Cardiovascular System

This is Valerie, class of 2013, and her fantastic cardiopulmonary system diagram. Wow, what a lovely intersection of art and science. This photo really doesn't do it justice, but you can zoom in to fully appreciate the tiny details!

Radiation Dose Chart

Thanks to Alan, class of 2013, for sharing. You can click on the image to enlarge and read the tiny print.

Chemistry Show

Here are some highlights from the demonstration extravaganza put on by the Advanced Chemistry class for the Middle Schoolers today. Thanks to Aline for photographing and Becky for ringleading!

Spinning under Pressure: A Microturbine Project

Submitted by Sarah, class of 2011:

Team Turbine (Mark, Sarah, and Marina) unpacking their turbine

The water for our school runs downhill almost twice as fast as it needs to, and we don't use that extra pressure. So that causes wasted energy, since we currently use a regulator just to take out the pressure so the water will be ready for use. But just taking out the pressure and not doing anything with it is not good. Not good at all.

So we thought about it and decided a Microturbine would be a good way to fix this issue. We would place it in the pipes, it would rotate and generate energy that we could actually use! So we went to maintenance and presented this solution and they got on board too. So we measured the water flow from two of Catlin's buildings and ran all sorts of tests and theoretical situations. After analyzing our results using some really complex equations, we wrote up a whole application about our findings and how this would work, where it would work best and what it would help with. Unfortunately, the average flow throughout the day from those two Catlin building barely produced 25 watts, but this project still is thought provoking. Maybe thinking about how to generate energy from unexpected place could provoke a dialogue about more energy-producing and saving inventions. This project could be really good for everyone if they start thinking about new and creative ways to produce energy!

We will submit this proposal and account of our project to the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. This challenge encourages student teams to identify an energy-related issue that has local, national and global implications and provide a viable solution. Check out the challenge at :

http://www.wecanchange.com/high-school/about-challenge/overview/

David Gallo shows underwater astonishments | Video on TED.com

Math teacher Dave Tash send me this link to a lecture containing incredible videos of a variety of marine animal behavior and adaptation.

David Gallo shows underwater astonishments | Video on TED.com

Once you've watched this, browse through the other offerings from TED.com (TED stands for Technology , Entertainment and Design).

Colony Collapse

Submitted by Schuyler, class of 2012:

If you’re not one of the many followers of the Doctor, and don’t believe that the bees are returning to their home planet Melissa Majoria*, you may be inclined to listen to this theory for the disappearance of our bees.

Since 2006, scientists have noticed a significant colony collapse across the United States and nobody had a reason for the decreased population. Recently, entomologists have identified new possibilities for the collapse: a fungus and a virus have been under close watch. Researchers suspect that the virus and the fungus are inhibiting the bee’s nutrition in their gut.

What puzzles researchers about this collapse is that the bees don’t die in the hive, they fly away from the hive and die alone. Dr. Bromenshenk and the Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center noted that the virus-fungus infection was found in each dead colony. Neither of the infections can kill the bees on its own, but when combined, the bees don’t stand a chance.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=Bees&st=cse

* From the BBC’s television series Dr. Who, S4 E12.

Farmer Fungi

Submitted by Danielle, class of 2012:

Humans aren’t the only animals on earth that practice agriculture! Ants, termites, damselfish and other animals practice simple farming techniques as well. But did you know fungi do it too?

Dictyostelium Discoideum, or the ‘Slime Mold’, is now known to be a species of tiny farmers as well. Certain strains of this fungi practice self-control while eating bacteria, halting their grazing once the amount of their food starts to dwindle. They then mix the leftovers into reproductive structures that release spores which will grow new bacteria.

These strains of Slime Mold essentially plant, fertilize, wait and then eat much like we do. There is no evidence of further care after the ‘crops’ start growing, however it’s still impressive what these fungi are able to do.

However, the farmers don’t always win in the battle for resources. When competing against strains of fungi that don’t practice farming, the nonfarmers luck out. While the farming fungi pause to grow more, the nonfarmers continue to eat and devour all the bacteria. But if the farmers manage to get a strain of bacteria the nonfarmers don’t like to eat, the farmers are able to make their resources last much longer.

Farming! Who would have thought? Who knows what else fungi can do that we can do?

Original source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/68978/title/Old_amoebas_spawn_their_farms