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.