alcohol which created a visible layer on toop of the previous mixture. After letting the test tube rest for fifteen minutes, strands of DNA were visible towards the top of the mixture. Overall, the experiment came out good. I was able to see the DNA from my saliva, which was the initial purpose of the experiment. I saw animal DNA for the first time. From this experiment, I learned that DNA is everywhere, even my saliva.

Biological Warfare

As the modern age becomes more technologically advanced, new ways of warfare have developed. We've gone from throwing rocks to nuclear bombs. Now, a new, much more deadly way has been experimented in terrorist labs. The scientists in Iran and other middle eastern nations have developed harmful bacteriae and viri that could turn the US into a deserted, lifeless country by 2013. Certain precautions have been taken against this, but it is hard seeing as we don't know what type of virus is coming about. in some ways, these bacteriae are more harmful than nuclear attacks for we could detct a missle on military radar and shoot it down. It only takes one immigrant top wipe out America. It could be as bad as the flu outbreak in the early 1900's that killed over 40 million civilians. A second Black Plague might be caused by our enemies.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28006645/

Rutgers Expansion

In this recession, money is limited. Obviously, some people have not taken account of the fact that development must be reduced to meet standard needs. Rutgers, a college just a little n bit north of us, is planning to spend 500 million dollars on an expansion project that will take three yaers to complete. The funding will be used to expand various campuses such as the New Brunswick one we know, the Camden one and the Newark one. There will be many new editions such as new dormitaries and more modern health labs. Whether this expansion will work or not we wish Rutgers the best of luck.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/rutgers_announces_500m_expansi.html#more

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Conflict in Gaza: Who's at Fault?

For the past sixty years, the people of Israel have been terrified of the actions by its Arab neighbors. They have always been defending themselves against these terrorist countries. Just two years ago, Hizbullah, a Muslim terrorist group, was firing rocket into Israel from Lebanon. Unfortunately, Hamas, another terrorist group that has control in the Gaza strip, has been doing the same thing and firing rockets into Israeli towns right outside Gaza. Finally, Israel has decided to do something about it. They have sent troops into Gaza to take out rocket launching sites. Israel is not trying to kill civilians, no matter what the press says. Hamas has put these rocket launching pads ontop of schools and apartment buildings. This way, Israel will look bad to the world. The press also says Israel has killed innocent civilians. However, the people in Gaza know that there are missle sights near them, but thay have done nothing about it. If you go to sleep with a missle, you should not be surprised if you dont' wake up tomorrow. These parents send these kids to school in full knowledge that they are under missle pads. Even though Israeli troops are dying in Israel, another problem is occuring.
The press is corrupted. They have taken a one sided view on the subject. They say nothing about the multitude of deaths from the Arab rocket attacks, but when Israel defends itself, the press gets involved. They have not put themselves in Israel's situation. If MExico was firing rockets into America, would we stand by and tolerate it? NO! In fact, Israel has restrained more than any democracy would in this situation. The New York Times, a normally antisemitic newspaper anyway, has published a disturbing artcle. Here is a portion from it:
The level of suffering in Gaza has grown in recent years. In 2007 there was a civil war between the two leading Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, which had won parliamentary elections in the area the year before. The brief war ended with the rout of Fatah. Israel, which like the United States considers Hamas a terrorist group, clamped down on the area’s borders, restricting access and supplies. Militant groups in Gaza fired rockets at Israeli border towns, with Hamas’s approval. In the summer of 2008 a six-month ceasefire was brokered by Egypt. But while the level of rocket fire fell, it never ceased entirely, and Israel made only minor changes in its border policy. When the cease-fire ended on Dec. 19, Hamas stepped up the firing of rockets and mortars. On Dec. 27, Israel responded with a devastating air and ground campaign that left at least 1,300 Palestinians dead by the time a cease-fire was unilaterally declared by both sides on Jan. 18, 2009. Much of the region’s civil infrastructure and many homes were left in ruins. From: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/gaza_strip/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=gaza&st=cse
This article mentions the "suffering" of Gaza. It was Israel that was suffering. Before Gaza was taken from Israel by the Arabs in 2003, the Arabs who did not like the system had plenty of time to leave. They still had time afterwards. They have brought this invasion upon themselves, and it is purely their fault. In addition to that, the press never told of the rocket attacks or the dead Israelites. Gaza must be liberated, Hamas must be destroyed, and the Arabs must see the wrongs of their ways. Israel has a right to defend themselves, as any country does.

Maglevs: Trains of the Future

In class, we are learning about Newton's laws regarding motion. One particular law that has to do with the modern day world is the first law, which states that an object in motion stays in motion unless disturbed by an outside force. For instance, trains go along a rail. The friction between the rail and train car slow the train down. If the train is not going fast enough, the rail will cause enough friction to stop the train's motion completely. So, now in Japan, there are special Maglev trains. These trains do not touch a rail, thus reducing the friction and allowing it to go much faster. Instead, the train hovers. Well, Maglev is short for magnetic levitation. The bottom of the train and the track have the same magnetic poles, which pushes the train upwards. This shows how just one hundred years ago, trains were brand new and now they hover. The new technology is definately useful.

Info from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/maglev-train.htm

Obama's Speech: Troubleling or Reassuring?

Yesterday, history was made in Washington. The first Hawaiin president was sworn into office. (Oh yeah, he's black too.) Anyway, his name was Barrack Obama. He was sworn into office and then gave the inaugural adress. But just because he gave a speech does not mean the viewers liked it or disliked it.
The first article I found had a negative stand point. They believed that with all of Barrack's talk of change, he had let the market fall. As it says, " Obama's Mountain of hope produced a disappointing and fearful mouse! Wall Street dropped more than 300 points because they saw no hope for real Change! Even after Obama got his wall Street 350 750 billions of "giveaway" Bail-out money, more in TARP money, and promised them 1. 3 trillion dollars of extra expenditure for road, bridges, infrastructures and Green Jobs to nowhere. As he was speaking instead of hope they saw despair and dumped their stocks because any one with economic 101 knows that borrowing from China to buy Chinese and Mexican industrial products and filling Wal-Mart with cheap goods at the expense of American jobs would lead to 13 trillion Dollars National Debt by the end of 2009, that in combination of budget deficit, Balance of Trade deficit would bring this great nation to is knees." From: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/insurgentone/2009/01/obamas-inauguration-a-disappoi.php
Even though some citizens were unatisfied with Obama's speech, some were overjoyed by his new plans for America. The next article I found is suggesting that Obama was a brave soul for running for president. They also felt that his speech inspired peple to work for a better America. As it says, "Before a sea of people that stretched for over a mile down the Washington Mall, Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and immediately set about steeling the nation's resolve for more hard days to come. It's a repair job, Obama suggested, that will require a little something from everybody - from Wall Street titans, to government leaders, to everyday Americans already struggling to make ends meet."
Taken from: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/20/2009-01-20_barack_obama_sworn_in_as_44th_president_.html

X-Rays: Useful in Medicine, Yet Harmful to the Body

They say today's medicinal technology is the best it as been. However, that does not make it 100% safe. For instance, X-ray machines enable us to see the body in a nonsurgical manner. But the radiation adds up over time. Even though there is not much in the amount o0ne is given for a broken bone, combined with the radiation in the air and matter we associate with, it can be harmful. The X-ray radiation can kill cells in your body. So, as a precaution, in dental x-rays, people wear lead vests to reduce exposure. So, even though x-rays are helpful in the medical field, thay must be handled with precaution.
Valuble Info From: http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/xrays.html

Black Holes

When a star explodes in a supernova, it seems like that is the end of it's billion year life span. However, some stars go on to be a black hole. A black hole is a vacuum in space that even light cannot escape. It sucks everything near by into its depths. Since cameras would be destroyed and crushed within a black hole, no one knows what happens inside one. Some say that it is a portal to another universe. But more likely it is just a region in space where everything is destroyed through mass compression. These holes are very mysterious, but what would life be without questions?

Valuble info from http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/black_holes.html