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January 18, 2021

Black Holes

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by Nikita Jain

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What is smaller than an atom, has a super-strong gravitational field, and is the collapsed core of stars 10 times the size of our sun, or solar masses? They are black holes! They are mysterious, huge, and powerful. There are quite a few types of black holes.

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How are Black holes made?

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When a star dies that is least

10 times the size of our sun it

creates a black hole. A star fuses

elements together starting with

the lightest element, which is

hydrogen. When the stars fuse

the elements together they make

heavier elements. Once most stars

reach the iron phase, the elements

become too heavy for them to fuse.

The star then collapses onto itself and the outer layers explode outward, making a supernova. The core of the star is the only thing left. Then it is compressed by its extreme gravity until it is smaller than an atom. Despite black hole’s small size it has a very strong gravitational field.

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What do they do?

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Black holes have

super strong gravitational

fields. It is so strong

that even light cannot

escape! Since they are

black, they are very

hard to observe. We can

spot them by the accretion

disk. It’s the spinning disk of gas around the black hole. The accretion disk is usually very bright, so we can spot them more easily with modern telescopes. Another thing is that time slows down near it!

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What is a supermassive Black hole?

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As you know, a black hole is

a collapsed core of a star,

but supper massive are

much bigger. A regular

black hole is at least

10 solar masses. 

A supermassive black hole

is over 1,000 solar masses!

It is in the center of all large galaxies. The supermassive black holes keep the stars together. Our galaxy is about 100,000 light years across, but is relatively thin. Only about  1,000 light years thick. Earth is near the edge of our galaxy, far away from the center.

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF A PERSON FALLS IN?

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As you approach the event horizon time will start to slow down. The event horizon is the “point of no return”. The gravity is so strong that it is impossible to return after crossing it.  Maybe you would even have to go at the speed of light just to stay in one place and faster than the speed of light to escape. It will feel normal to you, but to a stationary observer, you would be slowing down and eventually stopping. Once past the event horizon, your body will be stretched into an incredibly thin line. Then, you will then disintegrate from the extreme gravity. But thankfully, most black holes are at least 3,000 light years away...Read more

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Dry Ice 101

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by Ira Thota

You’ve probably heard about dry ice before, but lately it's become very important. In today’s global pandemic the demand for dry ice has skyrocketed. The need has increased because Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines for COVID-19 need to be stored in extremely cold temperatures. Pfizer’s vaccine needs to be stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit and Moderna’s vaccine needs to be in temperatures of -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Dry ice is used to provide a cold enough temperature for the vaccines to be stored and transported in. The surface temperature of dry ice is -109.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

   

 

What is Dry Ice?

 

Dry ice may look like frozen water, but it’s not regular ice. Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. At -109.3 degrees Fahrenheit, a solid block of dry ice can skip turning into a liquid and turn directly into a gas! This is why it is known as dry ice. Carbon dioxide is always in the environment, and is used to make dry ice. Dry ice has many other uses. For example, it is used for fog machines, plumbing, and other medical purposes.  

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What are the dangers of using dry ice?

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Transporting dry ice could be dangerous. According to MarketWatch.com, “Packaging dry ice in a container that does not allow adequate release of the gas could cause the container to explode from the built-up levels of pressure ...”  Sublimation is the process of turning from a solid directly into a gas, without going through the liquid phase. When packing dry ice in a container, the sublimation process could lead to the pressure building up in the container. In the absence of proper ventilation, it could lead to the explosion of the container. Dry ice can also deprive the air of oxygen, making it hard to breath in an enclosed space.

 

Dry ice has many practical uses, especially with the COVID-19 vaccines, but it must be handled with care.

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Cell Science

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by Nikita Jain

What are cells?

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The word “cells” comes from an

Englishman that saw them as

“tiny rooms”. They are often called

“building blocks of life”. There are

billions of cells in your body. Each

part of a cell has a job to do to

keep it and your body running.

They are microscopic so we cannot see them with the naked eye. We have to use a microscope to see them.

 

Why do we need them?

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Cells make up our tissues, and tissues make up our organs. Without organs we would not be able to survive. Some very important organs are our heart, liver, lungs, brain, skin, and kidneys. If we did not have cells we wouldn’t be able to survive. Even our bones have soft tissue inside their hard exterior. There are also organ systems.

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“An organ system is a group of organs that work together as a biological system to perform one or more functions. Each organ does a particular job in the body, and is made up of distinct tissues.” – Wikipedia

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...Read more

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