Class Response: Owl Pellets

Owl pellets are undigested parts of an owl that they regurgitate. They can contain the bird's undigested parts from its diet. The owl's pellet includes skeletons of various rodents to small cats. The size of the prey depends on the size of the predator. In class today, we received our owl pellets which were covered in tin foil. First, we opened up the foil which contained the pellets. Then we measured and weighed the pellets. After that, my lab partner Mike and I dissected the bones and fur from the pellets. Next, we discovered that our pellet contained a rodent. And finally, we looked into our packets and tried to identify the type of bones we had from the pellet. In class, we learned that a pellet can have more than one skull which meant that there might be more than one rodent in the pellet. Komal's and David's pellet had three skulls and I was amazed that such a small pellet could hold so much!

Fuel made from Sunlight!

Researchers in New Mexico discovered how to use sunlight to recycle carbon dioxide to produce fuels like methanol and gasoline which cars use. The researchers have tried to synthesize liquid fuels and they said the technology works and can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions although the full size scale plan could be a decade or more away. Recycling carbon dioxide is not a new idea but was advised to be too complicated and costly to be worth the effort. Oil prices are rising $100 for each barrel, researchers are very motivated to investigate carbon dioxide recycling so there wont be many concerns about global warming rising higher than it already is. A company named Los Alamos Renewable Energy has developed a way for generating electricity and fuel by creating a method using CO2. The solar reactor that divides carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen is a prototype that will be finished in April. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/S2P

Using Sunlight as Fuel

Scientist researchers in New Mexico discovered a way of using sunlight to recycle carbon dioxide and produce fuels like methanol or gasoline. Researchers said that the discovery works and could help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The idea of recycling carbon dioxide isn't new but was considered too difficult and expensive to do; since gas prices are soaring to 100 dollars per barrel, researchers are motivated to investigate recycling the carbon dioxide. For example, Los Alamos Renewable Energy has developed a working idea of using CO2 to generate elecrticity and fuel.

Volcano that erupts... mud!

The volcano in Orting, Washington is one of our nation's most dangerous volcanos. This volcano has been sitting in many villagers' backyards who have been living peacefully. Volcano Mount Rainier is three miles above sea level. Mount Rainier erupts and causes lahars which are rapid mud flows that destruct manmade objects in its path. Tourists always come to Mount Rainier National Park to admire the actively volcanic volcano, its forested edges, alpine field and the ice glaciers. Even though there is much beauty to this landform, its eruptions are lethal to the valley.(*not all volcanoes explode distinctively with lava.)

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3062/

Your Mental and Physical exercise is more than Important to your health!

Without mental and physical exercise, you could lose your brain cells/memory and get harmful diseses such as Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease can cause death. To fight this disease, you should do either of these daily: read, meditate, write, draw, talk, run/jog, or walk. By doing these exercises, you could improve and get a better memory. Mice that have been tested on in Austrailia performed better on memory tests while provided with a enriched environment that enhanced their mental and physical stimulation.
http://http//www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080124092540.htm

Math is...

Math, math, math! (Boring!!!!)
No one can do math without numbers and counting. Operations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing help solve equqtions. Equations are a part of math that help people solve real- life problems.For example, time and my agenda are useful because they help me keep track of what and how long I'm going to do something. In order to use them, I have to be able to tell time and count days. Math is significant to eating and drinking in order to measure amounts, volume, servings and fractions or pieces of things. Money relates to math because I need to figure out sales tax, prices and discounts. Math is connected to sports to keep track of my hockey scores, swimming times, golfing strokes, baseball innings and outs and also horseback riding for how many stradles to jump. Math is important to art for measuring supplies, using tools suuch as rulers, drawing angles, shapes and lines. (THAT IS GEOMETRY! WOW!...) : Math is used to measure mileage to see how far something is. No one can live without math, and I can't live without my cellphone because I need to keep people's phone "numbers" and text them! P.S. - I hate math!!!!

The Water Cycle

Evaporation and Condensation are two big parts of the water cycle. Evaporation is when water turns into vapor as it rises clouds form and condensation is when vapor turns into water. Stratus clouds are staight and look like horse tails, they also have moisture in them. Cirrus clouds are wispy and have a little bit more water in them. Cumulus clouds are round and fluffy and contain the most water. As the wind moves , ocean water evaporates and forms a small cloud such as a cirrus or stratus which evaporate water from liquid to gas. After the clouds become heavy with water vapor and form cumulus clouds, they condense the vapor into water. Clouds move and bring rain to land and lakes, streams, reservoirs and ....puddles.... From there the water flows down to the ocean. This process of the Water Cycle is necessary because it purifies the water we need.

My Kite, the Wind Catcher

I made a kite that I think might fly. My kite started from a large sheet of orange poster paper and colored pencils. The kite has openings like a box kite because wind will flow in between the openings so the kite goes up. I cut out a star from orange construction paper and then taped all of the corners together to make the openings. The openings allow the air to circulate constantly and they make the kite lightweight. Kites with openings are easier to fly than kites without any because the openings let in the air to lift the kite.

A mathematical tragedy

Almost two centuries ago, Sophie Germain was the first woman known to have discovered significant math theorems. She wanted to prove that Fermat's theorem was correct but her theorem was almost lost to history. Fermat told his theory about 350 years before mathematicians finally came up with a proof for it that it was right.(thats...a loonnng time) In 1995, Andrew Wiles from Princeton University found out the problem...In Germain's day, mathematicians working on that specific problem did one problem one by one. Germain's theory would have proven it in one shot. After 80 years, her work on the theory was so totally unknown, people doing math reproved her results.
Sophie Germain (1776–1831) was the first woman known to have discovered significant mathematical theorems.

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080301/mathtrek.asp

SPAM ALERT!!!

People who have email ask the same question as surprised diners "Who ordered the spam?"(probably u dont but mebbe other peeps) Nobody did but sending back the spam only brings more spam. New tools were made for fighting the spams like the filters that look for telltale signs that a message is spam but the spammers easily defeat the filters, spammers disguise their words and intent of their messages. To get what you want from the server (which is no spams) , you have to use intricate, trained filters that use math and that makes it not bring up any spams. Using Bayes' Theorem avoids the spammer's messages. Spammers adapt their messages to avoid many anti-spam tools. If you have an email you notice certain words that look like a spam such as: "You won 1,000,000 dollars!" Your filter (if you have one that uses math) recognizes similar words as more spams come up, so it gets trained to not bring up the certain email again. This is a powerful application (Bayes' Theorem) of an old and basic mathematical result. Mathematicians use old and new mathematical tools to continue advancing their skills to battle spams.

http://www.ams.org/ams/mm36-spam.pdf

3.14 day! (march 14th)

PI DAY!!!
March 14th is PI Day! The first international holiday of cyberspace which is a holiday celebrated in the United States, and around the world. Mostly Greeks celebrate this holiday. On PI Day at Pi Headquarters, math geeks, students, use PI and eat it too! March 14th is PI Day because the first three digits are 3.14 and that makes it March 14th.(isnt that kinda cool?) At the time 1:59pm...(why not am?)3.14159 are the first six digits of PI, the annual ritual Drop of the Giant PI takes place at PI Day ground zero.(the cyberspace emporium/marketplace which is the high temple and sine qua non for math lovers) The annual drop of the Giant PI is basically like the dropping of the New Year's ball in Times Square also maybe like the ledgendary arrival of Santa at Macy's. You may be now thinking who celebrates this holiday and guess who it might be, maybe your neighbor, math lovers, geeks, and all types of nerds.(those ones were pretty obvious) Maybe lots of other people like teachers, students, professors, college students, financial analysts, rocket scientists,(e.t.c.) PI day is a part of a new breed of "geek holidays" which includes Mole Day.

http://www.dm.unito.it/personalpages/cerruti/mathnews.html

Frog as big as a bowling ball

Bowlin'!

A frog, the size of a bowling ball lived in the time dinosaurs lived in! This discovery of the Beelzebufo or Devil Toad captured the attention of scientists that found the frog's fossils.

The frog's cousin is the Malagasy frog, largest known living cousin. The Malagasy frog's bones were in Madagascar. It weighs 10 pounds and is 16in. long. (That is heavier than a newborn baby!) This frog is related to another frog smaller than this but in South America. David Krause, a paleantologist from one of New York's univercities began finding peices of abnormally large frog fossils in Madagascar off the coast of Africa, in 1993. They dated back to the late Cretaceous period. Over in Madagascar, Krause found crocodile and dinosaur fossils. Krause's team assembled enough frog fossils to piece together what it would have looked like and how much it weighed.

The largest living frog, the Goliath frog of West Africa, can reach 7 pounds. But Krause said that it isnt related to the Beelzebufo. He said that it seems to be a relative of South American horned frogs. South American horned frogs are popular as pets, they're sometimes called pacman frogs for their huge mouths. (I know I won't have one as a pet because if it runs loose inside the house at night, I won't want to feel something slimy, wet and cold crawling in my around in my bed!)
Beelzebufo frogs are different than regular frogs because they have teeth, wide mouth, powerful jaws bones that are extremely thick with ridges and grooves characteristic of some type of armor or protective shield.

(The name comes from the Greek word for devil: Beelzebub. And in Latin for toad, bufo)

Since continents drifted apart, Madagascar would have been separated by ocean from South America during the Beelzebufo's time. And frogs can't survive long in saltwater, Krause noted. Krause thinks that the Beelzebufo provides evidence for competing theories that are still have to do something about the land masses that late in time, perhaps thats why Antarctica was much more warmer than today.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/02/18/frog.fossil.ap/index.html

Germany's Polar Bear Cub Quandary

The population of polar bears in Germany's zoo is decreasing. A mother polar bear in the zoo has cute little baby cubs. The cubs are nice and warm in the cave they share with their polar bear mom but the next day, the cubs are gone except for one so far. Some people say that she(mother polar bear) might have eaten them. The last baby polar bear with the mom might either throw it out from her cage, bury it or eat it like the others. (This is a picture of a baby polar bear in the mother's mouth.)The mother polaor bear's name was Vera. The father polar bear's name was Felix. I think why the mother polar bear was acting like that because of global warming. The polar bear might be tired of taking care of the cub and since the protective fur on them makes them warm in cold waters, and teaching the cub may be difficult which builds up a lot of sweat and heat in them.

From Cnn.com and under Germany's Polar Bear Quandary