Friction - AJ

• Friction is a force that acts to stop the movement of two touching things. The energy lost to friction is turned into sound and heat.
• Two different types of frictions are called Static and Kinetic. Static friction is when friction is strong enough that it is able to stop the movement between two objects. Kinetic friction is when frictional force is not strong enough to stop all motion.
• Friction can be thought to be caused by bumps on two touching surfaces.
  These types of bumps are called asperities.
• As the force that is pushing on an object increases, the static Friction increases too. However, if the force gets bigger than the maximum static Friction, it begins to make the object accelerate.
• Friction is actually caused by electromagnetism. When the atoms that make the objects come close they are drawn to each other and they may connect.

Mesosphere - Navo

• The distance of this layer is from 50km to 85km (30 miles to 50 miles) above the Earth’s surface. Meteors, asteroids, and shooting stars can be seen and are destroyed in this layer. This layer is an upper layer of the atmosphere. 
• The ionosphere, a layer of electronically charged particles that transmits AM radio waves, is found here. This layer is the coldest with extreme temperatures that can reach -80 degress.
• Temperature decreases with height throughout the mesosphere. The coldest temperatures in Earth's atmosphere, about -90° C (-130° F), are found near the top of this layer.
• The mesosphere is difficult to study, so less is known about this layer of the atmosphere than other layers. Weather balloons and other aircraft cannot fly high enough to reach the mesosphere. Satellites orbit above the mesosphere and cannot directly measure traits of this layer. 
• Scientists use instruments on sounding rockets to sample the mesosphere directly, but such flights are brief and infrequent. Since it is difficult to take measurements of the mesosphere directly using instruments, much about the mesosphere is still mysterious.

Meteors being destroyed in the Mesosphere

Slavery - AJ

• India has the largest population in the modern world with over 14 million slaves.  Slavery an economic system. In it, some people must work for no pay. It is also a system of ownership. In many countries slaves were owned by citizens of the country. These people were slaves. There is evidence that even before there was writing, there was slavery. 
•  There have been different types of slavery, and they have been in almost all cultures and continents. Some societies had laws about slavery, or they had an economy that was built on it. Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome had many slaves. During the 20th century almost all countries made laws forbidding slavery. The Universal declaration of Human  rights says that slavery is wrong. Slavery is now banned by international law.Nevertheless, there are still different forms of slavery in some countries.
• The English word "slave" comes from the medeivals word for the Slavic peoples of Central Europe and Eastern Europe, because these were the last ethnic group to be captured and enslaved in Central Europe. According to Adam Smith and Auguste Comte, a slave was mainly defined as a captive or prisoner of war. Slave-holders used to buy slaves at slave auctions. Slaves are not allowed rights.
• For four centuries, beginning in the late 15th century, millions of Africans were taken as slaves by Europeans. The Europeans were not the first to exploit Africa for manpower. Beginning in about 650 AD Arab slave traders began taking slaves from Africa. They dealt mainly in castrated male slaves (enuchs). According to Ronald Segal , author of Islam’s Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora (2002), "The calipha in Baghdad at the beginning of the 10th Century had 7,000 black eunuchs and 4,000 white eunuchs in his palace”.
•  By the 1900s, Arab slave traders had taken between 10 and 20 million slaves out of Africa. It is not certain that European slave traders obtained black slaves from the Arab slave traders. The Arabs concentrated mainly on supplying their own needs. Europeans began exporting Africans to the New World as a source of cheap labor on colonial plantations.Between 1452 and 1455, Pope Nicolas V issued a series of Papal bulls authorizing the Portuguese to take African slaves. At first slave traders raided costal areas and carried black people off. But the mines and fields of the colonies needed more and more slaves.

Troposhpere - Navo

• The troposhere is the layer closest to the earth's surface and contains the air we breathe, and a airplane would be found flying in the layer.
• In this layer weather occurs(Rain, Snow, Sleet, Hail and Clouds).
• It also has 99% of water vapor and 75% of the atmosphere's gases are found in the troposhere. This layer is the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
• This layer begins at the Earth's surface and goes about 10km(6 miles) high.
• Lastly this layer has the most mass amd most air pressure because it has the most air atoms/air molecules here.

Namakkal Fort - Navo

> Namakkal Fort is locating in Namakkal in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. There is a temple and a mosque that are located within the fort, both of which are popular tourist attractions of the town. In modern times the fort is under control by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

>  According to Hindu legend, the hillock on which the fort is located was carried by Hanuman, the monkey lieutenant of King Rama from the epic Ramayana. The hillock is known as Namagiri and also as Saligramam.

> The fort is located in the centre of Namakkal town over a hillock made of single rock named Namagiri.

> The fort is located on the top of the rock, 75 m (246 ft) tall. There is a Narasimha Murthy temple and a mosque that are located within the fort, both of which are popular tourist attractions of the town.

> Kamalalayam tank, located at foothills, is commonly associated with the fort.The fort is made up with well-cut blocks of the same stone as the hill and cemented to the rock by mortar. The higher portions of the fort are held by their own weight and accurate fitting.

Great Barrier Reef - Anita

• The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system. It is located in the Coral Sea, off the north eastern coast of Australia. The coral reef starts from the tip of Cape York Peninsula in the north and ended off the coast in Queensland. It is a replica of the 2,900 small, individual barrier reefs near Queensland. It is one of the Earth's largest natural structures made by many small organisms.
• The Great Barrier Reef stretches 1,600 miles,hola a little more than the distance from Boston to Miami. It covers an ocean floor of 133,000 square miles and includes the famous Lady Elliot and Murray Islands.
• The Great Barrier Reef consists of many essential plants and animals that help it survive. There are coral polyps, which are similar to squid and octopi. They feed on the algae in the coral reef and produce limestone which helps the reef grow and expand. Also, there are 30 species of whales, dolphins, porpoises, dugongs (manatee like animals), 1,500 species of fish, 5,000 species of mollusks, 17 species of sea snakes, 6 species of sea turtles, saltwater crocodiles, 215 species of bird and 15 species of seagrass.  
• Many tourists visit Australia to explore the reef. One activity that you can do there is take a ferry over to Magnetic Island and do snorkeling with the fish. Another activity is to seaplane over Heart Reef and see the turtles at Townsville's HQ Aquarium. You can speedboat to the Great Barrier Reef, skydive from the Whitsunday Islands, witness the turtles hatching on Heron Island and swim with the stingrays on Daydream Island.
• Every year 2 million tourists visit the Great Barrier Reef, making it a tourism hotspot. But there is much concern that such intense tourism is destroying the fragile reef. There is much pollution occurring, such as trash and oil spills found in the water. Another concern is that when tropical storms occur, runoff made from fertilizer and pesticide mix with the ocean water. To stop this terrible pollution, we need to put more effort into protecting and conserving our fragile and natural environment. 

Great Barrier Reef from Plane's View

Civil War- AJ

• If you were drafted during the American Civil War you could legally pay someone else 300$ to go in to your place. The last surviving civil war widow didn't pass away until 2008. She married an 86 year old veteran when she was only 19.
• There's a colony in Brazil founded by 2,000 to 4,000 confederate refugees who left the U.S. after losing the civil war. The U.S had a balloon corps established by Abraham Lincoln.
• Sideburns are named after American civil war general, General Burnside. American civil war soldiers had a code of honor that forbade shooting at men that were going to the bathroom.
• More than 600 women dressed as men so that they could fight in the civil war. During the American civil war, it was necessary to print out money in a hurry, so the Treasury  released paper bills with designated values of fractions of a dollar.
• There are more black men in prison today than there were black male slaves before the American civil war. The confederate  Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men during a major civil war battle.

Why Leaves Change Color? - Navo

• Every autumn we enjoy in the beauty of the fall colors. The mixture of red, purple, orange and yellow is the result of chemical processes that take place in the tree as the seasons change from summer to winter.
• During the spring and summer the leaves have served as factories where most of the foods necessary for the tree's growth are manufactured. This food-making process takes place in the leaf in numerous cells containing chlorophyll, which gives the leaf its green color. This extraordinary chemical absorbs from sunlight the energy that is used in transforming carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch.
• But in the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall.
• As the fall colors appear, other changes are taking place. At the point where the stem of the leaf is attached to the tree, a special layer of cells develops and gradually severs the tissues that support the leaf. At the same time, the tree seals the cut, so that when the leaf is finally blown off by the wind or falls from its own weight, it leaves behind a leaf scar.
• Temperature, light, and water supply have an influence on the degree and the duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor anthocyanin formation producing bright reds in maples. However, early frost will weaken the brilliant red color. Rainy and/or overcast days tend to increase the intensity of fall colors. The best time to enjoy the autumn color would be on a clear, dry, and cool (not freezing) day.

Steven Spielberg - Navo

• Steven Allan Spielberg was born on Wednesday, 18 December 1946, in the state of Ohio.  Other famous Hollywood celebrities also share the same date of birth, namely Christina Aguilera, Brad Pitt, Katie Holmes and Rachel Griffiths.
• Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful and influential movie makers of Hollywood. To date, Spielberg has produced 129 movies. He has won two Oscars for Best Director during his career of four decades though he has been nominated on six occasions. Among the top 100 movies of Hollywood that made the most money at the box-office, Spielberg directed seven.
• Do you know what is common between two famous Hollywood actors namely Gwyneth Paltrow and Drew Barrymore? Both of these beautiful actors have Steven Spielberg as their Godfather Spielberg sent Barrymore a note saying, “cover up” when she posed for Playboy magazine.
• Spielberg has been denied the role of director twice for the James Bond movies, which he is really fond of. Producer Albert Broccoli initially denied him the role of director citing inexperience as the key reason. Later when Spielberg became famous, he was again denied the role of director because according to Albert, he was now unaffordable.Steven Spielberg has close affiliations with the 42nd President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton. This was quite evident when Bill Clinton made an appearance at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards for Spielberg’s movie, “Lincoln”.
• Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg have both worked together on a number of projects. However, they do not get along very well, due to their differences of opinion on issues such as Scientology, the use of Ritalin to treat children and other similar issues.

Global Warming - AJ

• Global Warming could drive to extinction as much as 1 in 6 species of plants and animals. August 14 was the warmest August ever recorded Globally. Cows emit more methane than the oil industry and are a huge factor in Global Warming. Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius was the first to claim fossil fuel combustion may eventually result in enhanced Global Warming already in 1896.
• 37% of Americans think Global Warming is a Hoax. Since 1870, Global sea levels have risen by about 8 inches or 20 centimeters. The year 2010 was the warmest on record. There will be 50% increase in lightning strikes by 2100 if Global Warming continues, according to a scientific report.
• Global Warming has raised the Earth's average surface temperature about 1.5 F since the industrial revolution. there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than at any point in the last 800,000 years. scientists want to introduce Global Warming on Mars to make life Habitual for Colonization. 
• Despite Global Warming, we're still technically in an ice age. The Marshall islands won't exist if we warm the planet by 2 degrees. It's been over 30 years since we have had a cooler than average month.
• Norway is ranked as the country least likely to be affected by climate change. Chad is the most vulnerable. 64 % of don't believe that Global Warming will seriously change their way of life. Global Warming solved a dispute between India and Bangladesh, the island and dispute disappeared.

Magdeburg Water Bridge - Navo

• The Magdebury Water Bridge is the world's largest water bridge and it is extremely safe. The Water Bridge is also earthquake - proof. The Bridge is 3,000 ft long, 112 ft wide and 14 ft deep. 
• The construction started in 1998 and opened on October 10, 2003. It took 500 million euros (547,525,000 US dollars). Before the The Magdeburg Water Bridge opened ships had to go on the Elbe Canal which made Cargo ships had to cross in the summer because the water was too shallow due to evaporation. 
• Rubber Edges on the boat prevent damage to the ship when they hit the sides. It was constructed with about 68,000 cubic meters of concrete and 24,000 metric tons of steel. 
• This bridge links the formerly separated East and West Germany over the Elbe River, and was built as a part of the unification project. The bridge has a length of 1 km and enables river barges to avoid a cumbersome passage along the Elbe.
• The Madgeburg Water Bridge is located near the town of Magdeburg, Germany. The Bridge is introduced in a movie called "Hanna" it is also featured in the movie "Vitou the Kong".