The Human Body is Built for Distance

Core Chemistry Honors                                                                                                                   Caroline Sorensen

Current Events                                                                                                                                     10/27/09

 

The Human Body is Built for Distance

                  Long-distance running has contributed to the evolution of humans. Christopher McDougall, an avid runner who has had his fair share of injuries, has studied and compared urban marathons to the marathons ran by the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico. The Tarahumara tribe runs sextraordinary distances on the Earth’s ground with nothing on their feet except thin-soled sandals. Mr. McDougall explains that the injuries runners have experienced from running in commercialized marathons are because of being over exhausted from training and the lack of exceptional running form from new high-tech running shoes. For example, approximately 40,000 people are scheduled to run in the New York City Marathon this coming Sunday, November 1^st, which consists of 26.2 total miles of running on the cement. Some studies show that 90% of the runners in training have already had injuries. However, the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico run marathons on their homeland, such as the Canyon Trails, for even longer distances such as 50 miles, and injuries are much less common than in the U.S. Since the human body did not evolve to run on hard pavement with padded shoes, injuries are a bigger factor today. It has changed the biochemical’s of running. Thus, people such as the Tarahumara tribe run the way the human body evolved to run, and have many less injuries then those runners in commercialized urban marathons.

                  The information given in this article effects athletes around the world because it relates to the human body. However, cross country or marathon runners should take particular interest in the facts stated in this article. For example, students on the cross-country team in my school are able to learn from this article how they can prevent injuries. In order to decrease the risk of getting injuries from running, people should train over long periods of time, including brief walking breaks. Also, running on a variety of surfaces in shoes with less cushioning can help restore the human body to natural running form.

                  This was a very interesting and relevant article to modern day. I enjoyed learning about human evolution associated with long-distance running. Although I personally do not run cross country, I know many people who do, and this article affects them and their training routines. The next time I witness a marathon in New York City, or watch one on TV, I will take notice of the posture of the runners. I think these facts about training for marathons should be shared with all long-distance runners.

How the Moon Produces its Own Water

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm


In the Apollo mission, water was found in samples taken from the surface of the moon. Scientists believed it was a contaminant. Since then, an interesting scientific question has been whether there actually is water on the Earth’s moon. The Indian satellite Chandrayaan-1 recently discovered that there is, in fact, water on the moon. The moon’s soil is called regolith. Regolith contains oxygen in the form of hydroxyl groups (-OH). The sun’s solar wind consists of protons. Protons may be viewed as hydrogen without an electron. The solar wind is able to hit the regolith on the moon’s surface because there is no atmosphere or magnetic field to protect the moon. Upon hitting the surface of the moon, the protons combine with hydroxyl to form water, or H2O. (H+) + (-OH) = H2O. The water probably exists as a thin coating on the regolith, not as a liquid. Another interesting observation is that not all protons make it to the moon. One in five protons rebound into space and join with electrons to become hydrogen atoms.

This discovery has a major impact upon space exploration and human life. Finding water on the moon is one major factor that could make living on the moon possible. The water could also be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen, which could be used as fuel for rockets in further space exploration. The oxygen could also be used to breathe. This discovery also raises the possibility that water may exist in other places not previously suspected in the universe.

This article was very well-written. It is important because it presents a new idea in that the moon is not, in fact, simply an inert rock. It seemed hard to imagine that there is actually water on the moon. Finally, it is interesting to learn the chemical reaction that creates moon water.

The Balloon Boy

This article focused on the balloon boy Falcon and his fabled “flight” in which he supposedly soared 7,000 feet into the air traveling 50 miles spreading across three counties. Even though he was found hiding in the attic of his house it was questioned whether or not this adventure was scientifically possible. Because there are no measurements of the 6-year-old Falcon or his fathers flying object the measurements are guesses based on the sights scene on the news. And if we assume that Falcon is 40 pounds than yes this flight would be possible. For according to Achmedies theory the buoyant force acting on an object submerged in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. And since the more volume a object is the more buoyant it is the balloon most likely would be able to carry a 40 pound balloon 7000 feet into the air. As long as the attachments to this flying craft weighed less then nine pounds this incredible flight would be possible.

The equations in this article were advanced and it would have made the reading easier if they were explained more thoroughly. If this occurred my understanding of the science behind the flight would have been more complete. Also, if the author had put more detail while describing the buoyancy of the saucer, for I was interested in finding out more on this subject because I am not aware as to what buoyancy is, and if this was described in detail the equations may be more intelligible.

This article showed me the wonders of science because I think that to take a flight like that would be incredible, and if a man can make a balloon at home then in a lab balloons like this could be mass produced using more science and so they could carry extra weight, allowing heavier people to enjoy a magical flight into the sky.

The Physics of the Balloon Boy

SPERM WHALES AS A CARBON SINK

New estimates suggest the mammals’ feeding habits help take in carbon

By Susan Milius

Web edition : Saturday, October 17th, 2009

In this article I have learned about how sperm whales are actually helping reduce carbon emissions, contradicting the old theory of how they made them worse. Sperm whales help reduce carbon emissions by pumping up iron into water that’s closer to the surface, they do this when they eat because after the whale has dived down into deeper waters to get its food it brings back a lot of stuff by the time it gets to the surface, some of the stuff is iron. This is good because it means that in areas where there is hardly any plankton the iron can feed the plankton that exists which contains carbon and even when the plankton dies the carbon remains in the water like a “carbon sink”.

This article is very interesting because our earth is going through a climate change, and carbon emissions are a huge part of the greenhouse gasses creating the hole in our ozone. So by knowing that Sperm Whales are actually helping reduce carbon emissions rather than produce them is an important fact when studying about the climate change. One thing this article could have done a better job at is making the article a bit more reader friendly; using more words that are easy to understand, and explaining exactly why the Sperm Whales were not big carbon producers rather than giving a bunch of points but never really saying it all together.

Towards Other Earths: 32 New Exoplanets Found

On October 19th, 2009 it was announced that another 32 exoplanets were found. Exoplanets are low mass planets or small planets. They have a mass less than the Earth and are also known as super-Earths or Neptune-like planets. The discovery was made by the ESO (European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere) and the HARPS. This is the nickname for a spectrograph on an ESO telescope which stands for High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher. This discovery makes the HARPS the most well known and effective exoplanet hunter since HARPS has discovered 75 of around 400 explanets that have been identified (about 19% of them). The significance of the exoplanets is that some of them have a similar atmosphere, mass and temperature and if they do there is a chance that there could be life on the planets.

"Towards Other Earths: 32 New Exoplanets Found." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. .

Alzheimer's Researchers Find High Protein Diet Shrinks Brain

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020192206.htm

This article centers around the topic on how eating a high protein diet can cause Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have recently tested on the effects of several diets can effect the brain by using a mouse model. Although scientist were looking for the brain plaque formation caused by Alzheimer’s disease from the mice, they were surprised that the result of a high protein diet led to a smaller brain.
The mice were either fed a regular diet, a high fat/low carbohydrate custom diet, a high protein/low carb version, or a high carbohydrate/low fat option. Reseachers then collected data on the mouse’s brain mass, body weight, plaque build up, and differences in the structure of their brain. Uncalled for though, mice fed with a high protein/low carbohydrate diet had brains 5% lighter than the rest and in some areas of the brain were less developed than the average brain. However, it is no certain that the loss in brain mass has anything to do with Alzheimer’s disease and if the data collected has anything to do with the human brain.
This article was simple and to the point. It was both informative and easy to follow. The subject itself was interesting about how different diets can effect the brain rather than in weight. Although, the article could have explained the background of Alzheimer’s disease and maybe could have given a few foods with high protein in it. Otherwise, it was a pretty decent article.

Schwarzenegger set to ban ‘energy-guzzling’ big screen TVs in California

http://www.prisonplanet.com/schwarzenegger-set-to-ban-energy-guzzling-big-screen-tvs-in-california.html

It has not been recently proven that wide screen televisions are more energy consuming than normal sets as the plasma high definition sets can use as much as three times the poser of small "cathode ray models. But now, in a world first, the Governor of California has decided to ban all wide-screen televisions throughout California. 

All television sets wider than 40 inches have now been taken from stores according to Doug Johnson of the Consumer Electronics Association. 

I believe this article was very simple and self explanatory, making it easy to understand. Although this is all good it was frustrating that not much information was given about the "terms and conditions" of this environmentally friendly action. 

Aspirin fights heart attacks, but daily doses aren't for everyone

Meredith Natsch 10/20/09

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/28/heart.aspirin/index.html

This article is centered around a story about how a man had a heart attack on a plane and survived, possibly due to taking Aspirin. A doctor on board who was trying to help only had a medical kit, so he gave the man, Ben Van Doorn, aspirin to try and help with the pain. Van Doorn later described the pain as a truck sitting on his chest. The plane took an emergency landing in Montana and raced him to the hospital. Though his heart stopped six times during the procedure, Ben Van Doorn turned out to be fine. 

The doctor that excecuted the surgery believes that there was a high likelihood that the aspirin contributed in saving his life. Van Doorn now takes 325 milligrams of aspirin a day, instead of just 81 like he did back in February. Today, about one third of the adult U.S. population take aspirin to prevent heart disease. However, most of these 50 million people do it without consulting their doctor. This is very dangerous, according to Dr. Mark Johnson, who is president of the American College of Preventive Medicine. He also adds that is isn't a universal good thing... for some people, up to 20%, it doesn't even have an affect and can negate the effects of other medications.

I think this was a great article, but it was a little long and dull. Otherwise, it was pretty easy to understand and no doubt about something universally interesting, because it relates to a lot of people. If I could modify this article just a bit, I'd make it less detailed and add some variety to what the article is about, because it goes on for most of it about one sub-topic. In general this was a great article, and worth reading.

For Fish in Coral Reefs, It's Useful to Be Smart

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/science/20creature.html?ref=science

In this article, “For Fish in Coral Reefs, it’s Useful to Be Smart” it explains that fish are actually a lot smarter then humans give them credit for. They have to distinguish between enemies and friends, and mates vs. rivals. They have to figure out ways to deal with their complex environments in which these things are very hard to do. Resent studies have shown that reef fish are very adaptable. The fish that are recently caught from the reef can much more easily determine things such as colors, patterns and shapes. This is because they have been doing this in the reef before. They also have a remarkable ability to learn, for example a fish took a test where he taped the correct shape with his nose, the first test he got 70 percent right, the second he scored 80 percent right and the third he scored 90 percent correct. This showed that he had learned his mistakes and was improving them. The fish also learned that when he got something right he would get a food reward which made him move faster and more correctly. The fish was even better at the color test; scientists think this is probably because in the coral reef the fish will be using their sense of colors more then their sense of shapes.

This article does not really affect daily human life nevertheless it has a significant influence on how we see fish. They aren’t the extremely stupid things that most people think they are. These small insignificant creatures even have “businesses.” Their job is to clean other animals; they even establish territories where other fish come to have parasites removed.

I thought this article was very interesting because before this I definitely thought of fish as very un-useful, unintelligent animals. This article was very well written; it captured the reader’s attention immediately with a story from the author’s childhood.

Fossil Skeleton From Africa Predates Lucy

Helen Parzick 10/19/09

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/science/02fossil.html.

In the article “Fossil Skeleton From Africa Predates Lucy”, which appeared in the Science section of the NY Times on October 1, the reporter details the discovery of “Ardi”, a skeleton unearthed in Africa in 1992. The skeleton was discovered by an international team and later analyzed by Dr. White of the University of California Berkeley and others leading scientists. The significance of Ardi is that he predates Lucy (the famous Australopithecus afarensis discovered in 1974) and is now considered the oldest fossil in existence. Ardi is 4.4 million years old; Lucy was 3.2 million years old. Until the discovery of Ardi, it was believed that hominids walked on all fours. It is clear from Ardi’s pelvic structure that she walked on two feet but had a less developed brain than Lucy. However, Ardi, like a chimp, possessed great agility. Scientists believe that the order of development of hominids progressed from chimp/ape/monkey to Australopithecus afarensis to Australopithecus Africanus to Homo erectus to Homo neanderthalensis to Homo sapiens

The article does not necessarily effect humanity on a daily basis however; it has a meaningful impact on how we view the evolution of Homo sapiens and our ancestry. It has caused scientists and evolutionary historians to question their long held opinions and beliefs. According to the article, scientists said, Ardi opened a window to “the early evolutionary steps that our ancestors took after we diverged from our common ancestor with chimpanzees.”

I thought that the article was both interesting and well written. Even though to some the terminology might seem confusing, I have learned about evolution and these terms in specific before. I found this article to be intriguing because it is amazing to me how one discovery can change so many ideas and beliefs, but finding Ardie helped link many gaps in evolution.

Wilford, John N.. "Fossil Skeleton From Africa Predates Lucy The New York Times (2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/science/02fossil.html.

(accessed October 19, 2009).

Exploring the Health Benefits of Pets

Hillary Hamann

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/health/06pets.html?_r=1

This article, “Exploring the Health Benefits of Pets” tells the reader that animals make a large impact on the health of many humans. It states that animals have a positive effect on the well being of children. For example, some children with leukemia that start to become depressed have dogs come and visit them. There has been a significant change in emotions among many cancer patients once these dogs have played with them and given them affection. The animal can be a companion to a sick or disabled child, or even just a pet for a sick of disabled child. Either way, the animal seems to be good therapy for human health and a positive addition in healing people’s mental state.

People that have animals with them, affects them dramatically. Autistic children function better by having fewer tantrums in public when their pets are present. Like a boy in the article, he was diagnosed with autism and because of the pet therapy; he is taking less medication to control his problematic behavior. This example shows, that in other disabled children, dogs can help their health. These results are making scientists in England and the U.S. study and get a better understanding of the interaction between humans and animals. These studies will show why some children feel better after relating to animals than other children. These animals “brighten them up” and are truly making a difference in humanity.

I thought this was a great article. It was articulate, interesting, and easy to understand. The writer was clear with the situation at hand, and did not fail to explain anything. The only thing I would say to make it better is to give more examples of other animals, besides dogs. I think it would have been more interesting if more animals were included in the testing and examples given to the reader. Overall it was well written and enjoyable to read.

Study Finds Purchasing Green Products Increases Your Likelihood to Lie, Cheat by Susannah Locke

This article is about how buying eco-friendly products can lead to lying and cheating in one's life. The Toronto University tested this hypothesis and concluded buying eco-friendly products subconsiously is an excuse for a good dead and would be acceptable to sin. The testing compared people who buy conventional products to eco-friendly products. Eco-friendly buyers made their good deed of buying eco-friendly products an excuse to sin in other aspects of their life. Cheating on poker or lying about one's age. However, conventinal buyers, had no excuse to sin.

This article is important to everyone, because the moral is one good deed does not cover up a wrong. Wether it is buying eco-friendly food and lying to helping a grandma cross the road and cheating on a test.

I believe the article is skimpy on details. The article states that the Toronto University conclusion is eco-friendly products may make one more likely to sin. The University does not seem confident in their conclusion and there seems to be "ifs" and "buts." Finally, it does not seem appropiate that university scientists are carrying out this expirement. A more appropiate scientist would be a pyschologist, because a pyschologist studies the brain and can observe why the brain reacts in an eco-friendly product enviorment.

Asteroid isn't Just a Dry Heap of Rubble

Courtland, Rachel. "Asteroid isn't just a dry heap of rubble". October 14,2009

In this article, it explains how an asteroid called 24Themis is important because it has water ice on it's surface. That's important because it relates to how Earth got it's atmosphere. Since Themis has water ice, scientists believe that an asteroid collided with it that had the water and gave Themis it's atmosphere. This theory goes to Earth as well. Themis also sits near an icy trail which is between Mars and Jupiter. This trail is important because it is believed that everything beyond the trail such as asteroids may contain ice. The trail contains an icy tail because of sublimating ice. Every airless thing before the trail has no ice because the sun evaporates it. Also, the largest asteroid, Ceres, has been confirmed to have water ice on it too. Ceres has an orbit close to Earth. Overall, scientists proved that there is evidence of ice because of the distance to the sun.

This discovery is important to mankind because it reveals life beyond Earth. These asteroids might have life which causes us to belive that Earth had contact with one of these asteroids. These asteroids have good evidence on them because of their place and conent. Also, scientists will continue to study these asteroids to find more evidense on life on other asteroids.

I was interested in this article because of it's content and detail. However, this article was stretched at times and the author didn't explain some interesting facts. Also, there weren't many examples. And, the examples were short themselves. But overall, the article was interesting and contained good dictation.

In Vaccine Additive, Benefit and Doubt

Chris Marasco October 7, 2009

Pollack, Andrew. “In Vaccine Additive, Benefit and Doubt”, NY Times 22, Sept. 2009.SectD

Andrew Pollack presents a very interesting and informative article in The New York Times entitled, “In Vaccine Additive, Benefit and Doubt”. The article discusses the controversial topic over whether adjuvant, a substance that could increase the volume and potency of vaccines is a safe and viable solution that should be used to help protect poor countries from the flu epidemic. The premise and focal point of the article is whether there is substantial safety data available for the substance and whether the U.S. has an “obligation” to use adjuvants to help poorer countries. The U.S. cites various reasons for its hesitancy to use adjuvants at this time. Dr. Goodman who is the chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration believes that “there is just more uncertainty”. There is concern that the new fears will escalate at a time when there are already problems convincing people to get the regular vaccine. It is also believed that the current vaccine without adjuvant is very effective in fighting the flu. According to the article the U.S. is already providing 10% of the vaccines to other countries but wants more substantial data before agreeing to use adjuvant.
In opposition to the stand of the U.S., the World Health Organization is requesting the use of adjuvant now to help increase the supply and help poorer countries. They cite that other countries are already using adjuvant and yielding positive results. According to the article millions of doses of the vaccine with adjuvant have been used and found to be effective in Europe. The proponents of using adjuvant feel the U.S. should help the poorer countries now, instead of waiting for more data. In response the U.S. is exploring the use of adjuvant as more data becomes available. The swine flu has forced federal members to look into the use of adjuvant; however, because it is not yet approved and emergency use authorization would become necessary if it were needed.
I chose this article because it is an important topic that can affect every individual and society as a whole. Flu’s and illnesses can affect anyone at anytime and it is important to have safe vaccines to try and prevent as many illnesses as possible. Finding the best vaccine and having sufficient supply for all countries would be the optimal goal, however, it is very important to make sure the vaccine is safe first. Whether or not Americans are “obligated” to use an additive vaccine before completely proven to be safe just to help other countries is definitely debatable.
Andrew Pollack’s article was informative and pertinent; however, at certain parts I found the article to be a tad lengthy and somewhat redundant. Whereas the article does show both sides of the debate pertaining to using adjuvant it still does not provide enough information to help the reader decide one way or the other. I found the beginning of the article quite clear and interesting but the latter part a bit confusing and inconclusive.

Renewable Hydrogen Production Becomes Reality At Winery

Heather Mercado 10-7-09

Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005161332.htm , October 6,2009

In this article it tells how scientists have found a way to renew hydrogen. This was found by an electrolysis system. There is a refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator will take winery wastewater, and using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy, this will convert the organic material into hydrogen. This was a demonstration to prove how we can continuously generate renewable hydrogen. An environmental professor said “The hydrogen produced will be vented except for a small amount that will be used in a hydrogen fuel cell.” The demonstration microbial electrolysis plant is a continuous flow system that will process about 1,000 liters of wastewater a day. The professor used electrode pairs consisting of one carbon anode and one stainless steel cathode in his system rather than an electrode coated with a precious metal like platinum or gold. If the voltage produced by the bacteria is slightly increased, hydrogen gas is produced electrochemically on the stainless steel cathode. The demonstration plant is made up of 24 modules. Each module has six pairs of electrodes. The bacteria that work in the electrolysis cells will consume either of these organic materials.
This article was important to me because I thought it was interesting how scientists came up with a way
to renew hydrogen from wastewater. I chose this article because I am very involved with recycling materials, and I thought it was interesting that now we will be like recycling hydrogen, from something so simple as wastewater.
This article was good however, I think it had to tell more about how the process of renewing hydrogen is done, like what do they do to the wastewater that makes it turn into hydrogen. Also it needed to be more specific and more detailed. I would have really liked to learn more about how hydrogen is renewed, and less about what is in the electrodes, which was mainly what the article focused on.

Body Posture Affects Confidence in Your Own Thoughts

By Nell McFadyen
Citation: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005111627.htm


A new study shows that sitting up straight gives you confidence in your own thoughts. Researchers found that people who have good posture were more likely to believe thoughts they wrote down while in that posture concerning whether or not they were qualified for a job. If they were slumped over, they had negative thoughts about whether they were qualified for the job or not. People think that sitting up straight looks better to other people. But, you also convince yourself that you look better; therefore, you have positive thoughts about yourself.

This article affects everyone in general. By reading this article, people will be more aware to have good posture. This article convinced me that having good posture will help me in many ways. Whether it’s thinking positive thoughts about myself or other people thinking positive thoughts about me, sitting upright, in my opinion, is the way to go.

This article could have been better if it provide a little less detail. I think the amount of detail in this article confused me and threw me off topic. I also think the people who wrote this article could have been clearer about what it meant to have “confidence in your own thoughts”. Finally, I think this article could have been better if they elucidated more about how they went about experimenting this. Overall, this article was very interesting to me.

Search for Water on the Moon by NASA

Investigation for Water on the Moon

Associated Press. “NASA is Set to Give the Moon a One-Two Punch.” October 8, 2009. NewYorkTimes.com

NASA is about to slam a used spacecraft into the moon’s south pole to kick up a massive plume of lunar dirt and then remove it to see if there’s any water or ice. This is happening to confirm the theory that water is hidden below the barren moonscape. The crashing spaceship was launched back in June, along with an orbiter that’s now mapping the lunar surface. LCROSS-short for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite-is headed straight towards the moon this Friday attached to an empty 2.2-ton rocket that helped get the probe off the ground. At exactly 7.31 a.m. EDT, the larger empty rocket, will crash into a dark crater on the moon’s south pole and result in a 6.2 mile spray of debris. Trailing behind that rocket is the LCROSS satellite, sending live pictures of the impact and the debris plume using color cameras. “It will scour for ice, fly through the debris cloud and then just four minutes later take the fatal plunge itself, triggering a dust storm one-third the size of the first hit. Within an hour, NASA will know whether the moon is hiding water or if its not. This mission is part of a 100 billion program to eventually return astronauts to the moon. As the moon gets crashes around this size about four times a month from space rocks, don’t feel bad for it. This crash is planned and at a precise angle and location. The crashes will also be viewable for people at home, live on NASA’s website. Astronomy buffs with telescopes living west of the Mississippi river are lucky enough to be able to see the crash, as it will still be dark outside. “People like explosions one way or another,” said Matt Benjamin, the Fiske Planetarium’s education programs manger. “And a celestial explosion is going to excite them.”

This event is obviously important to humanity, as the moon is very essential to our lifestyle. If the crash went wrong, which will probably not happen, the moon leaving our orbit would shape the earth. Some scientists argue that without a moon, life on earth would not be possible. Finding water on the moon would be a great discovery for mankind. This means that life on the moon could have been possible at one time, and it is a key resource if people are going to go back on the moon.

I very much enjoyed reading this article. I learned a lot about this event happening Friday, and I seem even more excited to hear what happens. Why I liked this article so much was the way they put in so much detail, but made it a pleasure to read.

Southeast Asian Droughts

No Citation Provided

The article I chose to write about is the droughts that are happening in Southeast Asia. One of the major problems is that Southeast Asia is so over-populated, there isn’t enough water to go around. Another problem is that some scientists say that the climate of Southeast Asia affects the amount of water they will have and the warmer Asia is, the wetter it is.

In the article the government and some professors did not state many ideas on how they planned to fix the drought, but one of the ways they did mention is to start making reservoirs.

One of the major problems for Southeast Asia is that the government is not taking control of the situation and fixing the problem which is small now but can turn into something a lot bigger.

One way that these droughts can affect the world is when Southeast Asia is in a drought situation it means many supplies, like crops, that are exported to other countries or continents may not be delivered and can cause hunger in other parts of the world.

I think that this article is poorly written because it doesn’t say enough about what Southeast Asia is doing to try and fix the draught problem.

I think that one of the things this article does do well is highlight the recent drought problems that Southeast Asia has had.

Jess Greenwald

The Polar Ice Caps are melting faster than we expected

Chemistry Kevin Flanagan
Current Events 10/4/09

The article I read was about the situation in Antarctica. The Ice is melting really fast and much faster than we’d expected. Scientists believed that the ice would melt around the summer of 2080. Recent studies have shown that the ice is much more likely now to melt between 2030 and 2050. This is a major problem for many reasons. The wildlife in Antarctica can only survive in Antarctica because they have been there for thousands of years and they have adapted well to the environment. The animals will die out because they won’t be able to survive in any other environment. Also the oceans will rise because of the melting ice and small islands will be fully submerged in water. This means that many humans and animals will die because of the melting of the ice in Antarctica.

"High Blood Pressure Tops the List as Chinas Highest Preventable Death"

Donald G.McNeil Jr., High Blood Pressure Tops the List of Preventable Deaths in China, October, 5^th, 2010, newyorktimes.com

This decently written article is about how high blood pressure is the top preventable death in China. This article shows the death rate of people with high blood pressure over the past few years. Most of the deaths though were occurring in the elderly population, and death was mainly cause by stroke, followed by a heart attack. This is an easily preventable death if people manage their diets and eat healthy. Clearly people do not think they are unhealthy due to the death toll. Though for the Chinese dieting is very hard due to all the salt they use in their cooking making this a hard preventable death to prevent amongst the Chinese people.

This article is talking about the high blood pressure problem having to do with Chinas population. Though this is an important issue, since China is such a large piece of the world population, scientists and doctors are mainly focused on the ongoing influenzas such as swine and avian flu, even though this brings high death tolls and consequences for the Chinese population moving forward. China could just be the beginning for this preventable death. It could spread to places such as the US and other large countries. This could prove a huge problem for the rest of the world a well, in the future because people are getting too confident in the new medicine developments. Also due to the recession people are eating more fast food which is high in fat and sodium. People around the world need to think about what they are eating because it could cause death over an issue many people think they can live with.

Overall I thought this article was not very well written and much too short. The author seemed to know that the medical world was focusing more on influenza than on high blood pressure. I also felt there was not enough information about certain things such as ways to prevent people from getting high blood pressure. I never thought that high blood pressure could be such an issue until reading this article. It was very easy to read and put its point across well, just with not enough information.

Scientists Study Effects of LA Wildfire

Archibold, Randal C. "After a Devastating Fire, an Intense Study of Its Effects ." The New York Times 2009: 1+. Web. 3 Oct. 2009 .

The “Station Fire” that occurred in LA about a week ago burned about a quarter of LA mountains. Now that the firefighters have left biologists Adam Backlin and Liz Gallegos step in to study the area. The stood in streams to collect Santa Ana speckled dace fish to research to see how the wildfires are affecting the wildlife. Another biologist, Diana Papoulias, did autopsies on the fish and discovered that flame stoppers and debris in the water may have killed many of them. The article goes on to talk about causes of wildfires and how the number of them is increasing. Yet another biologist, Robert N. Fisher, evacuated a colony of mountain yellow-legged tadpoles, endangered in Southern California, from a part of the San Gabriel River before they are attacked by rock and debris. They were taken to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, where they will be raised and later released into the wild. That move was a bit extreme, though. The scientists just want to understand the ecological aftermath of fires. “Hopefully, our science will start to show people that it is not just fire, but there could be problems for the frogs, fish and the runoff,” Todd M. Hoefen, a geophysicist said. “Wind and rain blowing the ash into streams and ponds could have an effect after the fire.”
This affects people that live near places where there are wildfires, like LA. The same thing that killed the fish could possible affect some humans. Also, it affects the wildlife of the earth and people should care.

The article was okay. It used easy to understand language (not much “science babble”) but it was kid of choppy (first there were 2 biologists, then another, then a geologist, another bio., geophysicist, etc.) What I mean by that is they could have organized by type of scientist so it’s easy to keep track of what angle they’re coming from. The topic wasn’t exactly riveting but, wildfires are important. And, hey, I chose the article in the first place.

Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on A Need For Water

Niko Doukas 9/29/09

Chem Blog

Water is a plentiful yet at the same time very important resource to us. Throughout time we have used water for a variety of things such as travel and to hydrate ourselves. In way, without water all of us would not be here right now. During these tough Economic times we need a plentiful and cheap source of energy source both to keep people in business and to provide jobs in a company that has a steady income. According to this article, with water, we can do all of this and more. In small towns of rural U.S., like Amargosa valley, Nevada we need breakthroughs such as this one. With the help of German developer, Solar Millennium, help can be on its way with their plans to put one of these water using, energy-creating plants in Armargosa valley. Yet when all seems good this is were the problem comes according to writer, Todd Woody. Water may be plentiful but in order to fuel just one of these plants it consumes 1.3 billion gallons of water per year. That is 1 third of all the water in the Desert Valley. BIG PROBLEM. Since so much water is needed we may need to buy from other countries. Buying from other countries could lead to problems with the U.S. For example, the U.S.’s oil crisis with the Middle East. Plus some people font want to take from the low supply of the already hungry people of the world.

I feel that using this new system of water and energy can be taken to both extremes. When most people hear this for the first time, like I did, they think that all of our problems are resolved for our high priced energy since water is such an abundant substance and it is. IF this does work it could be one of the greatest feats in efficient, clean energy producing industry. On the other hand, when it comes down to the cold, hard facts I feel that this new system should not be on the top of our priority list of experiments to help with our economic crisis. In my opinion this project will be funded and will be a huge failure. IF it does fail this will be a great concern to humanity since we will be consuming even more money, during a tough time and we cannot endure any more problems economically.

After reviewing this article I thought I was a fairly well written article, as it should be since it is after all in the New York Times. The author, Tom Woody did a great job of describing both sides of the debate towards using this new water system and produced a great article using true and useful facts.

Citation

Woody, Tom . "Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on a Need for Water." New York TImes Sep. 2009: 1+. Web. 30 Sep. 2009 .

Does Falling in Love Make You More Creative?

Tepi Ennis Thursday, October 01, 2009

Core Chemistry 9 Block C , Even Days Mr. Ippolito

Lieberman Nira and Oren Shapira. "Does Falling in Love Make You More Creative?"

Scientific American Online. 29 Sept. 2009. Web. 1 Oct. 2009

< http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=does-falling-in-love-make >.

This article, as the title suggests, discusses the associations in the brain between love and creativity. Within this article love is referred to as when one or two individuals seek a long term relationship and satisfaction from a partner. Thus, romantic love forces us to imagine things in a long term perspective. Having to think so far into the future helps our brains think more globally, of more distant and uncommon outcomes or relationships or ways of solving a problem (in this case, finding true love.) However, the article's theory is that it also affects every day problem solving rather than just that of finding a stead-fast mate. This is opposite for sexual desire which is merely that of lust and has an entirely different effect on a person's brain. Such a want does not take large amounts of time to assuage; it is a mind-set focused on the now, promoting short-term perspective. It is also believed that lust triggers more logical, by the book, analytical thinking.

Just to clarify the difference between creative and analytical thinking. Say one is looking for a present. Analytical thinking will be thoughts on what is most cost-effective, what will look better when presented, what they might need, more literal. Creative thinking will consider "what makes them happy" and this is what helps people to come up more unconventional gifts as planning a vacation together or writing that special someone a song. Both types of thinking are essential to our everyday problem solving. One doesn't need to be thinking creatively when one is, say buying mattresses.

To support its theories the article draws on the work of Dutch scientists Jens Forster, Kai Epstude, and Amina Ozelsel from the University of Amsterdam. Participants in their studies were each asked to think of a different scenario and then tested using three creativity problems and four that required logic (e.g., if A<B and C>B then what can one conclude?) Some were asked to think of a long walk with their loved one (love scenario,) others were asked to fantasize about casual sex with someone they were attracted to, but didn't love (sex scenario) and the others were asked to just think of a walk alone (control.) The results were as suspected. Those instructed to think of love were more adept at solving the creativity puzzles than those who were told to consider sex beforehand.

The second study was to test whether subtle reminders could also promote the same thinking. Participants in this study were told they were aiding in a study on attention and were shown different cards with words related to the different variables ("loving," "erotic," or for controls "XKJGI.") Creative thinking was measured differently this time: participants were given an allotted amount of time to think of as many uses for a brick as they could. However, the results were similar to the first test: those engineered to think of love were better at the creative assessment and those engineered to think of sex were better at the analytical problems.

The last study tried to prove that love makes us think of connections that we might not think of before. This is called the halo affect: connecting seemingly unrelated attributes to each other (e.g., "he's so kind to kids, he must love animals.") The study did indeed prove it's hypothesis once again and people were able to make connections even about the physical characteristics of a chair!

I chose this article, because I think as young adults this affects us since we are only beginning to experience the pull of mating. (God that sounds crude, but I don't know how else to word it!) This article is important to society, because for all of us and to neurologists and psychologists, love is still a mystery that we are trying to unravel. No one really understands why it can affect us so strongly and all the different effects. This writing also touched home plate for me, because I find psychology fascinating and I think that it is a good thing to understand how someone's thinking patterns can unknowingly alter themselves, because of outside circumstances.

The article presented an interesting case study, but I do think that it could have focused more on the studies first and given more details rather than explaining what was concluded from the studies in the beginning. Reading the first few paragraphs made me feel as if the author was presenting a theory, but really had no data to back it up. Before I discovered the "Go to Second Page" button I was left with a feeling of emptiness and the article seemed embarrassingly inadequate. However, the case studies are very good at backing up the previous arguments made and I appreciated how the article explored many conclusions based on the studies rather than just a one sentence, breathtaking fact.