Look at it! This is a rock squirel. I've named it Rockael :) If you feel so inclined here are two links for info about little guys like Raphael, opps! I mean Rockael.

1. http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=340
2. http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=MA0197

Meet the Elements

Check out what I found! It's an element song that doesn't make you head spin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0zION8xjbM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Iron

The Natural History Museum's Hall of Meteorites contains around 5,000 specimens of meteorites.

• Meteorites contain iron.
• Iron is a transition metal, and is said to be the most common element on Earth.
• Iron is the 4th most common element in the Earth's crust.
• Iron is the most commonly used metal.
• Iron rusts.
• Pure iron is softer than aluminum, yet it is commonly mixed with other metals to create steel structural supports for buildings.
• Is able to conduct electricity and heat.

Get this: iron is the 6th most abundant element IN THE UNIVERSE.

Now if that doesn't make this element worthy of the title, "incredibly interesting" then allow me to elaborate...

The extensive use of iron lead to an entire era named the "Iron Age." In the Iron age the element becomes more widespread and is used too create nearly everything. (Everything from jewelry to weapons anyway.) My point is that with the use of the very common element Fe humans were able to create things differently thus civilization evolved.

Who knows?! It may be that with a sword made out of iron someone back then carved a path towards the future discovery/creation of the periodic table.

Okay so I'll admit it. That was not very interesting. Truth be told iron really isn't all that interesting. Other than the fact that iron occasionally plummets down from the sky in the form of meteors it's really boring.

Or is it?

I have to say that all of the elements on the periodic table are interesting. There is a sense of mystery behind it all. I believe only time can truly unravel some of the mysteries, for what is a solved answer if it will be proven wrong in time?

So I leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein,

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Source links:

http://www.facts-about.org.uk/science-element-iron.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron#History

http://www.bu.edu/anep/Ir.html

http://www.amnh.org/ (Note: I lost the exact link due to a computer freeze up, but it came from this website under one of its "subcategories.")

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/imagination_is_more_important_than_knowledge-for/260230.html

Really Awesome NEW Science Technology

Okay so for this Labor Day weekend I went with my mom and brothers to my Grandparent's house on lake Kiowa. While my mom and I were driving home this evening,we heard this awesome interview on NPR about a ground braking new music video that uses Google Earth to take you on an interactive journey to the house you grew up in.

And yes, I said MUSIC VIDEO.

Check it out! It was breath-taking even to me who has only ever lived in two houses in total all my life. It was amazing, spectacular and just plain wicked. Try it for the house you're in now, or make your parents crowd around the computer as they watch the journey with the address of their house from their childhood. This video is awesome: http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/ go to it now, or miss out on an awesome experience.

Thales

Who was Thales?

Thales of Miletus was an ancient philosopher who expanded the way mankind looked on the world by creating science.

What is he known for?

Thales can be called the father of science, for he was the first man to Philosophize without his theories relating back to mythology. It is said that he started the science revolution.

Where did he live?

It is said that he was born in Asia Minor, which is now Turkey.

When did he live?

Thales lived in the 620's BCE to 540's, but it is hard to say exactly.

Atom Size Notes

atom= 10 to the power of -8cm.

protron (mass)= 1amu

neutron (mass)= 1amu

electron (mass)= 1/836 amu----- It would take about 2,000 electrons to equal the same size as a protron or a neutron.



amu= atomic mass unit

Atoms in the Universe

There are 1000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000
atoms in the universe.


In other words 10 to the power of 80.

NOTE:
googol= 10 to the power of 100 which is as close as we really come to infinity.
Multiple googlol = googleplex.

Parts of the Atom

Types of Quarks

Atoms Through out the ages