Sunday, January 3, 2010

Weekly Science Article Report #4 - Period 1

With the New Year comes New Challenges.

This week you are going to do your first Weekly Science Article Report of the New Year. The guidelines are the same with one exception:
You MUST choose your article from a website called Science News Daily. This site publishes articles about all kinds of science, so pick what you like. You can get to the site here:
Science News Daily


And, as a reminder:
For a reminder, here's what to do for this assignment:
1) Citation: Here you will put the name of the article, the author, and where you found it (for example, the New York Times or Science News for Kids).
2) A brief summary: Here you will summarize the article in one or two sentences. This is to give your readers (including me) a sense of what you have read.
3) Reflection: This is the biggest part of your report. I am interested in your response to the article. Please address the following questions in your reflection:
a) What did you think about the article? Did you like it or not? Why?
b) What interested you or surprised you about the article?
c) What questions do you have about what you read? What would you like to know more about what you’ve read?
4) Comments. You are going to comment on the work of at least three other students.

All of this is due by Friday.
Have fun!

39 comments:

silversox92 said...

reotypes Steer Women Away From Computer Science
By: Lisa Grossman
Newspaper: ScienceNews

The article that I read was about how computer scientists have this stereotype of being “unwashed nerds” or have a “geeky masculine image” and these stereotypes are steering women away from the profession or interest of computer science. Professors at universities like Sapna Cheryan at the University of Washington say that this stereotype is making women feel like they don’t belong in the world of computer science. In the article it also mentions that at Washington University they did a small experiment with the students there. In the experiment they put half the group in a room with Star Trek posters, video games, and comic books, which are examples of some of the stereotypical things they were talking about. The women students weren’t very interested in this room and that is what the professors expected. The other half of students were put into a room with coffee mugs, plants, and art posters related to computer science. The women in this group were more interested in computer science rather than the women in the other room. The different rooms however didn’t have an impact on the men students in the experiment.
I really liked this article I thought it was really interesting how women respond to different things just because of a couple of stereotypes. I’m not really surprised though because as it said in the article, people believe in stereotypes weather they are true or not, and I think that this is true. I’m not really interested that much in computer science maybe because of the things that are shown to represent computer science. I also think that your environment on things such as in this example of computer science has a big impact on what you like or don’t like. The half of students that were put into the room with Star Trek posters, video games, and comic books had a different impression on the same topic (computer science) than the other group who had the coffee mugs, plants, and art posters (related to computer science) even though it was the same topic.
I don’t have any questions on the article because I think the author gave a pretty clear message on her story and how some of her opinion. Although I would like to know more about if the people are actually going to change the view on computer science so that women are more interested in it, and maybe leading them into the profession.

silversox92 said...

title is Sterotypes Steer Women Away From Computer Science.

Sorry

acr88 said...

Rise in Human-Made Carbon Dioxide Affects Ocean Acoustics- (Adapted from materials provided by University of Hawaii at Manoa, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.)
At Science Daily News


This article was basically about how C02 emissions are being absorbed by the oceans. This increases seawater acidity, which lowers the pH of the water. This threatens different marine life species, like coral. This also affects the acoustical properties of the water, making it more ‘transparent’ to lower frequency sounds. Scientists say that sound absorption will drop up to 70% during this century. Here is part of the article describing how this affects acoustical properties of the ocean;
‘When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, it produces carbonic acid and increases the hydrogen ion concentration (acidity). The seawater pH has declined by about 0.1 units compared to preindustrial levels -- corresponding to about 25% increase in acidity. These changes may appear small, but pH is measured on a logarithmic scale -- analogous to the Richter scale, which measures the strength of Earthquakes. For example, a drop of pH by one unit implies a ten-fold increase in acidity. Low-frequency sound absorption depends on the concentration of dissolved chemicals such as boric acid, which in turn, depends on seawater pH. This is the reason why changes in seawater pH affect ocean acoustics.’
I was really interested in this article because I have done some previous research on noise pollution, and when I first read this article, I didn’t really understand how CO2 could affect the acoustical properties of the water. I was really surprised that this can affect so many things. I was really interested about how they said they aren’t really sure about if this will be bad or good for the ocean. Underwater sounds could travel further, leading to more noise pollution, but this also will enable marine mammals to communicate over larger amounts of space and distances. I would like to know more about the affects when the next report on this comes out. It really was interesting to me how they knew what was happening but not how this was affecting parts of this ecosystem.

krazyj6 said...

Toxicants Detected in Asian Monkey Hair May Warn Environmental Threats to People and Wildlife
Science Daily News

This article was about how testing hair from Asian Monkeys (that live close to people) can provide warning of toxic threats to humans and wildlife in that area.
I thought this article was interesting because it talked about how we use this certain type of monkey (macaques) to test if toxics are threatening us. I thought it was smart for the researchers to test monkeys because they’re so closely related to humans, so it’s almost like a 2nd cousin to humans. When I read that they tested these monkeys for one reason being that they behave just like toddlers, I thought that statement sounded weird, but funny, and then I kept reading and found that it was actually really smart. The researchers said that if you have lead exposure at a young age then it can decrease intelligence, so by using the monkeys, they can relate everything as closely as possible to the actually people and toddlers.
I would want to know if researchers can test the macaque monkeys on more stuff too, such as the brain, or how we might act in reaction to an event, or so on. I think it would be really interesting to see that. I also wonder if they’ll teach more monkeys how to sniff out toxics or detect them in some other way, so they can protect wildlife and us more. We have dogs sniffing out drugs at airports and other places, so why not teach monkeys to do that in the wildlife or in the surroundings where people actually live?

silversox92 said...

acr88,
I really thought that the article that you picked was intresting, and how you already had previous knowledge on it so you really understood the article. I would also like to know more on the effects that they have too.

krazyj6,
I thought that the article that you picked had a really intresting title and it drew my attention. The article seemed really intresting on how they can do this just with testing monkey hair. I do have a question though on how they test it? Do they test it like how they check DNA with hair or another way?

dancer215 said...

Warming Has Already Boosted Insect Breeding
By Susan Milius

Sumary: This article was about different species of moths and butterflies, and how global warming is actually increasing their chances of having multiple generations of butterflies in one year. Scientists and researchers are saying that this can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. It could be good because it helps endangered species of butterfly recover and maybe not be endangered any longer. It could be a bad thing though, because the butterflies can attack the crops of farmers and therefore hurt business, and also, an overpopulation of buterfly could cause an overpopulation of the predator of the butterfly, which would hurt other prey of that same predator.

Reflection: I thought this article was really interesting because I never thought of global warming as having a positive effect on anything. Whenever I hear about global warming, I always think about species dying out because they can no longer live in the now harsh conditions. This article tittle stood out for me right away because it took something I had always thought to be negative, and made it positive. I also thought it was strange that there were two sides to this story. One was that it could help these endangered species, and another was that it could possibly hurt other species. You don’t often think about how different things connect, and hearing about how the overpopulation of one species could lead to the overpopulation of another, and therefore jeopardizing the well being of other species was really interesting to me.

dancer215 said...

This comment is for silversox92:
I liked the topic of the article you chose, and I thought your take on it was very interesting. I liked the topic because it takes a topic that you wouldn't really expect to have to do with science, but then they carry out scientific experiments to prove their points which I thought was interesting. Your summary gave me a good background of the article and you did a nice job with explanation.

This comment is for krazyj6:
I thought you had a really interesting article topic, and you did a really good job summarizing the article. You took concepts that were hard to understand, and made them easier to interpret, which was really good. I also liked the questions you had at the end, and they made me think more.

This comment is for acr88:
I think that your summary was very sophisticated, and you made me want to read the article as well. I thought it was cool that you added a passage from the article because that gave me an even deeper look into it.

dancer215 said...

I forgot to add the questions I had about my own article in my reflection so...

I'm still curious as to how the scientists actually carried out the experiment. I know that a lot of study and research went into it, but I'd like to know more about the actual process. I also want to know how this topic even cropped up for the scientists. Did they actually notice the increase in the butterfly population, and if so, how exactly did they keep track of it?

My article: Warming Has Already Boosted Insect Breeding

Tennc said...

The article that I read was called Few Gender Differences in Math Abilities, Worldwide Study Finds by Nicole M. Else-Quest, Janet Shibley Hyde, and Marcia C. Linn. I got this article from Science News Daily.
In this article they talked about how there is no difference in the ability to do math in boys and girls. What they found out was that boys tend to be more confident and persuade themselves to do better in math than many girls. They did a worldwide study called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (PISA) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (TIMSS). The PISA tested the students’ ability to use math in the real world and the TIMSS tested the students on basic math knowledge. They studied 493,495 students that were ages 14-16 years old from 69 different countries and found that there were only small gender differences but it depended on the country. In certain countries, there are more women in research-related careers, and in those countries girls were more likely to do well in math and science.
I had not planned to read an article about this but it is something that is brought up a lot. Some people may believe that boys do better in math than girls and I liked reading about this because it proves that girls can do just as well in math as boys. Although, they did say in the article that girls didn’t do as well in some countries than others and its upsetting that there aren’t enough women role models or people to support girl’s in math and science. When the women from IBM came to our school they talked about the same issue of girls not being confident enough in math to pursue a career as an engineer or math teacher, etc. I, myself, am interested in being either a math or science teacher and I hope other girls will consider the possibilities of doing something in that field and be more confident about math. Everyone can be good at math, whether you are a boy or a girl. As I was reading this I was wondering about how maybe fathers can influence their daughters to do well in math rather than there having to be a woman role model and maybe that is what will have to happen since in some countries there aren’t many role models that are women.

Tennc said...

Silversox92,

I thought that your article was very interesting and similar to the article that I chose. It’s surprising and upsetting that women are staying away from technology and math and I hope that someday there will be just as many women involved with careers in math and science as men.

Krazyj6,

I thought that your article was also very interesting. I also think that it’s a good idea that they test toxins with monkeys since they are closely related to us. I liked the way you analyzed the article and you had good thoughts.

Acr8,

I liked the way you wrote the article summary. You picked a very interesting topic and I liked that you read about something that you already knew about but you wanted to learn more.

jem1234567 said...

Depression Medication May Offer Mood Lift Via Personality Change
Bruce Bower
Science News-Humans

This article is about how certain depression medications (Paxil) change two parts of your personality (high neuroticism and low extraversion) before it takes effect on your mood.

I found the information in this article to be very interesting. While, at times it was difficult to understand and worded difficultly, it was a good article. Because I didn't really know anything about certain chemicals in the brain and how they affect your mood, and medication, none of it was shocking to me, but it was pretty cool to learn about.
There were a few things I found interesting in this article. The medication first changes your personality (which was one interesting thing) before it can affect your mood. I also didn't know that the two traits (high neuroticism and low extraversion) had so much to do with how people interact with the world and whether they're depressed or not. Also, there is a chemical messenger in your brain called serotonin which controls those 2 personality traits, and medications like paxil increase the amounts of it. I found this interesting because it really shows you how advanced depression medications are. The main thing I liked about the article is how they took something that you wouldn't normally think twice about, and told you exactly how complex and important it is, which made it an interesting topic to read about.
I would like to know how other advances in this field are being made. I would also like to know how noticeable the changes are in the people, did they're entire personality change? Were they just in a better mood? Does it affect the physical pain associated with depression?

I accidently wrote my comments on the 7th grade's period 5, there's also a copy of my reflection there too.

acr88 said...

Krazyj6- The title really caught my attention because it was very out there and explained what would be in the article. i like how u summarized the article in a thourough, easy to read way.

Silversox92- I really like how you gave background info on your topic, and how you really voiced your opinion on this mater.


Tennc- It was really good that you showed different statistics. It made your article clearer.

krazyj6 said...

This comment is for dancer215:
I thought your reflection was really good, and it made me think more about global warming. It's true that you never think about the positives of something bad, and with global warming, since it's so bad, you never hear anything good. I also think you explained what the story was really well and it was very clear.

This comment is for tennc:
Your reflection was really interesting and I agree with you, I thought it was interesting to know about how girls can do just as well in math as guys, because you don't usually think about those things. I thought you wrote the reflection really well also, and it sounded like you said everything that you thought about the article, which made me think more about the topic.

This comment is for arc88:
I thought your reflection was good, and it seemed advanced in the knowledge that you knew about the topic, which was also very interesting to me. I thought it was cool how you knew information that topic also. I liked how you put the passage form the article in too, because it showed me what you were talking about more and I got a better understanding.

corabell said...

Long-Term Physical Activity Has an Anti-Aging Effect at the Cellular Level
Christian Werner, M.D.; Tobias Furster, medical student; Thomas Widmann, M.D.; Janine Pöss, M.D.; Christiana Roggia, Ph. D.; Milad Hanhoun, M.D.; Jürgen Scharhag, M.D.; Nicole Buchner, Ph. D.; Tim Meyer, M.D.; Willfried Kindermann, M.D.; Judith Haendeler, Ph. D. and Michael Böhm, M.D.
Science Daily
Researchers think that physical activity has an anti aging effect. Physical activity leads to the activation of the important enzyme telomere.
I thought that this article was interesting. It amazed me that something so common can lead to something greater. I think that this article will be a turning point. Maybe it will get more people to become active. If you think about it lots of people try to turn around there age. I see so many commercials for things that have that type of reaction, but lots of people wouldn’t think that being more athletic would have an effect on aging.
The only question I have is that, since these tests has only been tested on people around the age of twenty will the rule stick at a higher or lower age?

klutzyh417 said...

New Evidence Of Culture In Wild Chimpanzees
Science Daily News

Summary: This article was about how chimpanzees in the Kibale Forest and in the Budongo Forest use different tools than each other and how the choices that they make about what to use is cultural. Scientists made sure that the choice couldn’t have been an effect of the environment or genetics, and then gave the chimps the same problem, and they solved it differently because of their past culture and experience.

Response: I liked reading this article because it was about a topic that I’m interested in. I think it’s interesting to see how apes are progressing, and I want to know if these chimpanzees and other monkeys will become more and more advanced with time, because if they are starting to show signs of having different cultures, then maybe they will get smarter than that later on. I was surprised that the apes would solve the problem they were given differently, because if they had been given the same tools and supplies, then I thought they would have just used the object that was there for them. Instead, they used the thing that they were most comfortable with from using it in the past and having some more experience with it. I wanted to know more about how the chimpanzees lived, because I would have liked to know more about their lives and how the chimps in different areas lived differently because of how they solved problems and challenges.

klutzyh417 said...

krazyj6,
I thought that your article sounded interesting, especially how the scientists could figure out why the behavior of the monkeys was like a toddlers based on what they knew happened when people were exposed to lead at a young age. I think it was smart for them to test these monkeys that were exposed to the same kinds of things that humans would be exposed to, because if there were harmful chemicals, we could learn about them and stay away from them. Good job.

corabell said...

klutzyh417:I like how you chose an article that you were in interested in from the start. The article to me sounded interesting also. Your response was straight to the point and I could tell where you were coming from.

jem1234567:I like you're topic. I am also very interested in depression because it is such a commen thing. Its also interesting to me how pills can change your mood.

dancer215:You can tell that you learned a lot from the article. I think its really interesting that global warming is increasing breeding.

MrsRonWeasleyx3 said...

1) Title: Cell Phone Exposure May Protect Against and Reverse Alzheimer's Disease
From: Science News Daily.
2) Scientists did an experiment on mice where they exposed the mice to electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones. The electromagnetic waves protected the young mice’s memory from developing Alzheimer’s Disease later on in life and the electromagnetic waves reversed memory damage done on an old mouse who had developed alzheimer’s.
3)I liked this article very much. I thought it was very cool to read how the electromagnetic waves affected the mice and I was astonished to read that the electromagnetic waves completely reversed the alzheimer’s in some of the older mice!
b) The article surprised me because I’ve heard so many theories about cell phones like, Using your cell phone too much will give you cancer! And, The electromagnetic waves from the cell phones are killing all the bees! All of the theories were bad, so it surprised me to see that maybe talking on your cell phone a lot might be a good thing. It might be able to help prevent you from having a terrible disease later on in life.
c) Are they going to continue testing this?
Are they going to try testing this on humans?

MrsRonWeasleyx3 said...

Klutzy417,
I thought your article sounded very interesting. It’s cool to think that possibly later on chimpanzees and other monkeys might possibly get more and more advanced throughout time, and they might grow smarter. Your response was very smart and the fact that you were very interested in your article made reading your response very interesting because I could tell you were interested by what you were reading. Good Job.

Corabell,
I think that your article was amazing! It’s so cool that something as common as physical activity can have such an impact on our lives! I’m going to start exersicing more :)Great Job.

Tennc,
I thought your article sounded very interesting. Some people think the steryotype that boys are better than girls at math is actually true, which is a complete lie! I know lot’s of girls who are better than some boys at math! If girl’s are interested in math and science they should go for it! Good job!

klutzyh417 said...

Acr88,
I thougt that the article you talked about sounded really interesting I just wasn't quite sure how the underwater acoustics worked. I think you did a good job on your reflection, I'm also surprised that the level of CO2 could affect so many things, an I wonder how it could affect the accoustics that the water had. It sounded like you understood the topic pretty well.

Studdmuffin said...

Pet Tarantulas can Pose a Hairy Threat
By Janet Raloff

Science News

In the article it talks about the dangers of owning a pet spider. When threatned the Chilean Rose Tarantula sprays its hairs like darts which get loged in soft tissue and cause irratation. Soft tissue like your eye.

My reaction to this article is surprise. Not only was i afraid of spiders before, now I have even more reason to be scared. They throw their hairs like darts, and if not treated right away, you could get cataracts. Plus, in the article they talked about how kids want these spiders as pets. If you ask me, a spider seems like a pretty boring pet. You can't play with it, and if it crawls into bed, it will take a chunck out of you.

I liked this article because it gave me more reason to stay away from spiders, especially Chilean Rose Turantulas. I have a few questions for the writer of this article. 1) are there any other species of spider that does this? 2)Has anyone ever died from not being treated? And 3)Does the Chilean Rose Turantula live anywhere else but Chile? I hope not...

phoenixHP246 said...

This comment is for dancer215:

I think that you explained everything really well. I thought that the article you chose was really interesting! I didn't know that global warming could have a positive effect on endangered species of butterflies, but a negative on effect on farmers.

This comment is for MrsRonWeasleyx3:

I really liked the way you summarized the article. I also liked how you chose an article about something that tons of people use. I have also heard that cell phones can cause cancer, but I never knew that they could prevent Alzheimer's!

This comment is for acr88:

I really liked that in your reflection, you wrote down statistics! I also liked the way you gave different examples. I never knew that the ocean could absorb carbon dioxide.

The Skinless Wonder said...

Cell Phone Exposure May Protect Against and Reverse Alzheimer’s disease
Science News Daily
The article that I read talked about how they did a test on mice to see if talking on a cell phone could protect against and even reverse Alzheimer’s disease. They put 96 mice in a circle around an antenna that emitted electromagnetic wave that have equivalent power as putting a cell phone next to your ear. They exposed the mice that ranged from normal mice to elderly mice with Alzheimer’s to two one hour sessions of electormagtivity for seven to nine months. The ones with Alzheimer’s showed improvement towards getting rid of Alzheimer’s, one that have been genetically altered to better get the disease didn’t show signs of getting it and normal mice showed a higher IQ. I liked the article because it had an interesting topic and was easy to read. What surprised me about this article was that this item that most people own can cure a disease. Something that shocked me was that after they find something wrong with cell phone which is that they cause brain cancer they found something good about cell phones.
To silversox92
I thought your report was well written and I found the topic interesting. I was surprised that the guys weren’t affected by the different rooms.
To krazyj6
I found it interesting that monkeys can warn us of toxins. If we can prove that these are always completely accurate we would be relying on the less dominate race to protect us because we already us other animals to detect earth quakes and volcanoes.
To dancer215
I am shocked that some species of bug are actually doing better due to the raised temperature. You are always hearing about how the bees are doing so badly and it makes you wonder what makes the butterflies so lucky.

klutzyh417 said...

MrsRonWeasleyx3,
I think that you had a good point in your reflection, because I've also heard that there are waves from cell phones that can give you cancer or diseases later on. I think that the article sounds really interesting, because I haven't heard of cell phones protecting you from Alzheimer's before, and so I wonder if it would also work on people.

Studdmuffin said...

acr88...

The article you chose was facinating. I had no idea CO2 affected the acoustics of the ocean! Just shows himans are killing the Earth.

Skinless Wonder...

Yeah I heard about how cell phones cause Brain cancer, so if it takes away the Alzhimiers, does it give you brain cancer, or does it just reverse the Alzhimiers?

Dancer215...

I have this image of Butterflys attaking the earth. LOL!!! But i know what you are saying with the global warming being a positive thing. Goes against everything I have ever learned. BTW we are making a movie "BUTTERFLY: THE FALL OF HUMANITY" LOL!!

phoenixHP246 said...

CO2 Sponge

By Sid Perkins

Science News

This article was about how scientists accidentally discovered a macromolecule that can trap Carbon Dioxide from the air.
I liked this article because it was very interesting for me to learn about something that could “absorb” carbon dioxide. One of the scientists discovered that the macromolecule had carbonate, just like solutions that have carbon dioxide! A macromolecule is a large complicated molecule that can only be found in plants and animals. If scientists found a way to make a bigger version of the macromolecule, we could use that to trap excess carbon dioxide in the air! The article mentioned that this might be a possibility, except that it might be too expensive. It also mentioned that by studying this macromolecule, it could help scientists in the future create a similar material that could be cheaper. To use this macromolecule, engineers would have to separate the carbon dioxide. There are two ways to remove carbonate. The first way would be to heat the macromolecule, but that would require lots of energy which would create more carbon dioxide. The second method would be creating an alkaline solution that is a tiny bit more acidic which would cause the carbonate to attach to protons.

What surprised me about this article was how scientists stumbled on this discovery by accident! Originally, these scientists were trying to design and create molecules that could trap ions with a negative charge on a surface of bioengineered cells (chlorides, phosphates). By leaving a substance on a bench in the lab, the substance (which became crystals) seemed to soak up the carbon dioxide in that atmosphere.

Does the macromolecule have to be at a certain temperature to absorb CO2?

Can this macromolecule trap other Green House gases?

Is there another macromolecule that can trap carbon dioxide? If so, is it cheaper to make large amounts to absorb excess CO2?

Are there other macromolecules that trap
different Green House gases?

DaBigC said...

Title; Astronomers Unveil Images of 12-Billion-Year-Old Space Nursery
Source;http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100106193430.htm
Date January 7, 2010


An astronomer from British Columbia named Gaelen Marsden captured the detailed images of one of the 12 billion year old nurseries. He took them from the Herschel Space Observatory.
The Herschel Space Observatory is the largest space telescope ever built. It has three cameras. They are called The Spire, The Pacs and The Hifi. It is 1.5 million Kilometers above Earth.

I liked this article because it would be really cool if in this "nursery" there was another planet with life on it. I am not one to believe in people being abducted or the government have alien technology but it would be pretty cool to have another race of beings on Earth. It would also be cool to go to other planets where there is life. My only Question is that if there is life in this "nursery" how would we know?

DaBigC said...

To klutzyh417
I liked your article because you chose something that interested you. I agree with you that it it is cool to see how apes and chimpanzees are progressing. When I read your article I automatically thought of this movie called Planet of the Apes.

To phoenixHP246
I liked how you picked a topic that was current. I do not mean recent and up to date I mean like how Croton is all sustainability. I get that the macromolecule is expensive but some of the other methods may cost even more. In Zinman when we talked about the garbage island thing he said we should take any crazy idea to get rid of it. This is the crazy but real, idea for a end to Global warming.

To Studdmuffin
I liked to read your article because you seemed interested in it. I remember i used to try and convince my parents to let me get a tarantula. Now that I know I could get shot in the eye by its hairsI realize why my parents would not let me get one.

Bjoe2195 said...

To krazyj6: the title of your article really caught my eye. As I read your response your article sounded really interesting. I was wondering how do they test the monkeys?

To dancer215: I found your article to be interesting and I also thought that global worming would have no positive effects.

To jem1234567: I thought that your article was very interesting I didn’t know that are mood was determined by chemicals in are brain. The question I have is sometimes you just wake up in a bad mood. How does your brain do that when you haven’t interacted with anything yet.

Pretty Pink Prince said...

Smarter Cars Are Gaining Traction
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100105131723.htm

The article I read was about how engineers in Europe are developing cars that can pick up ice, water, and snow so the driver doesn’t spinout or lose all control and die. The engineers have been testing multiple systems that can help detect conditions of the road.
I liked the idea of the article. I think for people who drive traction is the difference between life and death. I have heard stories about this happening before. I liked it because it was an idea that people would actually want and would have good use for. I didn’t like the set up of the article. I know that facts are an important part bet they bored me slightly. I was pretty surprised on how the same radar that are in some car models that can pick up other cars could also be used to pick up the ice or water. What also was interesting was that the car itself could change the speed and turning power. What I am still wondering though is how the does the car know were the lines are on the road. I would also like to how the car radar would be able to pick up whether the substance is snow, water or ice.

Dear Studdmuffin,
I like your article choice. It is really creepy that spiders can shoot hairs that are poisonous. One thing though is you should read over your report and check for spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

Dear Skinless Wonder
Your article seems pretty cool. I like how you picked out the good stuff and the bad stuff about cell phones.

Dear DaBigC

Your article sounded pretty cool. I bet there is some way to find out if there was life there. It would be cool to find out but then again it would be scary to know there were other things out there.

hockeyfighter26 said...

Title: Cell Phone Exposure May Protect Against and Reverse Alzheimer's Disease
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100106193217.htm
Author: ScienceDaily

My article is about how cellphone exposure may protect against or even reverse Alzheimer's disease( Alzheimer's is a disease that destroys the brain cells and causes memory loss and other in-capabilities). They discovered that the electromagnetic waves in cellphones, over long periods of time, erased deposits of beta-amyloid, which causes Alzheimer's disease. They discovered this by setting rats, with different levels of Alzheimer's, in cages equal distance around a pole that emitted the waves for several months.

I thought this article was very interesting because I always thought that cellphones damaged the brain like many other new technologies. It was really surprising to know that cellphones help your body because there are a lot of people who believe they cause brain cancer. I really liked how they supported their evidence in the article and thought the made it not too hard to understand but not too easy. I also thought it was interesting that cellphone use can actually increase brain memory because it opens up the brain for more energy and blood flow. One important thing that was in the article was that for phones that use telephone lines it doesn't have the same effect because it has a "low frequency" unlike the cellphone which has a "high frequency".

My questions that I have are what exactly causes Alzheimer's to go away because the article gave a little information on it but I want to know more about it. If cellphone use helps get rid of and prevent Alzheimer's what other common day technology could help get rid of diseases without cures? This was tested on rats so if it is used on humans will it not have the same effect or will it have less of one or will it have a greater effect?

hockeyfighter26 said...

This is for phoenixHP246,
I think your article is really cool and your blog was really good. The absorbing CO2 by macromolecules is a way that we could final fix global warming. I think the funniest thing is that they discovered it by accident. Good job.

This is for Studdmuffin,
I agree with you I never really liked spiders and here is just another reason not to like them. Just thinking about spiders shooting hairs into my eyes 'shivers' not very nice. Very cool article though and nice job with presenting it. I hope they only live in Chile.

This is for Pretty Pink Prince,
I think it's cool that they are developing technologies like this. Before you know it we'll have flying cars impervious to all sorts of weather. I think you could have written a little more about the article but your blog still was really good.

purple potato said...

Title: First Earth-Like Planet Spotted outside solar system Likely a Volcanic Wasteland
Author: not stated. Found at Science Daily

Brief Summary: Scientists have found the first rocky planet outside of our solar system and have named it CoRoT-7. They are comparing it to Jupiter’s moon Lo because it is extremely hot and volcanic. There is absolutely no water on this planet and it cannot possibly host life.

Reflection: I enjoyed this article a lot. It was well written and very interesting. It included very informative facts which were explained them in ways that readers like me (who is not a scientist) can understand and interpret. The article gave supporting details and background knowledge to prove it statements that amazed me and would have amazed anyone. I liked how the scientists involved in this discovery related CoRoT-7 to Jupiter’s moon Lo because it helped me better understand the conditions of this new rocky planet.
What interested me and surprised me was that CoRoT-7 is 60 times closer to its sun than the earth is to our sun. This is mostly why the planet is so hot. Another fact stated in this article that surprised me was that finding this rocky planet somehow will help scientists detect and find planets with some sort of life form on them. I was not aware that by finding one planet, one might be able to track another planet.
Something that was not clear to me was whether the planet was round or not. The article states that the scientists were not sure if the orbit of the planet was round.

ski4life said...

For jem1234567


I know how you said that the article was pretty hard to understand. You can tell from your comment that it was hard to read based on some of the words, but you did a great job making those key points easy to understand. I now get how depression medications work without having to read that whole long article. Nice job!


For krazyj6


You did a great job drawing in the reader. I also like how you look at the good side of how testing an animal can make us better understand each other. It also lets us understand ourselves and how we work. It’s so cool how these monkeys live close to humans and it is a good prediction to think that our brains might be the same too. Interesting idea. Good job!

ski4life said...

Neurosurgeons Can Now Remove Brain Cancer Endoscopically
www.sciencedaily.com

This article talks about new technology developed through the University of Pittsburgh on how to remove cancerous brain tumors through the nose.

These neurosurgeons weren’t the first to perform this procedure going in to the brain, however she was one of the first to have stuff come out of the brain. These neurosurgeons removed a cancerous tumor out of a woman’s nose. This surgery avoided having to make an incision in the skull, and it avoided having to shave this woman’s head. Brain cancer is highly curable if caught before anything major is affected.

In this surgery the neurosurgeons used a tool called an endoscope to see, and used tools attached to it to be able to get the tumor out piece by piece. The new technology is being able to take out tumors the same way the neurosurgeons went in. Like the movie we saw of neurosurgery at the beginning of the year, this too was removing the same thing using a different neurosurgical procedure. Unlike that of the video, this one had minimal awake time for the patient. In the video psychiatrists kept the person awake so the correct incision could be made and mapped. That way the neurosurgeons would know where they could or couldn’t go into the brain. When working from the bottom to where the tumor was, neurosurgeon s didn’t have to worry about rupturing vital nerves and vital things and memory storage that has to be avoided at the top of the brain. Another interesting thing is that brain tumors are usually discovered after having cancer for a while, because consistent symptoms do not occur until further in time. So brain surgeons usually try to treat cancer after it has advanced a lot. Usually cancer that is discovered late is harder to cure but with brain cancer it is a routine thing.

The article appealed to me because it was easy to read and it provided interesting procedures in just a few lines. The video that showed the procedure and talked about the procedure helped me better understand the article. NO, and it’s not too gory.

ski4life said...

This comment is for hockeyfighter26

I liked the article that you picked it was really interesting. SO now I have an exuse to be on my phone all the time... I agree with your question about what really causes it. And also, over what is the difference in time it would take in a rats brain compared to a humans brain. I love how people come up with these ideas and even think of these tests. Nice job.

purple potato said...

This is for Hockeyfighter26
Wow it’s amazing how cell phone use can help your brain! I always thought, and heard, that it does damage, but I guess that’s not true. I am a wondering the same question as you though, do cell phones help human brains also?

This is for DaBigC
That sounds like an interesting article. My article was very similar. It was about how scientists discovered a new rocky Earth-like planet. I like your question and would like to know the same thing.

This is for jem1234567
I liked your summary. It was straight forward, to the point and gave me a good idea on what your article was about. I had no idea medicine could change your personality! I have the same question as one of yours. Does ones entire personality change when they take the medicine or is it only slightly noticeable?

princepricklypaul said...

To the skinless wonder

I thought that was a very interesting article and its good to know that all the time i talk on the cell phone I'm preventing Alzheimer's disease and becoming smarter. A lot of technology has negative effects on the body but its great that they found something good about it. The only thing I would like to know is that because they are mice and they're tiny do we need very large amounts and magnitudes of this activity for it to have an effect?

to acr88

I found your topic really cool. I knew that different things and materials could effect acoustics. For instance a cave will echo and so will a brick wall from a good distance away. but i didnt know that not only can CO2 be absorbed into water increasing the ph but the acidic increase can have an affect on sound transmission. What I would like to know is what exactly a unit is and how much is one unit worth in terms of measurement.

to PhoenixHP246

I thought that it was pretty cool for these scientists to find this molecule and that this macromolecule really could be a solution to our CO2 problems if harnessed properly. Also, it is interesting that these scientists discovered it by accident. I would like to know more about this molecule and how it does what it does because this topic really interests me. Overall you did a good jobon the reflection and giving information and I enjoyed reading it.

RiddleMeThis said...

-Studmuffin-
I really liked your topic for your article. You had very good voice in your report and it was fun to read. The only problem now is that I'm kind of scared of tarantulas. Anyways, good job!

-jem1234567-
I was kind of excited when I read the title of your article because I'm interested in learning about depression. I felt like you said more about the article in your refelction than you did in your summary. Very good, though.

-hockeyfighter26-
I also thought that new technologies like cell phones damaged the brain. It's good to know that they're helping the brain by preventing Alzheimer's.

Post a Comment