Meme #5-- 6/13/12

Meme #4-- 6/13/12

Meme #3-- 6/13/12

Meme #2-- 6/13/12

Meme #1-- 6/13/12

Matched by Ally Condie (Patterns project)-- 6/07/12

Matched by Ally Condie
by: np600

Water Cycle xtranormal-- 5/30/12

Weather project final
by: np200

Current events-- 5/23/12

The Pentagon is Investing Millions to Advance the Future of 3-D Printing Tech

This is a 3-D printing machine that the Pentagon is currently researching.

              This article was about something that I didn't even know could happen in our existence. Is it even possible to be printing out three dimensional objects? This article was about Barack Obama putting aside sixty million dollars for the investment in 3-D printing technologies. Three-dimensional printing is a piece of technology that holds great anticipation from the citizens of the United States. The 3-D printing industry is going great. Some analysts expect it to grow to $3.1 billion by 2016. This is being discussed at the pentagon to make life a little more interesting for America's citizens and is a great new type of technology to be investing in. Barack Obama is totally into the idea and is offering more money towards making this miracle happen.
             I have mixed feelings for this article. I really like the idea of the Pentagon exploring new ideas to make life more interesting for everyone. I love the whole situation myself and hope it works out for the scientists and engineers working on the project. On the other hand, considering our current place in the economy, I feel that it's a silly idea to be investing on. We don't really need 3-D printing right now. Of course, it would make manufacturing a whole lot easier, but the economy would just dip down again if the Pentagon and Barack Obama are spending a lot more time focusing on the project than on our current situation. Overall, this article really caught my eye and it's about 3-D printing, an extremely cool project, but is a waste to be focusing on in this type of economy.

Sources:

Article link

3-D printing machine pic

Second picture link 

Current events-- 5/08/12

In a Medical First, Doctors Transplant the Same Kidney Twice in Two Weeks.

The three bodies the kidney was in.

            This article is about surgeons operating on the same kidney twice in two weeks. The final recipient (third person to own the organ) is reportedly doing well even after two transplants. A twenty-seven year old patient with a disease known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (causes scar tissue on a part of the kidney that does the filtering of waste from the blood). The condition led to heart failure and the man received a kidney from his sister but within days signs of his glomerulosclerosis kicked in, causing life-threatening complications.  The kidney was taken out so a good kidney couldn't be wasted. The man was glad to be helping another person so doctors removed the kidney and transplanted it into a sixty-seven year old man. The kidney regained function almost immediately. While the original patient is awaiting another transplant, this miracle was a medical first. The kidney made a miracle after being transported into three bodies. 

The kidney transplant. 

             I think this article was really interesting and miraculous. Many of the kidney transplants are working, but aren't working as well as the kidney is for the sixty-seven year old man. This is even after being in two bodies. Many miracles are happening currently considering curing diseases and find out more symptoms and it's really great that people are able to help other helpless people. It's interesting to see how one little organ can help boost everyone's confidence and help a person live. What surprises me most is how the organ fails in one body but does more than enough in the other. The transplant even showed reversal of the slight damage caused bu the original person's diseases. Like I said, it's all a medical first and miracles can always be happening.

             To sum it all up, it's amazing how miracles are happening everyday even if the human brain cannot figure out why they're happening.

Sources:

Article link -- In a Medical First, Doctors transplant the same kidney twice in two weeks.

The three patients picture

The kidney transplant picture

Current events; Pink slime-- 3/29/12

Finely textured beef... "Pink slime"

                My current events article was about "lean finely textured beef," more efficiently known as "pink slime." Researchers are realizing that 70% of ground beef products in grocery stored contain pink slime. Former USDA scientist, Gerald Zimstein bought the subject to the public's attention. Before we get into what happened with the pink slime, and how people are discussing the topic, what is pink slime anyway? Pink slime/finely textured beef is a clever use of left-over scraps of fat and meat which are removed from standard meat cuts. They're spun through a machine with a rapidly rotating container, known as a centrifuge. They're spun like this to separate the beef bits from the fat. Next, the liquid mixture is squeezed through a thin tube and then exposed to a bit of ammonia gas which reacts with water if the meat. The mixture kills any bacteria in the beef. This became an interesting news story because the beef has an addictive substance to it which attracts the human brain to get more. McDonalds, and Burger King are banishing the beef slime from their hamburgers, and school all over are banishing them from their menus during lunchtime. In addition, This meeting happened at March 23rd at the USDA association. The pink slime meeting happened because many USDA members are noticing the pink slime in beef lately and wanted to research it more.

You always need to know what you're eating in order to
maintain a healthy lifestyle.

                 I think that this article was very self-explanatory and informative. It's really great to be informed with this kind of information because you need to know what you're eating and digesting. Also, you need to know whether it's good for you or if it's bad enough to damage you permanently. I think it's really good to know that people are researching their doubts when it comes to food. You'll be safe and you'll know what you're eating and it it's really healthy. This article also shows me that it doesn't matter if what you're eating tastes amazingly delicious, but you need to keep in mind whether it's good for you're health and body. Many delicious foods have addicting substances that make you want more of it. For example: These hamburgers were really delicious, but did the people eating it know that they were really eating pink slime? Doesn't that change the whole perspective of the food they're addicting too? This article really proved that everything has some kind of bad side to it, and you need to know what it is. I thought it was really amazing how they described the food. 

"Do you know what you're eating" picture link -- "Do you know what you're eating link" picture link

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2012/03/23/it-came-from-the-media-what-prompted-the-ruckus-about-pink-slime-and-is-it-unhealthy/ -- Article link + pink slime picture

"Never eat things you're not sure off" link -- Help on opinion

USDA interview -- USDA interview on pink slime

The three States of Matter (Four labs)-- 2/06/12

         Throughout the last one or two weeks, my science class did four labs to see how chemical and physical changes happen. In addition, we learned a little bit more about the three states of matter: Solids, liquids and gases. We couldn't explore the fourth state of matter: plasma because it's rare on Earth and is really dangerous. The four labs we did were really interesting and fun to do.
        The first lab we did that week was "Pouring a Gas." We actually did two labs in one day, but they were separate labs. What we did for the "Pouring a Gas" lab was light a candle, and hold a mixture of vinegar and baking soda over it, as if we were pouring it, but not really pouring it over the lighted candle.The flame lights out when we did that, causing a chemical change to occur. The candle lit out because there wasn't enough oxygen for the candle to keep burning and in order was something to burn, it needs oxygen. So overall, the mixture of vinegar and baking soda (Carbon dioxide) took out all of the oxygen atoms/molecules from the candle causing it to go out. In this lab, I learned that in order for something to happen, the materials don't need to touch each other. Therefore, the atoms in the mixture traveled to light out the candle. I thought that was really cool and amazing the way it lit out. I didn't know that substances could do that before, even in real life.

       The next lab we did on that same day was the "Observing a Candle" lab. In this lab, all we did was basically take down physical and chemical changes before and after the lab and then we lighted the small candle. Some physical properties of the candle were that it was green, skinny, short, twisted and smooth. We used the senses sight and tough. Currently, there weren't any chemical changes because a chemical change only occurs when the substance creates a new form. We hadn't done anything to the candle yet, so there were no chemical properties. In order to observe a chemical change, we had to light the candle. Once the candle was lit, there were many changes, both physical and chemical. The candle started shrinking and the wax made a new shape. In addition, the candle also started melting. The molecular movement that molecules took was getting faster. I thought it was really neat how to candle started getting shorter in front of us because of the fire. Some chemical changes that my group observed was that the candle was burning and releasing smoke. The main difference between a chemical change and a physical change is that a physical change makes a new appearance and a chemical change make a new substance. A physical property is easier to determine because it's right in front of us and we could see it right away. I learned how to observe the differences between a physical and a chemical change and also what causes a chemical change. 
       The third lab we did that week was "Marshmallow fun!" This was honestly one of my favorite labs of the four we did, partly because we got to eat part of the burnt marshmallow! This was a really short lab, considering that all we did was rip a small marshmallow is half, burn it, and observe it. We had two marshmallows in front of us, both the same type although one was small and the other was bigger. The small marshmallow was white, fluffy, small and squishy, and that goes the same for the big marshmallow except it was bigger instead of small. Making a physical change, we first ripped the small marshmallow in half and ate it (Taste: squishy and sweet). Using the Bunsen burner, we then burned the big marshmallow and tasted a part of the burnt part (Taste: burnt and disgusting). Burning the marshmallow was a chemical change since it made a new substance which was burning it. In addition, the marshmallow was a solid because it had a definite shape along with a definite volume, therefore the particles were packed tightly together. One thing I learned from this lab, besides science, is to never taste a burnt marshmallow!!! In this lab, I also learned to be really careful when burning something or being near something being burned.

       The final lab we did this week was my absolute favorite! It was called "Observing changes in matter." This was a longer lab and took up a lot of time. To start off with, we had four small sugar cubes. We observed that they were small, white, sweet, hard and rough. Many physical and chemical changes occurred while we were doing this lab. One physical change was when we took a sugar cube and crushed the using the mortal ad pestle. That was a physical change since the substance stayed the same even though it took a new appearance. Then, taking the crushed sugar and pouring it into a glass of water, we looked at the mixture, noticing that the sugar was still visible and had a tint of sweetness to it. In this part of the lab, no chemical changes occurred to the sugar cubes. In part B of the lab, however there were chemical changes. We two sugar cubes into a test tube and held it over the Bunsen burner. Something really cool happened when we did that. The sugar turned from white to dark brown. There was a gassy substance forming which was yellow and coming out of the tube like smoke. We could obviously tell that a chemical change was happening, and the sugar was turning into a new substance. The new material was powdery and was enlarged, it took the shape of the container and was black and yellow. In addition, it was burned and bitter, stiff and breakable and it was still rough. The sugar changed from a solid, to another smaller solid, almost like a liquid. It changed its physical appearance, along with many more chemical properties. I learned many things from this lab, including more about the two types of changes and more about matter itself. 

Real life situation: physical change!

          Overall, the our labs we did that week were very educational, appealing and were truly amazing! They got me wondering so much about matter, and how everything in the universe has some sort of molecular arrangement in it. These things would be very useful in career, education and even everyday life situations such as cooking, organizing, etc. You see these things everyday and work with them everyday also. In addition, you make physical and chemical changes everyday also, from cutting vegetables to opening a book! This kind of science is so inspirational and got me thinking A LOT! I loved these four labs and hope we can do more in the future! 

Seperating mixtures procedure-- 1/07/12

Seperating mixtures procedure

1) Use the funnel to pour the liquid (water) into the graduated cylinder.

2)  Remve the magnetic iron (black, small substance) with the magnet.

3) Take some water out with the pipette and put the rest onto the heat plate, after plugging it in.

4) Put the other items into the funnel; examine. (Sand, iron, water, beans, toothpicks, salt and the plastic fly.)

5) Use magnet to pick up items, and identify which are magnetic/non-magnetic.

6) Place contents of funnel back into the cup.

7) Clean out cylinder with water.

8) Wash funnel in sink.

9) Scoop objects off magnet and put into graduated cylinder containing liquid.

10) Clean up and wash all materials.