Popcorn Lab

In class today, we did a popcorn lab. We cooked popcorn in two ways: radiation and convection. In radiation, we used a microwave. We put a bag of corn kernels in a microwave for one minute and thirty seconds. Now, we've all made popcorn hundreds of times in our lives, but I never thought of the science in it. When I made it in the microwave, the process of radiation took place. The radiation from the microwave heats up the kernels and surrounding kernels in a process called "double heating". After a certain point, the heat expands the kernels to a point where they "pop" to form popcorn. The kernel expodes out, so to speak. In the convection stlye, we used a hot air popper to make the movie munchie. However, the way the popcorn formed is through convection, not radiation. We put the popcorn in the hot-air popper and turned on the heat. The hot air rose to the kernels, and after tranferring enough heat, the kernels popped. This is the process of convection at work in an everyday life aspect. In both cases, this is a much healthier way to have popcorn. If you make your own popcorn, there are no added fats or preseratives and it is much healthier to eat.

Class Response

In school a few days ago, we dissected frogs. I personally enjoyed the process, but dissections have always been a very controversial topic. There has always been debate about the value of life for these specimens. Several animal rights activists have held rallies to slander this practice. According to the World Conservation Union, one third of the world's amphibians face extinction. This could be due to the practice of dissection, but there are many other factors that contribute to this decrease. However, for students who don't want to dissect, there are excellent digital dissections that can be found on the web. Dr. Gaunt of PBS says, "I think it's a great idea. A lot of good things could benefit from it. One popular program called Visifrog has been a great sucess in schools across the globe. Above is an image of one of the virtual frog dissections and it still maintains the visual effect and not the smell.:) Personally, I think that students should have a right to choose if they feel comfortable or not dissecting a frog. Often, religion stands in the way and in which case the student should be required to do a virtual dissection. No matter how you choose to dissect, the purpose in doing so is to aquire knowledge, not to have fun. Many cruel individuals will cut open animals for entertainment and that is wrong.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/speakout/science/jan-june08/dissection_4-11.html

Bosnia War Stats and Numbers

Fifteen years ago in Bosnia, an ethnic group called the Serbs killed a
anyone that defied them. About 250,000 people died, whether it be the Bosnian-Muslims, Croats, Serbs or NATO troops. The conflict was that Yugoslavia broke apart and the Serbs wanted it to stay together. Bosnia, one of the new countries that were formed, is 37% Serb, 14% Croat, and 48% Bosniak, or Bosnian-Muslim, totaling the population at 4,377,053 in 1991 at the start of the war. The new size of independent Bosnia and Herzegovina is 19,767 square miles. The independent Croatia is 21,851 square miles and the population is 4,437,460 as of 2001. The new Serbia is 34,116 square miles with a population of 7,334,935 in 2000. These numbers are significantly smaller than former Yugoslavia and shows that math truly is involved in the world.

Jellyfish: Cnidarians(class response)

In class, we learned about cnidarians. I was fascinated by the interesting cnidarian known as the jellyfish. Now, I've seen Spongebob and I know that jellyfish sting. Yet I thought it was cool to find out more about them. One particular aspect that is cool is their reproductive cycle. A male jellyfish releases sperm and the sperm grows into a polyp on a rock. Then, parts of the polyp break off and swim away from relatively stationary polyp. Another interesting fact is that when plant fertilizer gets into water, it can mutate the jellyfish into much larger jellyfish. There are some jellyfish that can glow, just like fireflies. Overall, I think that jellyfish are pretty interesting for such a simple life form.

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