A Ton of Crap (133 page)

LOGARITHMS

Basic Rules of Logarithms
Just like you can add exponents when there is the same base, logarithms follow a similar rule. Here are the three main rules for logarithms. Note, these only work when the bases are identical:

log
_b
(
m
) + log
_b
(
n
) = log
_b
(
mn
)

This means that when adding logs with the same base, you multiply the numbers inside of the log.

log
_b
(
m
) – log
_b
(
n
) = log
_b
(
m
/
n
)

When subtracting logs with the same base, divide the numbers inside the logs

n
 • log
_b
(
m
) = log
_b
(
mn
)

When there is a multiplier, it turns into an exponent on everything that is in the log, and vice versa.

RNA

Ribosomal RNA
Ribosomes create proteins. A part of the ribosome is known as ribosomal RNA, or rRNA. This type of RNA creates polypeptides (which are groups of amino acids that proteins are made of). A ribosome is an extremely small structure found in the cytoplasm. The ribosome has two subunits, and both of the units contain ribosomal RNA and protein. However, from these units, a startling discovery has been made, leading scientists to believe that the origin of life lies in RNA. This is because the larger of the two units of the ribosome features a chemical reaction. This chemical reaction turns genetic information into the beginning of the proteins, and only rRNA is located there.

ENDANGERED LANGUAGES

Votic
Votic is spoken by the Votes people of Ingria (which is part of Russia). It is related to Estonian and is part of the Finnic subgroup within the Uralic language family. It is only spoken in two villages, Krakolye and Luzhitsy, and by 2005, only twenty speakers remained.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

Terror from Palestine
Many Palestinian parties and underground groups were created with the sole intention of destroying Israel through violence. The Palestine Liberation Organization is the only group that has renounced this and honors the right of Israel to exist. As a result, Israel allowed the Palestine Liberation Organization to enter the Gaza Strip and West Bank. From this action, most of the area is independently controlled by Palestinians. Palestinian terrorism has continued, however, by those objecting to the agreements made by the PLO. The violence and resistance of the Palestinians against the Israelis became known as “Intifada.”

EDITING STRATEGIES

Start with the Sentences
Look at your sentences carefully. This does not mean simply looking over sentences to see if there are any typos (which you’ll get to later on). Pay attention to the punctuation you have included in your writing. Errors can be distracting for readers. Do any sentences seem clichéd or hackneyed? Make every sentence count. If you are finding sentences that don’t seem to have any meaning, get rid of them or rewrite them so that they have a purpose. Eliminate any wordiness or repetition that does not help your writing. If every sentence begins with the same word, change it up a bit to keep it more exciting.

LOGARITHMS

Expanding Logarithms
When logs have a lot of information in them, they should be taken apart by using the rules until each log only has one thing inside of it.

For example, if you want to expand log3(4
x
), you break it down as this:

log
₃
(4) + log
₃
(
x
) = log
₃
(4
x
)

Your answer is log
₃
(4) + log
₃
(
x
). You should not try to then find the value of log
₃
(4) in your calculator, but rather, leave it as is. Here is another example:

log
₅
(25/
x
) = log
₅
(25) – log
₅
(
x
)

log
₅
(25/
x
) = 2 – log
₅
(
x
)

RNA

Transfer RNA
Transfer RNA, also known as tRNA, is responsible for reading the code and carrying amino acids that will go into the developing protein. Every amino acid has transfer RNA, and there are around twenty different tRNAs. The transfer RNA has an anticodon that reads the codon of the messenger RNA. The reading process occurs by matching base pairs with hydrogen bonds. All transfer RNAs have anywhere from seventy-five to ninety-five nucleotides. Transfer RNAs have also been known to be used in processes other than ribosome-dependent translation.

ENDANGERED LANGUAGES

Dyirbal
Dyirbal is an Aboriginal language of Australia and a member of the Pama–Nyungan language family. Dyirbal is spoken in northeast Queensland by a total of five people. The language is well known to linguists due to its features. There are only four places of articulation in Dyirbal, compared to other Aboriginal languages, which feature six. However, what really makes this language famous is its noun class system, which features four different types: man and animate objects, women, violence and fire, fruit and vegetables, and anything else that is considered miscellaneous.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT