PLN 19

Hope for manned space exploration. The X-37 B OTV is a space shuttle that is 1/4 the size of the original. Developed by Boeing, the X-37 was intended to carry 6 astronauts to and from the space station. Because of its size, the new shuttle would have been more efficient and less costly. Yet, when the decision was made to stop manned space flight, the shuttle was sold to the air force. It has been modified to be an unmanned, reusable craft. Its job is to do research on reusable space vehicle technology. The air force, will not divulge more about the project. The X-37 is scheduled to launch from the cape next month. Why does this matter? It matters because the X-37 may be the new way for the U.S. to reach the stars. Without the X-37, the cancelation of the space shuttle missions would have required us to rely on rides form the Russians. Now, the air force has the ability to pick up where NASA left off. Even though it is intended for research only, the possibility of reconverting it still exists.

PLN 17

What matters in the world today is a debate that was started after Gunner Sandbergh was hit in the head with a line drive that was traveling at approximately 130 mph. Gunner was pitching for Marrin Catholic High School at the time of the injury. He was rushed to a hospital and put into an induced coma so that doctors could remove part of his skull to allow his brain to swell. The line drive was hit with a regulation, High School level, metal baseball bat. High School bats are light weight and engineered to be light and have what players call "pop." Pop is how well the ball comes off the bat. If a bat is "dead" the ball doesn't fly as hard or fast. That is why injuries are so much more likely. The baseball travels much faster off of a metal bat than a wood one. New York and North Dakota have already banned metal bats from play and have agreed to follow major league rules and use wood bats. Gunner’s father is urging California to do the same. The debate is whether or not changing to wood bats would make a difference. I personally do not believe it would. Several years ago, Rockies minor league first base coach, Mike Coolbaugh, was killed by a foul ball to the head. That ball came off of a wood bat. So as a player, I disagree with the suggestion to change to wood bat play in High School. In all sports there are dangers. Changing to wood bats would not make a difference in the fatality of a line drive to the head. Even if wood bats have less pop, a line drive traveling 120 mph, is still going to do almost the same amount of damage as a 130 mph one. I believe that using wood bats would also make the game less exciting. Hits wouldn't go as far, and it would make the game less enjoyable for players and fans. I also think that it is more Gunner's fault then the hitter's or the bat's. In almost every game that is played, there is a hard hit back to the pitcher, and only 1 in every year causes injury. Every other time, the pitch either doges the ball or catches it, because he is ready and paying attention to the ball after he throws it. If you watch the video, Gunner finishes his throw with his head down, looking at the ground instead of the ball. If he had finished with his head up, he most likely would have been able to get his glove up and catch the ball back at him. I personally live by the rule, never, never, never, take your eye off the ball. I'm not saying that Gunner deserved to be hit in the head; it was still a horrible accident. Yet it was one that could have been avoided, and nothing to do with the type of bat that was used.

PLN 18

What matters in the world today is a post on Dan Maas's blog that has several questions about lap tops in class rooms. The first question is, what is it like to have lap tops in class? Having lap tops in class, gives us access to the internet and many other recourses. We no longer have to go to the library to do research; we can just pull up a Google page. The second question that Mr. Maas has presented is, what can you do now that you couldn't do before? Before we had lap tops in class we would have to go to the library or the computer lab to do research. We also have connection to the rest of the world through the internet right in front of us. We can also email our projects home allowing us to work on it no matter where we are. The next question he posed was, what would it mean to you if you couldn't have lap tops in class next year? I personally would not enjoy the class as much because we wouldn't have the resources that we currently have now. It would also make things just that much more difficult. It would also be disappointing because just being able to use technology is fun and interesting. The last question he asked was, have you changed as a student since you started using lap tops in class? I don't believe so, the lap tops have made my life as a student easier but I do not believe that I have changed the way I learn because of that. All of these are great questions and they relate back to the Dr. Warschauer blog. I will re-sate what I said then; lap tops are a good resource and have made class easier.

PLN 16

What maters to the world today is the Sixth Sense project at MIT. The project is developing a cell phone based system that can be used as a resource for research and much, no matter what the location. As seen in the video, the man can be told which paper towel is most compatible to his life style, or he can dial his phone on his hands, and even draw a watch to know what time it is. This is truly amazing because the camera and projector work together to recognize the environment and instantly give information on what is going on. This matters to the world because it will make our lives much easier. The program helps us with everyday situations and guides us towards what is best. I personally like the program because it has the ability to show information on people you meet. This leads to people getting to know each other faster and starting an opinion of that person. This could also be helpful with security. At airports, guards could identify people who are terrorists or people who intend to cause trouble quicker and easier. This technology could change the world.

PLN 15

What matters today is the effect of the Chile earthquake. an article on Yahoo! News, talks about how NASA thinks that the 8.8 tremor, might have shifted the Earth's axis ever so slightly. The scientists are reporting that the shift has made our days shorter. This means that the quake caused the Earth to speed up its rotation. The shift isn't much; the days are only shorter by 1.26 milliseconds. Yet that short amount of time could cause the Earths magnetic poles to adjust, and the gravity could be affected. If the polarization is disturbed, not only will compasses not work right any more, but the weather patterns could change. The jet steam could move causing air traffic problems. If the gravity is affected, the moon could move closer, or farther away. Things would also feel lighter, effecting scales and weights. Now obviously the effects will not be too drastic because it is only 1.26 milliseconds, but if only one degree in temperature (global warming) can cause more severe hurricanes, what could speeding the rotation of the planet cause. I think that scientist should begin to work on a way to stop, or at least detect earthquakes before they cause destruction. I also think that the NASA people need to release more information on what this shift could do to life as we know it. For all we know, it could cause and early demise of the human race.