The Guitarist and Sinking Ships
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Volume 2011-2012, Issue 5 Whiting Lane School Newspaper April ~ May 2012 “Weird But True” Edition Weird but True Story: The Guitarist and Sinking Ships By Joshua Sirman Here is a weird but true story. In 1991 a musician named Moss Hills was playing on a cruise ship, the MTS Oceanos, when the boat starting tipping over in high waves near South Africa. The captain gave the order to abandon ship and then he and the crew left without helping the passengers. Moss went to the bridge of the sinking ship and radioed the South African Navy for help. The Navy asked “What rank are you?” Moss said, “I’m the guitarist, and the crew is gone.” The Navy told Moss how to organize the passengers to be rescued by helicopters. Moss and his wife, Tracey, worked to help all the passengers get off the ship using rescue lines from the helicop- ters. Moss was one of the last five people off the ship. The Oceanos sank a short time later. The captain of the Oceanos was convicted of neglecting his duty and went to jail. Moss was a hero. Now for the really weird part. Three years later, in 1994, Moss was playing guitar on another cruise ship, MS Achille Lauro. During the cruise, the ship caught fire and started to sink in the Indian Ocean. Moss used what he learned on the Oceanos and again helped passengers to safety. Moss Hills survived two major cruise ship disasters in three years, but he still plays guitar on cruise ships and says he won’t leave the sea. Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/why-ships-sink.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos Whiting Lane School Newspaper World’s Largest Gummy Bears By Sabria Roggendorf Do you like gummy bears? The gummy bear is a gelatin-based candy that was first made in Germany. The world’s largest gummy bear weighs 5 pounds and is sold in the USA. Putting together 1,400 regular gummy bears makes a 5 pound gummy bear. These over-sized bears are 9.5 inches tall. The 5 pound gummy bear comes in 10 different flavors, including a mixed flavor. Some of the flavors are red cherry, blue raspberry, green apple, orange, and pineap- ple. They are edible, but don’t eat one all at once! You may need a knife and fork to eat these delicious snacks. If sealed properly, they can last up to a year. You can purchase them on the internet at www.vat19.com. People from all over the world can buy one! Source: www.vat19.com Wikipedia.org Page 2 Volume 2011-2012, Issue 5 Weird But True Twins By James Marks Have you ever wondered what happens to someone while you’re doing something? If so, read this amazing article. Two twins named Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were separated at birth, adopted by different families. The 2 different families did not know each other, yet they both named the boy, James. Both of the boys did not know the other ex- isted. They were both great at mechanical drawing and carpentry! Even weirder still, they both married a wife named Linda. Both of the boys had sons. One of the sons was named James Alan and the other was named James Allan. Both twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other woman that were both named Betty. Also strange, they both had dogs named Toy. These two twins found out they were twins on February 9, 1979, at the age of 39. Before then, both twins had felt an emptiness inside and both had been told by their adoptive families that they never had a brother. Do you think you have a twin sibling, too? Maybe a twin that you don’t know of is doing the same thing you have been doing all your life? Telepathic Twins By James Marks Think about feeling everything another person feels. Two twins have actually felt that. There are twins named Richard Powles and Damien Powles. On January 10, 2003, 8 year old Richard was inside a sound-proof room with one bucket of ice cold water. Richard plunged his arm into the water and gave a gasp when he did. In another room out of sight and earshot Damien felt the cold, too. When Richard opened a box hoping to find something edible, a rubber snake jumped out instead. Damien felt the surprise and fear Richard did. Damien said that, “he only had to tune into his brother’s thoughts and feelings” and he felt what Richard felt. Maybe if you have a twin both of you can try doing that. It may actually work. Page 3 Whiting Lane School Newspaper The Stickybot By Jack Haddad Have you ever heard of a robot that can climb up walls? The Stickybot is a robotic gecko that engineers have invented to climb all different types of surfaces. Getting a robot to climb vertically is a new challenge for engineers--most robots walk horizontally across the floor. My article is based on this odd robot called the Stickybot because I was interested af- ter reading a magazine article in Time for Kids. The article was about making items inspired by animals that people could use (for example, a shark suit that swimmers could use to swim faster than ever in the water, or a climbing robot inspired by a Gecko lizard that can travel up walls). In this case, mechanical engineers from Stanford University made a robot that mim- ics a Gecko. The engineers wanted Stickybots to work anywhere in any environment, and to be able to climb any type of surface. They recreated the Gecko's sticky toe pads so that the robot could climb. The engineers used "directional adhesion" (if you stick it on in one direc- tion, it sticks, but if you pull it off in another direction, it comes easily comes off). This is dif- ferent than the way scotch tape, duct tape or suction cups work because when you put those things on a surface, you have to peel them off. Mark Cutkosky, the lead designer of the Stickybot, explained it this way, " Other adhesives are sort of like walking around with chew- ing gum on your feet: You have to press it into the surface and then you have to work to pull it off. But with directional adhesion, it's almost like you can sort of hook and unhook yourself from the surface." The tail also helps it climb by weighting it and decreasing the load that the feet have to bear. The reason the mechanical engineers at Stanford University invented the Stickybot was so that it could be used for inspections of bridges and buildings in hard to reach places, surveillance, and even space exploration (it can cling to the side of a space shuttle!). I really liked the way the engineers used what they learned from a real gecko to cre- ate a robot gecko. I guess there are ideas all around us! For more information, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5lMJtQOKSY http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp? cntn_id=116297 http://www.gizmag.com/stickybot/16177 Page 4 Volume 2011-2012, Issue 5 The Salem Witch Trials By Camille and Juliette LaRock Have you ever heard about the unbelievable Salem witch trials? Two girls lived in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600's and accused other Salem citizens of being witches. The first accusers were Elizabeth and Abigail Williams ages 9 and 11. Some of the citizens who were ac- cused of witchcraft were Sarah Goode and Sarah Osborne, as well as a slave named Tituba. The accused girls were witnessed having fits, screaming, and throwing things. The accus- ers said they saw the "spectrum" of those they accused. Tituba, Sarah Goode, and Sarah Osborne were brought to court on March 1, 1692. Goode and Osborne stated they were guilty, and Tituba confessed that she had signed the devil's book. She also warned that there were more witches. In this case, all three women went to jail. Many accusations followed the trial on March 1st. Bridget Bishop, a known gossiper, was found guilty, and was the first "witch" to be hanged on Gallows' Hill, also known as Witch Hill. Gal- lows (wooden structures that were built specifically to hang people) were constructed on this hill. This picture shows the top of Gallows' hill, which is where many innocent "witches" were hung throughout the Salem witch trials. Have you ever wondered what happened during the court trials? When someone was sus- pected of witchcraft, they were put in jail until the trial. During their trials, the suspects were brought in with armed people guarding them carefully. They were usually asked to recite a prayer or the Ten Commandments. If they could not, they were found guilty! In most of the Salem witch trials, Elizabeth and the other girls started to have their "fits", and called out that the accused woman was pinching or biting them. The Salem Witch trials ended with 20 people dead (19 by hanging, and 1 pressed to death). The trials ended not because the people thought the accusers were lying, but because the accusers started to accuse good Christians and well-known people. Also, when George Burroughs perfectly recited the Lord's Prayer before he was hung, it made people question about what they really believe in, and who they believe in. Sources: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM.