Pharmaceutical Scientist

This is a podcast of an interview of a Pharmaceutical Scientist.

Podcast: Pharmaceutical Scientist

2012

Everybody must think that the world is going to end in 2012. This is due to the movie 2012, and the many theories that discuss the end of the Mayan calendar. Well, according to NASA, the world is not going to end in 2012. The planet Nibiru is not going to crash into the earth and a solar flare will not burn up the planet. Everything is fictional, and do not believe what is in the movie.

One person asks NASA, “Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012.” NASA explains that our planet has survived for over 4 billion years, with the thoughts that the world was going to end several times. So, nothing is going to happen in 2012. Another person wonders what the origin of the theory 2012 is. Replying to this, NASA states that it started when a supposive planet discovered by the Sumerians, Nibiru, was headed toward the Earth. It was expected to reach in May 2003, but when nothing happened, its expected date to reach the earth was changed to December 21, 2012, the winter solstice. Now, the beliefs lead to the legend that describes the end of the Mayan calendar as well. To clear things up, NASA explains that just as our calendar does not go farther than December 31, the Mayan calendar does not go past December 21, 2012. And the new calendar for us begins again January 1st, and another Mayan calendar starts to count a long-period.


The planets’ aligning is another hypothesis that people think could kill this Earth on December 21, 2012. The planets are not due to align for the next few decades, says NASA. And if they do, it will not affect our Earth. An annual event that occurs every December is when the Earth and sun align at the estimated center of the Milky Way Galaxy. This happens every year and will not do any harm to us. A meteor crashing into the earth is another assumption about what is going to happen in 2012. The Earth has always been in danger of asteroids and comets, and the impacts they cause. Big hits are very uncommon, and the last one that occurred caused the dinosaurs to become extinct. There are scientists dedicated to studying and watching for meteors, asteroids, and comets so there is nothing to worry about. Lastly, somebody asked NASA how they felt about the upcoming supposed “doomsday”. NASA replied asking the people of Earth, where is the science? Where is the evidence? You should realize that there is none. Just because movies, books, documentaries, and stories over the internet are made, these do not support that fact that there is no actual scientific evidence.


As you can see, there are many theories that the world is going to end in 2012. The movie, 2012, has most likely promoted the start of these uncertainties. Personally, I agree with NASA. There is no true scientific evidence suppoting the end of the world in 2012. But, I also disagree with the part about our calendar starting over and over every year. Many years ago I believe that we made our calendar, naming the months and days. So every year we assume that it is going to start over and be exactly the same. But, I strongly believe that anything is possible. I am not saying that I think the world is going to end in 2012, but I think that NASA is overestimating themselves. They cannot be sure that nothing is going to happen, and that the calendar is going to stay exactly the same. They just assume that. For more information on NASA and 2012 click here.


I got my information from:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33911941/ns/technology_and_science-science/

NCIS (Extra Credit)

My favorite TV show is NCIS, which means Naval Criminal Investigative Service. This connects to science because during the show the team is investigating the deaths of naval soldiers. The team is lead my Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and its members are Senior Field Agent Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo, Special Agent Timothy McGee, and Special Agent Ziva David. The other helpful members of the NCIS team are Chief Medical Examiner Donald “Ducky” Mallard and Abigail “Abby” Sciuto. This show connects to science in many different ways. First of all, Tony, Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee all carry guns. This is scientific because the properties of guns use science. They have bullets, which are made specially using different types of metals and chemicals according to the distance needed to shoot. Second, there is Ducky and all his tools. Ducky’s job is to examine the dead bodies of the naval officers and predict when and how the person was killed and with what. He opens the body, and looks at the bullets if they have been shot. He looks at their lungs, and many other body parts. In addition to normal autopsy, he also sometimes does a psychological evaluation. Overall, everything Ducky does is scientific. The most scientific part of the show is Abby’s role. She is a Forensic Toxicologist, and uses technology to crack codes, observes specimens found at the crime scene and in the body. She also sometimes recreates the crime scene. Abby finds a way to explain everything and without her, the many investigations would not be solved. She has numerous amounts of equipment to help her examine the objects given to her and she can do almost anything with computer needs. All in all, NCIS uses a lot of science. It is a great show and extremely educational as well. You definitely should watch it.

I got the names from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCIS_(TV_series)

Another Extra Credit

Yes, I would like the opportunity to get another 15 extra credit points.

Extra Credit Quote

"In Science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurred. "

Sir William Osler (1849-1919) Canadian physician.


In my opinion, this means that just because someone got an idea and researched it and did all the hard work, it is only right in science world. Now though the whole world has something or the other that has to do with science, not everybody will understand this idea. And, if the people of the world do not understand it, they do not believe it is true and will not publish it and make it known. So, the person that convinces the world that an idea is true usually gets the credit rather than the man whom the idea first occurred. When the world believes it is true, it is surely true.

I got the quote from here.

Density

Matter is anything that has mass and volume. Density is the mass per unit volume of an object. Density allows you to compare different types of matter, and is a very important property. All matter has density, and the density of different kinds of matter is the property that helps identify it from other types of matter. The formula for density is:

Density = Matter/Volume

Density is written as g/cm3 because matter is grams and volume is centimeters cubed. It is important that everything done in science is written in metric units because that is a universal unit of measurement. The density of fresh water is 1g/cm3. Anything with the density lower than water will float, like ice, and anything with the density higher than water will sink, like steel. Above are densities of common substances.

Some new information I learned was that density was discovered by the Greek mathematician Archimedes around 250 B.C. To see the full story click here. I also learned that density can be helpful in real life. It is critical for building ships, because they need to float on water as well as for building “lighter-than-air" crafts like hot air balloons. I also learned that density is a physical property of matter; for example, water and ice have the same chemical formula but different densities.

My opinion on density is that it is very useful and can be used in real life, not just in science class. Therefore this makes density an important topic to learn and understand. It allows you to compare types of matter, and every object has matter. So, all in all, density is an important property to learn, and I am glad we have learn how to find it, understand it, and use it.

I got my information and picture from:

http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=37

Differences Between North and South Poles

The North and South Poles and the areas around them, are cold and unknown to most commoners. Though they may seem similar, differences come upon them in many ways. The Arctic region includes Canada, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the United States, and Greenland, while the bottom is the continent of Antarctica. The arctic area is basically frozen ocean surrounded by land, while Antarctica on the other hand, is filled with mountain ranges, lakes, and is surrounded by an ocean. Also, Antarctica has about 90% of the world’s ice. That means that nearly three-fourths of the Earth’s fresh water is locked away there. This is because in Antarctica, oil drilling is off limits. Conversely, untapped oil reserves are found in the arctic region and Russia claimed it. Some people have thought of towing icebergs to the dry, quenched areas on the world.

Did you know that Antarctica remains the only land mass in the world that is not owned by anyone? Despite the pictures of flags on the South Pole, Antarctica is unclaimed. It is governed by the Antarctic treaty, which states that the land and resources will be used for peaceful and scientific reasons only. In opposition, the arctic region is very diverse in countries. In addition, the arctic is sensitive to climate change. In the summer, it becomes warmer and the temperature breaks the ice. While in the Antarctic, it is extremely cold and the snow never melts.

The final difference has to do with the future of our planet, the ozone layer. The Antarctic has an ozone [invisible] hole that has grown to be around three times the size of the United States’ land mass. On the other hand, the Arctic’s hole is not as big, but is growing. As said in the article, “In truth, there is no actual hole; the 'hole' is a region of severely depleted ozone, a chemical that helps protect the planet from harmful solar radiation.” This is saying that the hole is just something used to picture in your head, so you can visualize how bad the situation is. The reason why there is a larger hole in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere is because it is warmer in the Arctic, which limits the cloud that is killing the ozone while in the Antarctic it is the opposite.

Personally, I am glad I read this article. I never knew the differences between the Poles of the Earth. To me, they were both just two cold places that most people did not go to. Now I see the distinction between the two areas. It made me realize that we do not learn that much about these lands. For example, almost everybody knows about the ozone layer, but most people don’t know why or how it is destroying our earth, and specifically where. It made me take a new perspective on why scientists study so much about these kinds of places. They research and learn, then teach the rest of the world. All in all, this was a very helpful article to have read and I feel much more informed about our planet now.

I got my information from: http://www.livescience.com/environment/top10_polar_differences.html

Structure of the Earth: Plasticity Lab

Recently, we did an experiment on plasticity in the earth. Plasticity is pressure inside the mantle. In this lab, my group and I were suppose to make a mixture that introduced us to the form of plasticity. The materials used for this lab were cornstarch, water, 2 small beakers, and a spoon. We first put 5 teaspoons of cornstarch in one beaker, and 20 milliliters of water in the second beaker. Then we poured the water into the cornstarch, and stirred. It was difficult to mix this white mixture, and that means we did the lab correctly. The mixture was liquid-like at first, but dried to a solid form. A few of our group members put their fingers in the mixture to feel the substance. When they put their fingers in the mixture quickly, the mixture acted like water and did not do anything. But, when they put their fingers in slowly, the mixture made a solid-like formation around their fingers. Next, one of our group members pick up some of the mixture and played with it in their hands. When the mixture was in a open hand, it was liquid-like, yet when the person closed his hand, he said it felt like a solid. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that when this substance was under pressure and heat, it became hard-like, and when no pressure and heat was applied, it was liquid-like. I also realized that this relates to the mantle of the Earth as well. The mixture was similar by its movement. The mantle moves like a liquid, yet when added with pressure and hear, it becomes solid-like. The asthenosphere is liquid-like because there is less pressure that in the lithosphere, which is solid-like. This lab made me understand more about the Earth's mantle. Another odd job that happened was the cleaning up. We could not clean the tables with water, otherwise the excess cornstarch would get gooey again, so we simply had to wipe it off the table. It was something different that we usually do not do in lab clean-up. Overall, plasticity is very interesting. I wonder how scientists discovered plasticity and how they researched it and are still researching it. It is a very fascinating and pertinent topic to studying the Earth.

October Sky

The movie, October Sky was a very inspirational movie. It showed that if you really want something, you can achieve it. Homer, a child living in a coal mining community, has a very difficult life. Coal mines could kill numerous people, and were very dangerous. In a cold mining community like Homers', the coal mines owned everything in the town, including, houses, shops, stores, and schools. One member of the family had to be working in the mines at all times to live there. Homer's dad worked at the mine and believed the occupations to do after ending school were either getting a football scholarship, or going to the mines. Most people in this town believed in this concept of life as well. Homer, and a few of his friends wanted to think beyond this. With the motivation of his teacher, and the release of a new spaceship Sputnik (first shuttle going into space, built by the Russians), rockets became a fascination for these young boys. After several attempts, even after being kicked off their own land and having to find a clear space eight miles away, Homer and his friends finally launched their rocket. They had help from a couple of adults, but mainly figured it out themselves. Many people attended their rocket launching, and now appreciate Homer and his friend's dreams more. One day, his father gets into an severe accident at the coal mine and his dad could not go to work for a while. Homer drops out of school to support his family, because he doesn't want his brother to, and loose his football scholarship. His father eventually gets better and continues working at the coal mine. Later on, the mayor of the town baned them from launching anymore rockets because he thought one started a forest fire. Homer used math to figure out that it wasn't their rocket, and started working on the science fair rocket with his friends. They won the state competition and later won the national science fair and got a science scholarship. His dad finally starts supporting Homer at science.

This story connects to science and math in many ways. From rockets to the simple health dangers this movie shows, it is very educational. Homer and his friends use the physical science to build their rocket. Newton's laws helped them control the gravity and make the rocket go up, not down. The science fair in the movie involved many different sciences in every station. Coal mines also related to science because the people mining these mines used light underground, and the coal found was used for many different jobs such as creating a fire. In addition, Sputnik and the Russians used physical and earth science to launch their first rocket. They, again, used Newton's Laws, and also when beyond the earth's crust and got a look of earth for a far distance. Safety in the lab was also displayed, when Quentin and Homer throw something in the sink and another girl throws a match in the sink and all the burners in the room lit up. It showed this was the wrong thing to do and that you should never throw something in the sink without a teacher's permission. Lastly, the connection to math was the use of parabolas. Homer used parabolas to find the it was not his rocket that caused the forest fire.

Character Education is an important life lesson to learn. This movie, October Sky, and the characters within the story, showed C.A.R.E.S. characteristics. Homer shows determination because he was trying every way to learn about rockets. Quentin show perseverance when he tried every way imaginable to build a rocket, and was trying his best at it. Homer also shows self-control when his father is hurt and he has to give up school to work in the mine, which is not his favorite job to do. All of Homer's friends showed cooperation and assertion when working together on the rocket and believing that the rocket could fly sooner or later. In addition, Homer shows respect to his father, and listened to him when he said to fly rockets elsewhere, not on the coal mine property. Lastly, Homer showed empathy for his teacher when he found out she had cancer. Character Education was a large part in this movie.

This movie also had a personal effect on me. October Sky was very inspiring and promoted me to try new things. It showed that anything is possible, if you try your hardest. This movie got me interested in Sputnik, and rockets. It makes me wonder about the people working at space research facilities, like NASA. Overall, this was a fascinating movie.

Response: Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle Cell Anemia is a very dreadful disease. It affects males and females, and the patients with the disease are only expected to live 42-48 years of age. Some symptoms of the disease could be chest pain, pulmonary infiltrate, fever and difficulty in breathing. These symptoms restricts blood flow to organs, causing ischemia pain and, may also cause organ damage. Hydration and analgesics are treatment for this disease at the moment. In order to develop more treatments, the people researching must comprehend how sickle cell anemia affects bones, so that a new medicine can be developed, to prevent the disease from eliminating the bone marrow. The population that is most vulnerable to this disease is African Americans, where 1 in 5,000 are affected, as well as 3,600 Hispanic children. Personally, this made me wonder, what people like me can do for people who have this disease. It makes me feel very saddened by the fact that so many people are suffering from this disease.

Click here to see what post this is a response to.

Turner's Syndrome

Turner's Syndrome, discovered by Dr. Henry Turner in 1938, is a genetic disorder found in females. This happens when the X chromosome in female body is absent or, missing. Females are more vulnerable to this disease, unfortunately. Symptoms and possible complications of being a patient with the disease are, short neck with webbed appearance, heart defects, kidney abnormalities, various malformations, heightened incidence of osteoporosis, type II diabetes, hypothyroidism, swollen hands and feet, wide and webbed neck, drooping eyelids, dry eyes, and short height. Treatments for this disease are growth hormones and Estrogen replacement therapy, but there is no cure yet. Sadly, the expected mortality, or death rate of the disease is 3.6. Many females are not expected to live after the age of 17. This disorder affects one out of 2500 females’ worldwide. Personally, this disease made me feel saddened for the people that have it. It makes me feel that I am very privileged, and I would like to know what I could do to help these poor, innocent girls.

I got my information from:

http://children.webmd.com/turner-syndrome
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/birthdefects/risk/risk25-turner.shtm
http://www.turnersyndrome.com/
http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/40/2/97
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/turnersyndrome.html

Gamma-Rays Explosion

Have you ever wondered what happens 12 billion light years away in space? Think how far that is-our sun is eight light minutes away from earth and Pluto, the lost planet, is twelve light hours away. Now imagine how far away 12 billion light years are?! A magnificent blast of huge gamma rays just occurred in the Carina constellation, which is 12 billion light years away from earth. This produced energies 3,000 to five billion times of visible light. That is a lot! Scientists believe that this blast was as large as 9,000 supernovae-which is a very fierce explosion that happens at the end of a star’s lifetime. “Gamma-ray bursts are the universe’s most luminous explosions…” as said in the article. This was a big deal for scientists. “Studying gamma-ray bursts allows scientists to ‘sample an individual star at a distance where we can’t even see galaxies clearly,’ [Frank] Reddy [the astrophysicist] said.” In my opinion, if explosions like these keep happening over a period of time, even if they are not as big, it will help scientists learn about galaxies very far away. Sooner or later, I believe that scientists will find out if there is life on a planet other than ours. This just brings scientists a step closer.



I got my information from:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090219/sc_afp/sciencespaceastronomy

The Declining Russian Economy

The economy has affected more than just Americans last year. Russia, one of the richest countries in the world, has also suffered much loss threw economic reasons. According to the business magazine Finans, of Russia, the top 10 richest Russians lost over two-thirds of their fortunes over the last year. Many stock buyers such as Vladimir Lisin, Alexei Mordashov, and Oleg Deripaska, dropped from this list of wealthiest men. Roman Abramovich, on the other hand, did not loose his second place, but simply lost a lot of money. On the good side, Mikhail Prokhorov, had sold one of the bad stocks, Norilsk Nickel, early last year and went up from his seventh place in the list. In my opinion, it is a good and bad thing that stocks dropped internationally. The bad thing is that many people lost money. Alternatively, this was good because countries can’t blame other countries for the lost money because it happened all over the world.

I got my information from:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29224553/

My Roller Coaster Website

The Nightmare Scare

Earthquake in New Jersey

Late on February 2nd, a little after 10:30 pm, a small earthquake struck northern New Jersey. It was a minor earthquake, nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged. A seismologist, Won-Young Kim, says the earthquake had a magnitude of 3.0. On the eleven o’clock news that night, a resident of Rockaway said it “was not a typical earthquake.” He also said, “I’m a native Californian and I have been through several earthquakes. At the very second the floor shook, we heard a big boom, an explosion type of noise. It was like one, quick impact.” The police got many frantic 911 calls saying that people heard the sound of an explosion and houses shaking. Kim said that it was not unusual to have an earthquake in New Jersey. Forty-seven earthquakes have rattled, in New Jersey, since 1974. In my opinion, the earthquake was a big deal to most people in New Jersey, because they did not expect it.

I got my Information from:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090203/ap_on_re_us/nj_earthquake

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28997421/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28987317/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28986971/

(small articles)

Newton's Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton, during the years of 1665 and 1666, developed three laws of motion - rest, constant motion, and accelerated motion. Newton’s First Law of Motion says that an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion at constant velocity unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Constant velocity means the same speed in the same direction. Newton called the tendency of objects to remain in motion or stay at rest inertia. Inertia is the property of matter that resists any change in motion.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion shows how force, mass, and acceleration are related. Force = Mass x Acceleration where mass is in kilograms and acceleration in meters/second/second; force is measured in a unit called newtons (N). For example, 1 N = 1 kg x 1m/sec/sec
The Third Law of Motion states, that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, every force must have an equal and opposite force. Basically, all forces must come in pairs.
An example of Newton’s First Law is, when you are skateboarding, you keep rolling until an unbalanced force, such as your own foot or a rock on the ground, stops it. An example of Newton’s Second Law is, if you try to kick a brick wall it does not move, but when you kick a soccer ball with a kick of the same force, the soccer ball will move. This is because the mass of the brick wall is more than the mass of the soccer ball. An example of Newton’s Third Law is, when a rocket takes of from the ground. The rocket pushes on the ground to get pulled up.
In my opinion, Sir Isaac Newton made an important discovery in physics that revolutionized the way we think today. Newton’s laws still form the foundation on which all of physics is based.

I got my information from:

http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/index.html

Cool Waves

A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy from place to place. Energy in defined as the ability to do work. The material through which a wave travels is called a medium. Liquids, solids, and gases all are mediums. Waves that require a medium are called mechanical waves. There are two types of mechanical waves: transverse waves and longitudinal waves. Waves that move through a medium at right angles to the direction in which the waves travel are called transverse waves. These waves move up and down or side to side. The high point on the wave is called a crest and the low point is called a trough. Longitudinal waves are waves that move through a medium parallel to the direction in which the waves travel. If you imagine a spring toy, think about pushing and pull it on one side while holding the other. The parts on the wave where the coils are close together are called compressions. The parts where the coils are spread out are called rarefactions. Water waves use both transverse and longitudinal waves. A single particle in the wave moves clockwise. Rayleigh waves are waves that travel on the surface of solids. Rayleigh surface waves also use both transverse and longitudinal waves. However, in a Rayleigh surface wave, a single particle moves counter-clockwise. I am glad that scientists study such important things, to make us understand how waves work. In my opinion, I think these waves are the reason we see, hear, and do many of the things around us. Transverse and longitudinal waves help us understand many scientific phenomena in physics and biology.

I got my Information from:

http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html

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

History Takes a Turn: Obama Becomes President: The Inauguration of Barack Obama

The inauguration of President Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America, was a very historical day witnessed around the world. It was the day America had it first African American President. Everyone hoped change would come but never expected it so soon. Now, finally, change has come. As Bush leaves the President seat to Obama, we will be awaiting change to come from the new President of the United States of America.

The success of President Obama in history will not only matter on the color his skin but on what he does to fix what Bush has left behind. The horrible economy, the unemployment, the thousands without health care, the two wars going on at the moment, all are something that Obama and his administration need to fix. As said in ‘article one’, by South Carolina Democrat, “But after the Inaugural celebration ends, I caution the American people to have patience. We face many great challenges that took more than 100 days to create, and will take more that 100 days to rectify.” In other words, this person is trying to say that America must have patience. The many problems took many days to make and will take many days to solve. Many people are saying that Obama is like the new Martin Luther King Jr. He might be someone like that but in his own way. Obama will be his own person. He might follow in the steps of King, but in 60 years, historians and Americans will follow in the steps of Obama.

“Humility, gratitude, and sacrifice.” Right from the minute that Barack Obama assumed office he showed humility and gratitude, and set the tone for sacrifice by the nation’s citizens. He talked about three themes that are spreading across the nation – Economic crisis, wars, and the declining greatness of America as a country in the world. President Obama knows these are America’s issues for the near future and now that he is officially president he will begin take on the challenge. He called on all of us help him bring back America’s greatness as a nation in the world. Regarding our economic challenges, our new President wants us all to be more responsible citizens. Finally, he promised that America was a friend of each nation and that he would fight for peace and dignity.

In my opinion, Barack Obama will become a great president. With so many supporters, I believe he will get everyone to help make America the best. I wonder if he will do even better than that. Without a doubt President Barack Obama will be the best president America has ever seen.

I got my information from:

Article one:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_analysis

Article two:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090120/us_time/08599187273800

Sky Night Highlights

We all know 2009 will be the start of something new; new economy, new lives, new gas prices. But what about Space? The earth has made its full circle around the sun and is starting again. Now we wait for the “night sky highlights” to begin; 2009 has been forecast to be a year full of magnificent observations in space. One has already happened, on January 3rd Quadrantid Meteors, were supposed to be visible in the sky in the United States and Canada. In addition, the night attractions that we are looking forward to is the Planet Trio that will appear from February 22nd to February 26th. Early risers might get a chance to see Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars all settled in a circle next to the moon. Later in the year, on March 25th, we expect Venus as an evening and morning star. Other space attractions include the Occultation of the planet Venus on April 22, and on June 6th, the Occultation of the star Antares. Also, if you’re in Asia on July 22nd, you just might experience the “Eclipse of the Century”. This eclipse will be unlike any eclipse seen for at least another century! Everyone, down to two year olds, knows that Saturn has many rings, seen from anywhere where in the sky. But from August 10th through September 4th, Saturn will be on an extreme tilt, and we will not be able to see any of the rings! That will be an interesting spatial sight. Of course we need a telescope to view it. With the beginning of fall, starting on the night of September 2nd, Jupiter will be observable, through a telescope without satellites crowding it. My opinion is that this will give scientists time to study Jupiter in way that they haven’t been able to before. Also on October 8th, Mercury and Saturn will appear in close conjunction. Finally, to end the year, on November 17th Leonid Meteors will come into view and lastly on December 13th and 14th Geminid Meteors will come out. Personally, I think that 2009 will be a very eye-catching year, filled with new discoveries and adventures in space.

I got my information from:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28474566/