Being Vegan: FAQs

A month ago, I went vegan (I know I told some of you guys that it was 3 weeks ago; it was an estimate that I told you). A lot of people have inquired as to why I have gone vegan, and how it is different from   a standard diet (omnivore). I have decided to write and post answers to your questions that have been more thought through and researched, and not what I can remember on a bus.

Let me start off with five general reasons to be vegan written by Lindsay S. Nixon, the author of Everyday Happy Herbivore.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT EXACT TEXT FROM HER BOOKS (EXCEPT 2), 4), AND 5)), IT HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY EDITED FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING WHILE MAINTAINING WHAT THE FIVE REASONS ARE

1) Health:
Vegan diets have no dietary cholesterol, meaning no chemicals that constrict arteries and increase blood pressure (Heart attack risk is dramatically cut down to natural heart attacks of old age). A low-fat vegan diet is low in calories and high in fiber. Some studies show that a low-fat vegan diet can prevent, cure, and reverse devastating diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and cancer; 15 of the leading causes of death can be reversed, cured, and prevented with a plant-based diet.

2) Wallet:
A vegan diet can be a bargain. Vegan staples like beans, rice, and non-dairy milks will cost you a fraction of the price of meats and dairy products. Plus, eating healthfully will save you health care products in the long run.

3) Animals:
Standard animal treatment is horrifyingly brutal psychologically and physically. The animal's life is usually filled with torture and ends long and painfully. The standard way of getting dairy is keeping a cow permanently pregnant in order to make it produce milk. The cows stand in fenced off areas and have their milk painfully pumped out. They are fed poorly and are treated almost exactly the same way Nazis treated Jewish prisoners at concentration camps. Once the cow dies from exhaustion, the body is thrown away and buried beneath landfills. Most of the cows that are milked last 4 years after they are able to be impregnated. As a consumer picking up the end product, it's easy to be oblivious rather than conscious.

4) Environment:
The vegan diet is the most eco-friendly and sustainable way we can eat.

5) Humanity:
It is said that if the world went vegetarian (Not even vegan), we would almost immediately end world hunger. One acre of land can either produce 20,000 pounds of potatoes, or a measly 165 pounds of meat.

Now, onto the FAQs.

1. Why don't vegans eat meat, and how do you get your protein if you don't eat meat?

To better understand why vegans don't eat meat, it's best to look at the health effects first.
Studies show that, health wise, veganism is a better option. Why? Well, for starters, let's have a look at nutrition. Protein is the first thing most people relate to meat and nutrition, as meat is dense with protein. Not heavily dense, just dense. However, the amount of usable protein is around 20% by weight. Meat protein isn't nutritionally dense either, inflicting a significant amount of calories along with the protein. Meat protein also tends to inhibit colon cancer. How much energy the body puts into processing the meat to get the protein and nutrients is also a drain on how much energy the body has left to use in other activities. Vegans generally have more energy than those of a standard omnivore diet, meaning more energy to put to the immune system, physical activity, brain activity, etc. Meat also has high levels of cholesterol; funnily enough countries that consume the most meat have "Heart Failure" as one of the leading causes of death. Just to add onto the negative health effects of eating meat, studies show that there are bacterial toxins present only in meat which cannot be killed by boiling, refrigeration, microwaving the meat, and other forms of preparing meat. This bacterial toxin is targeted by the human body (as the toxins inflammate the vascular system), but it takes a huge amount of energy for a body to fully remove all of the bacterial toxin from the system. By the time the human body starts to return to it's normal state of being, it's usually time for another meal which strains the body yet again. The process of irradication of the bacterial toxins from the system usually takes 5-6 hours. This process is made harder to complete to the human body as the animal fat increases absorption of the toxins into the blood stream. On top of this the immune system has to fight and kill every other germ in the air, as well as process the meat (Harder to process than plants), grow (unless you're an adult), and do it's normal routine. Also, above all else; as of last year the Health Guidelines updated stating that the recommended guidelines for blood pressure (on a planet where heart failure is a leading cause of death) were too high.

After the largest health study in human history, scientists have found that people on the Standard diet have more cancer cases than vegan diets, and vegan diets deal with cancer more efficiently. Upon studying the fastest growing tumours  such as lymphoma, are most likely to occur in those who live on the Standard Diet, and had an even higher risk for those who consume more poultry. Consuming half a chicken breast can triple your risk of getting lymphoma.
Moving on with cancer; a study by the Peritikin Research Foundation a few years ago decided to put two groups of people on different diets. One group was on a vegan diet while the other was on the Standard Diet. They then drew the blood from both groups and put both kinds of blood in petri-dishes with a cancer growth to test which kind of blood was the least hospitable to cancer and/or how much the blood suppressed cancer growth. The results of the study showed that while the Standard Diet suppressed the cancer by 9%, while those on a Vegan Diet had blood that suppressed cancer by 70%, meaning the test concluded that vegan blood was around 8 times as good as suppressing cancer.

CAUTION: THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED AND FRANKLY NOT FOR  MOST AUDIENCES. VIEWER DISCRETION/PARENTAL GUIDANCE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

As of so far, you have read the health affects of Vegan vs. Standard diets. Now, let me answer another crucial part of this question: Where the meat comes from.
As you might have read in the 5 Reasons to Become Vegan, cows are mistreated for milk. However, I am answering the question of where the meat comes from, starting with the life of the cows.
The cows are constantly moving, being deprived of sleep. They are fed small amounts of cow feed and are even sometimes fed cow. The cows grow up being hit and whipped, leaving sores which are not ever treated. Since they are in a confined space, most cows slowly rub their skin off and bleed. This is not treated either. Some of the more aggressive cow handlers will electrocute the cow's head to make it move. If this does not work, they will break the cow's tail. After all this suffering, they put the cows into a large machine that completely encases the cow except for the head and neck. A cow handler will slice the cow's neck and wait for the machine to empty the cow. The machine usually slams a large metal plate against the cow's throat, and then throws the cow onto the floor next to it. The floor is always covered in blood and never cleaned. At this point, the cow writhes around in pain and attempts to call for others to help him like any animal would (instinct). This is usually replied with another cow being thrown onto the floor, just as helpless and also in immense pain; both cows cannot make much of a sound except for incredibly loud squealing. The dying cows will be one of millions to die, and what's left of the bodies will end up in a land fill.

Chickens are born into the mechanical world and left in a small pen with the other chicks. These chicks are soon put on a conveyer belt after they are all fluffy. At the end of the conveyer belt, workers grab the chicks and snip off the beak. This is done to all chickens. The de-beaker has a dull blade mostly and so most beaks will be fractured and imprecise. Since these beaks are still relatively sharp and/or pointy, they peck other chickens and end up causing large infected wounds. These wounds are then rubbed in by the sides of the cages the chickens grow in. They all grow in solitude, and can hear other chickens suffering. Once the chickens get older, they start to rub off their feathers on the edges of the battery cages and this causes irritance. Naturally, they try and stop the infection by pecking at it much like a human would do to a scab. This continuously infects the skin even more until the chicken dies or gets killed. By the way, the handlers simply put the chickens on a conveyer belt hanging by their feet and then they get their throat slit by a chainsaw. They die slowly bleeding from the neck.

Pigs are put under the same conditions as the cows and chickens: They grow up in a dirty filthy area, they unintentionally harm themselves opening their flesh to the bacteria in the air. Handlers hit the pigs repeatedly with a stick in order to make the pig do something. The pigs get an infected and inflamed area and suffer from it. They get impregnated and then the babies are taken away from the mother, which in any species gets the same reaction. The mother and father are then hung from a forklift by their necks and then get slit in the throat. They grunt and whimper until they die.

Meat consumption is energy straining, unhealthy to certain parts of the body, and also comes from horrifyingly brutal lives of animals, while veganism is just healthy, is used to prevent, reverse, and cure most if not all leading causes of death and a healthier lifestyle, and also gives you more energy.

Now, you can gain your protein and nutrients from meat and suffer the side effects and promote the suffering of animals across the globe, or get all your nutrients from plants with no negative side affects whatsoever and promote healthy eating. After all, it is your choice.

Next FAQ tomorrow...

The Age of The Earth/The Actual Year

NOTE: I do not mean to cause any distress/anger/conflict, I am simply conveying scientific findings.

We know that this year is the year 2012. This is based on the christian belief that the Earth is 5000 years old.  This was to explain the large idea when science wasn't that advanced. However, due to radiocarbon dating and other methods, scientists have found enough evidence to state that the Earth is actually in fact +4.5 billion years old. Having that in mind, I wondered: What would the date be if it was based on the actual age of the Earth?

The closest possible answer is 4,564,906,212, meaning that the year is currently (as of 2012) 4,564,906,212.

I got this answer from more sites than I can remember. The first two numbers were easy enough as several sites all stated the crust radiation patterns put the Earth to 4.5-4.7. I then got reinforcements of 4.5 billion when the oldest rock got radiocarbon dated to around 4.5 billion years old. The rest of the numbers were difficult. I got the number 64 million from the age of rare minuscule crystals off a meteorite impact, and fossils of the first life on Earth. 906 thousand years ago was around the time apes started evolving into humans. 212 was added onto the year as that was when modern humanoids and neanderthals existed, and the 12 thousand was around how long human history has lasted for now. I know it's not the most solid date, but it is the closest so far - Believe me, I searched for an hour. Please put your own "Real" Dates in the comments below.

Levitating Water Particles

When you scream, sound vibrations transfer energy in the form of waves. Talking is sending waves at different pitches that ears "feel" and interpret as talking. Some sounds are too high to be heard by human ears, but it still sends energy around. Otherwise, the sound doesn't exist. The U.S Department of Energy took sound energy a bit further and created a machine that produces sound waves at such a frequency (22 kilohertz) from opposite directions that it mimicked microgravity conditions (Micro gravity is a term to express an area that has just above no gravity) and made water float in mid air. The only downside to using waves is that water can only be placed at the nodes of the waves, otherwise it doesn't quite work out well.

Why make an expensive device that holds water? Because the device is great at making efficient medicine! It makes medicine more efficient by evening out the different substances into a chemical mixture. In other words, its the World's Best Test Tube.

For more information, click the link: http://www.dogonews.com/2012/9/17/levitate-water-harry-potter-style-no-wand-or-spell-needed

Mammoths: Coming Soon to Your Planet!

Picture of scientists doing stuff to a mammoth carcass

Since the time of Jurassic Park, people have found it mind-boggling that we can reintroduce a species to the planet. Now, as you read this sentence with in the two weeks or so of me posting this, scientists are combining cells and Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid to try and make the first mammoth egg cell the world has seen within the last few (thousand) years. 

How To Get A Mammoth Egg Cell (Theoretical So Far)

Need:

Bunch of science tools and test tubes, etc..

1 living mammoth cell (Recently found 100m under solid ice, so well preserved it still has fatty tissue, hair, and bone marrow-conveniently)

Steps:

Step 1: Check to see if cells are - infact - living.

Step 2: Extract living cell's Nuclei

Step 3: Extract DNA from an elephant egg cell; elephants being the closest relative to the mammoth.

Step 4: Place mammoth genes into the elephant egg cell.

Step 5: Put egg cell back in elephant and let a male elephant do his stuff

Step 6: Have the elephant give birth to a mammoth (like a human giving birth to a chimp)

Step 7: Success! You now have a mammoth!

There are some factors which make the birth unlikely eg: the mother rejects the egg/the cells are too dead/it just simply doesn't work. People in charge of the project aren't even 100% sure what they are going to do with another species. Either way, the planet might just change in a few years. 

Link to site: http://www.dogonews.com/2012/9/15/perfectly-preserved-wooly-mammoth-provides-new-hope-of-resurrecting-the-mighty-mammal/page/4

My Favorite Element: Titanium

Name: Titanium
Latin Name: Ti
Atomic Number: 22
Atomic Weight: 47.87

The element of titanium was discovered in 1791 in Cornwall by William Gregor (1761-1817) and named after Titans of Greek mythology (Titan meaning first-sons of Earth). It is naturally found in mineral deposites found occasionally in the Earth's crust. It has a high melting temperature of 1660-1670 degrees Celsius and boiling temperature of ~3287 degrees Celsius. It is also as strong (if not stronger) than steel and less than half its weight. It has a low density and high corrosion resistance so it will never rust no matter how long its under water/saltwater. It has the highest strength to weight ratio of any metal in the periodic table.

The shape of titanium's crystalline structure is similar to diamond (hexagonal) and is usually alloyed with other metals to improve an aspect(s) of it (e.g: Titanium-Aluminium alloy = lighter). When combined with trace amounts of Ruthenium, Titanium's strength increases by a hundredfold.

Titanium's uses vary but usually appear in things needing a light, strong material. Titanium is used in diving watches, regulators, normal watches, robotics, electronics, bikes, wires, camera cases, jewellery, building materials, springs, cups, pens, pans, glasses, screw drivers, telescopes, handcuffs, oddly shaped computer mouses, engines, shavers, knifes, welding masks, "money clips", cutlery, nuts, bolts, wrenches, and A LOT more. Titanium alloy is commonly used in aerospace facilities and on satellites.

The reason Titanium is my favorite element is because of it's strength and durability which makes it applicable to any situation while looking a bit like an Apple product. I also like how even though its quite expensive (40$ per pound), it's worth how long it will last and how any Titanium product you use can just be cleaned every once and then its ready to use again. I have a diving regulator which my dad gave to me and he's used it for 10 years and it still works fine. The Iron Man suit from Iron Man is made of Titanium alloy and the American Army developed the safest bullet proof vest made of - you guessed it - Titanium!

Science Essay On Earthquake Early Warning Systems

Earthquakes are quite literally quaking of the earth. This has happened over thousands of years and people in the past have thought of many different ways this is caused. When tectonic plates move, giant plates of rock push and pull and slide and overlap; this is where friction and compression and pressure increase until it is released. This releases all the energy contained. Now, since waves are the most efficient way energy goes from point A (disturbance) to point B (any other medium of matter), a wave is how the energy will travel. The wave we are talking about is a mechanical wave, so it can only travel along a medium (basically solids, liquids and gasses). Now, in this situation the plates are transforming (like rubbing hands together) and the jolt sends out a longitudinal wave quickly followed by a transverse wave, since longitudinal waves are quicker than transverse. When the energy enters a building (buildings are a medium), it vibrates because all that movement energy is being forced into something barely containing the energy inside. The energy leaves the building into the air (air is also a medium). If the building was strong enough or flexible enough, it will survive the energy entering and leaving. If not, the energy reduces the building to rubble. This is because the energy is pure movement energy, and it comes from a large source: the Earth’s plates.

Now, as well as knowing what caused them and where, they wanted to know how to stop earthquakes from destroying their homes or at least getting a heads up before everything they had was destroyed. Over years, people devised many methods such as the frogs in a circle with their mouths open to catch a golden sphere from a dragon’s mouth. The way this would work is a wave came from a direction and the wave movement caused the golden sphere to fall and land in one of the frogs’ mouths. The frog that had the sphere showed which way the first wave came from and then safety procedures built off that. This was quite efficient.

The next step would be to locate the earthquake. To do this, they needed to find how powerful the disturbance was from at least 3 different locations. A disturbance is where matter is disturbed and this causes waves from friction, compression and rarefaction. To help locate the disturbance, scientists measure the frequency of the waves caused by the disturbance. They can find the speed of the wave based on frequency, wavelength, and amplitude. After finding the speed, they can tell how far away an earthquake was by how long the wave took to get from the initial disturbance to one of 3 locations. After getting the general distance for each point, scientists get a map of the area including all three locations, and draw circles (the centre being one of the 3 locations) representing the distance of the disturbance in all possible ways. Where all three circle edges overlap in one spot, that shows just where the disturbance happened.

           

The following step to safety was to create a way to either get the people aware and away from anything possible of collapsing, or to build things designed to withstand an earthquake. While some of this is done, a major part of the system (monetary) wants people to buy new stuff which has a “low life time” so you can buy more. This can lead to badly made buildings that look nice but will collapse as soon as look at you or just badly made buildings. Since option number one looked better (and more profitable with all the “buy more earthquake detector kits which will last 3 days before getting boring”), the scientists started designing systems which would warn everyone of an earthquake (and potentially monitor people’s every move) and send off large annoying alarms blaring in everyone’s ear telling them “GET A MOVE ON SLOW POKE OR YOU DIE!”.

One system used is the Quake Guard, and it is used by several countries that lie either right next to or on top of a fault line; such as Japan, Taiwan and Mexico. Quake Guard is an automated system which basically turns a country into a giant nervous system complete with automated brain. When a nerve ending (earthquake detector) receives a painful hit (earthquake) it sends an alarm of sound and electrical signals (literal giant blaring alarms and equally blary light) through the nervous system(wire system) and ensuring the automated computer (brain) does what it needs to do (tell everyone to RUN [not what the human body does]). The Quake Guard also sends out a message to everyone in the country via internet/phone/TV (sort of creepy how they have all phone numbers and email addresses). This system is one of many used around the world. It might save your life one day.

DIY Electro-Magnetism

Guiding Question: How does the size of the nail and number of coils affect the magnetic force of the nail?

Hypothesis: The increased amount of coils will result in a stronger magnet because the copper wire is a conductor.

Variables:

·        Control: Same base components e.g. battery and conductor (copper wire)

·        Manipulated: Length of nail, number of coils, and distance between each coil.

Exploration:

·        Materials:

1.     D-1.5 volt Batteries

2.     Copper wire

3.     Different sized nails (iron, not the ones on your fingers made of keratin).

·        Procedure:

1.     Get a medium sized nail (in comparison to all other nails you have) and wrap copper wire around it so it creates 5 coils on the entire nail. Get the ends of the coil from both sides of the nail and attach each end to the positive side and the negative side to make a circuit.

2.     Test to see if the circuit is complete by testing the electro-magnet on the metal object. If the object is attracted to the electro-magnet, the circuit is complete. If not, check the circuit again.

3.     When you get the electro-magnet working, test to see how quickly the magnet attracts the metal object and how solidly it holds on to the magnet.

4.     Write observations in the table below. Then try the same tests with different variables.

		Small Nail	Large Nail	Circular Nail (Optional)
5 Coils		3 Large nails	3 Large nails
10 Coils		5 Large nails	6 large nails
15 Coils		6 Large nails	9 Large nails

                            

5.     Make a graph based on the table to help with your analysis.

6.     Copy/Paste graph on No. 7

7.     :

Analysis: Based on the graph and table, what can you say about different variables and how they affected the electro-magnet’s power and strength? What could you do to make the electro-magnet more efficient/strong/quick? And is your hypothesis correct?

I can say by the chart that the larger nail gave off a stronger magnetic pull, while the shorter nail gave a slightly weaker magnetic pull. Also, the amount of coils strongly affected the strength of the electromagnet. The more coils, the more paperclips the magnet could pick up. A hypothetical theory I have for the large nail is every 5 coils = 3 more paperclips pulled up. To do this though, the power would have to be a constant charge, giving off constant power.
Conclusion:

My hypothesis was correct; the amount of coils did increase the strength of the magnet. The size of the nail did affect the strength; the larger nail made the magnet stronger. This means the larger the nail, the stronger the magnet. The amount of coils increased the strength of the magnet when there were more coils. 
Further Inquiry:

A further inquiry would be to make an even stronger magnet to pick up paperclips or even something stronger. I would do this by getting a larger nail and adding around 30 coils to make it super strong. Then I would get 2 or maybe even 3 D batteries to power the electro-magnet. All people who view my blog can try this at home, but with an adult since it can get very hot with wires.

Space Exploration: Is It Worth The Cost?

When man took his first step on the moon, it was a great accomplishment. Why did they do this? Because of the Space Race against Russia, the research, and the accomplishment. Was this trip costing thousands of dollars, risking several lives and all to go to a giant satellite made of rock floating around the Earth? Scientists are still looking at the rocks they brought back from the Moon, and it has advanced space research and knowledge of the moon. It has also trained N.A.S.A with many different scenarios. Space exploration trains thousands of people, opens up our eyes to the rest of the universe and unites nations to work towards a common goal. Space is (so far) infinitely large and is continuing to expand. But is it worth the cost, the lives and the risk of several tons of resources?

            It takes 2 years or so to become an astronaut. Experiencing 0-gravity, too much gravity in a rocket simulator and weightlessness is just a small part of training. It costs sweat, money, (maybe vomit), and lots of hard work. However, with that, you get rewards that are literally out of this world. Space is not only beautiful, but it gives knowledge that you can get nowhere else. It helps the studies of plants, birds, insects, and anything else that isn’t used to the environment. Also, limiting space with bits of paper with a value ON EARTH is a tad ridiculous. On the other hand, we should at least use the bits of paper while they’re still being used to solve the problems on Earth. In fact, the money used to go to the moon in the Space Race could have instead been used to form a contract to bond the two sides together, or even to solve the problems on Earth. Also, finding planets that could also support human life is not too helpful when we need to solve problems on OUR planet before possibly completely destroying another and plundering the resources like a virus (note the similarities). We know that there is no life in our Solar System and all we’ve done so far is send a giant laboratory into our exosphere and been to the moon 6 times. We’ve also sent countless satellites that most of which are not being used anymore. Hubble Space Telescope was a great idea because it stayed in orbit doing its job, the only times they went up was for repairs or upgrades and it helped us learn about our universe and how things work. As for going to planets? And moons? Wouldn’t it take less resources and training to simply send robots in a ship to anywhere, get the data/samples they need and head back to Earth? That way they can at least send another if the ship crashes and explodes in a non-fiery sort of way.

            Restoring life on another planet like Mars or the Moon is an idea that would literally jump start a planet’s ecosystem. Trees could grow on Mars because it has a lot of carbon dioxide. It would mean the planet would form its own ozone layer, block in heat so the planet warms, melt any ice, loosen chemicals, bring together the “soil”, and let bacteria survive on the landscape. Yes, it may take thousands of years, tons of resources, a lot of money, a lot of effort, blood, sweat, tears, risking human life, and genetically engineered plants. It isn’t worth it if we move there and then plunder the resources just like Earth, or just make it another tourist destination of the quite far future. We only just started working on reforestation of the Sahara Desert, and so far we’re just testing a method. To be brutally honest, we need to sort out our planet before gazing at the stars and the rest of the universe. The items we make for the space trips like memory pillows, weird blankets, and other things that are efficient is what we should really be investigating. I would give more money to that as a congress-person than exploring space.

As a part of the planet, we should use what we get in the most efficient way possible. Flying up beyond the exosphere and possibly never coming back is not the main thing we should be focused on just yet. We need to sort out our problems here on Earth before spreading them like a big disease. At the moment, we are not prepared as a whole to race through space, going there 6 times or so before leaving footprints in dirt, and a whole lot of other resources which (being on our own with nothing being imported to our planet) we’ll probably never see again. And maybe, one day, when our planet is sorted and there is no poverty, war, famine, and weird systems which are slowly spiraling into collapsing, we might gaze at the stars and finally have a great, true, perspective changing reason to fly beyond the exosphere and explore the rest of the universe.

Titanoboa: The Giant Snake of the Past

In the time of dinosaurs, everything except some mammals were big. Now, a new creature has been added to the list: the Titanoboa. Weighing 2500 pounds (1134 kilograms) and being 48 feet long (14.6 meters) which, in any shape or form might scare your socks off.

The Titanoboa has the girth of a manhole, meaning it could eat a three-man-lengthed crocodile only by slightly expanding its throat. In fact, the museum in Manhattan where the exhibit is located has a life sized model doing just that. The fossil and bones were actually found in a Columbian Coal Mine in 2005. Initially, people didn't really know what it was. They knew it was a great discovery, just not how much of one.  After closely studying the remains they finally concluded it was a giant snake. Then to conclude their conclusion, they got an ancient snake expert from the University of Nebraska to tell them: its a Titanoboa!

I thought the post on D.O.G.O was, while fun and slightly educational, wasn't too descriptive in any other way than just the basic facts. I recommend this to children aged 7 to 10 because its educational enough for 10 year old at the most and won't frighten kids aged 6 or below. (Unless they're knowledgeable enough to grasp at the subject or that's the way you treat children)

Lego Mind storm: A Helping Hand

At England's Cambridge University, a small team of scientists are conducting experiments about bones, and how to make precise artificial bones. If they succeed, they can make artificial bone implants, and even building materials. However, there is one task that bores the scientists to death: putting a solid object like a bolt into a dish of calcium and protein, then in water, then in phosphate and protein. They then do this again and again. Then, a mechanical engineering PhD student decided to make a robot out of Lego to do the job for them.Because the robots don't need anything but energy, they can go on all night, so that samples are ready in the morning. They also have automatic programming, so it means that they don't have to be told to do anything again and again. It's like anything else natural: simple yet efficient.

I liked this post because of how creative and fun it makes science. I recommend looking further into this if you have a creative spirit and a lot of patience.

http://www.dogonews.com/2012/3/18/lego-mindstorm-robots-become-lab-assistants 

The Sahara Desert Project:Its Becoming Real!

We all know that the Sahara Desert is...well a desert. The biggest. However, a project has finally come up to restore the trees to the land of Northern Africa, and turn it into an oasis.

How does it work? The engineers and scientists have designed a greenhouse that draws water from the atmosphere and energy from the sun. While this sounds like something from a Sci-fi alien, it actually exists today. What happens is the sea water from the surrounding oceans/seas (Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Red Sea) is pumped to the greenhouses and then flows around the rooms in little pipes. What this causes is cool air. Now, with glass ceilings, heat comes into the greenhouse as light and condenses the cool air into humid air. Plants love humid air.Then comes the cool part. The walls of the greenhouse "catch air" and cause the humid air to condense. When it condenses, the condensed air becomes water droplets, which slide down the wall into a storage tank of fresh water. This can then be used to give plants cool, fresh water. Now I bet you're wondering "Alex, how does the air reach the walls? Air just rises and falls depending on the temperature!" Well, what happens is they installed fans to draw air through the greenhouse. Where do they get energy to power the fans? Concentrated Solar Energy! How that works is lots of mirrors direct sunlight to tanks filled with sea water, where it steams up, spins turbines and generates electricity. So, in a way, they designed a greenhouse that is solar/water powered!

I chose this topic because it was exciting to see people giving back to the environment in a positive way. And such a big way too! It seems out of this world, yet it seems right were it should be. I recommend looking at this article further if you truly care for this dying planet.

http://www.dogonews.com/2012/3/23/can-the-sahara-forest-project-turn-the-desert-into-an-oasis 

A Mooth of Phases

The moon: it brings us our tides, it glows in weird ways and it changes some people into werewolves. But why does this ball of rock orbiting the Earth "change shape" each night?

In class, we tested this out by making little models of the system of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. The Sun was a flash light/UV light, the Earth a Styrofoam sphere and the moon a smaller Styrofoam sphere on a tooth pick. Because Luka (my partner) and I were tired of holding a second Styrofoam ball on a stick, we stabbed the Earth so that when it was upright (well, at a 21.5 degree angle) the moon could appear above the north pole if you looked at it from the side. We then set the Earth on a ruler and held the UV light 30 cm from the Earth. While doing this, we slowly rotated the Earth and observed the moon. We looked at it from above and saw that at each 1/4 or a rotation, it would appear differently. We concluded this is how we see different phases. When the moon is "in between" the Earth and Sun, it would appear as a New moon. On Earth, we would just see (if you could) a dark circle. A quarter way around, we would see the left side of the moon being dark. That phase is called "first quarter". A quarter later, it would be full moon. This is because the moon isn't circling around the equator directly. It's at an angle, there fore the sun hits the side of the moon we're looking at directly. Another quarter and its now vise-verse of the first quarter, and the right side's in the dark. The next quarter? It's the New Moon again! The entire cycle takes 29 days and 11 hours. The cycle itself is called a Lunar Month.

However, sometimes the moon does a weird thing. It passes directly/indirectly between the Sun and Earth. This causes it to make a wonderful phenomenon known as a solar eclipse. A solar eclipse appears as if the moon was eating the sun in the sky, when really the moon is just between the Earth and the direct rays of the sun. Being the range of emotions it is, this has caused many cultures of the past to ask why and make stories, which has caused actions of history. In ancient China whenever there was an eclipse all the Chinese soldiers would fire flaming arrows towards the sun to relight it. An eclipse even post-phoned a war because both armies thought that fighting would anger the sun god and so they decided to let him "cool off" (heh heh). Even though eclipses are cool, you should NEVER look at them directly. Even though most of the sun has been blocked out, you still see the edges and that's DANGEROUS to look at, even with sunglasses. Best to wear solar eclipse glasses ESPECIALLY MADE FOR THE OCCASION. Now, you may be wondering "if it goes directly/indirectly between the sun on one side, does it do the same on the other and what does it look like?" Well those are called lunar eclipses. They basically look as if the Earth had thrown red watercolor paint at the moon and had a laughing fit with it (search it up in Google images if you want to know specifically). The reason it's red is because the Sun gives off reddish light, and when the light bends around the Earth it throws red color the most (and because the sun is mainly red in color). Thankfully these are safe to look at without damaging your eyes. They are also a lot more common than the Solar type.

Where does the moon get it's light?

Believe it or not, the moon gets its light from the sun. It simply reflects the suns rays, and that's how we see it each night. However, because it orbits, we see the suns rays hit the moon from various perspectives. When the moon is in between the sun and the earth indirectly, that's when we get a moonless night, or a "new moon". When it is on the other side, however, the sun hits it directly with no obstacles in its way and we get an "old moon". The transitions between these two major phases create the effect of appearing to disappear or grow because we only see that fraction of the suns rays.

Now, to listen to some music...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhFbFFwDQiY

Reasons for The Seasons

We love our boiling summers and our freezing winters, our defrosting springs and wet falls, but what causes these seasons?

Around 7 billion years ago, a large, Mars sized planet hit the new-born Earth with the power to knock it of its original axis. Now the Earth turns on a 23.5 degree angle. To be honest, we should be thankful for the hit, or else we would have a rainy season and a dry season. But how does getting hit with a large rock affect our Earth's systems?
During the summer (northern hemisphere) the axis of the Earth and the rotation around the sun, causes the northern hemisphere to lean closer to the sun. Likewise, when the Earth's axis and rotation causes the northern hemisphere to tilt further away from the sun, it becomes winter. This is because when it does tilt away, less sun hits the northern hemisphere directly. Same thing goes for when its summer, except its vise-versa. In the summer, more sun hits the northern hemisphere directly. This causes the seasons.

How did we find this out?
In science class we made a model of the system of the Sun and Earth, the Sun being a UV light while the Earth was a tennis-ball sized Styrofoam ball on a BBQ stick. We  proceeded by placing the Earth 30 cm away from the UV light. We then placed a see-through grid between the Earth and the light. Why the grid? To show how direct the light was hitting the Earth. The more curved the shadow of the grid lines on the sphere, the less direct the sunlight was. We then tilted the Earth at a 23.5 degree angle because of the asteroid and everything. Now you're probably thinking "Alex, how can you tell if the sphere is tilted when it doesn't have a side?" Well, we drew a line around the sphere representing the equator, and thus made a landmark to get an angle. We then proceeded with observations. We found that the light hit the Earth directly near the Equator no matter where the Earth was as it revolved around the Sun. However, the light didn't hit the Northern Hemisphere as direct when the Earth was leaning away from the sun; but the Southern Hemisphere was basking in the sun. On the other side, when the Northern Hemisphere was leaning towards the sun, the light was more direct. We then concluded that summer was when the Northern Hemisphere was leaning towards the sun and light hit it more direct. Winter was the opposite, when the light was less direct. Between was the spring and fall. When the sun hits the Northern Hemisphere the most/least, we get summer/winter solstice. When it's exactly in between the two solstices, it's known as an Equinox.

So next time your'e enjoying the summer weather or making snow angels, thank the large rock for hitting the Earth around 7 billion years ago.