What Caused the Earthquake in Japan?

The entire surface of the Earth is covered by large plates.  These plates are constantly moving very slowly -- an average of two inches per year.  The plates are rubbing together, sinking beneath each other or moving away from each other.  Over time, these movements can cause earthquakes. 

The islands of Japan are located where three plates meet.  Throughout history, Japan has been subject to many terrible earthquakes. 

This short video has a great explanation for how earthquakes happen. 

The USGS has a a website for kids about earthquakes with more videos and educational games. 

I'm Atoms (Scientific Cover of Jason Mraz's I'm Yours)

Here in Chicago it has been gray for the last three weeks – no sun, just melting snow and rain.  This song made our day.  It has sunshine, great music and atoms!  The lyrics include fabulous lines such as:

“Atoms bond together to form molecules

Most of what’s surrounding me and you…”

This science verse has been set to the music of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”.  This is a must watch!

How Many Planets Could Support Life in the Milky Way?

Astronomers have recently estimated that there are 50 billion planets and 300 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way.  With the Kepler Mission, scientists have been able to identify exoplanets in the Milky Way and so far have identified 1,235 planets.  Based on this information, Kepler Science Chief William Borucki has said that they have extrapolated from that data that there are 50 billion planets.  Scientist believe that of these 50 billion planets, 500 million could be located in the “habitable zone” of their stars, meaning that they could support life. 

How much is 500 million?  If you took 500 million 3^rd graders and placed them touching finger-tip to finger-tip, those kids would make 50 and half circles around the Earth¹.  500 million is an awful lot of planets that could potentially support life! 

1)    Assumes each 3^rd grader has an average arm span of 52 inches.  Five hundred million kids touching finger-tip to finger-tip would reach 26,000,000,000 inches.  The Earth has a diameter of 7,926.41 miles or 504,357,468 inches.  26,000,000,000 inches divided by 504,357,468 inches is 51.55 times.

Look, it’s the Empire’s Death Star!

Click here to see a photograph of the Empire’s Death Star.  No… wait…  it’s actually Mimas, a moon of Saturn.  Mimas has a large crater named Herschel which makes it look like the Death Star in the Empire Strikes Back.

Mimas was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel.  It is the moon closest to Saturn and the eighth moon orbiting Saturn.  It is quite small at only 250 miles in diameter (approximately the distance from New York City to the suburbs of Washington DC).  The surface of Mimas is dominated by the crater Herschel which was probably created by a large asteroid hitting the moon.  The entire surface of Mimas appears to be covered by smaller craters. 

William Herschel’s son suggested that the moon keep in the tradition of naming celestial objects after Greek Mythological figures.  Herschel named this moon Mimas after the son of Gaia.  Mimas and his brothers were Gigantes, serpent-footed giants.  Ares, the Greek God of War, killed Mimas killed in battle. 

William Herschel built his own telescopes, the most powerful at that time.  In 1781, he had another very important find, Uranus, the first planet identified with a telescope and the first discovered since ancient times. 

What are UW Badger Scientists Doing at the South Pole?

Hunting neutrinos, of course.  University of Wisconsin professor Francis Halzen developed the idea of the project now called IceCube.  Halzen is a professor of physics and wanted to study neutrinos which are subatomic particles (meaning smaller than atoms).  Neutrinos are emitted by cosmic events such as supernovas and black holes.  These neutrinos are very difficult to find and Professor Halzen theorized that he could locate them more easily in ice. 

IceCube is an observatory that instead of looking at stars looks into ice.  Engineers drilled through the ice with hot water up to one and a half miles deep.  They dug a total of 86 holes.  (See here for a great picture.) Along the way, they placed sensors to detect the neutrinos.  When a neutrino collides with an atom of ice, the collision creates a particle called a muon.  The muon emits blue light and the sensors can pick this up. Voila, Professor Halzen finds his neutrinos.

Who’s at the South Pole?

Not Santa Claus – he lives at the North Pole.  There are many penguins, but there are people too.  Approximately 3,000 Americans per year are at the South Pole through USAP (the United States Antarctic Program).  The USAP has had people researching and working at the South Pole since 1956 and currently operates three research stations.  At the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which is at the actual geographic South Pole, the temperature averages -60 degrees Fahrenheit all year.  For six months of the year, the South Pole has sunlight 24 hours per day.  The US is not the only country with people at there.  Forty-eight countries participate in the Antarctic Treaty sending people to research at the South Pole.   Click here to see photographs about the research happening at the South Pole. 

Facts about Antarctica from USAP.gov

·         Antarctica is bigger than US and Mexico combined

·         Antarctica is covered with ice and holds 90% of the world’s ice.  The ice averages over 7,000 feet thick and in some places is as much as 14,000 feet thick.

·         If the ice sheet in Antarctica were to melt, the worldwide sea levels would raise 200 feet.  California, Florida, New York and other coastal states would all be under water!

·         The ice sheet on Antarctica is constantly shifting and moves about 30 feet a year.  Parts of the ice sheet break off and fall into the ocean forming icebergs.  The largest iceberg is the size of Delaware.

This link is the online news center called the Arctic Sun, the source for what is happening at the South Pole. 

Not All Starfish Have 5 Arms

The Sun Starfish (Pycnopodia Helianthoides) can have up to 24 arms and be 30 inches in diameter – they’re huge!  In fact, they are the largest starfish in the oceans.  They are quite pretty and come in shades of pink, purple, red, yellow and brown.  However, looks can be deceiving.  The Sun Starfish is a fierce predator.  It loves to eat sea urchin and it will also eat clams, sea cucumbers and its distant relatives – other starfish!  It is very fast and can move three feet per minute.  Like other starfish, they can regrow their arms if lost.  For example, if a Sun Starfish gets caught by a king crab, it can shed its arms to escape the crab’s grasp.  The Sun Starfish’s arms will grow back in a few weeks.

Watch this cool video of a Sun Starfish chasing sea urchins.