The Potugese Man-of-war

If you were to see a Portuguese man-of-war, the first word that would probably come to your head would be- jellyfish.  Well, the man-of war is actually a siphonophore.  A siphonophore differs from a jellyfish because it is a colonial organism.  This simply means that a bunch of single celled organisms ,call zooids.  They act together, like how polyps act together to form coral. There are four kinds of zooids that make up the man-of-war. 

The first kind of zooid makes up the gas-filled bladder, called the sail.  This sail can allows the man-of-war to float at the surface.  The sail can be tinged blue, purple, translucent, mauve (a pinkish purple color), and pink.  The sail is filled with about 90% carbon dioxide.  In the event that the man-of-war is attacked, it can deflate this sail, and submerged itself.  The man-of-war's sail must stay wet in order to remain inflated, so they may roll to wet their sail.

The other three kids of zooids create the man-of-war's tentacles.  These tentacles are can grow to over 50 meters long, but are usually 10 meters long.  The venomous tentacles are used to catch prey.  Prey swim through the tentacles and get stung.  Although the venom works on most fish, some fish are immune to the stings and live within the tentacles.

Note: Man-of war stings are poisonous to humans and may result in death.  For treatment, click this link.

Man-of wars- live in tropical regions around the world.  They range from Spain to Guyana to Costa Rica.  This is because they have no means of propulsion.  They must travel through ocean currents.

Isn't interesting that a bunch small organisms can work together to form one massive creature.  When you think about it, we all work together to form society as a whole.  If only everyone could do that.

Earth 2100

Earth 2100 is an ABC special describing the worst case scenario of what would happen if we don't take care of our world.  This story is about a girl named Lucy who grew up in the world we are growing up in now.  After I watched this special, I felt compelled to make a difference.  I hope you feel the same way.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UF-q0kpRgc&feature=related
Sorry. Part 3's embed code was disabled. Click on the link to see this part.

The Pollution Solution

Energy is one of the most important things in life.  It powers our homes, our cars, our phones, and just about everything else you can think of.  Without it, society would not be able to function.  We use a variety of resources to power our everyday lives. 

There are two types of energy resources-  renewable and nonrenewable.  Renewable resources are energy sources that can be easily replaced .  Nonrenewable resources are energy sources that cannot be easily replaced. 

Examples of nonrenewable energy sources include petroleum (oil), natural gas, and coal. 

 In 2005, 37% of all energy consumption in the United States came from petroleum, which was mostly used for transportation fuel.  Although petroleum is inexpensive, It produces greenhouse gases and many other pollutants that affect the atmosphere. 

25% of all energy usage came from natural gas.  It is mainly used for heating fuel.  Of all fossil fuels, it produces the lowest amount of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.  The last nonrenewable resource is coal. 

Coal accounts for 21% of all energy consumption.  It is the least expensive, but the most harmful resource to the environment.  It releases greenhouse gasses and other pollutants that cause acid rain.

Renewable resources include solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, biomass energy, and hydroelectric energy. 

Solar energy is harvested through photovoltaic cells, or PV cells.  These cells capture light and convert them into electricity.  Solar panels create no pollution, making them great for the environment. 

Wind energy used wind turbines to harvest energy.  The wind moves the turbines and creates mechanical energy.  This mechanical energy is then converted into electrical energy.  The wind turbines create no pollution, but have many downfalls.  Wind turbines are noisy, are harmful to wild bird populations, and only work where there are strong winds.

Geothermal energy uses heat from the ground to heat water, resulting in steam.  This steam is used to then heat and cool buildings.  Geothermal energy plants only emit a small amount of greenhouse gases.  Harvesting geothermal energy is very costly.

Biomass energy comes from organic matter.  Examples of organic matter include wood, crop waste, and manure.  Biomass is a good energy source because it uses materials that would normally go to waste.  The only problem with biomass is that it costs more than oil, for less energy.

Hydroelectric energy is harvested by using dams.  As water moves through the dams, it spins turbines to create mechanical energy.  This mechanical energy is then converted into electricity.  Hydroelectric power is responsible for most of the renewable energy use in the United States.  Although it is a cheap source for energy, it has a large impact on the wildlife.  The dams could potentially block the river, resulting in complications with migrating fish.

As you can see, renewable energy sources have more pros than cons.  These sources will reduce the pollution in the atmosphere.  Renewable resources are also a better choice because fossil fuels will eventually run out.  In my opinion, I think that we should start switching to renewable resources before it is too late.  Imagine a world where there was no power- just because we failed to save what little we had.  Imagine a world where the air was so polluted that you could not breathe- just because we did not stop using fossil fuels that polluted the air, instead of using renewable resources.  I wouldn't want to live in a world like that.  Would you?

http://scholastic.com/energytour/

http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/truo7j2/fuelcell.htm

I See Through You

For decades, scientists have been baffled by insects' respiratory system.  For decades, scientists knew that insects did not have any lungs, which raised questions such as "how can they breathe without lungs?"  Due to advances in technology, they have been able to see insects' respiratory system in action.

Before scientists could see how insects breathe, they had to figure out how to see through the insects exoskeleton.  To do this, they used a synchrotron.  A synchrotron is a type of cyclic particle accelerator in which a magnetic and electrical field are synced with the beam of particles.  The synchrotron produces the world's most intense X-rays, which is perfect for seeing through the insects' exoskeleton.  Synchrotrons are mostly used in chemistry and for medical imaging.

By using the synchrotron, scientists were able to observe the insects' respiratory system.  They concluded that insects use a system of breathing tubes, called tracheae, to transport oxygen to and from different parts of their body, similar to the way our blood transports oxygen though our arteries.  The tracheae connect  breathing holes on the insects' exoskeleton.  In addition to the tracheae and the breathing holes, insects also have small air sacs that help pump air throughout the body. 

This advance has opened many windows in entomology, the study of insects.  This kind of technology will allow scientists to see how insects' circulatory system works.  Unfortunately, this kind of technology won't be used on "advanced" animals.

Image of insect in  synchrotron.

http://ipm.osu.edu/trans/013_242.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchrotron

The Black Widow

Black widow spiders are a wide variety of spiders, consisting of 31 species.  These species range all over the world from Asia, to South America, to Africa, to the United States, except for colder regions.  Although these species are known for their infamous red hourglass, not all species have it.  Instead, they may have other red markings or lack markings altogether.  Females are usually black and red, males are gray to brown.  Female black widows are 38 mm in length and 6.4 mm in diameter.  Males are only a quarter of this size. 

Black widows are called black widows because after a female mates, the male is usually eaten by the female.  Although this occurs regularly, male are sometimes fast enough to escape.  Often times, they will mate with another female.

A misconception that people have with black widows are that they are very aggressive and bite whenever they get the chance.  In fact, they are solitary spiders that will not bite unless bothered.  Another misconception is that their bite is deadly.  Their bites is almost never deadly.  A black widow bite causes muscle aches, nausea, and difficulty breathing.  These ailments rarely cause injury- let alone death. 

The only things that should fear black widows are other bugs.  When another bug crawls, or flies, into their web, the black widow spins them into the web, and injects an enzyme into their body.  This enzyme causes thier insides to liquify. 

We tend to prejudge things by what they look like, for example, with the black widow spider.  I think that we can only judge things once we get to know them.  Something that could seem bad or harmful, may acually turn out differently.




http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/black-widow-spider/

Atrazine's Adverse Affects

A couple of months ago, a student from  University of California, named  Ngoc Mai Nguyen, was working in the university laboratory with a group of frogs.  After observing the frogs, he realized that some of the frogs were exhibiting unusual behavior.  Some of the frogs were acting like females, which was peculiar because all of the frogs were male.

Nguyen told her boss, biologist Tyrone Hayes, of their unusual behavior.  Hayes advised her to observe the frogs on a daily basis.  Nguyen was perplexed because she knew that all of the frogs were male.  Hayes was not as confused because he put a substance called atrazine in the water that the frogs were in.

30 percent of the male frogs changed gender, due to the atrazine.  In fact, some of the transgender frogs sent out chemical signals to attract other males.

The laboratory is not the only place where this has happened.  Atrazine is used as a weed killer, so it can pollute water near the crops it is used on.  The concentration of atrazine in nearby water is 2.5 parts per billion, the same amount used in Hayes' experiments.  This proves that  frogs can be changing their gender in their natural habitats.

The  Enviromental Protection Agency, or the EPA, is responsible for defining the concentration of certain chemicals in U.S. waterways.  The EPA concluded that 3 parts of atrazine per billion is safe.  The water that the frogs were tested in was 2.5 parts atrazine per billion parts.  This means that even through the atrazine levels are safe to humans, the level is two high for frogs.

Its is not only the frogs' behavior that is altered by atrazine.  Two frogs that behaved like females were dissected.  To Hayes' surprise, they had female reproductive organs.  Two other transgender frogs, that were introduced to male frogs, successfully mated. 

Other scientist conducted similar experiments and came up with the same results, proving that Hayes' studies were accurate.

Knowing atrazine's affects on frogs is crucial because it can threaten a species reproduction.  If there is an increase, or decrease, in an animal's reproduction, it can throw off the ecosystem's balance.  With studies like these, we can be sure that our ecosystems will not be tampered with.

Dissection of female (transgender) frog.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100324/Note2.asp



That's Lice

Head lice are always an annoying thing to get. Head lice is a condition, called Pediculosis capitis, caused by head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis).  Head lice are small, wingless insects that spend their entire life feeding on the human scalp.  Although head lice can be pests, they do not cause any disease, unlike the the body louse.  Body lice can be vectors for many diseases such as epidemic typhus, trench fever, and relapsing fever.  Head lice only cause discomfort.  Head lice infestations are caused by dirct contact with an infected person or by using their articles of clothing or cosmetics.

Head lice can be diagnosed by using a louse comb to comb down a person's hair.  If lice, nymphs or nits (eggs) are found, treatment is necessary.  if a person has head lice, everyone in their family has to be checked for them.

There are many treatments for head lice.  The most common, and effective, treatment for head lice is to use medicated shampoos.  These shampoos aren't as hard on the hair as other treatments but, along with a comb, very effective.  Other treatments include hot air, chemical treatments, silicon based creams, natural remedies, and shaving the patients hair of altogether.  If I were to get head lice, I would prefer the shampoo because I would like to keep my hair (some are the exact opposite). 

Head lice is such a problem in young children because they are always in close contact.  Head lice are so contagious that if one kid gets them, their whole school can get them in a matter of weeks.  Some epidemics have become so bad that many policies had to be formed to keep the lice in check.

In  my opinion, I think that head lice are a nuisance to anyone that has them.  I am sure that if I were going to get them, i would be annoyed.  How would you feel if you got head lice?



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_lice#cite_note-Bolognia-0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_louse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_louse