Future Scientist Grace Tran on...

BBUUZZZZ!  A BEE!!!

BBBUUZZZZZ.  You might know that familiar sound, the sound of a bee.  Most people know that bees can cause a painful sting.  But there’s more to these tiny winged creatures than you’d actually think.  Bees are like humans in many ways, playing many roles.  Every bee has a task, the three types of bees is the queen, drones, and workers.

The queen bee has one allotted task: to lay eggs.  She can lay as much as 3,000 eggs a day.  She defends her position through a secret substance that is from a tiny gland inside her mouth.  She smears it all over herself.  This mysterious substance is then licked off by worker bees, who depends on it to spread the word whether the queen is alive or not.  When words spread that the queen is no longer alive, worker bees prepare special large eggs.  When the new queens mature, they fight each other to the death.  Then, the champion arises and becomes the new queen. 

Drones are male bees, their job is to claim the queen in a “marriage flight.”  The queen flies loftily into the sky, followed by the drones.  One after another, the drones fall back due to their lack of rest, until one drone is left.  Queen and drone fly together for a brief moment, then the drone dies because of exhaustion.  The queen then returns to the hive, now able to lay fertilized eggs for about three years and starting many new branches of bees.

Worker bees have the most important job.  They are undeveloped females who deserve to be called “busy bees.”  They are constantly coming and going in search of pollen, nectar, and water.  These bees have an extremely masterly adapted body that includes a head, thorax, and segmented abdomen.  The rear legs allow them to scrape pollen as well as depositing pollen into baskets.  The sizable eyes allow the bee to see from quite a distance.  You may or may not know, bees have three eyes on its forehead, which these creatures use for looking at objects up close.  One antenna hangs from their triangular head, which provides them with a sense of smell and touch.

Worker bees are fascinating because in one short month, they play multiple roles.  For example, they play as a nurse for the hive.  Feeding the queen, drones, and larvae.  This is very arduous work, considering that the larvae alone can eat 1,300 meals a day.  In order to feed them, the worker bees must make numerous trips to and from the hive.  Another role that the worker bee plays is a scavenger.  As it reaches old age, the worker bee must fill its honey sac.  In order to do this, it must visit about 1,000 individual florets.

I would like to be a worker bee.  I wouldn’t want to be the queen bee because I feel like they’re lazy, only laying eggs all day.  That wouldn’t be fun, just boring.  I want adventure, to go out into the world.  I would not want to be a drone, who wants to chase the queen like your life depended on it?!  Worker bees are hard working and contribute a lot to the hive.

In brief, bees are interesting in many ways.  The queen lays eggs, the drones earn the queen in the “marriage flight,” and the workers truly deserve the title of “busy bees.”  I’ve shared with you what bee I want to be, what bee do YOU want to “bee-come?”

Nicholas Ng's...

Save the Day…The Modern Way! 

Analogies - here’s a thought-provoking one that makes sense and one for you to muse over: Surveillance Cameras in Public Places are to Public Safety as Santa is to Toys. What does this mean? Surveillance cameras provide public safety like Santa Claus gives toys. Santa’s toys make children feel happy and feel that someone cares about them; surveillance cameras in public places create a feeling of safety for citizens and signify that the government cares about its citizens. Furthermore, public surveillance cameras can alert the police of criminal activity and save taxpayers millions of dollars while ensuring public safety. Wouldn’t you vote yes for surveillance cameras in public places?

Surveillance cameras aren’t just there to watch the streets of your town or city. They can give a sense of security to citizens. Think about it, no one would go to a location where they know that robbers could be lurking around each corner and get away with harassing you! Surveillance cameras impede the minds of criminals. When these wicked people know that they could easily be caught, they won’t take as much of a risk to commit crime – resulting in less mischief altogether. This makes me feel safe wherever I am or go. Wouldn’t you feel the same way too?

Surveillance cameras help crime-stoppers to prevent wrongdoings from happening. Surveillance camera watchers can tell police when something unusual happens. The authorities can be alerted before a crime occurs. For example, if a suspicious bag laid in a subway platform and no one claimed it, the police would have been alerted immediately to inspect the bag, preventing a bomb from exploding and hurting innocent lives.

One can argue that purchasing these cameras is a waste of money, but isn’t hiring police to patrol more costly? It takes more money to pay policemen than it does to maintain cameras every year. Purchasing a good surveillance camera costs around $100. A police officer’s salary averages $30 an hour! Do the math. Pay $100 for the camera or pay $720 a day for the patrol! But who’s going to watch the surveillance video? You can hire surveillance camera watchers at $580 a day. This still comes to less than hiring police officers. Also, to patrol multiple areas, you need to hire a police officer for each location. With surveillance cameras, a watcher can oversee several sites at the same time. Surely, buying a camera is more astute.

When you are mauled, you want the person who hurt you to get punish for committing a crime. You take him to court. There, you will need evidence to prove this person had harmed you. Video footage from surveillance cameras has been used to persecute criminals. If you have proof, it is likely that the bad guy will go to jail. If you don’t, then he might walk free and can continue doing harm to others. How would you feel if you knew the person who ran his car into yours is on the loose?

Sociologists have found that cameras don’t reduce crime as much as they say. They only prevent a few crimes every year. Well, what if those violations weren’t videotaped? People could’ve been seriously injured or killed! When you have a deceased person’s family to deal with, that’s not good. Others say that the government should not be able to spy on us. If the police limit cameras to high crime areas in public spaces, then it is not spying; in fact, it can save my or your life. 

“Guilty,” The judge announced sternly. You, the innocent suspect is scared. What are they talking about? What did you do? Then, a person bursts through the doors with a USB. He plugs it into a projector and the screen shows a surveillance camera’s video footage of the crime. Ha! It wasn’t you. You’re now safe. If this was real life, wouldn’t you like to have someone bust through doors and save the day the modern way? Wouldn’t you like to see the real criminal go to jail? It’s possible with surveillance cameras!