The Intriguing Universe of Bacteria Part 2: Revenge of the Superbugs

The Intriguing Universe of Bacteria Part 2:

Revenge of the Superbugs

Welcome back to the SUPERTIFIC WAFFLE.
Oh, am I getting it wrong again?
Sorry, sorry, be back in a moment.

TAKE 2
Hello again, and welcome back to LE SCI-
Really?!
I thought I had it perfect!
That's someone else's blog?
Ohhhhhh.
*Murmurs something inaudible.
Got it.

TAKE 3
Hello, and welcome back to THE SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE!
Today we'll be learning about bacteria: and the newest news in the ongoing war with the bacteria kind.
Bacteria can be very helpful. We use them in food products, such as cheese and bread. They also turn nitrogen into something plants can use, instead of something that harms them. They even turned the world into the oxygen-filled paradise that we live in today!
But, as with all things in life, the bad comes with the good. And today we will be talking about the bad side of bacteria.


Fact: The bacteria in milk, which are used to make cheese and yogurt, are taken out by the process of pasteurization, which involves heating the milk.


Bacteria have a bad side though. They kill many, many people each year with their deadly sicknesses. They can cause diseases like tuberculosis, strep throat, and pneumonia.


Antibiotics are prescribed medicines that kill or disable bacteria. Overuse of these is causing problems. See, bacteria reproduce extremely fast, so they can evolve fast too. Genetic mutations, or slight differences in the genetic code, are common. These can occasionally result in a bacteria becoming resistant to certain antibiotic. When these reproduce more and more, the bacteria get stronger and stronger, until superbugs are made. These can't be killed by most antibiotics, and are incredibly strong.

Well, that's all for today, see you later at the SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE!

Links:
Frowny Face Picture
Milk Carton Picture
Red Bacteria Picture
Superbug (MRSA) Picture

The Intriguing Universe of Bacteria

The Intriguing Universe of Bacteria

Hello again, and welcome back. Today I'm going to be serious (well, probably). It's finally time to talk about the last of the six kingdoms, archaebacteria and eubacteria.
To see how this all started, we need to TIME TRAVEL back to the past.



Now that we're here, lets talk about the six kingdoms. In the beginning, this guy named Carlos Linnaeus. He created the first version of the kingdom classification system. He divided all forms of life into animals and plants. Now lets dive deeper into THE INTRIGUING UNIVERSE OF BACTERIA. To see what changed Linnaeus's system, lets use our shrink ray and dive deep into the society of bacteria!

So, the first change that occurred in Linnaeus's system was when scientists found out about fungi. They looked at some mushrooms close up, and realized that they didn't make their own food.

Next are the protists and monera kingdoms. Scientists eventually discovered microscopic life forms and made the protist and monera kingdoms.

Finally, the monera kingdom was split into two different kingdoms, eubacteria and archaebacteria. They are both prokaryotic, meaning they have no nucleus, or a clump of genetic material bound by a membrane. Bacteria have a substitute called a nucleoid, which is a bunch of loose genetic material.

Fact: They reproduce by fission, where one cell splits into two identical ones.

Bacteria also have no organelles, except for ribosomes, which fuel the cell with protein. Oh, and bacteria are unicellular as well, meaning they consist of one cell each.

These amazing creatures have a cell wall, just like plants, but it doesn't help keep things in and out, it is only for structure. The cell is protected by the capsule and plasma membrane, on the outside of the cell. The cell is also covered in tiny, hairlike structures for moving around called pili, as well as a whip-like tail called a flagellum.

There is also only one major difference between the two types of bacteria. They have different chemical balances, so archea can live in extreme environments.

So now it's time to grow big again. 3... 2... 1... WAIT! I forgot, one more thing. Archaebacteria cannot breathe oxygen! Okay, 3... 2... 1... THE END

If you liked this post, feel free to leave a comment or follow my account. See ya later!

Links:
Fission Pic
Bacterial Cell Pic
Flagella Pic
Time Machine Gif (T.A.R.D.I.S.)
Brainpop

Damsel in Distress!

"Oh, help me, help me, i'm stuck at the top of this horrible tower!"

Sorry Rapunzel, it's eight feet tall.
Welcome back to the SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE!
Like the rainbow?
And the text going downwards on the left side of the screen?
Well, laziness is kind of taking over today so...
We stay like this.
   |      |

\__/\__/
This is Bob
Bob says "Hi,"
This is Bob when a car goes by
 _____
/  o  . o.\
|  .   O   |
\__._._/
Oh Bob
Oh poor bob...
NOW LETS GET TO:
THE SCIENCE
BUMMMM BUM
BA DA DA
DAAA DUM
BA DA DA
DA DUMM
BA DA DA DUMMMMMMM
okay, so now that we're done with cheesy written star wars music, we can start
So basically, in Iceland, the place that is actually green while Greenland is actually icy (lol) there are these cool stone pillars (naturally formed, of course) and they are about eight feet (2.5 meters for all you brits and scots out there) and researchers have found out what made them.

See, in 7138 (lolwut, I meant 1783) there was this long gorge thing in Iceland, and it spewed lava EVERYWHERE. The lava blobs (called lobes) crept across the ground and found a spot to cool. The blobs merged together into a small ring of cooled lava, the base of the tower. Then, heated water shot up from the middle of the ring, while lava poured onto it. The lava formed a tower around the geyser, creating the hollow lava towers of Iceland.

Well, unfortunately, that's all I have for today, so...

SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE OUT

Links:
Science News for Students
Lava Pic
The Pic of the Pillars is on the Website

Algae Aren't Plants?!

Algae Aren't Plants?!

The tiny, widespread organisms that are the staple food of many fish can be deceiving. Most people that aren't in the know don't realize that algae aren't plants. They're actually protists! Algae are plant-like protists, meaning they make their own food with photosynthesis. The difference is that most algae have no stems, leaves, or roots.

There are six different types of algae. I know, it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. Just follow along and hopefully you'll understand!

Type #1: Green Algae
Green algae is a common sight on the ocean floor. What most people don't realize about green algae is that it gives our planet almost half the oxygen we breathe all by itself! Green algae is harmless, and beneficial to the environment. If we didn't have green algae, we'd have all been dead a long time ago from the lack of oxygen.

Type #2: Red Algae

These red wonders are able to use photosynthesis deep down in the ocean because of its red pigment. It helps it absorb sunlight better so the algae can survive. A form of red algae is seaweed, which makes carrageenan. Carrageenan is a substance used in different products to make them smoother.

Type #3: Brown Algae



Yep, kelp is a kind of algae!
=D

Brown algae. It's boring, nothing to it. I mean, I guess there's kelp, but....

Type #4: Euglenoids

Yep, the easy names are over with! Euglenoids are the flagellates of the algae, and they have special eyespots to sense light. Cool, right?

Type #5: Diatoms

Guess what? Diatoms are also known as golden algae, because they contain silica, the main element of glass, and it makes them golden. Not hard to say, is it?

Type #6: Dinoflagellates

Last and probably the worst, dinoflagellates, or fire algae. These mostrosities create red tide, which kills many fish and animals.

Now for cyanobacteria! Cyanobacteria are algae that may not be algae at all, but really bacteria! They are also known as blue-green algae.


Well, thats all for today, SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE OUT
LAWLLAWLLAWLLAWLLAWLLAWLLAWLLAWLLAWL
CELEBRATION TIME COME ON

Links:
Red Tide Pic
Diatom Pic
Euglena Pic
Kelp Pic
Seaweed Pic
Green Algae Pic
Brainpop on Algae (If you have an account)

Kingdom Protista

Kingdom Protista

I've been doing things on the six kingdoms for a while, but I never really went in depth when talking about protists. So now it's time to start.

There are three kinds of protists.

1. Plant-like protists

2. Animal-like protists

3. Fungi-like protists

 

Today we will be mostly talking about the animal-like protists, which are actually called protozoa, but first lets get through the basics of protists.

• All protists are eukaryotic, just like fungi, animals, and plants.
• Most are microscopic, like bacteria.
• They are their own kingdom.

Now for protozoa. There are three ways protozoa can move:
1. They can move using a flagellum.
2. They can move using pseudopods.
3. They can move using cilia.

Flagella are long, whip-like tails that whip and spin to move the protozoan. Most of the time, protozoa with flagella live in water.

Pseudopods, or "false feet", are used by protozoa such as amoebas.
These "false feet" are basically extensions of the protozoa that the use to pull themselves or pull food towards them. The protozoa change their shape into these "false feet".

Cilia are tiny hairs on the protozoan's body that help it move. These are mainly used in water.

Now for the four protozoan groups. :)
The first three you already know, right? If not, you'll understand why I said that when you look at what they are:

1. Flagellates
2. Amoebas
3. Ciliates

Now the fourth one you won't know (probably).

4. Sporozoans

Sporozoans are parasitic, or they do not help their host and in many cases harm them. Symbiotes are the opposites of these, they help their host.

Random Blog Post Ending
RANDOM
SCIENTIFIC
RANDOM
WAFFLE
RANDOM
OUT
RANDOM

And da links =) :
Brainpop
Deer Pic
Mushroom Pic
Tree Pic

Crop Circles: What They Are and Who Makes Them

Crops and Their Close Companions

Now, I'm sure you've all heard of crop circles. These round phenomenons occurring in fields of wheat have been around for years. Some have been proven to have been made by humans. Some people just do it on a whim, some for pranks, and some to even make money. Others, however, are believed to have been made by some extraterrestrial force.

The idea of crop circles aroused in the 1500's where a comic showing a monster making a crop circle was released. The first crop circles appeared around the 1800's. They started out as just normal circles, and there weren't that many. Then they started getting more complicated and grew in numbers in the 1980's.

 Farmers grew agitated over the loss of crops. Crop circles were also becoming known as tourist attractions for believers in the paranormal. 

Out of the thousands that have popped up, only a few crop circles have been verified to be made by humans. The world will just have to wait and see what the outcome of this strange phenomenon is.

Stay tuned for another post at THE SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE

Links:

Crop Circles

Complex Circle

Simple Circle

Diamond Rain

It's Rainin' Diamonds, Hallelujah, It's Rainin' Diamonds,

 

Hello WAFFLES AND PANCAKES and welcome to the  SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE

YA I SAID IT OOHHH

So basically diamonds are probably raining on Neptune and Uranus.

Now it's time to LEARN WHY!

See, Neptune and Uranus are filled with METHANE THE MAGICAL GAS

 

Methane is like coal

If you compress it

And heat it

DIAMONDS! =D

 

You get it?

No?

Well then let me explain it to you! =D

Basically, if you put methane under 1000 (Not over 9000) times atmospheric pressure, it gets super compressed. Then if you heat it to 5000 (Still not over 9000) degrees, it will turn into diamond dust.

So if Neptune and Uranus are made of methane...

And the gravity there is much, much, extremely much stronger than it is here...

What do you think will happen?

Do you really not know?

Really?

I am severely dissapointed in you, reader.

You thought it was just going to rain diamonds.

Well, you're wrong.

Well, what's really going to happen is...

TONS OF DIAMONDS WILL RAIN DOWN AND FALL TO THE MIDDLE OF THE PLANET AND YEAH

See? It's not going to rain diamonds, it's going to rain TONS of diamond.

=)

But this is only a theory. Im sorry. =(
By the way, sorry if the first few lines are wierd at the top. Blogger no like me. =)

Seriously though, I think this is my favorite thing yet. Diamonds raining on other planets? Sweet

But I hope you liked this post! Check back in a week at the...

SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE

Links:

Information Website

Question Mark Picture

Neptune Picture

Coal Picture

Compression Picture

Fire Gif

Diamond Picture



Why Do Leaves Change Their Color?

Why Do Leaves Change Their Color?

        Many people do not think about why leaves change color, they just think about as something that leaves do when the temperature starts going down. But there is a reason. OMG there is???!!!

Woahhhh they're changing cooool

Yeah there is! =D Now lets talk 'bout dat reason. So basically, the chlorophyll in the leaves reflect green light, which makes the leaves green. When the sun starts setting earlier and earlier, the chlorophyll, that green pigment in the chloroplasts, the plant starts to stop producing chlorophyll. When it does that, it reveals the other colors like yellow, orange, and brown, which were ALWAYS THERE. YEAH THAT'S RIGHT I JUST BLEW UR MIND BRO. So, after that then the leaves fall and then they regrow in the winter. But it ain't dat simple.

First of all, lets talk about why the leaves change their color. See, there are two pigments that cause the leaves to be colored. The pigments that make leaves yellow, orange, or brown are called carotenoids, and the pigments that make leaves red or purple are anthocyanins. Some examples of foods that have carotenoids are pumpkins and carrots (carrot = carotenoids). Examples of foods that have anthocyanins are blueberries and strawberries.

Now for why leaves fall off the tree. See, there's a little piece of cork that grows in the base of the leaf between the leaf and the branch. Every fall, the cork grows to its limit and completely blocks off the leaf from the rest of the tree. The leaf then is blown off by the wind or simply gets so feeble it falls.

A factor of how dull or bright a leaf is in the fall depends on how the weather is. Warm weather makes the colors brighter, while cold and dry weather makes the colors more dull.

Some trees do not lose their leaves in the winter. This is because the trees have an anti-frost on the leaves, so they are protected from the cold. They also do not require as much sunlight to make food.

Well, that's all for today. Scientific Waffle out.

Links:
All About Leaves
Color Changing Leaves

Carnivorous Plants

Carnivorous Plants

PIRANHA PLANT OH GOSH NOOOOOOO

Hey guys DA SCIENTIFIC WAFFLE here. Up there /\ is my "friend" the piranha plant. He's carnivorous, which means that he attracts, captures, and eats insects or other small animals. YEAH THAT'S RIGHT HE DOESN'T JUST EAT INSECTS. =O

Now we'll be talking about some of the other carnivorous plants out there, such as the bladderwort, which uses bladder traps to catch prey. Bladders? Gross! =/

A bladder trap is a trap where little closed tubes sit underwater. The tubes open when a bug gets near, sucking in the water and the bug with it. The bug then goes down the tube into the bladder, where it is digested.

Then there is the sundew. The sundew is this plant with sticky water droplets on its leaves. Get it, Sundew, dew meaning water droplets? Well, anyways, the bugs are attracted to the drops' smell and they get stuck in them. The leaf then curls up and emits digestive fluid to dissolve them. There are 100 different types of sundews, and half of them can be found in Australia. Sundews can also be found on every continent besides Antarctica.

Next up is the pitcher plant. The pitcher plant, which looks like a pitcher, like, for drinks, attracts insects with their sweet-smelling, sweet-tasting nectar. If the insect goes of the rim of the plant into it, it will fall into a pool of water at the bottom where it drowns. The bug will not be able to climb back up because of microscopic downward-facing spines the cover the inside of the plant.

There is also a type of trap called the flypaper trap, which traps bugs on its sticky leaves. The bugs decompose and the nutrients are absorbed.
Last but not least, and everyone's favorite, the VENUS FLYTRAP! =D

SNAPPA SNAPPA SNAPPA SNAPPA

The Venus flytrap snaps up prey when it lands on a mouth-like leaf. The leafs shuts, digestive fluids fill the leaf, and the little critter is dissolved. Yay!
Venus flytraps can be found in New Orleans in the United States.

Well, that's all for today.

Scientific Waffle out.

Links:
Carnivorous Plants Database

Plants and Photosynthesis

Plants and Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis - plant food! Or is it that simple? Hmm. Let's see, if the Greek word photo means light, and the Greek word synthesis means to put together, does photosynthesis mean putting together light? That doesn't sound quite right to me. How about combining light with something else? Like, I don't know, carbon dioxide and water? If you combine sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, the result is glucose. Glucose is a type of sugar, but it's also what plants eat! Photosynthesis is the process of glucose being made by chloroplasts inside plant cells.

Chloroplasts, if you didn't know already, are organelles that only exist in plants. They enable a plant to make it's own food. They also contain a green pigment called chlorophyll, which makes plants green. Chlorophyll is also the chemical that makes photosynthesis possible. Chlorophyll is contained in chloroplasts. Some plants, like the Venus fly trap, eat bugs because they cannot make enough food to support themselves.

Plants also have a cell wall, which surrounds the cell membrane. The cell wall gives the plant support and structure. They also have one large vacuole in the center instead of multiple smaller vacuoles scattered around. Now lets talk about some of the inner parts of the plant. The xylem is the part of the plant that takes the nutrients from the roots and shoots it up through the stem into the leaves. The phloem transports sap throughout the plant, which is a water based sugary fluid that helps the plant grow.

Well, that's all for today, Scientific Waffle out.

Links:
Cell Game (Plants)
  

The Six Kingdoms

The Six Kingdoms

 

Hello again and welcome to The Scientific Waffle. This time we'll be talking about the six kingdoms of life. The six kingdoms are kind of like a classification system. The system classifies all living organisms into six categories. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, divided all living things into two categories. These two categories were animals and plants. He divided animals further by physical traits and habitat. This system was built upon until it became today's system. Over the years, scientists have learned that appearances can be misleading. In the 20th century they started to classify life by phylogeny, or how organisms are related through evolution.
 

Now let's talk about the animal kingdom. Animals, like the ones you see in pictures, outside, and sometimes in your house if you have a pet, are all multi-cellular organisms. This means they are composed of multiple cells instead of one. Animals also tend to move around, while some are sessile, meaning they do not move around. One example of a sessile animal is coral, which looks like a colored, oddly-shaped rock.

Next up is the plant kingdom. The plant kingdom is composed of multi-cellular organisms that make their own food through a process call photosynthesis. When sunlight hits the plant's leaves, it merges with the carbon dioxide that they breathe in and it makes food. This is photosynthesis. Plants also have hard cell walls instead of cell membranes.

 

After the plant kingdom is the fungi kingdom. Things like mushrooms and toadstools are fungi. Fungi don't make their own food like plants, instead they use their root-like hyphae to suck up nutrients from other organisms. They are seen many times on dead animals and plants, decomposing the carcasses.

 

Now for the bacteria kingdom. Bacteria are prokaryotic organisms, meaning they have no nucleus. Lots of people think that all bacteria are pathogenic, or they can make you sick, but in reality most bacteria are not pathogenic. Bacteria also come in many different shapes, including spheres, rods, and spirals. Some bacteria help you, like the ones in your intestines that break down food.

 

Kingdom number five is the archea kingdom. Archea are prokaryotic, just like bacteria. They are also some of the oldest life forms on earth and can survive in extreme environments. Archea were discovered in the 1970's.

 

The last kingdom is the protist kingdom. Protists are mostly single-celled microscopic organisms. Different from archea and bacteria, protists have nuclei. Some protists capture food, while some make their own food with photosynthesis. Some even do both!

 

Fun facts:

• Scientists used to think that fungi were plants, but then discovered they were drastically different.
• Protists include any microscopic life form that is not an animal, plant, bacteria or fungus.
• The six kingdoms are divided into two groups: prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Links:
Six Kingdoms Site
Prokaryotes & Eukaryotes

Parts Of A Cell - The Basics

 Cells

Okay, so today we're talking about cells. you probably know what a cell is, but not really any details about them. So I'll start from the beginning. Cells are basically the tiny little life forms that all living things are made up of. Cells make up your entire body, but they also run your entire body. Cells have many different parts, all of them neccessary.



people.eku.edu

The cell membrane, or the outside of the cell, is kind of like a cell's skin. In protects the cell by only letting certain things in and out of the cell. In the center of the cell is the nucleus, or the boss, of the cell. It gives orders to other cell parts, and is guided itself by DNA, which has all your body's instructions for life.

The cytoplasm is this weird jelly-like mix of chemicals and water that all the organelles are swimming around in (Gross!). The organelles that look kind of like kidneys are the mitochondria. The mitochondria break down food and convert it into energy.

Next up are the vacuoles. The vacuoles get all the biproducts of the cell and store it to be used later. They also store worn out cell parts and food, too. Now for the ER, or the endoplasmic reticulum. The endoplasmic reticulum has two parts: the rough ER and the smooth ER. The smooth ER creates and stores large molecules. On the rough ER, there are many smaller structures called ribosomes, which produce proteins. The rough ER transports the proteins to other parts of
the cell including the golgi bodies, which
pack them up and send them out to the rest
of your body.

A cell works like a factory. It gets materials, produces a product, and sends it out. These biological masterpieces are the building blocks of life. Respect them, protect them, and most of all, eat waffles for them.