The Crab Nebula

          "The Crab Nebula, the dusty remains of an exploded star, has unleashed a surprisingly massive flare that is five times more powerful than any eruption previously seen from the celestial object, leaving scientists struggling to explain the event," NASA says. 
             "The Crab Nebula's strong outburst lasted six days, and its exact cause has scientists scratching their heads, especially since the superflare followed an earlier gamma-ray flare from the nebula".
             This is definitely something new that is discovered. Though it may not affect us all the way on Earth, but this can always increase our knowledge about the outside world. 
              The Crab Nebula teaches me that even though a star explodes, it can always make a massive flare. This also shows that the universe is full of surprises and that it can always show you something you never expected.




http://www.livescience.com/14169-superflare-crab-nebula-defies-explanation.html

Zombie Ants?

           "Problem: you’re a fungus that can only flourish at a certain temperature, humidity, location and distance from the ground but can’t do the legwork to find that perfect spot yourself. Solution: hijack an ant’s body to do the work for you—and then inhabit it."

           Everyone knows that fungi can't move from one place to another, but did anyone know that they can climb into an ants' body and control them? Well, now scientists have figured out that Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus can infect Camponotus leonardi ants that live in tropical rainforest trees. Once the ant is infected, the spore-possessed ant will climb down from its normal habitat and bite down, with what the authors call a "death grip" on a leaf and then die. 

            Something like this is definitely a new and huge discovery. But even though this scientific discovery does not affect me, it is a new fact that I have just learned.  Every day, every hour, we learn something knew; but can something like this affect us?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fungus-makes-zombie-ants

  

Toothpick Fish

When examining alleles in a fish population, camouflage comes into deep help. To start off, the first generation of the gene pool started out with two heterozygous pairs of green and red, two homozygous pairs of yellow, one homozygous red, four orange, and three homozygous green. When all mated, the total number of color of offspring in the first generation was 41.5% green, 8.3% red, 16.6% yellow, and 33.2% orange. Sadly, because the yellow fish could not adapt in this gene pool, they died; that decreasing the population by 16.6%. During the second generation, the total number of color of the offspring was 70% green, 10% red, 0% yellow, and 20% orange. Next, in the third generation, the total number of color of offspring was 60% green, 0% red, 0% yellow, and 40% orange. As seen over time, the color of offspring decreased except for the green— because its allele is dominant—thus making its population increase. When the fourth generation came about, the offspring of green, increased to 80%, orange decreasing to 20%, and red and yellow stayed as 0%.

During the fourth generation, a disaster occurred. Factory waste was dumped into the gene pool, killing many seaweed and algae. The sand and rocks helped the red, yellow, and orange fish in camouflaging, while the green were easily seen and eaten. Now the only survivors are the 20% orange fish, while all the green died. The disaster shows that either human or natural causes can kill many organisms in any environment. If the environment changed in any way, it could change what happens to the organisms who are adapting to it. For instance if the waste from the factory, changed the color of the sand, seaweed, and algae, that can cause not only green fish to die, but many other colors of fish. As seen, camouflage can help many organisms in adapting and surviving, while many others can be eaten by their predators.

Cell Phone in a Crocodile's Belly?

           A fourteen-year-old crocodile swallowed a cell phone at the Ukraine aquarium, but how did it happen? The cell phone had been dropped by a women who was trying to take a picture of the creature. The cell phone caused the crocodile to have a stomach ache. The poor creature didn't eat or play with its other crocodiles for four weeks since the accident. Veterinarians say the last thing they would want to do was surgical removal, because the stitches would take about three weeks to heal.

          Something like this is very interesting, yet sad. The fact that a crocodile swallowed a cell phone is very new, but sad that the crocodile had to suffer like this. This shows that, because we are humans, accidents do happen and so we have to be careful of what we do because it could harm someone or something else.

          An incident like this helps me learn a lot of things. First, that whenever I go to an aquarium, I should always be careful of the distance I am in of taking a picture of an animal because I can drop the camera just as the woman did. Second, even if I did drop it by accident, the animal will not only know what it is, but it might eat the camera or cell phone just as the crocodile did. No matter how you plan things in life, you never know when something might go wrong-- and that's why it's better to be safe than sorry.

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/crocodile-swallows-cell-phone-110121.html

 

Sea Snails Glow?

         Knowing to many people, including myself, snails never occurred as an interesting topic. No one really knew snails can actually glow. Or can they?
         Sea snails reveal to shine from the inside for protection and for communication. The sea snail don't glow continuously, but only when touched.
         My opinion to something like this is very amazing. First, I never actually knew that sea snails can glow, not even if there were such thing as sea snails in the first place. Second, it's amazing how the sea snails only glow when touched. This shows that the glow helps the snail know when there is ever a predator. That obviously helps the snail for protection. Something like this always makes me wonder what other amazing things                                                                      
are in this world.
        Something like this means a lot to me. It helps me learn about things I never paid attention to in this world. Also this makes me learn my lesson of that not only big things in this world are amazing, but also the smallest. Snails are always something I never really thought as interesting. I always believed snails were slimy and disgusting, but now a learned a lesson. So just because something might not seem important, that doesn't meant it isn't.


http://www.livescience.com/animals/sea-snail-glows-from-inside-101214.html

SYMBOISIS: MUTUALISM

         THIS HUMAN BEING HAS BACTERIA LIVING IN HIS DIJESTIVE SYSTEM. ANY HUMAN BEING IN THIS WORLD HAS THIS BACTERIA IN THEIR BODY.THIS TYPE OF SYMBIOSIS IS CALLED MUTUALISM, WHEN BOTH SPECIES GET BENIFIT. ALL HUMAN BEINGS GO THROUGH MUTUALISM BEACUASE OF HAVING THIS BACTERIA. THE BACTERIA GETS BENIFIT BECAUSE IT GETS THE FOOD WE EAT AND A PLACE TO LIVE; OUR STOMACHS. WE ALSO GET BENIFIT FROM THE BACTERIA BECAUSE IT HELPS US DIJEST OUR FOOD TO HELP US USE THE BATHROOM.

BIOTIC LIMITING FACTOR

              THIS CAT IS A BIOTIC LIMITING FACTOR. THE REASON SHE IS A BIOTIC  FACTOR IS BECAUSE SHE IS LIVING. SHE KILLS AND EATS BUGS SUCH AS SPIDERS, BEES, FLIES, MOSQUITOES, AND OTHER INSECTS TO LIMIT OTHER ANIMALS FROM EATING THEM. SHE ALSO KILLS AND EATS BIRDS TO LIMIT THEM FOR OTHER ANIMALS TO EAT AND TO NOT ALLOW THEM TO GERMINATE SEEDS.