4 facts about the bonding discovery

1) bonds that atoms have determine their properties, such as hardness, transparency, etc
2) applying strain during the bonding process can change the bonds that form
3) using optical spectroscopy and analysis, the researchers were able to examine what was happening on an atomic level when strain was applied to silicon during bonding
4) using strain can increase the chemical reactivity of a substance and cause it to make different structures

Alloys

An alloy is a mixture of two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal.  Most metallic items are actually made of alloys, not metals.  They are usually prepared by melting a mixture of the ingredients and then cooling them to form a solid.  Subsitutional alloys are when the atoms of the atoms of the different elements are about the same size and so they replace each other in the crystal.  Interstitial allotys are formed when the atomic sizes are different and the smaller one fits into the spaces in between the larger atoms.  One example of an alloy is brass, which is made up of copper and zinc.  Another is steel, which there are many types of, in some of which there is carbon and iron.

Color Vision in Birds

Five things I learned from the article:
1. Birds are sensitive to four or five wavelengths, while we are sensitive to three; we are trichromats and birds are tetrachromats or pentachromats
2.Some species of birds may even be able to see ultraviolet radiation
3.Birds have a higher proportion of cones to rods than humans in their eyes4.
4.Birds also may have double cones, and their photoreceptors may be different than humans'
4.In a bird retina, the fovea, where there are a lot of cones, is in a line rather than a circle, and there may be two fovea

Element Naming

When new elements are discovered, and then recognized by a comittee of  scientists, they are given a number, and then later the name and symbol are decided on.  Element names have to end in -ium.  Usually elements are named for famous scientists, such as einsteinium.  Until someone comes up with a name, and a comittee agrees on it, elements have names that derive from their numbers.

Glow in the dark millipede response

Facts I learned:
1)there are 12,000 discovered types of millipedes, and 100,000 types are thought to exist
2)millipedes are unable to see because of their many years of living underground
3)grasshopper mice are the most common predators of millipedes
4)millipedes are vegitarian and most often eat decaying plant material
5)bioluminescence is most commonly used by animals to attract mates or to attract prey

Evidence they used scientific method:
The scientists that conducted the experiment on Motyxia millipedes used the scientific method because they first asked a question, which is why do Motyxia millipedes glow in the dark.  They then did research and found relevant information about biolumiscence in other animals, defense mechanisms of other millipedes, and other information about millipedes, which led them to make their hypothesis that Motyxia millipedes use bioluminesce as a defense mechanism.  They then conducted an experiment to test their hypothesis, in which they placed non-glowing millipedes and glowing millipedes in a measured area, and waited to see if they would be attacked by predators.  They then gathered their results the next day, concluded that Motyxia millipedes do in fact glow as a defense mechanism, and then wrote the paper Bioluminescent aposematism in millipedes to communicate their results.

Glow in the Dark Millipede

The artice, Glow-In-The-Dark Millipede Says 'Stay Away', was very surprising to me because it does not seem to make sense that a millipede would use bioluminescence as a defense.  This makes an insect easier to see in the dark by predators.  Most other animals that I have heard of, such as camelions, use their colors to blend in with their surroundings so that predators cannot see them.  This seems like a more effective defense.  I think that the scientists that conducted the experiment may not be valuing one aspect of the millipede's defense, that "When they are disturbed, they ooze toxic cyanide and other foul-tasting chemicals from small pores running along the sides of their bodies as a defense mechanism."  This seems like a more effective defense than glowing in the dark.  I think that this may have had something to do with the fact that more of the Motyxia millipedes were attacked than the other millipedes.