The Octopus -- Very Flexible Indeed~

Well, it is very obvious that an octopus, jellyfish, or sponge has not skeleton, being natural invertebrates. But you'd figure every animal has a limit in flexibility, right?
Wrong.
And octopus has no limit in flexibility, and are commonly seen escaping from bottles with ease. They are also very smart, changing color in seconds to match it's backdrop or to use one tentacle to reach something in a small space. Well it turns out that one tentacle can also bend wherever it needs to in order to reach. Tests show that an octopus can manipulate one tentacle using complex movements and motions, while being able to maintain it without injury. Now if a human tried that, I bet we'd all be in a lot of pain.
An octopus also has unlimited control over its body. With no bones, you would think it has control over few parts as the others just follow stuff. It turns out it has control over every part, also shown in the tests.
So we can all learn from these creatures and admire their skill.
Just don't try this at home.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110518105513.htm

Tarantulas Have Silk In Their Feet...?

Yes, it's true. These horrifying spiders can actually do this. Most spiders catch themselves with webs, or can just withstand the impact. And Jumping Spiders hop from place to place. But when one of these furry frights falls it releases silk from its feet to catch itself. These threads are indistinguishable by the naked eye, but under a microscope you can see small bits of them. Claire Rind of the University of Newcastle has been researching this discovery, and predicts that these spiders could be a missing link connecting modern day web-spinning spiders and extinct silk-spinning spiders. So what do we know now? That you can probably expect to own a sweater made of spider silk in the future. Will they still be gross to some people? Yes. Will they disappear? Maybe.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516075927.htm

Mubarack Steps Down

As of February 11, 2011, the revolution in Egypt is over. Former president Mubarack has stepped down and left town. DEMOCRACY!!

Fish Lab :D

In class this week, we continued working with genetics. In this particular lab we used toothpicks to represent the differing alleles in fish. By choosing two toothpicks at random, this determined the genotypes and phenotypes in the “pond”. The fish that were yellow or had the genotype of “yy”, had bad alleles and therefore could not survive. Then by depicting natural disasters the green fish were excluded because they would not be able to use camouflage very well.

This lab is similar to nature in one way or another. For example, I realized green fish were the most common, even though the same amount of alleles were given to each type. The three alleles were “G” for green (dominant), “y” for yellow, and “r” for red. If any fish were to have the genotype “yr” then it would be incomplete dominance therefore making the fish orange. Since the allele for green is dominant, it has the most possibilities for a phenotype. This is what makes it the most common type of fish. This is the same in nature but of course with different phenotypes. In any case, if there is one dominant gene in any gene pool, its phenotype is sure to outnumber the others. When the chain continues to the point where an allele disappears or becomes alone and without any duplicates of itself, this is evolution. The useless alleles die out eventually.

However this differs from what happens in nature because not all fish may be able to reproduce. Some fish may also have mutations and will die young. The fish may even be affected in more than one way by a natural disaster such as pollution. If all fish lived the way they do in this lab then they would change very slowly and the generations’ populations would not change by much each time. Of course, other fish may breed with these causing different colors or types to be created. Not all natural disasters only affect one type negatively either. Most natural disasters, such as the oil spill in 2009, affect more than one species and usually wipe out the wildlife in a large area. Only affecting one type of fish in the lab not nearly as much of a variety gets harmed. If a different allele were to be dominant, the fish with that allele would be the most common. Take “r” for example. Then if the same natural disaster came and still only affected the green fish, the population would not decrease so drastically. The reason for this is because the allele “G” would be recessive and not always show even though it is still among the fish. Whichever allele is dominant has the most common phenotype. Overall this experiment does show major events of what happens in nature but there are many variables that will lead to different conclusions and events.

Discovery About Cancer Cells

New science shows that a gene inside cancer cells deprives the body of what keeps them from spreading. This gene is called WWP2. Scientiste believe that if they can create a drug that can "deactivate" the gene, they can use it on tumors and keep them from spreading. According to Andrew Chantry, these drugs would be used on skin, breast, colon and brain cancers, all preventing the spread and successfully removing the tumors. A more matured stage of cancer that is not currently treatable or removable succesfully may well be treatable with this drug. The only real challenge at the moment is creating the edicine that will enter the cells and stop the WWP2 gene from working. It sounds next to impossible to scientists but it is far from that.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110124073903.htm

New Proto-cluster Discovered

COSMOS-AzTEC3 -- this is the name of the furthest cluster of galaxies from Earth. As it is comprised of many galaxies forming in a large mass instead of a mature galaxy, it is called a proto-cluster. Approximately 12.6 billion light-years away from Earth, it is said to be one of the youngest proto-clusters found. "We think the starbursts and black holes are the seeds of the cluster," says Peter Capak of NASA. "These seeds will eventually grow into a giant, central galaxy that will dominate the cluster -- a trait found it modern-day galaxy clusters." In other words, most other clusters will eventually be consumed by a dominant galaxy within. This cluster is not much different and will go through the same process.

This is the first to be discovered at an age this young. AzTEC3 began forming when the universe was just beginning, giving proof that these clusters have existed for a long time.

Thanks to the information scientists have recently discovered, it has been concluded that this cluster will keep growing into its own group of entire galaxies. This was discovered by measuring the amount of gas within it. This gas is what is needed to create a star. The proto-cluster contains at least 400 billion stars. One galaxy in particular is quickly forming these stars.

It was a lot of work to get a clear focus on the proto-cluster. Many telescopes were used and many different methods as well.

This galaxy can be seen in the constellation of Sextans. Its name comes from how scientists had come to this discovery. COSMOS comes from the part of the universe it was found, while AzTEC comes from the camera and telescope used to capture it.

This may just be another scientific discovery, but it is far from ordinary. COSMOS-AzTEC3 is proof that these clusters existed when the universe was young and that many more are soon to come. Scientists can look forward to discovering many more facts and maybe someday will come to find how the universe itself was created.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110112143036.htm

Wetlands Website

greenclasswetlands.webs.com

Here is our website for the wetlands project. The links for our informations sources are in our packets, so please see those.

Parasitism

The relationship between this tree and the moss and fungus is a form of parasitism. Parasitism is when one organism feeds off the host, and the host in turn is harmed. This is exactly what the moss and fungus are doing to this tree. They are taking its nutrients and thriving as the tree is rotting and dying.

Ecology--flowers!

These flowers can be biotic limiting factors and also a population. What these do is they take water from the ground so that other plants cannot get it. They grow roots that can keep weeds or small plants away from their growing space. There are many of them, so they provide a place for bees to collect pollen, leaves for caterpillars and other bugs to feed, and they block sunlight from reaching the ground with their long leaves to keep other things from growing.

2010 -- 2011

Hey people! Who's ready for another AWESOME year?! Let's all grab those beakers, warm up those Bunsen burners and head on over to the lab tables, 'cause we've got a lot to do! (Although chemistry was last year...)

How Is Popcorn Made?

As most of use usually do, we make our popcorn out of the microwave or an air popper. However, not many people know how it actually pops. In this specific lab, we used a microwave, which uses convection to cook the popcorn. The kernels have a small drop or water inside which is protected my the hard outer shell. When the kernels are heated, the energy increases due to the increase in heat. Then when the pressure inside is too much for the outer shell to hold...pop!

New Branch In Human Evolution?

"It was a shock to find DNA from a new type of ancestor that has not been on our radar screens", says Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. In the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, Svante uncovered what seems to be the DNA of a new hominid line. A hominid is an animal belonging to the family of mammals linking humans and primates together through evolution. However, the connection was not discovered through fossils. Instead it was discovered through the DNA in the remnants of a finger bone belonging to this hominid living in the Altai Mountains 48,000 to 30,000 years ago. It is the first time a species or evolution classification has been done through a genetic sequence! These creatures left Africa about 1 million years ago, according to Pääbo and Johannes Krause, a graduate of Max Planck. This hominid that was discovered in particular was named "X woman", as the sex of the creature found has not yet been discovered. Scientists compared the DNA to that of 54 people living today, a Siberian human from about 30,000 years ago, six Neanderthals from about 40,000 years ago, and a modern pygmy chimpanzee and common chimp. Of course, they had their differences. “That number of differences is good evidence for a new hominid because simple variation can’t account for it,” states Morten Rasmussen of the University of Copenhagen. Next is to extract and examine nuclear DNA which is needed to determine the sex of X woman. but the classification could be wrong, due to interbreeding between species. "...there are massive genetic differences between X woman and both Neanderthals and modern humans,” states Pääbo. Due to this, there may be some species in the hominid family that aren't hominids, due to interbreeding.

Earthquake In Haiti

As you may have already heard, there was an earthquake in Haiti on January 12. It reached a magnitude of 7.0 on its first strike, at least ten aftershocks following. Two of them measured at 5.9 and 5.8. The force was so immense, that the entire city of Port-Au-Prince is covered in debris from concrete houses collapsing. The quake was centered about ten miles away from the city, and "could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba...", according to CNN. Downed buildings, trees, power lines and everything else imaginable cover the hills and roads of Haiti, crushing victims. An estimate by the international Red Cross reads about 45,000 to 50,000 people died during this tragedy. Many efforts of relief to those in Haiti have been launched worldwide to help out, along with many charities. Everybody is willing to help out. Many camps have been set up by the Haitians while some try to find refuge in the rubble that was left behind. "...the silence of the dead otherwise was overwhelming in a city where uncounted bodies littered the streets in the 80-degree heat, and dust-caked arms and legs reached, frozen and lifeless, from the ruins." says Yahoo! News. The U.S. began with about one million dollars in aid, and is continuing to reach out to these people with a countless amount of charities. However, not everybody is helping each other out in the dust and rocks. People have almost begun fights over food and water from donators. Hope is being sucked away from the citizens. Most search for loved ones as others pray to survive. But with all of the world trying to help these homeless people, I do not doubt that they will recover.

Observing Changes In Matter - Sugar!

Lately in science class, we have been studying exothermic and endothermic changes. To put it to the test, we proceeded with a lab using sugar. It showed us what some types of changes look like when it comes to matter. We started off with four sugar cubes, a glass of water, a spoon, mortar and pestle, Bunsen burner (ouch!), test tube, and tongs. Observing the sugar cubes as the easiest. And the sweetest! They looked like any other sugar cubes, but they were in for a beating! We then mashed them up with the mortar and pestle. After this, we observed the sugar, now a powder instead of a cube, again. We then poured the powder into the glass of water. After stirring it for about 20 seconds, the sugar was hardly even visible anymore, but it was still in there. And then came the really fun part!

We carefully put 2 sugar cubes in to the test tube and let our teacher light the Bunsen burner. Carefully holding the test tube over the flame with the tongs, the sugar quickly melted and expanded, filling up more of the test tube as a liquid than as a solid. It bubbled and popped inside and the beige liquid soon turned brown, then black as we pulled the test tube off of the burner. Smoke flew out of it and it didn’t smell so sweet anymore. When we got the "sugar" out of the tube it was hard and crumbled on the table. But i did observe something awfully familiar. The smell of the sugar while it was burning smelled like a marshmallow. So the smell and taste of a marshmallow is actually just the sugar, and not any flavorings.

Again, time to observe. It had small holes, like craters, all over it. Probably from the boiling, I thought. So the changes we made in part a, grinding it, was just a physical change. It didn’t change anything major about it because it's still sugar. When in part B, burning it, it was a chemical change because we cannot un-burn it.

Extra Credit!: Quote Response

In Science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurred.
Sir William Osler (1849-1919) Canadian physician.



To me, this quote is true. If you make a discovery but don't reveal it, nobody will know that they discovered anything at all .Although when another person does, they will get the publicity for it. You need to explain and reveal to people what you have achieved and not keep it under your hat. Think about the pain you will feel if you were to discover someone wlse is getting what you could have gotten.