Science anyone?

Thanks Daniel. JJ has never been much into space except for helping research Swans questions. His head is mostly in the ocean. We just watched that video instead of doing our usual science lesson and he got so excited about the space station. Now he is youtubing all about space. So funny. Thanks again.

Tam

Thanks Swan. That was an excellent video. Ok, we are ready for more science questions!

soooooooo glad you are back swans as you can see you were greatly missed. i think tami is "the teachers pet";) i can get away with saying that because she and her beautiful family are my neighbors!!

Lol Lily, We think you guys are pretty special too!

Thanks Swan. That was an excellent video. Ok, we are ready for more science questions!

soooooooo glad you are back swans as you can see you were greatly missed. i think tami is "the teachers pet";) i can get away with saying that because she and her beautiful family are my neighbors!!

Hi Lily!
I must admit that Tami is wonderful; so is JJ. How great it must be for you two to be neighbors!

Guess who's coming to visit this weekend, Lily.... ISS. That means no towels on the head; get out the lipstick and heels! (LOL).

Saturday, August 3rd. HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY, JJ!

Swans let us know.................Happy Birthday on Saturday JJ........... ;o)

Good evening everyone,

Here are a few more questions.

1. Why isn't Jupiter a star?

2. Approximately how many galaxies are thought to exist in our universe?

3. This type of galaxy has little or no gas, little or no rotation, and is composed of old stars. Can you name this particular type?

4. Approximately what size and about how many miles from Earth is an asteroid considered to be a hazard to the planet in terms of a Near Earth Asteroid (NEO)?

5.Which planets in our solar system have temperatures hot enough to melt lead?

6. What is the name of the object thought to be a Supermassive Black Hole and located in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy called?

Enjoy!
Swan

Swan, thank you so much for taking the time to post your science questions and letting us all know when the International Space Station is flying over our beautiful island.

I was so happy when I woke up and saw your new science questions and I started researching right away to find the answers. It took me a while to find out how to find the answers to your questions. When you first started posting them it took me forever but now I know how to research them. In any case I found the answers, only one that I am not sure of. I decided not to post the answers so I can use it as JJs science lesson next week. He has this week off because its his birthday week.

I fully expected someone else to answer these questions and I'm a bit sad that no one took up the challenge. I didn't know the answer to any of the questions without researching the answer so it was a great learning experience for me. Hopefully someone else will take up the challenge and try to find the answers.

Thanks again,

Tam

Good evening everyone,

Here are a few more questions.

1. Why isn't Jupiter a star?

2. Approximately how many galaxies are thought to exist in our universe?

3. This type of galaxy has little or no gas, little or no rotation, and is composed of old stars. Can you name this particular type?

4. Approximately what size and about how many miles from Earth is an asteroid considered to be a hazard to the planet in terms of a Near Earth Asteroid (NEO)?

5.Which planets in our solar system have temperatures hot enough to melt lead?

6. What is the name of the object thought to be a Supermassive Black Hole and located in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy called?

Enjoy!
Swan

Good day everyone, Below are the answers to the quiz:

1. Jupiter is simply too small, although she evidently put up quite a struggle to become a star long ago.
The minimum Mass of a star is approximately 0.075 solar masses; Jupiter is 0.001 solar masses and below the nuclear fusion threshold to become a star.

2. A definitive number has not been determined; however, scientists estimate the number to be anywhere from 100 billion - 200 billion and up to possibly 500 billion.

3, An Elliptical Galaxy.

4.Asteroids which may post a danger to Earth are estimated to be at lease 500 feet in diameter and as close as 4,500,000 miles from the planet.

5. Venus! Venus: 867F degrees; Lead melts: 621.5F degrees.

6. Sagittarius A.

Swan 🙂

Is the sun nuclear?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD_32D6fHSQ

http://www.electricuniverse.info/Introduction

http://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/mm/electric-universe-2012-conference-video-excerpts/

Is scientific theory concrete and never changing?

No one can resist the idea of a crippled genius.

Stephen Hawking

I believe everyone should have a broad picture of how the universe operates and our place in it. It is a basic human desire. And it also puts our worries in perspective.

Stephen Hawking

Thanks Swan. That was an excellent video. Ok, we are ready for more science questions!

soooooooo glad you are back swans as you can see you were greatly missed. i think tami is "the teachers pet";) i can get away with saying that because she and her beautiful family are my neighbors!!

Hi Lily!
I must admit that Tami is wonderful; so is JJ. How great it must be for you two to be neighbors!

Guess who's coming to visit this weekend, Lily.... ISS. That means no towels on the head; get out the lipstick and heels! (LOL).

i'm one step ahead of you swans;)really looking forward to the meteor showers this weekend! thanks for all your interesting info. and posts

Good afternoon Lily,

We're all counting on Perseids to fill the night sky with phenomenal meteor splendor; even NASA is all excited, but then again NASA is always excited about one thing or another! 😀 Comet Swift-Tuttle's (from where we get the Perseid meteors) orbit takes 133 years to complete.

More meteor showers are coming our way. I'll post them under "Meteor Showers" in advance of their arrival.

Orionids - Night of October 21
Leonids - Night of November 16
Geminids - Nights of December 12 & 13

Thanks Lilly,
Swan

The Air Force says it can no longer afford to scan the sky for extraterrestrial threats that could doom the planet, all because of the sequester cuts Washington forced on itself when it failed to rein in the exploding national deficit.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/08/09/systems-protecting-earth-in-peril-due-to-sequester/

Good afternoon Lily,

We're all counting on Perseids to fill the night sky with phenomenal meteor splendor; even NASA is all excited, but then again NASA is always excited about one thing or another! 😀 Comet Swift-Tuttle's (from where we get the Perseid meteors) orbit takes 133 years to complete.

More meteor showers are coming our way. I'll post them under "Meteor Showers" in advance of their arrival.

Orionids - Night of October 21
Leonids - Night of November 16
Geminids - Nights of December 12 & 13

Thanks Lilly,
Swan

Perseids is this weekend? Sun.?
I saw that best time to view is very early morning.
Will we be able to view then or later since they were spaeking about stateside time?

Alana, I transferred this info from the 'Meteor Showers' thread and I think it may answer some of your questions.
Eastern Time applies to the Virgin Islands too.

It's predicted that the best times to view the showers are between 10:30pm Sunday night and 4:30am Monday morning; also, between 10:30pm Monday night and 4:30am Tuesday morning. Watch for them tonight and Saturday night, too, as we approach the peak periods.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PERSEIDS:

The year's best meteor shower! (Space.com)

"The Perseids are a skywatching highlight this month. This shower, which occurs when Earth plows through streams of debris shed over the years by Comet Swift-Tuttle, is widely regarded as the best of all the annual meteor displays in the Northern Hemisphere.

(While the Perseids peak toward the end of next week, you don't have to wait until those dates to observe them.!!!)

"You can start watching a week or more before the peak nights of August 11-12 and 12-13, assuming you have a dark sky," Bruce McClure noted at Earthsky.org. "The Perseid shower is known to rise gradually to a peak, then fall off rapidly afterwards. So as the nights pass in the week before the shower, the meteors will increase in number."

The Perseids, so named because they appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, often exhibit peak meteor rates of 50 to 100 per hour. The shower is also known for its fireballs — meteors that shine at least as brightly as the planet Venus."

Some estimate that the best time to see the meteors are between the hours of 10:30 pm and 4:30 am. Their speed: 132,000mph!

Enjoy!
Swan

Sounds awesome! Thank you!
Hope I can stay awake!

G'Day everyone,

Down to Earth: Our 'ocean science fans' should have fun with these questions:

1. What is the smallest fish in the ocean?

2. Why do crabs walk sideways?

3. What are baby dolphins called?

4 .How many stomachs do starfish have?

5. What is the smallest ocean on the planet Earth?

Have fun!
Swan

JJ is going to love those questions Swan. Right up his alley. Thanks for posting them and creating my science lesson for tomorrow.

JJ is going to love those questions Swan. Right up his alley. Thanks for posting them and creating my science lesson for tomorrow.

You're very welcome Tami. I simply know that JJ will do very well. Good luck, JJ!
Swan

Ok, forget tomorrow. Here are his answers.

#1 Paedocypris
#2 Because that is how they bend
#3 Calf
#4 2 stomachs
#5 The arctic ocean

Ok, forget tomorrow. Here are his answers.

#1 Paedocypris
#2 Because that is how they bend
#3 Calf
#4 2 stomachs
#5 The arctic ocean

Yes. You're right JJ!

1.Paedocypris progenetica
2.That's how the legs bend.
3.A calf. Mom is called a Cow and Dad is called a Bull.
4.2 stomachs: One of them is used as an alternative to their mouth, thereby allowing them to catch and eat larger prey than their mouth size would allow. They also have no brain, no heart, and no eyes. They don't need to sleep.
5.Arctic Ocean: 3450 feet deep. The average ocean depth is approximately 14000 feet, give or take a smidge.

Swan

Questions from JJ to the scientific community.

How did baby tarpon and baracuda get into the southgate pond and why can they not survive in a salt water environment?

Why can I not help a baby sea turtle find it's way to the ocean if it is going the wrong way?

Why is it stressfull for me to touch a sea turtle when I am swimming with them but it is ok for you to shoot a tag into their flipper?

These are his questions including spelling. LOL. Stxem I hope you have some answers.

OK, I'll play 🙂

1. They get in there from over wash during storms? They can't survive there due to rapid changes in salinity and temperature? Heavy rains will rapidly lower both salinity and temperature? During dry periods, evaporative processes and the sun will rapidly increase both salinity and temperature?

Why can I not help a baby sea turtle find it's way to the ocean if it is going the wrong way?

In general, it is better to let them find their own way to the ocean. Hatchlings may use this time to "imprint" on the beach, so that they know where to come back for nesting as adults. If you accelerate that process, they may not have adequete time to imprint. However, if the hatchlings are crawling into the road or getting attacked by ants or obviously not making it into the ocean, then it is okay to to pick them up and place them 3-6 ft away from the water line and give them a better chance of making it. Another important point is that hatchlings are attracted to the lightest area--in a perfect world this the white tips of the waves. If you can, try to turn off all beach lights to help them navigate properly. NEVER shine a light into the ocean to encourage the hatchlings to go that way--this attracts fish! Obviously not good for turtles! Unfortunately, this happened at Cane Bay a couple weeks ago during a leatherback emergence. Hopefully the hatchlings made it, but their chances were severely diminished by this action. If you have any doubts or concerns or see a nest emerging, you can also always call STAR at 690-0474 for clarification on what to do!!

Why is it stressfull for me to touch a sea turtle when I am swimming with them but it is ok for you to shoot a tag into their flipper?

There are two types of tags used to identify turtles--PIT tags (microchip tags the size of a grain of rice--the same used in dogs and cats) and flipper tags which are metal tags attached to the edge of the flipper like at earring. Turtles are only microchipped when they are laying eggs and in a trance. Typically there is no response to the PIT tag application and there are rarely side effects (I've never seen any problems). Flipper tagging can be done when the turtle is "awake," but it is a fast process, and doesn't seem to bother them too much (again, not too much reaction. it is probably similar to ear piercing). It is vital for population monitoring to identify turtles accurately so these tags are necessary.
That said, the reason why it's not okay to touch turtles while they are swimming is that this could alter their natural behavior. While one pat isn't going to do much, the issue is "multiple pats"--i.e. if it's okay for one person to touch them, then its okay for everyone to touch them. So the blanket rule has to be no touching whatsoever to keep interactions with people to the very minimum.

I hope that all makes sense! Hope you and JJ are doing well!