Got Science?

I read an intriguing post at the Freakonomics blog and I couldn't help but post it here, because it truly is thought provoking.  It is simple enough- all it really says is that a bunch of 8-10-year-olds in the UK have conducted their own research and published it, the topic being bees.  If elementary-schoolers can conduct research in the UK, why don't us US kids do so as well?  Why doesn't every kid in the US have the opportunity, at least, to contribute to the scientific community by conducting some research- it would be a wonderful experience and kids would learn a lot more than if they stayed crammed in their classrooms and snoozing in the back (or in my case, the front) of the room.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Looking for a way to use those Thanksgiving leftovers without actually eating them?  Smear them on yourself!  Apparently, there are scientific reasons why leftovers like pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes may be better on your body than in.  Here's a challenge: can you pick them all out?

http://improbable.com/2010/11/27/smear-thanksgiving-leftover-food-on-your-body/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ImprobableResearch+(Improbable+Research) Which leads to http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/pumpkin-pie-facial-use-thanksgiving-leftovers-for-skin-care/19729777

Science vs. Literature

Sometimes, the lines between science and literature get a little fuzzy.  How?  Check these out: Literature as a graph and one that cracks me up: Fictional Physicists (the titles were slightly paraphrased).  What do you think?  Has science become literature or has literature become scientific?

And So It Begins...

Hi!

Back to school again!  The thrill at being back, the anxiety of that first day, the confusion of hundreds of kids trying to figure out where to go and what to do.... it's almost overwhelming.  A little too close to overwhelming, in my case.  But anyhow, I welcome you all to the world of blogging!  As a heads up, I will be busy, so there won't be as many posts... however, I will be keeping check on comments, the question box blog, and so forth, so feel free to read through past posts, post questions about science and high school (I am taking chemistry and physics) and learn!

Happy back to school everyone!

Pippin

Got Science?

Did anyone really think I'd stop blogging?  Not that anyone checks, judging by the stats...

Anyway, I've been waiting for some good topics to blog about to come along, and I've got them now! This summer, we'll be exploring Engineering and Technology! Whoopee!

Okay, celebrations aside,  let's get to work.  First, we have to figure out an essential question: what is an engineer, exactly? There's the stereotype of a guy working being a desk on some computer program, or all those people in BP who are still trying to find a way to plug the oil leak.  But engineers aren't just plugging oil leaks and designing computer programs (which, technically speaking, is the job of a computer programmer, anyway).  Engineers are behind any and everything that you can think of: your TV, the chair you're possibly sitting on, the AC that's keeping you cool in this hot weather, your food.... you name it, and there's an engineer that's involved with it.  They apply their knowledge of science and math (math is the language of science, if you didn't know that already) in order to solve problems and make society a better place.  They have to be able to invent and innovate technology to fit our growing needs and solve our problems while working under time and financial restraints.  Engineers often works in teams to achieve their goal.   While they aren't strictly science, they apply their knowledge of science and math to create things that are useful to society.  (Yes, they are truly that amazing.) They pave the way to a technological future.

There are many types of engineers, and I'll list a few here (with a bit of info, of course).  I'll also list some sites at the end of this post for you to check out.  If you don't like them, then just try googling engineering for kids or something like that to find a site that's right for you.

Civil Engineering: They are one of the more well-known engineers.  Civil engineers deal with design, and they are the ones that build structures and make sure they're safe for people.  That road you drove on to get to McDonald's? There's been a engineer or two who's help to make sure it's sturdy.  They also design structures such as bridges, dams, airports, power plants, tunnels, etc.  Here's something for you to look up that might be interesting: mag-lev trains.  Civil engineers have a hand in all of these structures and more.

Electrical and Computer Engineering: They have to learn how electricity works and apply it to their work. Light bulbs, robots, cell phones, sensors, all of those need wiring and electricity work, and that's where a handy-dandy electrical engineer comes in.  Computer engineers deal with computers, of course: the hardware, software, and also other things such as medical imaging.

Chemical Engineering:  Here's a lesser known engineer.  Chemical engineers deal with... you guessed it, chemicals!  They try to make sure that chemicals are safe (remember, chemicals aren't all bad- H20 is completely harmless and very necessary: water!) in the lab and when they're manufactured as well (and at all other times as well...)  Things that would have been made by chemical engineers include common household items like... you probably didn't guess it, shampoo!  Along with shampoo, there's petrochemicals (derived from oil), pharmaceutical chemicals (medicine), and nanotechnology that you might find chemical engineers involved with.

Mechanical Engineering:  Mechanical engineering is probably one of the broadest and oldest branches of engineering.  All those images of gears and other machinery that comes to mind with the word engineer?  Yeah, that's mechanical engineering.  They don't only deal with gears, though.  They are behind things such as rockets, cars, roller coasters, water guns, and so much more, but I'll leave that for you to figure out.

Biomedical Engineering:  Yeah, I think that you could guess what biomedical engineers do.   They develop technology to help save lives.  Some subcategories include rehab engineering (to help out the body when it fails, such as making fake limbs or pacemakers), biomaterials (creating non-toxic materials that the body won't reject, such as a fake bone), and medical imaging (CAT scans, x-rays, etc.)

Environment Engineer:  These engineers are out to save the world! As you can guess, they try to fix the environment.  They would work with issues such as waste water management, air quality management, and land remediation.  Such engineers also need good writing skills and other qualities to get all those big companies to listen while they explain that they're ruining the environment and how to make it better.  Tough job, eh?

Materials Science and Engineering (MSE):  These engineers deal with materials.  They try to make materials that have specific qualities.  For instance, say a biomedical engineer asked a MSE person for a type of material that would be lightweight, strong, and won't be rejected by the human body to create a bone.  A team of MSE engineers would try to either identify a material that can be used, or modify a material so that it will fit the criteria.

Industrial and Systems Engineer:   These engineers are like managers.  They oversee the process of production, and make sure that systems are efficient and cost-effective.  They'll learn about many branches of engineering, and analyze machines, facilities, and other aspects of production lines to make sure things are running smoothly and make improvements.  They are also likely to become a manager because of the nature of their job.

Okay, that's enough for today.  Here are some links (actually, one that links to many other links):

http://www.discoverengineering.org/  Click around!  This site has many good links that I have yet to explore, and I hope you do too!

Oops! Forgot my credits:  Thanks to all of my counselors at camp for teaching us about engineering!  And of course, now that I'm at the whole thanks-giving thing, thanks to the most wonderful science teacher of all, SunnyD, without whom this wouldn't be here.  And thanks to the best lit teacher ever, kokopelli1015!

Got Science?

First things first: here's a shocking link that has to do with the oil spill.  Basically, it'll show you the size of the oil spill if it happened over your town.  Check it out:
http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/

So the school year has winded down.  Thus, the end of the Question Box on my blog for this year.  However, look out for the Question Box next year!!  Here are the final questions' answers:

Why can milk come out your nose?  Let me illustrate why with a diagram (from here)

©2009 Northeast Georgia Cancer Specialists/ASTRO

If you look at the diagram, you can see that your mouth (oral cavity) is connected to the same passageway as your nose.  Milk comes out your nose mistakenly because it happens to go past your mouth and through your nose instead, probably because something forced it up, like laughter.  Simple, isn't it?

Next question: If I had to choose a science career, what would I choose?  Not that I would, oh, say, go into the science field.  After all, that would be totally unexpected (Verbal irony. Please do not take seriously).  Jokes aside, I don't really know.  Green guy mentioned becoming a brain surgeon, njguy becoming a zoologist, and toadrockz a pathologist/science teacher.  Becoming a science teacher would be fun, although I might accidentally drive Sunnyd nuts with questions about how to be a good science teacher.  Or, on the thread of zoologist, marine biology is pretty interesting too.  I spent half the school year in second grade learning about the ocean (and we went really deep, too!  We had to do a research paper and projects and we wrote a poem and made a play and posters.... oh, all those good memories.  Back to the present!)  and it was  really interesting.  However, I'm actually kind of hanging in between engineering/physics and medical school, when it comes to science careers.  Physics/engineering is a big interest of mine, but the human body is too- and arguably, I've been fascinated in the human body for much longer than I've ever been interested in physics, even though I've never actually been as mesmerized with it as physics.  What do you think?  Would you want to become, say, a science teacher, or a zoologist, or some other type of scientist?  Comments are welcome, it's always nice to hear someone else!

Pippin's Question Box

If you had to pick a science career, what would you choose?

Pippin's Question Box

Why is it possible for milk to come out your nose? Best

Got Science?

I know this is a little off topic, but I was just thinking about the possibility of civilizations before us and aliens. I know it's improbable for intelligent life to develop before us, but if it did happen, would there even be evidence? Take for instance, our society. We use all sorts of materials that last a loonnngg time, so people can dig up artifacts from, say, the Native Americans of long ago. However, everything that we've done is incredibly small compared to the Earth's history- we've only been around for, say, a million or so years while the Earth's been around for about 4.6 billion years (and correct me if I'm wrong). Also, even though the stuff we make may last a long time, I don't think that 500 million years from now, it would still be here. Even glass, which lasts a long time, will only last one million years: compare that to the dinosaurs of 200 million years ago. So if there was, say, really smart dinosaurs, would there be any evidence to prove it? Especially if those really smart dinosaurs were smart enough to dispose of their waste properly.

The answer to the question this week: quite simply, we can't tickle ourselves because it isn't a surprise. Our brain can anticipate our own movements (what a shocker), so when we tickle ourselves, we don't get that panicky feeling that causes the being-tickled reaction. After all, it's only yourself, so your brain doesn't raise a fuss.

Now, one last announcement: there MAY be a special luncheon or lab for the TOP TEN answerer's of the question box. Things considered: how many times you answered and the quality of your answers. When the final details of the special luncheon or lab are determined, then the list of winners will be compiled and posted on the blog- so keep on answering!

awesome_spectacular's comments: Great job this week- we got a lot of answers. The quality of the answers is way improving! About Pippin's comments on the aliens and stuff (way off topic!), I think that you're right about the glass lasting only about probably a million years. Not all resources last forever because some resources are renewal and others are non renewal (hint! hint! S.S.!) I feel that even the renewable stuff we make may last a really really long time, but I don't really think it could last forever. I guess I got off topic too! Anyway, you guys are doing a awesome job, so just keep answering!

Got Science?

I was just watching Bill Nye on the news, talking about the Gulf oil spill, and he started talking about how we need more of America's youth to go into concrete science, rather than economics or banking or whatnot. And so, I decided that now is a good time to truly discuss what the question box is about, as its purpose, I feel, is beginning to drown amongst the goodie bags, extra credit, and other frilly stuff.

The Question Box wasn't meant as a way for me to get rid of all of my Halloween candy, even if that's what it seems. Nor was it meant as a quick and easy way to boost your grades. It isn't even about the ultra-cool bulletin board that is now wallpapered in pictures and articles. It's about getting you interested in science, and hopefully swaying some of you to pursue science careers in the future. Science isn't boring, even if you fall asleep in science class. It's the field of curiosity, where you think of questions- and try to answer them. It's the field of creation, where our techno-people think of neat gadgets like the iPhone for the rest of us to enjoy. It's the field of solutions, where our greatest minds try to solve the problems of today, like BP's oil spill. I'm not saying that you have to become a scientist or engineer, but that it's not as boring as you think. In fact, here's how E. Robert Schulman put the purpose of science in his comical How to Write a Scientific Paper:

The purpose of science is to get paid for doing fun stuff if you're not a good enough programmer to write computer games for a living (Schulman et al. 1991).

While it's meant to be a joke, that's what scientists do: they research "stuff" that they want to find out, and they get paid for doing it. Just watch the Discovery Channel. Those people are getting paid for living an adventure! No one is more fun, or funny than the Myth Busters and all they do all day is experiment. Having someone pay you to sit around and ask questions is a wonderful career. Want to know why clouds break up? Or why people have a tendency to eat the ears off of marshmallow peeps first? Scientists are the ones who get paid to find the answer: they research the topic, come up with a guess to the answer, and try out their guess in a made up scenario, an experiment. Then, they try to figure out what just happened and whether or not they were right. But you don't need me to tell you this, this is what every science teacher is telling you! Hypothesis: I think people like to eat the ears of marshmallow peeps. Observation: watching people vote on my marshmallow peep poll. Data: The results of my poll (scroll down to see). Conclusion: it's either always or never, but rarely in between. This is what science teachers are constantly telling you, but it's simpler than they make it seem (sorry Sunnyd). This big vocabulary, observation, analysis, etc. is scaring people away from science, if you ask me. And that's what the question box is about: going back to the root of science so that we don't forget the essence of it. It's here to remind you that science is an explanation for simple things in life, facts about our world. And when we put facts together, we come up with all sorts of interesting stuff: the same concept of "convection" that makes the Earth's surface move makes our jello turn solid and makes heating up a house with an oven highly ineffective (Trust me, don't try it. It could cause your oven to break, like ours did). The same concept of gravity that makes the moon go 'round our heads makes apples fall to the ground. And when we try to use these concepts for ourselves, we make life easier: a fan helps cool your jello dessert in time for dinner, a fireplace heats up your house quickly and effectively (relatively speaking), gravity makes bungee jumping all the more thrilling... This is what science is about. And it is ultra-important to your life, my life, and the development of mankind.

That's also why you should do your science homework. :)

Tired out, are you? I'll keep the answer to this week's question brief, because I need to do my homework and I'm sure you do too. We need to sit upright on roller coasters because of G-forces. If we don't, all these G-forces won't be distributed evenly and parts of us would feel heavier than others. I'll come back to this topic later (hopefully) because I need to do more reading. Here are some links about roller coasters:http://www.rollercoasterking.com/thrill-experience/http://www.themeparkinsider.com/safety/http://fun.familyeducation.com/summer/safety/35168.htmlhttp://cec.chebucto.org/Co-Phys.html  And thanks to njguy for the neat video. I don't think I'll ever go on Kingda Ka- way too scary for me.

By the way, if you'd like to comment on anything, feel free to do so.

Pippin's Question Box

Why can't we tickle ourselves? Best

 Thanks to Saffire_Goldstone

Pippin's Question Box

Why are we told to sit upright on roller coasters? (and what happens if we don't?) Best

Got Science?

Answer by Awesome_Spectacular:

I have to say, this week's question was a little hard. We got several different opinions and answers from people. Just a little heads-up: please follow the rules! If you don't do things like write your own answer or provide a link, we can't give you credit for the answer. Sunnyd has clearly stated whoever didn't state a link this week will not get credit, so next for those of you, please make sure you have link next time!

Back to the question. Even though there were many opinions, the one I thought was correct after doing some research (with A LOT of help from Pippin14), the answer I think is correct is that drier air causes clouds to break up into smaller clouds. When drier air gets mixed with clouds, some parts of the cloud break away, or in more scientific terms, evaporate. Basically, this is the way a cloud breaks up into smaller clouds. When answering this, you should have remembered that clouds are little drops of frozen crystals, or water.

In a way, Pizzalover was technically correct in saying that clouds can't break up into smaller clouds because it depends on the size of the frozen droplets of water that make a cloud big or small. But technically, of that cloud, when dry air is mixed, parts of the cloud will evaporate, breaking it up into a smaller cloud.

Links: (mostly a big thanks to Pippin14!)

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/cloud-formation-how-do-clouds-form.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=An9r01NVQXbJH6pzcfnmz48azKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20100520140322AAOvHiR
http://www.rcn27.dial.pipex.com/cloudsrus/clouds.html
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cloud2.html
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wcloud0.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wlumpwhy.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/archives-clouds-precip.htm
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4898
http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/070329_clouds_form.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/cloud2.htm

(Note from Pippin: That's a lot of links! On another note, I found a really interesting article about why clouds are lumpy and another Q&A about clouds from scholastic that has some neat factoids, just in case you find clouds interesting!)

Book Chat: Economics

I can honestly say that I'm shocked (and slightly embarrassed to admit) that two books about economics, of all things, would have changed my perspective of the world.  Honestly, you'd think some science book would do that, right?  But alas, in my age of ever-changing perspectives and general teenagehood, books on "the social science of decision- making" rather than "the study of the human brain" have changed the way I think.  Who would have known?

Anyway, all that being said and done, I should talk about the books, shouldn't I?  I'll go from oldest to most recent.  Here are the first two (they're related):

Freakonomics
"A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything"
By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner


SuperFreakonomics

"Global Cooling, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance"

By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Simply put, Freakonomics and it's sequel has one basic concept in mind: incentives cause people to do things.  Or, to put in one word, it's about incentives.  It's an extremely popular book, and for good reason-it has wonderful examples, shows surprising (but logical) points to make, and talks about some controversial issues. Even kokopelli1015 has read excerpts, but hasn't read the entire thing.  I do talk about Freakonomics in this post, but I know few of you will read that post, so quick review- has some controversial issues about discrimination and abortion as a heads up, and talks a lot about crime, and obviously, the role of incentives in the crime.  It also talks about a lot of other things, so even if none of those seem appealing to you, there's a whole lot of hidden treasures in that book that's worth reading for.  SuperFreakonomics is the one I read recently, though.  Another heads up: there is inappropriate content in the first chapter, but it doesn't look at it in a you-know-what light, but in more of an analytical view- looking at data and whatnot.  Still, get it checked out by an adult if you want before you read it to be safe.  It's been a little while, but I do know that this book doesn't focus all that much on crime as Freakonomics, but talks about other subjects as well.  It's got a pretty extensive chapter on global warming and some (easy) ways to combat it.  My personal favorite chapter is the last one, on monkeys (that's where the question box came from! I forget what my family and I were talking about to get to monkey hair...).  Both books, though, are honestly quite amazing and will change the way you look at things.  Really.  It did that to a hard-core science fan, and I'm sure that most people will find it a wonderfully fascinating read.  There's even a really interesting blog for Freakonomics that I'd recommend to read as well.

Trade-Off
"Why Some Things Catch on and Others Don't"
By Kevin Maney

This book was amazing.  Really.  It's all about a simple concept that's behind which products catch on- and which don't.  This basic concept is fidelity (quality) vs. convenience.  A product will go off well in the market if it either has super high fidelity or super high convenience.  It is impossible to have both- and trying to make a product have both is chasing the "fidelity mirage," which sounds all too possible but is a fool's errand.  This, along with other spin-offs of the fidelity vs. convenience trade-off is more thoroughly explained in the book.  There are tons of real, vivid, examples of products that have failed- and succeeded wildly.  While some may not be as well-known to us, like the company Tesla Motors, others we are all too familiar with (e.g. the iPhone and some other well known companies).  I don't think that I'll ever look at anything the same after I read this- especially right after reading this, you keep thinking about whether it's high convenience, high fidelity, or a bit of both.  Ever wonder how the whole revamp of the question box rewards system sprang into being?  Well, this book was part of the answer.  Really, it's a great book, and I'd highly recommend you read it.

Admittedly, these three books aren't quite science related, but they're really great books that puts a spin on your perspectives of things.  Try them out and see what you think, and you may be surprised that non fiction books can be just as interesting as Twilight, in different ways.

Pippin's Question Box

How do clouds break up into smaller clouds? Best

Pippin's Question Box

What makes soda fizz? Best

Got Science

I must say, this was a pretty difficult question to answer! For all those Question Box Answerer's this week, great links!
From what I researched, it pretty much depends on, basically, your body and how tolerant you are. It depends on how many fumes there are, and how much you inhale. If you inhale enough of it, you could possibly get drunk, although you would feel a little dizzy first. This is because the main chemical in alcohol is ethanol. Ethanol is also known as grain alcohol, pure alcohol, or drinking alcohol, along with many other names. Ethanol is one of the oldest recreational drugs. As iluvmusic said, alcohol is not an inhalant, it is still really harmful to your body. If you inhale enough to get you drunk, it will enter your bloodstream, which can be highly harmful to your body.
~Awesome_Spectacular1009


Pippin's comments: I have to wonder though: if you can get drunk on ethanol, couldn't that be a major problem in considering bio fuels? After all, when we go to fill up our tank on gasoline, we smell gasoline fumes. Therefore, if drivers fill up their tank and catch a whiff or two of alcohol, then that will be almost the equivalent of putting (slightly) drunk drivers on the road- and that could be rather hazardous. Wouldn't that mean, then, engineers would have to design a completely leak-proof ethanol dispensing system so as to avoid doing that to drivers? Plus, even our gasoline systems are (clearly) not leak proof, so I highly doubt we'd been able to create an entirely leak-proof ethanol system that every fuel station would embrace and maintain properly. Hmmm... well, just something to think about!


Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/health-drunk-but-not-a-drop-passed-my-lips-did-you-know-that-you-can-get-tipsy-simply-by-breathing-in-the-fumes-from-other-peoples-booze-rob-stepney-looks-at-the-risks-and-possibilities-of-passive-drinking-1469632.html

Pippin's Question Box

Could someone get drunk by walking into a room full of alcohol fumes? Best

Got Science?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question100.htm
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5729847_human-vs_-monkey-hair.html

How do Monkeys keep their hair short?

For those of you who didn't get the question, this was a tricky one.  The trick behind the tricky question was that you had to search not monkey hair shortness, but why hair grows to a certain length in general.  (and by all means, you definitely shouldn't have searched for monkey barbershops- that would have gotten you nowhere).  Basically, as Totalmystery and Saffire said, monkeys shed (and we do too).  To be a little more detailed, the parts of your body that grows hair, your hair follicles, have a specific programming, so to speak.  Every hair, first of all, has its own follicle, so this follicle produces new hair cells, pushing the older ones, which we see as hair.  Hair follicles will continue to produce cells for a certain period of time, called the growth period.  Then, the follicles will stop, which is called the rest period.  Once a hair follicle enters this rest period, it stops growing and the hair falls out- thus, once the rest period ends, the follicle can start anew.  This system of grow-rest-grow-rest controls how long hair can grow, so while the hair on your head can grow long enough to cover your face, the hair on your arms won't do much.  Animals that shed coordinate this rest period so that all their hair sheds at the same time, creating a mess in your house at times.  So, monkeys keep their hair short simply because it isn't going to grow any longer (for monkeys with short hair). And that's it for today! Hope you learned something!

Pippin's Question Box

How do monkeys keep their hair short? Best

Got Science?

Apparently, I got the question wrong- it's not really a mosquito whine, but a mosquito ringtone. Hmm, close enough.

This is a relatively simple question to answer, so I'll keep it brief. Basically, adults can't hear the mosquito ringtone (which is actually simply a really high pitched sound) because their ears are getting old, a condition known as presbyacusis. And I'll stop there before I start giving out rather unfavorable ideas.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/technology/12ring.html

Can you hear the tones?  Check out this link:

http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/

Also, here are the winners for this week's question box:

cookiesncream

soccer_bug0912

Toad Rockz

Congratulations!!

Interesting Blogs and Links

Improbable Research � Blog Archive

Interesting article (that I didn't understand) that I'd like to point out while on the topic of musical ringtones (well, we were on mosquito ringtones before). Can anyone figure out what it's trying to say? I don't really get it...

Also, while on the topic of blogs, here are some neat blogs I've found over the year:

http://nanooze.blogspot.com/

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://improbable.com/

http://gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com/

And, here are some neat posts from those blogs:

http://nanooze.blogspot.com/2010/03/build-your-own-not-so-nano-but-fun-bot.html

Does anyone have some extra pager motors laying around? I'd really like to make a mini vibrabot, like in the one in the post!

http://improbable.com/2010/04/12/color-blind-people-look-peculiar/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ImprobableResearch+%28Improbable+Research%29

Er, a little weird and I still don't truly get this one. Any insight?

http://improbable.com/2010/04/21/effect-of-wind-on-stock-market-returns/

Not strictly science, but it does relate to what we're doing on stocksquest (which I am doing poorly on) However, I don't quite understand what the effect of wind is on the stock market.

The Great Race

The Domino Buggy 1200 is a luxury buggy optimized for the comfort of dominos everywhere. With a frame built to accommodate dominos, its sleek black and gold design wins respect and awe from any and all competing domino vehicle brands. It is most closely related to the original prototype, the Beta Bomino 1000, but has newly improved shafts and has been thoroughly tested.*


The Dominizer 1400, a faster model than the Domino Buggy 1200, is built for stability and consistency in all aspects of its performance. Its light yet strong wooden frame and wide spool wheels provide for a sturdy car that can be depended on for a long time. Tested and engineered* for maximum potential, this car is built to be a steadfast vehicle to transport dominos and demonstrate Newton’s first and second law of motion.

Newton’s first law of motion, the law of inertia, states that an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an outside force. Additionally, inertia is an object’s resistance to change in motion. The more mass an object (or car) has, the more inertia it will have. Therefore, as we add dominos to a car, once the car starts rolling on its own, it’ll have more inertia to resist a change in motion. The change in motion we’re trying to avoid is slowing down, so more dominos will hopefully allow the car to resist the fore of friction longer.

Newton’s second law of motion states that force is equal to mass times acceleration. In other words, if mass or acceleration increases, then the fore increases. In the Dominizer or the Domino Buggy, we can increase its mass by adding dominos. By increasing the mass, we will also increase the car’s force or momentum, by Newton’s second law of motion. Therefore, as it accelerates down the ramp due to gravity, it will also gain more force, or momentum, to continue to travel a longer distance.

Newton’s third law of motion states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. However, this law does not truly apply to either car, since there is no action-reaction relationship in rolling down the ramp.
*Our engineer specializes in transducer and sensor design. Tested in a privately owned home. Dominoes, tires, and other accessories sold separately.

It's time to reflect, isn't it? I was going to attach a balloon to my car to make it go faster, but after realizing that my balloon blowing ability was- pititful, to put it nicely, I decided against it. I also wanted to post some pictures, but the cable to connect the camera to the computer has gone missing and plugging in the memory card causes the computer to freeze. Overall, this project is probably on my top five list of the most frustrating projects ever assigned (and continues to go up the list as my family scavenges the house for that missing cable). I have learned, over the course of these two weeks, many things about the nature of- many things. First of all, painting cars is unlucky, as it caused my perfectly good car to go a little bananas in the next trial run. Furthermore, rinsing cars causes the hot glue to fall apart- my dad sanded the buggy down and tried to rinse the dust off, which is when the problems started. Additionally, a good idea can take months of uninterrupted peace in the back of one's mind to develop. Also, spool wheels can get worn down after vigorous testing, so my second car, the Dominizer, didn't have quite so many trial runs and so runs much more smoothly. EDIT: Actually, for some reason, it's also now in the "heavily tested and I'm not going to run well anymore" mood. Maybe sitting around is what causes the car to go bananas. On the bright side, I also discovered that hot glue guns are amazingly cheap (and to think I've wasted all these years without one) and is probably the greatest invention on the face of the Earth, next to chocolate, books, and tape. The planning process for this car was a bumpy and frustrating ride. However, after the idea for my car finally appeared, it was quite fun to make and test it. My little sister and my dad all helped in testing and making the car. We tested whether shorter or longer shafts worked better (longer), whether the shafts were better closer together or further apart (further apart), whether the car worked better with or without lego tires on the back wheels (with tires) and adding various dominos (inconclusive). Most of the testing was done on the buggy, since we only finished the second one when we realized that the buggy wasn't working well anymore, due to all of the testing that we've been doing (or at least, that's what we think. We've already given it new shafts, wheels, and reglued the shafts as well). This project was extremely frustrating, but fun once it got moving. The only things that I wish could happen were: 1. more time, 2. that cable would turn up (we're still looking) and 3. that I could blow up a balloon.

Got Science?

So, what is entropy? It sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? It's a very important part of the second law of thermodynamics (we learned the first law last year in Chemistry): Entropy always increases. But, of course, that doesn't explain much, does it?

Entropy, simply put, has to do with the disorder in the universe. More specifically, you could say it as the molecular organization of an object become disordered, or energy flowing from places with a lot of energy to places with little energy. (Decreasing potential energy, if you're studying for the test tommorrow) Need an example? Let's take an ice cube in a glass of water. Accorrding to entropy, energy will flow from points of higher energy to lower energy. The room, so long as it's a reasonable temperature, is much warmer than your glass of water, correct? So, the warmth from the room will eventually warm up the cup and melt the ice cube. Eventually, the room and the ice cube will be at the same temperature. That's about it! Here's another example I read in a book about how it has to do with organization: say you have a puzzle depicting, say, Einstein. At first, all the puzzle pieces are in order and you can see Einstein's head. However, give it a little shake, and it begins to randomize. There are a bazillion ways that the puzzle pieces may be scattered and messed up, but there is only one way that is correct and "organized." Therefore, it is much easier to be disorganized than organized, or entropy. Hope you've learned something for today!

Links:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-entropy.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_entropy
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/therm/entrop.html

Pippin's Question Box

Why can children hear the "mosquito" whine but adults (well, most) cannot? Best

Renovations to Question Box

The Question Box is getting some revamps! Things to look for: new rewards system, a bulletin board, and much more! Keep on answering those questions!

Got Science?

I know, I know, I haven't posted in a while.  To follow up on my discussion of heat transfer, I'm going to discuss the question box from two weeks ago: Why is it more efficient to heat up your house with the fireplace rather than the oven?

Pippin's Question Box

What is entropy? Best

Pippin's Question Box

Do all plants have seeds? Best

Pippin's Question Box

Why is the fireplace more effective at heating your house than leaving your oven open?
Explain: heat transfer, free convection vs. forced convection, surface area Best

Got Science?

Got science, anyone? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Hope everyone is enjoying their spring break despite the rain!

So, to the question box. My source for this is not a link, a book, but an engineer!! So, I have no link for you. The question was: How does jello solidify? The answer lies in the concepts behind heat transfer.

We all agree that jello needs to be cooled down in order to solidify, correct? So, really, jello solidifies according to how heat is lost- where the jello loses heat, it solidifies. However, the heat needs to be transferred to something else in order to "lose" heat- by conservation of energy, as we learned in class. Thus comes in handy dandy convection. Convection is heat transfer using a fluid- i.e., a liquid or gas. The fluid that is doing all the transferring in the jello scenario is not the jello itself, but the air around the jello. If we put jello in a pan, it has contact with the air. As the heat from the jello warms up the air around it, the air rises and starts moving, allowing cooler air to take its place. This type of convection, caused solely by the differences in temperature, is called free convection. But let's say I wanted to serve the jello, or in my case, the almond jelly/tofu-ish thingamajig for desert, and it was already five o'clock. Oh no! How would I speed up this process? Well, it might not be good enough to get it ready in time for desert, but it would speed up the time it took if I placed a fan that blew cold air next to the jello- forcing the air to move faster, taking more heat with it. This is called- you guess it, forced convection. So, the answer to the question? The jello solidifies all around. Wherever the jello (or it's pan) has contact to the air, it will solidify there first, so the last to solidify would be the middle. Now, here's a challenge: apply these concepts to the next question box, coming up soon.

By the way, Bubbly happens to have some good links if you really want them!

Pippin's Question Box

How does jello solidify? (from the top down, sides in, bottom up, etc.)
Explain these concepts: Heat Transfer, Free Convection vs. Forced Convection Best

Got Science?

What causes nausea? The answer: other stuff.

There are a lot of things that can cause nausea. Nausea itself, though, is not a disease. Let me repeat this: (in general), feeling as though you're going to hurl is not a disease. It's a symptom, an indicator of something wrong, a sign from your body, but it's not alone (in other words, it's a hint for your doctor to figure out what's wrong with you.) Of course, it's not necessarily something really wrong with you, it could just be motion-sickness, but your body doesn't decide to throw up for no reason.

That leads me to the real point of the question: what causes nausea that is associated with motion-sickness? In other words, what causes motion sickness? Motion sickness is caused when the various places that collect information about your movement, position, etc. conflict with each other- primarily being, in order, your inner ear, visual input, and nerves around your body and in your muscles. When all these places send signals to your brain, your brain makes sense of it all to create a general idea of your movement. For instance, right now my brain can make sense of the fact that I'm sitting still, but my fingers are moving to type up this post. Therefore, my brain isn't confused and I don't feel sick. However, if for some reason my house suddenly got up and started walking, my eyes don't see that I'm moving because all I see is my house (frame of reference, anyone?). My inner ear, on the other hand, can feel that I'm moving as the house is, er, walking. They conflict when they get to the brain, my brain is confused, and presto! Motion sickness on the menu! I don't really know what happens in between the brain getting confused and nausea, but I'd guess that the reason why our brain signals our stomach to reject its contents is that it's so busy trying to figure out whether or not it's moving that it neglected the stomach. Just a guess...

Here are my links:
http://www.medicinenet.com/motion_sickness/article.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/nausea_and_vomiting/article.htm

Pippin's Question Box

In honor of Brain Awareness Week, we're taking a break from physics:

Choose an article from Neuroscience for Kids and summarize what you learned. If you don't know what to choose and want to do ol' Pippin a favor, explain action potential. I don't quite get it!

Got Science?

So what is a gravity wave???

Now, I'm no physicist, but I do know how to do a bit of research- or rather, simply use the NASA link on my page and search the archives. Anyway, seeing as this is a weird question that has a cool answer, I'll discuss it.

Light comes in waves. Water comes in waves. Homework comes in waves! So why not gravity? Gravity waves are hypothetical waves that are kind of like "ripples" in space time. Think of it this way: space-time (that stuff we're sitting in) is a huge sheet. Whenever I put an object on it, like Sunnyd's yellow bouncy ball (the sun!), it causes a little dent in the sheet (that is, if the ball doesn't bounce off...).

From: Gravitational Waves

That little dent, in this instance, is gravity. Now, say Sunnyd got ahold of a bowling ball and put it on the sheet. Providing that you can still hold it, that sheet will be jiggling a little at first, right? Think of that bowling ball as some supermassive object, like... a huge star, and those vibrations are gravity waves- like ripples in a pond. As I get a little mischievious and start shifting that bowling ball around, even more "ripples" are made- thus, more gravity waves. Of course, that's an oversimplified explantion, so if you can rectify this, feel free. These are extremely hard to detect as they get to us, though, because all those gravity waves from the black holes nearby (not that near! No need to panic) get fainter and fainter as they move away from the source. A new satellite, LISA, is expected to launch in 2011 to detect these gravity waves. My source is: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/topics/gwaves/gwaves.html.

I'd like to commend everyone who has answered this first physics question box, but some things to note for next time:

Make sure to paraphrase your answers ( I blame myself for this, so it isn't your fault)

Make sure it sounds vaguely scientific- but if Sunnyd or I can't decipher it, you've gone overboard!

Good work everybody!

The Brain, Part Two

Happy Brain Awareness Week, everyone! No joke, March 15th- 21th is really, truly brain awareness week- and I didn't make this up.

I have just discovered that there is a book from the Society for Neuroscience that you can read online! It is called Brain Facts and is supposed to be a (74 page long) introduction to neuroscience. Pretty amazing, isn't it?

Oh, my brain hurts- figuratively. The lesson for part two shall be neurons. Neurons are the cells that make up your brain- cells, if you recall, are not just stuff, but the basic units of life. Before you jump on me with a dozen "neurons aren't the only stuff in your brain," though, note that, yes, neurons aren't the only stuff in your brain. However, they are the most well known and are the basic working cell in your brain. There are three main parts: the cell body, or soma, the axon, and dendrite. The cell body is something we should be familiar with, since we covered cells in genetics: it contains the nucleus and the organelles. Dendrites and axons are specialized extensions (like an arm and a leg, but neurons don't walk) of the neuron. Wait, a picture would help, wouldn't it? Here we go:

Dendrites, those little things that branch out from the cell body, receive signals from other cells. The axon sends signals out. Think of it this way: dendrites in, axons out. Simple enough, right? Take a breather to put that in your head. Ready? The points at which two cells contact each other is called a synapse. I say contact because they don't actually touch. Now, this vocabulary is nice and all, but how do the cells work, you ask? Good question- I don't really know. The gist of what I do know, however, is that the nerve cell, when at rest, has a natural (I believe negative, though I'm not so sure) charge. However, when a cell sends a signal to the neuron, it generates an electric charge that goes to end of the axon, what the diagram depicts as the presynaptic terminal, which then releases neurotransmitters (chemicals) to the next neuron, which generates an electric charge, etc. If you want something more detailed, check out this website about the action potential, which explains how electrical pulses move along a neuron. In fact, if someone can explain how action potential works to me, I'd be delighted! In order to help the electric charge move along, the axon is covered in a sheath of mylelin. As the neurotransmitters (remember, chemicals) are released at the presynaptic terminal in little packets called quanta, it travels across a little gap called the synaptic cleft and binds to receptors on the next cell, which may cause that cell to fire an electric charge as well. Now, I don't know about you, but it's going to take a little while for that to soak in my brain. Look for more information in Part Three of The Brain!

Disclaimer: Seeing as I'm a student, this information may be invalid or not quite true- I'm still trying to figure it out and organize my thoughts in these posts!
Sources: http://www.sfn.org/skins/main/pdf/brainfacts/2008/brain_facts.pdf

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/nerve_signaling/

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/cells.html

Pippin's Question Box

New theme: (drumroll!) Physics!!

What is a gravity wave? Best

Science Buzz: The Brain, Part One

I've been checking out a website from a club about the brain and discovered that it was The website for neurology- a treasure trove of information! So I've decided to start to post things that I learn in hopes that I'll remember it past today. (Look at Neuroscience for Kids on my Cool Links! gadget)

What is the most important three pounds of stuff in your life? If you said your laptop, your cell phone, and your ipod, you're wrong (or at least, you should be). It's your BRAIN! Yes, this mass of tissue and neurons and chemicals and electrical energy dominates everything about you. Without it, you'd be food for the buzzards. And so, let us begin the journey into the most important thing in our life: our brain.

To start off, let's look at a picture of a brain (from the website):

Obviously, your brain isn't this colorful normally. But since we're going to dicuss the lobes of the brain, the colors will come in handy.

Let's start off with the frontal lobe. This lobe is associated with "intellectual" stuff, like reasoning, emotions, problem-solving, parts of speech, and movement. Found it! Here's an article talking about how we teens act the way we do- it's because our frontal lobes aren't fully connected with the rest of our brain. Doesn't that explain a lot? The next lobe, the white one, is the parietal lobe. This is where we process touch related things, such as pressure and pain. The next lobe is the occipitual lobe, where we process information related to vision. Finally, the green lobe is the temporal lobe, associated with memory and hearing. Of course, your brain is probably snoozing at this point (and I want to get started on my Physics title page) so I'll put more information in The Brain, Part Two. Just keep in mind, though, that the brain is a complicated organ and that these are simply lobes in the brain.

To sum up:

Frontal Lobe: Your reasoning
Parietal Lobe: Your touch center
Occipitual Lobe: Your sight center
Temporal Lobe: Your memory and hearing


Information from: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lobe.html

Pippin's Question Box

The Science of Cooking Teaser

What causes cookies to burn? Best

Guesses on the new (upcoming) theme?

Pippin's Question Box

What are some similarities and differences between shampoo, conditioner, and soap?
OR
What are some good ways to calm nerves- stage fright, before exams, etc.?

Note: This is the last everyday life themed question (until further notice...)

Got Science?

Hey! Pippin here, and there are some issues that I need to clear up before I start the answer to this week's question. First, how many of you readers want extra credit over goodie bags? According to the poll, nobody wants regular goodie bags, and yet nobody answers when only extra credit is offered. Does anyone what to clear that up for me?

Also, I want to comment on some of the answers- (get it? comment? answers? Never mind) Great answers from everyone! You're all explaining and everything. However, some mistakes to look out for:
For whatever reason, if you forget a link, please go back and post it so we can make sure that you did the research to find the answer
Also, I'm sure this is unintentional, but make sure you don't copy and paste stuff- I'll be on the lookout, and we don't tolerate plagiarizing on this blog.

Finally, some answers are pretty straightforward, while some, I have to point out, are really nice and fun to read. I'm looking for quality answers as well, and they're just more fun to read. Even adding a "Ever wonder what makes your Coke explode in your face?" makes the entire answer a lot more interesting. Check out njguy's and iluvmusic comment on the last soda question, those are great models of a fun answer.

Now, to this week's question: what makes soda fizz? Of course, I have a question: what exactly do I mean by fizz? Like, the bubbly feeling that you get in your mouth when you drink it, or that hiss and the bubbles that come when you first open it, or the big explosion you get when you shake up a bottle and open it in your friend's face? (Note: shaking a bottle of soda and opening it in anyone's face has an extremely high likelihood of making a mess and upsetting that person. I DO NOT advise you try it unless you have the permission of the person and the person who owns the area you are currently in.) However, the answer is the same for all of my question(s): carbon dioxide, or CO2. Basically, soda makers put in carbon dioxide into soda at a really high pressure to keep the carbon dioxide dissolved, sealing it tightly and quickly. When we open it, or shake it, or put ice cubes in it, the carbon dioxide is disturbed and forms bubbles and floats to the surface (if it has enough energy) once it's no longer under high pressure. All of the bubbles that float to the surface is fizz. Although it's starting to make me wonder: what would happen if we froze soda? Would we see the bubbles in the ice cube? Or what if we froze it all the way down to the freezing point of carbon dioxide? Would the carbon dioxide stay in the soda? And why do they use carbon dioxide to carbonate the water? Why not, say, oxygen? And what would happen if we used frozen CO2 to chill our soda? Would anything unusual happen? Well, I never thought so much about soda before today, but there you go! And now I have to work on my ISN before I get in big trouble. Hope you learned something today!

http://www.sciencetheatre.org/ask_st/033094.html
http://www.knowswhy.com/why-does-soda-fizz/
http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae441.cfm

Genetics Challenge!

Note: You need to know how to make double punnett squares to do this challenge. Check out this article about a dihybrid cross, which is a double punnett square in simple terms. A gamete is a sex cell, just so you know.

You are a florist who has just recieved a massive order of red, thornless roses. While trying to explain to your customer that roses don't normally come without thorns and that he will have to pay an extra fee, you realize that your latest blooms of white roses do not have any thorns. You have decided to experiment to try to create red roses without thorns. Currently, you have one bush of pink roses with thorns and one bush of white roses without thorns.

FACTS:

Red and white alleles show incomplete dominance
Thorns are a dominant trait
Your pink roses have only thorn alleles
Each bush produces four roses
Each rose produces enough seeds to successfully grow eight bushes
Roses die after producing seeds
Roses can fertilize another rose and produce seeds
To keep things simple, one rose can only fertilize one other rose
You can grow three generations

How many red thornless roses can you grow?

Once you get an answer, post it as a comment to see how many we can grow! And if you find it daunting (like me, even though I made it up for myself) try it anyway. I'm curious to see what what happens.

Pippin's Question Box

At the request of an avid question boxer-

Why do people look at the ceiling while they think? Best

Book Chat: Economics

Introducing....

Freakonomics

"A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything"

By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

This book is, quite frankly, amazing. It explores a lot of issues and uses raw data to answer unusual questions that turn up even more odd things about our society. As Kurt Anderson says in his praise: "This is bracing fun of the highest order."

The cover consists of a picture of an apple with a slice cut away to show the inside to be... an orange. True to the cover, the book tries to send the message that not everything is what it seems, and by asking the right questions and using the right data, we can begin to uncover the real truths of our world. This is an extremely popular book as far as I know, which is why I decided to read it- and it was worth it. It's not extremely long, and every page has its own surprises. However, they do talk about some controversial issues, like discrimination and abortion, and if you have strong beliefs about such issues, this book may be a little upsetting. It also talks a lot about crime, since Levitt's chief interest is not really in the economy, but in everyday issues and crime. The way the authors write and explain things using data in this book is alone reason enough to read it, since it is extremely unique.

If you have yet to read a non fiction book, then I'd highly recommend this book for any sort of interest you may have. Being a science and music person, economics don't really strike me as, well, amazing, but this book was definitely worth the read. I have yet to read the next book, Superfreakonomics, and explore their website. If you do read it though, please tell me what you think of it! It's a very thought-provoking book.

Literature: Five Fables

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
I think that the moral for this is that you should be careful not to let things fall into the wrong hands, since the sheep's skin had been simply thrown aside, which the wolf took advantage of. If the shepherd had been more careful with the sheep's skin, then the wolf wouldn't have been able to take so many sheep.

The Four Oxen and the Lion
I think that the maxim for this fable is that is that you have to stick together no matter what. Since the oxen kept arguing among themselves, they let their guard down and separated, which left them vulnerable to the lion. They should have stuck together despite their arguments so that they could have continued to defend themselves against the lion.

The Fisher and the Little Fish
In my opinion, the moral for this fable is that it is better to have something than to risk what you have for more. The fisher realized that if he let the fish go, then chances were that he wouldn't catch that fish again when it was bigger, since it would evade him anyway. Plus, since he didn't have any fish at the moment, he needed something to eat on that day, and since all he caught was the little fish, that is what he kept.

The Crow and the Pitcher
In this fable, the crow needed water badly, and he found water in a jug. However, since he could not get to it, he put pebbles into the jug to raise the water level so he could drink it and save his life. The moral for this fable might be that persistance with the right idea can yield its rewards, since the crow had to put the pebbles in one by one, a long process, but he got the water he needed in the end.

The Fox and the Goat
I believe that the maxim for this fable is that you should think before you act. The goat didn't realize that the fox could have been just trying to use her to get out of the well, which made her stuck in the well but let the fox out. If the goat had thought about the fox's position and his reputation, then she might not have been so eager to jump into a well.

Pippin's Question Box

What percentage of paper waste is toilet paper? Fast
OR
How do icicles form? Best

Got Science?

Everyone, cheer for the arrival of monthly extra credit awards!! Yay! Now, the question is: how am I supposed to get extra credit?

Some amusing articles:

Tongue on Frozen Flagpole
Is it possible? Read to find out!

Can you freeze to death?
Well, yes and no. The thing is, you'd die before you become an ice cube- read for more details!

Angry Flies
Flies are seriously cool, but they can get angry just like anyone else.

Driving Impairs Talking
That is a "duh!" article. Why do they bother to research this stuff? I recommend to read this just to see what exactly they "discovered."

Apparently, Sunnyd is giving out extra credit on a monthly basis, so now I don't have to feel silly for promising extra credit when, well, there is none! But now there is, so don't worry everyone. Speaking of Sunnyd, here's her question:

What keeps the sewer gases from creeping back up the drain pipes?

The answer: I don't know. What I do know is that it's an extremely, er, not pleasant question. I read somewhere a long time ago that your (why, oh why do I have to write about sewage and waste?- the pun being you're not supposed to talk about this stuff, especially while eating a snack...) solid waste apparently stays in the pipe of the toilet (correct me if I'm wrong, for it will save me a good lot of grief) until you flush it again (yes, twice), but the noxious gases don't creep up because of the bendy shape (I don't see how that works, though). Here is a link, and this is what I learned. Water goes down the plughole and goes around a bend:

(picture from the link) as you can see in the picture. The water seal prevents all the stink from going back down and up the pipe, so you can't smell it (and remember, the water is under pressure). And that is enough of thinking about waste and sewage for today. Phew!

Now I am thoroughly grossed out and won't be able to answer the last question box. Sorry! Hope you learned something about sewage systems (and no, I'm talking about how water gets to your sink in the question box, not how it goes away- so no more sewage!)

Pippin's Question Box

New Theme: Everyday Life

Explain plumbing (i.e. how does the water get from the reservoir to our sink) Best

Welcome To February!

...and the beginning of my new "stress-free living" campaign! To jump start the new month, I want to give everyone some blogging tips!

Labels: Yeah, those little things that says "science"? Those are called labels. It's a great organizing tool, especially if you have a lot of posts. Basically, what you do is assign labels to your posts (in either the post editor or while you're composing it next to "labels for this post:"). Then, you go into gadgets and find the labels gadget and presto! You've got a little er, thingy in your sidebar that lists all your labels. If you click on one (go ahead, click on a label on my blog), then it'll show all the posts with that label (of course, you have to give your posts a label first). Speaking of labels, just as a heads up to any teachers, my science homework assignments should be under "Science Class" and Literature stuff is under "Literature." I'll make labels accordingly for any other assignments (otherwise even I won't be able to find it!)

Gadgets: There are some really neat and fun gadgets that I'd reccomend you check out. If you ever feel bored, there are a lot of gadget games, quotes, and other neat stuff. For a blog, though, besides the fish, there are some cute hamster gadgets, a cat gadget, and a penguin gadget (just search it up) that I think are really cute to put on a blog.

Also coming up: Themed question boxes! Possibly... If so, then some themes would probably be everyday life, physics, medical stuff, and food! Any themes that you want?

Ask A Geneticist

To some extent, reading anything science-y makes my head hurt-usually because trying to visualize it and taking in new information at the same time is the ultimate brain multi-tasking for me (and I have to do that a lot!)

Now, to the homework! What was the assignment, exactly?

YOUR TASK: Check out the links below. On your blog, write about the most interesting genetics facts you discover. This is an open-ended response. Write about something you learned.

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=69

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=184

That answers my first question. Ack! Back to the actual links. Am I allowed to mix all the information up or do I have to say what I got from which question? Apparently, one human chromosome is really two chimp chromosomes combined, and 98.8% of our DNA are the same (no wonder why I itch so much- although that could just be really dry skin). What was shocking was that 3% of the genome codes for proteins and 97% codes for... other stuff. Actually, it wasn't really shocking but interesting to know that the actual makeup of proteins only amount for a small portion of our DNA. However, it does make sense: the ingredients list of a recipe is only a small part of making the food. I could take pasta, tomato sauce, and cheese and make regular old pasta with tomato sauce and cheese sprinkled on top, or I could make baked lasagna- two different foods, same basic ingredients. I don't get this part, though: When the human genome project got underway years ago, scientists thought that the big differences between species would be in their genes. It now looks like the DNA outside of the genes may have a bigger role, at least in closely related species like humans and chimps. What, then, are genes exactly? How to make the proteins that make up a trait? But aren't the traits of humans- intelligence, namely,- that differ from other species traits as well? So confusing... Although they do say that genes are the instructions for making proteins, so... speaking of which, what's a genome? My basic understanding is that it's all of the genes, or rather DNA before I get a headache trying to tell the difference, in an organism, not counting the gazillion copies in every cell. (for multi-cellular organisms, that is). Is it okay if our homework assignment is mostly questions? Next link! I understand why we have more than one long chromosome if I don't think too hard, but trying to figure out what the interesting facts are without thinking is proving to be quite a challenge... Chromosomes can be broken and fused together, which is how one of our chromosomes is really two chimp chromosomes (How?). Also, the number of chromosomes doesn't have anything to do with the complexity of the organism. For instance, humans have 46 chromosomes and ferns have a whopping 1,260! (although I have to question whether it's really 1,260 or just rounded for convenience.) The next part, What determines what genes are on which chromosomes, is question land for me! How can DNA be virus-like? Actually, I should say the fact first. The article said that genes started getting shuffled around on the chromosome because virus-like DNA started picking up genes and shuffling them. So, how can DNA be virus-like? Or is it a virus that got ahold of our DNA? I honestly need to stop thinking about that. Also, the article says that gene duplication helps reorder our DNA, gene duplication being that a section of our DNA gets copied and becomes part of the genome, staying close to the parent gene. However, why would the gene copy itself to be part of the genome? Isn't two alleles (Am I doing this right? I wish a geneticist could explain this to us) for one gene good enough? And would gene duplication mean that we would have three alleles for one gene? Or is gene duplication something that occurs in DNA replication? And if so, then why does it say that it stays near the parent gene? And how would the gene evolve a new function- and if it does, wouldn't it be some weird function rather than a useful one? Well, that's my question-laden, confused, and otherwise not very "interesting genetics facts" full open-ended answer. (Well, it's not quite an answer but more like a discussion full of questions)

Pippin's Question Box

What causes people to "blank out"? (best)

Got Science?

Okay, so I've been really busy lately, so I'll discuss all the question boxes that I didn't do already in one post.

Mushrooms are part of the vegetable food group, so they are veggies. (Even though they aren't plants, they're fungi). Their nutrition content is more similar to vegetables than anything else, so they fall in the vegetable food group- which leads to another question: What's the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? I know fruits have seeds, but is that the only difference? What about the nutrition content? Do fruits have more vitamin C or other nutrients?

Glutens are special proteins that are found in rye, wheat, and barley. Not all grains, though, have glutens, like corn, oats and soybeans. Glutens have properties that help create bread, like keeping in the gases while it bakes, hardening to keep the bread's shape, and making the bread chewy. The reason why certain products have "gluten free" is because some people have a disease that makes them unable to digest glutens, so they can't eat it. Here's my link: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-gluten.htm.

As for meiosis, there's a whole bunch of stuff I'm trying to read, so kindly give me a few minutes... By the way, red blood cells do not have DNA- I looked it up, and they have no nucleus. Okay, done reading the website I was reading- and I'm confused! The only thing that I can gather is, well, er... there's a lot of confusing vocabulary. Also, Boveri and Sutton were responsible for the chromosome theory of inheritance- the textbook seems to have left that out. This was the website I was reading: http://croptechnology.unl.edu/viewLesson.cgi?LessonID=979149292. Also, going on http://www.scilinks.org/ will give you more links, look on page 94 of the textbook for the code. Speaking of which, there are quite a few contests on the website as well, although only one seems doable (because of the deadline/other things). That makes me sad since they seem fun...

Well, that's all for now!

Science Book, Take A Look: Time Travel

Anyone curious to know more about time travel? *crickets chirping* Anyway, I'll pretend someone's interested. The book in question is Paul Davies' How To Build A Time Machine.

The best trait of this book I'd say is its short length and articulate English language. It explains things pretty well, although it is a quick moving book. It also discusses other weird stuff in physics like exotic matter (e.g. negative energy, imaginary matter, etc.), black holes, and singularities. The primary route of time travel that this book focuses on is a wormhole, so if you're interested specifically in black holes or wormholes this is a must-read. Otherwise, for those of you who like weird but true stuff or need to look smart, this is a good book. However, I want to point out something that the book doesn't really emphasize a lot- this is all based on theory, we still don't know enough to be sure that it's possible, and even if creating a wormhole to travel in time is possible, it's not going to happen for a looooonnnnng time- as in, don't count on your great-great-great-grandchildren to be time traveling.

Another book that kokopelli recommends that is scientific in a sense is Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. This was written by a well established writer who got a little curious about how scientists discover stuff, so he went on a "quest" to learn as much as he could- and wrote a book about it, of course. It's a funny book with lots of really weird (and sometimes sad) tales of scientists. The downsides to this book is that it's really long and that the science gets... pushed to the side at times and is a little unclear. Still, I highly recommend reading at least a chapter or two of this book (you don't have to finish- I didn't either).

Pippin's Question Box

Reminder: Post a link to your blog or your answer as a comment.

What are glutens? (best)

OR

Tell me as much as you can about meiosis that we didn't learn in class! (best)

Pippin's Question Box

What food group do mushrooms fall under and why? (Best)

Reminder: Post a comment with a link to your blog/answer or a comment with your answer!

Got Science?

Peppermints, anyone? Speaking of which, does anyone want to hear the story of how I discovered peppermints help with stomachaches? Skip the story if you wish, but I'm going to try to make it as amusing as possible (in third person!)

Once upon a time, Pippin had a stomachache. Now, Pippin was used to having stomachaches, becuase Pippin's stomach loves to act up. The only problem was, besides having a stomachache, it was a fun day at school, the day before holiday break. This made Pippin very sad. So Pippin tried to figure out how to deal with the stomachache. First, Pippin played a game called alibi with Pippin's friends. It was extremely amusing, but after the last round when Pippin poured spaghetti in Pippin's friend's pants instead of jelly (we didn't really do it, you just have to say something ridiculous), Pippin's stomach decided that playtime was over. So Pippin stopped playing. Then, Pippin decided to think about nice thoughts and discuss stomachaches. The stomachache discussion made Pippin's nice thoughts turn into "my stomach hurts." Then, Pippin's classmates all had to go back to the classroom. Pippin read a book in the classroom, because books make you think about the characters, not the stomachache you have. The stomachache did not go away. Then Pippin remembered that Pippin's mom said that a bit of candy helped stomachaches for some odd reason. So, Pippin ate a half of a mini candy cane to see what would happen (and also because the fact that looking at people eating candy canes makes you want to eat one too) and Pippin's stomachache began to go away! Pippin quickly ate the other half of the candy cane, and the stomachache was almost gone!! By then, Pippin didn't mind the stomachache and pippinned happily every ever after.

Odd story, isn't it? Remind me never to write a story about yourself in third person again. Or say pippinned. Anyway, apparently peppermint relaxes your stomach or something like that. Sunnyd mentioned that ginger also helps, but I don't like drinking ginger tea because it tastes kind of spicy. I should have looked up natural cures for stomachaches a long time ago, I can't believe I never thought of it... but I'm going to carry peppermints in my pencil case from now on anyway. Are we allowed to eat peppermints in school?

Also, I left out some things I wanted to say in the microwave post. Did you know?....
-That dried pasta will explode in the microwave without water (my friend did that when she was little, and the microwave didn't work afterwards...)
-That boiled eggs will explode in the microwave (we've had several incidents... but the microwave still works!)
-That eggplant will explode if you roast (not microwaved, but it's still an exploding food fact) it without poking holes in it (apparently, my old music teachers still finds bits of eggplant in the oven)
-That I've run out of exploding food facts. Feel free to amuse others and comment your own microwave incidents/exploding foods facts

And... I forgot. No, I remember! Another comment topic: cures for common ailments (which would be beneficial for everyone) It can be more than stomachaches, so cold cures, coughing, etc. I'll start: Hot water with honey is one of the best remedies for any throat ailments/coughing, warms you up, and tastes good.

Literature: "Wooden Bowls"

Here's my lit assignment for Wooden Bowls:

It was a really moving story. At first, when the son and daughter-in-law were annoyed at the grandpa, the story felt kind of sad and, well, in the pits. The son and daughter-in-law didn't realize what they were doing, the grandpa was feeling really left out, and the grandson just had to take it all. Later, when the grandson told his father that he was playing with the wooden scraps to make a bowl for them, I was a little worried that the parents would get mad at him too, so the fact that they actually realized the message made me happy. This relates to empathy (or a lack of it). In this case, the son and daughter-in-law lacked empathy for the grandfather because they didn't realize they were making their father feel left out, they thought that he was simply annoying. The grandson, however, had empathy and realized that his grandfather was upset. He sent the message to his parents by forcing them to go into his grandpa's shoes for a minute and think what having to eat from wooden bowls when they were older would be like. By making his parents empathize with his grandfather, the grandson managed to save the story.

Science Buzz

This is half class-reflection half current events, so I'm calling it a buzz.

Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons'

Doesn't everyone love dolphins? When I was little, the pictures of dolphins in my book for little kids was my favorite page... second was the human body section, etc. Anyway, to the dolphins! They are smarter than they seem, it appears. Want to know what they can do? They can inspect themselves in mirrors (most think it's another animal, but dolphins realize it's themselves), solve problems, learn a simple sign language, teach others tricks (one captive dolphin who learned to tail-walk taught wild dolphins the trick), use tools (sponges on their mouth to protect from spiny fishes), have a sense of self, and more! Their brain size relative to their body size is also apparently second only to humans, and it has the folds that are linked to human intelligence (or something like that).

Wait, it's time for opinion now, right? Erm... coolio! You know, with all those dolphin stories of them saving us and everything, I think that it seems right that they are intelligent. When I was little, I used to see dolphins and orcas in Sea World all the time. We haven't gone to Sea World in a few years now, but we did go a dolphin sight-seeing boat last summer, and our guide did know quite a bit about dolphins. Dolphins can also "ping" you and detect things like what's in your stomach, your heart rate, and detect whether you're happy or anxious or panicking (which is probably how they know to save you if you're in the ocean). They are really playful, but are also really good at doing their stuff (namely, fishing). There was a huge pod (that's what you call a group of dolphins) of what she estimated as more than 100. It was extremely memorable. There were also brochures with facts about dolphins, some being alarming. They are seriously overworked in amusement parks. Did you know that the average dolphin in the wild can live to 50-60 years, whether as the dolphins in the amusement parks usually live only to 20? That's a serious difference. And... well, I don't really want to go into the other stuff I learned from the brochure.

Sunnyd said she'd teach us how to do a special Punnett Square (I can't remember what) I'm excited! Genetics is a cool topic. Scratch that, today is tomorrow and she gave us a packet (you don't have to understand that). Anyway, one last comment: for the "fun with Gregor Mendel" website, isn't there supposed to be 16 possibilities since there is two traits? They only give us four. Anyone able to explain this phenomenon?

PS: I never knew brochure was spelled with a ch!

Got Science?

Almost forgot! Did you know there's an expiration date on toothpaste?

Okay, the last question box: Can you bake a pie in a microwave? Apparently, yes. I yahooed it, and here are some results:

North pole Recipes (for pecan pie in the microwave): For some reason, I find "352 days until Christmas!" slightly amusing. Why bother count?

Metal and Pie in Microwaves: Thanks to iluvmusic! This website is all about using metal in the microwave and how it is safe when done correctly- and it does mention pie. Apparently, though, you have to use metal utensils and pots that are definately safe for the microwave because certain shapes and sizes and other factors will cause the metal thing not to work right. Also, don't stick any metal thing with a black plastic handle made of phenolic, because the handle will explode (there goes using our pots). Anyway, I'm not going to try- we once accidently put a little foil in the microwave and there were sparks and, well, scary stuff. We took it out immediately and I've been spooked ever since.


Kudos to smile4evah for having actually baked a pie in a microwave!

I actually thought of this question a loooonnng time ago, and my friend and I had an extremely... amusing conversation consisting of conducting experiments with pies and microwaves far away from civilization (in case it explodes). Well, that's it!

Pippin's Question Box

Why does peppermint help stomachaches? (best)

Note: See Question Box FAQ for important info!

Question Box FAQs

IMPORTANT: To help out Sunnyd, please post a comment either with your answer or with a link to your blog that has your answer. Thank you! :)

I have a feeling that people are a little confused, so here are some things to know (that get messed up).

1. Post your answer on your blog



2. The labels (the words in parentheses) tell you how to respond. They are independent of each other, meaning that if it says fast, you don't have to type a paragraph, just give an answer and a source. If it says best, type a paragraph and give a source, but you don't have to worry about when you published it (unless you've published it after I've already posted a new question box, in which case any answer will probably be null and void at that point)



3. Give a link to vertify your information- I don't know the answers and neither does Sunnyd! (in most cases, that is)



4. There is a new one every Wednesday.
5. The answers for the old question appear under Got Science? right before the new question box.

Since Sunnyd is a little swamped right now with other stuff on the blogs to grade, I'm going to also ask that you post a comment with a link to your blog if you have an answer. This way, at least for the time being, I can look at the answers and choose the winner and Sunnyd only has to vertify the winner- plus, I've been bugging Sunnyd quite a bit and I've just realized that, an annoyed Sunnyd- well, you know how that is ;) And one last thing: I know this is common sense, but if you want to comment on the Got Science or, for whatever reason, my homework assignment, or anything else, please post the comment on that post, not the question box. After all, it seems rather odd for a comment about (referring to my handy dandy homework assignment) deoxyribonucleic acid to show up on a post about Christmas trees. Don't you agree?

Poll: Would it be easier to post your answer as a comment? Links might be a nuisance, but if you think so, please say so- or if you don't, say why not.