Lately, in my science class, we've been dealing with explosives. We learned how to make uranium bombs in class. The process starts with getting ahold of uranium, which can be obtained by digging up ore from the ground, separating the uranium from the...other stuff, and making it into a powder called yellowcake. (Oddly enough, yellowcake was something I saw in the movie Get Smart.) Then the uranium is exposed to fluorine and is heated up to 56 degrees Celsius, where it becomes a gas called uranium hexafluoride. The gas is pumped into a centrifuge, which works like a merry-go-round/carousel... The heavier uranium atoms move to the outside and the lighter ones are gathered more around the inside/center. The lighter ones are the ones that are wanted for blowing things up. They are unstable and more fissionable than your regular old uranium atoms.

The uranium gets put into a bunch of centrifuges (in fact, about 1500 of them) so that it eventually reaches 90% purity (meaning the lighter and heavier atoms separated well and the uranium is easier to blow up), which is considered "weapons grade". The uranium is molded into a sphere which can be put into a weapon...As for actually setting off a bomb, that's not something I know or am allowed to be taught. o_o;; Otherwise we might not have a school anymore if some student was curious or vengeful. I mean, I think I heard someone suggest burning textbooks in the past.

I heard that you can't mention bombs at the airport, or some other place with security. I'm kind of curious what will happen if I do but at the same time I don't want to get in trouble when I have no intention of being a terrorist.

Anyways, we also watched some of a film called Kaboom! made by Nova. It talked about how explosives were discovered and developed over the ages. I hadn't known before that Alfred Nobel had bought a company that made guns or something like that. People thought he was being a hypocrite since he called himself a pacifist but made explosives, which served to kill people. Actually, he was hoping he could make a perfect weapon that would make war meaningless, but that didn't happen. And Alfred Nobel was haunted by the negative feelings coming from other people.

This kind of reminds me of the situation with Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner, but he wrote against slavery. This led to people considering him a hypocrite. But if he hadn't owned slaves, and had been an abolitionist, people would say, "You don't get it because you haven't had slaves." So it was either people didn't listen to him or they thought of him as a hypocrite. Not the greatest choices.

I haven't done much exploding in my life. Probably the most has been the typical experiment with vinegar and baking soda. Explosions are somehow captivating but are at the same time so devastating. They spread out so quickly.

Actually, I always think the adventure in the video game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which is called "The Subspace Emissary". You'll see a lot of blowing up of areas there. It was pretty fun playing that, actually. I remember I got stuck on a part where you have to figure out where to move and jump or you'll die. I ended up having to look up how to do it on the Internet...Ugh. I try to figure things out on my own at first, but at the first sign of trouble I turn for help (I cheat like crazy in some games, like Starcraft and the Sims). I used to be so proud because I learned how to find my way around web sites and other things all by myself. I wonder if I'm becoming more dependent as I age, not less.

Labels: alfred nobel, atomic, bomb, cheat, dependent, explosive, get smart, guilt, hypocrite, movie, school, science, super smash bros brawl, the subspace emissary, thomas jefferson, uranium, video games

I often have trouble finding desktop backgrounds I like. I may have complained about this in earlier posts...The screen resolution of my computers makes it hard to find a background. Even my old laptop, which I used to use a few years ago before it got slow and keyboard started deteriorating, doesn't have the 1024x768 resolution that is common of backgrounds, so I could never really find a good one. The background would get stretched out and ugly on the screen, or I'd have to "tile" it. (You may understand what I mean if you have spent time picking backgrounds a lot) This is the link to a site I found which has some nice widescreen, big wallpapers. They are mostly nature backgrounds, though. Click here

There is the possibility I could try to get a summer job. A friend of a friend has her own company, Gal with the Bleu Umbrella, or just Bleu Umbrella Co. The website link is here. Click here It looks pretty cool. Anyhow, there's two jobs you can have, either model or freelancer. Certainly I am not model material (except for that funny time in Mr. Blair's class, when he said "This person will be a model" and picked out MY name XD) so I suppose I will be a freelancer. Apparently, if I apply for the job and get accepted, I'd do things like host stuff for the Bleu Umbrella Co. Anyhow, it's worth a shot trying to get a job; I would like to be able to make some money so I am not always depending on my parents. They work hard and I want them to relax since they are "getting on in their age".

I've just started reading a book called The Prophet of Yonwood, by Jeanne DuPrau (from the books of Ember series, and I have talked about them in a previous post somewhere). On the cover many birds made a strange shape. At first I thought it was a fish, pointing downward, but then I took a look and said, "Wait a minute! That's not a fish tail! That's a nuclear bomb!" Here's links to two pictures so you can see what I mean.
Nuclear bomb (The grey/yellow thing)
The Prophet of Yonwood

My mom cares a lot about getting good deals on things. When she came back from Las Vegas before, she brought me a present, a plush dolphin! I love dolphins. They are my favorite animal. But then I took one look at it and thought right away that I'd seen it before. It had been on sale at Rite Aid for several dollars less than my mom had bought it for. My mom was quite mortified and had a rather strained look on her face. I know I'd want to save money whenever I can, especially if I'm getting the same exact product. But oh well. I like to imagine I am "adopting" stuffed animals and saving them from certain doom. (It's a great exaggeration, though.)

Labels: background, bleu umbrella co, bomb, books, clothes, company, cover, deal, desktop, dolphin, fish, interfacelift, job, money, nuclear, save, screen resolution, summer, the prophet of yonwood

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