Are their aliens on Mars?

Many people question if there are aliens in space. Well, some scientists believe there are aliens on the planet Mars and are trying to prove their hypothesis. They have tried to send signals into space but there has been no reply. Then they decided to try a different method. A group of scientists went out to one of the hottest deserts in Chile called the Atacama Desert and tried to imagine how natural life would be able to survive in the heat. They tried testing it by placing a rover in the desert to learn how different objects can withstand the heat. They did this test to learn about hot areas and how there could be life in such a dry area. The rover, Zoe, was a test to learn about these conditions. The robot carries a bunch of solar cells on its back and its job is to collect energy from the sun. Robot Zoe just scans the land and sends data back to the researchers. Zoe has three different cameras that are located on it and they take pictures to send very detailed information back to the researchers. Each of the pictures tells what kind of land and minerals that the robot is roving on. The group of researchers believe that there is more to the desert than just the dirt, sky, and sun. They want to prove that there is a sign of life. If there was water on this desert, there would be a definite sign of life. Right now, however, the rover is still doing its job.

For more information and detailed pictures you can go to the following website.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20040922/Feature1.asp

Astroid may hit in 2036!

Can people on Earth move something as big as an asteroid if it is endangering our lives? Well, scientists and astronauts are now working on how to steer an asteroid away from the Earth using gravity. It is better to steer it away from Earth than destroy it completely. If this asteroid does hit then barely no one will survive. Scientists are now researching to see how many rocks have a larger width than 140 meters in diameter. So far they have found five thousand rocks. NASA is now watching Asteroid Apophis; it has a chance of one out of forty-five thousand that it will hit the Earth in 2036. One out of forty-five thousand sounds like a little but if it does hit, the consequences will be terrible. We have to try to come up with a way to stop it. Asteroid Apophis has a diameter width of 320 meters. This is not big enough to wipe out the world but it is big enough to wipe out a state or small country. Right now the asteroid is headed toward Africa. Using a spacecraft, we could give a little push on the Asteroid to steer it a little to the right or left and eventually, it would move far away from the earth. Using the spacecraft is better than firing explosives at it, because then the debris of the asteroid will affect the atmosphere. But no need to worry yet because as the years go on, technology will improve. The odds of it hitting the Earth will diminish over the years. So no need to worry unless researchers say it is time to worry. To research more about this asteroid visit the following website:

http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1852935.htm?space

Diamonds born in space?

This black diamond shown on above has been found to be born in space. Scientist say that this diamond was part of a star that exploded and is now dead. Scientists believe this because there were parts of the diamond that looked like they came from nitrogen and hydrogen in the black 'carbonado' diamonds. It seems that it wasn't found on land. One scientist says, " the molecules seem to reflect a mixture of gases seen in interstellar space." The black 'carbonado' diamonds are only found in Central African Republic and Brazil. The question is if the weather on earth or space causes the diamond to have a glaze around itself. Some scientists believe that this diamond was part of a formation of a star that was released into space after the star's explosion. Then it mixed up in the earths atmosphere and has been there ever since.In the future, it would be cool to hold a piece of a star in your jewelry everyday. Also,it is interesting to think that a star could be pretty enough to make a diamond like this.
To find more information about this great discovery go to the website listed below.
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1831109.htm?space

Punnet square for hamsters

The picture above is a punnet square which shows what color the baby of Pancakes and Midnight will be. Capital B means brown. Lowercase b means white. Midnight, a boy, is a purebred (BB) brown and is shown at the top. Pancakes, a girl, is shown on the side, and is a hybrid (Bb) brown. After you crossbreed the two, you can find out what color the offspring, Applejacks, will be. First, for box number one, you have to "multiply" B and B. Which gives you (BB). (BB) means it is purebred homozygous brown. Then you write (BB) in box number one. For box number two you have to "multiply" B and B which gives you (BB). (BB) means purebred homozygous brown. Then for box number three, "multiply" B and b. That gives you (Bb). (Bb) means that it is a hybrid heterozygous brown. Lastly, for box number four, you have to "multiply" B and b. That gives you (Bb) which is hybrid heterozygous brown. The phenotype or physical appearance of Applejacks will be 100% brown. This is because all of the offsprings traits have the dominant gene which is brown. Remember each small square in the big square is 25%.The only way a hamster could be white is if there are two recessive traits (bb). The genotype or genetic make up of this offspring would be 50% purebred homozygous (BB), pure brown and 50% hybrid heterozygous (Bb), brown because the dominant gene takes over. So to conclude this, Applejacks will be brown because of it's parents genetic make up. After you find out what Applejacks looks like you can try finding what her offspring looks like with another hamster. Even though this punnet square example is used to find out what a hamster's skin color is, punnet squares are also used to find out what color eyes, hair, and skin humans possess too. If you actually think about it you can predict how your baby would look like, although, you would have to know your genes in order to do this.

24 extra credit

On 24, CTU has a lot of high-technology knowledge and accessories. The CTU agents use computers which connect to satellite dishes. When Jack Bauer and his tact teams go in to catch Fayed, CTU has complete satellite access and can watch everything that happens to stop an attack. Sometimes Jack takes a small ear piece and puts it in his ear. These ear pieces use wireless technology. He can talk to his co-workers at CTU and the tact teams. The agents also have a program which can locate where people are hidden. It does this by detecting body heat. When Jack Bauer needs to interrogate his suspects, the doctors monitor body temperature and heart beat to make sure the suspects do not die. These are a few of the many kinds of scientific knowledge CTU takes advantage of while trying to stop terrorists.

Water found on Mars?

Was water found on Mars? Yes! There were signs and evidence of water found on Mars by a space craft. Scientists are still debating if there was water and if there are any signs of life. The orbiter shows "layers of dark- and light-toned rock in a giant rift valley." On the pieces of rock there are joints, or fractures lined up surrounded by "halos which is light- toned bedrock" say researchers. Some scientists say that around these halos are signs of water. One scientist said that "minerals in the fluid strengthen and bleach the rock making it more resistant to erosion than other areas." So a bleaching of a rock near a fracture shows that chemicals met one time or another. There may have been fluids flowing on Mars a couple of years ago or even maybe now! Exploring about how there may be another planet with living things is cool. Just like there were signs of water found on Saturn. Learning about outer space objects can be very interesting especially if there may be living things that you have never seen or heard about far away!

For more information about water on Mars go to the following website:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/02/15/mars.water.ap/index.html

DNA candy model

All science projects are fun right? Well no science project can be more fun than doing it with candy! Using candy is one of the most fun ways to make a visual because anyone can actually see and understand (see and understand what?). You can make this visual using gum drops or gummy bears, tooth picks, twizzlers which are cut into small pieces, and string. DNA is the information that carries one's genetic history. The DNA is found in the nucleus and it can strech for miles and miles long.This DNA model looks like a ladder. The two rails holding the ladder together are twizzlers that are strung on to a string. Then there are four toothpicks, each with two gumdrops on it throughout the " ladder". There are four different gumdrop colors: red, yellow, green, and orange. These four are the nitrogen bases that the DNA contains, in different orders. There is adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. Adenine always pairs up with thymine. (red and orange) and cytosine always pairs up with guanine . (yellow and green). There are many different pairs within every cell. That means no one has the same order and that is why everyone is unique and different. This is what makes each person special! This DNA model is awesome to make and eat. Also, this was the easiest way to understand how DNA works and how it is color coordinated.