The Daily Science Nugget...

[Amelia]

Are earthworms clean or unclean? hehehe

[D. Allan]

I must admit to never having eaten one. Maybe if they were fed chocolate for several days and then dusted with powdered sugar... ?

Or if there were fed on jalepenos and then put into some chili ... ?

One of these days... maybe... :D

[D. Allan]

Marijuana Skin Creme May Help Allergies

"....The compounds, called cannabinoids, have been credited with everything from stimulating the growth of new neurons to easing the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Although they are best known for spicing up marijuana, the body also produces cannabinoids, which are thought to play a part in learning and in communications between the immune system and the nervous system. Now, researchers have shown that cannabinoids can relieve some of the swollen, itchy agony of allergic skin reactions in mice....."

more at : http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070604/full/070604-10.html

[D. Allan]

Building robots can teach us about humanity and God

according to Prof. Anne Foerst, a theologian and research scientist,

and visiting professor of theology and computer science at St. Bonaventure University.

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~frank/BerkeleyGroks_Foerst.htm

[D. Allan]

...relative sizes of our sun and its planets ...

(1. Earth and smaller planets

(2. Earth and larger planets

(3. Sun and all planets

[D. Allan]

"Some thinkers see mathematicians as scientists, regarding physical experiments as inessential or mathematical proofs as equivalent to experiments. Others do not see mathematics as a science, since it does not require experimental test of its theories and hypotheses, although some theorems can be disproved by contradiction through finding exceptions. (More specifically, mathematical theorems and formulas are obtained by logical derivations which presume axiomatic systems, rather than a combination of empirical observation and method of reasoning that has come to be known as scientific method.) In either case, the fact that mathematics is such a useful tool in describing the universe is a central issue in the philosophy of mathematics." -wikipedia article on 'science'

more information at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unreasonable_Effectiveness_of_Mathematics_in_the_Natural_Sciences

[Amelia]

I love those pics. Really puts things in perspective.

[D. Allan]

They are beautiful. We should look at the relative distances between the sun and planets.

[D. Allan]

To build planets in relative size:

Body Model diameter (inches)

Sun 60.0

Mercury 0.25

Venus 0.5

Earth 0.5

Mars 0.3

Jupiter 6.0

Saturn 5.0

Uranus 2.0

Neptune 2.0

Pluto 0.1

SCALE MODE:

Using a scale of 1 standard sheet of toilet tissue as 10,000,000 miles, we can use the unwound length of the roll of tissue as a ruler for a scale model of the solar system.

Celestial Object Number of Sheets from Sun .........# of Tissues from previous object

Sun 0.0----- 0.0

Mercury 3.6----- 3.6

Venus 6.7 -----3.1

Earth 9.3----- 2.6

Mars 14.1----- 4.8

Jupiter 48.4----- 34.3

Saturn 88.7----- 40.3

Uranus 178.6----- 90

Neptune 280.0----- 101.0

Pluto (avg. orbit) 366.4----- 86.4

[Amelia]

Has it been decided yet as to whether or not we count Pluto as a planet?

[D. Allan]

for National Geographic News

August 24, 2006 (Updated 3:30 p.m. ET)

Pluto has been voted off the island.

The distant, ice-covered world is no longer a true planet, according to a new definition of the term voted on by scientists today.

....Pluto will now be dubbed a dwarf planet.

What Is a Planet Today?

According to the new definition, a full-fledged planet is an object that orbits the sun and is large enough to have become round due to the force of its own gravity. In addition, a planet has to dominate the neighborhood around its orbit.... Pluto has been demoted because it does not dominate its neighborhood.

[Amelia]

Planets are gangs. LOL

[D. Allan]

!DOMINATING THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD!

ROFL

[D. Allan]

Using a light-sensing protein normally produced by green algae,

scientists are able to achieve more detailed brain mapping

(in mice, sofar).

“The results were quite surprising,” said Svoboda. “We have preliminary evidence for what I would call a simplifying principle of connectivity."

".... Svoboda and his colleagues found instead that axons originating in particular layers of the brain sought out exactly the same types of neurons as in different brain regions. Similarly, they also appeared to avoid the same types neurons."

source: http://www.hhmi.org/news/svoboda20070415.html

[D. Allan]

Just as I was ready to post a science nugget several days ago, an electrical storm briefly interrupted our household power and the document dissappeared into history leaving no trace whatever. But I remember a little:

Aristotle, who some call the 'first scientist' claimed that male humans have more teeth than female humans. He must have had a small sample?!

In the equine realm, however, it is true that males have more teeth than the females. Four more. And here is one amazing tidbit: just behind a horse's incisors and before the molars begin, there is an empty space with no teeth where the bit lies when the horse is bridled.

ps. my posting on the forum may be rather sporadic until my computor is fixed. I'm glad to see it is doing fine without me! :)

[D. Allan]

Lack of exercise is the third leading cause of premature death in the U.S.

According to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports,

lack of exercise leads to 300,000 preventable deaths each year.

www.thewalkingsite.com

www.ramblers.org.uk

[D. Allan]

How tall a mirror does a person 68" tall need to see their entire body?

Believe it or not 34" of mirror will do.

The image one sees of oneself is 1/2 full size.

You can verify this by taping paper over ant part of a full length mirror which does not reflect you.

Measure the image, multiply by two, and,

voila, you have your height!

??Can anyone explain why this is so??

[D. Allan]

European researchers have found an Earth-like planet only 20 light years from us.

"The planet, ... five times the mass of Earth, circles the star Gliese 581.... The new planet is much closer to Gliese than Earth is to the Sun, completing its orbit in about two weeks. But because Gliese is smaller than the Sun, the temperature on this planet's surface could be amenable to liquid water, the researchers report in an upcoming issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics. 'The planet is the closest Earth twin to date,' "they write."

Read the article at : http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2007/july/lifebeyond.php

[D. Allan]

"Commercial yeast is a by-product of the whisky distillers."

- http://www.botham.co.uk/bread/yeast.htm

[D. Allan]

Tiny flashlights made of nanowires may soon make possible visible light endoscopes able to look inside of single cells.

Read about it at Science AAA

[D. Allan]

Geophysicists at the University of Utah have done research which they believe shows that radioactivity keep continents floating high and dry.

They conclude that the heat radioactivity generates causes a continent's crust to expand and float higher on the semi-molten rock below.

Otherwise, they estimate, the North American city of Denver would be 222 meters below sea level.

More at: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/626/2

[D. Allan]

Plants on other planets may have different coloring then on earth. Trees might appear as they do in the colorful fall season in New Hampshire, USA.

To read an article about it CLICK HERE. There is an artist's illustation of a possible other worldly landscape, also.

[D. Allan]

How to tell the temperature when you are lost in the woods without a thermometer. (!)

1. Find a male cricket in love.

2. Count the number of chirps in 14 seconds.

3. Add 40

4. You have the temperature in Farenheit.

Or.

1. Count chirps in 8 seconds

2. Add 3

3. This gives the temperature in Celsius.

http://www.ehow.com/how_17644_cricket-thermometer.html

These formulas work for the average of common cricket species. But to be specific and exact use a snowy tree cricket,Oecanthus fultoni . Count the chrips in 14 seconds and add 38. At least that is what they said on the CBS Evening News with Charlie Gibson tonight.

http://www.mathgym.com.au/MIC/book11/chapter4/techlab4_1.htm

[D. Allan]

Two bonobo chimpanzees in Iowa are changing how scientists think about the nature of human language.

Kanzi and Panbanisha understand thousands of words. They use sentences, talk on the phone, and they like to gossip. In short, they use language in many of the same ways humans do.

read about it at : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5503685

[D. Allan]

For us who do not own a microscope it is difficult to see just how an ant is put together. This diagram will help: