Blogpost on famous scientist: Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Below are his inventions which contributed to the world:

Carbon telephone transmitter
In 1877–78, Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. After protracted patent litigation, in 1892 a federal court ruled that Edison—and not Emile Berliner—was the inventor of the carbon microphone. The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcasting and public address work through the 1920s.
  
Electric light
Building on the contributions of other developers over the previous three quarters of a century, Edison made significant improvements to the idea of incandescent light, and wound up in the public consciousness as "the inventor" of the lightbulb, and a prime mover in developing the necessary infrastructure for electric power.

Electric power distribution 
Edison patented a system for electricity distribution in 1880, which was essential to capitalize on the invention of the electric lamp. On December 17, 1880, Edison founded the Edison Illuminating Company. The company established the first investor-owned electric utility in 1882 on Pearl Street Station, New York City. It was on September 4, 1882, that Edison switched on his Pearl Street generating station's electrical power distribution system, which provided 110 volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers in lower Manhattan.

Fluoroscopy
Edison is credited with designing and producing the first commercially available fluoroscope, a machine that uses X-rays to take radiographs. Until Edison discovered that calcium tungstate fluoroscopy screens produced brighter images than the barium platinocyanide screens originally used by Wilhelm Röntgen, the technology was capable of producing only very faint images. The fundamental design of Edison's fluoroscope is still in use today, despite the fact that Edison himself abandoned the project after nearly losing his own eyesight and seriously injuring his assistant, Clarence Dally. Dally had made himself an enthusiastic human guinea pig for the fluoroscopy project and in the process been exposed to a poisonous dose of radiation. He later died of injuries related to the exposure. In 1903, a shaken Edison said "Don't talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them."


  
Media inventions
The key to Edison's fortunes was telegraphy. With knowledge gained from years of working as a telegraph operator, he learned the basics of electricity. This allowed him to make his early fortune with the stock ticker, the first electricity-based broadcast system. Edison patented the sound recording and reproducing phonograph in 1878. Edison was also granted a patent for the motion picture camera or "Kinetograph". He did the electromechanical design, while his employee W.K.L. Dickson, a photographer, worked on the photographic and optical development. Much of the credit for the invention belongs to Dickson. In 1891, Thomas Edison built a Kinetoscope, or peep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films. The kinetograph and kinetoscope were both first publicly exhibited May 20, 1891.

Reflections on the whole year

The year is ending as we know it, and as such I think that I should write a reflection on the science topics covered, how I fared, and how this year has been different from all the others which I have gone through. In term1, there is no other way to describe this but I screwed up. Possibly the worst score I have gotten in my life. At that time, I thought that it was due to me having a weakness in chemistry, however soon I realized that it was not the topic, it was me, and with some work I managed to claw myself an B4 in term 2. Although it was partly that I did OK for the physics section, however I can see my chemistry improved tremendously. Finally, after more work and more time spent on revising, I finally managed to cling a A1 for science in term3, safely scoring a result almost equal to which I had scored last year. And finally, the final stretch is coming, and I shall have to work hard if I want to maintain, and even harder so that I will shine.

Term 4 Goals

As everyone in Singapore except the possibly the dead and the mentally retarded should know, the EOYs are coming. As such, 1 thing to think about now is about my goals for the last lap. I hope to maintain my A1 for science. I have thought ahead of what I need to do to do this. Firstly, I will have to focus on my weak link, namely chemistry. Also, I will have to touch up on the other sub-subjects which were taught over the year, namely ecology and physics. Finally, I will have to also heavily revise on the new subject taught, sexual reproduction, as this subject has not been tested so I have no idea how I will fair. I hope that I will be able to maintain my A1 and excel too. Also, I hope to excel in all subjects, and get into a decent class next year.

Term 3 Reflections

This term, I am proud to have finally be able to achieve an A1 for science. This terms, the topics covered during the test were ecology and physics. At first, before the test I was feeling nervous that I had missed out revising something, however as I took the test, I slowly grew confident of myself, and finally got an A1, scoring 34 out of 40, a feet I had once deemed impossible. I feel proud and accomplished, however, I cannot let my pride and arrogance get the better of me. The final battle of the year is approaching, and the last stand has to be made. In simple words EOYs are coming and I better buck up or I will be in trouble as deep as the sea.

Animals near extinction: Sumatran Tiger

  My research will be on the Sumatran Tiger, an animal which is near extinction. This animal resides in Indonesia. It numbers are currently less than 600 and it is on the verge of going extinct. The Sumatran Tiger has lived in only Sumatra for the last million years, thus due to human expansion, its numbers have fallen as it is unable to escape to a new habitat. Most of the remaining Sumatran Tigers live in Reserves, and less than a hundred live outside of them. The Sumatran Tiger is the smallest breed of tiger in the world.
   Sumatran Tigers live only in Sumatra. They reside in lowland forests, mountain forests and peat moss forests. They also venture to mountainous areas. The Sumatran Tigers prefer to hunt alone, and they only come together to mate. A male Sumatran Tiger’s territory can overlap many other female Sumatran Tiger’s territories, however it will never overlap another male’s. The Sumatran Tiger, like most other tigers, is carnivorous. Their diet ranges from small animals like fishes to birds, to big animals like wild boars and deer. The Sumatran Tiger shares its habitat with orangutans, wild boars, Sumatran Rhinos and Sumatran Elephants.
The way the Sumatran Tiger hunts is slow and patient. They usually stalk their prey from the dense jungle until they are close enough to spring. They try to attack their prey from the side or rear and rear. When the prey weighs more than the tiger, a throat bite is used and this causes the prey to die due to suffocation. They kill whatever they can catch, which includes the prey listed above.
   Sumatra is an island in Western Indonesia. Sumatra supports a wide range of vegetation types which are home to a rich variety of species, including 17 endemic genera of plants. The island is home to 201 mammal species and 580 bird species. The species present include: Sumatran Tiger, Sumatran Orangutan, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Sumatran Elephant, Sumatran Striped Rabbit, Dhole, Dayak Fruit Bat, Malayan Tapir, Malayan Sun Bear and the Bornean Clouded Leopard. The island has lost 48% of its natural forest cover since 1985, and many of the remaining species are endangered. The Sumatran Tiger, Sumatran Rhino, and Sumatran Orangutan are all Critically Endangered, indicating that the highest level of threat to their survival. In October 2008, the Indonesian government announced a plan to protect Sumatra's remaining forests. However,
the construction of illegal roads through prime tiger habitat has continued since then by companies led by Asia Pulp & Paper, the pulp and paper company well known for illegal logging and breaching environmental law.

The whole point of a tiger's distinctive striped fur is so that it can hide itself in the forest. Such camouflage is vital for it to hunt its prey. Therefore, an important biotic factor is the forest itself. A tiger is likely to stand out like a sore thumb in, say, a Savannah. Its orange coating helps it blend in to the shadows provided by the forest it lives in. The trees, too, are biotic factors. Tigers tend to scratch trees in order to show dominance, and mark their territories, including spraying.
   Tigers are nocturnal. They love to swim, and during hot summers, are known to take a dip in lakes and ponds. They live in both hot places and cold places. So they can adapt to a range of temperatures. These are their abiotic factors.

Interesting Article : Vampires

Article found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire

This is a blog post dedicated to vampires. Although the topic of vampires seems to have no connection with anything which has been taught in school ever, however I find this is not true. Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Now look at it from this direction.

Creature 1	Creature 2	Relationship	Scientific Name of Relationship
Vampire	Human	+ -	Predation
Vampire	Subjugate (Vampire Slaves who get rewards such as immortality)	++	Mutualism
Vampire Killer	Vampire	+-	???
Mommy Vampire	Daddy Vampire	BABIES	BABIES

This table shows that technically, we can include vampires in a food chain. For example:

Sun -> Grass -> Cow -> Human -> Vampire

Therefore, this article about vampires shows me information about vampires which can be used to explain science.

Documentary Review: Our Ancesters

This is a reflection of a documentary I have watched about humans before we us, or our ancestors . The documentary is very interesting and it shows how we found what our ancestors were like in terms of physical appearance and biologically. It shows us how scientist came to know about how humans were like physically before this period.
The documentary begins with a person finding bones in 1856. They were found by a man in a cave in Germany. The man found bones, which included a skull which did not look like an animal's or and human's, and it had a big nose. It was called the Neanderthal(40000 years). Its height was 5ft 5 in, weight 175 lbs, brain size 1400cc, and it dwelled in caves. The Neanderthal was very buff and strong, and it lived on meat which it obtained through hunting. It had a keen sense of smell, which allowed it to tell animals apart by their droppings. At that moment it seemed like man had evolved from this creature, and it was thought man evolved from apes, but in actual fact they did not.
The scientist then expanded their search from Europe to South East Asia. The search was known as the 'missing league'. A man even sacrificed his job in Sumatra to search for the 'missing league', however it failed. Another search was conducted in 1891. More skulls which looked like that of apes but were not were found. These skulls were that of the Java man, or Homo Eructus. They were around 6ft tall, weighed 165lbs, brain size 900cc and they dwelled in rock shelters. They also fed on meat. They had lesser hair all over their bodies, and had more sweat glands.
The scientists then began to change their search focus to Europe again, this time Britain. They found more and more skulls and finally managed to come up with a perfect model of the human ape skull. After that, they changed back their focus to South Africa, Johannesburg. Their search was fruitful, and they yielded a brain filled with fossilized sand. It was known as Tuang. Its height was 3ft 6 in, weighed 75lbs, brain size 440cc, and it dwelled in the Savannah.
After that, they then went to the Valley in Ethopia in search for the earliest human ancestors. They found nothing, and wanted to stop but decided to go to another part of Ethopia to search. After awhile, they found a fossilized arm bone, and that was the end of the documentary.
I found the document very interesting and it teaches me about how humans came to be about. It shows how science is used to deduce that the bones were that of the Neanderthal and the Java Man. It is also a bit of history as I know about the pass. Humans are continuously finding out about new things about ourselves every day.

Term 2 Reflections

This term, I am quite pleased with my science results. From an F9 in term1, I have successfully managed to claw my way back into a decent result of B4 for science. I will continue to strive for excellence in the following terms. In term 2, the topics covered were writing chemical equations and a bit of physics in the aspect of light. Although my chemistry is not exactly my strongest subject (F9 in term1) however I managed to score quite decently in it and not flunk it like I did in term1. I could say I did well but not up to my previous expectations however that would be lying. I hope that in the coming terms I will be able to continue pulling myself up to score better for science and make my MSG drop as fast as a comet flying down from space. I am hoping to get an A1 for term3 and I will work towards my goal, 1 step at a time.

Intersting Article : H1N1

Article is at: http://www.virology.ws/2009/04/30/structure-of-influenza-virus/

This is an article about the H1N1 virus. It talks about some facts about the virus, its shape and the way it should look like under a telescope. The infectious particle is roughly spherical. It is an enveloped virus – that is, the outer layer is a lipid membrane which is taken from the host cell in which the virus multiplies.  Inside the lipid membrane are ‘spikes’, which are proteins which according to the website are known as glycoproteins. Beneath something known as the lipid membrane is a viral protein called M1, or matrix protein. The matrix protein forms a shell, which gives strength and rigidity to the something known as the lipid envelope.Inside something known as a viron, the thing that determines the genetic material of the virus, known as RNA, codes the virus. For the H1N1 virus, there are 8 RNAs, and each connect to several proteins, as shown from the diagram.