Acid Rain in Adirondack Mountains Worries Scientists

Core Chem Honors - Block 2 Nick Proios
Dr. Charles Ippolito November 2, 2009

link: http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Current_Events/acid_rain_in_adirondack_mounta.html

For many years, acid rain has basically been polluting the Adirondack Mountains in New York. Many scientists have been paying close attention to this problem. They noticed that all of the acid rain has been excessively polluting the mountains and killing many different species. The water in rivers and lakes of the Adirondack Mountains have become so polluted that wildlife cannot survive in them any longer. The federal report which was prepared by The National Acidic Precipitation Assessment said that the acid rain problem isn't only in the Adirondacks but throughout Colorado as well. A democrat and former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan proposed a bill that would reduce emissions of sulfur and nitrogen from the air which didn't turn out to be very popular in Congress. It was however popular in New York and environmentalists supported the bill and said that the federal report would convince people that the bill is important. Utility companies have been threatened by trying to increase pollution and acid rain levels because they have been producing larger amounts of nitrogen and sulfur which has been a huge cause of acid rain.
Acid rain is considered poison. This article is important because it makes readers aware of the dangers of acid rain. It is important because it shows what harm acid rain can do to a big region of mountains. Acid rain pollutes the area and it is kills plants and animals so it is critical that the problem of acid rain is taken care of. The more people read this article the more people will notice this issue.
I enjoyed this article overall. It grabbed my attention as soon as I began to read it. I honestly did think that it was a bit short. On the other hand it still conveyed the message. The message that it sends is very significant which is why it is a good article. I was informed of the harm that acid rain can do to wildlife and what it does to a large area.

"Study Sees an Acid Rain Threat in Adirondacks and Beyond." Environment News. Lycos. 1999. (May, 1999)

'World's biggest' sea monster found on UK coast

In the south coast of England, a fossil hunter has found the remains of what is thought to be the world's biggest sea monster. This sea monster, which was alive 150 million years ago and was 15.8 meters long, was MUCH larger than a tyrannosaurus rex and could easily have eaten one. The whole skeleton was not found, only a whopping 8 foot skull of the creature called a pliosaur was discovered. It was found by Kevan Sheehan, a local collector, and was purchased by Dorset county council for $35,750 and will be on display at the Dorset County Museum. It took Sheehan four years to find the whole fossil after he came along a large piece that fell out of a cliff.
This is the largest sea monster found in history; the previous largest creature was a smaller pliosaur. This will mark a new knowledge of sea creatures and of the history of the sea. It will help scientists know more about the pliosaur, and young children who visit museum could one day possibly see the skeleton of a sea monster, seemingly just a legend.
This was a very interesting article and pleasant to read. I learned about the pliosaur and a major discovery that took place. I personally feel that the article wasn't organized very well, but was very easy to understand. In order to make the article better however, is that I would provide a bit more information about the pliosaur and some more facts. Overall, it was very entertaining to read and was well written.

Scientists track meteorites that are dangerous to Earth
Mone, Gregory. "Rock Hunt." Popular science Sept. 2009: 54-59. Print.

In October of 2008, an asteroid the size of a small car plummeted through Earth’s atmosphere and crashed into the ground in northern Sudan. Scientists had spotted the rock 20 hours earlier, realized that it was headed for Earth, and then decided to attempt to trace its path to see if they could accurately predict the spot where it would land. The scientists at NASA’s NEO (Near Earth Object) program, which has been studying the orbits of large asteroids since 1998, also realized that this would be a good chance to study the composition of the asteroid. The NEO has a software program called sentry that searches for possible asteroid impacts in the future. On the day that the asteroid was sighted, The Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory called the NEO and alerted them that there was going to be a collision. The NEO began collecting data from 26 different observatories around the world and eventually narrowed down the area where the fragments would hit down to a 200 square mile patch of desert. The fragments of the asteroid were exactly where scientists said that they would be. This is important to humanity because it shows that scientists can locate asteroids that have the potential to hit Earth and destroy cities and other places where people can live.

The Human Body is Built for Distance

Core Chemistry Honors                                                                                                                   Caroline Sorensen

Current Events                                                                                                                                     10/27/09

 

The Human Body is Built for Distance

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

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

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

How the Moon Produces its Own Water

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


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

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

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

The Balloon Boy

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

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

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

The Physics of the Balloon Boy

SPERM WHALES AS A CARBON SINK

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

By Susan Milius

Web edition : Saturday, October 17th, 2009

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

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