Science Conclusion

During class, we extracted DNA from plant cells and animals. I got the plant cell while my partner got the animal. My sample was strawberry pulp. In this lab we had to find the DNA in strawberry pulp. First, I took the test tube with strawberry pulp which was filled up to twelve milliliters and added detergent. After the detergent was on top of the strawberry pulp and made sure it wasn’t shook up, then I added enzymes, which were a tan powder. Then, I added salt to the enzymes and detergent, but didn’t mix them up or my experiment would have failed. Finally, I added isopropinol and was done with the experiment. I could see a thin, white strand which was actually DNA at the top of my test tube. I can infer that if I shook up the tube, my result wouldn’t have been so successful. After looking at my partners DNA sample, I could tell that plant cells have more DNA than animals cell.

Global Warming Getting Faster!

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century. Now it's getting faster and more ice is melting across the globe. Between 1.5 trillion and 2 trillion tons of ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted at an accelerating rate since 2003. NASA geophysicist Scott Luthcke came up with the losses of ice made enough water to fill the Chesapeake Bay 21 times! Thats a lot of water! "A few degrees of change [in temperature] can increase the amount of mass loss, and that contributes to sea level rise and changes in ocean current," Luthcke said. This is a very serious matter which will no doubt change our future as humans. I think that to stop this from happening faster, we must lower pollution. A good idea to help this cause would be to carpool, ride your bike, or even work from home! I hope that this situation is solved fast because if it isn't it will affect us in many ways. All in all, global warming is getting faster and it is up to us to stop it.

Source- http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/16/melting.ice/index.html

Swiss Soldiers Without Guns!?!?

Switzerland, a land famous for the law to store weapons at home, just might lose their special privilege. This could can change many things in Switzerland. All the suicides, robberys, and more would be decreased dramatically. Green lawmaker Josef Lang said, "More than 1.5 million unused weapons were kept in Swiss homes." Switzerland without storing guns at home would be a drastic change to the regular Swiss life. Specialists think security has to be tighter so that we can prevent deaths. I find this matter very serious and strongly oppose the privlage of storing guns at home. All in all, storing guns at home might be banned in Switzerland.

Source- http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/24/switzerland.gun.army.referendum/index.

Tsunami™

NJ Middles School Going Down

     Middle schools in NJ aren't looking good. NJ middle schools students are doing very bad in 

language arts tests and the math tests. 40% of students are failing language arts tests, while 25% are failing math tests. High school students aren't doing bad, even though there average scores dropped slightly. Even fourth graders are doing better. 85% of them passed the tests assigned to them. All in all, NJ middle school students have to step it up or be stepped on.

Source- http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/tough_new_state_tests_spur_hig.html

Volcano Alert!

The volcano, Mount Redoubt in Alaska is a big one! At 10,197 feet tall, it is one big volcano. This volcano is supposed to blow at anytime! On January 23, there was high seismec activity and people think it will blow at any moment. Many residents of Alaska aren't worried about the eruption and think it won't be too major. The last eruption in 1989 only disrupted air traffic. Hopefully, the volcano doesn't harm any people and is not too powerful. So for anyone wanting to go to Alaska, watch out for Mout Redoubt!

Source- http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/01/29/alaska.volcano/index.html

The Future Of Gaming

     Video games are fun, but some people argue that they don't use enough of your brain. Now, those people don't have to worry anymore. The Emotiv EPOC headset might be coming out in a while. It is a specialized headset that requires you to use your mind. Games like The Matrix and Star Trek's Holodeck are possibilities for the EPOC. President and co-founder Tan Le says, "The brain-to-computer interface was undoubtedly the future for video games." In a couple years, you might be using your mind more for entertainment thanks to the EPOC headset!!!