http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110531/ap_on_sc/us_space_shuttle;_ylt=AgFaaxQ3_cW7CwCeym4qqHYPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJocGJocjZyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNTMxL3VzX3NwYWNlX3NodXR0bGUEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2FzdHJvbmF1dHNnZQ--

New Mineral Discovered: One of Earliest Minerals Formed in Solar System

The "Cracked Egg" grain, in which krotite was discovered, is contained in the NWA 1934 Meteorite. (Credit: Image by Chi Ma)










ScienceDaily (May 7, 2011) — In the May-June issue of the journal American Mineralogist, a team of scientists announced the discovery of the new mineral krotite, one of the earliest minerals formed in our solar system. It is the main component of an unusual inclusion embedded in a meteorite (NWA 1934), found in northwest Africa. These objects, known as refractory inclusions, are thought to be the first planetary materials formed in our solar system, dating back to before the formation of Earth and the other planets.

This article I read talks about a new mineral formed in our Solar System. I got really interested with this article because it is amazing how many things happen in our Solar System, and how many things we can discover. It is so interesting how minerals can be formed, and this may be a new natural resource we can use to make money. This mineral may be a whole new step in the business world. And it is so cool that I am alive when this mineral was formed!

This mineral that was recently discovered may influence my future because it may be something I will use. I can also tell my children that I was 14 when this mineral was formed and discovered! I really love when natural things are discovered because they are so amazing and the world has so many mysteries we want to discover!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110506165310.htm

First Shot of Mercury Orbit

The first image of Mercury ever taken from an orbiting craft shows the large rayed crater Debussy (upper portion of photo) and a smaller crater called Matabei. The lower part of the image shows part of Mercury’s south polar region not previously seen by any craft.

NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has returned the first image of Mercury ever taken by a probe orbiting the solar system’s innermost planet. The image, recorded early on March 29 by MESSENGER’s wide-angle camera and released later that day, shows two craters as well as a part of Mercury’s south polar terrain not previously imaged by any craft. The image resolves features as small as about 5 kilometers across.

This article interests me because its the first image of Mercury ever taken from an orbiting craft and I am living so it will be a mark in history and I cant tell my children and grandchildren that I was 14 when this happened. This article is SOOOO cool! Hundreds of years will pass and this picture will be seen by many people and I am living when this happened! :)

Brain Implant Surgeries Dramatically Improve Symptoms of Debilitating Condition

ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2011) — Implanting electrodes into a pea-sized part of the brain can dramatically improve life for people with severe cervical dystonia -- a rare but extremely debilitating condition that causes painful, twisting neck muscle spasms -- according to the results of a pilot study led by Jill Ostrem, MD and Philip Starr, MD PhD at the University of California, San Francisco.

Today, people with cervical dystonia can be treated with medications or injections of Botox, which interrupt signals from the brain that cause these problems. However, those treatments do not provide adequate relief for all patients. Over the last decade, doctors at UCSF and elsewhere have turned to a technique called deep brain stimulation to help people with debilitating dystonia. Also used to treat Parkinson's disease and the neurological disorder essential tremor, the technique is like putting a pacemaker inside a heart patient's chest, except that deep brain stimulation requires a neurosurgeon to implant electrodes inside the brain.

I got interested with this article because I know about many types of inplants, but I never heard about a brain implant. It is very intresting that a brain implant can change the way a part of your body functions. This may facilitate cervical problems, but I am worried that it may damage or affecft some part of your brain or your body. It is a very cool invention and I hope it works.

Right now I can not connect it really to my daily life, but my mom had a cervical problem so she had to get operated, if this implant would have excisted when she got operated she may had put that implant because it may be easier. She still suffers of back hurts and maybe if she would have had the implant she wouldn't suffer anymore. This brain implant scares me a little because the brain is very delicate so it's kind of risky. I hope I will never have cervical problems, but if I do and this implant is successful I may get one if I need to.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110308172958.htm

Cholera

Corpo Saluud reports: There are 117 cases of Cholera in Venezuela, official report, are calling the population to not take natural juices in the street, not eat raw salads and sushi, everything needs to be bottled such as water and pasterazied juices. To cook use sustainable water or boiled water and take expectations maximum hygiene and not eat anything raw out. Todael boiling water to bathe young children because they tend to drink it while they are bathing. Is a bacterium that spreads quickly and easily and can even kill people. Any symptoms as cramps and diarrhea immediately go to any medical facility.
I got this information from Black Berry Messanger!

This is a very serious case I wanted to share because it may affect me and you. This information atracted me becuase it is a desease that is happening throughout my country and it is important to alert all the people I know. If there are 117 cases right now it may increase to more and more cases, and this is something that can spread worldwide so we should all take care of this, and do as it says: don't drink natural juices from the streets, boil water becuase it may be infected so it becomes sustainable, and if you have any of those symptoms go immediately to a medical facility. Please be aware of this, and this information is worth of speanding our time reading it, becuase we don't want to suffer like Haiti is.

Mercury causes homosexuality in male ibises

The mercury is starting to affect some of this birds' views by causing males to pair up with other males.

American white ibises (Eudocimus albus) from south Florida that consumed methylmercury (MeHg), the most toxic and easily absorbed form of mercury found in the environment, were more likely to engage in same-sex pairings — a phenomenon unknown in wild populations of this species with no exposure to the pollutant.

Peter Frederick, an ecologist at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and his colleagues collected 160 white ibis nestlings from breeding colonies in south Florida in 2005, and split them into four groups, each composed of 20 males and 20 females. Once the birds were 90 days old, the researchers began adding methylmercury to their feed. Three of the groups were given low, medium or high doses of mercury based on levels ranging from 0.05–0.3 parts per million recorded in the wild, while the fourth group were given no mercury. Over the next three years, the researchers measured mercury levels in the feathers and blood of the ibises, and observed their mating behaviour. - http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101201/full/news.2010.641.html

What I understand from this information is that mercury is affecting this birds, they are consuming methylmercury (MeHg), and it is the most toxic and easily absorbed form of mercury found in the environmen. So the male birds are pairing up with other male birds, and that may affect the reproduction of this birds. For many people this may not be something that affect them, but it really does because if this birds stop reproducing then their predators won't have something to eat and they will also die, etc. etc. the food chain will change for bad and that would affect us!

How Brain Is Wired for Attention

University of Utah (U of U) medical researchers have uncovered a wiring diagram
that shows how the brain pays attention to visual, cognitive, sensory, and motor cues.
The research provides a critical foundation for the study of abnormalities in attention that
can be seen in many brain disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and attention deficit disorder.

"This study is the first of its kind to show how the brain switches attention from one feature to the next," says lead researcher Jeffery S. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., U of U assistant professor of radiology. Anderson and his team used MRI to study a part of the brain known as the intraparietal sulcus. "The brain is organized into territories, sort of like a map of Europe. There are visual regions, regions that process sound and areas that process sensory and motor information. In between all these areas is the intraparietal sulcus, which is known to be a key area for processing attention," Anderson says. "We discovered that the intraparietal sulcus contains a miniature map of all of these territories. We also found an organized pattern for how control regions of the brain connect to this map in the intraparietal sulcus. These connections help our brain switch its attention from one thing to another."

In addition, scientists discovered that this miniature map of all the things one can pay attention to is reproduced in at least 13 other places in the brain. They found connections between these duplicate maps and the intraparietal sulcus. Each copy appears to do something different with the information. For instance, one map processes eye movements while another processes analytical information. This map of the world that allows us to pay attention may be a fundamental building block for how information is represented in the brain.

This article is a very interesting one, because I have always been interested in how the brain function, and I have been reflecting in every single detail, when I move a finger it is because my brain is making it do it, and I always think to my self how can the brain function that fast. So this group of scientists discovered a wiring diagram that shows how the brain pays attention and that is really cool.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101101151724.htm