Sunday, July 19, 2009

Science in the News

If you're looking for a great place to see current science stories in the news, you should go here!

5 comments:

  1. Science In The News

    I read an article called “Alleged Tiger Killer Arrested, Two Still at Large” it was written by Fidelis E. Satriastanti. It talked about how on August 22 a Sumatran Tiger was killed. The endangered Tiger was slipped poison then skinned well still in its zoo cage. The next morning the only thing left of the Tiger was its inners and some rib bones. One man was found but two more are thought to have helped him.
    This deeply affects the world because Tigers are endangered. It also shows that even in zoo’s Tigers can be at risk. It shows how far poaching can go, and to what lengths. We need to figure out how to make our zoo’s better/safer. How we can help the poor endangered Tigers.
    I personally am kind of outraged that the poachers were able to get in and have time to skin a Tiger and leave without getting caught. I find it tragic that yet another Tiger has died because of us humans, especially in a place that us humans made that’s supposes to be safe for them. I guess the whole situation just gets under my skin.

    Brenda

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  2. I read the article called “Getting Enough Sleep” from www.sciencenewsforkids.org. This is a website that posts science articles for kids to read. This article talks about how Americans are at a big loss for sleep. The average teenager is supposed to get about 10 hours of sleep a night, but in reality they get about 6 - 8. The reason for the lack of sleep is a chemical in your brain called melatonin. Melatonin is a chemical that is realized in your brain when light darkens. The problem for teenagers is that the melatonin is not as plentiful at that age, and it makes you stay up longer. Another major problem is TV, computers and lights because they have flashes of light that make your brain thing that its light out, so your brain doesn’t send out as much melatonin. It causes problems for teenagers not to sleep because it makes them sleep in school, and it causes problems with your heart as you grow older.
    The social impact of “Getting Enough Sleep” is that it’s a truthful fact about people not sleeping enough. Sleep is very important and it needs to happen in order to make things happen correctly in daily life. Studies show that the more people sleep the better they do in school and the less likely they are to fall asleep in class. Sleeping is something that most people ignore in order to keep “social” on the computer and whatnot, but what they don’t realize is that its very important for the brain’s development and people need to know. It’s good that they have this article out for people to read. People need to know that sleeping is important.
    The personal impact it has on me is that I don’t sleep very often. I fit into the category of sleeping with 6-8 hours and going to school for 6 hours and staying up until 1 AM doing homework and not sleeping. I know that it’s important to sleep, so I need to sleep more. I also have a lot of friends who don’t sleep, which causes stress, and I should tell them to sleep. All in all, Sleep is good!

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  3. 150 Years Ago: The Worst Solar Storm Ever

    The Sun in our solar system is a magnificent star. Not only is it the basis for our very human existence, but also the key importance for our everyday lives. On September 2, 1859, a very powerful solar storm charged with incredible particles slammed into our Earth’s atmosphere. What was considered some of the best technology at the time suddenly was immobilized by our very own sun.
    Now, our Earth’s magnetic field normally protects the surface of our planet from a majority of storms. However, in this case, our entire planet’s defenses and its inhabitants were completely overwhelmed! In the past decade or so, similar storms has made it through our atmosphere giving scientist a better knowledge as to what will eventually happen again.
    The solar storm that happened in 1859 was three times more powerful than one that rendered the entire Canadian province of its power in 1989. Modern day scientist and experts say that if a strong enough solar storm happened today – and it could – the outcome would be unimaginable.
    If a storm that severe occurred today, it could cause serious financial damages up to $2 trillion by annihilating communications on Earth and creating a mass amount of chaos amongst people and even governments in a situation that would require four to 10 years for recovery. For comparison, hurricane Katrina inflicted somewhere between $80 billion and $125 billion in damage.
    However, with the stated potential problems at stake, astronomers know a lot more about what they are dealing with nowadays and have the greater ability to forecast such solar storms with modern day spacecraft. These solar storms originate – still largely unpredictably – from dark sunspots. Once these sunspots erupt, they release a wave of radiation that can strike our planet in just minutes. The worst eruptions can release another storm of charged particles that could take anywhere from 18 to 36 hours to reach us; those can be spotted and evaluated on the way, allowing relatively accurate predictions of arrival time and potency.
    "The cause of all this [in 1859] was an extraordinary solar flare witnessed the day before by British astronomer Richard Carrington," according to Spaceweather.com. "His sighting marked the discovery of solar flares and foreshadowed a new field of study: space weather."
    Our sun follows a strict 11-year cycle of sunspot activity. The next peak is expected in 2013. It was recently downgraded to a mild category. But the sun is unpredictable, and even during a mild period of activity – such as right now – major flares can kick up colossal storms.
    My personal reaction is that of unimaginable thought! There is so much in our universe that we take for granted in our everyday lives here on Earth that affects us! To think that the beautiful blue planet that we live on is vulnerable to outside forces is incredible! It’s astonishing, knowing that there is more out in deep space that we have yet to understand how it might interact with our home Earth!

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  4. In Billerica, Massachusetts The "American Science and Engineering inc." booked $54.7 million in revenue and $7.3 million in net income in the quarter ended June 30. The company collected $39.5 million in revenue and $2.7 million in net income in the year-earlier period.

    The American Science and Engineering Inc.,a developer of X-ray detection technologies, (yes i know, very cool) has landed a $28.2 million contract.This contract will provide service and maintenance for the U.S. government’s Z Backscatter Van inspection system.

    The Z Backscatter Vans are mobile detection systems used to support U.S. counter terrorism missions, the company said.The government has already funded $24 million of the of the contract award, and has an option to extend the contract by another $3.8 million (yay that means more help to stop terrorism).

    Well I'm pretty sure that funding counter terrorism is going to help everyone(except terrorists). Knowing that millions of dollars are being used to protect you is a nice feeling.

    I think that this is great. Well it might just be because counter terrorism reminds me of a game called "counter strike" but its not off topic at all , with the Z Backscatter Van inspection system the game would be so much easier and I would have a great advantage. Just imagine that same scenario in the real world, yeah America would dominate.

    -Bryce Chilcote

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