Smallest known snake

By Susan Milius
Science News: Web edition : Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

New miniature threadsnake discovered in Barbados

MICRO-SNAKE! A newly named species from Barbados could be the world’s smallest kind of snake. [Full Story] (If the full story in Science News is not available to you try Googling Leptotyphlops carlae.)

A newly named species from Barbados could be the world’s smallest kind of snake. Adults of the new threadsnake average only 100 millimeters long (not quite 4 inches), says evolutionary biologist Blair Hedges of Pennsylvania State University in University Park. Hedges is naming it Leptotyphlops carlae in honor of his wife, Carla Ann Hass, he says in the formal description published online in Zootaxa.

The snake’s eye-to-tail stripes, narrow head, scale pattern and some of its DNA segments mark it as a species new to science, Hedges says.

Islands are often homes for very large or very small species. Some lineages on continents never make it out to islands, so island dwellers have opportunities to fill niches they wouldn’t on the mainland. Hence, when searching for an unusual form of an animal, such as minis or giants, islands make good places to start looking.

Over his career, Hedges has codescribed other extreme herps: A frog smaller than a dime and the smallest known lizard. Each came from an island.

Additional research
1. Why would an island be a place where unusual species might be found?

2. What unique species are found on Madagascar?

3. What other islands are home to unique species of plants and animals?

4. What island chain did Darwin study while serving as Naturalist on the HMS Beagle from 1831- 1836. Why is this important to Biological Science?

Water Ice on Mars

They have teased and poked and finally managed to get some of Mars's ice into an instrument and melt it and evaporate it and YES - ICE! Water ice.

If the Science News links are unavailable try to search NASA.gov.

OK, so that doesn't seem like a big thrill to most of us after all we can just go to the fridge and we have ice so what's the big deal?

We (that's you and I and all of the scientists on earth) haven't been able to discover or even really imagine any living things that do not depend on water in some way so if there is water even in the phase of solid, cold, ice there may be (or may have been) something alive on Mars.

The alphageeks (and I use that team with great admiration) at Science News have been following this quite closely.

1. What did our favorite rocket scientists have to do to prove that there was water ice on Mars?

2. Earlier in July scientists saw evidence of ice. There was a solid, white substance that seemed to evaporate when exposed to heat. Why was this evidence NOT conclusive?

3. What other sources can you find about this amazing news story? (If online record links.)

4. Record a link to your favorite Mars photo(s) online.

be good,

Mr. Hazen

Glass: Solid or Liquid

After years and years panes of glass at an old farmhouse (or city house for that matter) are no longer the same thickness from top to bottom.

Those old windows are thicker on the bottom than at the top because glass flows down very, very slowly.

RIGHT? No, sorry.

Read the article, The Nature of Glass is anything but Clear by Kenneth Chang to understand the unique properties of glass.

In a related blog Mr. Chang admits to a mistake!

What!?? A science geek (an ALPHA GEEK no less) made a mistake?!

THEN he admits to it and encourages further discussion of his mistake. He even gives Phil Platt , the blogger who called him on it, credit. So scientists, unlike politicians, make mistakes and learn from them. Wow, that's odd. But lets get back to work.

Read Mr. Chang's article.

Be able to tell why glass is neither a solid or a liquid and what discoveries that might lead to.

Now click on the graphic in the article. There is a very clear picture of the difference between the structure of a crystalline solid and glass. Be able to describe that difference in words.

OK here are some questions that will prove to me that you understood the article.

1. What mistake did Mr. Chang make?

2. Explain why glass is neither a solid nor a liquid.

3. What is the difference between the structure of a crystalline solid and glass? (Yes, you may use a drawing to clarify your answer.)

4. What discoveries might deeper understanding of glass lead to.

5. Describe the difference between the structure of a crystalline solid and glass.

Page 2 refers to entropy and viscosity.

6. What is entropy?

7. What is viscosity?

extra

Who is Phil Platt?

be good,

Mr. Hazen

Solar Eclipse

Thanks for this photo to wikipedia

The mainstream media may not have noticed the recent solar eclipse because the totality was not visible in the USA. Parts of Canada, northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China got the best show but our friends at NASA didn't miss it. So here is video of the August 1, 2008 eclipse.


OK do you have it in your browser? Orient yourselves.

The RED-ORANGE is the sun and the advancing curve is the moon. The sun is going, going, GONE leaving a view of the solar corona. In the video check out the solar flair about where the 4 would be if the sun were the face of an analog clock. About a millions earths could fit in there. Pretty nice huh!


Change photographic filters and we see what romantics call the diamond ring. As the moon blocks more and more of the sun's a small bright "diamond" of sunlight remains. Who could say no to a proposal that includes that ring? (That's a rhetorical question so don't answer. The rest of the questions are not rhetorical so do answer them.)


Now we see the corona in all of its glory. In the past these fleeting seconds were used to study the makeup of the sun and the particles that are cast out toward the planets (Yes, including Earth) and the darkness was used to confirm that the gravity caused by a body as massive as the sun will to attract everything - even the light from distant stars.


What year did that experiment first happen?
What are they measuring these days?


Here comes the diamond ring on the other side... (Will she say "YES!"?)



So what exactly is a solar eclipse? A lunar eclipse? (and there are more names - annular, partial...)


When will the next one happen? When was the most recent one in the past?



Assignment:
1) Define:
a) Eclipse
b) Solar Eclipse
c) Lunar Eclipse


2) When will we see an eclipse in NJ? (Did you see the one earlier this year?)

3) Will it be solar or lunar?


extra: When did the famous experiment with the bending of starlight take place? What theory did scientists expect to support or refute?




be good,
Mr. Hazen

Assignment: Write a blog post

First day assignment for 8H

BLOGGER
Read a current science article or research an interesting science topic, write about it and publish your findings in electronic format on our class blog.

Blogger
1. Pick a topic or find an article online (or in the print media) that will enhance our science knowledge. Insert a hyperlink to the article online (or submit the article).
2. Summarize the key ideas.
3. Add some additional information that exceeds your original source and might make the article more interesting for your peers to read.
4. Submit by email to alphacorvus.room321@blogger.com. Pictures will enhance your article. Attach one to your email and it will be included at the beginning of your post automatically.

Your blog will be rated in the areas of :

subject matter
exceeds and enhances what is available in the text book>> highlights text information with new examples >> does not go beyond text
accuracy
no obvious mistakes or omissions>>one mistake or obvious omission >>a couple or three mistakes or obvious omissions>> many mistakes
mechanics
clear, well written, free from spelling, grammar and punctuation errors>> free from errors but needs some revision>> a couple or 3 grammar and/or punctuation errors and /or spelling errors and/or needs some revision >> in need of major revisions or proofreading

be good,

Mr. Hazen


"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
George Bernard Shaw