Pounding typhoon rains flood Philippine capital

          By HRVOJE HRANJSKI and JIM GOMEZ

 Posted : September 21 2011

http://news.yahoo.com/pounding-typhoon-rains-flood-philippine-capital-121701829.html

The last couple days in the Philippines it has not been easy for some of the local residents who live there.  An absolutely terrible typhoon hit the countries capital Manila.   There has been some severe damage there from the storm.

People have lost their homes and the some people have even lost family members.  People have drowned, been killed by falling trees and walls, people even died because mud slides which were caused  by heavy rain.   There is so much rain that in some places it was up to an average adult’s chest which is very high.  Several places have been flooded such as hospitals, schools, even the US Embassy.  One six lane highway now looks like a river people said.  The rain started early Tuesday morning and has been raining about an inch each hour since.   The Philippines is and archipelago which is a series of islands.   Meteorologists predict the typhoon will pass through the Phillippine islands by the end of Tuesday. 

I found this article very interesting because I lived in the same region in the Pacific.  Once there was a one very bad flood when I was leaving there.   You never know when a flood will hit because in the rainy season it almost rains everyday and a flood can happen when you least expect it.  In conclusion, if you live in this area you should always be prepared for floods.

 Not just for the birds 
http://www.economist.com/node/21529008   
BY The Ecomomist

   Sep 17th 2011

This week I found a cool article in my dad’s Economist magazine about feathers in the science and technology section.   The article is about feathers in fossils recently found by Dr. Ryan McKellar in pieces of amber.  The feathers are about 70-85 million years old.  The scientists haven’t found out exactly where the feathers came from but they do know that a few of the feathers are not from birds.  Some of the feathers they found where not used for flying as you can see in the picture below.   Instead scientists think these feathers where used for keeping the prehistoric creature warm like a blanket.  Another way that the feathers may have been used is as water proofing to keep their skin dry.  Archaeopteryx is the first know bird that we as humans know of.   These feathers might have came from a creature that lived before the Archaeopteryx.   So scientists might have just uncovered a couple of new species they did not know about before.   

When I first saw this article, I loved the pictures of the unique feathers.  A t first I had no idea what they where because they don’t look like the feathers.  Today you see very different bird feathers. When I look at the feathers they look like plants to me and I do wonder why the so called feathers have color.  I would really like to go back in time to see what kind of animal the feathers came from.  In conclusion, I hope that we find out where these feathers came from.  I believe that we will someday in the future know what these birds looked like.  

Body odor? Gene disorder may be the culprit

Body odor? Gene disorder may be the culprit

By Amy Norton

http://news.yahoo.com/body-odor-gene-disorder-may-culprit-013559541.html

Wed, Sep 14, 2011

Trimethylaminuria is a disorder caused when too much of the compound trimethylamine, also known as TMA, is given off.   When it is released, TMA causes uncontrollable body odor.  Scientists have discovered that people with this genetic disorder have gotten the gene form both parents.   The gene is called FMO3.   In most people, the gene works perfectly fine so that when you eat certain smelly foods, for example seafood, eggs, liver, or beans, your body metabolizes TMA correctly and that keeps you from smelling bad.   In people with FMO3, that gene does not work 100 percent right for all foods.   When they eat certain foods, they smell very bad even they have good hygiene.  In fact the article said that the people who have this smell kind of fishy.  Now there is a test to tell if you have this genetic disorder.   If you do, you can avoid spelling by changing your diet to avoid particular foods.

 

I was attracted to this article by the first two words of the title body odor.  I think this is a good article for teens.  Especially for the ones who smell 24/7 to know that maybe now they know why.  In conclusion if you think you have this problem I would try to adjust your diet and see your doctor if the stench does not go away.

What I know and what I want to learn

Biology is the first unit we are studying in science this school year.  I am kind of excited to learn all about biology, or at least more than I already know.   I don’t really know that much about biology, but what I do know is that it is the study of living things such as plants and animals.  I would like to learn more about living things that are not visible with the human eye - like germs.  I hope to be able to use a telescope to look at germs and bacteria.  I also want to learn about cells, especially the different kinds of cells found in humans, animals and plants.  The last thing I really want to know about is the differences between species of animals.  To conclude, I feel biology will be a very different science  unit than any other I have done in the past.   I am excited to learn a lot more about biology since I do not know much about the topic right now.

Goals for science

I think I had a very good year in science last year.  I would love to keep up my good work this year by setting some goals for myself.  My first goal is to do better on my lab reports.  I can achieve this goal by working hard and making sure that my lab reports are complete and turned in on time.   My second goal is to do a much better job on my current event blog posts.  I will achieve this goal by adding more details in my current event blog posts, such as using more pictures and videos. By doing this, people will have a better understanding of how my current event blog posts connect to science.   I will also try to find my current event topics sooner and not the day before my blog is due.  My third goal for science is to improve my study habits for tests.  I will not wait until the last moment to study for a test.  I will use the study guide more often and begin to study for tests earlier than I used to.  In conclusion, I think that by working hard I can achieve the goals I have set for myself in science by the end of the year.