Chupacabra caught in South Texas

A rancher in the South Texas town of Cuero reported nearly two months ago that she has caught the legendary chupacabra. Phylisis Canion said the animal had been living near her ranch for years now.The animal would sneak on to her ranch and kill animals in the middle of the night. It snatched cats at first, then chickens through a wired cage.

"[It] opened it reached in pulled the chicken head out, sucked all the blood out, and left the chicken in the cage," she said. Residents believe that the creature responsible is the legendary chupacabra. Its named translated into English means goat-sucker because the creature drinks the blood of livestock.

Canion also says that two other chupacabras have been sited in Cuero. All of them were reported to have blue-grey colored skin, no hair, and strange teeth. Although residents believe that Canion captured a chupacabra, scientists believe otherwise. State Mammalogist John Young believes that Canin merely caught a grey fox suffering from mange. Mange is a virus commonly found in animals that cause hair loss and skin discoloration. "When mange goes untreated it causes this type of reaction. they start to itch, lose all their hair, blue grey coloration. and the animal usually dies from it," he said. Except in this case a car is what killed the creauture. Scientists also took DNA samples in order to see if the creature was really a chupacabra. Until the results are finished, no one will know i the animal was truly the chupacabra

source
http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/073107kvuechupacabrafind-cb.cc11e691.html

More Evolution Debate

    On May 15, 2009 a new fossil was discovered that may change the way people see who we evolved from.  Before this fossil was found, it was believed that all humans evolved from an ancestor common to humans, apes and chimpanzees.  A fossil of a young female adapid was found looking very much like humans are believed to look like during their evolution.  A female adapid is a lemur, but this one wasn't like the ring-tailed lemurs we think of today.  This lemur was very different because it was missing two of three big components that normal lemurs would be guaranteed to have.  Normal lemurs have a tooth comb, which is a tooth for grooming fur, a groom claw (which is similar), and a wet nose.  While this lemur doesn't have the first two, we do not know if it has a wet nose.  This discovery will spark new debates regarding which animal we evolved from.

            I found this topic to be very interesting because I had always thought that humans had definitely evolved from apes.  I thought that because this information came out that the future generations will think about lemurs instead of how I thought about apes.  This relates to science (I think) because we will be studying about the life cycle and most likely evolution from whatever it is we truly evolved from.

~DW

source

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124235632936122739.html        

Speaking to the Blind

Audio Labels Speak to the Blind

Technology is applying scientific knowledge to improve people's lives. We are constantly thinking of ways to help people of all disabilities. In this case, recently a device called a PenFriend was designed to help blind people. This pen reads barcodes on labels which when scanned play mp3 recordings stored on the audio label. This new invention, designed by a charity of a London-based company, Mantra Lingua, is reasonably priced and very helpful. People are using it all over and have sent in letters about how pleased they are with this electronic pen. The way it works is by using optical identification technology on the labels which can be scanned by the tip of the PenFriend. The pen then triggers a spoken description of the item. The thought of running out of storage space is no problem at all as for this pen can hold up to 70 recordings and also music. This invention is so successful that it is going to be used for almost anything. Including clothing, packaging, personal journals, medicines, and much more! The PenFriend is going to help the lives of many people all thanks to science and technology.

This article relates to what we are studying in class because it has to do with physics such as building machines and electronic devices. It also deals with a huge part of technology which we also experience in Mr. Hazen's science class. In addition this article relates to how we learn about improving the quality of our lives through science. I chose this article because I have a particular interest with this writing piece and the things we learn in class relating to it. I also decided to write a blog on this article because it is also associated to NS's blog which also dealing with helping blind people. Although NS's article has to do more with human anatomy while mine involves more technology and electronics.

BY: M.S.
source http://www.rocketnews.com/2009/09/audio-labels-speak-to-the-blind/

Artic Region Melting

The article I picked is about the Arctic melting as an effect of global warming. It is a very sensitive environment and it is drastically changing because of the climate. The average temperature in the Arctic region is rising twice as fast than anywhere in the world. The polar ice cap itself is shrinking very fast. The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, the largest glacier in the world, started melting in 2000 and now has a crack right down the middle and will eventually break into pieces. This climate change is also affecting wildlife such as polar bears, seals, whales, and walrus. They are struggling to find food and are starving to death. The melting ice will also affect outside of the polar region. The water that comes from the melted ice caps will pour over and flood the continental plates. This is the worst possible thing that can happen. If this does happen, possibly all of humanity will die or almost all of it. We need to protect the Arctic or the consequences will be brutal.

I found this article interesting because it is going on today and people need to be aware of what is going on, because it will eventually affect us if we don't do something about it. Officials like Al Gore are trying to make a plan to save the Arctic, but there needs to be something done soon, or else polar bears will go extinct. Not only polar bears, but many other animals will be wiped off the face of the Earth. We have to stop the ice caps from melting or all of humanity will be destroyed.

source http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp

Red (well, more like Burnt Orange) Planet

In recent studies, scientists have been inquiring about the nature of the red color that envelops the planet we call Mars (aka the Red Planet). According to reports from a Mars rover, there was once large pools of brackish water (water with a decent amount of salt in it, although not as much as sea water), and a warm and wet environment on Mars. Most scientists believed that the soil became red due to rust caused by oxygen from water and iron oxide from soil.

     However, John Merrison of Aarhus University disagrees. He claims that Mars should look black because most of the rock on Mars is basalt, which is black. To test his theory, he filled flasks with sand and sealed them to ensure that they stay dry. Then, he put them in a tumbler to mimic the erosion the rocks on Mars faced. In months, the sand changed to a red hue. His theory is that the chemical composition of the dust was changed due to friction, becoming rich with iron oxide (hematite). This may prove that there was never a lot or any water on Mars.

     I found this article interesting because it is an acceptable explanation of Mars' red color. Although his experiment isn't perfect in proof, it actually seemed very likely to me. This experiment also changes a lot about what we believed about Mars. The fact that he didn't need water to create the reddish color that we see when we look up at the Red Planet may in fact prove that there really wasn't any water on Mars. This could affect any future discoveries or theories about the history of Mars.

RT
source http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2009/09/red-mars-black-mars.html

Robots Replace Scientists

Have you ever heard of a robot that can do complicated experiments on its own without human intervention?

Well, this is exactly what a British science team lead by Ross King uncovered at Aberystwyth University in Wales. Adam the robot lab whiz has perfected the whole scientific process. This robot can formulate hypotheses and run experiments all on its own. It is like a full lab group. Scientists believe this super robot could discover the cure for malaria and solve gene disorders faster than humans can. Most scientists believe robots will take over the experimenting task from the scientists, leaving the scientists to focus on solving problems and spend less time and money on routine, repetitive tasks. As King puts it, "There will be teams of robots and humans, but I believe that to work correctly, there always be a need from both teams to help each other with the experiment."

by KE source

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/robotscientist/

Laser Eye Surgery, How does it work?

Laser eye surgery has become more and more popular since it was first introduced over twenty years ago. Most patients that had this surgery were very happy with their results. Some people even said it was the best investment of their life. My big question is why do people say it is dangerous, how does it really work?

The First step to this procedure is for you to go to an ophthalmologist who will examine your eyes to assure you are suitable for this treatment. Once you get cleared by your doctor, either they or an ophthalmic surgeon will do the procedure.

Surprisingly, the surgery does not appear to be too complex. There are many different procedures, but the most common is LASIK eye surgery. In LASIK surgery, the first thing your ophthalmologist will do is give you a local anesthetic to numb your eye ball. A laser is used to make a thin circular flap in the cornea. The surgeon then folds the flap back and removes some corneal tissue using a different laser. The laser also reshapes the cornea while removing some tissue. Once the cornea is reshaped the flap is flipped back into place. This results in improved vision and often vision correction is no longer needed.

I decided to blog about LASIK eye surgery because of NS's blog of the tooth in the eye surgery. Mr. Hazen complimented MS for relating her blogpost to NS so I thought I'd do so too.

by ZS
My first resource-http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/lasik.htmhttp://ezinearticles.com/?LASIK---How-Does-This-Laser-Eye-Surgery-Work?&id=27418

My second resource-

http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/lasik.htm

ZS