New composite protects from high mechanical stress.

Fabian Kerj

1/22/15

New composite protects from high mechanical stress.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150119083004.htm

            This article is about researchers from the INM institute and their new material. The material is a type of repellant against harsh mechanical stress such as wheels or engines. It is also used to fight natural elements such as rain, sand, and salt. This composite is meant to be used for vehicles mainly to protect their condition, and therefore a longer mechanical lifespan. The author goes on by talking about the release of the composite which took place in japan. They are now hoping to sell their product to commercial car companies.

            This product is good for humanity because it will make the desire for cars go down. This is because as the life span of cars increases less will be sold, therefore less cars will be scrapped, resulting in a more green earth. This is significant because of the environmental issues that we are facing today.

            The author gives a good summary about the product though leaves out some important information such as the making of the product, the people that made it, and detailed plans for the creator’s future. All of these would have given me a better understanding of the topic. The author also lacks quotes. This author did a pretty good job though there is room for improvement.

Eight new planets might be capable of hosting life

Maggie Miller                                                                                                1/22/15

Chem odd EF                                                                                                CE12

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/06/us/us-new-planets-1/index.html

Eight new planets might be capable of hosting life, by Stephanie Gallman and Steve Almasy

            In the CNN article “Eight new planets might be capable of hosting life, by Stephanie Gallman and Steve Almasy,” by Stephanie Gallman and Steve Almasy, the wonders of eight newly discovered planets are discussed. Along with the eight plants focused on mainly by this article, 1,000 other planets were said to have been identified. These eight planets are referred to as Kepler-438b, Kepler-442b, Kepler-440b, Kepler-186f, Kepler-62f, Kepler-62e, Kepler-296e, and Kepler-296f. Out of the eight, Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b are estimated to be the most habitable for humans, however all planets are much too far for us to travel to anytime soon. The article stated that Kepler-438b is estimated to be about 470 light-years away, while Kepler-442b about 1,100 light-years away. The article said that not only are we too far to travel to them, but also are still multiple generations of telescopes away from just seeing them. The article stated that, “Kepler-438b's diameter is 12% bigger than Earth and has a 70% chance of being rocky, which means the surface of the planet appears to be like Earth's. Kepler-442b is about one-third larger than Earth with a 60% chance of being rocky. Scientists give it a 97% chance of being in the habitable zone, but caution that the estimates aren't certain.”

            These new planets hold great potential as a possible planet for humans to live on, if it were necessary for us to leave the Earth. It is not certain that these planets are capable of life, but it is being investigated. There are many years ahead of us before we can know for sure if these planets are what they are described to be, but with patience and time we will be reassured soon enough.

            This article was well written and provided a sufficient amount of information, which together got the point of the article across clearly, which was to spread awareness of a potential home in the future. It quoted multiple experts on the topic stating their opinion and view on the topic, which was helpful to get a better understanding on multiple views. The only problem was that the article was very vague as to what the planets could be used for specifically and why we would ever have the intensions to live on another planet instead of Earth.

Cuomo Wants Elevated Train Link Built to La Guardia Airport

Grynbaum, Michael. "Cuomo Wants Elevated Train Link Built to La Guardia Airport." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/nyregion/cuomo-proposes-train-link-to-la-guardia-airport.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

            The article that I read for my current events response was about Governor Cuomo’s proposition for an AirTrain to be built from Manhattan to La Guardia airport. This idea came in response to the fact that traveling to La Guardia from Manhattan, or really anywhere, is very painful, and it is a very long process. This is due to the fact that La Guardia is in Queens, which is full of heavy traffic,  but Cuomo believes his new AirTrain, if successfully approved, and built, could greatly decrease travel times to La Guardia, and make traveling out of this airport much easier in general. I strongly agree with this idea, and hope that the New York Government follows through on it.                                                                                                                                                                            What this article is talking about has a very big impact on me and the people around me. This is because I live in an area of New York that is near Manhattan, and so I fly out of La Guardia occasionally when traveling. I have experienced first- hand the agony that driving to this airport presents, and I firmly agree that something needs to be done about this. The AirTrain that Governor Cuomo is proposing could therefore have a big positive impact on my life, because I would save a lot of time using it to get to La Guardia. This would not only have this impact on me, but on the millions of people who live in and around Manhattan. Therefore, Governor Cuomo’s idea could change the way that all of these people travel.                                                                                                                       The information in the article was not the only thing I noticed when reading it, and I noticed some things that the author of the article did well, and other things that he did not do as well. For example, the article was kind of biased as it focused mainly on the good aspects of the AirTrain, and not the bad. This made it so that people reading the article are more likely to think the AirTrain is a good idea, and ideally, they should get all the facts and decide for themselves. Also, the article did not do a good job of explaining how, and if, the project will be approved. Therefore, it is hard to get a sense of how likely this project is to actually happen, and this is something that a reader would want to know for sure. Despite doing these things poorly, the author did a good job of showing the pros of the new project, and he did a good job of showing where the Air Train would be located. These things help to give people a better idea of what the AirTrain will be like, and when writing, you want the readers to be as knowledgeable about your topic as possible. All in all, this was a very good article, and it gave me important information about something that may very well affect my life someday.

NASA Spacecraft Closing In on Dwarf Planets Pluto and Ceres

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/science/nasa-spacecraft-get-a-closer-look-at-pluto-and-ceres-whatever-they-may-be.html?ref=science&_r=0

 

Chang, Kenneth. "NASA Spacecraft Closing In on Dwarf Planets Pluto and Ceres." The New York Times.

The New York Times, 19 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.

 

I read Kenneth Chang’s article about NASA spacecraft which will be exploring Pluto and Ceres, two dwarfed planets. The Article said that the spacecraft visiting Ceres will be the first one to ever explore the dwarfed planet.  NASA spaceship will take pictures from 7,800 miles away at a resolution of 70 meters per pixel.  This is a better picture quality than the Hubble telescope.  The author says this will reboot the debate over what a dwarfed planet should be. Since Pluto became a dwarfed planet in 2006 the definition has been unclear. Dr. Stern of NASA says “They really got it wrong,” about the I.A.U’s definition of a dwarfed planet.  The article goes on to say the history of Ceres and that it was a rock and ice planet. Recently there have been pictures of what looks like water vapor and the astronomers think that it is caused by volcanic activity. The Author also writes about what the definition of a planet should be according to Dr. Stern.

 

This article is important to the world because it shows that NASA could potentially discover more on how our planet was formed and if humans can live on the dwarfed planet of Ceres. It is also important because it provides insight on what a planet can be defined as. The article is important because it will show average people that the I.A.U need to clean up their operations. Finally this article is important because it is important to explore the surroundings of the Earth.

 

In this Article the author did a great job of including quotes. He includes different opinions from different trustworthy sources and people.  He also included many god numerical facts that made the article better. The author did not do as good of a job on the flow of the article, some of the paragraphs were choppy and some were confusing. I found that some editing would make for a much better read. If I had written the article I would have tried to shorten the paper. I found that some facts and opinions were restated and the article took a long time to read. Overall, the article had good content but could use a revision.

Dino double whammy

Ornes, Stephen. "Dino Double Whammy." Dino Double Whammy. N.p., 6 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.

https://student.societyforscience.org/article/dino-double-whammy

It has been long accepted that an asteroid killed off most of the life on earth 66 millions years ago but now there is evidence that volcanic activities which started before the asteroid strike and continued long after, may have contributed to the mass extinction. There is disagreement among the scientists as to whether the volcanic activity was the main cause of the extinction or whether in conjunction with the asteroid hit helped to kill off sixty percent of all life on earth. The Deccan Traps in India is where the scientists have studied the violent irruption of the volcanoes that may have helped cause the extinction.

From a personal point of view it is important for people to understand that mass extinctions have happened in the past and they can happen again. There is little we can do about volcanoes but I do know that scientists are monitoring asteroids that might one day crash into the earth. In the future we might be able to do something about asteroids.
The article provides evidence for different possibilities about the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and other life 66 millions years ago but the evidence is not conclusive as to the exact cause of the die off.

In Africa, a Decline in New Ebola Cases Complicates Vaccine Development

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/health/ebbing-of-ebola-complicates-testing-of-vaccines.html?ref=health

Pollack, Andrew. "In Africa, a Decline in New Ebola Cases Complicates Vaccine Development." The New York Times 9 Jan. 2015: A4. Print.

For current event 11 I read the article: In Africa, a Decline in New Ebola Cases Complicates Vaccine Development by Andrew Pollack. This is one of the most positive articles that i have read on ebola since its return in 2014. This article was about scientists having trouble testing a potential vaccine and or cure on sick ebola patients. “For this reason, it’s very urgent that we get into the field very quickly to do these clinical trials, because if there are very, very, very few cases of ebola, as I’m sure you understand, it’s going to be difficult to test whether the vaccines work or not.” said Dr. Helen Rees from World Health Organization. Besides the fact that the have a possible vaccine and cure, it symbolizes a potential end to the ebola outbreak whether by the re-extinction of ebola or by the development of a cure.

This is extremely significant to humanity and our own lives contrary to what some might say. If this is the end of ebola that means it won't become the next smallpox or black death. Had ebola continued its course from mid 2014 there would most likely be so major changes in our society. Thankfully, due to governments and organizations worldwide, ebola outbreak was quickly under control and is extremely limited unlike the red fever from a popular TNT television show. If the ebola outbreak was anything like red fever then our world would be in a very different place than it is now.

Finally after reading the article i felt there were some minor but still visible areas for improvement. First the author failed to explain who the world health organization is and what their mission and goals include. Had he done this it would help readers understand W.H.O’s role in the war against ebola. Additionally if the author had spoken a bit more about the vaccines other than just stating they existed would have added tremendously to the publics knowledge of ebola. On top of that it could help future patients undecided on whether or not to become vaccinated for ebola after its final containment in the next year or two. To add onto the two vaccines in more advanced stages Johnson & Johnson is also developing a vaccine “A third vaccine, being developed by Johnson & Johnson, began early safety testing in volunteers this month. That company is also planning tests in West Africa.”. In conclusion the article was extremely well written and a heart lifting one to read adding to the hope that we may be near the end of ebola for the second and hopefully final time.

No Time for Bats to Rest Easy

Article: No Time for Bats to Rest Easy
Author: Natalie Angier

Angier, Natalie. "No Time for Bats to Rest Easy." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12

Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

The article I read by Natalie Angier described the dangers that bats are in, because their bodies may be hosts for some of the deadliest diseases in the world. However, research has shown that bats are immune to most diseases they carry, and they live longer than animals of their size should live to. As scientists are discovering, the bat immune system is astonishingly tolerant of most pathogens — a trait that could pose risks to people, but that also offers clues to preventing human diseases of aging, including cancer. Also, Because the fungus attacks bats as they hibernate in caves, the researchers are exploring the complex biology of normal bat hibernation, and so-called arousal bouts turn out to be a big part of the puzzle, said Kenneth Field, an associate professor of biology.

Although many people may think that this research isn’t relevant to the general public, or to humans, it is. Bat experts argue that a keener understanding of bat biology could not only help prevent the next outbreak of Ebola or other cross-species “zoonotic” infection, but also offer a fresh take on immune and inflammatory disorders like diabetes or heart disease. Secondly, this article really persuaded me not to be afraid of bats, because although they may carry diseases, they are essential parts of the environmental food chain.

I think that this author did a good job at providing a thorough, complete article. There was a lot of information to work with, and she provided enough quotes to make this article valid and believable. Also, there were images to go along with the words, which made the article easier to read, and I found myself engaged for the whole time.

The Bloom Is On for Maple Syrup.

posted for William Bogatyrenko

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/science/the-bloom-is-on-for-maple-syrup.html?src=me

Krisch, Joshua A. "The Bloom Is On for Maple Syrup." Nytimes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

One thing that I thought Kat did well was include quotes from her article in her summary paragraph and her paragraph on the importance of this data to our present lives.  This helped me better understand her article review and how the amount of seeds maple trees produce and the amount of syrup they produce are directly correlated.  For example, the part where she said that “scientists reasoned that maple trees were saving energy to produce more carbohydrates,”  helped me understand how the number of seeds and syrup produced by maple trees were directly correlated.  The quote about how “‘when you collect sap to make syrup, what you are actually collecting is the stored carbohydrates of the tree” also helped me better understand scientists’ reasoning behind this new theory and how maple syrup and seed production are correlated.  Another thing Kat did well was keep her summary short while still identifying key points of the article.   I find it hard to find key points to include and figure out what information is unnecessary and does not have to be included in my summary.  Because I have a challenge with keeping my summaries short, I appreciate how hard it is to do that.  A third thing I thought Kat did well was write about a topic that could inform people about something new and interesting.  I do not know much about maple trees, and the correlation between the amount of seeds produced to the amount of maple syrup produced was very interesting.  It seems like a very simple idea that no one had thought of before, but scientists had just thought of this correlation.  I would have thought that, after reading the article, they would have thought of the correlation between the amount of seeds and maple syrup produced long ago.

One thing that could be improved in this article review is Kat’s paragraph on the practicality of the new knowledge.  Kat’s second paragraph was very short and not informative on the practicality at all.  All she did was state simple knowledge about how farmers make more money when they produce more sap, and less money when their trees produce less sap.  However, I am assuming that that is what she was trying to say.  That sentence didn’t make very much sense to me.  She said that farmers make more money when the trees produce more sap, and less money when the tree is “storing carbohydrates to produce sap.”  This makes no sense at all because if the tree was storing carbohydrates, it would produce more sap, leading the farmer to make more money.  I know this because earlier in her article review, she said that when trees store up carbohydrates by not producing many seeds, there is a higher sap yield.  She could have said that farmers could use the knowledge of the scientists to figure out whether or not their trees would produce a lot of sap.  If there were many maple seeds, the farmers would know that there was not going to be much syrup that year.  If there weren’t many maple seeds in the fall, the farmers would know that there would be a lot of sap because the tree was storing up carbohydrates to produce more sap.  The farmers could prepare for the winter accordingly based on the amount of seeds their maple trees produced.  Another thing Kat could have improved on was her critique paragraph.  She had very little criticism about the article.  She just said that it was a little lengthy and went off topic talking about how “looking into how weather may affect the sap and seeds.”  When I read the article, I thought that that information was informative because it talked about how farmers usually predict maple yields and if this was partially right of not.  However, Kat could have included things such as the fact that the author did not include very much quantitative data from the study, or the researchers didn’t produce enough quantitative data.

However, in spite of what was wrong with this article review, I still thought that it was interesting.  After I read the summary and the quote in the second paragraph, I understood the scientists reasoning and how it could help farmers right now.  I also thought that it was a very interesting thought that the researchers had, and I thought that the correlation between the amount of seeds and syrup was very cool.  I chose this article review because, as I previously stated,  I do not know much about maple farming or maple trees, and wanted to read more about them.  This article review has changed my perception of nature and how things are connected, because even the seemingly little things have have bigger effects later in time.

Wandering Wolf Now Leader of His Own Pack.

Drew Judkins                                                                                                                        

"Yakima Herald Republic | Wandering Wolf Now Leader of His Own Pack." Yakima Herald Republic. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/yhr/thursday/2809397-8/wandering-wolf-now-leader-of-his-own-pack

The article I read is called Wandering Wolf Now Leader of His Own Pack by Jeff Barnard. Wandering wolf, OR-7, who has been wandering by the Rogue River in Oregon, is now officially the leader of his own pack. “State and federal wildlife agencies said Wednesday they have designated OR-7, his mate and their pups the Rogue Pack”. In 2011 OR-7 left his pack in northeastern Oregon in search of a mate. After travelling thousands of miles alone he found his mate last winter by the Rogue River-Siskiyou national forest. OR-7’s pack is the first in western Oregon and only the ninth in the state from when wolves swam the Snake River in the 1990s. OR-7 has a GPS collar on him that tracks his moves. Biologists hope to replace the collar in the spring, but all attempts to trap OR-7, his mate, or one of the pups have failed so far.

            This article is important to society because wolves are on the Endangered Species List. Or-7 and his pack will be tracked by biologist and be safe and able to breed and stay as a pack for a long time. This is good because wolves are amazing animals that will be missed if they go extinct.

            The author did a good job with writing this article. He presented facts about OR-7 and his pack without it feeling like it was just facts. He also did a good job explaining what they wanted to do with OR-7, and the Rogue Pack in the future.   To improve this article I think the author should provide more background information on OR-7 because at some points such as “The GPS collar that tracked his travels is still working” the author never explains that they put a tracker on him or when they did this.   

Scientist Sees Possible Signs Of Ancient Life On Mars In Rover Photos

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/08/life-on-mars-photos-scientist_n_6425392.html?utm_hp_ref=science

Howard, Jacqueline. "Scientist Sees Possible Signs Of Ancient Life On Mars In Rover Photos." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

The article "Scientist Sees Possible Signs Of Ancient Life On Mars In Rover Photos." by Jacqueline Howard is about how photos that the Curiosity rover took could prove that there was once life on Mars. If there was life on Mars it would have existed less than 3.7 billion years ago. The life would have been in the form microscopic organisms that lived in sedimentary rock forms. The main expert of the article Dr. Nora Noffke talks about how the  microbes would have lived in communities called microbial mats. There would be trillions of microbes living in a single mat.

This story is very significant to our lives for many reasons. One of those reasons is that if there really was life on Mars that would mean that we aren’t the only living things to have existed. Another reason that this is very significant is that this would mean that there was another planet that was able to sustain life at some time, and this could also mean that at some point in the future Mars could be colonized. It could also mean that there are other planets that are capable of sustaining life.  

I thought that this was a well written article that was full of good facts. There were a few experts in the article and they were all very knowledgeable on the topic. There were also a lot of the pictures that were taken by the Rover and this was nice to have because it helped visualize what all the rocks looked like. There were no errors or inconsistencies in the article and overall it was a good article.

A Great Tan Comes with a Warning Sign

Claire Kraemer

Tavernise, Sabrina. "Warning: That Tan Could Be Hazardous." The New York Times. The New York

Times, 10 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

Using a tanning bed can come at a great risk, especially if you start using one while you’re young. This article makes readers aware that using a tanning bed, or even tanning without sunscreen can and while come at a great risk. The reason why a tanning bed is so attractive to young people is because of the quickness and cheapness of the bed. 20 minutes in a tanning bed costs $7 and gives you a tan that would take a few days lying out on the beach. Being tan is seen as a luxury and fashionable to most people, so being tan boosts most girls confidence in their looks. A girl named Madison said, “I’d love to stop tanning, but I can’t. Confidence is such a touchy aspect of a girl’s life. It takes a lot of time and practice. I’m just not there yet.” But the cons of being tan outweigh the pros. Melanoma, a form of skin cancer, is very popular in people who frequently use the tanning bed. If caught early, the cancer can be removed, but if not caught, the cancer can easily spread.

I think that this topic is very relevant to young girls today. If young adults learn at a young age the risks of skin cancer because of the obsessiveness over being tan, then they can hopefully make a smart decision later on about their skin. I personally think that being tan is very fashionable, and has a positive impact on people’s appearance, but now I realize that being tan isn’t worth getting cancer, or even dying. I disagree when Elizabeth LaBak states that “If I get skin cancer I’ll deal with it then. I can’t think about that now. I’m going to die of something.” If people keep on having this attitude about skin cancer, they will later regret it, because their carelessness can catch up with them.

Overall, I believe this article was organized and written very well. Sabrina Tavernise includes many quotes that show both sides, but in the end agree with the fact that skin cancer is something we should all be aware of. She also divides her article up into sections with interesting titles, making the reader wanting to read on about the topic. Tavernise introduces the topic with a story about a young girl casually going into a tanning bed after their SAT tutoring session, something she does periodically. The author draws the readers into the topic, and doesn’t let us trail off from it. She also places images that portray a story throughout the article.

So Many Earth-Like Planets, So Few Telescopes

On Tuesday, astronomers announced that they found eight new planets orbiting stars at suited distances with liquid water bringing the amount of habitable planets in the “Goldilocks” zone (New York times states) to a dozen or two depending on how habitable the zone of a star is. Nasa’s kepler Spacecraft still on the lookout of new planets, has found about eight that are orbiting around stars and that seem very close to earth’s characteristics. They are just a little bit larger than Earth. As the number of these planet’s grow, astronomers are planning the next step which is to “end cosmic loneliness”. On Monday, Astronomers said that they were able to measure some small planets and found that their Densities almost matched the one of Earth’s. Kepler has so far discovered 4,175 potential planets and 1,004 of them have been confirmed as real. Many of them are about hundreds of light years away which is too far for studies to confirm anything. Finding planets closer to the Earth will be the job of the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite which is said to be launched in 2017. The astronomer’s missions are now to form instruments that can be used in order to depict what type of weather is occurring on the planets, if there is life and if there is water. They are trying to create a new spy telescope to look at the planets more closely and this will be completed in 2020. It has been said that these planets are rocky just like earth.

This could be the next step in our studies of the solar system. Scientific studies are always important to our world today and every time there is a new planet being discovered it is an extra step in our future. Knowing that there are more planets that are very similar to the characteristics of earth, it could mean that there might be new forms of life somewhere out there. Someday, the earth is going to end and maybe people could move to another planet somewhere that has the same characteristics as earth but before this has any chances, there are still a lot studies to be done. This could be a new part of our future. This will really help society because it could open new ideas and it will show that there may be life somewhere else with water.

This article was pretty well written. I think that the author used good quotes and spent time doing a lot of research. Quotes can really help show opinions of other scientists and it really helps understand the situation better. The first paragraph of the article was a little confusing. I couldn’t understand what some of it meant and the wording was a little strange but after a while I was able to comprehend what he was talking about. I think that this was a very interesting subject to write about and i think that it will be an important step into our future.

Overbye, Dennis. "As Ranks of Goldilocks Planets Grow, Astronomers Consider What’s Next." The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Jan. 2015. Web. 06 Jan. 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/science/space/as-ranks-of-goldilocks-planets-grow-astronomers-consider-whats-next.html?ref=science&_r=0

2015's 'Leap Second' Could Scramble Computers.

Dickerson, By Kelly. "2015's 'Leap Second' Could Scramble Computers." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 09 Jan. 2015. Web. 09 Jan. 2015.

http://www.livescience.com/49370-leap-second-added-2015.html

                This week for my current events, I read an article by Kelly Dickerson, a writer at livescience.com, that talked about the “leap second” we will be having this year. Dickerson says that the Earth is slowing down two thousandths of a second every day, and even thought the number is small, it still adds up.  To make our clocks caught up with the change, every time that the Earth’s rotation slows down a full second, we add a second to either December 31^st, or June 30^th, the middle and endpoints of our calendar year.

                Now this may seem unimportant because it’s only a second but you’d be surprised how impactful this really is. To start off, this years “leap second” will be the 26^th of its kind added to the calendar since we began doing this in 1972.  Past leap seconds, like the one in 2012, caused major problems for companies such as Reddit and LinkedIn as the internal clock on the computer thinks time is going backwards, causing all kinds of errors in their systems. Dickerson says that although some companies have taken safety precautions for the upcoming “leap second” this year others that have not may have some problems coming their way. Not only does this affect the big corporations, but also this may affect us too. The “leap second” does not only affect computers, but GPS as well. Although this may sound a little over the top, an expert on this topic, Demetrios Matsakis from the Time Service at the US Naval Observatory, recommends not going on airplanes on June 30^t, because the pilots may experience difficulty if their GPS go down even just temporarily.  Another thing to add is that there could come a point in time where 12 noon could be pitch black out because of the slowing rotation of the Earth, which is truly a crazy thing to think about.

                In this article, I thought the author did an amazing job in explaining a complex idea like a “leap second.” When I read the intro to this article, I was blown away by what the author, Kelly Dickerson, was talking about but by the end I felt as if I were an expert on the topic. Finally, I really liked how connections were made to the real world, specifically about the long and short term affects of the “leap second.” All in all, this was a well-written and very informative article and I would highly recommend reading it.