Blog 23-Iran

Today, my blog is on an issue that seems to be popping up quite a bit, with good reason. Iran and their nuclear potential. There are two sides to this story, and somehow I feel the truth is in the middle of the two extremes. On one hand, there is Iran, who have been showing quite a few signs that they are developing nukes, such as moving their facilities deep underground (outside of the striking capabilities of Israel), vehmently denying that there are nukes, refusing to allow weapons inspectors inside their country (sound familiar? Pretty sure we went through this a few years ago with another country that starts with an I), as well as buying a large amount of uranium from the Russians. In recent developments, Israel seems quite keen to strike at the heart of these weapons facilities, and perform a preemtive attack, just to be safe. However, if that happens, and Iran retaliates with force, and not just "tough" words, that could quickly mean the U.S., England, Australia, and a few other of Israel's biggest supporters could be called on to enter the fight, which would leave the position of the U.S. in a precarious situation. As President Obama wants to be reelected (sadly), the last thing he wants to do is get involved in another war (because he promised to finish them). But alternately, if Israel strikes and he chooses not to get involved, it could also be bad for him, and the US, because people would think we don't look out for our allies. Basically, if Israel strikes, its a lose/lose situation for him.

Blog 22-Jabbawockeez

This weeks blog, is about one of my favorite groups of all times, the Jabbawockeez. The Jabbawockeez are America's Best Dance Crew (from now on going to abbreviated ABDC) winners from season 1. Since then, they have enjoyed a large amount of mainstream success, due in part to their phenomenal skill, as well as their entertaining choices of costumes, which always involve some sort of mask to hide their identity. The reason for this, they say, is to make every group member as important as the next, and to get the audience to focus more on the performance, stunts, acrobatics, and overall feel of the dance, as opposed to one or a few of the crew members. One judge said after a certain performace, "Y'all just set the standard for the next 10 seasons", and he was right. After the Jabbawockeez won season one, no dance crew for the next 5 years was able to match the creativity, intensity, perfection, and performance level of the Jabbawockeez. In fact, after a few more years, ABDC faded from the spot light, due in large part to the less than exciting crews that appeared continuously on the show. Below I will post some pictures of the Jabbawockeez, as well as links to two of their best performances,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1LxaAs-Unc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu3vkTa0sy0&feature=related

Shield-Croc

"The extinct creature, nicknamed "Shieldcroc" due to a thick-skinned shield on its head, is an ancestor of today's crocodiles. Its discovery provides scientists with additional information about the evolution of crocodiles and how scientists can gain insight into ways to protect the species' environment and help prevent extinction."
One cool new creature that was recently discovered is an extinct version/ancestor of the modern crocodiles and alligators. It is a very neat creature. It gets its nickname from the very tough layer of skin on its body, which almost entirely protected them.
"Shieldcroc is the newest discovery of crocodile species dating to the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 95 million years ago. This period is part of the Mesozoic Era, which has been referred to as the "Age of the Dinosaurs;" however, numerous recent discoveries have led to some scientists calling the era the "Age of the Crocs," Holliday said.
Holliday identified Shieldcroc by studying a fossilized partial skull specimen, which was discovered in Morocco and held by the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto for several years before Holliday analyzed it. By analyzing blood vessel scarring on the bone, Holliday determined that the crocodile would have had a structure on top of its head, resembling a shield. The dents and bumps on the bone indicate veins delivered blood to a circular mound of skin, something never before seen in a crocodile. He said the shield was likely used as a display structure to attract mates and intimidate enemies and possibly as a thermo-regulator to control the temperature of the animal's head."

All in all, a very cool creature.

Shieldcroc is the newest discovery of crocodile species dating to the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 95 million years ago. This period is part of the Mesozoic Era, which has been referred to as the "Age of the Dinosaurs;" however, numerous recent discoveries have led to some scientists calling the era the "Age of the Crocs," Holliday said.
Holliday identified Shieldcroc by studying a fossilized partial skull specimen, which was discovered in Morocco and held by the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto for several years before Holliday analyzed it. By analyzing blood vessel scarring on the bone, Holliday determined that the crocodile would have had a structure on top of its head, resembling a shield. The dents and bumps on the bone indicate veins delivered blood to a circular mound of skin, something never before seen in a crocodile. He said the shield was likely used as a display structure to attract mates and intimidate enemies and possibly as a thermo-regulator to control the temperature of the animal's head.

Best Memes 2011

The best memes of 2011. If you do not know what a meme is, a meme is an idea or something that travels rapidly person to person. In 2011, the internet produced several memes that made people LOL all over the world. Here are several of the best of 2011. "Honey Badger don't care". If you have not seen the video Mr Goertz, I highly recommend it. It is about the awesome animal, called the honey badger, and a strange and funny narrator named Randall. The next "Chemistry Cat" Chemistry cat is a LOLcat spinoff, of a clever cat, wearing classes, surrounded by bottles and beakers of strange colored liquids who makes clever puns such as "I would make another chemistry joke, but all the good ones Argon." The next and one of the funniest ones is "First World Problems". First World Problems compare the problems of people in developed countries vs third world countries. First world problems include parking too far from the door, the tv isnt HD. Third World Problems are real and include hunger, extortion, and murder. The last and my absolute favorite is "But then I took an arrow to the knee." Mr. Goertz, if you don't get this one, I can't explain it. Youll have to find it out for yourself.

(Non scientific Blog)

This week's blog, in honor of the Super Bowl, will be about the one thing that keeps people watching the Super Bowl. Its not the football unless you support one of the two teams, its not the fans, its the commericals. The Super Bowl Commericals are one of the greatest parts of this magical Sunday, so we may as well get to know a bit about them. Here are a few facts about them. in 2001, there were 69 ads shown, at a cost of 2 million dollars each. Now, in 2012, there will be 75 ads shown, at a cost of 3 million per 30 seconds. In the past few years, the commericals have become hearing impaired friendly, as last year, just 17 of the 65 ads were captioned, and millions of deaf Americans were unable to share in the hilarity. One funny thing about Super Bowl ads is last year, while the commiercals in and of themselves were fantastic, not many people remember what the commericials were for due to a lack of branding. Many were dotcom companies just trying to get their name and face on the market, but kind of forgot to focus on making people remember who they are and what product they offered. Because of that, many experts say that this year, the Super Bowl ads will return to their previous states, with many marketable name brands, people, and recognizable attributes, which may make this year a little more boring. Instead of a picture this week, I will be posting a highlight of the best superbowl commericals.  
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=best+superbowl+commercials+&oq=best+super+b&aq=0s&aqi=g-s1g9&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=91515l95211l0l97006l14l9l1l0l0l0l295l1634l0.3.5l8l0