Zombie Apocalypse, Seriously?

In some video games, zombies come to eat you, but can this happen in real life? Someone coming back to life is not probable, but if there was a specific virus to damage specifc parts of your brain, you could become a zombie.

Some diseases like Rabies use Retrograde Axonal Transport to get to where they want in the body by in this case, traveling through neurons (cells that make up most of our brains). The virus would spread to the Ventromedical Hypothalamus, which tells you you're full, the Amygdala, which controls emotion and memory, and the frontal cortex, controlling problem solving and impulsive actions. The infections of these specific parts of the brain would result in an angry zombie that doesn't recognize family or friends, and the extreme desire to feed on human brains.

I found my information HERE

Tunnel Boring Machine

A tunnel boring machine is a machine that can dig tunnels that are mostly used for trains. 

The machine has 6 main parts the

segment, the thrust ram, the conveyor belt, the gripper ram,

the scraper, and the cutting teeth which are all used to make the

machine work. An interesting fact I learned is that the worlds longest tunnel is in 

Japan and that it is 54 kilometers long.  There is also a smaller

boring machine which is used to drill into small rocks to retrieve

diamonds, rubys, and other valuble minerals. I would like to see

this machine make mining safer for the workers and also to create

longer distance  tunnels for trains. My info was from How Things Work

by Miles Kelly and britannica.com

Diamonds

Diamonds

   Diamond is made from carbon, its name comes from the Greek word for indestructible, its the hardest natural substance in the on earth, most diamonds come from Africa, about 26,000 diamonds are mined each year, some diamonds use to finance wars they are called blood diamonds, diamond cutters are very skilled, diamonds are valued to their mass color and cut.

   Diamonds structure is very packed, diamond in its purest form is colorless, boron turns it blue and nitrogen turns it yellow.

   Diamond is a good heat transfer object, diamond is slowly turning into graphite, a slave originally found it in a mine in India, really big eruptions from volcanoes bring diamonds to the surface

sources: Mocomi.com, sciencekids.co.nz.
Want facts?
(more facts) 

 

Cola Geyser

I know what a cola geyser is and you probably know, too. I already know that you put some Mentos in a coke bottle and it overflows. But, I don't know how it happens. So, I'm going to give directions on how to make a cola geyser and then I will tell you how it happens. Let's get started!

You will need

• Package of Mentos candies 
• Test  Tube
• 2-inch-square piece of cardboard
• 2-liter plastic bottle of Diet Coke

Directions

1. Put 12 Mentos candies in a test tube and hold the cardboard to the open top of the tube.

2.Open the bottle of diet soda and put the test tube upside down on top of the open bottle, still holding the cardboard in place.

3. Take care to know which way to run :P

4. Slide the cardboard away quickly so that the candies drop in.

5. Run clear and watch as the cola explodes out of the bottle!

Scientific Excuse

This explosive reaction comes from the sudden release of carbon dioxide, the gas that gives soda it's bubbles. This carbon dioxide normally remains dissolved in the soda because there are no nucleation sites - irregularities around which bubbles can form. Seen close up, a single Mento had a craggy surface - providing hundreds of nucleation sites. A dozen of those candies dumped in at once sets off a massive release of carbon dioxide, forcing the cola out of the bottle like a rocket. Diet cola works best because most non-diet colas use corn syrup, which suppresses the formation of bubbles.

Take care! Do this experiment outdoors, well away from anything (or anyone). You wouldn't want to become a sticky, wet mess. Unless you want something - or someone - to become a sticky, wet mess, in which case you should perform this experiment at your own risk!

 I got all of this amazing information from "The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists" by Sean Connolly. Did you like this experiment? If you did, there are plenty more in this book that you can order right HERE

Louis Pasteur

So, I was just searching on Google for a list of famous scientists and I found Louis Pasteur. He interested me because I had never heard of him before. I was researching him and I found out that he came up with a food preparing process (known as pasteurization) AND a vaccination for rabies and anthrax! He was a Doctor, Inventor, Chemist, and Scientist.

Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822. He was born in Dole, France. He grew up with his father in a town called Arbois. Pasteur was an average student in school, skilled at painting and drawing. He earned his degree in Arts and Science, plus, he earned a doctorate at École Normale in Paris. Louis spent several years researching and teaching at the Dijon Lycée. He, later, became a professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. When he was there, he met Marie Laurent. They were married on May 29th, 1849, and had five children, though three of the children died. 

Louis Pasteur's job was to find solutions to the problems of alcoholic drinks (Yeah, I know, it's a really weird job). He discovered that bacteria caused sour wine, beer, and milk. He boiled the liquids and let them cool to eliminate the bacteria. Pasteur also saved the silk industry. He proved that microbes were attacking healthy silkworm eggs, causing the disease. The disease could be eliminated if the microbes were eliminated. Pasteur's first vaccine discovery was in 1879, with a disease called chicken cholera. Louis demonstrated that the chicken were resistant to the virus. He decided to focus on the problem of rabies. A nine year old boy was bitten by a rabid dog and Pasteur's vaccine saved him. Louis was immediately famous.

Did you know that??

How about this?

Louis had been partially paralyzed since 1868 because of a severe brain stroke. But, he still continued his research. On his 70th birthday, he celebrated at Sorbonne, where several scientists attended. After that, his paralysis worsened, and he died on September 28, 1895. 

Want to learn even more about Louis Pasteur? Click HERE

Albert Einstien

   Albert Einstein was a great man. Albert had parents that between his lifetime jumped back and forth between being poor and slightly more wealthy than average. Albert when he was three (as the story goes[may not be true{but it might be}]) didn't talk until one day he was eating dinner and had spoke for the first time. Then his parents asked, "Why didn't you say anything before?!" Albert replied, "There wasn't anything I needed to say."

    During Albert's lifetime, when he was in school his teachers didn't like Albert too much and Albert didn't like the Germany's schools too much, either. They expected him to march between classes and you weren't allowed to ask questions. His family's business was poor again so they went to Italy. Albert was devastated that he would have to stay in Germany to finish school for the year and Albert hated Germany's schools. Albert was kicked out of his school in Germany and he got to move to Italy with his family.

   When Albert grew up he attended a school in Switzerland and got a job there. He then started dating Mileva, a friend from college. They went to Bern and a year later got married. They then moved to Zurich where Albert had 5 revolutionary scientific papers published. He also received a PhD from Zurich University. He became a teacher at the university.

Albert and Mileva would later move to Prague, getting a divorce sometime after. Albert moves to the Polytechnic Institute in Switzerland. He also became a teacher at the University of Berlin where he published a paper on the General Theory Of Gravity. Albert marries Elsa and Eddington's Expedition confirms Einstein's theory that light bends. Albert won the Nobel Prize, after visiting the United States. Albert and Elsa move to New Jersey, where Elsa later dies. World War II erupts in Europe, after which Albert dies.

Albert has come up with amazing theories and has invented so much that has helped us learn more, Albert was a very smart man, a good mathematician, a great scientist, and a great hero.

Albert Quotes:

"Love is a better teacher than a sense of duty"

"One likes to do the things for which one has ability"

Information obtained by: DK Albert Einstein Biography By: Frieda Wishinsky

Click here to buy the book

Charles Darwin

     Charles Darwin was one of the best scientists in our worlds history because even at a young age he was inspired to do science. When Darwin was at the age of 22 he took a journey around the world making him one of the youngest people to ever make a complete around the world journey in the18 hundreds .
     Then in 1859 Darwin  formulated a theory that he named " natural selection" only to write a book on his theory that very same year! When he wrote that book he named it " On The Origin Of  Species By The Means Of Natural Selection. But, surprisingly enough Darwin was confused by his own theory. He knew that organisms were born, raised, had offspring that had there own genetics including some of its parents genetics and died .
     Easy enough right? But not to Darwin he wanted to find out how the genetics were passed on so he perservered and studied only to find nothing that helped him on what he needed . So, he found the theory of who inspired him to be a scientist none other than Charles Lyell who was a geologist.  Darwin was a very determined man but determination wasn't enough Darwin never found the complete truth of how genetics worked.
         Today many people say that Darwin would be proud today of the world but who knows?

Slinky Drop Physics

I watched a interesting video on YouTube today, that you should watch. It explained how a slinky falls. What was so interesting about how the slinky fell is that the bottom of the slinky stayed where it was until the top crashed into the bottom of the slinky, and then the entire slinky fell. A physicist by the name of Rod Cross explained that the gravity pulling down on the slinky was the same amount of force as the tension between the top of the slinky and the bottom of the slinky.

It's kind of hard to explain, so take a look at the link below.

I found the video HERE

Objects fall at 9.98 meters per second, so they had to show the falling of the slinky in slow motion. 

Discovering Pluto

Pluto was discovered by a guy named Clyde M. Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona. Astronomers have been predicting that there would be a 9th planet in the Solar System which they would call Planet X for a long time. After a year of observations Clyde Tombaugh finally discovered an object in the in the right orbit, and said he discovered Planet X. Since the Lowell Observatory discovered Planet X they took the hands of naming Planet X and they laid there hands on the name Pluto that was suggested by a 11 year old school girl in Oxford, England. (but they didn't name after the Mickey Mouse Disney character.) Once they discovered Pluto there was now 9 planets in the Solar System just like they were predicting for a long time. Astronomers weren't sure about Pluto's mass until they discovered Pluto's largest Moon, Charon, in 1978. By knowing Charon's mass (0.0021earthes), they could accurately gauge its size. The most accurate measurement recently gives the size of Pluto at 2,400km (1,500miles) across. Pluto was so small people called it the Dwarf  Planet .

Pluto is tiny but they considered it was larger than anything else past the orbit of Neptune. For more about Pluto go HERE where I found my information.

Interview with Lynette Mooth - Farm Manager

On Monday, I went on a trip to Illinois with my mom and my brother. On that Trip, we went on a tour of The Mooth farm. The Mooths are some friends of ours from when we lived in Illinois. They started a farm 15 years ago. During the tour, I asked questions about science relating to farm work. They said that science corresponds with farming a lot.

Biology: "The science of plants and animals;the study of living things and the way they live and grow."

They use biology in feeding their animals. They have to know what nutrients each animal needs. For example rabbits eat rabbit pellets, which are a man-made food comprised of different types of meal, like wheat, compacted together into little cylinders. this gives them protein. The rabbits also eat corn to give them carbohydrates.

They need to feed the pigs lots of carbohydrates to get them really fat. The pigs need to be fat so that the owners can sell them for more money. The more meat, the more money, because they are sold by the pound.

Horticulture: "The cultivation of a garden or orchard."

The Mooths use horticulture in managing their garden and orchard. They have to water the plants the right amount, at the right times.

The last type of science that they use is chemistry. They use chemistry in putting pesticides on their plants and their crops.



Information: Mooth farm

Definitions: Websters dictionary
                                                                                     Some of their rabbits.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates is the Creator of Microsoft. Most likely you already knew that but some people think as him as a monster. They think he is a theif who made the digital world a place where inferior products drive out even better ones. Playing Devils Advocate we learn that Bill not only created Microsoft but has also donated billions of dollars to good causes year long. So the question remains, who is Bill Gates? First let's talk more about him. Bill Gates is a billionaire who has not only sold millions of products but has also changed the world. When he was born in 1955 no one in the world owned a personal computer. None were for sale and the computers that were invented at the time only belonged to the government and or big businesses. Not only was Bill incredibly smart but determined as well. He and his friend Paul Allen were not just friends but the co-creators of Microsoft. Then as an adult he became a famed computer programmer and became a billionaire. Now that you know a little about him you should learn a little about his family as well, specifically his children. Did you know that Bill Gates' children will inherit 10 million dollars out of Bill's 72 billion net worth? His children, Rory, Phoebe, and Jennifer will each get the 10 million but Bill says they don't need that kind of money. What would you do if your dad told you that you don't get one million big ones? I'd be pretty outraged. Anyways the source I got this from was HERE. On slide 2 you should be able to see the slide on his children. Also there are a lot of other fun facts on there but I thought that one was pretty interesting.

Other sources- Up Close: Bill Gates

Robert Adler

Robert Adler

            Robert Adler (1913-2007)  was famous for inventing the television remote. Strangely Adler did not feel bad for inventing the worlds most laziest device. Adler used ultrasound and high-frequency sounds that barely any human can hear but it was also like a dog whistle to a dog. Dogs are the only thing that could hear it.

He was Austrian- American inventor who held 180 patents. He got his education from 

University of Vienna. He even got a the Edison Medal in 1980, he fielded in physics and he had worked at Zenith Electronics .He was fluent in German,English, and French but mainly because he was a world traveler.He exercised a lot because he did downhill skiing until he was 89, but he still hiked after that.He was married to a girl named Ingrid Koch Adler.

My sources,

Washington Post

The Book of Invention by Thomas J. Craughwell

Solar Energy

Solar panels are a source of energy that uses sunlight to create power. Solar panels are several little cells joined together with a outer protective layer to create a frame or solar panel.  If the Sahara Desert was covered in solar panels, it would make 40 times more electricity than the whole world! Another way to use the sun as electricity is trapping the heat of the sun.  Today we were in Saint Louis and we passed the office for Ameren, which is a power company. They had solar panels out front of the office and we took a picture.
There are many different uses for solar panels like home electricity and electricity in space. Solar energy is becoming more common another sources of energy are becoming more expensive.  "In the 21st century solar energy is expected to become increasingly attractive as an energy source because of its inexhaustible supply and its nonpolluting character, in stark contrast to the finite fossil fuels coal, petroleum, and natural gas." (www.brittanica.com) I hope someday to have solar panels on my house so we can save money by collecting energy from the sun.

I got my information from How things work by Miles Kelly

I got my photo from google images

Amazing Albert Einstein

            Did you know that without Albert Einstein we would most likely not have won World War 2?

Did you know that the famous formula E=MC 2 came from Albert Einstein? Well it did and that is the formula that gave birth to the Atomic Bomb! Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm,Germany and was like any other normal child except he was calm and peace loving. Albert loved elementary school but when he turned ten it was a different story. Albert hated high school, the teachers were too strict, the students couldn't ask questions, and worst of all in my opinion is the fact they have to sit still,stand still and never get to mingle! But time passed on and Albert was expelled from high school and moved on. Albert moved to Italy to be with his family again. Albert decided to move to Switzerland to re-enter high school. Albert liked his new school much more than his old one.you could ask questions talk and the teachers were nice. Albert graduated high school and went to college where he met a woman he fell in love with. Her name was Mileva but Einstein liked to call her Dolly. He married Mileva and she had a child named Hans. Years later Albert  divorced her and got remarried to his cousin. Albert Einstein was a great man who discovered many things. He died on April 18, 1955 , may this great man be remembered.  I found my information from watching THIS and by reading Who was Albert Einstein by

Spinosaurus: a giant, water-loving dinosaur

I got this article from the Springfield news leader. Date: Saturday September 13 2014
This article is about how a Chicago paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim found that the dinosaur Spinosaurus was not a land lubber dinosaur that walked the land like we thought it to be and that it actually it was a fish eating dinosaur that swam the rivers of North Africa 97,000,000 years ago but since it also walked on land it could "lay claim to being the largest predator to ever walk to earth".  Nizar found this after finding 2 groups of bones and tracking them down. I find this article interesting because I used to think that "Spinosaurus aegyptiacus" was a land walker.

Humans highly attuned to detect spiders Springfield news leader

My article is Humans Highly Attuned To Detect Spiders by the Spring field News Leader from October 15, 2014.  In this article is a argument about why "More than half noticed and identified a picture of a spider"  and what makes this amazing is "It appeared for just 200 milliseconds on a computer test".   Many say its because we are highly attuned to detect spiders because ancient man "evolved in Africa in the company of highly poisonous spiders." I personally do not agree with this statement because like many others I think its just because "had learned to fear them."

Isaac Newton

I think Isaac Newton is pretty amazing to be able to be a Scientist, Mathematician, Philosopher, Astronomer, and Physicist. Isaac developed the principles of modern physics with his discoveries of mathematics, motion, and optics. Newton is best known for his law of gravitation. He was born on January 4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He died on March 31, 1727, in London, England.

Isaac Newton's father, also named Isaac, died three months before Newton was born. When he was born, he was tiny and weak, Newton was not expected to survive. I guess he proved them wrong. When Isaac was three, his mother remarried to a minister and moved away, leaving the young boy behind to live with his grandmother. After nine years, when Isaac was twelve, his mother came back because her second husband died. Poor Isaac, he hadn't seen his mother in nine years! The first school that Newton went to was King's school. He learned about fascinating chemistry. His mother pulled him out of school to learn to tend the crops. Isaac failed horribly, he thought that farming was dull and had a lack of interest. He soon rejoined King's School to finish his basic education. His uncle persuaded Isaac's mom to let him join the University of Cambridge's Trinity College. Newton enrolled in a program in 1661, where he waited on tables and took care of wealthy students' rooms. When Isaac arrived to Cambridge, science was already in action. Newton was said to have discovered gravity because of the falling apple. Wow, he has an interesting childhood.

A bit ago, in Gifted, we were talking about IQ scores. Well, when I started researching Sir Isaac Newton, I said to myself, "I wonder what his IQ score is." So I searched it on the internet (Though the internet is not always accurate) and his IQ score was supposedly 190. That's amazing!

How interesting is this guy? To learn more about Sir Isaac Newton, click HERE to go to the website where I got my information from!

Cool science story

     Last Monday, I was thinking about gifted when I remembered I needed an article to bring into school on Tuesday, and my mom told me about this story. You can learn more here. But it pretty much goes like this:
      A child was born, like any other human, but he/she (gender wasn't specified) was born with CHD, or congenital heart defects. So the doctors did something that sounds pretty cool: run the data from an MRI into a 3D printer.
    The procedure was funded by Matthew's Hearts of Hope, a nonprofit organization. 
Sources:

• Article

Benjamin Franklin The Electricity Man

I named my title Benjamin Franklin The Electricity Man because he was the one that discovered electricity. I chose to research Benjamin Franklin because I only knew that he was a famous man that discovered electricity but I never knew about his life, so here is some facts about him that I have learned so far: Benjamin Franklin's family was so poor that when they got off the boat from England they all looked for land and that land they found was Boston. He ran away from his home town Boston to go to Philadelphia to get food but once he realized what Philadelphia was like he realized the tiny amount of coins he had and that no Philadelphia person would give him any food. Before he discovered electricity he owned a print shop named Pennsylvania Gazette.

 How he discovered electricity was when he was at a science fair and when he was showing people his project, his project was he had sown that electricity consisted of a common element which he called Electric Fire then... BAM!, there was electricity! Mr.Franklin also discovered later on that electricity was fluid like liquid. He said to himself "I can finally adventure the world and tell people there is now electricity!"Also he discovered electricity by studying natural philosophy and science in all of the colonies. Benjamin Franklin didn't invent electricity but he did invent some of the terms we use for electricity such as: Battery, Charge, Condenser, and Conductor. He also invented other things such as:Franklin Stove, Lightning Rod, Glass Harmonica, and Bifocals.

He was such an important inventor he got put on the 100 dollar bill.

I got my information from a Cedar Ride Intermediate Library Book By: Brandon Marie Miller named Benjamin Franklin American Genius also HERE. I got my picture from Google Images.