Our Science Solutions blog assignment for today was to read an article that Mr. Kimbley provided a link to, read some of the rebuttal articles, form an opinion, and give evidence for our argument.

The article was from a website about urban legends called snopes.com. The topic matter was seasonal: Santa Claus. It provided factual evidence as to why Santa was a myth with facts about physics and motions. It was pretty funny, especially the end. Some of the response articles agreed with the writer and gave more evidence why Santa wasn't real, but some of them tried to counter it with facts. I wasn't sure which were true, but I would probably go with the original article. It was funny and educational learning what people thought about a children's Christmas myth and how they would always defend their argument.

I thought the first article, while humorous, was accurate. If "Santa" were real, he would have to travel at literally sound speed to hit every Christmas-celebrating house in the world. Not to mention, he'd be a little bit too wide to squeeze down certain chimneys. The article said at the end that he would be dead by now, but that's not true. Santa, even if he's not real, is supposed to be timeless and immortal, like a spirit. I guess "Santa Claus" is real in that sense; he's supposed to embody, not exist. Plus, he uses magic, not physics. Reindeer also can't fly, but they probably could (and refrain from catching fire while they were at it) with magic. The article left me wondering how technology-powered "Santa trackers" actually form their evidence. However, Christianity is not practiced and Christmas is not celebrated everywhere in the world. 

If this so-called "Christmas magic" were really involved, Mr. Claus could definitely make his trip in enough time. Many Christmas songs about him describe him as being omniscient, knowing when you're asleep and when you're awake and what kind of behavior you're exhibiting. However, my mom and Santa Claus appear to have some really similar handwriting and similar tastes in gift-giving. Santa Claus is supposed to be a mystery, which is why our parents tell us to go to bed early on Christmas Eve and not go out into the living room.

That doesn't mean we should all sacrifice Christmas traditions and magic for science. Santa and Christmas propaganda are supposed to be in good cheer and spirit and be based on tradition, not fact. The Santa Claus your parents tell you about, though, exists as an incentive for children not to misbehave during the rest of the year as well as a symbol of the holiday market. Holiday spirit should have nothing to do with science, but the snopes.com article combined them in a funny way. I guess Santa is real if you believe he is.

Our Science Solutions blog assignment for today was to describe how DNA replicates in as much detail as possible. We recently had a test on this. 

As I've explained before on this blog, this process occurs in interphase, the first stage of mitosis, or cell duplication. Interphase is not really a "phase", actually. It's the state that cells are in when they are not dividing. All cells go through mitosis at some time in their lifespan (cell cycle). DNA is stored in the nucleus, so naturally, this process occurs there.

I explained in my last Science Solutions blog entry that DNA consists of sugar and phosphate on its side. It is shaped like a ladder and the rungs are made of base pairs. To replicate, the DNA must first split down the middle, in the chain links that connect the matching bases. These base pairs turn to face opposite directions. Their corresponding code links are immediately replicated by the proteins in the phosphate of DNA. These new copies, when not attached to another side, are called nucleotides. 

Once these new DNA strands are composed, they don't just stay in the same place. The nuclear membrane splits apart as the chromosomes, or genetic material, in the DNA expand and push outward. The linking up and spreading apart of chromosomes to centromeres begin and so does prophase, the first stage of mitosis. 

I got most of this information from the days in Science class when we built detachable Kinect models of DNA strands and duplicate nucleotides. I think having hands-on examples of this new material definitely helped us become more well-versed and understanding of DNA and cellular processes. In the coming days we will be building a different model of DNA -- a fragile glass double-helix that we can afford thanks to donations from students who are as interested in learning as I am. 

Today's Science Solutions blog assignment is to write about the double-helix structure of DNA. We are currently working on a long unit about heredity, DNA, and cells.