R. W. BLAH

Flash! Snap! Picture taken, photo downloaded. Taking pictures may seem very easy now, but the fact is, like many other technology developments, photography has gone through a lengthy development phase. The word photography literally means ‘drawing with light’. We can see why if we take a look at the first camera. The first camera was actually a room with a small hole on a side wall. Light would go through the hole, and since it is reflected in straight lines, the image would be projected on the opposite wall, upside down. When the very first photograph was taken, the actor had to pose for eight hours-. Although, it was soon shaved to 15 minutes. But still, can you hold your posture for even 15 seconds? So, perhaps the next time you pose for a picture, you’d appreciate how fast and easy the way it is now. The lens takes all the light bouncing around and uses glass to redirect them to one point, creating an image. When all of those light rays meet back together on a digital camera...

Is this a sentence? Why are there so many buffaloes in one sentence?  Introduced by this Ted-Ed video , it is actually grammatically correct, but how?  There are three meanings of buffalo. The first is a proper noun, like bison. The second means to bully, and the third refers to the city, Buffalo, New York. To understand it, let’s add a couple of words. That would make it “Bison from Buffalo bully Bison from Buffalo who bully Bison from buffalo.”  Now let's say you want these bullying buffalo across the ocean. You could use a Ship-shipping ship shipping shipping-ships. Now what does this pile of words mean? Well, imagine a colossal ship-shipping ship that is shipping shipping-ships. However, a way to stop buffalo fighting on the ship would be welcome. A can-can dance contest seems like a good idea. Like always, some Can-can Can-can can can can can Can-can. Interesting, these piles of words are just getting bigger, aren’t they? Well, a can-can is a flamboyant dance. Can al...

Imagine this. A trolley is hurtling down the tracks toward five workers who can’t escape. Fortunately, you can divert the trolley to a different track with one worker who also cannot escape. Would you sacrifice one to save five? This is known as the trolley problem, a moral dilemma, a situation where there is absolutely no good answer. One study shows that 90 percent of people are willing to divert the trolley to kill the lone worker, while 10 percent say that they will keep driving. Now, consider a twisted version. You are on a bridge, with a man with a heavy build next to you. A trolley is heading down the tracks towards the five workers, who are somehow tied up and can not move. You, however, can push the man off the bridge and his body will stop the trolley with the brutal sacrifice of his life. Under such a scenario, which option would you choose? Not surprisingly, only ten percent of the recorded people say it is okay to push the man off the bridge. These two scenarios...

          I watched a documentary called Frozen Worlds , it was about the ecosystems near the arctic and antarctic. I learned many interesting things about animals who migrate there in the summer or live there year-round. Take the Antarctic as an example, which houses many species, including Penguins, Seals, Orcas, Whales, and Krill. The most amazing one in my opinion is the penguin, who is fascinating above water and intriguing under water. Below the ocean’s surface, penguins hunt for fish and krill. Above the water, they are brave, but also in constant danger, especially when they feed their young. Surviving itself is a challenge to many. As you might not be aware that the penguins are nowhere near the top of the antarctic food chain. Seals and Orcas hunt for penguins in the open sea. Not to mention that humpback whales have started migrating to Antarctica for a chance to eat the Antarctic krill, causing the population of krill to drop forty percent in ...

Have you ever been in a traffic jam? The last time I was, I almost exploded with impatience. Our lane was crammed with vehicles while the adjacent lane seemed to be moving faster than usual, annoying me with the illusion of going backward. Traffic Jams can be tremendously time-consuming, with the longest being eight days long, at a virtually standstill at 0.6 kilometers a day in China. The average commuter wastes fifty four hours in traffic a year! In a survey, half of the interviewed people said that the reason they were late to work was due to heavy traffic. Traffic jams are also expensive. The longer that jam lasts, the more gas is wasted, which contributes to the ever present global warming we are facing. As we sit in our cars moving at a mile an hour, we are slowly releasing more fumes and polluting the environment more.  What can we do in a traffic jam? Rule #1, calm down. Irritation doesn’t help anything. In fact, it can trigger traffic accidents to some degree. Rule ...

                  Have you ever walked into a room looking for something, only to forget what you were looking for? When you start concentrating on something else, you suddenly remember? This strange phenomenon is known as the doorway effect, which actually happened to me yesterday! Fortunately, there is an explanation. The doorway effect happens when you enter a different room. Psychologists say walking into a new room creates a mental block in your brain, which makes you lose your concentration, resulting in you forgetting what you wanted to do. The doorway effect occurs to many people like me around the world. Now while I am taking a break, hopefully I will still remember what I plan to do in a moment! 

                    The Mysterious Benedict Society is a popular award-winning children’s book. Written by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society was a New York times bestseller, won the Booklist Editor’s Choice, Books for Youth award, the Notable Children’s Books award, and the Texas Lone Star award.            The plot revolves around Reynie Muldoon, an orphan who sees an advertisement in the newspaper for special opportunities by going through a series of tests. Reynie stands up to the challenge. He realizes that the tests progressively get harder as they continue. The last academic test is so difficult that some kids start crying and whimpering. A few of the kids even leave the room. When Reynie is announced to be the only one who passes the test in his session of testing, he is sent to a room and he waits a pretty long time. Two other kids named Sticky and Kate who ...

          How did we create pollution? Pollution is definitely one of the largest problems today. But how does it slip through our grasp even though we try to prevent it?           Air pollution is a serious problem. Every time you forget to recycle a plastic bottle, or drop it in a lake, or just leave it in the environment, you are causing pollution. However, air pollution is mostly caused by factories, cars, planes, and fumes from spray cans. These objects are well-known today, and proof of that is that 88 percent of Americans own a car. Also, have you ever noticed that if you smell the air when a car passes by, it’s stinky? Most people have noticed that. That is air pollution through cars.           Not only do we cause air pollution, but we also destroy the things that destroy air pollution. The amount of trees being cut down is depressing, fifteen point three billion trees are cut down each ...

          Our technology is evolving, which means that more and more people have started wearing glasses. But are they actually good for you? We can safely say that glasses do more good than harm, but glasses have many pros and cons, let me tell you a few.           Glasses actually deteriorate your eyes, however, if you do not wear glasses, your eyes will deteriorate faster than if you were to wear glasses. Some cons include that glasses are not the best in contact sports, like soccer, basketball, rugby, football, and wrestling. However, not many who play sports need perfect eyesight, and there are sports like curling, archery, golf, and rowing.           Glasses, however, do more good than bad, so there should be a lot of pros, right? Well, yes, Glasses cannot harm your eyes as much as contacts or surgery because they never actually touch your eyes. They are also cheaper than contacts or surger...

          There is an ongoing cell phone debate about whether cell phones are allowed in the classroom. Bethel Middle School banned phones in their school from the beginning of the school day all the way to the end. Most administrators say that this was a very smart idea and approved immediately. Many schools followed suit and banned phones at their schools as well. These schools have reported better test scores after they banned the phones.           One study found that 95 percent of kids bring their phones to class, a staggering 92 percent text during class time, and ten percent of kids have confessed to having texted during an exam. A school in Utah banned smartphones and have confiscated 200 since they have banned them. They report that the test scores have skyrocketed since then.           I think that phones are not good for middle schoolers and if I were a middle schooler, I would not give...

The stock market is an important aspect in our lives. However, this complicated system has roots in medieval society. The first known example of a stock market came when Indian traders did not have the money to make long trading routes. Wealthy individuals would invest in the trading companies and get a share of the profits. These ancient traders accidentally started the oldest known origins of the stock market. Since then, the stock market has been growing exponentially. The stock market plays a critical role in our lives. It is so important that if the stock market crashes, it can potentially cause a global economic recession. Proof of that is the stock market crash in 1929, which led to a crisis that nobody will forget today. The Great Depression that followed the crash shows just how important the stock market really is. The stock market also helps society develop quickly. Without public investment, companies would have to rely on banks for money to expand. This can be a burden bec...