A doggy Friend?

Several studies show that dogs can motivate their owners to be more active. How? The owners have to take their dog for walks regularly. The same study shows that older people are more likely to take walks with dogs rather than a person.

As one researcher put it, “You need to walk, and so does your dog,” said Rebecca A. Johnson, director of the human-animal interaction research center at the University Of Missouri College Of Veterinary Medicine. “It’s good for both ends of the leash.”

A study last year from the University of Missouri showed that for getting exercise, dogs are better walking companions than humans. In a 12-week study of 54 older adults at an assisted-living home, some people selected a friend or spouse as a walking companion, while others took a bus daily to a local animal shelter, where they were assigned a dog to walk.

And the question remains whether owning a dog encourages regular activity or whether active, healthy people are simply more likely to acquire dogs as walking companions.

Clouds=Water?

 The fact that the wispy clouds we see in the sky are really just tiny beads of water vapor can be hard to believe. The idea behind the formation of clouds in the sky is the same idea behind the way steam rises from a Locomotive or the way you can see your breathe on a cold day.
     Water begins on the surface of the Earth in the form of liquid. The Sun heats the surface of the Earth when the temperature rises, water turns from a liquid to a gas through a process called "evaporation." We call water in the form of gas "steam" or "water vapor."
     Because hot air rises, it carries the water vapor with it. The water vapor goes high up into the sky so far up that the air grows cold. When the water vapor grows cold in the high atmosphere, a process known as "condensation" occurs. In this process, water changes back into a liquid. Because little particles of dust are constantly floating in the sky this newly formed liquid water sticks to these tiny particles of dust. This process causes those big, billowy clouds in the sky.
     When enough of this liquid water sticks to enough of these dust particles, clouds become filled to the brink with moisture. When this happens, it rains. That's how fluffy, white clouds can grow to dark, stormy clouds. If this process happens rapidly, big charges of static electricity build up in the clouds—just like when you drag your feet in socks across the carpet. The electricity stays inside the clouds and forms thunderstorms. That's why thunderstorms are so violent because that energy, in the form of water expanding and shrinking quickly, is released all at the same time.
     This process may seem simple, but think about how it can happen over a wide area. Because clouds form over the surface of the entire planet, some clouds can be tens of thousands of feet high and hundreds of miles across. Some clouds could be the size of a large city! In Australia, there's even a type of cloud called a Morning Glory, a single cloud can be up to 1,000 kilometers long!