June 2011 Lunar Eclipse

     Hi guys! Do you watch the lunar eclipse this morning (Thursday, 16 June 2011 on 2.25-4.45 GMT+7.00)? I watch it. It was nice. The lunar eclipse is visible to be seen in Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia, including Indonesia. This is a picture of the lunar eclipse this morning:

 

Photograph by Patrick Seeger, European Pressphoto Agency

 This picture is taken from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110614-lunar-eclipse-moon-longest-darkest-red-space-science/ because my camera couldn't take a picture of the lunar eclipse.

The Glasswing Butterfly

    Have you ever see a glasswing butterfly? It's a very unique butterfly, and you might think that it's very special. 
    The Hispanic, or Spanish people, call them espejitos. That means, a small mirror. Their Latin name is Greta oto. 
    
WHY THEIR WINGS ARE TRANSPARENT?

   Actually, every butterfly's wings are transparent. But, they are covered with scales. The scales also have color pigment, so it makes the wings looks colored. 

   The transparent wings also helps the butterfly to camouflage, because the predators are often fooled and doesn't realize their existence.  

   But, even if the predators eat the butterflies, they wouldn't like their taste. Because, the butterfly eat too much cestrum plants that makes the body of the butterfly contains alkaloids. The alkaloids makes the butterfly taste bitter. 

THE EXISTENCE OF THE GLASSWING BUTTERFLY

  Do you wanna see a glasswing butterfly? Come to the country where they originally live, that is, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.  This animal usually lived in the tropical forest of the Andes Mountains, at an altitude of 1400 meters. But, we couldn't find this animal in Indonesia.


  This animal is also often used for a marker to see the condition of the environment. So, if this animal became an endangered species, there must be something wrong with their habitat. So, we need to preserve them so they will not be an endangered species!
  

Archimedes

      Archimedes lived in Greece in 287-212 BC. He is a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, as well as philosopher. He was born on a port city Syracuse, which now is called as the city of Sicily. It turns out that Archimedes was one of the nephew of King Hiero II, who reigned in Syracuse that time.

Archimedes is famous for his theories about the relationship between surface and volume of a sphere to cylinder. He is also known as the theory and formula of the principle of Hydrostatic and equipment to raise the water - the 'Archimedes Screw', which is still widely used in developing countries.

The story of Archimedes told by many people is when Archimedes finds a way and formula to calculate the volume of objects that do not have a standard form. According to the story, a crown for King Hiero II was created and the king ordered Archimedes to check if the crown was really made ​​of pure gold or it contain silver.

When Archimedes took a bath in the tub, he noticed that the water in the tub spilled out equally to the body weight. Archimedes realized that this effect can be used to calculate the volume and content of the crown. Then he shouted, "EUREKA!"

Hmmm.... It's a great way to know how to calculate the volume of objects that don't have a standard form.

Shuffle Dancing

     Hi guys! Do you know shuffle dance? Have ever you try it? Now I'll tell you some things about shuffle dance?

Shuffle Dance

Shuffle dance is a dance style originating from the Melbourne Underground Scene, Australia. Shuffle dance is actually an old dance style that was popular in the 1980's.

Same as Breakdance?

Shuffle dance is not like breakdance, because it's not to be competed. But, it also have some sporty effect, just like breakdance. 

Do you know, it's said that if we do shuffle for 5 minutes, it's equal to 30 minutes doing treadmill! So, besides that it's fun, it also make our body healthy. 

Shuffle Dance Movement

Shuffle dance is actually easy, if we have known the basic movements which are all based on the heel and the foot. 

Our heels and feet must move fast, so it seems that they are attached to the floor. The movements should be together and harmonious, too. 

On shuffle dancing, we need to focus on the foot. Our hands and body will surely follow the rhythm by itself.

Shuffle Dance Style

The basic step of shuffle itself is the running man and T-step. Running man, two-step walking in the place but  do not go forward. T-step is the shuffle movement itself that is divided into several types. There is a hard style, which the feet is lifted higher, just like stomping our feet. Old style which is said that it is the original style of Melbourne shuffle, which do not hurry, has many T-step and more flooping. There are also Malaysian style, which moves like a running man, but only one step. They use body was pushed forward and swing. And there are many more styles and movements of shuffle dance!

Hey, why don't you watch this shuffle dance video taken from youtube.com!

Ameizaku-the Japanese Art of Candy Sculpture.

     Hi guys!Now, I wanna tell you about a unique candy from Japan. It's "Amezaiku". 

Amezaiku (饴 细 工) is a Japanese candy craft arts.

Artists will paint the candy and use the hand as well as other tools such as tweezers and scissors to create a sculpture of candy. He also gave them candy color with edible dyes to give the work more like the original character. Animals and insects are a common form created by the artist Amezaiku to attract children. Artists will often create a complex animal characters with the speed of an expert.

Some Amezaiku artists a street artist who also will perform magic tricks and tell stories together with craft making candy to entertain its customers.

Giant Jelly Invasion

Are aliens attacking the Sea of Japan? Not exactly. But these gigantic blobs are unwelcome visitors from another place. Called Nomura's jellyfish, the wiggly, pinkish giants can weigh up to 450 pounds (204 kilograms)—as heavy as a male lion—and they're swarming by the millions.

The supersize sea creatures—normally found off the coasts of China and North and South Korea—occasionally drift east into the Sea of Japan to feed on tiny organisms called plankton. But now one hundred times the usual number of jellyfish are invading Japanese waters. And local fishermen are feeling as if they are under siege.

The fishermen's nets are getting weighted down, or even broken, by hundreds of jellyfish. The jellies crush, slime, and poison valuable fish in the nets, such as the tuna and salmon that the fishermen rely on to make a living.

No one knows for sure what's causing this jellyfish traffic jam. It's possible that oceans heated by global warming are creating the perfect jellyfish breeding ground. Another theory is that overfishing has decreased the numbers of some fish, which may allow the jellies to chow down without competition for food. For now, all the fishermen can do is design special nets to try to keep the jellies out. Some of them hope to turn the catastrophe into cash by selling jellyfish snacks. Peanut butter and jellyfish, anyone?

Fast Facts

• Baby Nomura's jellyfish change from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a washing machine in six months or less.
• Jellyfish are 95% water.
  
• Jellyfish aren't actually fish, they're invertebrates—animals without backbones.

Text by Ruth A. Musgrave
Taken from: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/animalsnature/giant-jellyfish-invasion/

Chocolate Balls recipe

   Hi guys! I got a great recipe from my teacher, the chocolate balls snack! Maybe some of you are hungry, in need of snack, but you don't have one. You can make this, because it's easy. I've ever try it, and it's yummy! Here's how you make it:

What You Need:

• 1 pack of Marie biscuits, crashed
• Sprinkles
• Sweet, thick chocolate milk                                                                              
• Plate
• Refrigerator

How To Make:

1. Mix the crashed Marie biscuits with the sweet, thick chocolate milk.
2. With your hands, roll the mixture above into small balls.
3. Roll the balls in the sprinkles.
4. Put the balls on the plate and chill it in the refrigerator.
5. If it's already chilled, take it out from the refrigerator and serve it.

It's easy, isn't it? So let's try it!

How To Make a Homemade Ice Cream

    Hi guys! Anyone here likes ice cream? Well, most people in the world loves ice cream, including me too! Maybe we want to eat ice cream at the time we don't have time to buy it. But now, I'll show you how to make an ice cream. It's easy, so you can make it! 

 First, prepare these things:

• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoon of rock salt (regular salt is okay if you don't find one)
• 1 gallon of Ziploc bag
• 1 pint size of Ziploc bag
• Ice 
• Ice cream cone
• Toppings (caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, etc.)

 Then, do these things to make an ice cream:

1. Fill the gallon size bag (the larger bag) with ice about half way and add the salt and seal it.
2. Mix the sugar, milk and vanilla in the small pint sized bag and seal it.
3. Open up the large bag and put the small bag inside and seal the large bag again.
4. Shake the bag and you’ll see your mixture in the small bag turn into ice cream! (It will take about 5 minutes of shaking)
5. Put the ice cream to an ice cream cone.
6. Give some toppings to the ice cream.
7. Your ice cream is done!

Now, you can have a nice ice cream, and you made it yourself! I hope it helps you.

How to Make an Origami Crane?

Hi! Do you like to make origami? Let's make an origam crane! Here's how you do:

Disney Princess part 1

Hi guys! Hey, anyone of you knows Disney Princess? Well, I think everyone knows it. Yeah, it's so famous! But do you know who are the characters of the Disney Princess? Check this out!

     Snow White is one of the Disney Princess. She starts to be popular since the movie Snow White and the Seven Drawf was played on 1937.

     Snow White is a beautiful and young princess born to her mother, who is later deceased. Her father married again to let Snow White have a motherly figure. Soon, Snow White's father died. Her stepmother, The Evil Queen, is very jealous of her beauty and forces her into slavery. But Snow White remains pure hearted, innocent, and a bit naïve, but she never loses faith that one day her true love will come and take her away. She is always cheerful and kind, no matter how horribly the Queen treats her.

       Cinderella is popular in 1950 from the movie Cinderella. Cinderella is made a servant in her own home and is constantly derided by her evil stepmother Lady Tremaine and two stepsisters. Although she is shy and romantic, she maintains hope through her dreams and always waits for her prince to come. She is hopeful to the idea that someday her wishes of happiness will come true. When her evil stepsisters and stepmother prevent her from going to the ball, she is unhappy and fears that her dreams will never come true. However, her Fairy Godmother appears and restores hope. In her childhood, she hardly went to play with other children because of her dreams about the Prince. Eventhough she is treated badly, later she married the Prince.

     Cinderella has two sequel movies;  Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III:A Twist in Time. In the first sequel (Cinderella II:Dreams Come True), Gus and Jaq set off to make a new book to narrate what happens after the ending of the previous story, by stringing three segments of stories together, making three stories: "Aim to Please," "Tall Tail," and "An Uncommon Romance." In the first story, Cinderella and Prince Charming return home and soon a party begins. In "Tall Tail", she works on planning to build up a festival. The mouse named Jaq in the previous film has transformed into a human named Sir Hugh. In the third story, called "An Uncommon Romance," she helps her younger stepsister Anastasia reconcile with the baker. Towards the end of the film, she reads a book the mice have already made for her to them all.

        In the second sequel (Cinderella III:A Twist in Time), Cinderella and Prince Charming are celebrating their anniversary. Lady Tremaine, however, gets a hold of the Fairy Godmother's wand, and uses her ill-gotten powers to reverse time and to send Cinderella into the events surrounding the first film. This time, however, the story is changed when new situations arise: the slipper is modified to fit Anastasia's foot, and she is promised to Prince Charming. Cinderella, along with her mouse friends, sets out to put things right and bring her stepmother to justice once and for all, although neither she nor anyone else, except her stepmother and stepsisters, ever find out about the time reversal.

    Aurora is another Disney Princess. She is popular since the movie Sleeping Beauty is played on 1959. She is known as the Sleeping Beauty, but she is also known as Briar Rose.

     Aurora is a kind 16-year-old girl. Her most prominent personality trait is her passion for love. The good fairies of the kingdom, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, have blessed her with beauty and the gift of song. She is lonely most of the film, as she has lived in a cottage in the woods. An enjoyer of the simple things in life, Aurora often wonders why her aunts treat her like a child and wishes to meet new people and make her own decisions.

But still, seeing as she is young and naive about the world around her, she feels her aunts know what is best for her and is very obedient towards them. For example, she runs away from Prince Phillip when she realizes she is talking to a stranger, something the fairies told her not to do. Also when she is under Maleficent's spell and is about to touch the spindle, she hesitates when she hears the fairies tell her not to touch anything, only to be overwhelmed by Maleficent's power.

That's not all of the Disney Princess characters. But you can see the sequel later on (entitled 'Disney Princess part 2' and 'Disney Princess part 3')! Okay, see you!

Source: wikipedia.com

  

   

Komodo Dragons

  You may think that dragons live only in fairy tales. But if you do, you are wrong. Dragons really do exist. Komodo dragons aren't little lizards. They are huge. they can grow to be 10 feet long and weigh as much as 300 pounds. Like other reptiles, they lay eggs. Although they are big and heavy, Komodo dragons can run very fast and these lizards can catch small deer, wild pigs, and other small animals. Their bite are also dedaly. You don't need to worry , except if you live in Indonesia (indeed, I live in Indonesia but in another place where they don't exactly live). They live in the Komodo Island, Indonesia. If you would like to see one up close and in person, just go to Komodo Island National Park. There are about 1,000 dragons there.  

-*Australia*-

   Antartica, Europe, America, Asia, and Australia are continents. Australia is the only country that takes up a whole continent. Australia has many large dessert, some coastal rain forest, and the world's largest coral reef. The reef is called the Great Barrier Reef. It's 1,200 miles long and it's on the northeast coast. Australia is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, Coral Sea, and Tasman Sea. Kangaroos, kookaburras, and dingoes are just a few of the unsual animals taht live in Australia. Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales are three of Australia's states. Queensland is the size of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas combined. Australia has diamonds, gold, cooper, and other gems and minerals.