Spying on Plants on Soil

For many years scientists have been wondering what actually goes on in plants that are not visible for us. The team Lionel Dupuy at the University of Abertay Dundee  have had acreation of synthetic soil, which is actually as clear as glass. This transparent dirt took two years to develop which is made from composite Naflon, it is a certain type of material that is used in fuel cells, they are used in batteries and other devices. It also replicates chemistry in the soil that allows the plant to grow. So Naflon is transparent, so to make it clear so that around people can observe it, but the scientists mix it with a proprietary to mimic the soil. 

The scientists shaped the naflon into little pellets. Dupuy has used some of the soil to see how some E.coli bacteria can interact with lettuce roots. So they did that by creating a modified version of the bacteria to help the fluorescent green protein. They are not sure how much bacteria is formed around the roots of the plant, but they are finding a way to transfer the bacteria into fresh products like lettuce and straw berries.

This was really interesting to me because it shows that scientists today are coming up with even better ways to observe experiments and test things. So it really shows how our technology is growing.

http://www.dogonews.com/2012/11/8/scientists-create-transparent-soil-to-spy-on-plants

2012’s Only Eclipse

On November 14^th 2012 apart of the southern Hemisphere will get a very special surprise, there will be the only total eclipse of 2012. But the eclipse will only be seen from Kakadu National Park in Carins Australia and parts of the south Pacific, and on the coast of Chile. It will be visible from parts of Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zeland, Antartica, and South America. The last time there was a solar eclipse in the southern hemisphere was on July 11^th 2011 but it could only be seen from certain parts of America. The residents of 

Australia have not yet have had a solar eclipse since December 4^th 2002.  Solar eclipses only occur for a few minutes the longest solar eclipse in history is around 7 and half minutes. For the people in Carins the eclipse will go from 5.45am to 7.40 am.  So this is a good experience because scientists can do experiments such as seeing what makes the star so hot, the solar flames of its surface. Also for people who do not know how a solar eclipse happens is, when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, so the sun is covered, but they can only occur during a new moon. 

This was really cool because I do nto really know much about solar eclipses and its cool to know some things about my home country and what is going on there. So this was really cool to learn about. \

Bibliography

"Astronomy Fans And Scientists Get Ready For 2012's Only Total Solar Eclipse." DOGOnews. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dogonews.com/2012/11/11/astronomy-fans-and-scientists-get-ready-for-2012-s-only-total-solar-eclipse>.

Holes in the Ozone Layer making High Temperature in Stream Flow

Because of the ozone layer our earth is heating up, and scientist have found a green house gas that may cause the temperature to change with the stream flow of rivers and streams amongst the forests. It warms up the water sheds making it alternate stream flow. Forest Service scientists have data to see what is the ozone layer is doing to the stream flow in the dry seasons. Because of the temperatures are heating up there is less stream flow in the forest watersheds. This is happening in the southern east of the United States. So this happens in the late summer where the stream flow is at its lowest and its happening in the Appalachian Mountains where the ozone layer is its strongest. The ozone layer is also reducing water from trees. So the ozone layer can reduce plants from getting water and because there is less water it can cause a drought. And water might not even be available for humans.

 I have learned a lot from this article. It makes me realize how much of an impact of how big global warming is. We have a very thin layer of ozone layer and we want to save as much as we can of it. So this is a message to everyone, to try and stay green and save electricity, use other ways to get around like riding a bike, and keep on planting more beautiful plants and trees.

Biliography

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121018123306.htm 

Holes in the Ozone Layer are causing temperatures in Stream Flow to Rise

Because of the ozone layer our earth is heating up, and scientist have found a green house gas that may cause the temperature to change with the stream flow of rivers and streams amongst the forests. It warms up the water sheds making it alternate stream flow. Forest Service scientists have data to see what is the ozone layer is doing to the stream flow in the dry seasons. Because of the temperatures are heating up there is less stream flow in the forest watersheds. This is happening in the southern east of the United States. So this happens in the late summer where the stream flow is at its lowest and its happening in the Appalachian Mountains where the ozone layer is its strongest. The ozone layer is also reducing water from trees. So the ozone layer can reduce plants from getting water and because there is less water it can cause a drought. And water might not even be available for humans.

 I have learned a lot from this article. It makes me realize how much of an impact of how big global warming is. We have a very thin layer of ozone layer and we want to save as much as we can of it. So this is a message to everyone, to try and stay green and save electricity, use other ways to get around like riding a bike, and keep on planting more beautiful plants and trees.

Biliography

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121018123306.htm 

Chemical Reactions

We did this awesome experiment in science. We had little pieces of paper and we drew a dot on it with a marker then we put it in a cup that had a little bit of water in it. And as the paper soaked up the water it moved up the paper. Because the water had a bigger pull it was then polar and the water pulled the marker up the paper. Near the bottom when the water started is where it is mostly polar. But near the end as the water started to take longer to go up the page it was least polar.

Here are some of the differnt ways I did this experiment.

When w use the water it goes up the paper very fast. So here I just drew three dots and if you can see it brings the colour up the page and also there is some pink in it too.

Here I did a squiggily line of yellow and blue highlighter so it looks like a big blog but it cool.

Then I did the same again but instead I did a stripe.

For me this one was the coolest becasue i drew a flower that was dark red, but the water took the red out so now the bottom is highlighter pink and the red mixed with blue making purple

Now we used alcohol instead, the difference is that the the alcohol pulls the colour up more and it takes much longer for the alcohol to go up the paper.

And I tried these two and they look really cool!

and

Skin Pigment of Black Mice

Melanocyte is a type of cell in an organism that is used for skin, so it is in its hair and fur. This fur and hair protects them from the sun and gives the fur and hair the colour. But because of these cells it can lead to skin cancer called melanoma. It is a very difficult to cure. A few years ago scientist have found a protein in the human body that is more than 50% melanoma. But over the years scientists are doing very well to make a treatment to cure it. Besides the treatment still this type of caner shows up in several patients. So scientist have tried to find how this melanocytes works, and will try to remove it from mice with black fur and see if the pigment changes.  But there was no changes in the pigment of the mice, but at birth then had a normal colour but as they grew they turned grey from black before coming white.  So since there is this changing it then means that the pigment cells clearly exist. The renewing of the pigment cells shows another step for treating melanoma. By blocking these proteins they could eliminate all cancerous stem cells.

Bibliography

"Mice With Black Fur That Turns White Help Illuminate Skin Pigmentation." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 05 Oct. 2012. Web. 07 Oct. 2012. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121005123809.htm>.

Molecule Builders

In class we did a cool thing where we built actual molecules, and here are the ones that we built:

 Here is the molecule Methane. It is a gas, its chemical formula is CH4. As you can see in the top this is how it all becomes stable by sharing its valence electrons. So we have one carbon atom and 4 hydrogen atoms.

 And here we have the molecule Propane, it is a gas. We use it in barbeques. Its chemical formula is C3H8. So it has three carbon atoms and 8 hydrogen atoms.

This is Ethanol its chemical Formula is C2H5OH. So it has two carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.  But also depending one how you put this molecule together it can become a different molecule. So even though it could have the same elements the different form makes different compounds.

 Then this molecule is, well I don't have the name so then you an try and figure it out. But this has the chemical formula of H2CO. Two hydrogen atoms, one carbon and oxygen

Then We got to do something really fun and we made our own molecule, so my group called ours Hanalexium. Its is a solid and has the chemical formula of C12H19O6F2Cl2Br. Yes there is a lot! And it makes us fly but since it has Fluorine in it, and that burns our skin then it can kill us. So yeah it is a cool molecule.