The Omicron Variant Is Surging. Here's What We've Learned so Far.

 

Liam Greenfield

Mr. Ippolito

Chemistry C-Even

Jan 27, 2022

 

Jesús, Erin Garcia de. “The Omicron Variant Is Surging. Here's What We've Learned so Far.” Science News, 23 Dec. 2021, www.sciencenews.org/article/omicron-coronavirus-covid-variant-severity-antibodies. 

 

In this article the author details the current Coronavirus situation with regards to the newer omicron variant. Due to the fact that this variant is relatively new there are many uncertainties. It is unclear whether or not the omicron causes as severe disease as its delta counterpart. Another notable fact is that omicron can evade antibodies and vaccines may be less effective against the omicron variant.  Despite this, T cells may fare better against omicrons than neutralizing antibodies, which gives us hope that eventually we will get coronavirus under control. 

 

In our current time coronavirus is still very relevant and as new variants emerge, it is important to stay educated, in order to best protect you and your family. This article can help the reader better understand the newer Omicron variant. By properly educating yourself you can also help debunk many myths that put the public in danger. 

 

This article had many strengths and weaknesses. The article was very well written and had clear sections that each described aspects of the omicron variant which helped direct the reader, however these sections were very lengthy which makes it more difficult to read and obtain the important information.

ystem recognizes hand gestures to expand computer input on a keyboard

 

Damian Engenheiro

Mr. Ippolito 

Current Event 11

1/28/22

 

University of Waterloo. "System recognizes hand gestures to expand computer input on a keyboard." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 January 2022. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220105094430.htm>.

 

      Researchers are developing a new technology that uses hand gestures to carry out                                                       commands on computers.

 

            The central idea of the article, “Researchers are developing a new technology that uses hand gestures to carry out commands on computers,” by ScienceDaily, is that a group of scientists have found another way to use a webcam and that is using it to read hand gestures. For example, you could do a combination of hand gestures and that would act like a keyboard shortcut. While it seems simple, it is very hard to make it happen because everyone moves differently and has different hand sizes. Even the lighting in the room could affect the camera. The team solved this problem by getting multiple volunteers and getting the system to understand the different types of settings and gestures. This new technology can also be used in virtual reality. For example, by using this technology, it could eliminate the need for handheld controllers. I thought this article was very interesting because it shows how people are always finding new ways to improve people’s everyday lives with new technology like this.

            This impacts us because this technology could make it possible for disabled people to do things on the computer that they couldn’t before. It also makes our everyday lives easier just because we can just move our hands and our computer will know what you are trying to do. Just imagine not even using a controller to use virtual reality. That would so much to the “virtual reality” feel. In the future, I could see this becoming a big thing that will change how we go about our everyday lives.

            Overall, this article was very well written. Although it could have gotten into more detail about how this affects us, it gave lots of information about what the device was and how they made it. I would have liked to know more about how it could help disabled people or how it is better than just using a keyboard, but it was very interesting to read and gave readers insight on what the future could look like.

Major Discovery' Beneath Antarctic Seas: A Giant Icefish Breeding Colony

 

Imbler, Sabrina. “'Major Discovery' Beneath Antarctic Seas: A Giant Icefish Breeding Colony.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/science/icefish-antarctica-eggs-colony.html.

The article “‘Major discovery’ beneath Antarctic Seas: A Giant Ice Fish Breeding Colony” by Sabrina Imbler is about the discovery of a 92 square mile area on the Antarctic sea floor inhabiting millions of icefish nests. Each nest is about the size of a hula hoop less than a foot apart - with an icefish guarding the nest and it’s fins spread out around it. The Polarstern, a German research ship that went on the largest Arctic science expedition in history, happened to stumble upon what is now known as the largest fish breeding colony ever discovered. This colony contains 60 million active icefish nests. The icefish can survive in suprisingingly cold water because of their “enormous hearts and blood that runs clear as vodka”. Lilian Boehringer, a student researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, first spotted the icefish nests. The icefish colony stretched for an entire 4 hour dive, and 16,160 were recorded on camera. Autun Purser, a deep-sea biologist at the same institute explains the experience of first hand sightings. “We were like, is this ever going to end?” Dr. Purser exclaimed. “How come no one has ever seen this before?”

This discovery is extremely important and contributes to society. Not only does it contribute to scientist’s understanding of icefish life cycles, but it also raises many scientific questions that are willing to be answered, the most precedent one being - why were they there? This discovery launched a whole new mission of solving the bizarre puzzle that is this ecosystem of icefish. It raises new insights into how icefish reproduce and challenges scientists' minds about how they contribute to polar food web or if they could help save new deepsea populations. 

This article was very interesting and well written. The author makes sure to emphasize the subject of the wonders of the deep sea and what else could be discovered in the ocean, which brings in a wide audience of readers. “The seafloor is not just barren and boring,” Dr. Purser said. “Such huge discoveries are still there to be made, even today in the 21st century.” The author included this detail to leave a lasting impression on the reader; making them wonder what else could exist in earth’s waters that we have no idea exists. The author also gives specific details and quotes from researchers on the exhibition finding the colony, which lets us know that this article is a reliable source. Although the article was very well written, it did have some flaws. The author did not go into detail about the “Polarstern” ship and exhibition, just simply mentioned that it was the research mission it was discovered on. It ceased to tell us that the ship held one of the most significant modern day exhibitions, that went on the largest Arctic science expedition in history - I had to research that part myself. The author was also lacking a few key details which should be included to allow the reader a better understanding of the significance of this finding. Overall, I enjoyed this article despite its flaws.