Draco Super New Medicine

Who likes getting a cold? I know your sitting there thinking, that its a silly question because no one likes getting sick. Well your probably right, I don't like getting sick, so why would others. That is where a newly developed treatment will one day help, it is called Draco. Will this be the next super new medicine? Draco is an experimental protein developed to fight viruses. So far in medicine there isn't a lot your doctor can do to help you against a virus other than help ease the symptoms.

First you need to know basically how a virus works. A virus infects a cell with the intention to reproduce, it does this by essentially using its DNA to rewrite the cells DNA which effectively turns the cell into a virus factory. So the cell goes along now building more and more of the virus, until it dies, while all the virus that it produced go and infect surrounding cells. The symptoms that we feel when infected by a virus is often due to our immune system trying to expel the virus. Another reason is that the virus has disrupted the natural function of enough cells that now that particular body part can no longer do its job properly. Sounds bad, time for some new medicine.

Well here is that possible new medicine, Draco. Now that you basically know what a virus does I can tell you how Draco will solve the problem. Draco basically works by detecting the DNA of a virus and then telling the cell that it has infected to die. When the cell dies the Virus that has already split to turn the cell into a virus factory dies with it. This effectively eliminates the virus and stops it from reproducing. You can learn more about Draco at Amazing New Medicine. An end to viruses is near, we just have to wait a few more years so it can go through further testing to make sure it is safe for us to use. Then we can enjoy not ever having a cold and numerous other illnesses ever again.
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http://www.squidoo.com/new-medicine

Picture by: George Hodan

My source for this was Science Illustrated Magazine and backed up by MIT News

There also seems to be some serious campaigning to organise futher funding by a group of people that have resulted from an interview of Dr Rider back in 2011.

Why do Leaves Change Colour in Fall?

Why do leaves change colour in Fall? Well the first thing I can tell you is that it is a biological function of certain plants that are in a category called deciduous. It is a long biological process that ultimately ends in a deciduous tree losing all of its leaves in a process called abscission which is why it is called fall but that is another story. When days start to get shorter due to winter approaching Food production in the leaves is cut down. This happens when Chlorophyll isn't produced anymore and chlorophyll is what makes leaves green. The reason the red and yellow colours appear is because of different colour pigments. Caretonoid is the yellow pigment which once the green chlorophyll disappears is now able to show through. In red leaves it is because anthocyanin is more dominant once the green chlorophyll has disappeared. So that is why they change colour, simply put because the green pigment disappears and leaves behind the red and yellow pigments. For more info on Fall and why deciduous trees do what they do have a look at the website below.
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http://www.squidoo.com/why-is-autumn-fall

White Birch and...

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Science gifts for Kids

Are you having trouble thinking of great gifts to give for Christmas? Does your little guy or girl get bored with normal toys? Maybe something engaging and interesting like a microscope kit or even some books Stuffed full of great science experiments might be what you need. I actually got my first microscope for Christmas or was it my birthday, it was a Long time ago. I looked at everything I possibly could. Insects, beach sand, onion cells even blood. It was so exciting. Check out this page for some great science gift ideas. It's also written by yours truly.
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http://www.squidoo.com/kids-science-toys

Beech Nut...

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Living Forever - Might Be Possible

The naked mole rat might hold the key to the fountain of youth so to speak. This ugly little creature although looking old and wrinkly is actually one of the healthiest known animals on the planet. Scientists have discovered that naked mole rats maintain a perfectly healthy body right up until the point they die. In fact scientists don't even know why they die, when there are is no physiological reason for their death, everything still works just fine. Scientists are researching tying to figure out what keeps a naked mole rat so healthy. We could one day find a treatment being developed that could increase our lifespans by stopping our bodies from ageing and breaking down. Another great thing about this little creature is the lack of cancer found, It is really unusual to find animals that don't die from cancer. So do these little creatures actually fight off cancer too, It is being heavily researched as well. What a great discovery, Medical science isn't far away from some very exciting breakthroughs.
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UPDATE: not long after I posted this, This was announced. Biologist determine how blind mole rats fight cancer

So Thats How a Plane Flies

Here is the answer to how a plane flies.

Planes have special shaped wings that are curved at the top and flat at the bottom. So as the Engines push the plane and the wings forward through the air, the air rushes underneath and over top of the wing. The curved wing top creates a longer distance than the straight flat bottom, the air has further to travel to get to the same point at the back of the wing. This basically stretches the air out as it is still travelling at the same speed on top as it is below the wing. When the Air gets stretched out it becomes less dense and therefore lighter. Air that weighs less exerts lower pressure than the heavier underneath the wing, so now we have low pressure above the wing and high pressure below the wing. High pressure air always moves towards low pressure air, so the high pressure air underneath the wing is trying to move up towards the low pressure area above the wing. This is the point that causes lift because the high pressure air pushes up on the bottom of the wing trying to get to the low pressure.

So basically the plane moves forward creating different pressures on the top and bottom of the wing. The high pressure under the wing needs to move towards the low pressure above the wing. so pushes the wing upwards making the plane go up as its going forward.
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Planes (YM GUILLAUME) / CC BY 2.0

How does a plane fly?

I am here at the airport about to get on a plane. I know a lot of kids ask "how does a plane fly". It's a very good question. One that doesn't really make sense to a child as birds, bats and insects all flap their wings to take off and fly but planes don't. Do you know the answer? If you do, post it as a comment. I will post the answer when the plane lands.
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Why is the Sky Blue?

Why is the Sky Blue?
This is one of the most common questions kids ask their parents. So what is the answer?
Well the simple asnwer is that light is white and when this white light moves through the gases that make up our atmosphere the gases basically reflect or re-emit this blue light. We can actually also answer another question at the same time.
Why is the Sun Yellow?
Well if you were in space the sun would look white because no colours have been filtered out of the travelling light. On Earth we have just found out that the blue light is refelected or absorbed by gas particles which is basically a filter. The colours that are left are the shine through in the form of a yellow beam of light. This and some other great questions are answered on my other page Fun Science Facts. Well I hope This helps answer your question about why the sky is blue.
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Our Solar System Planets

I am going to kickstart this blog (other than my welcome post) with telling you a little bit about a site that I put together on a particular science category that I really love. "Space the Final Frontier......" I love space and everything to do with whats out there beyond our atmosphere. The thought of being able to fly by the rings of Saturn or descending through the clouds of Venus really get me excited. It is so hard to understand and put our solar system into perspective.
  

People just can't imagine the vast distances between planets or the immense size difference between Jupiter and Earth. Yes, we can understand the concept of huge distances but without experiencing it for ourselves it is really hard to understand. We know a lot about our neighborhood of planets and we are even finding out a lot about planets outside our solar system, but how much more could we discover if we were able to visit these other planets? Does anyone know the names of all the planets? They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto used to be the Ninth planet but now it is no longer classed as a planet, it is now a plutoid.

What we know of these planets is limited but still a lot to learn, so I put together a Page on Fun Facts About Our Solar System.  

I have so many questions about what is out there, the one I really want answered is, is there any other life out there? I love to think that yes there could quite possibly be life elsewhere in our solar system, or at the very least once have been somewhere other than on earth. What do you think, could there possibly be life on Europa the ice moon of Jupiter, or perhaps under the surface in underground water on Mars? Remember if you have any questions feel free to post them as comments.  

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http://www.squidoo.com/the-solar-system-planets

Science Questions For kids

This blog is going to be an ongoing blog of fun science facts for kids. Children or their parents can ask any sort of question they want. If I can't answer it myself I will soon find someone who can and also provide the link to the page or site so you can follow up or learn more if you wish. I will also post ideas and hopefully demonstrations of some fun easy science experiments that will provide an enjoyable and amazing experience for all ages. I will also be posting news updates to let everyone know about knew breakthroughs and other interesting topics I come across. Look forward to sharing some great science with you all. Feel free to bring up any question you want answered or topic you want to discuss.
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