Sam Powell

Federal Panel Backs Approval of New Drug to Fight Heart Attacks

Kolata, Gina. "Federal Panel Backs Approval of New Drug to Fight Heart Attacks." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 June 2015. Web. 09 June 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/health/cholesterol-levels-ldl-drugs-heart-attacks-fda-panel.html?_r=0

The article "Federal Panel Recommends Approving New Cholesterol Drug," written by Gina Kolata, deals with a recent development in the medical world that could prevent many heart attacks from occurring in the future.  An expert group recommended a drug to the Food and Drug Administration that could cure many of the problems with cholesterol that could lead to heart attacks.  While the demand for these sorts of products could be quite high, Dr. Joshua W. Knowles, a Stanford cardiologist, called the medicines “a triumph of the modern genetic revolution.”  If these possibilities are viable, then these products are definitely worth the demand and could provide revolutionary improvements to field of disease that has ur to be truly conquered.  Furthermore, the members of society that have consumed these drugs have seen a significant drop in their cholesterol and have said that "they have never felt better."  These indefinite opinions, while seeming to be solely positive, will not be proven into clinical trials in 2017, however.  This risk, on the behalf of the expert pharmaceutical group to put their drug out their before being tested could end up being a disaster.  A panel recently voted in favor of allowing doctors to use this drug, however, the naysayers say that the drug should not be approved until the clinical tests are finished.  This strive to put an end to these withstanding heart problems with hopefully prove dividends for the health of our society and the development of medical research.

This drug could provide a gateway into happiness for many who continue struggle with cholesterol. Personally, as have gone through a great amount of pain concerning several family members and loved ones that I have lost through heart attacks.  Although I realize that the past cannot be overturned, I would do anything to prevent citizens of our society from dying of these tragedies only leading to times of sorrow to transpire.  Furthermore, I realize that if this was to happen to me, I would do anything in my power to be on the receiving end of these drugs to lengthen my own life span.

The author does a spectacular job incorporating vital writing techniques, while valuing the the true meaning to this drug.  She uses quotations and reliable sources to decipher the details behind this drug and how it is going to affect medical patients in the future.  Furthermore, she acknowledges all the negative effects and risks to this drug, and how using the simple protocol might be more successful.  While all necessary components were included in this piece, I would have liked to see Kolata use a personal experience in which someone with these flaws used the drug and how it affected the person.  This would have heightened the overall meaning of this article, however this was very well written.

"Ultra-Flexible Tech May Monitor the Brain." LiveScience - Tyler Stupart

Tyler Stupart   6/9/15

Current Events 13

Q, By Charles. "Ultra-Flexible Tech May Monitor the Brain." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 08 June 2015. Web. 09 June 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/51131-flexible-tech-monitor-brain.html>.

http://www.livescience.com/51131-flexible-tech-monitor-brain.html

Traditional electronics are rigid, but scientists at Harvard University have recently developed flexible and stretchable electronics. In order to be flexible, these new electronics are extremely thin and have a chicken wire like structure. "Our new mesh flexible electronics are 1 million times more flexible than the state-of-the-art flexible electronics," Lieber told Live Science. The process begins with metal electrodes and silicone wires that are only nanometers thick. These wires are then woven into open meshes that are about the size of a postage stamp. Once the mesh is complete a variety of sensors can be hooked up to it and connected through outside wires.

This new technology has endless possibilities and could potentially lead to video screens that can be rolled up in your pocket, but right now scientist are experimenting with applications inside the body. This new ultra-flexible technology is the size of a human hair and can be injected into the human body via needle. Once inside the body, devices like these could monitor and manipulate living tissue. They could even map brain activity and help treat people with disorders such as parkinson's.
Mr. Quoi wrote an interesting article about a new technology that could change the world. He included quotes from the developers and make their points easy to understand. Mr. Quoi also gave the basic idea of how this technology was created but spent most of the article talking about it’s possibilities and future impacts. This made his review much more interesting because the reader was able to relate to the article instead of being confused by advanced scientific concepts. I enjoyed reading the article and hope to see this new revolutionary technology in the near future.

For Some Chimpanzees, Happy Hour Starts With Stealing

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/science/for-some-chimpanzees-happy-hour-starts-with-stealing.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience

Bakalar, Nicholas. "For Some Chimpanzees, Happy Hour Starts With Stealing." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 June 2015. Web. 09 June 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/science/for-some-chimpanzees-happy-hour-starts-with-stealing.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience>.

The article “For Some Chimpanzees, Happy Hour Starts With Stealing”, by Nicholas Bakalar, was about how chimpanzees found a tree sap that quickly fermented, and produced alcohol.  In West Africa, some villagers took cups and filled them with this sap.  In turn, the chimpanzees stole those cups and drank the sap.  It is reported and observed that they drank in groups and passed around the cup after each chimp has had a sip. Since the sap contains only 3.1 percent alcohol, scientists came to the conclusion that they might be drinking it for a nutritional value.  “Raffia palm sap is rich in sucrose and glucose, and the sugars make it palatable. Whether the pleasant taste motivates the chimps is unknown” said Dr. Kimberley J. Hockings, a behavioral ecologist at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford.

The effect that this research and article has on the world is little to none.  This research does not advance the world in any way, shape or form, except to amuse people.  The story about monkeys getting drunk may liven someone’s day, but beyond that, nothing is accomplished.

I think that this mediocrely written by the author Nicholas Bakalar, because it has good things and bad things.  Some of the bad parts about this article is the writing style and grammar.  There were some instances where the article could have been reorganized to make more sense.  Also, there were some parts of the article that needed less punctuation errors, and the overall grammar of the article needs to be checked.  On the good side, I really liked how the author used direct facts and statistics.  Lastly, I like how the author used direct quotes from professionals and scientists.  Overall, I really thought this article was interesting, even if it was just for fun.

Smells Like Hawaii (and Benzyl Acetate): Revealing the Chemicals in Glade’s Fragrances

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/business/maker-of-glade-to-disclose-chemical-details.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&_r=0

Abrams, Rachel. "Smells Like Hawaii (and Benzyl Acetate): Revealing the Chemicals in Glade’s Fragrances." The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 June 2015. Web. 09 June     2015.

This article written by Rachel Abrams discusses the recent release of information from the fragrance company, Glade. They listed the ingredients of their candles, air fresheners, and oils on their website. This includes the chemical benzyl acetate, which is not good for people to inhale. Many people have wanted to know the chemicals in such products. “Fragrance disclosure is a really big deal and consumers have been asking for it for a really long time,” said Janet Nudelman, who is the director of program and policy for the Breast Cancer fund. When Glade released their ingredients the representatives said, “We just feel that transparency in this area is the right thing to do.” Fragrances are usually listed as a fragrance rather than each individual chemical in them.

This article can give people reassurance that their fragrance companies are trustworthy and honest because Glade publicly released the chemical ingredients in their products. This could set a precedent for future companies to be honest with their ingredients.

I think the author could have included more background on this topic other than the one quote about people waiting for this information. More statistics and facts would allow the reader to understand this better. It would also be helpful to know what is going to happen in the future and what the aftermath of this new information was. Otherwise, I think the author did a good job of writing this article.

Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface

Current Events Article

Martha Thomas

6/8/15

Semple, Kirk. "Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 June 2015. Web. 08 June 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/nyregion/long-island-sees-a-crisis-as-it-floats-to-the-surface.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience

The Article “Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface” by Kirk Semple is an alarming piece.  Recently in Long Island about 100 dead turtles, and many more dead fish washed up on the shores of Long Island.  Even though marine biologists are still analyzing the carcasses trying to discover the cause of all these deaths, they predict that it has to do with the abundance of Nitrogen in the water filtration system, which must have somehow leaked into the Long Island Sound. Because both the fish and turtles had no visible damage scientist concluded that they were poisoned (by nitrogen).  Long Island has seen some sea animals in the past killed due to pollution, but have never witnessed such an epidemic that threatens the sea’s ecosystem so much.  The quickly increasing population in Long Island is a factor that plays into the need for so much filtration, leading to pollution.  Many scientists and government officials are going to extreme measures to ensure the safety of the Long Island Sound environment.  The local government is spending $383 million expanding and improving the sewer system, and Governor Cuomo set up a program at Stony Brook University that will try and create new affordable technology to prevent nitrogen to flow through the filtration systems and into the oceans.  

Climate change is an issue that endangers humans and animals worldwide.  Despite the fact that this is a global problem, here in America we don’t suffer as much from it’s effects.  Most of our goods are imported, and the factories they are made in are located across the world.  We force people living in other places to cope with the pollution that our luxuries cause.  I used to live in Hong Kong, an island South of China.  Hong Kong doesn’t have nearly as many commercial factories as BeiJing or other large Chinese cities, yet it still was greatly affected by the pollution given off by them.  When the API (air pollution index) was over 100, which it was quite frequently, my grade wouldn’t be allowed to go outside to play for recess that day due to the health risks.  People living in other places have to face the consequences of America’s wasteful culture.  The relatively minor pollution and death that Long Island is facing is getting so much attention, yet other places have even worse pollution.  This dying fish incident is an example of how Americans are absorbed in their own relatively minor issues, and can be blind to the great problems in other parts of the world.  

This article was very well written and easy to understand.  It was quite lengthy and provided many details about the causes of this issue and measures the government is taking to fix the issues.  Even though the author provided many important details he could be a bit repetitive at times.   Overall it was a fascinating article.  

The Secret to Aging May Lie in How Our DNA Is Packaged

Park, Alice. "The Secret to Aging May Lie in How Our DNA Is Packaged." Time. Time, n.d. Web.8 June 2015.

In the article “The Secret to Aging May Lie in How Our DNA Is Packaged”, Alice Park describes the discoveries made by scientists at the Salk Institute. A team led by Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte studied patients with Werner syndrome, a disease that rapidly accelerates aging. People with this disease carry cells that have loosely packed chromosomes that are located in the nucleus. This is a result of a mutation of the Werner gene that fails to organize the chromosomes and does not repair mistakes in the DNA replicating process. When scientists removed the Werner gene from a healthy embryonic stem cell, they aged prematurely. Their chromosomes loosened, as they would with a patient with Werner syndrome. Scientists hypothesize that how quickly someone ages depends on how tightly packed the DNA is.

Although this has only been done in a population of stem cells, in the future, this knowledge may develop medical technology to alter the packaging of DNA and slow or even reverse the aging process. However, further research must be done to justify that chromosome instability is the only factor to aging before scientists begin to alter genes in people.

This article was clear as to describing the how the chromosome behaves in a healthy person compared to a patient with Werner syndrome. However, the author did not clearly explain the role of the Werner gene. The author failed to write any statistics, for example, it would have been interesting to know how much quicker cells age without the Werner gene compared to healthy cells. Also, the quotes selected were redundant and did not add anything. Overall, this discovery is very promising and with further development may result in finding ways to lengthen one’s life.

Learning How Little We Know About the Brain

Learning How Little We Know About the Brain

By: James Gorman

By: Monty Howell



I read, “Learning How Little We Know About the Brain” by James Gorman. I thought this was an excellent written article with great facts and wonderful details about the human brain. This article taught me so much about many different areas of the brain. For example, I learned how much we already knew about the human brain, and how we could actually research them. This article focused on many areas. The first area it focused on is the research projects that are going on all around the world, trying to discover new information about the brain. It talked about specific projects and how the government spent up to $4.5 billion dollars on brain research each year. The article also talked about what we still want to know about the brain. Some of the questions posed were, “How is information encoded and transferred from cell to cell or from network to network of cells? Is information encoded differently in different parts of the brain?”. The article then moved into specific people that were researching this topic. For example, Edvard Moser was discussed. He was a nobel prize winner and brought the mathematical skills of a physicist into the field, and is able to plunge into the difficulties of dealing with actual brain experiments. Many different significant scientists and their work in various areas of the field had been discussed in the Article. The article and the research being discussed within in is so important to society. The brain is the controlling part of our body. The brain is the most important and most intelligent piece of our body. It controls everything that we do and how we interact. We know so little about our brain. Learning new things and gaining a better understanding of it is so important. Our brain is the very thing that controls us and obtaining a better understanding of it would be incredible. We are going through and age where we continue to discover information so often. Since so little has been discovered, our generation is going for major and incredible new discoveries about the brain and how it works, which will benefit society immensely.

I thought this article was very well written, although there are areas for improvement. I thought the way the author presented the information throughout the article was very intelligent and well structured. I also liked the way the author used so many specifics. Many different facts and statistics were used as well as specific questions on specific areas of the brain. For example, how larger groups, thousands of neurons, work together  to produce an action? Th article also focused on specific people which really provided great information. The vast use of specifics allowed the article to discuss such a variety of information on different areas of the brain. Although there were some areas where the article could improve. For example the article could be confusing sometimes. It would be so detailed and very in depth and quite confusing. This would make the article very hard to understand at times. If some areas of the article weren’t as confusing and in depth the article would have been a lot easier to process and understand. Overall, this article was extremely well written and contained so much valuable information.

Manatees in Crystal Lake

Griffin Garbarini        

Zielinski, Sarah. "When Swimming with Manatees, Mind the Herd." Science News. N.p., 01 June 2015. Web. 04 June 2015. <https://www.sciencenews.org/article/when-swimming-manatees-mind-herd?tgt=nr>.

This article was about swimmers in Florida's Crystal River. It tells a first person encounter with manatees. It talks about the lobbyists who rightfully protest swimming with these animals. People in the tour groups were educated on how to act around the “sea cows”, but tourists who had rented their own boats had created a lot of noise as well as many people. This article also brought up how the number of manatees is increasing while it is still very low. Something has to be done to ensure these numbers still increase.

This information is vital to me. I would like to become a marine mammal scientist in college. This means I would study whales, seals, manatees, and polar bears. In order to study these creatures their must be some left for us to study. It also created tourism which boosts the economy. Marine tourism is a big thing in florida and for them to not have some of it could impact the economy.

Overall I think this was an informative article. It told the reader about the situation in Crystal River as well as Manatees as a whole. The article also uses imagery and pictures to enhance the reader's experience. The article was a short though and could have told us more about what we can do to help the manatees. If I could change anything about this article I would have included an interview with a professional in the field to get their imput.

Californians Are Encouraged by Sharp Drop in Water Use

Hana Eddib 6/4/15

Chemistry C block odd current event 13

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/us/californians-are-encouraged-by-sharp-drop-in-water-use.html?ref=science

Nagourney, Adam. "Californians Are Encouraged by Sharp Drop in Water Use." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 June 2015. Web. 04 June 2015.

The article, “Californians Are Encouraged by Sharp Drop in Water Use” informs readers about California preserving their water to help decrease the droughts in the country. Governor Jerry Brown decided to make it mandatory for for Californians to cut back their water supply by twenty five percent. While people from California are struggling to reach twenty five percent, they did manage to cut back their water supply 13.5% which Max Gomberg, a scientist on the water resources board, said it, “showed evidence of a real effort”. Considering this is a non-agricultural movement, it was shocking to see more than half of the eligible farmers apply to the program to cut back water. In exchange farmers are assured they won’t face harsh cuts later. People have become so invested in this that farmers are trying to come up with ways to make this movement agricultural as well. Felicia Marcus, the chairwoman of the water control board, explains, “I’m sort of feeling like local communities are stepping up in a way they weren’t before”. However summer is coming up, the time of the year that Californians go through the most water. Marcus states that in order for California to survive they must continue to preserve their water as much as possible.  

This article is important for our country as a whole. It informs us that it is possible to decrease the amount of droughts in the country through hard work. If people were motivated enough to preserve our water, they could be able to challenge themselves to help save the earth.

Although this article was very well written I wish the author would have provided more background details. I wish the author could have provided when the governor Jerry Brown decided to present this movement and whether it was hard or easy to pass it. It would have been nice to be given a date or time when Brown felt the need to pursue this. This would help readers visualize the process to preserve water. It also would have allowed for readers to see if it was an easy process or just appears easy. However, overall I think the author did an excellent job at writing this article. The author included a good simple summary that anyone could understand and gave an overview of what Californians are doing to continue preserving water.

Researchers Hail New Cancer Treatment: Unlocking the Body's Immune System

Sarah Flanagan

Current Event 13

Chemistry 9

4 June 2015

Melvin, Don. "Researchers Hail New Cancer Treatment: Unlocking the Body's Immune System." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 01 June 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/01/health/immunotherapy-cancer-treatment-advance/index.html>.

For my current event, I read the article, "Researchers Hail New Cancer Treatment: Unlocking the Body's Immune System" by Don Melvin, which talked about a new breakthrough in treating melanoma and lung cancer. New research centered in New York has found that a combination of two immunotherapy drugs help to fight off some cancers by "switching the immune system back on" and allowing it to fight back. The two drugs, "ipilimumab and nivolumab, stopped the deadly skin cancer melanoma from advancing for nearly a year in 58% of the cases." Not only does it treat melanoma, a skin cancer that can spread to "the lungs, liver, bone, lymph nodes, and brain", but in some cases it was also found to help lung cancer. Even though the research seems to be all positive, 36% of patients have had side effects to the drugs, causing them to have to stop the treatment. The side effects mainly included "inflammation of the stomach and bowel serious enough to require hospitalization." Also, because this research is quite new, the long term side effects, if any, are unknown. The article states that, "Nell Barrie, a spokeswoman for Cancer Research UK, while calling the results "encouraging" and "promising," told CNN that much remains to be learned and the new drugs would not replace any of the existing cancer treatments." So all of the treatments used before should still be used now such as, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. 

This research is an amazing step towards uncovering the possible cure for cancer. It may not apply to all cancers and it also may not completely work, but it is still a gateway to new discoveries that could change millions of peoples lives. Dr. James Larkin, the lead author of the melanoma study, said "We've seen these drugs working in a wide range of cancers, and I think we are at the beginning of a new era in treating cancer." 

This article was very well-written and informative, but I do wish that the order of the paragraphs was a little bit different and that they gave a little bit more information on the drugs that were used. Instead of explaining in the article exactly what the two drugs did to the immune system and how it exactly helped, they had it in the video above. So instead of saying the drugs did, they gave a very brief explanation at the end of the entire article, saying that the drugs boosted up the immune system. The author could have definitely gone into more depth. Other than that the article was very interesting and I hope that this will provide us with more information about how to stop cancer. 

Climate Model Suggests Everest Glaciers Could Nearly Disappear

Nuwer, Rachel. "Climate Model Suggests Everest Glaciers Could Nearly Disappear."

The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 June 2015.

Web. 02 June 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/science/mount-everest-glaciers-melt-disappear-nepal.html?ref=science&_r=0

This article, “Climate Model Suggests Everest Glaciers Could Nearly Disappear”, by Rachel Nuwer, talked about the staggering impact fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions are having on our planet’s parts. Using an electronic model for climate studies, Journalists at the online journal the Cryosphere, lead by Dr. Joseph Shea, virtually created a glacier around the base of Mount Everest, with same outside affects that there have now. They imputed patterns of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere from the last fifty years, and calculated how long each glacier should last for. The numbers predict that the glaciers will be one percent of what they are now by 2100, meaning a ninety-nine percent loss of glacier.

The results of this study are incredibly important to humanity. Some of the largest glaciers are going to practically vanish if patterns stay the same, or even decrease. We have done so much damage to our world that we cannot go back and save it. Not only is this devastating to nature, but if we keep the earth warming up, what will happen to our own lives? It almost undoubtedly is not going to be good for us, but the only way to find out is to face these problems head-on, because we can’t stop them from happening.

Overall, this article was entertaining and fascinating to read. I liked the title, it was effective and captured my attention quickly. Although, I think the author should have included more information on what a huge spike in temperature would mean for common people. I wish she would have stated what these huge temperature changes are going to mean for the people of the world, and whether it is going to bring in new problems or make the ones we have now worse. Otherwise, I thought this article was concise and well-written.

Doctors Seek Test for Deploying New Life-Extending Cancer Drugs

Jack Kiefer Current Event 12

URL:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/business/doctors-seek-test-for-deploying-new-life-extending-cancer-drugs.html?ref=science&_r=0

Citation: Pollack, Andrew. "Doctors Seek Test for Deploying New Life-Extending Cancer Drugs." New York Times 31 May 2015: n. pag. Print.

The article I read is called “Doctors Seek Test for Deploying New Life-Extending Cancer Drugs”. It is about how there are some researchers that are trying to find revolutionary new drugs that can help cancer patients live longer. The drug boosts the immune system’s ability to fight tumors that cause the cancer. However, while this prescription is incredible and it can keep people alive for years, it only works for a small percentage of patients. The same researchers that developed this drug are also working on a test that can help to see if people will respond to treatment. This could save a lot of money for people who don’t actually benefit but try it out to see if they do. The drugs are also very expensive, as much as 150,000 dollars a year, and higher costs for higher doses. The test to decide if people will benefit from the drug is yet to be finalized, “For ethical as well as scientific reasons… it would be unfair to withhold the new drugs from patients based on a test if there was still even a slight chance that the drugs would help” (Pollack). The article also talks about drugs developed by a company called Bristol Myers-Squibb. This is a company that did a 945 person survey to decide which medication that they developed is the best; Yervoy, Opdivo, or a combination of the two. They found that cancer patients who took both of them only had a condition that worsened after 11.5 months, and those who took Yervoy had 2.9 months more without a worsened condition, while Opdivo patients had 6.9 months. However, 55 percent of patients who took both of the medications suffered from side effects like diarrhea and colitis, as opposed to 27.3 percent who took Yervoy and 16.3 percent who took Opdivo.  

Obviously, this article and these new drugs are vital to humanity. Over thirteen million people have cancer in the US alone. These drugs could help make many of these people who are suffering live for years to come, because, “‘... because these medicines have an effect that, in some cases, is durable for years”(Pollack). Cancer is a very serious and unpleasant disease. If these drugs and the biomarker that scientists are beginning to develop actually work, then it would be able to save a lot of people.

Overall, this article was well written. It had a lot of different quotes from scientists. Quotes are very important because they help give weight to your words and they back up what you are going to say. However, at times the ideas didn’t flow well. For example, Pollack is talking about how the new biomarker for the drugs, and then transfers into a 945 person study about drugs and how they affect people. Also, it seemed like he unnecessarily divided paragraphs up into smaller paragraphs. Besides this, Pollack wrote very well.

Critics of Soft-drink ads say Diet soda makes consumers more fat then fit.

This week, I read an article called “Critics of Soft-drink ads say Diet soda make consumers more fat then fit. This article was about how diet soft drinks may actually contribute to weight gain and not prevent it.  to stop those companies from branding artificially sweetened products with the word diet. “Consumers are using products — Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi — that are advertised to make us think they assist in weight loss,” says the petition to the Food and Drug Administration. "In fact ample scientific evidence suggests that this is not true, and the opposite may well be true." Although this evidence may well be true, the major soda companies, Coke and Pepsi, argue the opposite, that diet soft drinks are an effective tool to the overall diet. In a 2005 study of 164 children, found that the obese kids drank more diet drinks then the normal weight children. Also, another study looking nationwide at 10000 kids came to the same conclusion. This is a very controversial topic and could lead into bigger issues such as the use of aspartame, an artificial sweetener in food.

The USA is one of the most obese countries in the world. If the labeling in “diet” soft drinks is changed then it could possibly lead to a decrease in obesity. This topic is one that if changed could result in a huge change in American Society and would force americans to rethink their diets.

Overall the Author(s) did a good job writing the article. I felt that it could have been more clear in the set-up of the article because it is very choppy. The authors information was presented in a very nice fashion, and was easy to follow throughout the paragraph.  In conclusion, I feel that the author did a very good job writing an article on a very controversial topic.

U.S. Military Space Plane Begins a Fourth (Mostly) Secret Mission

Chang, Kenneth. "U.S. Military Space Plane Begins a Fourth (Mostly) Secret Mission." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 May 2015. Web. 01 June 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/science/space/secret-vessel-to-test-durability-of-materials-in-space-nasa-says.html?ref=space

This article, U.S. Military Space Plane Begins a Fourth (Mostly) Secret Mission, is very interesting. The article speaks about how the U.S military has sent a unmanned space ship into space on a mission with no revealed intentions. This is the fourth mission in the last five years. Past mission have varied from weeks to several months. The article in many instances speaks about how the intentions of these missions are unknown. Several people have made assumptions of why these missions are occurring. Several of these accusations, relate to the U.S making weapons in space. When faced with this opposition the  Pentagon assured the people of America that the reasoning for these mission was strictly for the purpose of learning more about the Earth's environment. The article then begins to explain how the U.S new model of their space shuttle, the X-37B, has revolutionized the space  shuttle. With this new technology, Scientists hope to learn more about Space, and the role earth plays in out galaxy.
The subject in which the article speaks about, is very essential and important to the Human race as a whole. When addressing the government sending ships into the sky, it important that we know what our government is up to. However, when not being told the true intentions of these missions, it is important for americans to keep an eye out for what our government could really be up to. Yet, when discussing the  space travels themselves and the new technology in space, it is very significant that we as humans are gaining a better understanding of the interstellar world, and how it functions.
I think that this was a very well written piece. I enjoyed how the author included several pieces on  how this can effect people in both positive and negative ways. The author also did an incredible job when addressing the U.S governments role in the topic, and how americans are unaware of what is actually occurring on these missions. Lastly, I think that the piece would be better if Kenneth Chang, put more opinions of professionals in his piece, It would allow the reader to obtain more information on the topic. Overall, I think this was very good read, and a well written piece.  

Shire, Maker of Binge-Eating Drug Vyvanse, First Marketed the Disease By Katie Thomas

Andrew Babyak                                                                                           May 27, 2015

Chem C Odd                                                                                                 Mr. Ippolito

Shire, Maker of Binge-Eating Drug Vyvanse, First Marketed the Disease

Thomas, Katie. "Shire, Maker of Binge-Eating Drug Vyvanse, First Marketed the Disease." New York Times. N.p., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2015%2F02%2F25%2Fbusiness%2Fshire-maker-of-binge-eating-drug-vyvanse-first-marketed-the-disease.html%3F_r%3D0>.

        This is a very interesting article.  This article discusses binge-eating as well as possible forms of treatment, specifically a new drug called Vyvanse.  Shockingly, many professional athletes can develop this disease as a result of the large amount of food that they have to eat after a workout or a game.  This fact was proved when retired tennis player Monica Seles became a spokeswoman for Shire, and publicly talked about her personal struggle with binge eating.  Ms. Seles promotes Shire’s top-selling drug Vyvanse, to treat binge-eating disorder.  You probably have heard of Michael Phelps’ absurd eight to ten thousand calorie diet per day and may have wondered how he consumes such a large amount of food per day.  Monica Seles trained to a very high extent, just like Phelps and even consumed a large amount of food too.  However, as the years went by, she was unable to control what she ate and her large meal plan, turned into a binge-eating disorder.  This article shows exactly how our diets can get the best of us if we are not careful.  Although Vyvanse is a great way of treating binge-eating disorders, there are many things about it that worry doctors and federal organizations.  For example, “Several drug safety and addiction experts said the approval was of particular concern because of amphetamines’ troubled history as a treatment for weight loss. Vyvanse is converted by the body into an amphetamine when it is swallowed” (Katie Thomas 3).  Vyvanse can be abused by many users as a form of weight loss or in the purpose of getting high, now that the general public knows about the glories of amphetamines (Thomas 2).  Although Vyvanse has some flaws in it, it still serves as a useful treatment to binge-eating disorders.  

        This topic has a significant connection to my personal life.  As a national level swimmer and lacrosse player, I consume a large amount of food and calories a day due to the amount of exercise and calories I do in my workouts.  I need to keep fueling my body with food or else my muscles will not have enough energy to perform at the high level of intensity that I need them to. Although, I do not eat as much as Michael Phelps, I still need to be mindful of what I eat and make sure that I do not lose control of what I am putting into my body.  

        Overall, I thought that this was a well written article.  The author included several different opinions of large organizations that pertained to the topic, which allowed the reader to see both sides to the use of Vyvanse.  The author also did a nice job of describing Vyvanse and its purpose.  Finally, I thought the article would be better if the author, Katie Thomas, included a brief overview of what a binge-eating disorder is and the symptoms and causes it has.  If you did not know what a binge-eating disorder was when you were reading the article it would be difficult to follow and understand what was going on.