Canavan Disease

In 1931  a genetic disorder call Canavan Disease was discovered. This disease is common amongst Jewish people  but is not very common. This disease has only a 1 out of 4 or 25% chance of occurring. Children that have this disease usually die before the age of four, although some may live to their teens or even twenties. A child with this disease would have symptoms like feeding difficulties, abnormal muscle tone (floppiness or stiffness), an abnormally large, poorly controlled head and mental retardation. Some other symptoms like blindness, paralysis, hearing loss and apathetic may occur. Unfortunately, this disease does not have a cure. This disease can only be inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. With the lack of enzyme  aspartoacylase, build up the N-acetylaspartic acid material which causes the white matter of the brain to detriorate. In order for this to happen one of the chromozones are mutated. I feel that in order to find the cure for this disease that scienctist need to research the process in which the canavan disease is formed.  After researching Canavan Disease I feel empathy toward those young children who have to suffer this horrible disease. To die at the age of four is very sad. 

 

 

Extracting DNA lab conclusion

In science class we extracted DNA from the plant cell and human cell. Deoxyribonucleic acid, also know as DNA, is found in the nucleus, or the control center of a cell. DNA is in nearly every cell and is very small which would make it seem hard to extract, but in fact it is not hard at all. I personally did the extraction of a human cell. To do this is very simple 4 step process. First i took a small amount of Gatorade and swished it in my mouth for one moment. Second, I spit the Gatorade out of my mouth back into the cup and put it into a test tube. Thirdly, i put alcohol in the test tube. Finally, let the test tube, sit at an angle, for fifteen minutes. After letting the test tube sit for fifteen minutes, i found that there were white floating at the top of the mixture that we made. The white pieces floating around is known as DNA. On the other hand, my partner did the plant cell. After doing this lab i learned a lot about DNA and had fun as well.

New Species of fish

In the past few days science journal reporter has reported, what scientist think is a new species. This psychedelic fish has been seen "bouncing across the ocean floor like a rubber ball." This frogish fish had actually been spotted or discovered in shallow waters of Ambon island in western Indonesia a year ago by a group of scuba diving instructors working on a tour operator. Histiophryne, a professor from the University of Washington and also a member of the antennariid genus, is the one who named this new species as "psychedelica." From looking at this frogish fish it has fins on the side of its body that evolved into legs. "But it has several behavioral traits not previously known to the others," Pietsch wrote. Heres what soem others have to say.

"Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner."

"I think people thought frogfishes were relatively well known and to get a new one like this is really quiet spectacular. ... It's a stunning animal," he said, adding that the fish's stripes were probably intended to mimic coral.

"It also speaks to the tremendous diversity in this region and to fact that there are still a lot of unknowns here — in Indonesia and in the Coral Triangle in general."

The fish, which has a gelatinous fist-sized body covered with thick folds of skin that protect it from sharp-edged corals, also has a flat face with eyes directed forward, like humans, and a huge, yawning mouth.

For more information try these links:

• http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090226/ap_on_sc/as_indonesia_funky_fish;_ylt=AqmQW28dZhJZxdSqTfxGdlN4hMgF
• http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/26/asia/AS-Indonesia-Funky-Fish.php

Watchung Hills Regional High School, Somerset prepares for robotics competition

Team 41 from Watchung Hills Regional High School, in Somerset, has once again signed up for the annual first Robotic Competition. The competition is expected to have around 1,500 teams participate; including teams from every state as well as, Brazil, Chile, Canada, England, Mexico and Israel. This years theme is,"Lunacy." The competition will involve a series of challenges, with ramps, speedways, platforms and twisted raceways. "Lunacy" will be played on a huge crater covered with a plastic and than in natural material from the moon also known as, regolith. The game consists of three game pieces. Moon rocks and empty cells worth two points and super ells worth fifteen points. The robot is made in a way so that it can pick up multicolored balls and latticework spheres with a diameter of eight inches. The object of the game is to suck up as many game pieces as possible and drop it in your opponents trailer as well as avoid being targeted by other players in the time given. In the end, which ever team with the least balls wins. This years challenge was revealed on Jan. 3 when officials gave out a standard kit of parts and a set of rules, with only six weeks to complete building the robot. It takes time, effort, team work and intelligence to complete this task.
Team 41 has competed since 1997 and are taking part in the regional on Feb. 26-28 at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton and March 6-8 Janvits Center in Manhattan. Hopefully Team 41 will make it to the Championship on April 16-18 in Atlanta, GA. Good luck guys!

Check out this link for more information: http://www.nj.com/reporter/index.ssf/2009/02/watchung_hills_regional_high_s_11.html

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Newton's Laws of Motion

In science class we all have recently learned Newton's Three Laws of Motion. The creator of the magnificent laws is Isaac Newton. The first law of motion states, an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. For example, a desk will not move unless another force causes it to move, such as someone pushing or pulling it. The second law of motion states, that heavier objects require more force to move the same distance as lighter objects. Newton came up with a formula for finding force. Force equals mass times acceleration. For example, a small car, such as a Beetle VS a truck will require less fuel than the truck because it has a smaller mass than the truck which has a larger. The third law states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, when you jump up gravity pulls you down. These are Newton's three Laws of Motion.

For more information go to: http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/law2.html

Earthquake in New Jersey!!!

With a loud boom and bang the residents of northern New Jersey were shaken. On Monday, around 10:30pm, there was an earthquake in Dover, Wharton, Denville, Randolph, Mine Hill and the Rockaways in Morris County,New Jersey. This quake had a magnitude of 3.0, something more higher than we usually see in here. 3.0 is considered minor, but huge for NJ, as this large of an earthquake typically does not occur, according to U.S. Geological Survey. The last earthquake reported was in Hunterdon County in July with a magnitude of 2.1. And the largest one before this was in 1884 off of Sandy Hook with a magnitude of 5.5. Although there was shaking furniture, there was no one reported injured. "The quake occurred at 10:34 p.m., and the epicenter was about five miles north-northwest of Morristown, near Victory Gardens, "said John Bellini a geophysicist with the USGS. One resident responds,Kevin Meyer said,"his house in Rockaway Township felt "like a plate on a tablecloth and somebody tried to pull the tablecloth. The whole house went up, and there was a loud boom," he said. "Literally, it felt like a wave of energy passed under the house. It was pretty strong. At first I wasn't sure I was awake." At the Exxon Station in Rockaway, NJ one 40 year old attendent has to say about the earthquake,“It was like a bomb, a strong one,” said Cafer Sahin. Some scientists believe a 5.5-magnitude earthquake could happen every 120 years and a 7.0-magnitude quake every 3,400 years, Gates said."Right now is when we should hit a five, we're in the range for that," he said. "It could come tomorrow, it could come 100 years from now. You don't know." As for now the earthquake has passed and what happens ahead, well i guess we'll just have to wait and see what happenes.

For more information try: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/it_sounded_like_an_explosion.html