The iceman cometh
If climate change takes your local glacier away, why not build another?
A warmer climate causes glaciers to shrink. Lately, these glaciers have been melting in June. A problem that comes from this is that farmers rely on this melt water to water their new crops. Normally, they expect to be able to use this melt water in April or May, but lately, it has been coming in June- too late for the short growing season. When Chewang Norphel realized that one of his streams froze under the shade, he came up with the idea to build a glacier. He found out that in order to build an artificial glacier: he needed to slow water's flow, and shield it from the sun. Stone weirs were also built so that the streams would spill out water. This spilled out water freezes, forming layers of ice at a time, and a repeat in this process. These artificial glaciers have saved farmers in so many different ways, supplying them with the meltwater that they need. Because of a higher availability, and the locations of the meltwater are more accessible, some farmers are even better of with the artificial glaciers than they were before. More crops can be grown now, as well. On the other hand, non-artificial glaciers when repeatedly froze and thawed, will turn into a solid block of granular ice. Mr. Norphel's artificial glaciers have not yet done this. Farmers are very happy to have this meltwater back and these artificial glaciers have saved many lives. Many other countries are also trying this, and this tactic is so far very successful.
I found this article very interesting because it's amazing to see how many lives these artificial glaciers have saved so far. Without these artificial glaciers, farmers would not have earned a living and might have not been able to survive without this invention. It has been very successful, and has not had anything but a positive outcome so far.
 |
| Glaciers melting |
 |
| Chewang Norphel |
 |
| Artificial glaciers |
Pollinators- Variety is the spice of life
Normally, farmers tend to use hives full of honeybees to pollinate crops. Recently, scientists have studied and results have shown that encouraging wild pollinators is an extremely effective way for pollination. These studies showed that pollination by wild insects are better and result in a noticeably higher proportion of flowers forming seeds or fruits. Some of the crops formed include coffee, grapefruit, almonds, cherries, and kiwi. This is happening in over 19 countries around the world. These wild bees have shown such results as the growth of fruit by twice as much as the managed honeybees. Scientists are estimating better results for farmers if they use these wild insects. The farmers will get a better variety of insects if done this way. Cross-pollination also occurs from this. Cross-pollination is when wild insects switch more among plants and varieties.
I found this article very interesting because it is interesting to me to know what is going on around me. Normally, when people see bees around, they think of them as only bad. When learning about this pollination, I realized that they also do good for us. They might be scary, but that is only if you bother them. They are here for us in a way, and are working hard to pollinate. They also produce honey, which we use and eat, and that is another positive.
Potent Medicine- The uses of stem cells
Pluripotent means "to be able to do many things". This is a term that is applied to stem cells. These stem cells can generate many different sorts of body tissues, and not just one type. Normally, stem cells can only manage one sort of these body tissues. Scientists hope that one day these types of stem cells will be able to be replacement tissues for transplants and help with the early testing of drugs. Scientists once tried to add 4 activated genes to adult skin cells in order for them to act like natural pluripotent cells. This resulted as an induced pluripotent stem (iPs) cell. Dr. Thomson of the University of Wisconsin who was first to lead a team to isolate the first human embryonic stem cells. Sometimes, some of these plans fail because they do not deliver safe enough side effects. Sometimes, the side effects of the drug made are more dangerous than the disease itself. This is a part of the reason as to why drug research is so expensive, because sometimes the drug doesn't even work out in the end. AstraZeneca plans to use different technology to test the drugs before they go into the human being itself. AstraZeneca is one company that is using iPs cells in new ways. A company called iPierian used iPs cells to develop two antibodies that may be used to attack certain proteins that are involved in diseases such as Alzheimer's. There is still much more research and exploring to be done, and scientists are working very hard.I enjoyed this article because it could lead to so many possibilities, and the results can save many lives. Lives of so many loved ones can be saved, and it could bring a whole other level of technology to the world. I found that very interesting.
High Steaks
Heart Disease and the micro biome
The hardening of arteries may be caused by a malign interaction of meat-eating and intestinal bacteria. When epidemiologists linked red-meat intake with heart disease, they never properly explained this. This is usually explained by saturated fats and cholesterol, and red meat contains both. Something else is also thought to be involved. Dr. Stanley Hazen believes that what is thought to be involved lies within the micro biome. The micro biome is the collection of 100 trillion or so bacteria that live in the human gut. Dr. Hazen believes that the processing of red meat cannot fend off infections as well as other foods. A chemical called carnitine helps transport fatty acids inside cells, and red meat in it is rich. When consumed, red meat is believed to get metabolized by gut bacteria, resulting in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). This means that parts of the micro biome can promote this atherosclerosis. This could lead to a heart attack. Also, some of the choline that is digested by this bacteria from the red meat creates TMAO (trimethylamine N- oxide)- a substance that can cause atherosclerosis. Dr. Hazen did an experiment on mice and men. Studies showed that when the men ate 8oz sirloin steaks, plus a carnitine supplement, this resulted in high levels of both carnite and TMAO in their blood. When given antibiotics to kill the microbes in their gut, studies showed that TMAO needs bacteria- which are not always present. An experiment with a vegan showed that his levels of TMAO did not jump, while the men who ate the steaks did. The vegans' guts did not contain species that were able to digest carnitine. Dr. Hazen later discovered that there was definitely an association between heart disease and levels of carnitine, only when TMAO levels were high as well. Research also showed that TMAO production in mice also relies on microbes that digest carnitine. This leads to atherosclerosis in mice. Microbe- generated TMAO also interferes with liver enzymes that make bile acids. Bile acids are substances that help remove excess cholesterol. Unfortunately, this still leaves some things unclear. Heart disease is still believed to be the biggest killer involved with this red meat.
I found this article very interesting because I eat red meat and it was interesting to read about what I am eating and what the results of that can be. I read and discovered many things that I would not have expected, and this really gave me a more clear view on what I was eating and what can happen if I eat too much. It also gave me a view on what is going on/ could be going on in my body due to red meat intake.
The Economist
The Cambrian Explosion
At the beginning of the Cambrian period, animals began to arrive. Fossils of arthropods, brachiopods, coelenterates, echinoderms, molluscs and even chordates are found. Evolution of this megafauna is know as the Cambrian explosion. Nobody knows who detonated it. A group of scientists such as Zhu Maoyan of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology wants to change this. Maoyan wants to change this through a project called: "From the Snowball Earth to the Cambrian explosion: the evolution of life and environment 600m years ago". The "Snowball earth" refers to a series of ice ages 725 to 541 million years ago. Scientists are trying to figure out how these environmental changed correspond to the fossil record. During this time, a super continent was breaking up. The only known fossils were the Ediacaran fauna- a handful of strange creatures found in Australia, Canada, and the English Midlands that lived in this Ediacaran time period. In 1998, a Lagerstätte was discovered. A Lagerstätte is a place where fossils are particularly well preserved. There may have been an increase in photosynthesis due to more algae around. On the other hand, eroded material from newly formed mountains may have caused this organic matter to be buried. This could have reacted with oxygen, leading to a build-up of the gas. Another rise in oxygen occurred at the end of the Ediacaran. This affected the entire planet. They know this because there were signs of this oxidation found in rocks in different parts of the world. This environmental shift is thought to be the start of the evolution of animals by Dr. Zhu. Scientists hope to dig back to before the Ediacaran period. Scientists also hope to create a new technology that will help clean the rock and fossils so that they are visible to the eye. The scientists' project is to discover what different organisms emerged from and how the various Lagerstätten relate to one another. Scientists will also look at the chemistry of elements other than carbon and oxygen. They will look at elements such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and sulphur. These elements will be studied and their changes will most likely have a relationship to weather, mountain building, evolution of life, glaciers, and how plants and animals might have part in the alteration of the air and plants. This Cambrian explosion is an important part of history and science that is missing. Many questions will be answered when scientists have more information.
This article interested me because I wasn't aware that fossils had to do with sings such as elements and the atmosphere. This really surprised me and I was very interested in this article about the the Cambrian explosion.
 |
The supercontinent breaking up
|
Summer Ice in the Arctic Ocean is vanishing rapidly
More heat is going north, and summer ice is shrinking in the Arctic. In 2007, ice in the Arctic went from 15 m km^2 in the ocean to 4.17 m km^2 left in September. There has been no ice melt like this. Now, every year has been lower than all years before 2007. 2012 was an ordinary year in the Arctic. In 2007, there was lots of sunshine. The direct effects of the Arctic temperatures have been warmer air, which melts ice. Indirect effects of the Arctic temperatures have been warmer air which makes the air moister. This moist air traps more heat in the summer. Unlike the winter where it is cloudier and the surface level is kept below warm. Ice will now come and go every year, but the ice comes back thinner and more fragile. The weather is affected at lower values. A release of heat in the Arctic will cause a change in the atmospheres circulation pattern. This is through a jet stream. A jet stream is a wind which circles the world in the lower stratosphere. This affects the weather, causing lower latitudes. This jet stream provokes droughts and heat-waves because it might increase more "blocking" patterns. "Blocking" patterns are weather conditions stuck in a region for weeks or months. This does not mean open water everywhere, but none of this is confirmed. I thought this article was interesting because it is about another part of the world that we might not learn a lot about. I think that it is important to learn about this because it is important to know about the world and the weather in those different places.
Jet Stream:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream
So interesting!
ReplyDelete