Shaan's Post

Super Bowl 45

By: Shaan

This Superbowl was the best I have ever seen! It was a clash of Titans as Greenbay won. They were leading by 11 at the end of the first half but at the end only won by 6 at the end. I rooted for the Greenbay packers but the only reason I did was because Charles Woodson (the game changer on defence went to the same school as my dad (University of Michigan). That proves that the Steelers really stepped their game in the second half.

                     1st Quarter       2nd Quarter        3rd Quarter        4th Quarter

Greenbay            14                       7                     0                      10

Steelers               0                       10                    8                        7

      The half time show was spectacular it featured the Black Eyed Peas and Usher. They sang Tonight is gonna be a good night and performed it well.

Naren's Post

Real Iron Man

By Naren

How cool would it be if Iron Man was real? Right now we don’t have the technology is what some people say. The others say if we don’t have the technology yet then let’s invent it. I personally agree. Only a hand full of people were so close to making a real Iron Man. A guy made something like the suit. Anthony Le has been a fan of Iron Man since he was a kid. He was inspired to build his own Iron Man suit. It looked like this:
    
The material Anthony used for the armor is thin. Le built a copy of Iron Man’s arc reactor for the chest but it only powers the guns. It took 1 month and more than $4,000 in all. The gun in the shoulder could be converted into a paint ball shooter even though the guns don’t work. It also actually moves. Unluckily, the suit can’t fly, communicate without opening his helmet, or do many other various things. Another Iron Man suit is the XOS 2.

It gives the user 20 times more streghth than the he/she ever had. It is planned that Raython’s idea will be used in the military for carrying bombs and other stuff. Another military suit will be the HULC.
 Waist-mounted 100-volt battery pack. The creators rent the suit in Japan.
The next one is the Lifesuit (Prototype 14).
To understand the Lifesuit, you have to know a little about Monty Reed (the creator). He got hurt and suffered a severe back injury after a parachute crash and the doctors said he could not walk ever again. Now he's walking after creating this suit, but he won't forget that experience, and so the idea of the Lifesuit was created. The latest suit, Prototype 14 (or LS14), uses a system of compressed air that can allow the wearer to pick up objects as heavy as 200 pounds, just like the XOS and the HULC.
The next suit is the Trojan T Series. Troy Hurtubise's Trojan armor isn't a fully powered suit. Instead, batteries on the helmet powering the radio, a laser pointer, and even an air conditioner. It was popularly nick-named  as the "Halo armor" thanks to its looks.


This is all real. These five creations are little steps to the amazing and invincible Iron Man armor. Who knows? Maybe you might create the armor just like these guys. Would you want to create this or at least have this in your future? Why or why not?

Kelly's Post

Hawaii

By: Kelly

My family goes to Hawaii for two weeks every summer and have fun doing a lot of different things. First, we go to Kailua beach in Oahu almost every day. At the beach we build sand castles, make sand sculptures, go boogie boarding and surfing, go canoeing, and visit tide pools. All seven cousins from my mom's side of the family come so we have lots of people to play with. Carolyn and our cousin Finn watch the annual hot dog eating contest while me and two of my cousins go into the backyard of the house that my grand parents own to go lizard catching. In Hawaii we celebrate many summer birthdays including my little sister's. We also celebrate the Fourth of July by going to the beach and seeing really cool fireworks that I only see once a year. Do you go somewhere with your family every year? If not, where would you like to go?

Agrima's Post

Board Game Professionals....Found to be using a Special Part of the Brain
By: Agrima

Just recently, on January 21st, 2011, scientists have found that when professional board game players are forced to make a quick move or are in a crunched amount of time, there is a special trained part of the brain they used to win or make the move they do. This was first discovered by scientists from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan, when they were examining the brains of a group of professional Japanese shogi players (Shogi is a game much like our chess, with 20 characters, which is very popular in Japan). While doing this, they also made the players do things for them in between. For example, when they just started to notice this part of the players’ brain, they made the player make a move in 2-4 seconds. They also tested 8-10 seconds. They discovered that when given a longer amount of time, the players did not use this part of the brain. The players only used the part of the brain where all the memorization of 10 years of training had been. When they had found out that professionals had trained their minds to have this part of their brains without even knowing it, they wondered if it was the same for amateurs. So, they tested it out. They found out that it wasn’t the same. The amateurs didn’t train 3-4 hours a day for 10 years, so that part of the brain that was in the professionals’ minds hadn’t yet developed in theirs. The scientists are really surprised with their findings. “The professional players started to use the parts of the brains that are well developed in mice and rats and not so well developed in primates, so the findings were a surprise - by becoming expert, shogi masters start to use all parts of the brain.” quoted a lead researcher in “Science” magazine. Would you train as much as a typical professional board game player for this part of the brain? Why or why not?

Danhee's Post

Wildlife Deaths...

By: Danhee

 

        Did you know that on January 2nd more than 1,000 dead birds had just fell from the sky? People say that the birds might have been startled from the New Year’s celebration since they died around 1:45 a.m. However, something happened on the 6th. Two million fish were found dead in Maryland. Some say that the water was too cold and might have been out of their range of tolerance. There is no official reason, but some other people think that these are signs of death for everybody. More dead birds were found in Louisiana and more dead fish were lying in the Arkansas River. I think this is a problem leading to global warming. Just think! Don’t you think it’s little weird to find birds and fish just suddenly dead and just lying there on shores? What else is there to prove that it isn’t? What do you think is really happening? Explain.

Courtney's Post

My Pets

By: Courtney

Shelby

Nemo

 I have a Shetland sheepdog and two colorful fish. My dog, Shelby, is brown, black, and has a little white fur on his chin, around his neck and legs. He is very fluffy and looks like a miniature Collie. Shelby is super playful! He loves to play fetch and run around in our backyard in a figure-8 pattern. He loves to go on walks and we try to take him on a walk every day. My two fish are different colors. One is orange and white and the other one is yellow with black fins. I named them Nemo and Firebird. It is fun to watch them swim around. Do you have a pet? What does it look like and what do you like to do with it? If you don’t, what pet would you like to have and why?

Savita's Post

NFC and AFC Champions
By: Savita

Pittsburgh Steelers

Green Bay Packers

On Sunday Jan 23rd, 2011, at 3:15pm PST, the NFC champions were declared. It was….. Green Bay Packers! Green Bay Packers competed against Chicago Bears in Chicago. Packers and Bears have the most rivalry in NFL games. The score was 21 to 14 with Green Bay leading with 14-0 in the first half of the game. The Green Bay Packers will move on to the Super Bowl.

On the same day, around 6:30pm PST, the AFC champion was decided in Heinz Field, Pittsburgh. Guess what? Pittsburgh Steelers won the AFC Championship! The score was 24 to 19 against New York Jets. Jets won many good teams this season during the play offs. For example, they beat Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots but on Sunday, Steelers won Jets big time. In the first half, the Steelers where leading with a score of 24-3. It was a spectacular lead. Throughout this season Jets were loud and noisy along with their coach Rex Ryan until they met someone bigger than them - Big Ben. Pittsburg Steelers will play against Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl. Who do you think will win the Super bowl XLV? Why? Can you believe the Packers are favored to win???!!! If you have a favorite team in football what team is it and why?

Week 20 Scores by Quarter

Heinz Field, Pittsburgh        Q1             Q2            Q3              Q4

New York Jets                            0                3               7                 9
Pittsburgh Steelers                     7                17             0                  0

Soldier Field, Chicago         Q1             Q2            Q3              Q4
Chicago Bears                            0                0              0                14
Green Bay Packers                          7                7              0                 7

Olivia's Post

Metrodome Collapses in Minnesota 
 By:Olivia

Around 5:00 in the morning the Viking stadiums roof collapsed due to a huge snow storm in Minnesota. Heavy snow fell onto the roof causing it to leak. After a while the snow ripped a huge hole in the roof . Now the Vikings have to play in Detroit because of the hole in their stadium. If you were an Architect and you were assigned to rebuild the stadium roof how would you design it?

Rohan R.'s Post

The Lunar EclipseBy: Rohan R.

     As most of you know, there was an eclipse on December 21 at 9:27 p.m.- 3:06 a.m. It was visible as a total lunar eclipse in North and South America, Iceland, Ireland, Britain and northern Scandinavia. This eclipse was a rare event because it coincided with the winter solstice which is the official beginning of winter. This has not occurred for 372 years. A minor meteor shower sent a few shooting stars through the darkened sky during the height of the eclipse adding to the spectacle. The most interesting part of the eclipse occurred when the Moon plunged into Earth’s full shadow, called the umbra. The Moon turned a deep orange color during the eclipse. As Earth orbits the Sun, it sometimes comes between the Sun and the Moon. When this happens the Earth blocks out some of the sunlight that would normally reach the Moon and creates a shadow which travels across the Moon's surface. This is called a lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse can be partial or total. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when, during the passage of Earth's shadow, the entire Moon is never completely shaded. A total lunar eclipse happens when Earth's shadow completely covers the Moon, just like the one on December 21, 2010. The part of the Moon covered by the Earth's shadow is usually still faintly visible because it is lit by sunlight that has been bent by Earth's atmosphere. This light gives the Moon a reddish glow during the eclipse. The color and brightness of the eclipse depend on the amount of dust in the Earth’s atmosphere. A lunar eclipse can last for more than an hour and only occurs during a full moon. Did you see the lunar eclipse? If you did, what was your experience? If you did not, would you want to see a lunar eclipse and why?

Niraj's Post

Cricket

by Niraj

The 2010 Cricket World Cup is coming this February! Many cricket fans all over the world are getting excited. Let me tell you more about this game.

Cricket originated in Britain and it soon spread to all the countries ruled by Britain. Today this game is played all over the world. Some of the top cricket teams are: India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and England.

Cricket looks similar to baseball but there are some differences. There are two teams of 11 players each. One side starts with the ball, the other with the bat. There are two batsmen and 11 players from the bowling side on the field. The two batsmen stand on two ends of the bowling pitch. Just like a catcher in baseball, there is a wicketkeeper behind the batsman. There are three wooden sticks behind the batsman which are called stumps. The bowler(like the pitcher) bowls to the batsman and tries to get him out. There are four ways to get out. 1)The ball hits the stumps 2)The ball is caught by one of the fielders 3)The batsman cannot reach the other side of the pitch while trying to get some runs. 4) The batsman moves away from the crease(home plate) while hitting the ball and the stumps are hit by the wicketkeeper. The batsmen try to make as many runs as they can by 1)running between the stumps 2)by hitting the fence to get four runs 3)hitting over the fence to get six runs(like a home run). One inning is considered complete when 10 batsmen get out. The two sides get to play 2 innings each with a maximum of five days of cricket. Since this takes too long, nowadays they also play a shorter version of a one-day cricket game.

I enjoy this game a lot, especially the one day version. Do you know about any other games that are not so well known in USA but played elsewhere?