Victoria+Brewer

​ ​ ​ Victoria's Wiki Biology 111 

​ The Ice Cream of the Future During the summer I was in the States and while I was shopping I stumbled along a cool ice cream vending machine. The ice cream was called Dippin Dots and I decided to try it, it was pretty good. The ice cream was super cold and it looked like little dots, hence the name Dippin Dots. Anyway, since it was pretty good I thought I would do some research and explain how it was made. Dippin dots decided to take all of the air out of the ice cream, pretty cool ahh! Yah, it tastes exactly like normal ice cream except better. Dippin Dots have pretty cool flavours such as banana split, cotton candy and many others. I did some research and found out how they do this. They freeze the ice cream with extremely cold temperatures using liquid media type="youtube" key="iv90r-dh0cs" height="344" width="425" align="right"nitrogen freezing the ice cream in seconds.​

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Swine Flu ​ Today I got a message on my phone saying there would be vaccinations for the swine flu in our school, this is not a surprise due to the swine flu being a pandemic flu, or at least researchers think so. The article I was reading explained how the media wanted you to think this flu was awful, and to my surprise many people believe the media. The article went on to say how the swine flu is not actually as bad as it sounds, the media and news reports make it out to be terrifing and awful as you have probably already heard. I am not saying, the flu is not bad because numerous people have died from it. From the research of this article, I now seem to believe that the swine flu shot could be good or bad in some cases. For people that get the cold or flu commonly it seems as though they should get the shot, although people who do not get the shot are at risk. I myself am not fond of needles but in my mother's eyes she would rather me get the shot just to be safe. Will you get the shot?

media type="youtube" key="tbt_PuVAVTU" height="320" width="389" align="right" After reading this article I saw a song on you tube saying not to blame the pigs. So after that I was wondering if the pigs really caused swine flu or not. Apparently the pigs may not have caused the swine flu, though various people in Mexico believe they did, but researchers have not proven it exactly correct. They are most likely looking for someone to blame in my opinion. A epidemiologists proclaims that it may not be the pigs fault after all, there are more than a 10,000,000 pigs being raised at one time in Saskatchewan at a hog farm. Just imagine how much bacteria is in that one farm let alone how many pigs could catch it, and researchers may also think that pig farms such as in Saskatchewan where they raise pigs and have the swine flu and bacteria that may have been contracted could be in the genetics of the next off spring. What do you think?

(n.d.). //Psychology Today//. Retrieved from []

(n.d.). //Did factoring farming cause the swine flu outbreak?//. Retrieved from []  Does Brain Training Really Work? The article I choose from the New Scientist magazine was on brain training. The article is explaining if brain training really works. As I read the article, I realized that the one of the main subjects was on the new Nintendo brain training game. Various scientist's seem to believe that the game may work, but think about it this way. If you played the game over and over you should get better at it, so overall is your brain getting smarter or are you just getting better at the game. A brain training expert says "Does brain training work?" It depends, Torkel then goes on to say we do not really know if brain training works or not its like asking "Do drugs work?". The article also states that they have been doing research on brain training for twelve to fifteen years. This is an exceptional amount of time and they are still not sure it works. After reading deeper into the article it says "Like anti-ageing cream: it won't do any harm and might do some good". From this statement it seems as though brain training will help elderly people more than younger people. If brain training can actually keep your brain knowledgable or even smarter, than maybe in multiply years they can find an answer to mental illness which would be a miraculous discovery.  (2008, January 12-18). A game to train your brain?. //NewScientist//, 197(2638), 26-29.

 Manatees The manatee is a kind gentle creature that has lots of life and kindness. There are only about 3,800 manatees left in the United States today. The manatee will soon be extinct, if we do not help them. The manatee weighs on average about 1000 pounds and are about 10 feet long. The manatee is an aquatic mammal, that lives in shallow slow moving water as well as salt water bays. Mannatees are related to the elephant as you can see they have very similar skin and are close to the same size. They love to eat, rest and take their time. The manatee loves to move slowly almost as if it is relaxing. Since the manatee is a mammal they must come up for air every 3 to 5 minutes. Although, when they are using more energy they come up for air more frequently, about every 30 seconds. Manatees are being injured by people, people leave hooks which they injest, people leave crab traps which they get tangled up in, people run over them with boats in which they die or get massive scars, and the worst of all peolpe destroy their habitat which means they must move.

(n.d.). //Manantees//. Retrieved from [] (n.d.). Retrieved from www.thewildones.org/Animals/manatee.html

Blepharospasm  Blepharospasm or eye twitching is a common occurance in numerous people around the world. There are many different ways that eye twitching can occur, from tiredness, staring at the computer or other miner trends that you may do on a day to day basis. Eye twitching or spasms are not a big deal, they do not hurt although they can be annoying. Spasms may be prevented by relaxation, a massage, yoga, taking a break or even going to bed earlier. It just depends on your life, and mainly how you treat yourself, so relax, calm down and have fun and the spasms will go away. (n.d.). //Say good by to annoying eye twitches//. Retrieved from http://www.eyeconcerns.com/eyeconcerns-articles/eye-twitches.php

Baby Carrots How do you think baby carrots are made? Well if you thought they picked baby carrots out of the ground you're wrong. They begin the process by picking normal size carrots, which they then sort out by shape and appearance. The carrots that are oddly shaped and look unfit to eat are then widdled down into the famous baby carrot. Before they had the idea of making baby carrots almost 65% were thrown away, what a waste. So in 1986 a farmer from California decided to take his ugly carrots and cut them into small pieces. Although, baby carrots are only trasformed by the original ugly ones, they cost more and are almost tasteless compared to cutting up a normal carrot. Sure they taste sweet but most of their flavour is gone due to the peelings or skin taking off. Baby carrots are usually only made from a carrot known as the imperator, they grow and rippin faster than noraml carrots, due to this they do not have as much beta carotene (helps the pigmet in which carrots are orange). I myself will eat both kinds of carrots normal or baby and find they almost have the exact same taste.  (n.d.). //Baby carrtos- the frugal idea that isn't//. Retrieved from http://www.wisebread.com/baby-carrots-the-frugal-idea-that-isnt (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.salmonellablog.com/babycarrots.jpg

<span style="background-color: #06ff00; color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">Red Eyed Tree Frog <span style="color: #36f631; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">These tiny creatures are so lively with color, their bright red eyes work as a protection shield aganist predators to scare them away. These little frogs have suction cup feet which allows them to hold on to trees as they climb. The tree frog sleeps all day and awakes at night looking for food, they are not the most fascinating to watch although they are beautiful. Tree frogs come from Costa Rica in Central America, they live in high temperatures of humidity and like warm climates. As most frogs they eat flys, mosquitos and other tiny creatures for their diet. media type="youtube" key="TOs05evqWw0" height="344" width="425" align="right"

As you watch the video closely you can see how their feet suction cup on to the glass. There feet attach just like plungers or sticky gum. These frogs can salso be called Agalychnis callidryas.

(n.d.). //Red eyed tree frog//. Retrieved from kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/.../Red-eyed-tree-frogs (n.d.). Retrieved from www.honoluluzoo.org/Red-eyed_Tree_Frog.htm

<span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">What are those things that LIVE in your BED? <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Dust mites or Dermatophagoides farinae, are microscpic bugs which live in your bed on your couch or even in your carpet. These tiny bugs feed off your dead skin cells, mate in your bed and leave their feces on your pillow. The regular human tends to shed up to 1/5 of dead skin a week, you can only imagine how many dust mites there are. In your bed alone there can be one hundred thousand to ten million dust mites. Dont be to worried they will not hurt you however; just think of all those tiny bugs living off the dead skin on your pillow. You may also be surprised, dust mites do not have eyes or antennas but their mouth and hairy legs make up for that. The usual dust mite only lives up to thirtys day unless you are lucky it they could live up to eighty. Don't let the dust mites bite. //What are Dust mites//. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dust-mites.org/what_are_dust_mites.php (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/~bwhitlow/AMULET/webpagestuff/dads_dust_mite.jpg

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">Tanning Beds <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;"> As the winter comes and people begin to travel to the hot climates, tanning beds are used more frequently to get their tan. Tanning beds seem harmless to the average person but due to the ultraviolet rays they may cause cancer later on in life. Numerous people use tanning beds so they will not burn when they go away, which is better, getting a severe burn on vacation or having a chance at skin cancer. You can also think of it this way you may contract skin cancer with tanning beds but, the really sun is more powerful and is more harmful. Are tanning beds really that bad or are they just thought to be awful. I would rather tan in a tanning bed then get a sunburn in the hot climates of the Mediterranean.

Healthzone.ca. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/673273 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Health canada. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/life-vie/lamp-eng.php

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: center;">SOAP <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">What is soap made? Does it actually clean you? What kind is the best? Soap contains ingredients such as oils, fatty acids, glyercin and of course whatever herb or flower to make it smell good. Most of the oils come from animal or vegetable fats which then are broken down wtih alkali, making the fats into salt. Soaps work as a suface active agent or surfactants, which remove the oil and dirt build up on your skin. Soap does really clean you although, if you use soap to often like five times a day, it could cause dry skin. Assuming you all like different kinds and smells of soap you should really use the unscented, due to that kind of soap not having as many chemicals. The less complicated and or the better it works, which brand of soap are you.

//Soap//. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://science.jrank.org/pages/6214/Soap.html //How is Soap made?//. (1998). Retrieved from http://www.chandlerssoaps.com/how-is-soap-made.html This link will help you understand the soap making process deeper and explains through the use of chemistry. //What is Soap?//. (1995). Retrieved from http://www.deancoleman.com/whatissoap.htm