Friday, November 16, 2012

Insurance for Your Car

In modern era, all the things of the world are developing. It is also happens in the business and insurance. At the beginning, the common thing that usually insured is human itself. It can be use when a bad thing is happen to the people. Nevertheless, it is different nowadays. Together a long with the development of modern transportation vehicle, the developing of insurance is increasing too. The popular one is auto insurance for your car.

This kind of insurance has many advantages. However, if you are not being selective, you may not have the best one for you. By visiting the website of Carinsurancerates.com, you can find tips and trick to get your first auto insurance. Besides, you can get a lot of information about how to apply until the way to get the claim when you are in the car accident.

This information is very useful for you to increase your knowledge to prevent the worst condition of yours. As a result, you will not being confused and know what will you do if the bad condition happen to you. Make it easy just by click at this site. The prevention is always being better, isn’t it?

Getting the Best Review for Life Insurance

Many people ensure their life because insurance help them to protect their life. Moreover, when they are facing some troubles like illness or accident, insurance will pay for all the medical treatment. Thus, we should not worry if one day we do not have money. Meanwhile, the education insurance is also important because it can give guarantee of education. Thus, even though we do not have money, we can still get school payment.

Today, many companies offer services in insurance. However, they have different prices, quality of services, and procedures. Thus, a smart consumer, we should be selective in deciding the best company. It will not make us regret. We may have no enough time to collect information and compare those companies one by one. Moreover, those companies do not always show their badness clearly. As the result, there might be some hidden agreement in a life insurance.

If such a thing happens to us, we should not worry because today life insurance rates come to give review of various insurances from different companies. You can easily get information including process, payment, claim, and many other services. Thus, you will easily and effectively compare that information without having spent a lot of time.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Payday Loans Might Cover up the Embarrassment That Affected Carries

Are you penitent of your debt and wish to stay your confidential use of day loans? you're not alone. In previous generations, shame continuing monetary issues area unit seldom mentioned in ethical worry of being judged by their peers. With only a few choices offered, rampant land loans. Currently, payday loans on-line is turning into more and more standard. Not solely area unit they quick access to cash, however the comfort you'll apply for a loan from home, workplace pill, or smartphone at once even increase her quality is. folks still bring shame to monetary issues, however it not should involve family or friends for a loan or associate degree sudden emergency.

Debt has become more and more tough for low-income employees World Health Organization area unit combating the value of his own life. while not correct education or steering of economic opportunities, resources may be terribly restricted. Discuss cash problems with friends, relations or perhaps a credit counselor therefore you'll not lose the positive monetary opportunities or recommendation.

This is a good thanks to keep one another out of business creditors you. Your loan are going to be between you and therefore the investor (unless in fact you've got a joint bank account).

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Seven Workout Areas in Organic Chemistry

Most points on Organic Chemistry exams are lost in weak areas that are highly preventable, i.e. areas requiring a constant "workout." I've been keeping a mental tally for over ten years on where errors are routinely manifest, how they're made, and how such errors can be avoided. You can read this article in less than five minutes, apply what is discussed, and increase the score on your next exam by a percentage directly proportional to the amount of energy you invest in strengthening certain areas.

7 Workout Areas in Organic Chemistry

1. Confusing oxidations with reductions, using oxidizing agents such as PCC to reduce carboxylic acids, and using LAH to oxidize alcohols. This happens more frequently than anyone might imagine. There are two ways to avoid this trap. First, understand the oxidation states of carbon, and know how to calculate them. Second, make compound cards for all "letter reagents" such as PCC or LAH, being certain to indicate on the backs of such cards the structure and reactivity of the reagent. Also, understand that an oxidation is a loss of electrons to an oxidizing agent, and that a reduction is the gain of electrons from a reducing agent.

2. Losing skills in drawing Lewis structures. This becomes highly influential on exam scores beginning around week 15 of Organic Chemistry when electrophilic aromatic substitution is introduced as a topic. The reactions are easily memorized, however the mechanisms are not, and require the ability to draw highly relevant Lewis structures for every functional group.

3. Losing skills in resonance and drawing resonance structures. Arguments in Organic Chemistry are based in sterics and/or electronics, and resonance falls within the electronic category. Aromatic chemistry, electrophilic or nucleophilic, is understood when resonance is understood. Likewise, understanding resonance is necessary for learning and applying carbonyl chemistry.

4. Losing skills in understanding acid-base equilibria, what's a strong acid and what's a weak acid. Just as 95% of Organic Chemistry is explained by a nucleophile going after an electrophile, it's also explained by a Lewis base going after a Lewis acid, hence 95% of Organic Chemistry is Lewis acid-base chemistry. This was the reason for learning the concepts in week 2.

5. Confusion about what's the nucleophile and what's electophile in the reaction. Of paramount importance, the most nucleophilic center must be identified, as so must be the most electrophilic center. It's better to master these subjects early. After week 20, many molecules will have multiple nucleophilic and electrophilic centers, and a weakness in identifying such centers will lead to total confusion.

6. Understanding retrosynthetic analysis. This is the area wherein students lose the most points. Most of us are auditory-sequential learners who excel at performing tasks in a forward-thinking linear sequence. It just so happens that the synthesis of complex organic compounds are not amenable to this type of thinking. It's crucial to learn to think backwards as early as possible, to confront the discomfort and frustration head on (we're talking about your ticket to professional school here!), to struggle and then conquer. Avoidance of retrosynthetic analysis will not make it go away, rather tackling it head on will lead you to mastery.

7. Remaining comfortable. The first time I used this phrase was on a friend in graduate school who couldn't understand why he was unable to surmount a problem. Somehow, I realized in 1988 that the key to success in life was in becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. Please think about this statement for a few days, and you'll understand the wisdom that some people never learn in a lifetime. When you're struggling and uncomfortable, you're really learning!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Pharmaceutical Industry Great Debate

As admissions requirements for medical school become more and more stringent, admissions interviews may prove more and more rigorous. Ethics and deductive reasoning are becoming ever more critical in the selection process. Premeds might soon find themselves in a "devil's advocate" type of debate with two interviewers, fully expected to argue for and against both sides of a prevailing issue of today. Perhaps one of the most pressing issues of interest to doctors, medical schools and premed advisers is innovation, or the lack thereof, in the pharmaceutical industry.

Some people believe that the pharmaceutical industry has essentially abandoned the pursuit of novel drugs in lieu of cheap, rip-off clones based upon the intellectual property of other companies. Others believe the pharmaceutical industry brain trust is hard at work sixteen hours per day battling issues far too complex to be understood by ordinary scientists. This recent article, "Pharma's Fake Innovation Crisis," is an excellent example of the dichotomy that fuels the debate continuing now for more than a decade.

Who's right and who's wrong?

Joel Lexchin and Professor Donald Light contend that "slowed innovation and stagnant drug discovery" due to biological complexity is a ploy by pharmaceutical industry executives, Congress and the media to generate higher and higher levels of revenue for pharmaceutical R&D funding. The more funding obtained, the more money for company executives and the shareholders.

Organic Chemist Dr. Derek Lowe, on the other hand, argues these are nothing but lies spun to take "pot shots" at the pharmaceutical industry and the genius scientists hard at work in the brain trusts. He argues that the complexity of biology in certain therapeutic indications severely impairs progress at a rate we might find desirable, and hence the lack of innovation in drug design is more a consequence of the continued learning curve endemic to the ever expanding area of molecular biology.

Who's right?

Imagine being at your medical school interview, and there are two people present. One is arguing the point of Professor Donald Light whilst the other is arguing the point of Dr. Derek Lowe (and you thought Organic Chemistry would never rear its ugly head again!). Both are talking while you're listening, and soon you find the question turned to you. You've just heard both points of view argued by two respected interviewers (the ones who will render a decision based upon your immediate performance), and now all eyes are on you. To make matters even more interesting, imagine they're now playing "good cop" and "bad cop."

Just how are you going to respond to this? Which side of the story will you argue? How will you argue it? If you play devil's advocate, then what happens when someone asks you to take a single stand and then defend it? Furthermore, once you take that stand, what will you do if both interviewers begin to argue against you, pressing you to defend your position more and more?

This might sound like it's out of the ordinary, however I guarantee it's not. I've been through highly stressful job interviews where this very tactic was used, albeit with somewhat different subject matter. It's a "shark tactic" designed to weed out the weak interviewers who might cave under pressure. As a future doctor, you will find yourself prescribing medications from key players in the pharmaceutical industry. You will be involved.

The world is becoming more competitive every day. The bar for entrance into medical school has just been raised with the announcement of MCAT 2015, having a heavy emphasis on social and behavioral science. No one yet knows what MCAT 2015 will look like, and no one yet knows what medical school interviews of tomorrow may hold. The best practice for the budding professional with an eye on the keyhole leading to medical school is to be prepared for anything.

I suggest you earnestly dispute this issue with your friends, both for and against each side, and then switch sides for a more holistic understanding of the pharmaceutical industry ethical debate.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Why Students Fail Organic Chemistry

Regardless of where Organic Chemistry is taught, regardless of the genius and/or talent of the professor, and regardless of any variable that can be conceived, there is a percentage of students who will fail. The average midterm grade in Organic Chemistry ranges between 25-50%, hovering around 38% for classes having professors who challenge their students. Typically the first midterm includes concepts of acid-base chemistry, pKa, valence bond theory, Lewis structures, resonance, hybridization, alkane nomenclature, Newman projections and radical chain reactions. As the material is introduced, students study in a manner identical to that which sufficed them since high school. Some periodically review their notes, and convince themselves they know the material. It's not until 4 days prior to the first midterm that they begin working the problems.

The first midterm is incredibly easy, although there are ways to make it far more challenging than you might imagine. At least two professors I know do this. If a student obtains an A or B grade on the first midterm, a certain false sense of security sets in. All of a sudden the course their upperclassmen said was the "killer" is simple... deceptively simple. The deceptively simple feeling is part of what leads students to fail Organic Chemistry.

The next midterm focuses upon application of the principles learned in the first four weeks, covering cyclohexane conformations, principles of conformational analysis, haloalkanes, stereochemistry, basicity vs. nucleophilicity, and finally SN1 and SN2 reactions. The principles learned for the first exam are considered long departed and irrelevant to the second exam. This couldn't be further from the truth. All of nucleophilic substitution is Lewis acid-base chemistry with a particular emphasis upon solvent effects. This midterm has a different feel to it, however the same behavior is exercised in preparation for it, with most students working the problems as late as 4 days prior to the exam. This is a major factor leading students to fail the course.

Suddenly the students with A and B-grades have scored B and C-grades. There's a feeling of shock when that exam comes back with the results. Each and every student feels as though s/he knew the material, however the grade doesn't lie. Suddenly, there's a commitment to "try harder" on the next exam. Material includes E1 and E2 reactions, conformational analysis, NMR and IR spectroscopy, and fundamental electrophilic addition reactions introducing the rearranging carbocations. Albeit the student may focus more for this exam, the study habits still have not changed. Come time for the next midterm, C and D-grades become manifest.

Material for the final exam covers electrophilic additions to alkenes in great detail, builds further upon reaction mechanisms, introduces fundamental carbonyl compounds, oxidation and reduction chemistry, utilizes organometallics such as Grignard reagents and alkyllithiums, and finally stresses synthetic Organic Chemistry, heavily focusing on retrosynthetic analysis. Each student is determined to get an A on the final to have a shot at a B or better. Still students fail, and immense frustration ensues.

Why do students fail Organic Chemistry?

The highest contributing factor leading students to fail is sporadic studying, focusing on the work immediately prior to the exam. In essence, it's choosing not to master time management. Furthermore, many students will invest equal time in reading the textbook as in working the problems. It's very common for students to spend far more time on the easier problems than on the challenging problems. The next highest contributing factor leading students to fail Organic Chemistry is clinging to the "skill" of memorization for dear life. Students who fail know it's better to learn to rationalize the problems and use logic, however the memorization approach is very comfortable, just like a comfortable glove.

This "comfortable glove syndrome" is what leads students to fail Organic Chemistry. It happens every semester, in every city, and in every school. Students fail Organic Chemistry because they cling to memorization for dear life. If Organic Chemistry is a "killer," then memorization is the gun firing the bullets. Repeat this to yourself three times.

You don't have to fail Organic Chemistry. If you have any faith in my words, or in the words of your professors, you'll realize we're all saying the same thing to you. Memorization is worthless and will cost you your grade. It will lead you to fail the subject. Building your logical and deductive reasoning skills will lead to you ace it.

It becomes rather simple. Memorize and fail Organic Chemistry, rationalize and ace Organic Chemistry. Unfortunately many students don't come to this realization until the course is over. Why? One single three syllable word...

de-ni-al [dih-nay-uhl] noun:

    refusal to believe a doctrine, theory or the like;
    disbelief in the existence or reality of a thing;
    the refusal to recognize or acknowledge.

Denial is the most dangerous of all defense mechanisms because it leads us deeper and deeper into deficit, sometimes becoming so deep that it feels like a great chasm from which there is no escape.

This isn't my typical upbeat and positive writing style. I'm not sugar coating anything in this article because I want you to get the point without any possibility for bargaining or denial. As a matter of fact, when confronted with the realization that memorization will not work in Organic Chemistry, the student will proceed through 5 stages:

    Denial;
    Anger;
    Bargaining;
    Depression; and
    Acceptance

These stages, popularly known by the acronym DABDA, were observed by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross when working with people experiencing catastrophic loss.

Organic Chemistry is unlike any science course you will ever take. It's the only course that brings chemistry majors to me in tears. Learn to excel - you can do it! Build your logical and deductive reasoning abilities. Study 20 hours per week. Reading the book doesn't count as study. The only thing counting as study is the diligent working and reworking of problems. When working the problems, ask yourself, "What would happen if I changed this variable?" Become inquisitive, get creative.

When my students ask me to give them the key for success, I always respond with the same line I've been using for the past 25 years. "Become comfortable with being uncomfortable." Dependence upon memorization is a behavior that you've built for 15+ years. A deeply seated behavior like that, especially one that has brought rewards, will not be countered easily. You must become the master of your own behavioral modification.

When extremely focused, it takes 90 days to modify a persistent behavior. I'm challenging you right now to transition from memorization to deductive reasoning.

This challenge will make you feel like the guy free climbing the mountain. This is where an exceptional tutor is of most use. Contrary to popular belief, exceptional Organic Chemistry tutors are not for digging you out of a hole. They do their best work when coaching or mentoring you as a Master Trainer would mentor a budding Olympic athlete. Exceptional Organic Chemistry tutors facilitate the behavioral modification process though guided learning.

Aspire, Achieve, Master, Succeed! Failure runs away from this attitude. Do yourself a favor, build some attitude, the right one. Ace that Organic Chemistry class!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

10 Secrets to Master Your Organic Chemistry Course

Organic chemistry is probably the most challenging of science courses that you are going to experience in your college career. The sheer volume of information which you have to study is overwhelming, and the failure rate is unusually high. Yet there is no way around this path if you are pursuing a career in the profession of health or science.

Although there are no miraculous solutions to acing this course without the required hard work and dedication, there are a number steps you can take, and methods you can implement to insure that you don't fall behind in organic chemistry. This will make it easier for you to stay on top of the material and ultimately on top of the academic curve.

1- Reading Your Textbook Prior to Lecture
Read your textbook right before lecture. You simply can't afford to arrive to class unprepared. If you hear the principles and mechanisms for the first time during class, you can be overcome as you frantically attempt to break down the material and grasp the basic key points.

Reading through the chapter ahead of time, regardless of whether you don't fully grasp everything, It ensures that you'll be able to have some knowledge of the material mentioned in lecture. After you are exposed to the information for the second time in lecture, your primary focus is shifted to comprehending the concepts which you found originally challenging in your readings.

2- Take Notes During Lecture
No matter if you are recording the lecture, or have a set of printed PowerPoint slides, you still ought to take notes during the session. This can help you stay focused, stop you from tuning out the professor, and may help you identify the little stresses placed on individual ideas or mechanisms. These will likely wind up being the very points tested in your approaching examination

3- Read Your Textbook Once More After Lecture
Now that you have a much better comprehension of the material, it is best to read the book again to make sure that you are comfortable with each topic discussed and mechanism tackled

4- Practice, Practice, Practice
Organic chemistry is not a course that can be soaked up through simple memorization. You should practice the principles, check your understanding of the ideas, and consistently go through each one of the mechanisms. The more familiar you are with each factor, the less the chance that you may be caught off-guard on the exam

5- Do More Than the Assigned Homework Problems
If you stick with just the 5 or 10 given homework problems, you are cutting yourself short. The additional problems located in your book are intended to test the same concepts, with a somewhat unique twist every time. When you practice these added problems you'll be better equipped to resolve unforeseen challenges on your upcoming exam. These kinds of additional questions may even be the very questions that may turn up in your test

6- Do Not Memorize
The worst thing you can do to mess up your organic chemistry capabilities is to just memorize reactions. When you memorize an exact reaction, you are only equipped to answer questions presented in the form memorized, consequently you will be caught off guard when the starting compounds or reagents are somewhat, or completely different from your flashcards. However, if you review the concepts, focusing on how the molecules behave, and the reason why the electrons attack, you will be capable of completing any related mechanism, regardless of how the reacting substances are presented

7- Study Groups
Any time you study by yourself you are restricted by your individual sources of know-how, notes, and study material. Whenever you study with a group you will be capable of assisting the other person with difficult ideas, and process mechanism challenges as partners. If you are weak in a particular matter, your study group will be able to address your concerns. And if you are secure with a subject matter, you will probably still learn it far better whenever you are required to apply it in easy terms to describe to a member of your study group who has trouble understanding this concept

8- Peer Tutoring
A lot of universities have a learning center with peer tutors to assist you with your organic chemistry course. Even though they are students on their own, these tutors have taken, and effectively completed organic chemistry, and will therefore be able to help you with the basic concepts and mechanisms

9- Office Hours
If your professor or TA has office hours, consider this a very skilled, very free tutoring session. Your teacher and TA are quite familiarized, not merely with organic chemistry, but also with the concepts and problem forms that will show up on your examination. They'll be able to assist you to fully grasp the facts by using problems similar to what you will later be tested on

10- Private tutoring
Though the above mentioned tips are extremely effective guidelines not to be dismissed, many students still find themselves having so many doubts with insufficient resources. Study groups are tied to the experience of the students concerned, and peer tutoring or office hour sessions are typically rather crowded.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Subject Specific Challenges to Making Science Labs Work

Most students do not go on to become scientists and for these students the main goal of science education should be to teach rigorous, evidence-based thinking and to convey a sense of wonder about the natural world. These goals can be met by any branch of science; there is no obvious reason why biology would be better than physics or Earth science would be more important than chemistry. Indeed, it is undoubtedly possible to point to curriculums and classes in all areas of science that do a wonderful job of teaching scientific thought. However, that doesn't mean that it is equally easy for teachers to meet these goals in every domain.

It is clearly important for students to have real, meaningful laboratory experiences in science classes. It is possible to have great labs in all branches of science but the challenges can be quite different. One of the big challenges in biology is that experiments often take an extended period of time. Frequently, getting results is simply not possible in a single, 45 minute class period. Even with 1.5 hour double periods, designing biology experiments that fit can be difficult. On the other hand, working with animals (and even plants, fungus, and protists) is inherently motivating and exciting for most students. Furthermore, many of the most important ideas in biology are less abstract and mathematical than the big ideas in physics and chemistry, and are therefore easier for many students to absorb.

In contrast, physics labs often get much quicker results than biology labs and can have the advantage of being visually dramatic. The difficulty for physics teachers is bridging the gap between the labs and the principles which they demonstrate. It's no secret that physics involves quite a bit of math and many students get so caught up in their struggles with the math that they are unable to see the ideas behind the formulas. One of the most successful solutions to this difficulty is conceptual physics classes, which are often successful in helping students understand the big ideas of physics.

Chemistry labs also tend to be quick enough to fit into class periods and they are often very exciting. Indeed, the most common request I get as a science teacher is for "explosions" which are almost entirely the domain of chemistry. With chemistry labs, the duel challenges are safety and connecting the macroscopic results with the microscopic reasons behind the results. Safety in chemistry labs is often best addressed by having well-designed, dedicated lab rooms in schools. When that is not possible, work-arounds using household chemicals instead of their more exciting and dangerous counterparts are sometimes possible. Connecting lab results with the actions of molecules is becoming easier for teachers as better and better computer simulations for chemistry education are developed.

Earth science is the fourth major branch of science and it is the most forgotten one. In some ways it is the broadest of the subjects; any study of earth science will inevitably touch on aspects of chemistry, physics, and biology. Designing earth science labs is quite challenging because it is impossible to actually manipulate landforms or weather in the classroom. For this reason, earth science labs rely strongly on models. Reliance on models can be a strength if it is used as an opportunity to really explore the place of models in science or it can be a weakness if simple models are used as stand-ins for complex systems without discussion.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Hadrosaurs - Tough Teeth for Top Chewing

Research into Hadrosaur Dentition Provides Clue to the Group's Success

One of the most successful group of large, land animals known to science are the Hadrosauridae, a group of Ornithischian (bird-hipped), plant-eating dinosaurs that evolved from the Iguanodontids during the Cretaceous geological period. These animals evolved into many families and genera, some species grew up to twelve metres in length or more and they dominated terrestrial ecosystems across the northern hemisphere up until the demise of the Dinosauria 65 million years ago.

This type of dinosaur, commonly called "duck-billed" dinosaurs as they all had horny beaks is classified into two major taxons - the Lambeosaurinae and the Hadrosaurinae. Lambeosaurs, dinosaurs such as Parasaurolophus, Corythosaurus and Olorotitan had hollow, ornate head crests. The Hadrosaurinae, animals such as Gryposaurus, Maiasaura and Edmontosaurus lacked the often flamboyant crest. Instead, these dinosaurs had flat, crestless heads or their snouts were ornamented with bony lumps or solid crests.

Rise of the Duck-Bills

There are other differences between these two clades of dinosaurs. For example, the Hadrosaurinae generally had broader jaws and wider beaks than their Lambeosaurinae cousins. This suggests different feeding habits with the narrow-beaked Lambeosaurs being more selective feeders. Both types of Hadrosaur had many hundreds of closely packed, diamond-shaped teeth in their jaws, some specimens had over 1,400 individual teeth in their mouths. These teeth formed a "dental battery", interlocked to form a very efficient grinding surface to help these animals tackle tough plant material. The upper and lower tooth batteries were angled so that when the mouth was closed the teeth formed a natural grinding surface. For many years palaeontologists had known that these animals were very efficient processors of plant food, perhaps a clue to this groups's success but new research proposes that the structure of the teeth themselves made these dinosaurs much more effective consumers of plants than most of today's grazers.

Study into Tooth Structure of Hadrosaurs

A team of American scientists led by biologist Gregory Erickson of Florida State University (Tallahassee) have been testing the grinding capabilities of eighty-five million year-old duck-billed dinosaur teeth and examining their internal structure. Their research shows that the Hadrosaurs evolved extremely sophisticated teeth, more sophisticated than modern mammalian herbivores such as bison, horses and elephants.

Using teeth supplied by the American Museum of Natural History (New York), the research team created models of the jaws of these types of dinosaurs and subjected the teeth to diamond abrasion to simulate wear on the tooth surface as a result of grinding up plant material. The teeth were then examined under light and electron microscopes and the degree of wear calculated.

Better Than Mammalian Molars

The study demonstrates that unlike most mammalian molars and pre-molars which are composed of four major tissues that wear at different rates, creating coarse, roughened surfaces to help break down tough plants, the duck-bills evolved a six tissue dental composition which improved the teeth's ability to grind up food.

Tough, strong teeth designed to tackle plants has evolved repeatedly in the ungulates and other mammal groups. However, a similar innovation in dental complexity occurred much earlier in the history of life on Earth, with the Hadrosaurs. Most reptilian teeth are not as complex, it seems that as the Iguanodontids gave rise to the Hadrosaurs so the teeth of these animals evolved into extremely efficient grinders. The external layer of enamel being supported by layers of other tissue such as dentine. Importantly, the researchers also discovered that the way tissues were distributed varied substantially within each individual tooth. Each tooth in the dental battery would assume a different function as the morphology and the grinding surface of the tooth changed as it became worn. Different surfaces would be exposed as the teeth migrated across the grinding and chewing surface of the jaw, before eventually falling out to be replaced with new teeth that emerged from the jawline.

Efficient Jaws and Efficient Teeth

The morphology and structure of the teeth would have enabled these herbivores to grind up tough plants such as horsetails, ferns, conifer needles and the newly evolved flowering plants. Most reptiles have much more simple teeth structures and the scientists are not sure how such dentition evolved. The lack of transitional fossils between Iguanodontids and Hadrosaurs is hindering the team's progress as they search for answers in the fossil record.

Referring to Hadrosaurs as "walking pulp mills", Gregory Erickson and his research colleagues have declared the duck-billed teeth lined jaws as one of the most sophisticated grazing and grinding mechanisms ever to evolve in terrestrial mega herbivores. Their teeth are more complex and better adapted to grinding than most of the large plant-eating mammals found today.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

How to Use Technology in Science Class

Spider Attack Preserved in Amber

Researchers from Oregon State University (college of science) have discovered a remarkable fossil showing the moment when an orb spider approached its victim ensnared in its web. The fossil consists of the remains of the spider and a parasitic wasp, preserved in amber just as the spider was about to pounce upon the insect, as it was held fast by the silken threads of the spider's web. Amber is the hardened remains of sticky, often scented resin that is produced by certain types of trees as protection against damage to bark and in order to help protect against disease and fungal attacks. Insects and other organisms can become trapped in the sticky resin as it flows down the trunk or branches and when fossilised and preserved as amber, these organic remains can be studied by scientists. Trees first evolved the ability to produce resin of this nature in the Jurassic, but this piece of amber, discovered in the Hukawng Valley (also known as the Hukaung Valley), in northern Burma dates from the later Cretaceous geological period.

Famous Amber Fossil Site in Asia

The Hukaung Valley has been mined for amber and gold for many years, it has already produced a number of amber fossils containing insect remains. About ten years ago, the fossilised remains of the world's oldest bee was discovered in an amber nodule from a mine in the Hukaung Valley. However, this is the first discovery of a predator/prey interaction concerning a spider and an insect trapped in a web. The amber nodule containing the fossilised remains has been dated to approximately 97-100 million years ago (Albian faunal stage of the Cretaceous) - a time when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

Social Behaviour in Arachnids

In addition to the first spider, the silk and the remains of the spider's attempted meal, the wasp, the amber nodule also contained the remains of a second male spider. Scientists at the Oregon State University have interpreted this as evidence of social behaviour amongst arachnids. Most extant species of spider are solitary hunters, often they are cannibalistic towards their own kind, mature males and females will attack immature members of their own species. A number of species today show signs of social behaviour, living in colonies or aggregations. The Oregon based team postulate that this fossil is evidence of such social, colonial activity in spiders back in the Cretaceous, the first evidence found of tolerance of other members of their own species by a spider.

Professor Emeritus of Zoology at Oregon State University, George Poiner Junior, a recognised authority on invertebrate fossils stated that the juvenile spider was attempting to pounce on the trapped, tiny parasitic wasp, but it never quite reached it. Both animals were covered in the tree resin before the spider could reach its victim.

Amazing Amber Fossils Found

Over recent years, palaeontologists have discovered some amazing fossil specimens preserved in amber, from ancient Arthropods, to numerous types of insect, pollen, plant debris, even a frog, hairs from mammal and feathers from either an ancient bird or a dinosaur. Such fossils provide an insight into deep time, a micro world which helps scientists to understand more about ecosystems and habitats.

Wasp Being Attacked by Ancient Spider

The wasp has been identified as an ancestor of today's parasitic wasps that attack and disable spiders and insects and lay their own eggs into the paralysed body of their victim or instead, parasitise the eggs of such creatures. The kind of spider preserved in the amber, a relative of today's tropical orb spiders, but a member of an extinct genus would probably have been the sort of creature the wasp would have liked to attack. As the research team members have stated in their press conferences, this fossil preserves the moment when a spider was able to turn the tables on a parasitic wasp. There were at least fifteen silken threads preserved in the amber nodule, evidence of the spider's web. Some of these threads had trapped the wasp.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7324056


Technology has made its way into mainstream life and it is important to incorporate it into the classroom. Science in the classroom is introduced in elementary school and often technology is a tool that can be used to encourage the interest of the student in the subject matter. If the student can grasp the basics and develop an interest in science at an early age, studies show that the student will continue that interest throughout his school years. Adding technology to the classroom initially costs a great deal. However, the expense is worth it when compared to the positive outcome achieved.

One way to add technology in a science classroom is to use a liquid-crystal display (LCD) projector. This is a video projector that can display computer data on a screen or other flat surface. This technology takes the place of the overhead projector. Light from a lamp of metal-Halide is sent through Diachronic filters or prisms that separate the light. Three panels of red, green, and blue make up the video signal. The polarized light passes through these panels and each pixel can be opened or closed. The opening and closing of the pixels is what yields the range of colors found in the image that is projected. Some of the other technology available is digital light processing (DLP) or liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) and are decreasing in cost so that they are becoming more affordable for classroom use.

The technology involved in the LCD allows the unit to be smaller and portable. In order to get the best resolution it is recommended that the projection surface be gray, white, or black. The color produced is a direct correlation to the quality surface and projector used. White is usually the choice for classroom user. The projector must be located at the correct distance from the projection surface and the ratio is usually found in the material that comes with the LCD. This technology was first invented by Gene Dolgoff in 1968, but it wasn't until 1984 that he put together the first projector. The technology later evolved into the high-definition television (HDTV).

The LCD projector can be used in the science classroom to project images onto the screen. This enables all the students to view the data of one computer. With a limited budget, the school is able to still integrate information from the computer for all the students, without having to supply each student with a computer. It is recommended that the teacher start with an informative, perhaps animated, video that will introduce the content to the student. This will capture the attention of the student and the student will retain more of the content when his interest is captured. The teacher can search the web for sites that offer free streaming or look to the curriculum for these tools.

Try to select a model for projection that will allow you to point and click and manipulate the projection. For example, if the module is on the content of the atom, then manipulating the screen can teach the student how atoms combine to form different substances. Dragging two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom would show the student the content of water. If a smart board is also connected to the LCD then the student can use a special pen to manipulate and the smart boards can give life to abstract concepts that enable a student to grasp the content. Experiments can also be done by manipulating the LCD images and this will help students participate in experiments that may not be available due to the high cost of separate lab stations and materials.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Bizarre Dinosaurs - Amargasaurus - Dragon-Like Dinosaur

Amargasaurus - A Bizarre Relative of Diplodocus

As an increasing number of bizarre forms of Sauropod are unearthed, the family tree of these huge long-necked dinosaurs is becoming more complicated. Although, thanks to recent discoveries of more basal Sauropods and Prosauropods the evolution of these Saurischians has become a little clearer, there is still a lot of confusion over the taxonomic relationships between the various families of these long-necked dinosaurs.

Monster from Argentina

The Argentine Amargasaurus for instance, is an example of a strange-looking, long-necked dinosaur and the strata from which the single fossil skeleton so far known was discovered adds to the mystery of the Sauropods. The global fossil record indicates that the Diplodocid type of Sauropod was beginning to become rare during the early Cretaceous. Their heyday appears to have been the late Jurassic when behemoths such as Diplodocus, Barosaurus and Apatosaurus roamed. However, the fossils of Amargasaurus date from the early Cretaceous (Hauterivian faunal stage - approximately 135-130 million years ago). This indicates that this particular group of long-necked dinosaurs were still present, at least in the southern hemisphere during the early Cretaceous.

Bizarre Looking Prehistoric Animal

Amargasaurus also had a very strange appearance, being relatively small compared to the Diplodocids known from the upper Jurassic deposits of the Morrison Formation of the western United States. For a start, it was only about 12 metres in length, considerably smaller than Diplodocus and Apatosaurus and it had a much shorter neck, compared to other Diplodocids.

The most distinguishing feature though was that along the neck and back of the animal was an array of long, spines extending up from the back bone. These spines consisted of two rows of long spines over the neck and shoulders, gradually reducing to a set of single spines running along the back to the hind quarters.

The exact purpose of these spines is hotly debated by scientists. Some believe that they supported a brightly coloured sail that could have been used as signalling device amongst members of the herd, whilst others suggest that the spines were for defence against attack from large meat-eaters that shared the same environment. This frill makes this animal look similar to dragons from mythology. Those spines on the neck which are paired, may not have supported a sail, but been covered in horn helping to protect a vulnerable part of this animal's body. Certainly, with the likes of members of the Allosaur family wandering around it would pay to have some form of protection, but the precise purpose of these spines remains unclear.

Related to African Sauropods

Amargasaurus may be a member of the Dicraeosauridae, a group of Sauropods that all possessed long neural spines. Amargasaurus may have been a descendant of the genus Dicraeosaurus, a Diplodocid from the late Jurassic of East Africa. It is just one example of just how bizarre some dinosaurs might have looked. There are a number of dinosaur models available, scale model replicas of Amargasaurus.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Pyramid Power - How to Build a Pyramid and Put It to the Test

Do you have a fascination with pyramids? Ever wonder what purpose they served? Well, you're not alone! People have long speculated that these tremendous structures were more than just places to enshrine their nobility after their passing. If the pyramids produce an unseen power, as some people claim, is it possible to harness that power? Read on and find out how you can build a pyramid of any size and test it to see if it will also generate its own pyramid power.

Just how do you test a pyramid? By putting objects inside and observing how these objects are influenced by the pyramid. At least that's what people have done in the past. Razor blades become sharp and hold their edge much longer; fruit dries out but does not rot or mold; plants grow faster and much fuller; milk turns into yogurt if left inside long enough. These are all claims made by pyramid researchers.

What You Will Need

1. 4 pieces of cardboard that are big enough to create the size of pyramid you want.

2. Tape.

3. A directional compass with a base plate.

Laying It Out

The pyramid in Giza was constructed according to amazingly exact dimensions. For your experiments to work, you'll need to duplicate these dimensions as closely as physically possible.

You'll be making 4 triangles out of cardboard and all of them need to be exactly the same size.

Lay one of the pieces of cardboard down and measure the length of the bottom side. Now, multiply that length by 0.951. The result will be the length of the other sides of the triangle.

For instance, if the length of the bottom edge of your cardboard is 10 inches, the length of each of the other sides of the triangle would be 9.51 inches. Set a drawing compass to a width of 9.51 inches and use it to make intersecting arcs above the base. The point where the arcs cross will be the top of the triangle. Draw lines from this point down to each end of the base and one side of your pyramid is complete.

Create 3 more sides just the same way and cut out the triangles from the cardboard.

So that you won't be confused which is the bottom edge, mark the longest (bottom) edge before you cut it out, to show that it belongs at the base.

Putting It Together

Lay one piece down flat with the mark at the bottom. Lay another piece alongside it with its side touching the first, also with the mark at the bottom. Align these pieces carefully so that each edge matches the other and then tape these pieces together.

Align the remaining two pieces in the same way and tape them in place.

Now that you have the 4 sides connected, you can bend the pieces along each of the taped edges and bring your pyramid to life when the final edges are taped.

That's it for the construction, but you have to do one more thing to "activate" your pyramid.

Aligning Your Pyramid

Just like The Great Pyramid in Giza was aligned with uncanny precision to face true north, you need to do the same. It's works like a radio antenna, so the more accurately you orient your pyramid, the greater its energy will be.

To do this, you need a compass with a straight base plate. You also need to know the angle of declination for your particular area.

A compass points to magnetic north. This can vary by many degrees from true north, depending on your location. Your angle of declination helps you convert magnetic north to true north and can easily be found by doing a web search for "find my angle of declination."

If your angle of declination is a negative number, you need to turn your compass in a clockwise direction by that number of degrees to find true north. If the angle is positive, turn the compass counter-clockwise to compensate.

One more thing: When given your angle of declination, you usually are given minutes as well as degrees. To convert these minutes to parts of degrees, divide the minutes by 60. For example: If your declination is 17 degrees, 26 minutes, divide 26 by 60 and you get.43. This would make your total declination 17.43 degrees. You would then adjust the dial on your compass counter-clockwise by 17.43 degrees and this would point you directly to true north.

Lay the adjusted compass on a flat surface, away from any large objects and electrical appliances which could interfere with the magnetic field, and point it to true north. Place the pyramid beside it with one edge aligned parallel with the base plate. This is the direction the pyramid needs to stay in for maximum energy.

Testing Your Pyramid Power

Every pyramid has a "sweet spot" and this is directly in the center at one-third of the distance from the bottom to the top. In the Great Pyramid, this is where the king's chamber was concealed. Keep this in mind when you place something inside. Also, if you're going to sharpen your razors, it helps to orient the edge of the razor in a north/south direction.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

100 Million Year Old Spider Preserved In Amber As It Approached Its Victim

Spider Attack Preserved in Amber
Researchers from Oregon State University (college of science) have discovered a remarkable fossil showing the moment when an orb spider approached its victim ensnared in its web. The fossil consists of the remains of the spider and a parasitic wasp, preserved in amber just as the spider was about to pounce upon the insect, as it was held fast by the silken threads of the spider's web. Amber is the hardened remains of sticky, often scented resin that is produced by certain types of trees as protection against damage to bark and in order to help protect against disease and fungal attacks. Insects and other organisms can become trapped in the sticky resin as it flows down the trunk or branches and when fossilised and preserved as amber, these organic remains can be studied by scientists. Trees first evolved the ability to produce resin of this nature in the Jurassic, but this piece of amber, discovered in the Hukawng Valley (also known as the Hukaung Valley), in northern Burma dates from the later Cretaceous geological period.
Famous Amber Fossil Site in Asia
The Hukaung Valley has been mined for amber and gold for many years, it has already produced a number of amber fossils containing insect remains. About ten years ago, the fossilised remains of the world's oldest bee was discovered in an amber nodule from a mine in the Hukaung Valley. However, this is the first discovery of a predator/prey interaction concerning a spider and an insect trapped in a web. The amber nodule containing the fossilised remains has been dated to approximately 97-100 million years ago (Albian faunal stage of the Cretaceous) - a time when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
Social Behaviour in Arachnids
In addition to the first spider, the silk and the remains of the spider's attempted meal, the wasp, the amber nodule also contained the remains of a second male spider. Scientists at the Oregon State University have interpreted this as evidence of social behaviour amongst arachnids. Most extant species of spider are solitary hunters, often they are cannibalistic towards their own kind, mature males and females will attack immature members of their own species. A number of species today show signs of social behaviour, living in colonies or aggregations. The Oregon based team postulate that this fossil is evidence of such social, colonial activity in spiders back in the Cretaceous, the first evidence found of tolerance of other members of their own species by a spider.
Professor Emeritus of Zoology at Oregon State University, George Poiner Junior, a recognised authority on invertebrate fossils stated that the juvenile spider was attempting to pounce on the trapped, tiny parasitic wasp, but it never quite reached it. Both animals were covered in the tree resin before the spider could reach its victim.
Amazing Amber Fossils Found
Over recent years, palaeontologists have discovered some amazing fossil specimens preserved in amber, from ancient Arthropods, to numerous types of insect, pollen, plant debris, even a frog, hairs from mammal and feathers from either an ancient bird or a dinosaur. Such fossils provide an insight into deep time, a micro world which helps scientists to understand more about ecosystems and habitats.
Wasp Being Attacked by Ancient Spider
The wasp has been identified as an ancestor of today's parasitic wasps that attack and disable spiders and insects and lay their own eggs into the paralysed body of their victim or instead, parasitise the eggs of such creatures. The kind of spider preserved in the amber, a relative of today's tropical orb spiders, but a member of an extinct genus would probably have been the sort of creature the wasp would have liked to attack. As the research team members have stated in their press conferences, this fossil preserves the moment when a spider was able to turn the tables on a parasitic wasp. There were at least fifteen silken threads preserved in the amber nodule, evidence of the spider's web. Some of these threads had trapped the wasp.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7324056

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The King of the Tyrant Lizards - What's in a Name?

How Did the Most Famous Dinosaur of All Get Its Name?

Tyrannosaurus rex is by far and away the most popular and famous dinosaur. When palaeontologists visit schools, this is the dinosaur they get asked about the most. We have been fortunate to work with a number of Tyrannosaur specimens and staff helped create some excellent fossils casts. It is great to see the way the children react when they get presented with their very own plaster cast of a Tyrannosaur tooth, one so well-preserved that the denticles (the individual saw-like serrations on the tooth) can still be seen and felt.

The Complicated Tyrannosaur Family Tree

However, the taxonomy of the Tyrannosauroidea family is in need of some revision. Most palaeontologists agree that the current classification of these meat-eating Theropods needs revising and the very name of Tyrannosaurus rex is indeed something of a misnomer.

Many people may be aware of the continuing debate amongst scientists about whether this large meat-eating dinosaur was primarily a scavenger or an active hunter. Tests carried out, estimating the bite force exerted at the tips of this large dinosaur's teeth, indicate a bite force in excess of 3,000 lbs per square inch, easily enough to shatter bone. There are a number of examples of crunched up Hadrosaur and Ceratopsid bones in the fossil record uncovered to date that are testament to the powerful jaws of a Tyrannosaur. However, whether, these fossils show feeding behaviour on a dead animal or indeed, the result of a Tyrannosaurus rex kill is very difficult to determine.

King of the Tyrant Lizards

The name Tyrannosaurus rex, such a well-known dinosaur, a name meaning "King of the Tyrant Lizards", very nearly did not get used. In scientific circles, the naming of a new species has to follow strict criteria. If there is any confusion over the naming of a specimen, perhaps a newly named species, after further research is discovered to be actually another example of an already named and described species, then the earliest name used should take precedence.

Edward Drinker Cope, the famous American palaeontologist described some newly discovered dinosaur bones in 1892. The honeycombed internal structure of the fossilised bones (called camellate) is diagnostic of Theropod and bird fossil vertebrae. Later Cope went onto name and describe a new dinosaur genus and species from these fossilised fragments. He called the new animal Monospondylus gigas (means "Giant Thin Vertebrae"). Scientists now know that these bones actually belonged to a Tyrannosaur.

When Henry Fairfield Osborn published his paper formally naming and describing T. rex in 1905 he actually published in the same report another formal description of what he believed at the time was another species of dinosaur. Osborn called this second dinosaur Dynamosaurus imperiosus (means "Imperial Power Lizard"). Some dermal armour had been found with this other fossil and Osborn assumed that the second, large meat-eating dinosaur described in this paper was covered in bony plates. It is likely some Ankylosaur or Nodosaurid remains had got mixed up with the Tyrannosaur bones when these animals were buried and this is how the confusion arose.

Dynamosaurus not Tyrannosaurus

The animal referred to as Dynamosaurus was actually discovered first but in the paper it was the later, second find, known as Tyrannosaurus rex that got described first. Only later when Fairfield Osborn reviewed his work did he realise that these animals (in fact all three of Barnum Brown's Tyrannosaur finds between 1900 and 1906), represented what was to be termed Tyrannosaurus rex. The rules of scientific nomenclature state that the name that should take precedence in such cases is the first name published. By a few lines of text, Tyrannosaurus rex was established in favour of Dynamosaurus.

Sold to the Natural History Museum

The first substantial fossil of the animal formerly known as Dynamosaurus but renamed T. rex representing a little over 10% of the actual skeleton and with skull material absent, was sold to the London Natural History museum in London. For a long, time these fossils were on display, the limited amount of actual fossil material supplemented by casts from other specimens and the creative use of a full size Tyrannosaurus rex illustration to help "flesh out" the exhibit. Some of the older palaeontologists can remember seeing it on display, although much of the Tyrannosaur material attributed to the Natural History museum is in storage.

The Story Continues

The story of Dynamosaurus does not end there. The very few fossils of Tyrannosaurs that scientists have do show morphological and anatomical differences. Could these be due to pathology, ontogeny or differences between the sexes? Maybe, or maybe not, could there really be several species represented by the Tyrannosaur remains excavated from Hell Creek and other late Cretaceous formations? Some scientists have suggested for example, that the name Dynamosaurus imperiosus be revived and used to describe the more robust forms discovered with the more gracile specimens being referred to as Tyrannosaurus rex.

No doubt the debate will continue...

Differences Reflected in Models of Prehistoric Animals

The uncertainty over Tyrannosaurus is reflected in the many subtle variants seen in scale model dinosaurs. Schleich of Germany, for example, introduced a model showing a "moving" Tyrannosaurus rex and then more recently introduced another version of T. rex depicted in the "Kangaroo-like" pose with the tail dragging on the floor. The introduction of this second model coincided with the 100th anniversary of the naming and describing of Tyrannosaurus rex in the paper published by Henry Fairfield Osborn.