My most viewed post of the year!

Happy New Years Eve! As it's the last day of the year, I thought its only right to take a look back at my most viewed most of the year - Enjoy the new years celebration!









Most pets liked being stroked, I do know a cat who hates it and runs a million miles every time I come near him but most cats like it!

Stroking a cat or dog releases a hormone called oxytocin. This hormone is actually released in both the owner and the animal, lowering blood pressure and reducing anxiety. Scientists assume that because these feelings are obviously pleasurable to both the owner and pet over time we've 'learnt' to continue. But why have we learnt? Scientists say that it's kind of like natural selection. This is because it's pretty much a huge survival advantage for many animals to be domesticated because not only we benefit from them but our pets get a free home, food and so on. It's this scientists believe is the reason why animals love us stroking them - a feeling which is gotten stronger over time mirroring a much smaller scale of evolution. Now, we've reached a stage where they (well most of them :) ) enjoy our company and vice versa. 

Tim Peake's Christmas Card | #SciSparksAdvent

Happy Christmas Eve! As we're only one sleep away from the big day - I thought I'd share Tim Peake's Christmas card this year!

As Tim said on Twitter, this is a Christmas card he never thought he'd send!  Having said that I reckon he needs to improve his space somersault skills! :)

Christmas Day Full Moon! | #SciSparksAdvent

There's going to be a full moon on Christmas day - one of the brightest full moons. The last time this happened on Christmas day was 1977. 

Stargazers will be given a rare treat this Christmas day as the final full moon of the year peaks on 25 December.

The last time a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas was in 1977, and the event won't happen again until 2034. 

December's full moon is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter and it will peak at 06.11 EST (23.11 GMT Christmas Eve). 

See more http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3371709/Rare-Cold-Moon-brighten-sky-Christmas-day-Lunar-event-38-years-won-t-happen-2034.html

Reindeers | #SciSparksAdvent

For obvious reasons - reindeers are mostly known for their link to Santa Claus and make the ideal sleigh pullers. Aside from Christmas, they're more usually seen during their mammoth Arctic migration -  during this, North American herds may travel for more than 5,000km.
Reindeers are also the only kind of deer where both males and females sport antlers, although they still can reach epic proportions in male reindeers.


Throughout the year, Reindeer mostly eat grass but they also take a fancy to virtually any other plant. In the winter - they often eat 'Reindeer lichen', moss and fungi. They are also very sociable creatures, living in groups of 10-100 groups.


As far as breeding is concerned, they mate in October and have a pregnancy of 230 days and give birth in May or June. When they do so, they only give birth to one baby who becomes fully mature at 2 years old. In the wild, they live to between 12 and 15 years old, although some live until they're 20.

Like many animals, they're hunted and have been hunted since the stone age. In northern regions in particular, they eat the meat and use the fur, skin, antlers and bones for various products. The reindeer was first domesticated around 3,000 years ago in Siberia and Scandinavia. Since then, they've been used for transport and pulling sleds. Because they can live in very cold climates - this makes them the ideal animals for the job.  

How much does Santa's Sleigh weigh? | #SciSparksAdvent

7 days to go!

If we're trying to work out how much his sleigh actually weighs, you need to make a lot of assumptions. Lets say that every child on Earth receives Buzz Lightyears - these have a boxed weight of 1.2kg - in total that's 840,000 tonnes of toys. These require a staggering 5.6 million reindeer to pull. Each reindeer weighs around 600lb - so the whole procession has a mass of 2,363,310.33 tonnes - Santa needs a few more than 7 reindeer!

Throwback Thursday - 2014 Christmas Lectures | #SciSparksAdvent

As the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are coming up, I thought you might like to be reminded of the Christmas Lectures last year, so here's the first episode from last year's lectures.

What will Tim Peake's expedition do for UK science? | #SciSparksAdvent

Personally for Tim, he'll be able to carry out experiments which could lead to revolutionary developments. He's also acting as a guinea pig - allowing people back on Earth to monitor how his body is adapting or changing as a result of the zero gravity. During his 6 month voyage, his bones will get weaker  - he has to do 2 hours of exercise a day to combat this. When he returns it will take around a year for his body to completely get over the effects of being in zero gravity. He'll also be able to pass on his experiences - even just the view. Understandably many astronauts who have previously flown in space say that's the one thing which truly changes you - seeing it with your own eyes, and when you return you can truly appreciate it. This, apparently is known as the overview effect. It's also pioneering in the sense that no British person has done what Tim's doing. He's the first British astronaut to be spending a term on board the ISS. Other British astronauts have flown in space - Helen Sharman became the first British Citizen to travel in space when she visited the Soviet space station Mir in 1991. Others have flown either as private individuals or by taking up US citizenship.

School children across the UK can finally relate to someone on board the ISS - someone with a British accent - coming from a town near them. Follow him on Twitter @astro_timpeake where he'll hopefully be posting updates from the ISS. Whilst he's on board he's got lots of exciting plans - including opportunities for school children to link up with him on the ISS. This is the first time he's been on the ISS and no doubt he'll make the most of it.

Good luck Tim!

Tim Peake's Launch | #SciSparksAdvent

Day 15




Today, at exactly 11:03, the first Briton to work on board the ISS launched. He waved his friends and family off from the launch pad in Kazakhstan - as Dallas Campbell put it, what a way to get to the office! Once Tim and the other two crew members have completed the 6 hour journey to the ISS, Tim's main role will be to complete experiments but he also wants to make the most of his time up there - he really wants to inspire kids and adults alike and show them the wonder of space and science.


At exactly 17:33 GMT, the Soyuz docked with the ISS after they'd completed a manual docking -  a couple of hours later, pressurisation checks had been completed - the hatch was opened and him and the crew floated into their home for the next 6 months.
The flight was relatively problem free - launch was completed in probably the best conditions possible. When it came to docking however, there was a slight issue which meant they had to complete a manual docking. We're still not sure what the issue was - this caused a delay in opening the hatch as the crew sent back data before putting the Soyuz in 'sleep mode'. This is such an important step because the Soyuz is their 'lifeboat' if there's an issue on board the ISS the crew can transfer to the Soyuz and quickly return to Earth.





Tim has embarked on an amazing adventure for himself and Britain - good luck Tim!


18/12 update: Tim has recently revealed on Twitter that his first space meal was a hot bacon sandwich and he'd also just found his tea - some things never change, wherever you are! :)

Sea Otters | #BigBlueLive #SciSparksAdvent

For day 10 of my advent calendar, I thought we'd have a flashback to this summer's Big Blue Live. You may remember that the Sea Otters of Monterey Bay stole the show!They relax on the waters just of the coast of America and surprisingly are fairly closely related to the weasel. They are perfectly adapted to spend their days lolling back on the water, with their thick fur they can stay warm and toasty

I thought I'd leave you with some of my favorite sea otter pictures.... (prepare for a overload of cuteness!)

What slows your Wi-Fi? | #SciSparksAdvent

Research has shown that there might be more to a slow internet connection than first meets the eye. Check out this article for more information -
"Christmas lights may be crippling your WiFi, or at least that was the takeaway from headlines circulating earlier this week.
The claim isn’t simply fodder for the #WarOnChristmas debate. It’s based on some basic principles of physics.
But how bad is the problem and should you toss those twinkle lights in the trash so you can stream Love Actually without interruption? The answer depends on where your WiFi router is in relationship to the holiday lights and the size of those sparkling strands.
WiFi uses radio waves to communicate. Radio waves fall into a family of radiant energy known as the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwaves, infrared beams, visible light, ultraviolet rays and gamma rays are all part of this family. Like relatives arguing at the holiday dinner table, sometimes these waves interfere with each other.
The biggest pest for WiFi tends to be microwaves. If you stick your router next to a microwave oven and warm up a bowl a soup, you might notice a few connectivity issues. That’s because high-powered microwaves often operate at a frequency — 2.4GHz — used by most WiFi devices. Switch on the microwave, and your laptop can no longer distinguish between the WiFi signals and energy being produced by heating your Hot Pocket. Cell phones, bluetooth gadgets, some baby monitors, and cordless phones (remember those?) can create the same problem and interfere with your download speed.
Back to holiday lights. Their incandescent and LED bulbs emit light. Also, their wires are typically unshielded, meaning the electromagnetic radiation created by electricity pulsing through the cord can produce a very weak electromagnetic field.
More lights may mean a stronger field, thanks to a physical concept called linear superposition. Light waves, like all forms of electromagnetic radiation, moves in waves like water."
From -
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/war-on-christmas-lights-wifi-interference/

The Changing Arctic | #SciSparksAdvent

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the Earth as a whole. The Arctic is vast - it spans about 11 square kilometres, yet around 4 million people live there. The harsh environment brings extreme conditions, winter darkness and very brief summers. The issue of climate change is one that's still being debated but one thing's for sure, climate change in the Arctic is real. Mathematical models produced show that in 100 years we could be looking at an Arctic, 3-6C higher than today. The spring snow thaw is now happening earlier, on top of warmer winters it's putting many species' lives at risk. As far as soils are concerned, the Arctic has a complete range - from rocky mineral soils and mountain areas to polar deserts. 22% of the Northern hemisphere has permafrost (snow that doesn't thaw throughout the year), the Arctic has most of the permafrost. In some locations the permafrost is 3 million years old and even about 1.5km thick. However because of climate change some of this permafrost is melting - along with its 3 million year history. Towards the south throughout much of the tundra (ecosystems where tree growth is limited because of low temperatures) when the permafrost thaws, surface ponds drain away. Although this doesn't sound like much of an issue, the ponds host billions of species such as insect larvae, migratory birds and the predators that feed on them. Having said that, in other areas, further North, the permafrost thaw can lead to the formation of new ponds - this of course increases the biodiversity. We can also learn more about the organisms that lived long ago, how they coped with climate change and we can learn more about our natural world. Above all, the Arctic is facing a new challenge - global warming and if we continue to lower our carbon dioxide emissions and work towards reducing climate change, it's not too late.

I'm a Celebrity... Get me out of Here!!!! | #SciSparksAdvent

Last night, I'm a Celebrity crowned it's new Queen of the Jungle, Vicky Pattison - the show was a lively one but once again, it's come under fire this series for how animals are treated. Some animal charities (like Peta- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have raised concerns about the use of live animals during trials. This was particularly the case during Ferne McCann's trial where she ate a number of things including a live spider. The show also saw live crickets, cockroaches and snakes used. It's not just animal charities who are worried, the watching public was too, so much so, Ofcom received 553 complaints last night alone. So - do you think animals aren't treated like they should be in these shows? ITV does say that they comply with all the necessary regulations, do we treat the "cute and cuddly" animals better than the others? Have your say in the comments below.

Follow me on Twitter!! | #SciSparksAdvent

Keep updated with everything that's happening by following me on Twitter @Sci_Sparks!

The Smell of Pine | #SciSparksAdvent

By now you might be thinking of putting up your Christmas tree, if you've ever wondered what fills your house with that amazing pine smell - here's that chemical.

Image taken from Compound Interest

What is our nervous system? | #SciSparksAdvent

Without our Nervous System, our life would be very, very different. For a start, we simply wouldn’t be able to feel pain. Take a candle for example, if we couldn’t feel pain then we would just leave our hand far too close to the flame but because we do have a very advanced Nervous System we’re able to take our hand away as quickly as possible without becoming too burnt!

Your body is home to a network of neurones and passages which send messages all over your body – all to keep you out of harm’s way. Your nervous system is one huge evolutionary product – the first nervous tissue actually came about in wormlike organisms 550 to 600 million years ago.

Your nervous system is made up of two components - the CNS (Central Nervous System) and the PNS (Peripheral Nervous System).

The CNS – This contains the brain and spinal cord. Most of your central nervous system is enclosed within your body that is apart from something called the “olfactory epithelium”. It’s a specialised area of tissue inside the nasal cavity involved in smell. Scientists say that because it is exposed this might be a potential avenue for further treatments relating to your CNS.

The PNS – This mainly consists of nerves, pairs of nerves that originate from the brain, enclosed in bundles of long fibres. It connects the CNS to every other part of the body.

Surprisingly your nervous system controls your heart rate. The job of which is done by chemoreceptors. These are found in the walls of your carotid arteries. They detect changes in pH as a result of a change in CO₂ concentration. When your blood CO₂ concentration is too low, your chemoreceptors detect a pH drop. They then send impulses to the section of the medulla oblongata ( a region of the brain) responsible for increasing heart rate. This section of the brain then sends impulses to a node in your heart. Your heart rate is now faster and the pH can return to normal.

Christmas Countdown: 21 sleeps to go!

Bank Card Readers | #SciSparksAdvent

By now, you've probably started thinking about your Christmas shopping and you might pay for a lot of it on a debit or credit card, but how do those card readers actually work? Well, when you insert your card, the machine works to read the information along the magnetic strip, the machines also make electrical contact with the embedded chip on the card - the users pin is then encrypted, once you've typed in the correct pin, the payment is authorized!

Happy shopping!

Could our moon have a moon? | #SciSparksAdvent

Day 2

Although it's scientifically possible, astronomers are pretty certain it doesn't. If this system did exist, it's likely that the gravitational pull from Earth would quickly destabilize the moon's moon eventually pulling it out of orbit, although it's certainly possible if the moon was small and it was far away from Earth that it wouldn't adjust our tidal forces - but it may well be a reality on some similar planet far, far away from us!

It's December! | #SciSparksAdvent

It's finally December, time to crack open the first door on your advent calendar as there's only 25 days to go until the big day!

Every day until the 25th December I'll be posting every day on Christmas science, to the highlights of the year, keep updated by following me on Twitter @Sci_Sparks and keep your eye out for new posts here!

To get into the Christmas spirit I thought I'd start off by looking at Santa - question is, what would happen if he ate all those sweets?

He'd actually have late onset diabetes by the time he was three hours into his night shift! If you assume every household the world over leaves two chocolate chip cookies, he'd be consuming 170 calories, 8g of fat and 14g of sugar in every household. This means he consumes 374 billion calories, 33,000 tonnes of sugar and 151,000 tonnes of fat - enough to keep him going for the new year!!! Still, who said chocolate chip cookies weren't delicious?? :)

The 2015 Davis Cup Final

Slightly off topic, but today Britain achieved the seemingly impossible. The GB Davis Cup team lead by Andy Murray and Coach Leon Smith beat Belgium 3-1 to win the Davis Cup Final. Young Kyle Edmund (20), world number 100  made his debut, surprisingly comfortably taking the first two sets of Belgian's number one, David Goffin, although he actually went on to loose in five sets. Nonetheless, the Davis Cup was just an amazing experience for an up and coming tennis player, whatever their nationality. Thankfully, the Murray Brothers conquered Steve Darcis and David Goffin in four sets to set up an unbelievable opportunity. Team GB had to win just one match on the final day to become Davis Cup champions - and they did.

One thing's for sure is that this was a far cry from five years ago, on the brink of relegation to the bottom tier of the competition and playing in tiny venues across the world - most not even televised. Congratulations Team GB!

How do scientists classify animals?

They use the binomial system. Every animal has a Latin name.

Every animal or species belongs to a:

• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

Take the domestic cat for example, it’s Latin name is Felis Catus. The first section, in this case is Felis – this is the genus. The second section, Catus, is the species. These are then combined to give the Latin name of Felis Catus. Your first question may well be, why bother? But this is a great way for scientists to combine their thinking and get over the issue of different languages internationally.

#SciSparksAdvent 2015

Join me here for a new post every day, on everything from Christmas science to the things you've always wanted to know, in December as we count down to Christmas! 

Makes sure you're also following me on Twitter (@Sci_Sparks) and Facebook, Science-Sparks for the latest updates!

Happy Christmas!!

Gravity...Houston, we have a hit | Film Review

It's been exactly two years since the multi-award winning film, 'Gravity' was released in the UK. But here's my opinion of the hit film.

On the 28th January 1986 everything changed for America. The US news network, CNN carried live pictures of the routine challenger space shuttle launch. Although what was far from ordinary was the shuttle carried the first female civilian to go into space, 37 year old teacher Christa McAuliffe, chosen from over 11,000 applicants. What captured the collective imagination of the American people,soon, 73 seconds later ended in a tragic disaster. All seven crew members were killed and never made it into space.

The event, watched eagerly by millions worldwide shocked and tramatised the nation, just as the 9/11 attacks did some 15 years later. But the smash hit Gravity has the same ingredients, a female in space, Dr Ryan Stone played by Sandra Bullock going about her business with colleague Dr Kowalski played by George Clooney, when an onslaught of space debris hits the international space station (the ISS). First tethered to safety, the race is on to save the space station and more importantly to save their lives.

With the tilted Earth shimmering like a blue marble, circling them below, the film is a cinematic virtue and there's some science too.

The average space station commander logs around 4,000 hours at a time on board the football-field sized vehicle. Hollywood has officially accomplished the mission to make your children think space is cool.

Ocean Acidification on Urchin Larvae

Ocean Acidification is becoming an increasingly big problem. As we continue emitting carbon dioxide the oceans are becoming increasingly acidic. This is because around 30% of the carbon dioxide that's artificially emitted is absorbed into our oceans. Once in our oceans, it forms carbonic acid. This carbonic acid is harmful to sea life. In shelled species, acidic conditions the shell thins and the organism becomes more vulnerable to predators. In other species, the acidic conditions can disrupt their biological processes. There's even been research which suggests that acidity can impact communication in Dolphins for example.


Of course Scientists are determining whether this is a problem which warrants intervention. To do this - they need to understand the importance of the problem and what it actually is. One of the earlier investigations was carried out by a Belgian eco-physiologist, Sam Dupont. He put a batch of urchin larvae into a bath of highly acidic water to see how their skeletons would fare. Immediately, nothing obvious happened, he decided to check on them later in the evening, however he didn't remember until a few days later - at which point he thought they'd probably be dead. When he returned, he found the larvae swimming in their tank but their internal skeletons had dissolved away - but they still seemed to be functioning well. Even though this experiment doesn't provide any definitive conclusions, it does demonstrate the extreme case of what might happen if we let this problem develop. The article, published in Nature says how the acidity of sea water has climbed about 30% over the last 150 years. Some regions of the globe have already become corrosive to such an extent of where it has inhibited the growth of corals and some other species for part of the year. Projections have said that within a few decades’ creatures with calcium carbonate shells like mussels will run into problems within a few decades. Acidification might also impede the growth of plankton, potentially endangering entire marine ecosystems like fisheries and coral reefs.

The Tasmanian Devil

The small, solitary animal is nocturnal and spends most of its days burrowed into hollow logs. This marsupial is known to get very feisty when feeding, dozens of them can mob a single carcass. Scientists have also discovered that it has the most powerful bite of any living mammal in the animal kingdom. It will also fly into rage when it feels threatened by a predator - in fact it was these displays which led Early European settlers to call the creature the "Tasmanian Devil".  Their method of reproduction is also strange compared to other animals - Mothers give birth after about three weeks of pregnancy. They give birth to 20 or 30 tiny young. Once they're born, they crawl up their mothers fur and climb into her pouch. Unfortunately, the mother can't sustain this many young so only a handful survive.

Update!

This is just a quick post to say I haven't left ;) Just over a week ago, we held the Young Scientists Journal Conference, which was a great success! You can see the pictures from the day on Twitter with the hashtag #ysjournalconf. I also had a lot of end of topic tests and so on at school! But I've sent my UCAS application for zoology and marine biology, so we'll have to wait and see! But tomorrow we're off to the Isle of Wight for 3 nights - when we're there we're planning on going to the Isle of Wight Zoo, as I love photography and animals it's going to be great!!!!

Exciting times! :) 

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - Profile

What is it?


As James Watson and Francis Crick famously said - "the secret of life". It's a vital part of any species, how it functions and the reactions that are carried out.



When was DNA discovered?



1953, by James Watson and Francis Crick - although as with any scientific discovery they were working as part of a team. Rosalind Franklin is often credited for her contribution to the discovery of DNA.



What's it made from?


The backbone of DNA if you like is made from sugar and phosphate. The 'rungs' if you like are made from bases - adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine which form complementary base pairings. As its full name suggests, there's also deoxyribose sugar which makes up the structure.

These complementary base pairings combined with the deoxyribose sugar and phosphate make up the 'nucleotide', lots of these join together make up one of the DNA strands. Because there are lots of these joined together - DNA is a polynucleotide.





How much DNA do we have?


A LOT! Although sequencing human DNA is in its very early stages, we do know that human DNA has around three billion base pairings.



Can we do anything with DNA?
Surprisingly, yes. This year Barack Obama announced plans to sequence the genome of around 1 million people in the US in the hope scientists can use this information to create advanced treatments, targeting specific regions of our DNA.


How do we make more of it?


You'll see in more detail exactly how DNA is replicated in my Christmas countdown posts, but in short, DNA is copied to a molecule called RNA. This is because the organelles for protein synthesis are found in the cytoplasm but DNA is bound in the nucleus. This process of copying the DNA to RNA is called transcription. Once the RNA has left the nucleus, it joins to a ribosome where it can then make a protein. This is called translation.

The Lemon Shark

Sharks are one of the most well known marine predators, however they're experiencing a huge worldwide decline. Scientists have estimated that around 90% of the world's marine predators have been lost from our oceans since 1950. This loss is primarily due to overfishing and was entirely preventable. The demand for shark products on Asian markets are ever increasing - sharks are also suffering from habitat loss. Many shark species use specific areas such as waters and surrounding mangroves.

Bimini is an island surrounded by mangroves. In fact, the island is the westernmost district of the Bahamas - 53 miles due east of Miami. The island is actually the closest point within the Bahamas to the US. Because of its healthy marine ecosystem it's a tourist hot spot. The surrounding mangroves provide nursery areas for sharks, other fish, conch and lobster. The lemon shark is perhaps one of most significant nearby species. The lemon sharks have been studied by the Bimini Biological Field Station for over 25 years. They're large species at the top of the food chain - this makes them the apex predator. They are fully grown at about 12-15 years. Once they reach this age, they're sexually mature. From here, they pup every two years for the rest of their life. The usual litter size is between 4 and 18 young. These sharks can live for over 30 years. They can grow a staggering 3 metres long. As part of their research, the scientists tag the sharks to monitor their movement and behaviour. As a result of this tagging it was found that they actually travel very long distances, one individual was tracked for over 1000km. The main idea is that once they've tagged the shark, scientists can look at how the shark behaves and interacts with the oceans.

The Young Scientists Journal Conference

Tomorrow is our 2nd science communication conference at The Kings School, Canterbury and we'd like you to join us online tomorrow. Throughout the day we'll be posting things on social media - so check out the links below.

My Twitter -  @Sci_Sparks

The Young Scientists Journal Twitter - @YSJournal

Our website - www.ysjournal.com 

Conference Website - http://events.ysjournal.com/

Facebook - The Young Scientists Journal 

FIGHT!!!! | #PictureoftheMonth

For this month I thought I'd bring you a completely different picture, this time of two very territorial birds!

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/gallery/2013/images/behaviour-birds/4742/light-path.html

How are new species formed?

Speciation is pretty much evolution in action, two species emerge from a single one. Because they share gene pools they have similar genes.


This pretty much works from the fact that new species can only form from pre-existing species. The idea is that a group of organisms from the space species can become separated geographically so they can't reproduce, this is called geographical isolation. When the two groups are completely separated, the two areas can have different environments. Like in every habitat there are some individuals which are better adapted to compete. These are more likely to survive and reproduce, this means the alleles (genes they have) are more likely to be passed onto their offspring. This means that over many generations the allele frequency increases so the individuals are better adapted to live in that environment. Eventually, the alleles present in one group 'evolve' and can become completely different to how they were initially. Because they might be completely different they won't be able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring, so they're now no longer the same species. 


Definitions


Species: A group of organisms which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring, they also share a gene pool.

#GBBO | Does Chocolate Make you Happy?

As we reach the concluding stages of the Great British Bake off - I thought I'd look at chocolate! To many across the globe, why we like chocolate is a mystery, yet we can't stop eating it (understandably!!) But in 1996, we had our first indication of what, exactly it is that makes chocolate so delicious and addictive. The study completed in 996 looked at the effect of chocolate on the brains of American women  - they found that as they ate the chocolate, endorphins were released making the women feel happy. This then fired up many other research projects which found that chocolate actually contains many other substances known to lift your mood. Take theobromine for example which can increase heart rate, making you feel more alert combined with other substances like seratonin (an neurotransmitter associated with happiness) and caffeine may well contribute to the overall feeling when you eat chocolate. Although, researchers now believe it might just be down to craving the feelings endorphins bring us!

The Elephant

Elephants, the largest land animals in the world, have a huge heart. Their heart weighs between 26 and 47 pounds! They actually have a life expectancy similar to humans - over 70 years. Also like humans they can laugh and have a pretty good memory although they can't jump. They are also very sociable and are very sensitive animals - they know when other elephants are sad or happy. As a 'hello' they wrap their trunks together as a display of affection. In total, their trunks have around 40,000 muscles! Elephants have particularly crafty ears. They have large, thin ears - they're made up of a complex network of blood vessels which work to regulate the elephant's temperature. The Elephants circulate blood around their ears to cool them down.

The Bharal (The Blue Sheep)

Contrary to the name- this sheep doesn't really look blue, or particularly like a conventional sheep! Because the sheep have a blue-ish tint, this makes them perfect for blending into the rocks and escaping their predators. This sheep is actually found up in the Himalayas around India, Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet. Their amazing horns are actually very strange - as they grow up they then grow out to the side before pointing backwards. They can grow up to around 165cm long. Because they spend most of their time up mountains they've become great climbers as they skip around the rocks eating moss, lichen and plants.

Gas Exchange in Fish | AS Biology Revision

• Fish have a small surface area to volume ratio
• This means the surface can't supply enough respiratory gases - so fish developed gills

Fish Gills

• Fish gills are behind their head
• Made up of many gill filaments stacked in a pile
• Gill lamellae at right angles to the filaments to increase surface area
• Water taken in through their mouth
• Water then forced over the gills and out through the opening on each side of their body

Countercurrent Flow (parallel flow wouldn't work!)

• Flow of water over the lamellae is in the opposite direction o the flow of blood within the lamellae
• Ensures the largest diffusion gradient between the water and blood at all times
• Blood loaded with oxygen meets water high in oxygen- diffusion oxygen from water to the blood 

CONCENTRATION GRADIENT IS MAINTAINED ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE GILLS WITH THE COUNTERCURRENT PRINCIPLE

Gill adaptions

• Large surface area (from the lamellae and filaments) - increases diffusion
• Short distance between the water and the blood
• Countercurrent Flow
• Circulation (replaces blood saturated with oxygen)

The Vampire Squid

Given the proximity to Halloween - this is a very topical squid! This is the Vampire squid! It gets its name from the long arms which flow behind it, making it look like a Vampire's cape. As far as squid are concerned, this is actually quite a small squid - only about a foot in length. They prefer warmer temperatures so they can swim around more easily. They also only live in the depths of the water, this combined with their dark color means they're camouflaged really well so they can avoid predators. We don't know a lot about the Vampire Squid - in fact it's first sighting was in 1903. Although when it was first discovered, people first thought it was an Octopus! And of course because they live so far down, the only knowledge we have of them is if a fisherman accidentally catches one or any calculated research, and research costs money!

Mars Water!

You can view the following article, here -  http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/29/nasa-crossroads-mars-water-without-contamination-curiosity-rover

Nasa scientists may still be celebrating their discovery of liquid water on Mars, but they now face some serious questions about how they can investigate further and look for signs of life on the red planet.

The problem is how to find life without contaminating the planet with bugs from Earth.

Researchers at the space agency are keen for the Curiosity rover to take a closer look at the long dark streaks created by liquid water running down craters and canyon walls during the summer months on Mars.

But the rover is not sterile and risks contaminating the wet areas with earthly bugs that will have hitched a ride to the planet and may still be alive.

The vehicle has been trundling around the large Gale crater looking for evidence that Mars was habitable in the ancient past. It has so far uncovered evidence of past river networks and age-old lakes.

However, the dark, damp streaks, called recurring slope lineae (RSL), are a different prospect. Because they are wet at least part of the time, they will be designated as special regions where only sterile landers can visit. But such a restriction could hamper scientists’ hopes of looking for current life on Mars.

“There will be heated discussions in the next weeks and months about what Curiosity will be allowed to do and whether it can go anywhere near the RSLs,” said Andrew Coates of University College London’s Mullard space science laboratory.

Carbon and Forests | #FutureGadgets

We're used to carbon dioxide related issues hitting the headlines and its detrimental effects carbon dioxide has on global warming. It's becoming such a problem that scientists all over the world are trying to come up with ways of reducing the carbon dioxide level in our atmosphere. To do this, they've carried out trials on the Jatropha plant which exchanges lots of carbon dioxide - now, scientists have taken advantage of this and come up with a processing method to 'harvest' the CO2 from a large area in Saudi Arabia to use elsewhere - energy which is vital for developing countries as it's not only cheap, but doesn't impact global warming.

The Jatropha Plant 

MY NEW BOOK! | #AnimalsandUs

I'm very excited to announce I'll be releasing my second eBook, Animals and Us very soon! It will be released on Amazon Kindle and possibly a couple of other platforms - but I'll keep you informed of those. The book will take you on a tour of the world, the wonders of our world and their relationship with us. I'll also be posting a snippet of the book fairly soon - I'll keep you posted!

Remember you can still download my last charity eBook - Science Bites!

The Tarsier

Okay, so I reckon evolution was VERY drunk when this little creature with HUGE eyes first walked on our planet. Unsurprisingly, they're not the most common of creatures- in fact, they're more or less, only found on the islands in Southeast Asia. Because they're not very common we don't actually know a lot about them, we don't really know why they have SUCH big eyes! The only real explanation scientists can come up with is that its down to a mutation in their DNA, which codes for their eyes. One of the other problems facing scientists is that this small primate is incredibly shy around humans, which of course provides quite a big problem for scientists! They're also incredibly athletic, with an unusually long anklebone enabling it to jump distances more than 40 times its own body length.

What makes someone more likely to lie?

Whether it's your kids when the last chocolate biscuit is missing, or anything else - here's your guide to spotting that white lie!

• Social Class - the higher the class, studies have shown that they're more likely to lie!
• We're 20-50% more likely to lie in the afternoon - scientists put this down to 'psychological depletion'.
• Children lied to by adults are also more likely to lie. 
• People may lie in the hope people will like them. 
• They lie in the heat of the moment- perhaps because they're pressured for time.

So next time the last chocolate biscuit goes missing, think about these factors and you might just be able to work out who the culprit was!

                                    

The Clouded Leopard

By far, this leopard is one of the most agile creatures on Earth. The Clouded Leopard has a distinctive, tawny grey coat-which is why they were given their name. It cleverly uses its long tail to help keep its balance, as it leaps from tree to tree in the dense rain forests of Southeast Asia. As far as their diet is concerned - it's incredibly varied, from birds to monkeys and wild pigs.

Unfortunately they're now at risk of extinction - all because their habitat is being rapidly destroyed through deforestation. They've also been hunted for its distinctive fur, teeth and bones and much like the tiger, their teeth and bones are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Historically, clouded leopards  were found across much of Southeast Asia, particularly around Nepal. Now we don't know much about the Clouded leopard, because they're so reclusive and spend most of their time in forests, sometimes up to 8,000 feet up. I think the fact we don't know much about clouded leopards, just makes them better!

How accurate are long term weather forecasts?

On the Autumn Equinox, here in Britain our minds start to turn to the prospect of snow. And, of course, the Daily Express runs their annual dramatic headline of the worst winter in years, but how good are weather forecasts? The Met Office has recently said that four day forecasts are now just as accurate as the one day forecasts in the mid 1980s. But as far as long term, 30 day forecasts are concerned we may well be waiting a while. Because the atmosphere is so chaotic, tiny observational errors occur all the time. Tiny they may well be, but they're the kind of errors which make a huge distance!

Bonobo Monkey

Bonobo Monkeys aren't just your average monkey, they're one of the closest living relatives monkey-wise to humans. Surprisingly, they share more than 98% of our DNA. They're unbelievably complex, demonstrating emotional intelligence and sensitivity. These amazing primates are found in only one country, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the heart of the Congo Basin, the second largest rain forest in the world. Traditionally Bonobos are thought of as the 'Make Love not War' primates. They're peaceful and have a reputation for being docile creatures - very human like! They're also very healthy, fruit makes up half their diet, a diet supplemented by insects and larvae. The Bonobos are also one of the most vocal primates, their communication is complex, sounds mixed with complex hand gestures. Bonobos are also very social creatures, they're always found in groups of varying sizes. Communities of up to 100 bonobos split into groups to search for food during the day and then return to sleep in the safety of each others company at night. Much like many other animals, sexual activity plays a huge part of their society, they use it to bond and resolve conflicts.
Bonobos aren't just amazing they're also pretty cute too!

The Worldwide Internet | #FutureGadgets

At the moment, internet coverage can be so good, yet, occasionally - AWFUL! Organisations including SpaceX want to launch satellites into Earth's orbit to vastly improve our internet, with any luck we should have perfect internet worldwide by 2020.

The Pink See-through Fantasia

The Pink See-through Fantasia, aside from the rather funky name it's an incredible creature which we've only just recently discovered. Before hand, all we knew was that somewhere there was an unknown species of free swimming sea cucumber. We first found it in the Celebes Sea- a remote area of the western Pacific Ocean around the area of Sulawesi in Indonesia, by a group of underwater photographers and scientists on a research expedition. We actually don't know much about the creature and there's no data on it at all.  

The Lion's Mane Jellyfish

This huge jellyfish, confined to the icy waters of the Antarctic, gently propels itself through the water, expanding its pink folds into an umbrella shape. They get their name from the fact they've got loads of long, thin hair like tentacles. For most of their lives, they swim close to, or at the bottom of the ocean, feeding on shrimp, zooplankton and other small fish. It feeds in a number of different ways, from killing small animals with stinging cells on their tentacles. As far as human contact is concerned, stings just cause localised redness and temporary pain- in healthy people their stings aren't known to be fatal. Vinegar can also be used to 'deactivate' the sting but due to the large number of tentacles, you need to seek medical attention straight after exposure. In 2010, it was estimated that 150 people were thought to have been stung from the remains of a lion's mane jellyfish which had broken up into countless pieces on the coast of New Hampshire in the US.  Given the sheer size of the jellyfish, scientists reckon that the incident was probably caused by just one jellyfish.

The Magic of Fruit Flies

No, I'm not crazy - flies are actually amazing! To give them their proper name - Drosophilia melanogaster, they've been used in genetics research for over 100 years.  Fruit flies actually carry 75% of the genes that cause disease in humans, so they're ideal for science research. They're also pretty easy to take care of - much easier than rats or fish.  The only slight issue is that of course, they fly. Because of this, scientists need to knock them out before they're used - to do this, scientists have a number of options - they can either cool them or knock them out with carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide method is probably the best, partly because it's cheap and also because it knocks them out long enough for the experiment to be carried out. Once the experiment is over, they wake up and are perfectly fine (if not a little dizzy :) ) Currently they're being used across labs worldwide in everything from neurological disease to manipulating genes for future treatments.

The Greatest Voyage

Today's post, all about Charles Darwin was part of The Young Scientists Journal's guest blog on The British Exploring Society. You can see the original version here - http://www.britishexploring.org/blogs/young-scientists-journal-guest-blog.aspx?EntryId=259&tabid=343

The story of evolution begins over 100 years ago in 1809. A man called Charles Darwin was born. He was born as one of six children in a conservative Christian family. His experiences led him to be quite withdrawn and not particularly outgoing. He began his university education as most people did, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by securing a place studying medicine. However, he found the then brutal surgical techniques too much to handle, so he abandoned his plans to be a doctor and began collecting beetles whilst he studied Divinity at Cambridge. 

Darwin decided the one thing he’d love to do would be to follow his real passion- biology. His tutor at Cambridge recommended him as a “gentlemen naturalist” for a worldwide voyage on HMS Beagle – as anyone would, he jumped at the chance. 

In 1835, he left South America for the main attraction – the Galapagos islands. 600 miles off the cost of Ecuador he studied their unique, incredible ecosystem. Whilst he didn’t have any particular 'eureka' moment, he began to draft each of his observations. This was where he came up with the idea of “Natural Selection” – although, he struggled with the idea because it had contradicted everything he was taught growing up. 

After a long bout of illness he’d written thousands of words on evolution yet, he had published nothing. In 1858 he realised he had to do something – and fast. A man called Alfred Russel Wallace, one of Darwin’s admirers had independently come up with the theory of evolution and was potentially about to publish his own work. If Darwin did nothing, there was a strong possibility he would get no credit for a lifetime's worth of work. Eventually they decided to present their work at the same meeting. Towards the latter end of 1858 he published the infamous“The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection”, he said that writing it was like “living in hell”; he was riddled by doubt and petrified of the reaction he'd get from the scientific community. 

If we fast forward over a hundred years his work has enabled us to understand and discover millions of species, to unlock incredible secrets of our past and a key to the future - all with the help of Charles Darwin. We now stand at a precipice where changing climates and population pressure threaten some of the species Charles Darwin spend his life investigating. 

- See more at: http://www.britishexploring.org/blogs/young-scientists-journal-guest-blog.aspx?EntryId=259&tabid=343#sthash.ShKvh8Q2.dpuf

The Sun Bear | #WeirdestAnimals

This amazing bear is the smallest member of the bear family and lives in the dense forests of Southeast Asia.

They take their name from the bib-shaped golden patch on their chest which legend says, represents the rising sun. They're also nicknamed the dog bear as they have the same kind of build a short muzzle nose. To stop them overheating, they have a sleek, black coat which is also thick and coarse to provide protection from things like twigs and branches - but also to keep dry!

Ironically Sun bears are nocturnal, lumbering through the forests by night, snacking on berries and so on- everything even up to small rodents. They also have a huge tongue which is perfect for extracting honey from bees nests - giving them their other nickname, the 'honey bear'.  We don't actually know a lot about honey bears, we don't even have enough data to know how many there are in the wild. Having said that, because of the high deforestation and poaching levels scientists aren't hopeful - they might actually be in danger of extinction.

Why are 'in' calls more reliable than out? | #DavisCup

To celebrate the start of the GB vs Australia semi final tie in Glasgow I thought I'd add another tennis related post to the collection!

If you're a huge tennis fan, you might have noticed that when a player challenges a call, more often than not, it's an 'out' call they're challenging. This is because the brain is slow at processing fast moving objects and the brain tries to compensate. So much so the brain can end up over compensating. If the ball continues to move in a straight line the Umpire 'sees it' farther than it is and the ball bounces inside the court, and the call is wrong. Lets hope none of that happens this weekend!

Good luck Team GB - go smash it!!

(sorry to my Australian readers!! :) )

Team GB initial nominations:

Andy Murray (Number 3 in the world)

Kyle Edmund (21, just entered the top 100)

Jamie Murray (Doubles, ATP top 8)

Dom Inglot (Doubles around 40 in the world)

James Ward

Team Australia Nominations:

Bernard Tomic (a late replacement for Nick Krygios)

Sam Groth

Lleyton Hewitt

Thanasi Kokinakkis