Helium, a Element

Helium is one of my favorite gases because I am all about having fun and what can be more fun than helium? Helium is that awesome gas that is most know for giving you a voice like these furry little guys.

                                           

The way to give your self a squeaky voice is to suck helium in. One...lets say theory that some people have is that, sucking in Helium is bad for you. They say it is bad for your lungs and kills brain cells. But actually sucking in Helium is harm less. Here is a fun fact, which will be followed by a couple more, helium is used in therapeutic ways. Such as healing asthma and helping infants that do not tolerate face masks breathe through nasal canals filled with helium-oxygen.

When I was younger about 8-11 I would read picture books. Who doesn't love picture books? You can fly through them and still read a great story. Well, one of the books that I read numerous times was called "The Red Balloon". In this book a boy gets a helium balloon and it becomes his best friend. But the part relating to this post is that in the end he flies away with lots of helium balloons. Or even in that movie called"Up". The house is lifted by helium balloon. Now these are just cartoons, it would actually take millions of balloons to pick up a house. It takes 6000 helium balloons to lift a 75 pound baby. Which is about 34.02 kilos and I am about 48 kilos. A couple more hundreds of balloons to lift me.

Helium is also used to detect leaks in large vacuums(not the ones at home). When a leak is detected a alarm sounds or it can be easily noticeable on a visual display. 

Africa is a beautiful place. It has lots of animals and wildlife a real treat to anybody who gets the chance to experience it. Each year millions of animals travel from Tanzania's Serengeti Plains to Kenya's Masai  Mara National Reserve. People pay lots of money to see this spectacle happen. The best way is to see it from above. In a hot air balloon. And what lets you have this once in a life time journey, HELIUM!! And hot air rising, but some use helium. Or blimps are also used to watch the Great Migration which are all helium.

In conclusion Helium is an AWESOME gas that is so much fun and takes part in my favorite thing of all. Explosions. You can make a dry ice and helium explosion. Just go on to youtube and learn more about it there. Have fun with it and hope you learned something.

Tsunami Warning Systems

Tsunamis are feared natural disasters. Tsunamis devastate people of towns killing millions leaving kids without parents and people without homes potentially crushing them like a block. People have throughout history want to know, how they can have future notice when a Tsunami is heading their way to get out of its raging waves way. They want to be warned. Scientists are wondering the same thing and are trying to answer the cries of help from people all over the world.

A Tsunami is a gigantic wall of water flattening everything in its path. Tsunamis are most frequently caused by a deep-sea earthquake but can also be caused by volcanic eruptions, landslides and meteorites. But what my main focus is deep-sea earthquakes, also known as a slip of tectonic plates. If the earthquake happens under the ocean/sea floor there is often a tsunami but if it happens in a land locked country almost never a tsunami. The most heavily impacted area are areas surrounding the Pacific plate also known as the "Ring of Fire." 

(As shown in this picture)

 The "Ring of Fire" is an area known for earthquakes, which is located in the Pacific plate resulting in the worst of the worst Tsunamis. What happens is that the earthquake occurs lifting up the sea floor making a wave that over time speeds up and increases in size by a lot-making a Tsunami.

The most recent Tsunami taking place in the Ring of Fire was in 2011 in Japan with a massive earthquake of 9.0 magnitudes. The after math bombed Japan with one massive tsunami and several other aftershocks. Sadly there were no warnings except for a siren. You would think that that would do it but the siren only sounded when the tsunami arrived so people weren't forewarned. 

NOAA is a corporation that is trying to prevent incidents like this from happening. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has created a warning system that forewarns countries when a disastrous Tsunami is heading their way. The system is called the DART system, Deep ocean assessment and reporting of Tsunami. How it works is that a ship drops off a surface buoy and a bottom pressure recorder. Also a satellite is launched into the atmosphere. When the bottom pressure buoy gets motion and large waves that send the information to the surface buoy which send it to the satellite informing all warning centers. 

This link is a simulation which shows you how it works. http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/Mov/DART_04.swf

NOAA corporation made the warning system and planted them in area where earthquakes were apparent. NOAA not only made the systems but they also made signs to get away from the Tsunami and direction to higher ground. 

Since the invention of this warning systems now scientists and people are asking, Is this changing the number of fatalities? Since the DART program is so new and had recently been imported to countries and now is just beginning it use scientist are unsure. They can't tell yet with such the little time that it has been put to use. But if you just use your common sense you could just guess and say that “Yes this does change the number of deaths because now people have more time to get to higher ground and saved their loved ones." This is a reasonable answer but there is also the possibility that the warning center gets the warning that there will be a Tsunami (from the satellite). But how do we make sure that the center gets the news out fast enough to people. They could broadcast it to live T.V and for those watching the news will get the information and the news will be passed by word of mouth. For those on the beach lifeguard would evacuate the area. This is a very easy possibility. But we cannot be sure, we will just have to wait and see what the future brings us.

Making Waves Lab Obsevations

Science class is my favorite class in my whole learning experience, so far. Although learning about waves is probably my least favorite unit in science class. Never the less the 7th grade science class curriculum demands that we learn about waves. Since we are at the early beginnings of our waves unit we are learning about water waves, waves that all of us know at least a little bit about. Later on we will be exploring about the 2 other types of waves, light and sound waves.

To give us a little bit of a visual our teacher gave us a small project online. What we had to do is to make observations on how a water droplet affects the water. We had to see how the size of the droplet and how fast the droplets came out affected  the water. In other words how the frequency and amplitude interfered with the water below.

Out of generosity(and part of my assignment) I am going to share with you what I observed.

1st observation: 

 

In this picture I have adjusted the frequency to 50% and the amplitude to 100%. The drops are so large because of the amplitude and the frequency of the waves are more spread out because its only at 50%. One thing that you have to know to understand my observation is that the black lines are the waves and the blue is the surrounding water(like an ocean). What I observed is that the lines/waves are very dark because the drop was so large, there was more of an impact making the waves larger. One rule that I made is that the higher the amplitude the darker/larger the waves are. I also noticed that the lines got lighter as they moved forward because when the drop first hits the water it is full of energy but after the wave hits its energy is more spread out over lots of waves.

2nd Observation: 

In this test I used 2 sink thingies making 2 different setts of drips. This test is similar to the previous one, same amplitude and frequency, same dark lines and frequency but different set up. This one is very interesting to me because when you think of 2 separate waves clashing you would think( well at least I do) that the wave would get even bigger, there is double the power. But in fact the waves cancelled out which is to me extraordinary. The waves that clash cancel out but the waves that don't, keep going on their merry way until of course they hit a object or they lose all their energy before that.

Observation 3: 

What I found cool about this one is that the first set of waves move forward smoothly but then hit the barrier bounce back and hit the other set of waves. This process then keeps going.  When the drop first makes impact the waves shoot in all direction the program just doesn't show all the waves. Just to clarify that those checkered dots of black and blue are waves going to the side colliding with other waves going that direction bouncing off the wave. What kind of confused me is that behind the barrier there are ripples. What interests me is how on earth those waves/ripples got there if there is a barrier. Some possibilities are that the waves went under the barrier or maybe the wave bounced off a different from somewhere else and came back behind the barrier or even go through the small cracks in the barrier.

Conclusion: In conclusion a waves size and how many waves there are all depend on the size of the interference. In this case the interference is a water droplet but a interference could go from a boat to a pebble. As much fun as this was I did learn a little bit about how waves work and the main characteristics but in my opinion I think doing this experiment in real life (water, pipet and a bucket) works better because you can see a whole view.

Key Terms

Frequency: How many peaks/crests/waves pass a given point per second (H2) (Waves/second= Hertz)

Amplitude: Height of the wave-The size of the disturbance determines the amplitude of the wave (meter)

Wave Length: The distance between crests or troughs (meter)

Concept 

A wave is characterized by the way it moves! 

This is the website I used to make the pictures:  http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/wave-interference

Astronomy Unit Reflection

During our 7^th grade Astronomy Unit in science, we covered the theories of earth‘s creation, the moons and its phases, astronomy technology and life in space (gravity, nebulas).  Most importantly, we covered the happenings of a whole revolution around the sun (laws of the interactions of the (sun, earth, and moon).

I really enjoyed this unit because I learnt a lot of new things, but I also liked the way the Unit was planned/set up. First, we started with the key concepts like revolutions, rotations, satellites etc. Then, we focused on the moon and its phases. Next, we learnt about the earth, sun and moon: how they affect each other; tides, eclipses, phases and phenomena.  We learnt about space exploration and its costs. Last, but definitely not least, we had to write an essay and make our own planet. Most people wouldn’t favor writing an the essay, but I really liked it because I got to show what I know about money and how much it value.  I  also I got to debate and argue my point of view on space exploration and its costs.  The project was a fun way to finish up our unit - kind of like the cherry on a banana Sunday. The project allowed students to show their creativity and to use their knowledge to make their planet realistic and find a way to have everything making perfect scientific sense.

This project was a cool learning experience. I really loved learning why some phenomena happen. For example, I learnt about apogees and perigees of the moon, which I actually used in my day in one instance. On may 5^th my mother stated “WOW!! Look at the moon it is so big and bright!” Then I asked, “Do you know why its so big and bright” and she was absolutely clueless so I enlightened her. I told her “it is at its perigee around the earth, which is when the moon is at its closest point around earth. The reason why perigees happen is because the moons orbit around earth isn’t a perfect circle as many people perceive it to be.   It is actually an oval making some points in the orbit closer or further from earth. The moon is so bright because as the moon orbits earth it changes from being between the earth and the sun, and being behind the earth.   When the moon is behind the earth the suns rays reflect on to the moon, which then brightens it up and reflects on earth making the moon as bright as could be.

All in all, I loved this unit because of the activities and because I liked learning about  the mysteries of space.

The Best Moon Sighting Of 2012!!

Full Moons are a regular phenomenon that have always been considered as a special night for some people but also the full moon is a sign for trouble according to others. Full moons make tides rise,  dogs molest us with their loud barking and wakes us up in the middle of the night with its bright rays shining in your face. When that moon wakes you up on may 5 you might wanna get up and take a look. Its going to be a "Super Moon" 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a usual moon. I have mentioned this circumstance before, guess what it is. Maybe you got it right maybe you didn't but if you think you did the answer should be a "perigee", when the moon is at its closest point to earth.


When a full moon reaches its perigee its appear bigger but the only way that you can really see the difference in the size is when the "super moon" is just going into the horizon.


There is no way that I can describe what is going to happen on May 5th, better than this video.

"Goldilocks Zone" Current event

Kepler, NASA's spacecraft, has discovered numerous "alien planets". Planets having multiple suns, gigantic "super earths" and "hot jupiters"also,surprisingly, mini solar systems. These discoveries are fantastic and to me very surprising. I don't know about you but it is very hard to imagine any other world out of Earth. A different planet and solar systems.  To think that there are other planets "beyond" Earth is challenging to imagine in detail.

NASA believes that at this rate of discoveries astronauts will finally find an earth like planet orbiting its star in the "goldilocks zone". In "Goldilocks zones " the planet has to have a great enough distance from the sun to support enough water, and of course life. The reason why researchers and NASA named this type of zone a "Goldilocks zone, is mind boggling to me, at least they have creativity. 

"Goldilocks Zone" = Habitable zone

Kepler has already discovered some Earth-shaped planets, but happen to be to close to their "parenting stars". Luckily, these recent discoveries have researchers feeling that there is going to be a major find just around the corner. Especially Shawn Domagal-Goldman, a researcher at NASA HQ who specializes in exoplanet biology. Shawn states that "I believe Kepler will find a 'Goldilocks planet' within the next two years. We'll be able to point at a specific star in the night sky and say 'There it is—a planet that could support life!'". If I could talk to Shawn right now I would say "I think your right". 

Don't you fell the same way? If NASA does happen to find a second earth, what do you think it'll look like and what will we do first" 

Is Space Exploration Worth The Cost?

A very good question that people ask is: How does space exploration benefit us? How does putting astronauts in danger just to bring them up to space help us? These are the questions I will be answering today.


Sure there a few set backs like the budget, the danger, and the limited amount of resources but put aside all the disadvantages and think of the benefits. I can think of many more benefits than disadvantages. The two most important and most interesting that I will be talking about are: how space exploration develops medical technology and the daily use of technology to predict and manage natural disasters. 


Safety and protection from diseases in space is a major issue that scientists and medical staff at NASA pay attention to very aggressively. There are some really smart people that help NASA get all the information and top of the line technology to keep the astronauts safe. Alexander Tsiaras is one of these smarties who help the best of the best achieve their highest potential, he works as Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief of Scientific Visualization at Yale University in the Department of Medicine.  Alexander Tsiaras helped  NASA learn how to perform surgery in space on an astronaut in case of an accident. Astronauts can't fly home when an emergency occurs. He and NASA were testing this new technology on Earth when they started to realize they were seeing new things using the new kind of scanning technology called an MRI , new things never seen before that could help manage disease, but also things that gave a new insight to things above the body that "just made you marvel". To better describe this discovery look at this video. You do not have to look at the whole thing the very start shows the most important and relevant to space and then the video goes to a visual to give you an idea of what they are seeing.

Due to this major breakthrough in technology Alexander and his partner received a Nobel Prize in Science.


Also a major benefit that space provides to me, you and everyone in the world is the benefit of having a place to put our satellites. NASA has launched numerous satellites into space and what this does for us is give us internet, television and most importantly satellites help us predict when natural hazards are going to occur. Yes, ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls you heard it right from...well me, if NASA didn't spend the billions of dollars they do on getting satellites up to space and astronauts up to space to fix them you wouldn't have internet which means...Disaster, NO FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OR MY SPACE!!! Also no T.V. and of course people of Earth couldn't be forewarned for a tsunami, earthquake, typhoon etc. Our world could actually become a "2012". NASA should keep sending out unmanned ships like satellites into space, for sure.Satellites benefit us better than sending people to the moon or mars etc.


What I find really ridiculous is that people are always complaining and stating with no proof that, "NASA and Russia are always wasting money on sending astronauts to space just so that they can discover new planets.  Seriously...who cares about the other planets".  First, if you ever hear this, mentally slap that person and tell them to keep their mouth shut and listen to what your about to say. You say,"No NASA and Russia aren't wasting money they are giving you tons of benefits, like internet,T.V and are keeping you safe and healthy through their research. Also Americans and others  spend 154 billion dollars on alcohol, which is useless, and spend 10 billion dollars in Iraq both practically useless while NASA spends 7 billion on space exploration, which actually benefits all of earth in mostly positive ways. Also even more amazing is that NASA is only given .5 of the US budget out of 100. If I was a member of congress I would ignore everyone's remarks and keep to what my gut tells me. Space exploration is head over heels important.


In conclusion space exploration is definitely worth the cost with very few disadvantages, which include the budget, the danger, and the limited amount of resources. But, then there are the benefits, such as development in medical technology, management of natural disasters and the importance of satellites. Space exploration is the greatest breakthrough of all human time!

MLA Format Bibliography

Sofia Infante 7B

Science-Mrs.M

9/4/2012

"Argument:Space Exploration has brought many practical benefits to Humans". Debatepedia. N.P, 16 June 2010. Web. 9 apr. 2012.<http://debatepedia.idebate.org>. 

Dubner, Stephen J. "Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost? A Freakonomics Quorum." Freakonomics. N.p., 11 Jan. 2008. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.<http://www.freakonomics.com>.