Omega Meme- Directions

I’ve tagged students for the Omega Meme!

The rules are as follows:

Each player answers the six questions posted on this blog.

The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those answers are listed.

At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their blog names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


Then follow the instructions about adding a page element at omegascience.blogspot.com.

Just a little information...

Everything from here and up are blogs from 2007-2008.

Everything from here and down and blogs from last year, 2006-2007.

Ancient Shells Found in Morocco

Who: A team of scientists from Morocco, Britain, Germany, and France

What: Ancient shells were found in a limestone cave in Morocco by scientists. These shells were pierced as if meant to be strung on a necklace or bracelet around 82,000 years ago. The Moroccan government says that these shells were the oldest specimens ever found in Morocco. The symbols found on these special shells were ones that were used in Africa, 40,000 years before Europe was established.

When: June 6th, 2007.

Where: Morocco

Why: Scientists were searching for the reason why climate and landscape changes had affected humans a long time ago.

My Opinion: I think it's awesome that shells this old were found without too much damage! The symbols were still there, too. I think that being an archaeologist would be exciting because you find items from so long ago that you probably weren't expecting. I like being surprised!

Full story here.

Probe Built to Dig for Past Life on Mars

Who:: Groups of scientists at NASA built the probe

What:: A robotic probe has been designed. It will be able to fly to Mars on August 3 and reach the planet during May of 2008. The probe has been programmed to drill holes into the soil and collect soil and ice samples, taking pictures as well. The probe will then chemically analyze the soil and ice, sending results back down to Earth. With these results, scientists will be able to figure out if there had been life in the past on Mars.

When:: Probe leaves on August 3, 2007. Reaches Mars in May 2008, when scientists will get the results from the soil and ice testing.

Where:: The probe is being launched at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Why:: Scientists would like to find out in there has ever truly been life on our Red Planet.

My Opinion:: I think that it would be cool to find out that there had really been past life on Mars. I can't believe that Earth seems to be the only planet with life on it! And this might be a little dumb, but I think I just realized how the word 'martian' came to be. Martians are from Mars, right?! That's what I thought. So anyway, finding that there has been past life on Mars would be a really exciting event that would go down in history forever. I really hope that the tests show that there once was life there!

Article:: Here.

SOO BORED...so im writing this.

UGHH I FEEL AWFUL TODAY. i wanted to be able to do my blog assignment today...but i just dont feel like it. i think we have one due friday...am i right?? ok so anyway im out sick today. while i was at the Urgent Care i remembered that i was supposed to teach with my group for lit today! i was like oops. umm what else...oh yeah. remember when i broke/fractured my tailbone? ok well for some reason its been bothering me lately. its not as bad as it was when i broke/fractured it, but it hurts to run and stuff like that. so im out of gym this whole week, and ill have to do fitness testing next week i guess. and those of you who know me know i hate to run =P. so thats gonna be fun next week. -.- uhh...i guess thats all. comment or text me people! obviously im not gonna put my cell number on here, so if ya want it for some reason just ask in school. sooo.....yeah. ttfn!! <33

New Planet Discovered- Most Earth-Like Yet!

Who:: 11 European Astronomers (those were only the people who found the planet)
What:: A new planet was found by these astronomers. The planet has quite a few of the same living conditions as Earth. Some of these include having both day and night (well, one on each side of the planet), having warm and cold weather, just the right temperature- not too hot or too cold. Scientists also believe that there might even be a lot of water on the planet, which led to another shocking theory- is there actual life on this planet? Scientists are still trying to decide whether this is a true statement or not.
When:: April 26th. Isn't that today?!?
Where:: Uhh...not sure how to answer this one. I guess I'll just say it happened in outer space.
Why:: I'm pretty sure that while the Hubble Space Telescope was flying around space, it just kinda snapped the picture of the new planet and the astronomers saw it.
My Opinion:: OMG!! I think it's sooo cool that we might be able to house life on another planet! Even though you would weigh so much more on the new planet, you could have a birthday every 13 days!! =]!! That would be awesome. I really hope that scientists and astronomers find out more about this planet and its conditions. It would be the best place to go for our next family vacation!! =D

Here's the original article. <33

Orangutans Monkey Around With Video Games

Who:: Two orangutans

What:: These orangutans were found playing on a touch screen video game, using their lips and feet to play.

When:: April 13th of this year

Where:: Zoo Atlanta

Why:: Since the touch screen game is a screen mounted into a tree in the exhibit, these orangutans find it fascinating to go over and play with the screen. They can't seem to get enough of the game!

My Opinion:: This was adorable when I first read it! (Well, it still is) I knew that monkeys were smart animals, but I didn't know that they could play video games like these!! I copied and pasted a part of the article explaining what the games were. "In one game, orangutans choose identical photographs or match orangutan sounds with photos of the animals -- correct answers are rewarded with food pellets. Another game lets them draw pictures by moving their hands and other body parts around the screen. Printouts of their masterpieces are on display in the zoo." As you can see, orangutans are very smart animals. I love monkeys and they're sooo cute!!

I found the original post here.

Condor Eggs Found- Possible Return of Condor Birds!

Who:: Dr. Mike Wallace of the Zoological Society of San Diego and other colleagues
What:: A condor egg was found in a deserted eagle's nest
When:: The egg was found on March 25th
Where:: The nest and egg was found on a cliff in the Sierra San Pedro de Martir National Park, in the interior of Baja California
Why:: Scientists believe that the finding of the condor egg could mean that condor birds may return to Mexico and parts of the U.S. for the first time in around 75 years!
My Opinion:: As I was reading this story, I realized that it was similar to another story that I was going to do for one of my blogs. It was about the return of sea otters, I think, and it was saying how the animals had not been in New York for, like, 20 years or something. I thought that both of those stories, the one about the otters and this post, were very cute! I love animals and I am just glad that condor birds can once again live in our country (and Mexico).

I found the original article here! =)

Gregor Mendel

The study of heredity was first discovered by one man:: Gregor Mendel. I already knew some facts about him, like the following::

• He discovered heredity through pea plants while he was working outside
• He was named the "Father of Genetics" because of his experiment. He probably had no clue that his little test (taking a brush and wiping some pollen from one pea plant onto the other) would cause him to be a well-known scientist, even almost 300 years later.
• Mendel's work was not fully recognized until 1990, six years after the had died.

I also found a few new facts about Gregor Mendel. I went on Google and searched Gregor Mendel, and I went here and found a bunch of useful information. Like...

• I had no clue that he was born in Heinzendorf, Austria until I saw this.
• It took 34 years until other scientists proved that Mendel's theories were correct.

I actually feel a bit of sympathy for Mendel because practically nobody believed in his discoveries and thought he was making up a bunch of information. Today, we know that they are true, and since Mendel is dead nobody can give him any awards or congratulate him face to face. They also can't apologize for all of the doubts that they had in him. I think that Gregor Mendel must have been pretty strong and confident that he would continue with his theories even though very, very, very few people believed in him.

Assessment:: GM Salmon

In science class, we are doing assessment *as you all know*. My topic was on genetically modified, or GM, foods. Our group had to choose a food, so we chose salmon. I found out a lot of facts on GM salmon.

• Fox example, it can cause diseases and human health issues. Many scientists are still trying to decide whether it will be sold on the market.
• Also, the reason why fish farmers and scientists are working on altering the genes of salmon is so that the salmon will grow faster. At about the same age, the GM salmon are probably about double the weight and size of a normal salmon. If you go here, you can see the difference in size between a normal or a modified fish. I found this picture online and it was the best picture that I had seen where it really shows the difference.
• I learned by going to this site that GM salmon, if approved, might be on the market in 2008. That's less than a year away!

I do not think that GM salmon should be available on the market for anyone and everyone to see and buy. I think that with all of the risks associated with GM salmon, people who want it should be examined before-hand to make sure that they wouldn't have some kind of reaction from it. I probably won't end up trying it because I don't like fish, so I wouldn't know if it would taste any different once altered. I don't think that it will, but you never know!