Greenhouse Effect Response (Science Menu)

As we learned about greenhouse gases the other day, I was intrigued enough to look up an article and respond to it for the science menu. The article states how much the world is heating up due to global warming. The ice on the Upsala Glacier is receding by 180 feet per year due to this extreme heating. Greenhouse gases tie into this article because an excess of these gases create the heating of our planet and our atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are natural but if we continue to pollute the earth with car emissions, the gases increase. I find this quite depressing because we should be keeping our planet clean so we can live safe and sound. If we don't start now we will never survive later in our futures. Reducing car emission and factory emissions are small steps towards this big goal. The more we use bikes and our feet to get to places, the less we pollute the earth. This is because we don't release gas emissions like automobiles do. Lets make a stand against global warming and save our planet.

Link: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00.html

The Greenhouse Effect Interactive Game (Science Menu)

Today in science class, I chose to play an interactive game about temperature. There were three different gases in this game. First comes carbon dioxide which makes ups less than one percent of the atmosphere. It is very vital to keeping our earth warm and we need it to survive. Carbon dioxide is one of multiple greenhouse gases. This gas comes from various places including volcanoes, car exhausts, power plants, and decaying plants and animals. When we burn coal, we release the carbon from it as carbon dioxide. Other planets have carbon dioxide too. There is little on Mars but plenty on Venus. More of this gas makes the planet hot, while less makes it colder. Enough about carbon dioxide. Next is oxygen. It was made from cyanobacteria through photosynthesis. It makes up about about one fifth of our atmosphere. As you learned earlier, photosynthesis comes from plants and this creates oxygen. Oxygen is key to our living as it is what we breath in every day. Take a deep breath! It is perfectly safe and we need it to survive. But watch out! If oxygen levels are too high, randomly things can combust into flames. At lower levels, few creatures can survive. Enough about oxygen. Lets move on to our final gas, ozone. It is an oxygen gas that is gathered in the Earth's atmosphere. Ever heard about the ozone layer? Ozone is in the stratosphere and it should stay there. If there is ground level ozone, people's lungs can burn up. Kids breath in more air than adults so we are more in danger. But don't worry the chances of that are very slim. These three gases are very important in our life and help our planet. Hopefully you learned something from me today! See you next time.

Popcorn Popping (Science Menu)

Today is science class, we made popcorn, As interesting at it is, science is a big part of these delicious little treats. In fact, science is huge part of life in every aspect. Well lets get back to popcorn. Heat transfer is a big part of this process. Heat transfers into each kernel and makes them pop. Radiation causes this to occur. "Radiation describes any process in which energy travels through a medium or through space, ultimately to be absorbed by another body." In simpler words, it is the transfer of heat energy through an empty space. The heat is transferred from the microwave through empty space and hits the another body, the kernels. This makes the water in each kernel turn into steam. The steam pushes outwards and expands the small kernel into a relatively larger piece of popcorn. The process continues until all the kernels are transformed. Their popping gives them the name "pop-corn." After that the popcorn is all ready to be devoured. Add a little butter and your snack will be perfect. Enjoy!

Welcome to CoRoT-9b

Recently, scientists have discovered a temperate exoplanet that size is closely related to Jupiter. "CoRoT-9b is the first transiting extrasolar planet that is definitely similar to a planet in our solar system, namely Jupiter." Named CoRoT-9b after the CoRoT space telescope that discovered it, the French found the planet in the constellation, Serpens Cauda, which is located 1500 light years from our home planet. Unique to this planet, it is both transits a star and is a temperate planet. The transit of a star occurs when a celestial body passes over a star, blocking some of it's light. CoRoT-9b is unique in many other ways too. "The planet is mostly made of hydrogen and helium, but may contain up to 20 Earth masses of heavier elements including rock and water under high pressure." CoRoT-95 takes much longer than other planets to orbit its star, an approximate 95 Earth days compared to just one Earth day back on our planet. "The CoRoT satellite identified the planet after 150 days of continuous observation in the summer of 2008." All in all this planet it is an extraordinary achievement as discovering a planet is always an awe inspiring thing. "Only 25 years ago no extrasolar planets were known, and today we know of more than 400." Thats all for now on CoRoT-9b! Come back later for more science related news (:

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100317144644.htm

James Cameron's Blockbuster A Bit Too Good?

James Cameron is known for his plethora of imaginative movies. Recently, his new movie Avatar flew into theaters worldwide. Taking place on Pandora, Cameron takes you through a world immersed with hope, beauty, and adventure. The spectacle flew up charts everywhere, but good things don't last forever. "'Avatar' is on track to be the highest grossing film of all time, but some viewers say it leaves them depressed." Why this happens is a mystery to me, but some viewers found Cameron's work of art to be too wonderful to want to leave the world of Pandora. On a fan forum site, people are posting ways to cope with the depression. In my honest opinion, I find that this a ridiculous way to feel about an imaginative world. But if I went back into the shoes of one of the depressed movie watchers, I could see how they could be depressed. Avatar gave people a world with so much beauty and imagination that we don't have here on Earth. The fact that many viewers watched the film in 3-D doesn't help to add to the depression. But not all feel that way. "Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality." Since the film shows the Na'vi, the inhabitants of Pandora, as the good guys while the humans are bad I can understand how people may feel that humans are not good. Also, Pandora doesn't have global warming, something that is omnipresent in our planet. "Compared with life on Earth, Pandora is a beautiful, glowing utopia." Earth has something for all of us and we should accept the fact that this is our home planet. But for people whos life isn't going too well, Pandora jumps out at you like an oasis in a desert. Stay strong everybody. Life is great and live it to the fullest. Earth is our Pandora, so lets keep it safe and enjoy every minute we have on it.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html

Forensic Scientists (Podcast)

Explore the wonders of forensic scientists as this in depth discussion takes you farther through forensics then you ever have went before. Enjoy! Forensic Scientist (Soccerfan7)

Microsoft's Windows Mobile Doing So Well?

Microsoft first blew there Windows Vista project, and it seems that they have done it once again. Except this time, they did it on the nation's mobile phones. Windows Mobile is not doing so hot in the market. As the article where I found my information states, " Microsoft is getting beat up worse than a mustachioed villain in a Jackie Chan movie." They seemed to be doing fine with this inventive project, when there sole rival came into the picture. Apple, known for there different assorted technology, came up with a new tool to beat Microsoft into the ground. We call this the iPhone. With over 100,000 apps, this new smartphone has the capabilities of doing virtually anything. This includes games, tools, information, humor, and much more. The many people who have obtained this smartphone knows that I am speaking the truth. How does this compete with Microsoft's Windows Mobile? The different apps hold more then Windows Mobile capabilities, sparking eager customers to buy the phone. "Google, Nokia, Research In Motion, Palm and others have opened app stores and begun recruiting developers to compete." Microsoft was the first in this vast market of electronics, with there brilliant PC software. What went wrong this time around? My opinion on the matter is that Apple and Microsoft both have great software, but Apple's idea of appealing to the consumer as much as possible takes the cake. I love when a company takes a challenge and tries to make their product the best. Apple did this and I am quite disappointed in Microsoft. My family and I are loyal Microsoft customers, using Microsoft Excel, Word, and Office for years. "The sad part for Microsoft is that in terms of operating systems, they have a great one, and they had it long before anyone else did." Microsoft is a strong brand, still in my opinion better than Apple, but this project was a disappointment just like Vista was. For now, I will have to stick to using the apps on my iPod Touch. Hopefully in the future, Microsoft comes back strong like they were when the had a monopoly over the electronic dynasty. Good luck Microsoft!

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/19/microsoft.windows.mobile/index.html