Why do Chimps Eat Dirt?

Who: Chimpanzees.

What: Researchers studied chimps to find out why they eat dirt. Apparently, these animals have a good reason for eating dirt; it improves their health. According to research team led by Sabrina Krief, chimps eat dirt because "eating soil with their meals boosts the anti-malarial properties of plants the chimps eat." This means that the chance of a chimp getting a disease, like malaria, through a plant that they eat is slimmer than it usually would be. In other words, eating soil and plants one after the other will help boost a chimpanzee's health. So while devouring dirt as part of a meal may seem disgusting to us, to chimps it is a very healthy way of life.
When: The article was posted on the website below today, January 11th, 2008. However, the story will be published on an online journal sometime next week.

Where: Soil samples were taken and chimps' eating habits were studied at the Kibale National Park in Uganda.

Why: Scientists and researchers were interested and fascinated by the fact that chimpanzees eat soil either right before or after eating their normal meal of plants.

My Opinion: I thought this article was cool. First of all, I didn't even know that chimps ate soil in the first place. Second of all, I found it an odd and sort of random topic. Maybe that's why I chose to post a response about it on my blog! And third of all, chimpanzees are adorable and I love animals. =]

I found the article here.

Many Americans Googling Themselves =O

Who: 1,623 Internet users in the U.S.
What: 47 percent of American adults have admitted googling themselves, through either Google or other search engines. 53 percent of Americans have said that they have googled other people, excluding celebrities. Some of these people said that they aren't worried about the information posted about them on the web, while others were not comfortable with some of the stories written about them. About 4 percent of the users surveyed even stated that inaccurate or embarrassing information written about them have caused bad experiences in the real world. Women were shown to be more likely to search the person they were dating, but men and women are pretty much just as likely to search for themselves or another using a search engine. Few users say they Google themselves regularly, while most said that they only tried once or twice.
When: The survey was conducted last year between November 30th and December 30th.
Where: The information was collected by telephoning people living in the United States.
Why: My guess is that people were surveyed to find out how much the percentage has changed since 2002, when the percentage of self-Googling Americans was only 22 percent.
My Opinion: When I saw this article on the website below, I was thinking, "How much more random can you get?" I would never think to survey people and ask them if they Google themselves or not. I never thought of doing something like that; now that I've read this article, I actually might try Googling my last name! I've heard from others that some people out there in the world have the same last name as you, but I never actually tried finding out. Now I want to! This was an interesting article to read.

I found the article here.

Omega Meme- Answers

1. My favorite TV show is Degrassi. For those of you who don't know what that show is, I guess i can tell you that it's sort of like a Canadian teenage soap opera. =D. I love Degrassi because it teaches you some valuable life lessons, like the effects drugs can have on you and what will happen if you try to stop eating to lose weight. Almost every episode ends in something bad; at the same time, it makes the show more exciting. =]

2. My favorite meal would have to be french onion soup. Just french onion soup, nothing else. I could eat that as a meal by itself every day! I especially like having it at the Omega Diner. =]

3. My favorite nonschool activity is playing recreation basketball in the winter. Although I am not very good (which is why I only play rec), I love to go to practices and games every week. I like making friends from my team; last year, a girl who used to be in Omega was on it! I think that is actually the reason we became friends in the first place. I also love the feeling of walking outside into the freezing cold air after running around in a gym for a while. It feels awesome! That's my favorite afterschool/nonschool activity.

4. Someone I look up to is definitely my mom. She has been through a lot health-wise, but she has stayed strong the whole time. Honestly, during all of the pain she has gone through, I have only seen her cry once or twice. She is the strongest person I know, and that is why I admire her so much as not just a mother, but a role model.

5. My goal for the future is, well, not even decided yet. Obviously, I want to keep my grades high because if I do decide to go to college one day that will matter a lot. I really am not sure of what I want to do yet with my life when I'm older. I don't even know whether I want to go to college for a profession or not, or even if I want to start a family one day. Maybe in a few years or so I'll know, but as for now I am just really not sure.

6. In the first hour after school, I come home and sometimes grab a light snack and/or something to drink. Then I usually sit down and go online until about 4:30-5:00ish and then start my homework after that. =\. I know I should probably do my homework before talking on AIM, but I get it done eventually...isn't that all that matters?


I have tagged- Colourfuly, ____, ____, ____, ____, ____, ____, ____

IS THERE ANYONE WHO HASNT BEEN TAGGED YET?! I'll keep looking!

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.