Summer Programs

We have recently received information on two summer programs available to students interested in pursuing the study of science over the summer months.

 

http://www.summerscience.org/home/index.php

http://www.seas.upenn.edu/saast/

The Brain, in Exquisite Detail

Gorman, James. "The Brain, in Exquisite Detail." The New York Times. The New York Times, 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/science/the-brain-in-exquisite-detail.html?rref=science&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Science&pgtype=article>.

Deanna Barch is a researcher at Washington University and she is trying to create a detailed, and interactive model of the human brain.  She and a number of other scientists are performing MRI brain scans and many other assessments through cognitive, physical, psychological and a number of other tests on the 1,200 volunteers.  The tests are designed to try to activate every part of the brain, and also to check for physical fitness and emotional states.  On a database called Workbench over the data of over 238 subjects has been released.  They call it the Human Connectome Project.  The brains are put in these databases for neurosurgeons and doctors to use as a reference.  They will be able to see extremely detailed pictures (detail to one and a half cubic millimeters) of all different types of brains.  This project is one of many new attempts at studying and trying to understand the mysteries of the brain.  Recently there has been a major push on neuroscience due to a large amount of government funding.  This has caused amazing advances in the technology used to understand the brain, and what we know about the brain. 

This experiment is going to be very beneficial to the world of neuroscience and will be able to help doctors cure many people.  There are many diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease that cause many serious problems and usually end up causing death.  Hopefully this database can be used to help find out why and where that happens, and what we can do to stop it.  This has already helped many psychiatrists because some of the tests were able to lead to discoveries about depression and what is happening in the brain to cause that feeling.  This database is a way for scientists to truly see the human brain but not just one, over a thousand different, healthy brains.

            I thought that this article was very well written, and thorough in describing the entire experiment.  It was very helpful to have multiple specific examples of how this research has and will help the world.  One thing that I particularly liked was the background of Dr. Barch and her commentary on everything.  It made it that much more credible and interesting.  There was a more personal connection.  One thing that I feel would have made this article better was if they removed some of the unnecessary information about funding and who or where it was from.  It just separated the interesting sections about the experiment and made the article more drawn out.  

Tide Gauges Needed for Research Are Often Victims of Storms

BY JUSTIN GILLIS

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/science/tide-gauges-needed-for-research-are-often-victims-of-storms.html?ref=science

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck the entire east coast of North America destroying almost everything in its path. An instrument known as a “Tide Gauge,” was tracking the over-sea levels of Hurricane Sandy (which reached about 11 feet over regular sea level) when the instrument suddenly stopped. It had been that the storms mighty waves and winds crushed the government-owned instrument to bits and pieces. There is now talk about different ways these instruments could be made to last severe tropical storms. “We know our stations are at increasing risk, because the storm surges ride upon sea level,” Mr. Gill said. So, the government has been discussing the starting of a long-term program that would harden the instruments for future storms. Right now, a agency caked the NOAA has built four super strong tide stations that are mounted on touch steel piling that has been driven around 80 feet deep and are designed to stand up to category 4 hurricanes, but there is not enough of these instruments.

In order to categorize different hurricanes, tide gauges are used, but now that all of the tide gauges are being destroyed in all major storms (aside from the ones just built) there is now no telling on how bad a storm could possibly be.  If we create an instrument that is strong enough to uphold the storm, climate scientists and oceanographers will soon be able to properly track storms, but there is one problem. The government estimates that this project will cost around 500,000 dollars for each new tide gauge that they build, which means that government will be spending money that they really don’t have, putting the United States in more debt.

This was a great article jam packed with details and information that I never knew was a big problem and it was exciting to learn about something new. I really like how to author included statistical data that really helps expand your knowledge exactly on the topic. One thing I wish the author included was more dates and times of when specific things were built, talked about etc. Other than that, this was a well-written article that I enjoyed reading. 

The Flood Next Time

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/science/earth/grappling-with-sea-level-rise-sooner-not-later.html?ref=science&_r=0

               For my current event I reviewed the article “The Flood Next Time” by Justin Gillis, this article was on the topic of how global warming is causing land on the east coast to sink into the ocean. Over many years scientist have been monitoring the global average sea level and collecting great amounts of data. After a little over a century, scientists now have the data to confidently make the conclusion that from 1880 to 2009 the global average sea level has risen by 8 inches. This may not seem like much, but even small changes can have large effects on how fast coasts around the world are eaten up by seawater erosion. Scientists have come to believe that the global average sea level will go up by a foot every century. This rapid increase has been caused by greenhouse gasses which humans have released into the atmosphere. Because these gasses will continue to heat up the planet, ice caps and land ice shall begin to melt at a faster rate. At worst by the end of this century we could expect a 5 foot increase in the global average sea level, again this increase would be caused by an increase of greenhouse gasses. Already some small towns on the east coast of the US such as Holland Island that used to have a population of 400 back in 1910, has now completely sunk into the Chesapeake Bay.

               The issue that this article discusses is very important for all humans for we all live on the same planet. Over many years humans have begun to destroy the planet that we live on by releasing large amounts of greenhouse gasses into Earth’s atmosphere. This article shows us what happens when we start to ignore the consequences of our actions. If we don’t begin to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses we release into the Earth’s atmosphere, we will soon see the world’s coasts disappear under the world’s rising oceans.

               I thought that this article was very interesting and incorporated a lot of details that helped support the authors’ argument that global warming will cause rapid coastline erosion in the years to come. The article itself was written very smoothly and had a flow to it, which made the article easier to read. Overall the author did a very good job in writing an article that made a point.

               

Rising Tide Is a Mystery That Sinks Island Hopes

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/world/americas/rising-tide-is-a-mystery-that-sinks-island-hopes.html?ref=science

Lago Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic is the largest lake in the Caribbean. This lake has been rising and devouring thousands of acres of farmland and what ever else is near. This lake threatens to consume towns like, Boca de Cachon.  There are many theories as the why the lake has risen so much. As of now the answer is unknown.

Jose Joaquin Diaz of the Dominican Republic believes that his brother Victor was taken by this lake. “ Victor committed suicide , shortly after returning from a life abroad to see the family cattle farm, the one begun by his grandfather, underwater”(Randal Archibold). The rise has taken a toll, around Enriquillo, an area more populated than that around Azuei. The government estimates that 40,000 acres of agricultural land have been lost. This is affecting several thousand families who have lost all or part of their only livelihood of yucca, banana and cattle farming. The main highway to the Haitian border was flooded and alternate routes had to be found. In the Dominican Republic the government doesn’t have the best track record and locals are skeptical as to if the government will follow through with trying to solve this problem. Landowners are also afraid that their soil will not be as fertile as it once was due to the flooding. This flooding affects families and their ways of life.  The crops and animals that are maintained on these acres of land are most families income. If they lose that they have nothing.

This was a great article.  It had great facts but at the same time lots of detail.  Through Randal Archibold’s writing you could see that he really cared about this topic.  I would recommend this article to anyone in need of a current event review or just interested in what’s happening in the world.

Oreos As "Addictive" As Cocaine in Lab Rat Study

Oreos As “Addictive” As Cocaine in Lab Rat Study

By Jacque Wilson, CNN

Scientists have thought for a long time that our brains crave junk food in the same way they crave other pleasurable substances, like illegal drugs. Previous studies in rodents and humans have shown that the same area of the brain that lights up on scans when people use drugs also shows in increased activity when the test subjects consume, or even look at, high sugar foods.  Some scientists believe that certain foods trigger the brain to signal for more, which is similar to the way addictive drugs prompt cravings, like if we don’t have caffeine for a while, we get headaches. Scientists tested this using a maze with two sides to test their theory. On one side, there were oreos and on the other, rice cakes. Another test was at either side an injection of cocaine or saline.  The rats were allowed to choose which side of the maze they went to. Researchers then analyzed the Oreo’s effect on the rats’ brains by looking at the number of neurons in the nucleus accumbens - the brain’s “pleasure center” - that were activated by eating. 

This study just shows that we understand why it’s sometimes difficult to resist junk food even though we know it’s bad for us, and reinforces the saying, ‘everything in moderation.’ I think that this is important to understand because food is a huge part of the way we live, and to know how it affects us in different ways is very important and can change our perceptions as to what we put in our bodies.

I thought this article was really interesting, because I had never thought of how severely the foods we eat affect us, and that food that we love is sometimes addictive. This article was pretty well written and included many details and vital facts about the topic it was discussing. Overall, I think this author did a great job presenting new information that might change the way we look at food.

Wilson, Jacque. "Oreos as 'addictive' as Cocaine in Lab Rat Study." The Chart RSS. Cable News Network, 16 Oct. 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/16/oreos-as-addictive-as-cocaine-in-lab-rat-study/>.

A Symbol of the Range Returns Home

“A Symbol of the Range Returns Home” By Kate Yoshida

In the late 1800’s, bighorn sheep were dying off from diseases they were not immune to, given to them by livestock that were brought from Europe. Diseases like pneumonia had swept through, killing large numbers of the bighorn population. By 1940, only 20,000 bighorns remained, scattered throughout the West. Recently, state wildlife management had done conservation work to try to bring back the population of these animals. However, large areas where bighorn sheep used to roam are now covered buildings. The population in Nevada began to grow again because of the conservation work, but again, the sheep were exposed to diseases from livestock near by. Limits on hunting have also helped to bring the sheep back. Now, these bighorn sheep are being taken to areas of low disease and hunting risk by helicopters in hopes that they will once more be able to thrive in their natural habitat.

Things like this are happening all over the world to many different species of animals. Animals die from foreign diseases or are hunted, causing their populations to decrease, in many cases, dramatically. Scientists understanding these diseases and the ways in which they spread could really help conserve species of wildlife.

I really liked the way this article was written. It gave sufficient background information and was very helpful in giving reasons why the populations of bighorn sheep were diminishing. However, I found the information to be a bit repetitive and some of my questions were left unanswered, such as, what will happen if this plan to conserve the species does not work? Overall, I enjoyed reading this article and it taught me something I did not know anything about!

Yoshida, Kate. "A Symbol of the Range Returns Home." NYTimes.com. The New York

Times, 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/science/earth/a-symbol-of-the-range-returns-home.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=science>.

You Can’t Take It With You, But You Still Want More

            In the article You Can’t Take It With You, But You Still Want More by Matt Richtel, it says that we have a “deeply rooted instinct” that makes us work harder for more even if we know we can consume it all. Many researchers have notice that with the rise of productivity rates ideologically humans should be able to work less than our ancestors but still be able to live just as comfortably. A study was conducted that splitting up a group of people. These people were told they could listen to 2 choices of music and if the chose the louder music they could get chocolate. One group of people could listen to less music and earn more chocolate. In the second part of the experiment when they could eat the chocolate they earned, they were first asked to guess how many chocolates they could consume most said around 4. When they got their chocolates they earned almost triple.

          I thought this was a very interesting study because it says that we are working more than necessary to get what we need to live comfortably. I think now that more people know about this the amount of hours people spend working might go down but I also think this could be a very hard habit to break.

            This article was really interesting to read, it taught me a lot about the human work ethic and why some people are unhappy without even knowing why. While this article had a lot of information it could still be a little hard to understand at times. Overall it was a pretty good article.