Pallavi's Post

Oil Spill

By: Pallavi

On April 20^th, in the Gulf of Mexico a big explosion occurred in a Oil Rig which was the biggest oil spill in the history of the U.S. This was 5,000 feet below sea level. The explosion also caused all the oil to spill into the ocean. It also caused 500 fires in the oil platform which caused a few deaths and serious injuries to all the workers. As you know oil is bad for animals and this oil might endanger animals in a big way. This Oil well in the Gulf of Mexico called the "Deepwater Horizon well" is said to be leaking around 5000 barrels(200,000 gallons) a day. The oil spill has reached the shores of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi & Florida.  The dolphins, sea otters, mussels, clams, shrimp, birds & hundreds of other animals are dying. The oil spill has a huge environmental impact and is also affecting the fishing industry. BP, the owner of this oil rig, and the coast guard are involved in the clean-up of this oil spill. What would you do to try to save the animals and clean up the mess?How do you think we can prevent things like this from happening in the future?

Brandon's Post

Immortal Jellyfish

By: Brandon 

 

     We briefly learned about the "Fountain of Youth" in social studies and how it did not exist. Scientists have recently discovered a type of jellyfish that may be the only animal that has discovered it. Some animals, like salamanders, can only grow back limbs, but the jellyfish, turritopsis nutricula, can turn back into a polyp once it gets hurt in adult form. A polyp is the first stage of the life of a jellyfish, so this means it can repeat its life over and over again. Turritopsis nutricula used to only be native in the Caribbean. Because they are immortal, they can now they can be found oceans all around Earth. Luckily, this species of jellyfish can't repeatedly multiplying because it can still die. It may have the potential of being immortal, but another a predator can just come and swallow it in one bite. This type of jellyfish is only 0.18 wide and almost the same in height. Although it is very small, the turritopsis nutricula can develop up to 80 to 90 tentacles in adult form. When it is young, it only has about eight tentacles. So, you can clearly see almost anything can eat this type of jellyfish. What would you want to do if you could possibly live forever like this type of jellyfish? Please explain why.

Dilip's Post

Unhealthy Foods
By: Dilip 

In the past, kids would go on a regular Sunday to get their Happy Meal from McDonalds. They would chomp down their greasy Big Mac and french fries while playing with their toy. Little did they know, their "delicious" sandwich was packed with calories, fat, oil, and sugar. Due to this, the Santa Clara County officials are making a law against McDonalds and other restaraunts to sell toys attracting kids to eat unhealthy foods there. They held a meeting in Silicon Valley debating the subject. County officials believed that toys that come with, for instance, a "Happy Meal" from McDonalds, are like magnets for children who are getting obese. McDonalds say that they will start selling healthy foods with their Happy meals, for example salad and fresh apple juice. Now at days, parents are worrying about their children getting obese and want them to learn to avoid those unhealthy foods. After a vote on Tuesday, 4/25, the official law has been made that "the ban would prohibit restaurants from giving away an incentive item, like a toy, with a meal that contains more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of sodium and excessive amounts of fat and sugars".

Do you think that Santa Clara County has made a correct decision on this law? Why? And if you were the owner of the McDonald's restaurant, what changes would you make in their store (foodwise)?