Quack! Virus alert!

Hi there.  It's me again, Nicole Hoetker, reporting with my faithful assistant, Ducky.  (Quack!).  After our last few posts, we realized that as a public service announcement, we should probably do some reporting on the H1N1 influenza virus that has been going around this flu season.  Many people, including my brother, have gotten sick with it, despite the constant washing of hands and endless chapping.  Many people have been fortunate enough to get the vaccine. But it is not always effective, because certain viruses are rapidly mutating.  Fortunately for us, a company called Zirus (http://www.xvivo.net/zirus-antivirotics/) has come up with a new way to fight viruses.  The way a virus reproduces is by highjacking the host cells equipment (kind of like when your brother or classmate decides to start stealing you pencils or calculator.)  So, how do we stop viruses? Easy.  We just shut down certain things in a cell that the virus needs to reproduce, but the cell can live without, such as proteins on the surface of the cell that allow the virus to enter.  The cell doesn't need those, but the virus does.  There are also certain things that are needed to send off the viruses.  Once again, the cell does not need those and with the right type of medication, those can be shut down.

But still although we're getting a good start, we are not quite there yet.  I mean after all, the human body is made up of millions, even billions of cell, and to modify all of them is almost impossible with the current technology.  For now, your best bet to avoid getting the flue is to eat healthy, get plenty of sleep and most importantly wash your hands or at least use alcohol based handwash.  But, preferably wash your hands...there's really no substitute for that.  And try to not sneeze in people's faces.

If you want to find out more for yourself, just click on the link!

P.S. Random fact of the day:  In 2030, there is a highly possibility that as part of our daily routine we will be able to check our entire body for disease with just a single drop of blood on a special panel.  Crickey!

Salmon Burgers

Hihihihihi!

I had the best lunch ever yesterday!  Me and my mom made salmon burgers...yaaay! We ate them with lettuce and buns and apples.  Not only that, we didn't have to use our expensive salmon filets, because we can use canned salmon for salmon burgers.

I really like salmon burgers because they don't take as long to cook as plain old salmon, and they're great for things like cookouts and for times when you don't feel like eating fancy but you don't feel like eating a hamburger.  Besides, they're really healthy for you, like all fish, because they're big on omega-3 fatty acids and other good stuff for you as well.

It's recommended that you eat fish at least twice a week to stay healthy, but don't eat it every day because you might turn into one (giggle, giggle!).  I think that people should eat more fish to be more healthy.  Besides they're yummy.  But due to dwindling resources in in our oceans and rivers the best choice for fish would probably be farmed trout.  Why?  Because trout are small they are much less likely to have harmful chemical or waste in them like mercury (yuk!).  And, trout are very good at turning feed into body fat.  Salmon aren't so good at that.  Besides, think of how many sardines you'd have to grind up to turn into salmon chow when people could eat them.  Not very efficient if you ask me.  In all truth, you should compare farming big fish to farming lions.  I mean, think about it.  Lions are big powerful animals that don't like being confined to small spaces much like salmon and tuna.   Trout, however, are small, easy to contain and don't mind being in close proximity to their peers.  And if you're going to buy farmed fish I recommend that you buy American, since while we're not perfect, it's way better than other farm methods.

Ciao!

LOL! Ants Can Count!

I watched a funny video about ants that can count...apparently desert ants can count - well, not really count, but they have pedometer cells in their brains that keep track of the number of steps that they walk.  It’s complicated, but it works like the pedometers people clip to their belts except that it’s embedded in their brains.  It was discovered by German scientists, ja!  Here’s the video:  Ants That Count!

Random Fact of the Day:  although the origins of the Beagle are unknown, the name comes from the French word, begueule meaning gaped or open throat because of the dog’s amazing vocal cords.

Please respond!

Liberty or Ice Cream!

Hi People,

My parents and I just got back from the most awesome time picking out our Christmas tree ever!  Do you know why?  Because my brother didn’t come along!  Woot!  This meant that not only did I not have to deal with him, but I got to cut down the tree myself and drag it back to the shed.  

And as I was dragging it my arms got tired, so I slipped the drag rope around my waist to pull it.  As we got to the shed I told the workers, “Just call me Rudolph!” They thought it was pretty funny.

This time we didn’t have to put it in the back of the car, since now we have a roof rack to tie it to.

Even better, I created a Declaration of Independence for Kids (not children, kids!).  I wrote it with yellow ink and a real quill pen.  It was so much fun!  This is how it goes:

We hold these troops to be self-evident: all kids are created equal as the world’s most intellectual species.  We hereby united agains grownups, teens and tweens for they cause misery for the kids and animals alike that inhabit this earth.  We now hereby declare our juvenile independence.  To further free ourselves from this curse that has been brought upon us we strive to create a new writing system and to take on new names to avoid any connection between us and the grownup race.  We hereby state that the rules shall be made by negotiation.  Katherine and Nicholas will be in charge of domestic affairs concerning other children and/or grownups.  We also place Nicole as advocate and group event coordinator, and Alex and Cameron in charge of clowning around ;-).  We place Austin and Reed as Supreme Chancellors to ensure that everything runs smoothly.  Michael shall be in charge of sending messages because he is the fastest runner.

P.S.  If anyone on my block I included in this declaration of independence doesn’t want to be a part of it I can find a substitute.  Thanks!

Hannibal is At the Gates!

Well, lately I've been reading a whole lot of stuff.  My favorite book recently as been about Hannibal, who ruled over the city of Carthage.  Not just the city, which was the capital of the Carthaginian Empire, but the whole empire, too.

He was a nightmare for Rome.  You wouldn't think he could defeat all the Roman legions on his own, but he depended on mercenaries for most of his troops.  Those are soldier who are paid to fight.  He also recruited Celtic tribes and Gauls, who were eager to get back at the Roman Empire.  He also had some of the finest calvary troops in the land.

Roman troops, on the other hand, followed the strictest discipline and marched in strict formation.  Another problem was that they wore heavy armor.  And where weapons are concerned they used mostly short swords and daggers, similar to those of the Carthagians.

Hannibal's secret weapon was his brain.  He managed to outsmart those Romans nearly every time.   One example of how he did this was when he was up against 80,000 Romans.  His strategy?  Simple.  Make it so that the infantry soldiers have to walk backwards to form a slight U shape while they'r fighting.  Then have your horse troops run around to form an O with the Romans in the middle.  Then, pull out your swords and get to cutting down the Romans!  The only problem was that Hannibal's soldiers had to stop after a while because their swords grew dull from slicing through so many Romans.

Another thing he was famous for was taking all of his troops and his war elephants over the Alps.  He scared the armor off those Romans when they saw the elephants.  They must have thought they came from outer space or something!  Half of the elephants died in the harsh winter over the Alps - poor guys!  But I still wish I was there to see the Romans running scared.  In the end many of them got trampled by the elephant's big feet.

Anyway, the Romans finally defeated him before he reached their capital, and eventually destroyed the Carthaginian Empire.  I recommend you read, A Wicked History:  Hannibal, Rome's Worst Nightmare, by Philip Brooks.  All in all, he was a gruesome leader.

Nomz!

It all started when I had potstickers and miso soup for lunch.  After that Pfeffer and I have always wanted Mom to make us Asian food.  Especially during homeschooling.  I get to have the best food ever!  Pfeffer claims that it is nomz!

My mom made me seaweed and rice another day and it was also nomz!

Today we bought over $45.00 of Asian food at a market called Amko so we got a free gift.  We chose a cute little plastic bento lunch box.  My mom put together some rice, chicken fingers, apple and some delicious seaweed in that cute bento box.

I don't always get to eat Asian food :-(  but whatever I get it always tastes good.

To the Museum!

Guess what?  I went to the Krannert Art Museum yesterday and it was awesome!

I got to see all kinds of art-ifacts (get it?), and I got to take pictures with my new cell phone.

A pretty piece of glass:

A vase from Japan

More pieces of pottery

Zeus/Jupiter from ancient Rome

Painting

more painting

stained glass

stone capital from a Roman column

This is a 3-D model of an H1N1 virus.  We had to wear special glasses to look at it.  They had a Playstation2 controller that you could use to look inside by zooming in.

You could see the inner proteins and the inner cell walls.

How cool!

Gotta go, time for my nap!

PS - did I mention that I have a toy frog?