space wine

source http://www.g4tv.com/videos/57063/the-daily-feed-with-sara-underwood-12512/

the new chilean wine "meteorita" is fermented with a 4.5 billion year old south american meteorite. sounds expensive. very, very expensive. the meteorite is supposed to give the wine a "livelier taste." Honestly i think they're just doing it to get ALOT of money.

this doesn't really affect the world in any way other than letting rich people have another way to show off. Sofar there is no news on a price, but i bet its expensive. personally, I'd rather have a car. a nice car. probobly an italian car. or maybe german.

Solar Thermal

Resource: http://www.solardev.com/SEIA-makingelec.php

Solar energy is using the sun's energy to create electricity to power our electronics. Solar thermal energy is one type of using the sun for energy. This type of energy is revolved around redirecting the sun's heat to boil water. It then creates steam that will spin or push some kind of mechanism such as a turbine. The great thing about this type of energy plant is it can store the energy that the sun gives. This means it can generate power during any time of the day such as day, night, cloudy, or even raining. There are some different ways that the sun's energy is redirected. One of the mechanisms is a "power tower" which follows the sun and has mirrors that capture the sun's rays to boil water. Another type is like a pipe that is used to capture the sun's energy and it is picked up by circulating oil through the pipe.

Solar energy may be the next type of energy humans rely on. Our fossil fuels are hurting our earth faster and faster. Solar thermal energy has gotten a better chance for taking over. Molten salts which retains a large amount of heat can help store the heat for anytime. It can be held even throughout the night and it can help assist circulating the energy when needed. This may be the start of a new frontier of energy.

"WE'RE GOING TO MARS!"

source http://www.g4tv.com/videos/57082/the-daily-feed-with-sara-underwood-12612/

while previously an organic life form, such as yourself, could view mars using google EARTH, a computer program allowing people to view earth (obviously), the moon, and mars; But now NASA is allowing us normal squishy human beings who dont have high paying jobs at NASA to view the surface of mars in more detail than ever before. you can explore areas also explored by rovers in great detail.

This is cool because by the time people are going to mars, you will be a wrinkly old person who watches tv all day and cant be bothered to get up and go to the toilet when nature calls. with this you can explore mars from the comfort of your bathroom, which you can still get to without the help of a young whipper snapper.

Colloidal Silver

Colloidal Silver is a liquid that has many medical uses. It helps boost your immune system, fights bacteria, viruses, fungus, and even acne! Back in ancient Greece, the Greeks noticed that silver helped with many things, so they used it...a lot. They coated their food and drink ware with it, they would even put it in their milk to help keep it "good" without refrigeration. Did you ever wonder why silverware was made from silver? Well, now you know! Colloidal Silver is made by putting a silver rod in water, and electrifying the rod. Odd isn't it?

LEGOs in SSSSSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

source http://www.g4tv.com/videos/57115/the-daily-feed-with-sara-underwood-13012/

recently some canadians (eh) have sent a LEGO into SSSSSSSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEE! and to quote the lovely Sara Jean Underwood, "they sent up a balloon and got publicity without faking a child being in it!" Unfortunatley the facts portion of the blog will be short because there isn't much to say other than "recently some canadians (eh) have sent a LEGO into SSSSSSSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEE!" either way though, it's still awesome.

This event, in my opinion, is pretty awesome. I am now considering doing it myself. This event will help aspiring young astronauts to learn about the atmosphere, and the troubles faced when trying to pass it.

Nervous system

Do you know how your friend pinches you and you get that sharp pain up your arm? Or how your wife rubs your back and that tingling makes it's way around? None of that would be possible without nerves. Nerves are those things you hear about that send impulses to your brain, and your brain sends back feeling. How does the impulse get to your brain? How does your brain send the feeling back? What is the impulse and feeling? All very valid questions. An impulse takes the form of a type of electricity, which travels up through the nerves and to your brain. Your brain interprets the impulse very quickly, and sends back chemicals, which travel inside of your nerves, and back to the location of the impulse start. In order for the chemicals to get there, you need nerve synapses. These are little tiny gaps between your nerves that contain the "guns" and "receivers" of the chemicals. Nerves also have a sheath covering them. Think of it as a cord. A cord is a bunch of metals wires wrapped in a rubber, or plastic, or whatever material sheath. This speeds up the process of the signal or impulse getting from point A to point B.

Covalent Bonds

Resource: http://misterguch.brinkster.net/covalentcompounds.html

Covalent bonds are one of the types of bonds found between elements. Its different from ionic bonds because these elements don't take electrons. Why would this bond not take electrons tho? It is a good question and the reason is the electronegativity. First of all, all elements want to reach eight valence electrons, and it becomes unusually stable such as the noble gases. The element's electronegativity is the pull it has on other electrons to fulfill the octet rule. Covalent bonds are different because it shares electrons. Two nonmetals will usually be the two elements combing with each other. Electronegativity takes it affect because if both have roughly the same amount of it, then the two elements must share than steal because neither can steal from one another. A property that can differ from ionic bonds are a much lower melting and boiling point. This is because ionic bonds need to be melted all the way because of their negative and positive charges, but covalent bonds are not that tightly packed and requires much less energy to make physical changes. Another property is covalent bonds are more flammable. It is because of the specific bondings of carbon and hydrogen atoms. These two properties are usually true for covalent bonds, but there can be exceptions to these rules.

I found this web page rather interesting especially for covalent bonds. It was very informative and told me the important parts of any kind of information. If anyone were curious in covalent bonds, this would be the first place I'd tell them to look. The different bonds are important to know because our industries help create useful materials from making bonds of different elements. This knowledge is another tool for a productive use in our everyday lives.

Heat and Cold

Have you ever touched a hot surface? It burns. You learned that when you touched the stove, jerked back, and screamed, "OUCH!" At which point, your mother replied, "bet you won't do that again will ya?" Or have you ever gotten ice stuck to your lip or tongue and it starts to "burn?" That hurts too! But the question is: what makes things hot or cold? It's all relative to the atoms, and how fast they're moving, and how close together they are. The faster they move and the farther apart they get, that's hot! The slower they move, and the closer they are, that's cold. Everything has a melting point and freezing point. Take water for example. Water, as we all know, freezes at 32 degrees F, or 0 degrees C, and 273 degrees K. The boiling point of water is 212 degrees F, 100 degrees C, or 373 degrees K. F stands for fereinheit, C stands for Celsius, and K stands for Kelvin. K is used to determine absolute zero. 0 K is when all atoms stop moving. That's at -460 degrees F! Wow, that's cold! Do you realize how the hoter something gets, the less dense it gets? That's due to the loosness of the atoms. It's like a snowball. When you just have snow, it will fall between your fingers. When you mash it together, it becomes hard, and enjoyable to through at people. Look at water. The more dense and cold it is, it's ice. The less dense it becomes, it turns into liquid water, and then water vapor. The same thing can happen to your blood, so don't go getting stuck in a blizzard!

Chemistry of Humor

"Ahahaha!" Humor, how hilarious! What an odd noise-laughter. Humor, where does it come from? It comes from our brain, and the hormones of humor. Humor is a very unknown topic. Theories do exist though. Theories derived from psychology, which usually state humor as a healthy thing. Spiritual theories, which say humor is a "gift from god" and other theories that believe humor is a mystery, saying that humor is a "mystical happening." What has been made certain, based on past experiences, which you may have noticed yourself, include: surprise, timing, contradiction/paradox, etc. This can also include exaggeration. It is often said by studys "to make one laugh easily, you may exaggerate the topic to absurdity, and unthinkable lengths." Theories exist, but again, humor is a very unknown topic. But, have a good hardy laugh. It's fun!

maple syrup

Mmmm! Maple syrup! Well, I don't like it, but a lot of you out there probably do! Maple syrup is made from the xylem sap from sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees. These trees carry starch (C6H10O5) which turns into glucose sugar (C6H12O6). This sugar rises in the sap, but sap can also be accessed by boring a hole through the trunk and excreting the sap through that hole. And that's how maple syrup is made. But, did you know that their is such thing as healthy maple syrup? There are different grades of maple syrup. The US uses a grade system that includes grade A and grade B. Grade B is a darker, less refined, and healthier syrup. It doesn't taste as sweet, but it definitely holds the maple flavor as said by many. It is also used in what is called the "lemonade diet" This diet is solely a liquid diet, in which you can only drink "lemonade". This lemonade consists of water, lemon juice, grade B maple syrup, and kayan pepper.

Magnetic Soap!

Scientists from Bristol University have made a different kind of soap. Not the one you would generally use in the bath tub or the shower, but maybe for oil spills. It could also revolutionize cleaning products we use in everyday to clean our house. Ever since oil spills have been occurring, scientists have been trying to find a soap that could attract oils. Bristol University has been handling with the science of soap for some time now. They have made experiments where the soap is sensitive to light, carbon dioxide, pH levels, temperature, and more. These magnetic soaps are composed of iron rich soaps that when in contact with a water solution make a magnetic field around its area.

aliens

sourcehttp://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/will-the-aliens-be-nice-dont-bet-on-it/?scp=2&sq=aliens&st=cse

aliens. some of the world thinks that they dont exist, some think they're going to help us, and hollywood thinks they will use us for after 8 mints. the... study states hollywood maybe be right on this one. remember what happened to the aztecs? the reason i put 3 dots before "study" is because im reluctant to call this a study, because this isn't really a thing you can study. anyway...

through out human history, we can see that humans are jerks. we travel, find a less advanced tribe and/or species and we either wipe them out, enslave them, or eat them. while the aliens may see us as a invredibly varied species and befriend some of us who aren't jerks, such as the people from top gear, and do the other things listed above to those who are, such as the people from jersey shore. honestly, in my opinion, that would be the best outcome.

throwing cats out of planes

sourcehttp://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/22/science/on-landing-like-a-cat-it-is-a-fact.html?scp=1&sq=cats%20falling&st=cse

cats are often known for always landing on their feet, and being really good at climbing. but did you know that you could throw a cat out of a plane and it would survive? while no, there aren't really messed up and emotionally dead researchers somewhere out there throwing cats out of planes, studies have shown that cats can survive a terminal velocity fall, AKA a fall out of a plane... or even a satalite. the cat is able to do this by opening up it's skin flap things in order to glide like a flying squirell. or like this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttz5oPpF1Js

this is, in my opinion, fairly awesome. If I could do this i would do it ALOT. infact as soon as i am old enough to do that I WILL. anyway... i dont really see this impacting most of society except people who live in high rise apartments looking for pets.

Chocolate

Chocolate is a widely known and loved sweet. This is for a specific reason too. Chocolate contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is not only in chocolate, but it is released in our brain during, let's just say, pleasurful moments. Tryptophan is the "chemical of sex". Many people will say, and you've probably heard, "chocolate is better than sex!" What they mean, revolving chemistry, is, "chocolate has tryptophan, and that's associated with sex, so I LIKE IT!" After-all, men do get women chocolates now and then. Is this just their scheme? Or is it coinsidence? Or maybe, they just know how much women like it. Tryptophan my friends, is in chocolate, so chocolate is an amazing wingman!

The effects of music

Almost everyone loves music. It can be relaxing, it can wake you up. It can be stimulating, or it can be soothing. No matter how you like music, or what genre, it plays a part on your own brain. Bet you didn't know that, did you? Music is a very powerful tool on your brain. The chemistry of your brain involves hormones, endorphans, chemicals, etc. Music can actually stimulate or sooth these aspects. The next time you listen to music, listen for the calming, music that will put you to sleep, or the up-beat, music that will wake you up. You never know what might make your day.

Stainless steel

stainless steel an alloy that is a material made from two or more separate elements alloyed or "melted" together.

uses.
In the home:

· Cutlery, dishes and other tableware

· Kitchen sinks

· Pans and cookware

· Ovens and barbeques

· Garden equipment and furniture


In the town:

· Bus shelters, telephone booths and other street furniture

· Building facades

· Lifts and escalators

· Subway trains and station infrastructure


In industry:

· Equipment for the manufacture of food products and pharmaceuticals

· Plant for the treatment of potable and waste water

· Chemical and petro-chemical plant

· Components for automotive and aero engines

· Fuel and chemical tankers

Stianless steel is a major part of modern life and is an essential part of industry and American life.

Reference: http://www.worldstainless.org/About+stainless/What+is/Intro/

Magnetite

Magnetite is an oxide of iron. When you see sparks from welding operations or from iron striking a hard surface, rapid oxidation of iron particles turns it into Magnetite. Magnetite is a natural magnet that was first discovered by a Greek sheapard nmed Magnes who saw his shoe nails stuck to a rock containing magnetite.

•Color is black.
•Luster is metallic to dull.
•Transparency: Crystals are opaque.
•Crystal System is isometric; 4/m bar 3 2/m
•Crystal Habits are typically octahedrons but rarely rhombododecahedron and other isometric forms, most commonly found massive or granular. Twinning of octahedrons into spinel law twins is seen occasionally.
•Cleavage is absent although octahedral parting can be seen on some specimens.
•Fracture is conchoidal.
•Hardness is 5.5 - 6.5
•Specific Gravity is 5.1+ (average for metallic minerals)
•Streak is black.
•Associated Minerals are talc and chlorite (schists), pyrite and hematite.
•Other Characteristics: Magnetism stronger in massive examples than in crystals, striations on crystal faces (not always seen).
•Notable Occurrences include South Africa, Germany, Russia and many localities in the USA.
•Best Field Indicators are magnetism, crystal habit and streak.

Reference:http://www.galleries.com/Magnetite

new elements

source:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/science/earth/09elements.html?_r=1&ref=chemistry

recently the periodic table of elements got 2 more elements. known with the very creative names of "element 116" and "element 114" the two new elements were created in labs. and people say alchemy is dead. what i dont get is if in a lab they dont know what they're going to get and they get it, but if they're going for something specific, say gold, they cant get it. as Bill O'Rielly once said "you cant explain that!"

in my opinion unless the element can be sustained outside the lab, it wont really change anything. now if we can get it out of the lab and use it for something then it would be worth some attention but for now it's a lost cause.

Carbon planet

source:http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/25/us-planet-diamond-idUSTRE77O69A20110825

Recently, astronomers have found a planet made entirely out of condensed carbon. For those of you who dont know why that is significant, condensed carbon is more commonly known as diamond. FLIPPIN' DIAMOND!

In my opinion, this is really awesome. If for some reason we are in high demand for diamond by the time we have the technology to get there, I think that problem will no longer be a problem. There is also oxygen on the planet so maybe, a future celeb and/or president vacation spot?

Iron

Resource: http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele026.html

Iron has been around for as long as ancient men can remember. If there's something we understand about the periodic table, it's iron. For starters, iron's chemical symbol comes from the Anglo Saxon name of iron, ferrum. The atomic number for iron is 26, and it has an atomic weight of 55.845. As we know it is solid at room temperature, and it is classified as a metal. Iron is very abundant and very cheap. The melting point of iron is 2800 F, and it's boiling point is 5182 F. As with most metals, iron conducts electricity and heat well. Also, the electron configuration goes all the way to 4s2.

Iron has been around for quite a while. Humans have used, and it was on of the first elements to be used. Iron is basically used today to create steel. Steel is an alloy of carbon and iron. The amount of Carbon put into steel is about .3% to 1.5% depending on what the desired traits are. Also, adding other elements will give useful properties for the right job. Sometimes chromium is added for better durability and corrosive resistance. This is called stainless steel. Iron has it's place in modern days and I see that we as humans will be using it for years to come.

Ionic vs Covalent Bonds

Resource: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Covalent_Bonds_vs_Ionic_Bonds

There are different types of bonds. Specifically there are three, but that's for another blog. The two types that will be spoken about are Ionic and Covalent bonds. Covalent bonds consist of pairs of electrons shared by two atoms and they are bonded in a fixed orientation. Ionic bonds steal or gain electrons to make a bond which creates a cation or an anion. To compare the two, first of all, covalent bonds have a low polarity and ionic bonds have a high polarity. Also, covalent bonds are formed by chemically bonding between two non metallic atoms which share each other's electrons while ionic bonding takes usually a metallic and non metallic atom which will either remove electrons or gain them. Covalent bonds will always have a definite shape while the ionic bond takes no real shape at all. They're melting points also differ with the covalent being a low melting point compared to the ionic bonding's high boiling point.

These two little bonds help make regular everyday things we may use such as table salt. These bonds make up a majority of how many elements will stick together. It allows us to merge things and learn more about compounds. It can be helpful in making some kind of useful medicine to something we put on our food. No matter you look at it, they are important to the science community and to the general population.

Aluminum

Resource: http://chemistry.about.com/od/elementfacts/a/aluminum.htm

Aluminum is one of the most used elements in the world. We can even find it as aluminum foil in our household, and it can even be that can of ground up coffee. The atomic number is 13 and symbol is Al. It was discovered in 1825 and even found early use by the Greek which is a date much farther into the past. The atomic weight of Aluminum is about 27. Aluminum has a melting point of about 660 degrees Celsius, and a boiling point of 2467 Celsius. Pure aluminum is a silvery white metal. It is soft, light, relatively nontoxic, and high thermal conductivity. It is even highly corrosive resistance. It is also easy to form shapes which makes it good for production for some of our everyday tools. It is also the 8th most abundant element in the earth's crust, but we must make it into use by using the ore and doing a specific process.

Without Aluminum we wouldn't have some of the easy tools we have in our everyday lives. It can be found in industrial applications, but we can even see it as utensils, exterior designs, and even the construction of aircraft. The use of aluminum is important and we should appreciate that it makes up some of our most daily uses and some of our most important uses.

Molten Salts

Reference: http://home.earthlink.net/~bhoglund/whatsMoltenSal.html

What are Molten Salts? Do they even matter? Yes, yes they do. To answer my first question, the name is basically self explanatory. It is melted salts or fused salts. To reach this liquidated state, it must be heated to the point it is red hot where it will proceed to melt. The liquid is stable and will flow much like water will. The real differences between water and molten salts is molten will have a much higher capacity to hold heat and it will contract when frozen instead of water expanding. Some of the advantages of molten salts is it is capable of conducting electricity. This capability allows for use for possible energy projects. Not only for energy projects can be included, but it can be functioned as solvents, carry large heat capacity, move like a liquid, and some molten salts can have a chemical catalytic properties.

The knowledge of molten salts may help chances with use of solar energy. The article was very informative in the multiple applications that it can used for and its major properties. I found it very informative and I was able to understand much of what was written. The major thought I had with molten salts is the use of solar power. If it can store the energy even after sun has dropped, and continue giving, it may increase the productivity of solar energy plants. It truly can be a ground breaking material for the future.

The Northern lights revealed.

NASA reseaechers have found the cause for the northern lights while trying to understand the magnetic field and charged particles of the sun. Storms on the sun normally generate colorful light shows, but in quieter times events known as sub-storms can make the shows. Sub-storms have a tendency to generate a one-two million amp current, the equivalent of a 5-6 magnitude earthquake. For thirty years, scientists believed the disruption of charged particles was responsible. Others believed it was a snapping of magnetic field lines farther out. The snapping of magnetic fields occurred first, followed by a burst of auroras. Surprisingly, the disruption in the charged particle current occurred after the aurora.

Things such as this really take a toll on scientists as it chalenges the old beliefes and causes them to search for new answers which may not be easy.

reference:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/science/space/25aurora.html?ref=magnetsandmagnetism.

New Chemistry Discovery Techniques

Researchers at the Princeton University have developed a new way to speed up the chances of a chemical discovery. Instead of us doing all the chemical reactions, why not have someone else do them, or better yet, something. These things are robots, which can do up to one-thousand chemical reactions a day. The University professor of Princeton says that this Invention will help find unheard of chemicals without the years of commitment towards the research. "Usually, one takes molecules that one thinks will react and tries to figure out the best way to achieve that reaction," he said. "This team took molecules for which there was no obvious reaction between them and looked for 'accidental' reactivity. This approach could be useful for any field that requires new types of matter or a more efficient means of synthesizing known compounds." This creation will help the chemical and scientific world around us, faster. I believe that once our world is more developed around us and we get better tools and short cuts that good things will end in result.