Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Celebrity Status ♥


:) ♥

Greyson Chance ♥


Greyson Michael Chance (born in Wichita Falls, Texas, on August 16, 1997) and residing in Edmond, Oklahoma, is a 12-year-old singer/songwriter/pianist whose April 2010 performance ofLady Gaga's "Paparazzi" at Edmond's sixth-grade music festival became a hit on YouTube when his May 13, 2010 performance of the song was publicized on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. As of May 31, 2010, the song Paparazzi has a total viewer-ship of over 31 million. He has two original compositions, "Stars" and "Broken Hearts," both posted on his YouTube channel which have 3.5 and 4.2 million views respectively.

Reasons to recycle :)

Recycling

There are many different reasons and advantages of recycling old materials to turn into new, similar products.

Recycling benefits relate to many different areas, some of which could greatly improve the air we breathe, and the environment.Some of the main reasons why we should all recycle more are split up under the below headings.

Conservation

All man-made products incorporate raw materials to create the finished product. This involves harvesting the earth's natural resources (e.g. wood, metal) in order to acquire the raw materials.

Deforestation is a prime example of how harvesting natural resources is harming the environment. This could be reduced if we recycle more paper and old wooden products.

Energy Saving

Recycling reduces the amount of energy needed to create a new, similar product. If we didn't recycle paper, more trees would have to be chopped down, transported, and manufactured into the finished product.

This reason why you should recycle is a very important one, as energy conservation is one of the key ingredients for the fight against climate change.

Reduce Pollution

Recycling Reduces PollutionTied in with energy saving, is the reduction of pollution as a result of manufacturing processes becoming more efficient.

Any reduction in CO2 or other harmful gases is not only a key ingredient for the fight against climate change, but a key ingredient for cleaning the air we breathe.

If we can reduce pollution levels from the manufacturing industry by a significant level, this could have a positive impact on our health.


Landfill Reduction

The more we recycle, the more we can help to reduce the burden on local and national landfill sites. As population levels increase, we will need to find more landfill sites, which will harm the surrounding environment and wildlife.

This is another important reason why we should recycle more, in order to reduce the impact landfills have on the surrounding environment.

Why is the sky blue?


THE ATMOSPHERE

The atmosphere is the mixture of gas molecules and other materials surrounding the earth. It is made mostly of the gases nitrogen (78%), and oxygen (21%). Argon gas and water (in the form of vapor, droplets and ice crystals) are the next most common things. There are also small amounts of other gases, plus many small solid particles, like dust, soot and ashes, pollen, and salt from the oceans.

The composition of the atmosphere varies, depending on your location, the weather, and many other things. There may be more water in the air after a rainstorm, or near the ocean. Volcanoes can put large amounts of dust particles high into the atmosphere. Pollution can add different gases or dust and soot.

The atmosphere is densest (thickest) at the bottom, near the Earth. It gradually thins out as you go higher and higher up. There is no sharp break between the atmosphere and space.

LIGHT WAVES

Light is a kind of energy that radiates, or travels, in waves. Many different kinds of energy travel in waves. For example, sound is a wave of vibrating air. Light is a wave of vibrating electric and magnetic fields. It is one small part of a larger range of vibrating electromagnetic fields. This range is called the electromagnetic spectrum.

Electromagnetic waves travel through space at 299,792 km/sec (186,282 miles/sec). This is called the speed of light.

Light waves

The energy of the radiation depends on its wavelength and frequency. Wavelength is the distance between the tops (crests) of the waves. Frequency is the number of waves that pass by each second. The longer the wavelength of the light, the lower the frequency, and the less energy it contains.

COLORS OF LIGHT

Visible light is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that our eyes can see. Light from the sun or a light bulb may look white, but it is actually a combination of many colors. We can see the different colors of the spectrum by splitting the light with a prism. The spectrum is also visible when you see a rainbow in the sky.

Rainbow Picture

The colors blend continuously into one another. At one end of the spectrum are the reds and oranges. These gradually shade into yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The colors have different wavelengths, frequencies, and energies. Violet has the shortest wavelength in the visible spectrum. That means it has the highest frequency and energy. Red has the longest wavelength, and lowest frequency and energy.

LIGHT IN THE AIR

Light travels through space in a straight line as long as nothing disturbs it. As light moves through the atmosphere, it continues to go straight until it bumps into a bit of dust or a gas molecule. Then what happens to the light depends on its wave length and the size of the thing it hits.

Dust particles and water droplets are much larger than the wavelength of visible light. When light hits these large particles, it gets reflected, or bounced off, in different directions. The different colors of light are all reflected by the particle in the same way. The reflected light appears white because it still contains all of the same colors.

Gas molecules are smaller than the wavelength of visible light. If light bumps into them, it acts differently. When light hits a gas molecule, some of it may get absorbed. After awhile, the molecule radiates (releases, or gives off) the light in a different direction. The color that is radiated is the same color that was absorbed. The different colors of light are affected differently. All of the colors can be absorbed. But the higher frequencies (blues) are absorbed more often than the lower frequencies (reds). This process is called Rayleigh scattering. (It is named after Lord John Rayleigh, an English physicist, who first described it in the 1870's.)

WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?

The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.

However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

Monday, April 26, 2010

New favorite show: Heroes :)

Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the characters' lives. The series emulates the aesthetic style and storytelling of American comic books, using short, multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing arc. The series is produced by Tailwind Productions in association with Universal Media Studios, and it is filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California.

Four complete seasons have aired, so far ending on February 8, 2010. The critically acclaimed first season's run of 23 episodes garnered an average of 14.3 million viewers in the United States, receiving the highest rating for an NBC drama premiere in five years. The second season of Heroes attracted an average of 13.1 million viewers in the U.S., and marked NBC's sole series among the top 20 ranked programs in total viewership for the 2007–2008 season.Heroes has garnered a number of awards and nominations, including Primetime Emmy awards,Golden Globes, People's Choice Awards and British Academy Television Awards.

A digital-internet extension of the series, Heroes 360 Experience, later rebranded as Heroes Evolutions, was created to explore the Heroes universe and provides insight into the show's mythology. Other official Heroes media include magazines, action figures, tie-in and interactive websites, a mobile game, a novel, clothing and other merchandise. In the fall of 2008, NBC Digital Entertainment released a series of online content for the summer, including more original web content, wireless iTV interactivity, graphic novels available for mobile viewing and webisodes.


Ahh, It's a Zebra :)

Physical Characteristics
The long-legged Grevy's zebra, the biggest of the wild equids, is taller and heavier than the Burchell's, with a massive head and large ears.

Zebras have shiny coats that dissipate over 70 percent of incoming heat, and some scientists believe the stripes help the animals withstand intense solar radiation. The black and white stripes are a form of camouflage called disruptive coloration that breaks up the outline of the body. Although the pattern is visible during daytime, at dawn or in the evening when their predators are most active, zebras look indistinct and may confuse predators by distorting true distance.

The stripes on Grevy's zebras are more numerous and narrow than those of the plains zebra and do not extend to the belly. In all zebra species, the stripes on the forequarters form a triangular pattern; Grevy's have a similar pattern on the hindquarters, while others have a slanted or horizontal pattern.

Habitat
Burchell's zebras inhabit savannas, from treeless grasslands to open woodlands; they sometimes occur in tens of thousands in migratory herds on the Serengeti plains. Grevy's zebras are now mainly restricted to parts of northern Kenya. Although they are adapted to semi-arid conditions and require less water than other zebra species, these zebras compete with domestic livestock for water and have suffered heavy poaching for their meat and skins.

Behavior
Family groups are stable members maintaining strong bonds over many years. Mutual grooming, where zebras stand together and nibble the hair on each other's neck and back, helps develop and preserve these bonds. Family members look out for one another if one becomes separated from the rest, the others search for it. The group adjusts its traveling pace to accommodate the old and the weak.

The females within a family observe a strict hierarchical system. A dominant mare always leads the group, while others follow her in single file, each with their foals directly behind them. The lowest- ranking mare is the last in line. Although the stallion is the dominant member of the family, he operates outside the system and has no special place in the line.

Diet
Zebras are avid grazers. Both Burchell's and Grevy's zebras are in constant search of green pastures. In the dry season, they can live on coarse, dry grass only if they are within a short distance (usually no farther than 20 miles away) of water holes.

Caring for the Young
When a foal is born the mother keeps all other zebras (even the members of her family) away from it for 2 or 3 days, until it learns to recognize her by sight, voice and smell.

While all foals have a close association with their mothers, the male foals are also close to their fathers. They leave their group on their own accord between the ages of 1 and 4 years to join an all-male bachelor group until they are strong enough to head a family.

Predators
Zebras are important prey for lions and hyenas, and to a lesser extent for hunting dogs, leopards and cheetahs. When a family group is attacked, the members form a semicircle, face the predator and watch it, ready to bite or strike should the attack continue. If one of the family is injured the rest will often encircle it to protect it from further attack.

Did you know?

  • Romans called Grevy's zebras 'hippotigris' and trained them to pull two-wheeled carts for exhibition in circuses.
  • At first glance zebras in a herd might all look alike, but their stripe patterns are as distinctive as fingerprints are in man. Scientists can identify individual zebras by comparing patterns, stripe widths, color and scars.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Young Artist for Haiti- Wavin' Flag

Young Artists for Haiti is a movement to engage Canada's young musicians to continue to inspire an ongoing effort and contribution to Canadian charities for their work to help the people of Haiti overcome the devastation from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked the country on January 12, 2010. More than 50 of Canada's best and brightest artists gathered at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia to record a rendition of renowned hip hop artist K'naan's "Wavin' Flag".
Produced by Canadian icon, Bob Ezrin, the song was reworked to include specific lyrics for Haiti and was released on March 12, 2010 with proceeds going to Free the Children, War Child Canada and World Vision Canada. It's a fun video to watch so you can pick out the CANADIAN artists. Have fun and enjoy.