Almost the END of Break!!!! =(

Hey everyone,

It's almost the end of break!! I had a GREAT time but I just wish it would last a couple more days.

Bye!
glowriter54

Math: A PRIME NUMBER RECORD

There will never be the last number. You can add a zillion zeros and there will still be a greater number. Recently, a computer search, gave a prime number that was 7,816,230 digits long! Can you believe it? Even if you wrote very quickly, it would take you over 9 days to copy it! That itself tell you how big it is!

It's hard to tell when a very big number is prime. It takes a long time even with all the shortcuts that mathematicians have figured out! This number was found as a result of Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS). Many people around the world have gave sometime to find it. 250,000 computers are involved in GIMPS. This number turned up on Martin Nowak's computer. This number was about 500,000 digits greater than the previous one.

Yum! It's Gum!

Next time your teacher says the infamous line ("Spit out your gum!"), you may want to throw in t that gum is healthy. Scientists are learning that chewing gum is beneficial. Gum may also help you get better grades on tests! Companies are trying new ways to enhance their gum. One way they are enhancing their gum is putting vitamins, medicines, and minerals. They also are adding ingredients that can cure headaches. Some gum may also fight serious diseases.

Making gum is an interesting process. Gum producers mix resin, wax and polyvinyl acetate. This is a gum base. Next, bins of melted gum base with sweeteners, syrups and powders. A different machine rotates the goo sticks. It also may press them into pellets. Lastly, the gum is packaged.

Now the million dollar question is the question WHAT CAN GUM DO FOR YOUR HEALTH? Plenty of studies show that gum-chewing after you eat will fight cavities. How? It stimulates the saliva produced. Saliva is a helpful part in the process of washing away harmful bacteria. The bacteria may hurt our teeth. Xylitol is added to some gum products. This gives an extra dose of cavity fighting power. Researches are showing that having healthy oral health decreases the risk of many serious diseases. Other studies show gum-chewing might be good for the brain. One study showed that gum-chewing enhanced the blood flow to the brain up to 40%! When blood is traveling, it carries oxygen. Oxygen carries brain cells. Memory tests are often better scored on while chewing gum than those who don't chew gum! A study showed that those who chewed gum did 25% better that those who did not chew any gum.

Researchers are learning that gum can work better to distribute medicine compared to a pill. The lining of our cheeks can absorb certain substances more rapidly than our intestines and stomachs. Studies show that people take in three times more while chewing gum compared to a pill. 40% of the medicine got to the bloodstream through the cheeks of the gum chewers. This specific discovery could do so much! There could be gums that relive headaches to curing bad breath. All of those breakthroughs may take a while. We can be sure that they will happen. There already is a gum that will help us stay awake! It's called Stay Alert. In each stick of this gum, there is an equal amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. This will only take a few minutes to kick in its effect. Whereas coffee takes an hour. This gum isn't in stores. It is only for the military. If you do find a caffeine gum in stores, chances are, it's not as well tested as Stay Alert.

For today, chew with care! Plenty of chewing may damage the jaw joint. Don't chew too much gum with vitamins or caffeine! This may cause and overdose. This is what Gayl Canfield says. He works at Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Aventura, Fla. There, she is a dietitian. She also says no matter how healthy gum-chewing shows itself to be, it will never be competition for a good lifestyle! "Nothing like a gum or a vitamin is going to cure a bad dietary habit or a bad exercise habit," Canfield says. "It's not a magic bullet."

To get more information, you can read the original article right here.

Math: Heads and Tails isn't Fair! (Probability)

Think back to a game during gym when you had to flip a coin to see who wins the tie-breaker. Remember when the other team won? You probably yelled "That's so not fair!" at the top of your lungs. Then, you were most likely didn't really think about what you said. What if you were right?

Mathematicians at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Cruz have been researching this. They came to decide that to get accurate results, the coin needs to be spun the proper way. Sometimes, when the coin is flipped it may not even be spun the right way! It may just go into the air and come down. During experiments, researchers learned it is impossible to tell from just watching the coin to see if it flipped or not.

To see the coin move, the coin was video taped. They learned that the coin has a 51% chance of landing on the side it began with. To sum it all up, coin tosses aren't worth it so don't bother to do them!

To learn more about this topic you can go here!

Math: How to Slice a Cake Fairly for two People (Fractions)

Imagine: There is a big cake on the table. One side has nuts along with the usual and the other side has coconuts along with the usual. You and a friend want to split it: EQUALLY. You would like to split it so that you each get some nuts and some coconuts. WHAT DO YOU DO?

What do you do? Look at the picture. Can you see the lines 'A' and 'B'? 'A' would be cut where you think two pieces would have an equal value. 'B' is cut where your friend thinks the two pieces are equal. You would get the piece on the left and your friend would get the piece on the right. Now, you have the middle section leftover. What about the middle? You would have someone spit the middle. You each would get a piece from the middle. This is an idea. Although does it really make sense?

You can go here to get more information about this topic.

Science News For Kids

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/

Q: Who are the sponsers?
A: The sponsers are "The Shell Oil Company" and "The Willis Harlow Shapley Education Fund". In the past, the sponsers are American Honda Foundation, the Dow Chemical Company, and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

Q: What is the site about?
A: The site is about all different types of science news for kids. Some topics are animals, chemistry and materials, food and nutrition, physics, and weather.

Q: What are the positive and negative aspects of this site?
A: The positive aspects of this sites is that it is kid friendly, it makes learning enjoyable, and there are great activities for science fairs. One negative aspect is the site is not that atractive (it needs brighter and more exciting glow to it). Other than that it is great and very informational.

Q: What would this site be used for?
A: This site would be used for research. It could also be used to know what is happening in the science world with reliable information and an easy to understand read.

Q: Would you reccomend this site for future use?
A: Yes! It is very easy to view and explore. It is a great place for research. Infact, you can use this site for your current events blog!

To go to this site you can click here!

Gravity

Imagine this: There's a really skinny guy and a really obese girl. They have to be partners for a ballet performance. In one scene, Mark (the skinny guy) has to lift Olga (the obese girl). Mark doesn't know how he'll practice with Olga . He decides on three possible places to practice. Mark believes that he can go to the practice room on the 30th floor of their building, the tip of Mount Everest, or to the moon. After doing some research mark decides he'll go to the moon. He rents a rocket from NASA, makes some calls and invites Olga to the moon. Olga is confused but she agrees. So the two go to the moon. On the moon, Mark is able to lift Olga as if she's a feather. He can even spin her around on her pinky! But the only problem with this is, Mark needs to arrange for the play to be on the moon!

Why is this? Why can Mark lift Olga very easily on the moon but not on Earth? It's actually not that hard to understand once you are able to understand gravity. Gravity is the force of attraction between two things. The reason that we stand on the Earth and don't float around is because we share a gravitational pull with the earth. The moon has a different gravitational pull than the Earth. Gravity determines weight. The stronger the pull, the more weight. The truth is that you will weigh less on Mount Everest than you do in a mine, underground!