Food Science

This is a podcast of a radio show interview with a food scientist.

mooselover1892

Social Networking and Kids

I recently read an article on the concerns of children on social networking sights such as Facebook and MySpace. The sites have an age limit but there is no telling that the child may be lying about their age. Some scientists worry that the use of these sight by children may lead to internet addiction and can damage the brain and the child's relationships. I never thought that kids were on these sights and to think of it, it does make sense because the children go onto the sights to play games. I knew that preteens have been using these sights but I never knew that children were. This worries me and I think it it ridiculous that the parents of these children allow them to have a social networking profile becuase not only can it cause an addiction but it can also put the children in danger. This will hopefully stop and hopefully there will be a way to make sure that the age of the user is not a lie.
Click here for further information.

Peshawar Bombing (Extra Credit)

I recently read an article on a bombing in Peshawar in Pakistan. The bombing tragically killed eleven people, three being children, and injured at least twenty, two of which were police. There were also several cars destroyed because this was a suicidal car bombing. This article relates to science because the explosions were science and because the mental issue of the bomber that caused him to bomb the car line were psychological issues. Psychology is a study in science of the mind or of mental states and processes. The explosion of the bomb was science because it was a chemical reaction that made it explode.
The article's URL is: http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-14-voa14.cfm

Science and Glee

Glee is a show about a high school glee club, a grouping of students who sing an dance together, in Ohio. When watching this show you would not think it relates to science but it does. In the glee club, the students sing and when singing, you use the voice box or larynx, which houses the vocal cords which connect the base of the neck to the trachea and the air from your lungs then strikes the vocal cords and produce song. That right there is science. Singing is actually physics as well because the vibrations of the vocal cords which convert air movement into sound energy. On the show they also choreograph and dancing is both biology and physics because it requires muscle fibers and is movement. There are also laws of gravity involved and that is science too. Though this show and many other shows are not thought of as science, they are and everything is science. How do you think you watch shows on your TV?

Roof Tiles That Change Color

I recently read and article on these roof tiles that change color to make heaters and air conditioners less strained. I chose it because the idea caught my eye and I was not sure what the title meant by " Roof Tiles Changing Color" .These tiles would turn white in sunny, hot weather to reflect the sun and in cold weather, the tiles would turn black to attract the sun. These panels will then either cool or warm up the house and will make the heaters and air conditioners less strained. The tiles are made up of layers of thin, clear plastic and a substance similar to the common hair gel. I personally believe that this was a great idea and am surprised that it was not thought of before. It is commonly know that the color black attracts heat and that white reflects the sun and this idea was simple and I really am surprised it was not mentioned sooner. I personally could have came up with the idea but would not have known how to make the product work. This idea actually interests me and I actually want to be an architect of environmentally friendly buildings and this is something someone in that career would use.

http://www.livescience.com/technology/091015-heat-tiles.html

Global Warming And It's Drastic Effects

I recently read an article about global warming and how drastically it is effecting not only the arctic but places everywhere around us. This personally scares me and I feel that action needs to be taken. I have always had a belief that global warming was not good and that it needs to stop but this article has made me realize how serious this matter is. For some animals such as some reindeer, global warming is actually good for them because the moisture from the heat is making the plants that they eat grow so finding food is easy for them. Other animals on the other hand, such as the caribou have not been able to adjust there calving season so there population is decreasing. Though the growth of these plants is good for the reindeer, it is not good for the environment because there is an over population of plants in those areas. The reindeer would have been fine with the plants that the environment has provided them with. All of this is happening now and will continue to get worse if we do not do something about it. Making a change is really not very difficult at all. What we can do is simple if everyone would just carpool more often and save gas in anyway possible and use less electricity. By doing this, we could create a huge difference.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/090910-arctic-biology.html

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Structure of Earth

I recently did an experiment on the structure of the Earth and the texture of the Earth's mantle. We had to add water to cornstarch and mix it together.The mixture created was floury and solid when pressure was applied. When not, it was liquid. The mixture was both liquid and solid depending on the pressure. When handled, the mixture becomes solid and more dense. When I pushed my finger into the mixture quickly, the mixture becomes solid beneath my finger. When I push my finger in slowly, my finger goes deep into the mixture and the mixture stays a liquid. When slowly poured into the other hand, the mixture stays a liquid and does not solidify. After a while of handling the mixture, it began to remain solid and would not become a liquid as often as before.The mixture is similar to the earth's mantle because the mantle moves slowly just like the mixture and the density is similar as well. They are also both very thick. In conclusion, the experiment was successful in proving that water mixed with cornstarch is similar to the earth's mantle and I have learned the similarities.
Bill Nye the Science Guy: What In the World?

"October Sky"

I recently watched the movie "October Sky". The movie was about a young man who had a dream to build rockets. This young man went through many challenges to pursue this dream and although he came close to giving up, he did successfully fulfill his dream of building rockets. In the movie, the young man, Homer Hickam, lives in a coal mining town and all the young men in that town are expected to work in the mine when they get older. Mining is very dangerous because it is underground and the coal and such can fall and severely injure the miners. When Homer's father is injured in a mine, Homer feels the need to take over his father's place. By doing this, Homer is letting go of his dreams and it doesn't help that Homer and his friends are being blamed for a local forest fire . Homer's father later recovers and Homer realizes he did not cause the fire. This leads Homer to go back to creating rockets and he later wins a science fair and gets into college. The mines that Homer's father worked in and that are world wide are very dangerous and I personally feel that there should be more options for people living in mining towns. In this movie, all five Character Education traits are shown. Cooperation is shown when the four boys work together to create rockets. Assertion is shown when Homer shows that the people of the mining towns can pursue their dreams and grow up to be something different than a miner. Respect is shown when Homer's teacher really respects his idea of building rockets and even helps him. Empathy is shown by Homer's mother when she understands how badly Homer wants to build rockets and lets him do so and she supports him and doesn't let him give up. Self control is shown when Homer finds out that he may have caused a fire and can no longer build rockets. Although he was let down, Homer did not get out of control. In conclusion, this movie was very encouraging and had a strong message telling me to follow my dreams.
This blog is based on the movie "October Sky"

Blog Response: Celiac Disease

I have recently read an article about Celiac Disease on tinkywinkyx123 's blog. I learned many new thing about the disease that I did not know. It is an autoimmune disorder. It occurs to people of all ages that are genetically predisposed. It was founded in London in 1887. The disease can lead to abdominal bloating and pain, chronic diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, weight loss, and pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool. The cause of Celiac Disease is not yet known but it seems though the genes within the cell that causes Celiac Disease include first-degree relative genes with the condition. The only treatment for the disease is a gluten-free diet because the cause is unknown so there is no specific treatment yet. When someone has this disease, they need to take all wheat out of their diet. If they have wheat, it would be toxic to the person consuming it. The symptoms of the disease cannot cause death but are still very unfortunate and not fun to go through. I think it is very sad that some people have to go through this and that I am very lucky not to have a disease like this. The article has helped to give me a better understanding about the disease and has taught me a lot.
http://tinkywinkyx123.blogspot.com/2009/05/genetic-disorder-celiac-disease.html

Down Syndrome

Recently I have researched Down Syndrome. I discovered many things about the disease that I did not know. Down Syndrome was discovered in 1959. The symptoms are slow growth, weak muscles, short wide neck with excess fat and skin, stocky short arms and legs, a single crease across the center of the palm, a nasal bridge that looks pushed up, mental retardation and heart defects. There are no specific treatments for the disease but there is treatment for the health problems. In some communities,there are special education classes and training for children with Down Syndrome which I personally believe is very nice. About eighty-five percent of infants with Down Syndrome survive to age one and fifty percent can be expected to live longer than fifty. One in seven-hundred-forty newborns would have this disease which means it is not very common. There is no certain race that is more prone to this disease. The male to female ratio is (1.15:1). The DNA for someone with Down Syndrome is three copies of Trisomy 21. To develop a treatment for Down Syndrome, we would need to know what really causes it and can than come up with a treatment from there. I think it is very unfortunate that some children have this disease and it is very sad. Some cases can be very severe which is even more sad. There are many problems that come along with the disease which make the child or adult struggle even more. I hope that someone soon comes up with a cure for this disease or at least something to prevent it.
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/birthdefects/f/down_syn_causes.htm
http://www.ndss.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=77

S.S. Blog State News

In the following article I have read about the stimulus plan of Corzine. It said that he plans in spending more than one billion dollars on this stimulus package. I think it's about time that something happened that will hopefully fix our economy. I also hope that this does not take money out of peoples pay checks that need the money and if anything, is taken from the people that do not need all the money that they are making. It seems that this money will be going to tax relief and to hopefully help out the unemployed. This money will also soften the damage we have created. Hopefully these cuts do no take away any ones jobs because that would defeat the purpose of helping the unemployed. I think the idea of creating jobs such as repairs and expansion of state highways, bridges, rail lines and seaports, as well as transit capital projects such as rail and bus stations is a very smart idea and will hopefully be successful. These repairs are needed for safe transportation so they are helping people economically and by securing their safety.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/123545318436320.xml&coll=1

My Roller Coaster Website

The Drop

New Rat Species

In the following article, I have read about this new rat species that has been found in the mountains of the Philippines. They are called the Hamiguitan batomys. They are golden brown with a long fuzzy tail. The rat weighs 6.2 ounces. I think that it is wonderful that they have found this animal and that they continue to find other animals. These rats seem very interesting and different from the rats I have heard of. The rats that I know of are normally a gray color and live in highly human populated areas where they can access garbage. I thought that it was interesting that the Philippines had one of the largest amounts of unique species of mammals of any place in the world. I personally don't know much about rats but do find this discovery interesting and would like to hear more about it. I find new discoveries of animal species very interesting and I find it even more interesting that the species has gone so long not being discovered or unnoticed. I wonder if they were seen before and were not known to be a new species and I wonder how long they have been around for.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090218/sc_afp/philippineswildliferodent;_ylt=Anfjy6dhWyKWe3mTs.Sao794hMgF

Roller coasters

In science we are working on a roller coaster project. We had to earn "Omega Money" so we could "buy" the supplies for our project. Some of the supplies that we could buy are toliet paper rolls, empty milk cartons, empty soda bottles, large toilet paper rolls, tape and some other items that were made of cardboard. My group has a very small amount of money so we had to be sure not to waste any of it and use what we have wisely. So far me have just been using toliet paper rolls and masking tape. We have to have three hills on our roller coaster which we are having a bit of a hard time to built because you need just enough energy to get the marble up a hill and yet the structure still needs to be realistic. We have tried many different ways of making hills and some ways have suceded and some have not. I think we have learned that to get a marble up a hill, there should be a steep, longer hill coming down to it so that the marble has a lot of energy. I feel this project is fun and interesting because it shows us how cool energy and force are. Force is shown in this expreiment because the different angles and materials have different speeds and ablilitys which forces the marble to move throughout the roller coaster.. This project is a wonderful way to show force and really get you thinking. It is amazing how some of these roller coasters work and how they sometimes does not work. All in all, I have learned a lot from this project so far and it has been enjoyable.

S.S. Current Event # 2

In the following article i read about the Food Pantry of Monmouth Junction and how they are struggling now more than ever to get donations. This is because of the bad economy. Families are struggling to put food on their own tables and therefore cannot afford to purchase food for the people who have none. Also, because of this economy, the price of food is up. The amount of people who go to the food pantry as there food source is increasing as well. More and more people are loosing their jobs and can use every penny they get and cannot afford to donate because they are barley affording there own food. It is important that people that can afford to donate know about the food pantry and do donate and hopefully more people are employed and the economy gets better and this crisis can be over. I believe that this is a very unfortunate problem. Many people are loosing there job which causes upset families who cannot afford food and really need this food and it is so sad to know that they cannot get the food they need. I think that there are many people that could donate and it does not have to be a lot but there are people who can donate that do not know how needy the food pantry is and if they did know would hopefully be willing to help and would help. All in all, this is very unfortunate and hopefully the economic crisis will be solved and the food pantry will receive more donations.
http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2009/02/04/south_brunswick_post/news/doc4980d43f719eb599088632.txt

Save the Tortoise. . . and Money

The article I read was about how more than ninety-three million dollars were spent on saving the endangered species of the tortoise. I think that we should be spending some of this money on the people who need it and should get volunteers to do some of the work for the tortoises. What they have spent is a lot of money and I'm sure they could have found less expensive ways to care for these tortoises. The space they need is certainly a lot. The tortoises seem to be getting more attention, space and money than most humans. It really is wonderful that they want to save the tortoises and I do not blame them but I'm sure there are less expensive ways to solve this. Some ways we could save money is by finding volunteers to take care of them and by finding less expensive land that is still the correct habitat for them and is still a natural habitat for them. The money is not just being spent on the tortoises but for other animals as well. Though we have been spending all this money, some of the animals are still going extinct and are becoming less populated. That means all this money we spent was a waste pretty much. All in all, I think when trying to find a solution for endangered species, we should keep in mind the price and make sure what we are doing will really help.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_re_us/desert_tortoise_money;_ylt=AobsKYACdZ5LIn2mbgpNx7l4hMgF

National News: The Inauguration of President Obama

The article I have read were about how Obama plans to impress America within the first hundred days of his presidency and how Obama plans on getting right to work. This is hopefully going to work out well because our country is really struggling and needs improvement as soon as possible. So far, our new president seems relaxed and I think he will be able to handle these issues pretty well. His speech seemed positive and like it will be successful. Hopefully once the hundred days are over, Obama does not start slacking and still works his hardest to make our country proud.

The first article I read was how Obama plans on spending his first hundred days and some subjects he should be focusing on. It is interesting how the presidents have been doing this since FDR. One concern I have about this is that he will not work as hard once the hundred day are over but I'm sure he will work his hardest at everything he does and that he will be able to handle most of our country's problems.
"The problems are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.” Obama said to comfort us that he knows this will not be and easy process to solve the crisis we are going through but it will be solved. One thing I am not worried about is that Obama will not run out of work during his presidency and America will sure keep him busy.

The second article I read was about the actual Inauguration and how Obama plans on going right to work. He told us that the economic crisis was caused by“our collective failure to make hard choices.” It is good that he honestly understands our problems and realizes that it is our fault. The article spoke about who was at the ball and what their purpose was and how they will contribute to Obama and this country. When meeting with lawmakers after the Inauguration, he told them the following "It doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything,” “And I assure you our administration will make mistakes." This is showing that he is not expecting perfection and is not ahead of himself on his ideas but hes down to earth and realizes what we can and cannot do.

These two articles showed me how our president is understanding and does not expect our country to be perfect but knows that it will have problems. He is saying that we will have control and we will fix what we are going through for the most part. It seems that Obama is prepared for this role and is prepared to begin solving some of our problems. All in all, it seems Obama's presidency will be a successful presidency.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl224
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/politics/20web-inaug2.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Obama&st=cse

Waves

One way energy travels is in waves. Though they have much in common, each wave can also be very different. All waves have a crest, trough, minimum and maximum. Each wave has its own speed though. No matter what, every wave is classified as either a transverse or longitudinal wave. Every wave also has a medium in which it travels through. Some examples of mediums are water, rope, and even air. Waves are caused when energy transfers through a vibrating source. The fastness of a wave depends on the medium in which the wave travels through. Electromagnetic waves though, do not use a medium to travel through. The main types of waves are electromagnetic waves, mechanical waves and matter waves. Transverse waves cause the material the wave travels through to move perpendicular to the source of the waves while longitudinal waves cause the material in which the wave travels through to move parallel to the source of the wave. When a wave is created, the material itself does not actually move, it is the disturbance that moves.