Crimson Waters Cause Several Sydney Beaches To Close

Crimson Waters Cause Several Sydney Beaches To Close
By Meera Dolasia
http://www.dogonews.com/2012/11/30/crimson-waters-cause-several-sydney-beaches-to-close

On Tuesday November 26th, World famous Bondi beach in Sydney's blue ocean water has turned *crimson red! They are an algae called noctiluca scintillans. 

       This crimson red water was caused by recent hot weather and heavy rainfalls in Sydney. This natural phenomenon also happened in the oceans around California. Noctiluca scintillans causes skin rashes, eye irritations, and the thick algae kills micro organisms and cause low oxygen in the area, causing marine animals in the area to die. Except for the skin rashes and eye irritations, they are no harm to humans. Fortunately, this phenomenon won't last that long. 
      Even though during the day, it looks red and scary, but at night, it glows electrical blue which normally should be dark. In California, surfers uses this fascinating characteristic and surfs at night. But why does it glow? The organisms become *bioluminescent caused by a chemical reaction that happens when the organisms shove/push each other in the ocean waves.


*Crimson: deep red (when scarlet is bright red)
*Bioluminescence: production and the act of releasing the light by a living organism

ASIMO

The article "I, Robot- Are Real Androids Ready for Their Close-Up?" by National Geographic describes about future robots and the humanoid robot, ASIMO. ASIMO, created by Honda,  is a 4 foot-tall robot that looks like a fatter version of the stormtroopers from Star Wars. ASIMO stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility. ASIMO can do all sorts of things like humans can. He can climb stairs and even balance on uneven surfaces. Sony claims that their humanoid robot (QRIO) is the world's first running humanoid robot, however, ASIMO is now doing tours all over the world.    Scientists think that in the future they could make robots that can help patients, serve them food and drinks and administer medicines. They could also do dangerous things for humans like moving chemicals and fighting fires.

I chose this article because it seemed really interesting and it is not too long ago. I mean, just think about it.  A long time ago people were dreaming about this and now we have it. Last year I did a Current Event project that was about an endangered rhino and I checked on National Geographic because it has great reputation and is a known and reliable source. I think it could be good  for society because we can program these robots to follow certain rules and soon they could be driving for us in a safer way.

Batteries Powered to Heal

Author: Stephen Ornes

Date: April 7, 2011

Link: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2011/04/battery-powered-to-heal/

Batteries have limits. When a battery is charged up and used, some parts of the battery break down. For example, small cracks can form up inside the battery, blocking the flow of an electric current. This shows why a laptop battery will start to last less, sometimes even stopping to charge at all. Batteries could survive longer if we could heal the cracks. And that’s the idea for the new type of battery. In February, at the biggest general science meeting in the United States, an engineer called Scott White had an idea for a new invention:  A battery that can heal itself. Scott White and his colleagues knew that the small cracks, which often come up in the anode, can block the electric current and soon kill a battery. To fight the cracks, they added something extra into the anode: small plastic bubbles, or spheres, filled up with something called gallium indium. When the anode develops the small cracks, some of these bubbles break open and spill out the gallium indium. This material can heal up the crack, so that the battery can work properly and conduct electricity again.

When is a Rock Like a Magnet?

When is a Rock Like a Magnet?

Author: Sid Parkins
Date: September 28, 2012
 http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/09/making-rocks-into-magnets/
When it's a lodestone? New research by geologist Charles Aubourg and his colleagues at the University of Pau shows that, when heated, certain types of rocks can actually become natural magnets. The strongest and most common is the lodestone. This is because lodestone is made-up of a mineral called magnetite, which creates a persistent magnetic field. The rocks Aubourg and his team used when experimenting also contained small amounts of an iron-bearing mineral called pyrite. The experiment was a long process which included heating a rock inside a strong magnetic field for 25 days at 50 degrees Celsius, 25 days at 70 degrees, 25 days at 80 degrees, 10 days at 120 degrees, and another 10 days at 130 degrees.

A Light Delay

A Light Delay

By: Stephen Ornes

Link: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2010/01/a-light-delay-2/ 

Date: January 12, 2012

 

Scientists from Harvard University found out how someone can keep light. A women called Lene Hau, a physicist, knew how to keep light for 1.5 seconds. What she wants to find out is like the game when a person whispers something to another person's ear and the other person has to whisper the same thing to the last person and the last person has to say the thing that whispered the first person. So the light is like the first person whispering it to the BEC (The BEC-Bose-Einstein condensate- is the fifth type of Matter that you can only find in coldest place ever. When the strangest known materials are put in the temperate of 0 degrees all of the atoms collapse into one tiny blob, that's called the BEC).