Monday, January 19, 2009
When Death is Defied-JC
Jessica Keenan is getting married on the 24 of January and has breast cancer. This society called the Dream Foundation is helping her to get over her illness so she can get married. Unfortunately for her, she cannot afford the wedding because the money has been "sapped by her cancer battle". I think that with a good attitude that she will be ale to have the wedding and get over her Stage 4 breast cancer.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
What a pilot!
On Thursday afternoon, a U.S. jetliner with 150 passengers (155 people) lost power from both engines due to a flock of birds. The birds found their doom (the jet engines) three minutes after taking off from the La Guardia Airport. The only reason that prevented the low-flying/gliding plane from flying/gliding/crashing into buildings like a terrorist attack was the pilot's quick thinking. He knew that without engines he couldn't get back to the airport. He landed in the Hudson river although the water was almost freezing—some people had to go to the E.R. because of hypothermia—All 150 passengers and all 5 crew members made it out alive. (So that's what they do in NY when we get home from school!)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Please Stay Ms. Mickalski
Ms. Mickalski is leaving to Philadelphia because she gets to live in a glorious house and gets to finish her novel called "My Book of Secrets". Let me explain her to you. She's like your favorite holiday, favorite food and breakfast, and favorite comedian mix in a teacher who makes school fun. If your reading this please comment and say if Ms. Mickalski should stay or go.
Torture in the Court!-JC
A Guantanamo detainee named Mohammed al-Qahtani who is sometimes described as "the twentieth hijacker" during the terrorist attacks of 2001 was given the torture penalty when he was on trial. The military prosecutors actually almost went for execution. I personally feel that although it is a vicious thing to do, he did break the law!
Battle In Gaza
Apparently there is a very big battle going on between Israel and Hamas over a narrow strip of strip of land called Gaza. There was a six month truce between them but then Hamas blamed Israel for continuing raids in Gaza and Israel blamed Hamas for firing rockets at their cities. Many people were killed and so far an estimated 1023 were killed. I think that it is weird to be fighting for so little land! -Ivy
Monday, January 12, 2009
Scientists map DNA of prehistoric animal by Marielle
By Azadeh Ansari
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/19/mammoth.dna/index.html?iref=newssearch)
November 19, 2008
I cannot believe it. Scientists at Penn State University found some DNA of a woolly mammoth. I think that is so cool. They figured out that the woolly mammoth’s DNA is almost just like the modern African elephant. They do look like elephants.
They found the DNA in some hair - woolly mammoth hair to be exact. The hair looks like a big fuzz ball. In the hair, the DNA was all separated, and they had to put it back together. "It's like a mirror that you smash on the floor. Then, like a jigsaw puzzle, you try to piece the DNA back together," said Stephan Schuster, a Penn State University biochemistry professor and co-author of the research.
They might be able to make a real-life one. "It could be done," said Stephan Schuster. "The question is, just because we might be able to do it one day, should we do it?" I think we should, because if we do, who says that it will run around wild and be too much for the elephants to handle. The mommy elephant will probably just treat it like a regular elephant baby. It will probably act just like the other elephants, and it would be awesome to see a real live woolly mammoth.
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/19/mammoth.dna/index.html?iref=newssearch)
November 19, 2008
I cannot believe it. Scientists at Penn State University found some DNA of a woolly mammoth. I think that is so cool. They figured out that the woolly mammoth’s DNA is almost just like the modern African elephant. They do look like elephants.
They found the DNA in some hair - woolly mammoth hair to be exact. The hair looks like a big fuzz ball. In the hair, the DNA was all separated, and they had to put it back together. "It's like a mirror that you smash on the floor. Then, like a jigsaw puzzle, you try to piece the DNA back together," said Stephan Schuster, a Penn State University biochemistry professor and co-author of the research.
They might be able to make a real-life one. "It could be done," said Stephan Schuster. "The question is, just because we might be able to do it one day, should we do it?" I think we should, because if we do, who says that it will run around wild and be too much for the elephants to handle. The mommy elephant will probably just treat it like a regular elephant baby. It will probably act just like the other elephants, and it would be awesome to see a real live woolly mammoth.
Christmas with No Presents?
Colin “No Impact Man” Beavan
From Yes magazine, Issue 48 – Winter 2009
By Marielle Bardon
Christmas with no presents? Oh, no! That’s what I thought when I saw this article. But for Colin and his family they are perfectly fine with no presents and they still have all the things that we all love at Christmas like food, music and family. The reason they didn’t have presents is that “we could go a long way toward dealing with the crisis in our planetary habitat if we found a way to avoid those uses that don’t improve our lives—like the packaging that comprises 40% of trash in landfills.” If we didn’t drive to all those stores, then we wouldn’t be putting all those emissions in the air, and we wouldn’t have to pay extra money and have to store all those gifts that you do not want at Christmas.
If I didn’t have presents at Christmas I would be sad. But that’s only my opinion. I love the feeling of waking up and seeing all the cookies and milk gone in the morning, and looking at all the presents under the Christmas tree. I love presents on Christmas day.
From Yes magazine, Issue 48 – Winter 2009
By Marielle Bardon
Christmas with no presents? Oh, no! That’s what I thought when I saw this article. But for Colin and his family they are perfectly fine with no presents and they still have all the things that we all love at Christmas like food, music and family. The reason they didn’t have presents is that “we could go a long way toward dealing with the crisis in our planetary habitat if we found a way to avoid those uses that don’t improve our lives—like the packaging that comprises 40% of trash in landfills.” If we didn’t drive to all those stores, then we wouldn’t be putting all those emissions in the air, and we wouldn’t have to pay extra money and have to store all those gifts that you do not want at Christmas.
If I didn’t have presents at Christmas I would be sad. But that’s only my opinion. I love the feeling of waking up and seeing all the cookies and milk gone in the morning, and looking at all the presents under the Christmas tree. I love presents on Christmas day.
Dance in science by Marielle
Contest Puts Scientists' Bodies In Motion
National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Science Out of the Box, November 22, 2008 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97356050
This story was about a dance contest with people’s PhDs. The students had to make up a dance about their PhD dissertations. “I have to admit my primary motivation was just the hilarity of it, and I was surprised and delighted to see that at least half of these dances are rather moving. They’re serious stuff. And so the idea is that the public will be engaged with science at a level they usually don’t encounter it,” said John Bohannon, a correspondent for Science magazine and the creator of “Dance your PhD”, a dance contest to see who can make up the best dance for their PhD.
How would you like to dance your PhD? I would love it, because I would be able to express what I thought my PhD looked like off of paper. I saw some dances that were very creative, but some didn’t look like they had put much effort into it. My favorite was “Hydrodynamic Trail Detection in Marine Organisms", because it has so much movement, and also because it looks like they put lots of effort into it. I love the shark, because it is so cool how she climbs up on the ribbon, and she is so beautiful and flexible. “Mr. Whiskers” is very funny. I’m not sure what he is, but I think he is a catfish. That is one of the videos that I recommend for you to look at. If you want to look at it, just press this link: Hydrodynamic Trail Detection in Marine Organisms
One of my least favorites was Brian Stewart’s "Refitting repasts: a spatial exploration of food processing, cooking, sharing and disposal at the Dunefield Midden campsite, South Africa " ( University of Oxford , 2008). It did not have that much effort, but if you want to see it, here is another link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRoSk_6pyp8&feature=PlayList&p=E5CA8590F580962D&index=0 I think you should check out other ones, and see which one you like the best.
Maybe I should do it for a science project.
National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Science Out of the Box, November 22, 2008 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97356050
This story was about a dance contest with people’s PhDs. The students had to make up a dance about their PhD dissertations. “I have to admit my primary motivation was just the hilarity of it, and I was surprised and delighted to see that at least half of these dances are rather moving. They’re serious stuff. And so the idea is that the public will be engaged with science at a level they usually don’t encounter it,” said John Bohannon, a correspondent for Science magazine and the creator of “Dance your PhD”, a dance contest to see who can make up the best dance for their PhD.
How would you like to dance your PhD? I would love it, because I would be able to express what I thought my PhD looked like off of paper. I saw some dances that were very creative, but some didn’t look like they had put much effort into it. My favorite was “Hydrodynamic Trail Detection in Marine Organisms", because it has so much movement, and also because it looks like they put lots of effort into it. I love the shark, because it is so cool how she climbs up on the ribbon, and she is so beautiful and flexible. “Mr. Whiskers” is very funny. I’m not sure what he is, but I think he is a catfish. That is one of the videos that I recommend for you to look at. If you want to look at it, just press this link: Hydrodynamic Trail Detection in Marine Organisms
One of my least favorites was Brian Stewart’s "Refitting repasts: a spatial exploration of food processing, cooking, sharing and disposal at the Dunefield Midden campsite, South Africa " ( University of Oxford , 2008). It did not have that much effort, but if you want to see it, here is another link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRoSk_6pyp8&feature=PlayList&p=E5CA8590F580962D&index=0 I think you should check out other ones, and see which one you like the best.
Maybe I should do it for a science project.
Aging Presidents - by Marielle
“Advice to Obama on battling presidential aging”, Source: CNN | Added January 6, 2009
We all know how regular people age – one year passes, they age one year. But for presidents, one year passes, they age two years. Dr. Michael Roizen says it’s because of stress. When you become president, there are lots of things to think about and when you are stressed, sometimes it can make you age faster. And also, eating unhealthy foods can be bad for you.
Luckily, Barack Obama is not one of those people. He is actually quite fit, He plays basketball. And although George Bush still did age, he has cat-like reflexes. "I mean, did you see him dodge that shoe?" said David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health magazine. I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that was pretty funny.
I think that Obama is going to handle the aging problem better than the other presidents because he is one of the youngest presidents we’ve ever had. Since his family is going to be in Washington with him, I think he will be more chilled. NO DRAMA OBAMA!!
If you want to see the video on this story, go to http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/06/presidential.health.aging/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo
We all know how regular people age – one year passes, they age one year. But for presidents, one year passes, they age two years. Dr. Michael Roizen says it’s because of stress. When you become president, there are lots of things to think about and when you are stressed, sometimes it can make you age faster. And also, eating unhealthy foods can be bad for you.
Luckily, Barack Obama is not one of those people. He is actually quite fit, He plays basketball. And although George Bush still did age, he has cat-like reflexes. "I mean, did you see him dodge that shoe?" said David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health magazine. I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that was pretty funny.
I think that Obama is going to handle the aging problem better than the other presidents because he is one of the youngest presidents we’ve ever had. Since his family is going to be in Washington with him, I think he will be more chilled. NO DRAMA OBAMA!!
If you want to see the video on this story, go to http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/06/presidential.health.aging/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The First Governor of Illinois to be Impeached
On Friday, January 9 Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached. He was impeached because he was found trying to sell Obama's seat for Senator. He went to trial and he was quite confident that he would retain his seat as Governor. "I am confident that at the end of the day I will be properly exonerated," were his exact words. (They roughly translate to: I am sure that at the end of the day I will be found innocent!) The State House of Representatives took less than 1 hour and 30 minutes to vote. They voted 114 against 1 to remove Blagojevich's seat as Governor. This makes him the first Governor of Illinois to be impeached! Source: NYT
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Solved but Unsolved (Source: nytimes)
The economic CRISIS is familiar to everyone. It affects businesses, people, demands, and much more. One question everyone and everything wants to know is... HOW DO WE GET OUT! We heard several times that new president Barack Hussein Obama says he'll get us out of the situation. He said he'll say more by February because he is working on weighing the options right now. Until he does, we can't believe him no matter how much we want to. One of my favorite expressions is "easier said than done". That definatly applies here. His risky plan could easily backfire and send us farther into the CRISIS. This graph sows how Obama will spend loads of dough on creating jobs. He thinks it will remove our deficit over time. For example, he will spend money on freeways creating jobs and improving freeways at the same time. This may seem great but the expenses of doing this will make 2009 a harsh year but after that it should lighten up a little. Whatever he does I think I speak for everyone when I say he better get us out of the CRISIS!(I hope so, it's difficult doing scary words ;-)
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