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!

Stop Motion Animation

Have you ever heard of stop motion? Stop motion is when you take an object, take a picture of it, and then move it just a little bit, then take another picture.
Stop Motion is seen a lot across the internet and on YouTube. Have you ever heard of Pingu? It is a children’s TV show, and is made using stop motion. Here is an example of a stop motion movie:

Now let’s look at part of that movie frame by frame.




Can you see how little each frame increases? Here is our next Blog Contest. Make a Stop Motion Movie. It doesn’t have to be too long either. But minimum is 30 seconds. The deadline is March 2nd. GOOD LUCK! Must have an imagination to enter.

YouTube Game

YouTube is great for watching videos, but do you know that you can also play Snake? Snake is a game where you have a line that is controlled by arrows on the keyboard. There are little dots that you must go around and eat. After you eat a ball you grow bigger, but it you slam into a wall, or eat yourself you die.

1) pause the video at 0:00

2) make it full screen

3) press the left arrow key

4) keep holding the left key and press the up arrow so now your holding two arrows down at the same time.

5) enjoy playing snake on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RzTXFF0OYE
The link above is a great video for the game. As you are playing go to full screen and also press play to listen to some funny music.

Ask The Alien

This will be posted each month, just ask questions in the comments!

New Year Resolutions (Part 2)

These are my goals for the New Year 2011. Some of them may seem funny, and others nerdy, but they all have there own reasons. I have 12 goals, one for each month, but it would really hard to do some of these in one month, so they might go on. 


7. Learn a lot about the computer
This year I am very interested in the computer and learning the parts would be fun.


8. Learn C++
A computer programing language that allows you to create many things


9. Listen to my parents
Life will be a whole lot easier because I have to live with them until I am 18


10. Be Able to Run Faster
No particular reason, I have just wanted to accomplish this for a few years


11. Play Guitar More
How else will I get faster and bring a "wow" affect?


12. Achieve all my goals
(Self explanatory)

Cellphones...in prisons?

Cellphones are banned in prisons and are, even though not allowed, very useful to prisoners. A cellphone might not be much, but smartphones have changed the game. Most prisoners have a Facebook, and play games like "FarmVille". Gang violence and drug movement are increasingly being followed online, allowing inmates to keep up criminal behavior even as they serve time.

Detection Dogs Sniff Cell Phones in Prison

So now criminals are open up to more then just Facebook, its a way to communicate between the criminals. In 2009, gang members in a Maryland prison were caught using their phones to order seafood and cigars. This could turn into something bad, but the guards are trying to cap them. It is a nice way to spend your three-year-sentence, huh?


How do cellphones come in? How do they find them? Click on the video!


Would you risk bringing a cellphone if you were to have years added to your time in prison?