Space Spiders

On the space station that is currently orbiting our planet, two creatures that are not humans are making their home. No, they're not aliens from another planet. The 8 legged insects are actually spiders, taken to space to see how they live in a zero-gravity environment. Other insects like butterflies have also been put in orbit in the past.

Recently, one of the spiders reportedly went missing from its box, but astronauts aboard the station assured us that the spider had not gotten lost in space. Astronaut Sandy Magnus suggested that the spider is just somewhere else on the ship, and will probably be found in the next few days, weaving a web in some corner. So for all of you that were hoping to read about the first spider to actually go into outer space alone, you'll have to wait a little longer.

As for how the remaining spider is doing on the space station... According to observers, it has been weaving a web in containment. Unlike webs that are seen here on earth, where the web is generally 2 dimensional, in space the web is 3-D and branches out in all ways of the x, y, and z planes. However, she said that the web doesn't look like much of a thing of beauty, but rather "more of a tangled disorganized-looking web" that isn't so pleasing to look at it. Later this month, hopefully both of the spiders will be returning to Earth, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

The NBA is Underway

The 2008-2009 professional basketball season began recently, and so far our hometown Chicago Bulls are looking like they could be contenders for the playoffs with a record of 3 wins and 4 losses (as of 11/11/08). The key move that they made in the past off-season was acquiring the guard Derrick Rose. The Bulls drafted him as the first pick of the draft out of the University of Memphis, where he became a leader in only his first year playing for them. He led the Tigers last year very far into the March Madness tournament.

As for my opinion on Derrick Rose, I have respected him as a player since 3 years ago when his high school (Simeon) defeated mine (Glenbrook North) in the IHSA playoffs. At the time, we were sporting a great line-up with current Duke star Jon Scheyer. Derrick Rose made Scheyer look like a little kid as Simeon won and went on to win state, all of this being done while Rose was merely a junior in high school.

Derrick Rose was a great addition to the team, but in order for the Bulls to actually make something out of him, he's going to have to figure out a way to be one of the main leaders on his team. If he can accomplish this feat, I have no doubt that the Bulls will be able to beat out Lebron James's conference-leading Cavaliers by the time the season commences. They could even make a run against the defending Celtics if all things fall in line.

As the season is beginning, Derrick's Rose focus is hopefully an sign of what the Bulls will do this season.

"All I'm trying to do is win the game."-Derrick Rose