<ffi: rising issues>

Help Like Kelp Issue.

The largest and most complex algae, kelp anchor themselves to rocks with a rootlike holdfast along colder coastlines. Large air-filled bladders help strengthen the stipe, which can grow up to 300 feet. They are a coarse plant, brown or olive in color, with giant leafy blades for photosynthesizing food. Like ferns, they reproduce by alteration of generations.

Evidence has surfaced that live kelp helps control the harmful ozone. To eat, kelp is rich in vitamins & minerals, and is a staple in the diets of the Japanese. Alginates from kelp appear in films, gels, rubber, linoleum, cosmetics, paint, car polishes; organic derivatives make pudding, ice cream, processed cheeses. Kelp ashes are used in fertilizer.

--paraphrased from Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) 2006; (c) 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation

Watch the Star-crack Spread Issue.

Molten glass is plastic and can be shaped by means of several techniques. When cold, glass can be carved. At low temperatures glass is brittle and breaks with a shell-like fracture on the broken face. Natural materials like obsidian or tektites (from meteors) have compositions and properties similar to those of synthetic glass.

Safety glass, for motorized vehicle windshields, is made by laminating a sheet of transparent polyvinyl butyral plastic between two sheets of thin plate glass. The plastic adheres tightly to the glass and holds the broken shards in place even after hard blows.

--paraphrased from Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) 2006; (c) 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation

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