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Thursday, 26 March 2015

Science this year...

We're virtually four months through the year and a lot has happened, so here is your four month round up of all the latest, and ever continuing developments in the world of science. 
Scientists have begun to start communication once more with the Philae lander on the Rosetta Comet. Last year scientists achieved the impossible as they managed to land Philae on the moving Rosetta comet. Unfortunately late last year the lander lost power but scientists are now hoping the lander will receive enough sunlight to recharge the batteries using the solar panels on the lander. 
Scientists have also commenced the #missiontohell, sending a probe inside the orbit of mercury, venturing well beyond what we've ever done before, all through enormously high temperatures! 
Lunar Mission One have also issued a status update on the 10 year long mission to the moon to study the full depth of the moon's surface. 
And only today in fact the king who changed the potential status of the whole monarchy was reburied. He gave us an incredible insight to the genes of the royals and they traced his genes though many generations to find a living descendent so they could in fact confirm this was Richard III. There were also surprising revelations over the King himself, that he did in fact have scoliosis, (curvature of the spine) 
Also today there has been revelations that the co-pilot of the crashed German wings plane wanted the plane to descend. This poses millions of questions as to why this actually happened, even should that kind of control go to the pilots? 
As we begin to look towards the second half of the year, British astronaut Tim Peake enters the final stages of his training to become an astronaut on the ISS for 6 months, doubtless following in the footsteps of Chris Hadfield. 
Whatever you think about science, this year, in its relatively early stages has brought up a whole load more developments and will continue to do so throughout the rest of 2015.

to be continued...  

Friday, 20 March 2015

#eclipse2015 - As it happened

Unfortunately the British weather let us down - it was very cloudy! Although it did get darker as 83% of the sun was blocked by the moon everywhere in the UK. Because we didn't actually see anything I thought I would round up some of the stunning images which have been circling on twitter and the internet today.

Here's a round up of what happened from the Telegraph









Thursday, 19 March 2015

A-Level Revision - The Cell Surface Membrane

These revision notes refer to AQA AS Biology Chapter 3.5

 The cell surface membrane is another name for the cell membrane or plasma membrane.
- It surround the cell boundary between the cell cytoplasm and the environment (this is where there is different conditions inside and outside of the cell).

The Fluid Mosaic Model

Why is this called the fluid-mosaic model?
Fluid - The Molecules move relative to one another
Mosaic - means being made up of different substances, in this case proteins and phospholipids.

How do substances pass through a cell membrane?
(a very common exam question)

- the phospholipids form a bilayer
- the phospholipids are arranged with hydrophilic heads on the outside and hydrophobic tails on the inside
- There are two types of proteins, some are passing through and some are confined to one layer
- There are other molecules present, for example: cholesterol or glycoproteins
- substances are moved DOWN the concentration gradient (from a high to low concentration)
- water and ions move through the channel proteins
- lipid soluble molecules are passed between the phospholipids
- carrier proteins are involved in facilitated diffusion.


The Solar Eclipse

Before I start I will mention a huge safety warning - don't look directly at the sun without protection, this may damage your eyesight!
Tomorrow, we will have a solar eclipse, where the sun's light is partially obscured (or totally obscured) by the moon, here in England, around 94% of the sun's light is expected to be obscured, although in typical British fashion it's meant to be cloudy which makes viewing the eclipse very difficult! Having said that, we will still be in relative darkness for about 90 minutes. It's the first time this has happened for 15 years. 
If you're interested in actually viewing or photographing the eclipse then take a look at this information - http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zcytpv4

If you're hoping the next one is fairly soon, it's actually in over 10 years time! You can view the next 7,000 years worth of solar eclipses here- http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html, although you might be in for a bit of a wait for the next one!