Athletes Foot Bats

In the past 4 tears a mysterious fungus has inhabited over 80 percent of Northern American bats, and killing them. Desperately, a force of scientists is fighting to find a cure for the fungus. However, they can not only use anything, it has to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Finally, they have an unlikely weapon, a drug used to treat Athletes Foot. John Eisemann noted this at his speech at the American Chemical Society spring meeting. He said that using off-label use chemicals have been used numerous times before, on other animals, and worked, like to control white-tail deer populations, with rodents. However, the scientists were scared of upsetting the economical balance of fungi, especially in caves. So they put it into testing, on a few bats, and it was successful in killing the fungi. Now the scientists are looking for if it will decrease the die-off rate, and if they possibly will not have too treat entire colonies.
I really enjoyed reading this article, because I found it especially interesting. I am intrigued by the fact that bats fungus can be treated the same as human fungus. This fact intrigued me so much, to the point I was hanging my jaw open in disbelief. Anyway, I really enjoyed this article, and I am sure there are many intriguing articles like this. My opinion on this article is WOW!!




The link is : http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/57531/title/Athlete%E2%80%99s_foot_therapy_tapped_to_treat_bat-killing_fungus

Mathematics Blog

Global Warming impacts Earth everyday, destroying the beautiful things about Earth, like the Artic, and the living animals. Math and Global warming have a close relationship, because of the statistics of the impacts of Global Warming. For example, the Artic is disappearing because of Global Warming, and math ties into this because about 30%-50% of the Artic no longer exists. With math statistics, you can also estimate the time when the Artic will be completely gone. Also, math ties into Global Warmings impact on land, because of percentages. Twenty to thirty percent of animals are on the verge of extinction due to Global Warming. Also, using math statistics, humans can make calculations too when Global warming impacts a species for long enough, and cause extinction for that species. Finally, Math, with the help of science, can be used to create new devices and gather data to save the planet from Global Warming. For example, math can be used towards the knowledge required to analyze wind turbines, like how much electricity does the turbine generate at a certain speed? How many homes can be powered by this much electricity? Math can be used to make these types of devices more efficient. Math can help save our planet!!

Blog #4

As my last year in Omega continues, I learn many new topics in my science class. We are currently learning about animal classification. So far, I have learned that animals are classified into 35 major phyla. Also, I have learned that more than 95% of animals are invertebrate (animals without a backbone). Finally, the third thing I learned in science class on the animal topic is the four major functions of an animal. The four functions of an animal are the ability to reproduce, movement, able to keep internal conditions stable, and the ability to obtain food and oxygen. I also had the ability to learn about this topic out side of school. I learned that the study of animal classification is named taxonomy. Also, I learned that there is a third kingdom that has animals that bridge the animal and plant kingdom.
Personally, I found this topic to be very entering. Even though I new many things about this topic, I still found it to be interesting, and I did learn some new things. I wonder what new and exiting topics my class will learn in the future.

http://www.mcwdn.org/Animals/Classification.html

Chef Project

Interested in being a chef, well listen tto this and learn all about being and becoming a chef
http://omegapride.podOmatic.com/player/web/2009-12-11T11_45_23-08_00

Class response 11/20/09

So far in my 8th grade year, we have learned about many interesting topics. In fact, we just finished learning about the phases of matter. While we discussed this intriguing topic, I learned important facts. I learned that a solid could skip the liquid phase and go straight to the phase of gas. This process is called sublimationThe sublimation process can be seen when dry ice is mixed with water. Also I learned about amorphous solids. The amorphous solids change under certain conditions. A great example of an amorphous solid is cornstarch with water, which liquefies under no stress, and solidfies when under stress. Finally, I learned about the phase of plasma. Plasma is very rare, and can really only be found in space.
I was also able to learn about the phases of matter outside of my classroom. On the internet, I found that when people ice skate, they are not skating on solid ice but on liquid water. The pressure from the skater melts the ice, and then when the skater leaves, the water instantly refreezes. I learned also that plasma is harnessed in the everyday world to cut metal. Molecules are ionized to create plasma, which creates great precision in cutting metals. I found this topic to be fascinating and very informative. I definitely did find many new and cool facts on the phases of matter that I did not know before. I can’t wait to learn other new and interesting science topics like this one.


http://www.schooltube.com/video/39886/Plasma-The-fourth-state-of-matter

http://www.helium.com/items/197024-the-science-behind-ice-skating

The Kyoto protocol signed in 1997 required 37 counties to cut there carbon emissions. A loophole in this agreement did not count carbon from bio energy. Countries seeking to boost their bioenergy production deforested their land to plant crops for biofuel. Several scientists point out that this does not help reduce the carbon in the atmosphere. By deforesting, you cut down forests that intake carbon and replace biofuel that intake and outtake carbon. The scientists hope to prove their point and cause world leaders to amend the Kyoto protocol when a climate treaty is signed in Copenhagen summit in December.
My opinion on this article is that it was informative and interesting. I found a lot of new information, and it makes me think again about the "benefits" of biofuel. This article captivated my attention because I had always thought of biofuel to be the answer to the environmental issues, but now, I have the knowledge of the consequences of burning biofuel. Overall, I learned many new things and I enjoyed reading about this topic.

Arctic Disappearing

The Arctic seems to be literally disappearing, as it has been confirmed that the Arctic ice cover for the month of September has reached its minimum for the year, the third lowest recorded since 1979. Year after year, the amount of ice that returns to the Arctic becomes less and less, and the ice that does return in very thin and exposed. Scientists are afraid that the Arctic may change forever. During the summer months, ships can now pass through areas that were impossible to pass through a few years ago. The ice cover was significantly low for this year of 2009 because of the pollution and greenhouse gases dumped into the atmosphere by humans. NSIDC Research Scientist Walt Meier quotes “Atmospheric circulation patterns helped the Arctic sea ice spread out in August to prevent another record-setting minimum.” This year the ice cover did rank as the third lowest recorded since satellites began measuring ice extents in 1979. The minimum ice cover for 2009 is 620,000 square miles, which is nearly the size of the area of Alaska. The ice cover for the Arctic still continues to decrease and with this trend, the Artic may someday have ice free summers.

It is my opinion that this article was descriptive and informative. This article gave me a large amount of information on one of the worst environmental issues today. It really showed me that if we do not act soon to stop global warming, it is very possible that the polar ice caps could disappear forever.
http://www.livescience.com/environment/090917-artic-ice.html