Mind games....no, really.

In class, Mary brought up a game in which one uses one's mind to move a ball through a maze. "Impossible!" we all thought. "Utter rubbish!" Well, she was right! The good people at the Mattel Corporation bring you Mindflex, the first board game to use the power of thought to help you play.

To play, you strap on a silly-looking headset and wirelessly connect it to the base unit. Then, you concentrate harder to raise the ball on a jet of air, or concentrate less to lower it. I've searched around, but they're sold out all over. It'd be really nifty to try! Does this mean we're not far off from turning on the TV by just thinking about it? Can Americans really get lazier? Only time can tell!

Fire!

We've just completed our Calorimetry lab, in which we tried to determine how much energy was contained in a peanut. The object was to burn the peanut to release its energy, and collect that energy in another substance and changing its temperature. Then using an equation (see below), we could calculate how much energy was there. The equation was

Q = MCΔT

Where Q is the energy in joules (what we were looking for), C is the specific heet of the material collecting the heet (measured in J/g·°C), and ΔT is the change in temerpature of the material. For a list of the specific heets of several materials, go here.

We figured out that the amount of energy in a gram of peanut should be about 23,908.57 J, which, if you check out the flames below, you'll see is quite a bit of energy. Most of our values weren't that high, though, because much of the heat ended up escaping into the environment instead of being trapped in the material.

Soot from a burnt peanut provided Shania with some feline artistic inspiration!

These gentlemen found out that some peanuts required more coaxing to light than others...

We kept the window open to prevent the peantus from setting off the fire alarm. This created a breeze and necessitated some creative sheilding.

Various materials, such as the clay seen here, were used to try and funnel heet to the water for capture. Note the temperature probe used.

Kind of Scary....

So this is a paper that a second-grader in my Mom's class (she's a teacher aide back in Buffalo) turned in. In case you can't read the answers that he or she wrote, I've transcribed them here:

1. poo

2. pooop

3. poooop

4. poop

5. pooop

6. pooop

7. pooop

8. pooooop

9. pooooooop

10. poooooop

11. pooop

12. pooop

What is going on with this world?!

Tie Rack!

Ok, so this picture isn't of my tie rack, but it's the same kind. I have better looking ties, though. It's even got a light at the front to illuminate your neckwear on those dark winter mornings.

UNICEF Donation

Recently, Groton Biology students had the chance to obtain a "Where the Solute Goes the Water Follows (WTSGTWF)" wristband in exchange for a donation in the amount of their choice to UNICEF. The United Nations Infants and Children's Everything Fund (More info here) helps make sure that as many children as possible are given the opportunity to lead full and healthy lives.

In total, Groton's students collected $44.56 in donations. So, Mr. Syracuse will round up to $45.00 and match the student's donations, for a total amount donated of $90.00! Great work for a wonderful cause! If you are still interested in making a donation or getting a wristband, your donation can be added to next year's cause, whatever the classes choose it to be.

Thanksgiving Fun!

So I know we didn't get any Frivolity this week, but you can make some of your own at your dinner table! Some of these tricks are espically good to share with friends and family around Thanksgiving. Check it out!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/table-tricks

It's from an excellent website called "Steve Spangler Science," and I highly recommend it for fantastic gifts for that science teacher in your life.

The Neck of the Giraffe

So after we watched a video of two male giraffes fighting (check it out here on youtube), we discussed the fact that the neck of the giraffe is elongated not in order to increase feeding efficiency, but rather to be better equipped to fight. Turns out that giraffes generally spend most of their time feeding at about 60% of their total height. So the long neck of the giraffe did not evolve because of any feeding benefit (after all, it would be easier to elongate the legs), but rather because of the need for males to fight over females or territory. Further, the neck may be subject to sexual selection (females chosing males with longer necks as an indication of health, fitness, etc.) in much the same way that the tail of a peacock is.

If you're interested in checking out a paper I wrote on the subject of the evolution of the giraffe's neck, check this out: Whence the Long Neck?

We went on to discuss the fact that a giraffe must work terribly hard to get blood from its heart to its head, a trip that is often on the order of two meters. If you're really curious about how it happens, check out this paper (that I also wrote!): On the Hemodynamics of Long Necks

Can you think of any other animals where it might be difficult to move blood around? Post a comment if you can!