SS Blog - China Investing U.S Bonds can't end

On February 22nd in Beijing, Hillary Clinton, our new Secretary of State, has been trying to persuade China to keep investing in U.S Treasury using substantial foreign exchanges. Before the current economic situation, China was helping America's spending. This was because china was America's biggest foreign holder. People are concerned that because of all the money Chinese substantial holding, America has more leverage deals with Washington. This also makes it difficult to finance their stimulus plans and government bailout plan every time a Chinese item is bought. Glenn Kessler, a writer of the Washington Post has said that: "Clinton, in unusually direct comments on an interview with China's Dragon TV before returning to Washington, said that reality made it an imperative for China to keep purchasing U.S. Treasury bonds, because otherwise the U.S. economy will not recover and China will suffer as well. ". Something I wonder is that IN WHICH WAY would the economy suffer if China does not invest in U.S Bonds. Clinton has also said that because of America and China's interconnections, they will either rise, of fall together. I wonder what China's decision will finally be.

Sources: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/map.GIF

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/22/AR2009022200468.html

Ice Age Fossils in LA

Recently, in Los Angeles, scientists have discovered deposits of Ice Age fossils in the city of La Brea Tar Pits. Researchers have found 16 fossils that belong to the Ice Age over all. Some types of animals were saber-toothed cats, skulls of American lions, a mammoth, dire wolves, bison, horses, and ground sloths. The researchers began looking for these fossils in 2006 and found these 16 fossils under an old parking lot. La Brea Tar Pits are one of the world’s most famous fossil sites. It has been known that since 1996 more than one million fossils have been found. I wonder what more is there to come.

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090219/ap_on_sc/sci_la_tar_pits;_ylt=An7S1ratZ8vOv24M0OfmkvwPLBIF

http://www.tampabayfossilclub.com/images/fest34.JPG

Ants Raising Butterflies?

When you think of butterflies you probably think of a sweet, kind, creature that doesn't harm anything or anyone. What you may not know is that butterflies are really smart enough into getting ants raising butterflies. Only a certain type called European Butterfly can do this. They do this by going inside the an ants home and copying their scent. Jeromy A. Thomas from Oxford in Great Britain has said that: "But, not content just to be fed, the butterflies even manage to demand special treatment,". The butterflies even copied the queen's sounds so when they need help the "nurse" ants would just go and help them even if that meant to kill their own larvae to help feed the butterflies. I read there was also an experiment in which on butterfly "queen ant" was placed with four real ones it turns out that the queens started to attack the catapillar that was pretending to be the queen but when the workers saw this, instead they attacked the four real queens. I wonder what other miracles nature was going to bring next.

Sources: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_sc/sci_butterfly_parasite;_ylt=AkSl6hjSG1AOHrLodU.MQBAPLBIF

EARTHQUAKE? IN NEW JERSEY?

On February 2nd , just after 10:00, in Northern New Jersey there was a small earthquake! Seismologists have said that the magnitude had reached 3.0 which is higher than we usually get. A 27 year-old man named Tom Smaga was working at a Exxon Station in Rockaway, N.J. when it happened and said that: " It was a loud boom and after that it shook the whole building,”. The earthquake had occurred in Rockway, Dover, Morris Planes, and Victoria Gardens. My opinion about this article is that because the article said it didn't hurt anybody, it would be a little fun to feel because the article also said it was a vibration that lasted only for 2-3 minutes. I think it would feel like being on top of a vibrating phone!!!

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/nyregion/new-jersey/03njquake.html?em http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/SUE/SUE104/BWBW1147.jpg

WAVES!!!

Lately, in science we have been learning about waves. There are two types of waves: Transverse and Longitudinal. In Tranverse waves the crest is the highest point and the trough is the lowest point. The center of both points is called the rest position. The wavelength is the distance between crest to crest and trough to trough. In a Longitudinal wave a compression is when the wave is packed up together. A rarefraction is when the wave is spread out. On the web I found out that the definition of a transverse wave is: a wave that move the medium at right angles to the direction in which waves travel. I also found out longitudinal waves really mean: are waves that have vibrations along or parallel to their direction of travel; that is, waves in which the motion of the medium is in the same direction as the motion of the wave. Mechanical longitudinal waves have been also referred to as compressional waves or compression waves. I really can't wait to learn more in this topic!

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitudinal_wave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transverse_wave

Transverse Waves

Longitudinal Waves

Barack Obama, The New President of the US

As everybody knows, there is a new president in office.... BARACK OBAMA!!! Well, as I was doing research, I came across a article called: "Obama's Fast Action on Financial Regulation: Report". This article talks about how Obama plans to fix the countries financial regulatory system. They plan on doing this by making the mortgage brokers, credit raging regencies, and, hedge funds more harsher. In the following quote it shows how the people want to delete the conflicts about interest at credit rating :"...officials want rules that would eliminate conflicts of interest at credit rating agencies that gave top investment grades to the ultimately shaky financial instruments that have been one source of market turmoil".
After I read this article I really had some comments and questions. My first on this that a lot of people are going through hard times and with the economy at the worst point ever they should give it a try if it will help the economy. I also have a question about one of the terms in this articles: what does hedge funds mean?". Another question I would like to ask is when this plan would be put into play.All in all, I would like to see the outcome of this plan.
As my interest grew I decided to read another article. This one was called: "Stocks eye Obama, Fed, earnings". This one talks about how the statement of the Federal Open Market Committee's will be heard by investors and they will try to use that to help Wall Street. It also says that a recovery package in Washington worth of $825 billion will be observed. Michael Sheldon has said: "For investors, a lot is riding on the upcoming stimulus plans,".
I have a lot of comments and questions on this article too. I really believe in the quote Michael Sheldon has said because our new president has a lot to fix.IAlso wonder about how long it will take until the economical crisis is better. Well until then we Will just have to wait. I mostly wonder about what Obama will do first as president.
Resources: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090124/bs_nm/us_column_stocks_outlook_2
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090125/pl_nm/us_obama_regulations_report

Where are Saturn's Rings Going???

Lately, if you have seen Saturn's Rings, you probably have noticed something very different. This is because it appears that Saturn's Rings are disappearing. Some people may not believe this because Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, has been known for it rings. The truth is, that about every 14 to 15 years the planet is tilted. So, Earth is only able to see some of the ring's edges and maybe some of then might even look like they have vanished. In the 1600's this same situation stumped Galileo, he later called it: "ring plane crossing". This means that Saturn rotates the sun every 29.5 years, on the other hand, the equinox for the Earth happen every six months. On the day, September 4, 2009, NASA says Saturn's rings can not be seen from the Earth. This means you better get a good last look at Saturn's Rings because their not going to be around for a while!!!

Sources: http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/02/is-saturn-losing-its-rings/