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Glacial Dust off of Alaska's Copper Glacier

From the Copper glacier, Alaska's Copper River flows through a glacier-carved landscape of steep mountains and fields of sand dunes before emptying into the Gulf of Alaska. The wind picked up fine sediments, the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid, from the riverbank and carried it over to the ocean. This particular river is also, in fact, lined with sand.Due to the fact that the river is prone to high winds, the combination of these minerals result in a massive dust storm such as the one that was observed by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra Satellite on October 30, 2009. In the image, the wind is blowing from the snow-covered mountains to the Gulf of Alaska. The wind picked up fine sediments from the river bank and carried it over the ocean. To make this easier to understand, the sand and silt, an earthy matter, fine sand, or the like carried by moving or running water and deposited as a sediment, comes from the combined erosive power of flowing ice water.The heavy glaciers grind rock into fine sediment and gravel as they flow slowly down mountain valleys. This sediment washes into rivers and streams, much of which goes to Copper River.

Color blindness within monkeys

Scientists have always been curious about the cure to color blindness and with their latest experiment they may be one step closer to its discovery. It is said, that two male Squirrel monkeys who were once color blind can now see in full color due to gene therapy. This therapy is believed to eventually cure human color blindness. For this experiment monkeys, Dalton and Sam were injected with a virus whose disease-causing genes had been replaced with human genes for red photo pigments. Viruses dump their genes into host cells, where the rival DNA can replicate. In this case, the virus was used to insert photo pigment genes. Since monkey's brains are similar to ours, researchers hoped the same result could work on humans as well. The monkeys were used as the test subjects mainly because they are adult male Squirrel monkeys that were red-green color blind since birth and also because all males in the species show signs of red-green color blindness, which is also the most common form of color blindness in humans.Luckily, 5 months after injecting human genes in the monkey's eyes, they began to see red. This is known because the monkeys were tested daily. Their tests were basically that they had to distinguish patches of colored dots that were varied in size and brightness from surrounding grey dots on a screen. Both monkeys passed and are now cured from their blindness. :)

Plasticity Lab: The Conclusion

In the experiment known as the Plasticity Lab, I have come to a conclusion. It was written that we were instructed to fill a large beaker half way with corn starch. Then, we would put a small amount of water into the beaker (warm or cold.Your choice). After the certain amount of water was added, the starch will start to become thick, but slightly chalky and yet a little bit watery. We would then take the metal spoon which was laying on the tray that was provided and mix the starch. We would continue to mix till the starch became thick. Then the experiment really began! When I stuck my hand in the beaker to examine, the starch was watery and dripped around my open hand. But when I clasped my hands and rubbed them together, in a way that I will roll a Play-doh glob longer, the starch became solid and was forming chunks in my hand! Curious, I opened my hand but was shocked to see that the "chunks" were still water! I was baffled and tried the experiment again and again. Still the same result. However, it came to reason that the starch became a solid when I applied pressure onto it and when the pressure was released it would return back to a liquid. Thus, concluding the class experiment and thinking of the other wonders our world could create.

October Sky

In the movie October Sky, I learned that boys did not always have a choice of what they wanted to be in life in the late 1950s. If they lived in a small town with little money, they were probably destined to work in their town mine with the other men in the town, including their friends and fathers. Homer Hickam, however, refused to let his destiny be taken place in the depths of a mine. His dream was to make rockets, and to be a Rocket Scientist. My response to the rocket portion of the movie is the following. I admired how Homer convinced his friends to join his rocket building even though they believed they were "too cool" to hang out with the "nerd", Quin, who was a great deal of help to Homer and his rockets. I was also interested in the way they kept trying to make the perfect rocket, which connects to the Character Ed trait, cooperation because they worked together and kept trying even though everyone in town, besides the boys teacher Miss. Riley, considered them a menace. In my opinion, personally the greatest part of the movie was when Homer's father, who rejected the rocket building idea from the gecko, finally came to see one of his "boy's" rockets fly. It was a tear-spilling moment for me, and I couldn't help but clap at the end.

Comments on jazzdncrs blog

Dearest jazzdncr,
When I read your blog, I was surely surprised by the amount of information you put into your article. I was also astonished by the similarities our information shared. For example, both our diseases infect the Jewish decent and effect the brain. Unfortunately, there is no current cure for either disease, another similarity. I admired the picture you added to your post, it gave me a hint of what the disease looked like and where it could be located. I was actually surprised when you stated that the victims of this disease usually die at the age of 4. This surprised me since the victims of Tay Sachs disease (my research topic) dies around the same time. In conclusion, I admired your topic since its so similar to mine. I also admired it since your description of the illness was clear and easy to read. You should defiantly write some more. : ) BTW, no offense or anything but who are you again?-Shecklerluv1128<33

Tay Sachs disease

Discovered in 1881 by British ophthalmologist, Warren Tay, Tay Sachs disease is known to kill infants in the north- eastern countries. This disease is caused by a lipid storage disorder that has harmful quantities of a fatty subtance called Ganglioside which builds up in tissues and nerve cells in the brain. Infants known to have this disease, dont live past 4 or 5. However, childeren can only recieve this diesease if both parents are carriers of the gene. Unfortunatly, people of Eastern Europe and Askhenazi Jewish decent are more prone to the disease. French- Canadians and the people of the Cajun heritage also have a chance of getting the disease. "Cherry-red" spots in the eyes catgorize you as a victim of this fateful disease. These symtoms: deterioration of mental and physical ablities, blindness, unable to swallow, paralysis, seizers, and increased startle reflex to noise also indicate that your victimized by this diesease. Sadly, there are no current treatments for this disease, but an anticonvulsant helps control the seizers. Hopefuly, in the near future there will be a cure for this infection and its victims would be spared and allowed to live a full, healthy life.

Opening Arguements; sue agaisnt Middlesex County dentist, oral surgeon.

In New Brunswick in the Medical malpractice suit, a sue has been filed. Francis Keller, who died at age 21 on August 5, 2005 from his larynx being swelled and blocking his airway after he got his wisdom teeth pulled, family filed the suit on February 25, 2009. His teeth were pulled by oral surgeon, George Flugrad. Attorney, David Mazie said that both were guilty because both knew Keller suffered from an immune deficiency disease that caused parts of his body to swell after trauma. Of course, no one knows which side to believe. One side says that the dentist stopped treating Keller as soon as the office knew his condition. The office also warned Keller to tell his Doctor before having the operation. Also they say that Keller never discussed his situation with Flugrad. The other side states that the two did discuss Keller's condition before the operation. Also, that Keller did tell his medical Doctor about the procedure. The trial for this confusing case is in first week before Superior Court, Jude Nicholas Stroumtsos.

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The Nightmare

Early whales gave birth on land

A 47.5 million year old fossil was discovered on Pakistan. The fossil was of an extinct pregnant female whale and a male of the same species. This discovery shows how whales gave birth and provide new insights into how whales made the transition from land to sea. H. Richard Lane said "This stunning discovery reinforces the belief that modern cetaceans originated from terrestrial ancestors. The species of the discovered fossil is the extinct species known as Archaeoceti. Paleontologist Philip Gingerich said that when he first saw the teeth of the new discoveries, he thought the fossil was a small adult whale. He now realizes that the ribs were too large to go with the teeth. By the end of the discovery day, he realized that the whale has a fetus. The whales big teeth indicated that they spent most of their lives in the sea, only coming on land to rest, mate, or give birth.
http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/42913/early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.html

5th bank robbery in a month

On February 5th at 2:47 pm,a masked man entered the Investors Savings Bank on Brick Boulevard.The man supposedly handed a teller a note demanding money, but apparently had no weapon in hand. He soon fled with undisclosed amount of money.The surveillance cameras showed that the man wore a black stocking over his head, dark glasses, black scarf around face, jeans, and brown boots. The man was eventually caught and is identified as Justin Doyle. He was caught for suspiciously putting on self tanner on in the parking lot before the robbery. This is the latest of robberies in a month. Officials believe that the rapid amount of robberies were triggered due to the poor economy, They believe that people are beginning to steal due to lack of money.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/brick_hit_with_fifth_bank_robb.html

Inauguration of President Obama

A few days ago, a very historical event happened in the United States. This event was none other than the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. This was an important event because Barack Obama is the United States first ever black president. He is also the 44th. In the next two paragraphs I am going to be sharing some information about the Inauguration itself. And also a few facts about Mr. President, Barack Obama.

Barack Obama won bid to become president of the U.S on November 4th and was sworn into office on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. To do this, he resigned from his senate seat after winning the election.  The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) was formed on November 25, 2008. It is led by 5 co-chairs; William Daley, Penny Pritzker, John W. Rogers, Patrick Ryan, and Julianna Smoot. The PIC committee is responsible for administering, managing, the Inaugural events for President-elect Obama. Joint Congressional Committee on inaugural ceremonies is a non-supporter  committee responsible for managing the swearing-in ceremony. The former committee represents the incoming Obama team.  The Latter committee is responsible for orderly transition of governments through the swearing in ceremony. Even so, all committees work thoroughly together. My analysis of this article is that the author was  trying to give us a hint about how things happen inside of the Inauguration. I doubt that people know about all the committees that work together to pull this whole thing through.

Many things happened on the day of the Inauguration. In this article, the author broke down the Inauguration into numbers. 1,120,000 metro train rides were taken on January 20th, a new record for one-day ridership,which shows how many people actually came to the historical event. 18,000 volunteers provided support for the Inaugural events, which shows how generous people can really be for an important cause. Over 13,000 service events organized in response to President Obama's call to service. 13,000 participants marched in the Inaugural parade. 8,000 members of America's police departments provided security on inauguration day, which shows how protective the organizers of the event are of the president and of the people in the crowd. 1,382 applications received by the PIC, from groups requesting to march in the Inaugural Parade, which shows how patriotic people were on that day, that they would march for their country. Over 1000 neighbor ball parties were organized across the country , which shows how how many people celebrated. 432 presidential Inaugural Committee staff worked to put together the most open and accessible inauguration in history, which shows how important this event is. Over 90 groups marched in the Inaugural parade, which shows how important this event was to people. 58 agencies collaborated on the security, which again shows how protective they were at this event. 10 jumbo screens on the National Mall broad casted  Inaugural events. My analysis on this article is to show how many people contributed to this event. It also gives interesting facts about the lengths people went to, to either be at the event or help put it together. 

I am personally glad that I got to witness this historical event in school with the rest of  my classmates. It was very interesting to watch and I felt proud that my country has such a strong leader. When he walked onto the platform, and the whole crowd erupted I felt happy to see that my schoolmates felt the same way because they jumped up and cheered as well. I have a feeling that this is going to be a good 4 years.     

http://www.chicago.about.com/od/neighborhoodshistory/a/inauguration09.htm

Spitting Cobras hit their mark

Spitting cobras are animals that are known to "spit" in the eyes of its potential attackers. They don't actually "spit" venom. The muscle contractions squeeze the cobra's venom gland, forcing the venom to stream out of its fangs. The muscle can produce enough pressure to spray venom up to six feet. A new study is published in Physiological and Biochemical zoology. The lead for this study is author, Bruce Young, who is a director of the Anatomical Laboratory in the Department of Physical therapy in University of Massachusetts, Lowell. During his study, Dr. Young and his colleagues, Melissa Boetig and Dr. Westhoff found the secret to cobra's success. They found out that the cobra can maximize its chances of hitting the target. Cobra venom doesn't hit in one spot. Venom lands in complex geometric patterns and can hit the target 100% accurate from 60 meters. But when it does hit the eyes,  it causes severe pain and possibly blindness. 

new clues to childhood illness: Kawasaki Disease

Researches from UC San Diego School of medicine Department of Pediatrics, University of Western Australia, Genome Institute of Singapore , Emma Children's hospital, The Netherlands , and Imperial College London, UK all helped indentify new genes that involved in making some children more susceptible to kawasaki disease (KD.) Kawasaki disease is a serious illness that leads to artery disease. This disease is claimbed to run in families. It causes high fever, rash, red eyes and lips, swollen glands and hands, and feet with peeling skin. The researchers at University of California in San Diego are trying to understand the step by step development of disease and chain of events leading to it.http://brightsurf.com/news/headlines/42394/new_clues_to_mystery_childhood_illness_kawasaki_disease.html