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coquina

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Everything posted by coquina

  1. I know several people who swear by this: Arthritis Pain Relief 1 teaspoon LIQUID Certo* 3 ounces unsweetened grape juice * This is the product used to prepare jams and jellies. Mix Certo and grape juice and drink the concoction two or three times a day.
  2. Check out this link: http://lecturer.ukdw.ac.id/dhira/Metabolism/lithotrophs.html Read the section about the tube worms of the deep sea. They form a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with the chemosynthetic bacteria in their gut. (Translation - the worms form an alliance with bacteria which eat chemicals to the benefit of both organisms.) So - your animal could also use rock-eating bacteria to help it survive. It also needs a firm anchor to keep it in place, so it could be something like a barnacle ( http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/taxon_Balanuscrenatus.htm ) or a chiton. ( http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/acanthochitonafascicularis.htm ) You could also explore symmetry. The majority of earthly animals are bilaterally symmetrical, but a few are radially symmetrical. http://www.zo.utexas.edu/faculty/sjasper/images/32.4.jpg However, your animal could be spherically symmetrical http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.shelterpub.com/_symmetry_online/hollyhock.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.shelterpub.com/_symmetry_online/sym2_spherical.html&h=250&w=360&sz=26&tbnid=kHlr-h5QQDMJ:&tbnh=81&tbnw=117&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dspherical%2Bsymmetry%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D if you wanted it to be. Instead of having to stay anchored in place, maybe it would "go with the flow" and eat whatever chemicals are floating around in the atmosphere.
  3. Why do you worry about what "a few" people at your school think of you? Apparently, there are a lot of people at your school who admire you. Why don't you and others who like science start a Science Club. The people who have branded you as a heretic are trying to bring you down to their own level. Back in the 60's, when I was in high school, my best friends were my "band buddies". Some of them happened to be "science buddies" too. There were six of us who hung around together who have remained friends, all these years. Last year our high school celebrated its 50th anniversary. We had an all class reunion, it was spearheaded by the members of my "Class of 67". We raised $25,000. as seed money for a scholarship fund. As far as the "heretics" were concerned - we had them back then too, and their attitudes hadn't changed over the years. They scoffed at our "all class reunion" idea. They couldn't imagine why we would want to do something for our high school - they hated it then and hate it still. We got some very ugly responses when we contacted them and asked them to attend the reunion. They were incensed that we were charging and thought it should be free. When we told them we were having the event to kick off a scholarship fund that could benefit their children, they said their children had no interest in going to college - that they didn't need a "high fallutin' education". They were my generation's "Do Nothings" and their children will be the ones of this generation who will rise no further in life than waiting tables or flipping burgers. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with menial labor - I have the greatest admiration for wait people, and some of them probably make better tips than I make income. IMHO, digging ditches is far superior to collecting welfare. However, you do not need to associate with people who try to drag you down rather than raising themselves up.
  4. I think the word you want is "accredited" or "accreditation". Both schools and teachers must have it. However - if you have a problem with specific teachers, I think the local school board is their governing body. You can write them a letter and state your complaint. However, I would think very carefully before pursuing that option. It will earn you a reputation among teachers as a trouble-maker, and you will be on their wrong side from the git-go. I get the same impression - you think you are better than your teachers. Some of my best friends are teachers, and speaking on their behalf, teaching knowledge is a small part of their job description. They have lesson plans to write, and papers to grade, and all kinds of administrative tasks with which they must deal. In order to accomplish what they must, they must be geared towards teaching a class, not individuals. The exception to this is that they must try to reach the slower students and bring them up to par. They probably know the answers to your questions, but not right off the top of their head. Their mind is programmed to accomplish their job, of getting the whole class to learn the knowledge that is in the curriculum. Helping a slow person come up to snuff is more important than helping you get ahead of everyone else. You have 2 options here. You can ask that your parents send you to a private school where you will be more challenged. Or - if you can handle it without coming off as "holier than thou" and making them feel inferior, and if you really know the material thoroughly, you can offer to tutor some of the students who are having a difficult time. This is the voice of experience, you will have a far easier time getting through life by being helpful than you will by being the perpetual burr under the saddle, continually causing irritation.
  5. This is another area with which you will have to deal later in life - treat it as a learning experience. In all probability, at some point you will have a job where your immediate superior dislikes you, and will try to make you look bad so that s/he can blame everything bad that happens on you. If you lose your temper s/he can have you fired for insubordination, so you have to learn to keep cool. You have to learn to treat it as a game - the nastier she gets, the nicer you become. You absolutely refuse to allow her to goad you into losing your temper. In the case of your teacher, I would request the appointment. The very first thing I would do is to offer a genuine appology for the sarcasm. Ask her if there are things about your behavior that she finds annoying and tell her you will try to correct them. Then ask her to explain how she graded your paper. Unfortunately, I think there is something innate about how we feel towards other people. I know I have seen people who I dislike almost on sight. One thing that particularly disturbs me is someone with a whiny, nasal voice. It just grates on my very last nerve. You have to face the fact that you will not like everybody you run across and they will not like you. It is easy to deal with people with whom you "hit it off" right off the bat. Learning to deal with, and treat fairly, people whom you do not like is a lot more difficult. Learning how to have them treat you fairly is even more difficult. You cannot give them any opportunity to feed their dislike - especially if they are people who have some control over your grades or income. Maybe this will help - try to be completely honest with yourself. Imagine that you are in a meeting with only you, the principal, and the teacher present. You present your case to the principal about why you have been treated unfairly. Think about what her response to him would be. Would she say that you are sarcastic? Would she say you roll your eyes or have other unpleasant facial expressions. ( My mother used to tell me, "Don't you look at me with that tone of voice." She knew exactly what was going through my mind, I didn't have to open my mouth.) Would she say your papers are sloppy and difficult to grade. Would she say you don't turn in your assignments on time? Would she say you mutter unpleasant things under your breath to other students? If you can answer "yes" to any of the above, you need to change your behavior before you can expect her to change hers.
  6. I looked for the article in the online version' date=' but didn't see if. I'll see if I can find it and send you the author's name. Here's an example of that. My ex-son-in-law's mother is full blooded Japanese and his dad's grandmother was full blooded Cherokee. The results give him a somewhat Middle Eastern appearance. This is enhanced because he wears his hair long and has a full beard and mustache. He always has - long before 9/11. People used to just think he's weird (which he is to some extent - now they sometimes think he is dangerous.) He is also a runner. He had to deliver some parts for me to Jefferson Lab, and when he came out of the door he ran at full speed back to the truck. It's just his way of keeping fit - he runs everywhere he goes. (And yes - he is a little bizarre - he was a featherweight boxer and he's been hit in the head one too many times.) Anyway, a couple of scientists coming into the lab observed this behavior and assumed he had planted a bomb. Unbeknownst to him, they followed him and called the cops on their cell phone. His next stop after the lab was Costco - while he was inside, the cops arrived, and thankfully the first thing they did was run a trace on the license plate. They then called the purchasing agent who knows Ozzie, and he confirmed that he is a legitimate delivery person. It is a good thing the scientists didn't decide to jump him - Ozzie is little, but he would have cleaned their clocks - I promise you. After this happened, I had to tell Ozzie about it. He just couldn't understand why people would think that of him. He is a sweet, gentle man. Just different looking.
  7. There was an article in our paper (The Daily Press, Newport News, VA) about a black woman who went to look at a home for sale. The owner said she couldn't buy it because there was a covenant in the deed that prohibited him selling to black people. She reported the incident and the government sent an agent ingognito. When he told that person the same thing, he was told that what he had done violates the fair housing act and he has to go to court to defend himself. The article said that those covenants were common throughout the south but were found to be illegal by the Supreme Court. I grew up in the Virginia - our schools were segregated until I was in high school. Up until that point, I had lived in a "Wonder Bread World". The only black person I knew was the woman who cleaned house for us. My father did not allow her to use our bathroom. He installed another in the back of the garage just for her. He said it was unsanitary, because black people carried disease. I thought that peculiar, since she washed our clothes and dishes and cooked for us, but that was the way it was. After the schools were integrated, I became friends with black students, and things changed. However, if my dad had known I'd gone into their house, he would have cleaned my clock. It was much easier for the students to accept them than for our parents. Some of the people I went to school with are still quite predjudiced. It is different with people of my daughter's age. She never experienced segregation. People of my parents' generation had been taught that segregation was right by their parents. Those notions die hard. People can't just change their belief systems over night, even if they are proven wrong. As older people die off, I believe it will become less and less of a problem. That doesn't help the young black couple who are trying to buy a home, I know. I'm just calling it the way I see it.
  8. I own a machine shop. The bain of my existance are mechanical engineers who have never been in a shop before. You can draw anything on paper - it takes a working knowledge of how parts are made to be a really great mechanical engineer. If you are interested in the field, I think it would be good for you to learn the hands on part first.
  9. You might want to check here: http://www.solarhaven.org/NewStrawbale.htm and also google "straw bale home". They are comparitively inexpensive and are supposed to have very high insulation qualities.
  10. She was the best teacher I ever had. She taught me advanced biology. She gave "open book" tests. She said, "Knowing facts isn't as important as knowing how to find them." We soon found out that if we didn't know where to look in the book, we had no chance of finding the answers. 2nd semester we dissected cats. Our final exam question was "Take a ham sandwich through the body of the cat and tell how each part is digested and what tissues are benefitted." I got an "A" (and she only gave 2 in the class - there were 3 of us who fought over them). When took Biology 101 in college, the professor announced that he graded on a curve, and that the highest grade would be set point for the grade. Whoops - I never got anything below a 98. The rest of the class was furious because I blew the curve, but I already knew the material. However - you have to learn to get along with people. Older people generally don't like people who they think are trying to show that they are smarter than the teacher. I think if you can look at school as an opportunity about how to have effective social skills as well as learning knowledge, you will be ahead of the game.
  11. I have this for dinner sometimes instead of meat. Ingredients: Large Granny Smith Apple 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup grated cheese 2 tbls breadcrumbs Sweeten to taste with Spenda Cut the apple into thin slices, put in microwavable dish Microwave for 2 minutes Add walnuts, splenda and bread crumbs and mix well Put grated cheese on top Zap until cheese melts. It's ready to eat.
  12. My grandson is in the boyscouts. One of the things he had to do was start a fire without a match. I thought he would rub two sticks together or use a magnifying glass - nope, he did it with a 9 volt battery and steel wool.
  13. If you got one, put it here. As someone pointed out in the "truth in labeling" thread - pizza is a no-no for diabetics. Try this instead: "Upside-down Pizza" Ingredients: Large Portabella Mushroom Olive oil Italian flavored bread crumbs (optional, but you don't have to use a lot) Veggies of your choice, ie, onions, bell pepper, black olives, (chopped finely) Turkey pepperoni, chopped finely. 1 tbls "Pizza Quick" pizza sauce. Part skim mozzarella, finely grated McCormick Pizza Spice in disposable grinder. http://www.mccormick.com/pressdisplay.cfm?ID=10896 (If you can find this, it really adds flavor and you don't have to use much) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Directions: Remove stem from mushroom and place upside down on microwavable plate. Sprinkle a little olive oil around the leaves (you can get by without this too, if you really want to cut calories.) Layer on veggie toppings only. Zap in microwave for 2 - 3 minutes, until veggies are cooked. Add pepperoni, pizza sauce, and top with mozzarella. Grind on Pizza Spice Nuke one minute or until cheese melts. Enjoy! Notes: If you are on a low salt diet - you might want to leave off the Pizza Sauce, and the McCormick spice. I think Mrs. Dash has a blend that contains no salt. Chopping vegetables finely helps them cook quickly. Another advantage to this is that it is a "one-dish wonder". There is no big mess to clean up. Also, it only takes a few minutes to prep and cook. I particularly like it because I don't like to take a long time to fix dinner just for myself.
  14. The current in the C&D canal can run as fast as 6 knots. It is not unusual to have a current in the Chesapeake Bay of 2kts. You have to think about the surface area of the bottom of the boat that is being acted on by it. Even a smaller pleasure boat, about 40' long with a 15' beam has almost 600 sq ft of surface area. We haven't defined the size of the "ships" but here is a link that gives various ship sizes: http://www.rpsoft2000.com/shipsize.htm It would not be at all unreasonable to use 1000 x 100, so that is approximately 100,000 feet of bottom. (I didn't allow for the ship narrowing at the bow, which would decrease surface area, neither did I allow for the fact that part of the bottom is on an angle, which would increase it.) In any case, the original question was "how much horsepower does the anchor produce" - none. The current can generate horsepower. Around here, there used to be "tidemills" that used the velocity of the current to turn a water wheel.
  15. I was looking at a jar of hazelnut flavored Coffeemate in the grocery that said "Sugar Free". However, it had 30 calories per tablespoon, (5 gms) - 2.5 of fat, and 2.0 carbohydrate, and 0 grams of sugars. However, when you read the list of ingredients, the 2nd item on the list, after palm kernal oil, is "corn syrup solids". How come "corn syrup solids" don't have to be classified as sugar? My assistant's father is diabetic, and he was sent to special nutritional counciling to teach him how to read the labels to detect hidden sugar. What about the diabetics that didn't get that counciling? I know that some things have natural sugar, so I can buy labeling it as "no sugar added", but I don't agree with the legality of stating "sugar free" when there is sugar of one form or another present.
  16. OK - let's say that the current is running 6 knots (nautical miles per hour). If the boat drifts, it will go down the river at 6 knots, so, in order to keep stationery, the engine has to produce adequate horsepower to generate a speed of 6 knots over the ground. (One speaks of two kinds of velocity with regard to marine navigation, speed over ground and speed through the water.) The anchor doesn't produce horsepower. I am a moron when it comes to physics, but I would say that in basic terms, the anchor increases the friction to produce drag. If you compared it to an automobile, you would say how many horsepower are generated by applying the brakes. None, right???
  17. coquina

    Science Fair

    How old are you? How much science have you studied? How much math have you studied? Which branch of science interests you most? If you answer those questions, it will be easier to catagorize the area of science in which you would most excell.
  18. "Right" and "wrong" may be personalized to some extent. For example, it is "wrong" for Orthodox Jews to eat pork or seafood that does not have scales. I read an article years ago in Discover Magazine which explored the origins of that (and, yes, I know it is in the Bible). The article stated that pigs would have contaminated the water that was precious and scarce in semi-arid environments. It also traced the "scales only" rule to the fact that there are extremely poisonous puffer fish in the shores around the Middle East. I have a Jewish friend who married into a Gentile family. She said that in her temple the rules for eating shrimp have been relaxed, but since it had been instilled as a "no-no" from her earliest memories, when she tried to eat it, it made her sick. Personally, for me morality comes down to living by the 10 Commandments. I don't think it matters whether you are Christian, Jew, Muslim or Athiest - they are universal rules that enable one to live successfully within a group.
  19. If you cheat, you're only cheating yourself. Bioremediation is going to be extremely important in the future. Suggest you google "chemosynthetic bacteria".
  20. The question for 2005 - "What do you believe is true, even though you cannot prove it?" Many people, including highly respected scientists, replied to this question. Read what they wrote here: http://www.edge.org/q2005/q05_print.html Comments in general or to specific answers? About "The Edge" http://www.edge.org/about_edge.html
  21. Update - Alex saw the neurosurgeon today who specializes in the disorder she has. He told her he thought he would be able to control her problem with a new medication that is working very well for several of her other patients. She has to get an eeg next week, which involves putting the leads up her nose, because of the location of the lesion. That will tell him more. Thanks so much for all the prayers, good wishes, and moral support. It's not over, but it's better.
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