Tuesday, June 22, 2010
How the oil spill affects animals
The oil penetrates up the structure of the plumage of birds, reducing its insulating ability, and so making the birds more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and lowers the ablity to float in the water. It also impairs birds' flight abilities to forage and escape from predators. As they attempt to preen, birds typically ingest oil that covers their feathers, causing kidney damage, altered liver function, and digestive tract irritation. This and the limited foraging ability quickly causes dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Hormonal balance alteration including changes in luteinizing protein can also result in some birds exposed to petroleum. Most birds affected by an oil spill die unless there is human help. Marine mammals exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways as seabirds. Oil coats the fur of Sea otters and seals, reducing its insulation abilities and leading to body temperature fluctuations and hypothermia. Ingestion of the oil causes dehydration and impaired digestions. Because oil floats on top of water, less sunlight penetrates into the water, limiting the photosynthesis of marine plants and phytoplankton. This, as well as decreasing the fauna populations, affects the food chain in the ecosystem.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Speed of light
The speed of light is recorded to be 299,792,458 meters per second which can simply be shortened to an approximate speed of 300,000 kilometers per second. The speed of light was defined rather recently, with its official discovery in 1975 when more precise instruments were created. Even way back in history, many scientists debated if light travelled instantaneously or merely very quickly. Even famous scienctists like Albert Einstein were also involved in the debate and as time passed more people began to prove that light's speed was finite. This discovery led to the limit to which miroprocessorscould operate at.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Gulf of Mexico oil spill

On the 20th of April, an oil spill broke out in the Gulf of Mexico due to methane gas from the well under high pressure shot up and out of the drill column marine riser, expanded onto the platform, and then ignited and exploded. Fire then engulfed the platform. On the 22th, a large oilslick started to pool over the former oil rig. On April 28, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that the leak was likely 5,000 barrels (210,000 US gallons; 790,000 litres) a day. The oil spill has resulted in enviromental disaster as over 400 differernt species of animals are at risk. This led to the decrease of people visisting beaches and fishing spots and an overall loss in tourism and also a further decrease in the fishing department. Overall, this oil spill had disrupted the lives of many innocent animals and this oil spill has led to many unforseen consequences.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
School work
My poem
School is a daily routine,
Everyday at 6am sharp,
Even before the sun is up,
Here we are already done.
We feel that school is such a bore,
School is indeed such a chore,
Parents say:"School's great, now go!"
We say:"Well, what do you know."
Late a minute demerit points we obtain,
At home, canes flash in our face
Next the computer's banned,
And we stay at home with nothing to do.
School is indeed a bore,
But it also on how we look at school,
School can also be fun,
If we give it the right treatment.
Teacher's teach us and give us a helping hand,
hey’re forever ready to listen and be a friend,
They are always ready for our questions,
And answer them with glee.
Some may see school as a torture chamber
Some cannot wait for the holidays in December
But it depends on how we look at school
Honestly, positively, school can be cool!
School is a daily routine,
Everyday at 6am sharp,
Even before the sun is up,
Here we are already done.
We feel that school is such a bore,
School is indeed such a chore,
Parents say:"School's great, now go!"
We say:"Well, what do you know."
Late a minute demerit points we obtain,
At home, canes flash in our face
Next the computer's banned,
And we stay at home with nothing to do.
School is indeed a bore,
But it also on how we look at school,
School can also be fun,
If we give it the right treatment.
Teacher's teach us and give us a helping hand,
hey’re forever ready to listen and be a friend,
They are always ready for our questions,
And answer them with glee.
Some may see school as a torture chamber
Some cannot wait for the holidays in December
But it depends on how we look at school
Honestly, positively, school can be cool!
Monday, May 24, 2010
School work
The Dummy (http://www.netpoets.com/poems/friends/1504002.htm)
by Michael Mack
In that forgotten part of town
Where wasted hopes and dreams abound,
A wrinkled man with life near end,
In hopes to have at least one friend,
Fashioned bits of wood and things
And made a dummy run by strings.
He sat alone for hours on end,
Conversing with his only friend
And found delight within the fact
That he controlled it's every act.
He told it how he never had
A chance, since all his luck was bad
Although he'd tried so to succeed -
The dummy nodded and agreed.
And how his journeys in romance
Had never given him a chance,
And wasn't it a crying shame
That he was always held to blame
When everyone knew, oh so well,
That life is but a living Hell,
Controlled by lust and power and greed?
The dummy nodded and agreed.
With patience that would rival saints,
That dummy sat through all complaints
And, with each little expert tug,
He'd droop his head or bow or shrug
And give some comfort to the man
Who held his lifelines in his hand
And helped to fill a lonely need
When he just nodded and agreed.
Senility increased with time
As did the old man's phantomime,
And feverish fingers pulled with glee
The dummy's dance of misery.
They never left each other's side
Until the day both stopped and died.
We found them lying, hand in hand,
The dummy - and his wooden friend.
The figurative language used in the poem was used to describe the narrator's close bond with the dummy which was his best friend and how both of htem cherished the bond between them.
The poet used personification and symbolism. The poet chose personification as he wanted to give the dummy a more live like character and how it helped the man tide over his troubles. The poet used the dummy to symbolise a true friend. A true who would stay by one's side in spite of the troubles they faced and give the person unwavering support for whatever the outcome is.
I like this poem as it potrays the actions and characterisitcs of a true friend who would constsntly stay by one's side in spite of their troubles.This poem, in my opinion, is very meaningful as it shows me to what extent a friend could go to constantly support and stand ny someone. This in my opinoin marks a true friend.
by Michael Mack
In that forgotten part of town
Where wasted hopes and dreams abound,
A wrinkled man with life near end,
In hopes to have at least one friend,
Fashioned bits of wood and things
And made a dummy run by strings.
He sat alone for hours on end,
Conversing with his only friend
And found delight within the fact
That he controlled it's every act.
He told it how he never had
A chance, since all his luck was bad
Although he'd tried so to succeed -
The dummy nodded and agreed.
And how his journeys in romance
Had never given him a chance,
And wasn't it a crying shame
That he was always held to blame
When everyone knew, oh so well,
That life is but a living Hell,
Controlled by lust and power and greed?
The dummy nodded and agreed.
With patience that would rival saints,
That dummy sat through all complaints
And, with each little expert tug,
He'd droop his head or bow or shrug
And give some comfort to the man
Who held his lifelines in his hand
And helped to fill a lonely need
When he just nodded and agreed.
Senility increased with time
As did the old man's phantomime,
And feverish fingers pulled with glee
The dummy's dance of misery.
They never left each other's side
Until the day both stopped and died.
We found them lying, hand in hand,
The dummy - and his wooden friend.
The figurative language used in the poem was used to describe the narrator's close bond with the dummy which was his best friend and how both of htem cherished the bond between them.
The poet used personification and symbolism. The poet chose personification as he wanted to give the dummy a more live like character and how it helped the man tide over his troubles. The poet used the dummy to symbolise a true friend. A true who would stay by one's side in spite of the troubles they faced and give the person unwavering support for whatever the outcome is.
I like this poem as it potrays the actions and characterisitcs of a true friend who would constsntly stay by one's side in spite of their troubles.This poem, in my opinion, is very meaningful as it shows me to what extent a friend could go to constantly support and stand ny someone. This in my opinoin marks a true friend.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Chemical combination of two or more elements
A compound is chemically combining two or more elements together to get another compound. A compound is the combination of two or more elements, to achieve a compound, the two or more elements would have to undergo chemical combination. Examples of chemical combinations include heating, passing an electric current through the elements. After combining both elements, they might posses the same charateristics as they did when the were in their element state. Several examples of compounds are water which is the combination of two hydrogen and one oxygen atom. All the different types of elements can be found in the periodic table. However, a mixture differs from a compound, a mixture is simply the combination of two or more elements together.One example would be the mineral water which can be bought from the supermarket. The water which are bought contains impurities there are simply added into the water to increase the nutrient content of the water. Mixtures, unlike compunds, do not have a fixed ratio of proportion that is required. The maker can add any amount of element in with the other. One example would be metal alloys.
Allotropy
Allotropy is the behaviour exhibited by elements. What it means is that the same element can exist in differnet forms. The atoms in these elements are bonded together in different patterns which cause them element to have different charateristics from each other. One example would be carbon atoms which can exist in two different forms which are diamond and carbon. Diamond is the harsdest substance in the world while carbon is one the softest substance in the world. The reason behind this is due to way they are bonded. The carbon atoms in pencil lead are bonded in a way such that there are layers and layers of carbon atoms above one another. After pressing and dragging it, we will get a black mark on the paper, this is why pencil lead is made of carbon. On the other hand, the carbon atoms in diamond are bonded together with each atom connected to at least three other atoms. This forms a shape in which one atom seems to be protected by many others. This allows diamond to become the hardest substance in the world. One more example of allotropy would be oxygen paticles. Two oxygen particles formed together would give us the oxygen that everybody is familiar of and three oxygen paricles would form ozone the gas that protects the Earth from harmful UV rays of the sun. These are some examples allotropy.
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