Current Event

Fluorescence Could Indicate Health of Corals

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Date Published: March 15th 2013
Author of the Article: Andrea Thompson
Source: Live Science
URL: http://www.livescience.com/27948-coral-fluorescence-health.html
By Ivan Cukanić

       The health of corals could be measured by their fluorescence. In an experiment, scientists measured the fluorescence of corals before during and after stress. The stress was the change of temperature: from normal to hot and from normal to cold. Before the stress, they were fairly fluorescent, during the stress they started losing their fluorescence and after the stress their fluorescence was minimal. During the stress, algae started dying and escaping the corals. This new technique of measuring health of corals would be much easier for scientists and much less invasive.

       This article was interesting for me because it was informing the world of a new and better way of measuring the health of corals. This could help save coral reafs and heal damaged corals. This article was written two days ago, so I think this discovery was quite new and that not all scientists that are experts in this field know about this. This article helped spread the word about this.

Will The World's Largest Telescope Help Unveil The Secrets Of Our Origins?

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Author of the Article: Meera Dolasia

Date Written: March 15, 2013

Source: Dogo News

URL:http://www.dogonews.com/2013/3/15/will-the-worlds-

largest-telescope-help-unveil-the-secrets-of-our-origins

    The largest space telescope on Earth was built in the Chile desert. It is consisted of 66 antennas, each with a diameter of 12 meters, and the world’s fastest computer ever used in a telescope. The desert it is in is the world's driest dessert and is situated on an elevation of 5029 meters above sea level, so they have to wear oxygen masks. The sky is always clear there and there are few clouds. This location is far away from cities and from radio wave interference. Because of the previously listed things, the picture of the universe will be sharper than ever and the computer can process it really fast. Scientists say that they will find galaxies that were formed right after the Big Bang .

   

      I think that this will telescope will help us a lot in discovering new things about our universe and that it will be better than most space telescopes. I just do not get the point of finding the galaxies that were formed after the Big Bang. How will that help us with anything? From my perspective, it would be a huge discovery, but a pointless one as well.

Current Event

Title of the Article: Strong Personalities Skew Study Samples

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Author of the Article: M. Farbman

Date Published: 05. 27. 2009.

Source: Popsci

URL: http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-05/strong-personalities-skew-study-samples

By Ivan Cukanić

      Many bird owners would describe their pet's personality in great detail and say that their bird's behavior is unique. Science did not research much about the personalities of birds, but there was a study of the behavior of birds called flycatchers. They observed their behavior in groups, alone, in the presence of the other gender, facing danger and etc. The results of the study showed that the birds reacted very similarly in all of these situations and each of them fell into every trap the scientists set up.

       

       This article was very interesting and had shocked me about the behavior of flycatchers. I, just like many other people, thought that all birds had unique personalities. Before I read this article, I was sure that some flycatchers could escape from traps. However, the results of this study may not entirely be true, for they had only observed one group of flycatchers in one period of time. Maybe different groups of flycatchers behave differently. But who knows? Maybe there will be more studies like this one in the future. 

Earthquakes

Ivan Cukanić

Science 7B

2/24/2013

Earthquakes

Earthquakes are very common occurrences in nature.  Averagely 7 million earthquakes occur each year, but only a few of them produce damage.  The crust, the outer thin layer of our planet is composed of tectonic plates that are floating on a hot, melted liquid that is constantly circulating. While beneath the Earth’s crust, this liquid is called magma, but as soon as it is shot out of a volcano, it changes its name to lava. The circulation of magma makes the plates move. Earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates. The movement of tectonic plates also causes seismic waves that make tsunamis, volcano eruptions and much more. Seismic waves are not created just anywhere, but on the borders of these plates.

First, an earthquake is a sudden, rapid shaking of the ground, which is caused by subterranean rock breaking and moving. This subterranean rock is part of a tectonic plate that is constantly moving. “The underground location where the rock first broke apart or shifted is called the focus of the earthquake” (http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/lessons/indiv/davis/inprogress/QuakesEng3.html, 1995). Location on earth surface directly above the focus is called epicenter.  Energy is accumulated because of the moving plates, so when there is enough energy, it is released onto the surface in the shape of earthquakes.  If strong enough this energy release can make tectonic plates separate. Whole cities can be devastated by earthquakes. All of Europe, the west coast of South and North America, parts of Asia near India and the east coast of Asia are the most common places where earthquakes occur. This is because the boundaries of tectonic plates are on those locations. “Most of the largest earthquakes occur within the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, a horseshoe-shaped band of volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the Pacific Ocean” (http://www.trust.org/alertnet/crisis-centre/subtopic/earthquakes, 2009). Briefly, earthquakes are a destructive shaking of the ground caused by tectonic plates.

Also, waves caused by a movement of tectonic plates are seismic wave, which include longitudinal (P waves), transverse (S waves) and surface waves. P waves are the fastest ones, S waves are the most destructive ones and surface waves are a combination of longitudinal and transverse waves that travel through the surface of their medium.  Seismographs are machines that record these waves and warn us about upcoming earthquakes. When a seismograph records P waves that is a just a warning and there is usually no destruction, but when it records S waves, that means that the earthquake is already in session. However, when a seismograph warns us about P waves, it is only a matter of minutes before the destructive S waves come. If the location of the seismograph is on the border of the tectonic plates, there would be absolutely no time to prepare for an earthquake, for the distance the waves have to travel is short, so the P waves would barely outrun the S waves. Summarizing, there are three types of seismic waves: S, P and surface waves.

Third, the best way to protect ourselves and our city / town from earthquakes is through earthquake engineering. Earthquake engineering is the scientific field that concerns the damage done by earthquakes and how to stop it. One issue that they are solving is designing a building that can withstand seismic waves and not partially or completely collapse during a rare and very destructive earthquake or a common and not so destructive earthquake. They test out buildings through experimental or analytical/numerical assessment. Experimental assessment is the assessment of 1:1 scale models of buildings on a mechanical surface that shakes and simulates an earthquake. During the experiment, they record their observations and conclude what kinds of buildings are safer and more serviceable during and after the earthquake. Analytical/numerical assessment is when they try to design new buildings using beams, columns, beam-column joints, shear walls, etc. The only problem with making buildings with these accesories is that it would be very expensive and the economy of that country would probably weaken because of this, but later they would get the money back, for the buildings would endure even the most destructive earthquakes. Hence, there are two types of earthquake engeneering: experimental and analytical/numerical.

In conclusion, humans still have not found a way to warn ourselves or protect ourselves from very common and very destructive occurrences called earthquakes. Our warning system goes off just a few minutes before the earthquake, our buildings collapse and injure or kill people and we cannot save the injured people on time, for they are usually buried under pieces of concrete. But scientists are working on it and each day they come to an important conclusion, so step by step they will find a way to warn us on time and make endurable buildings.

Bibliography: 

http://nisee.berkeley.edu/bertero/

http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/lessons/indiv/davis/inprogress/QuakesEng3.html

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/crisis-centre/subtopic/earthquakes

http://www.ready.gov/earthquakes

Current Event

Urban Heat May Warm Faraway Places

Author of the article: Daniel Stone

Date published: 28th of January 2013

Source National Geographic

URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/130128-climate-cities-urban-heat-island-atmosphere-science/

Every day tasks in a city produce very much energy, which is transformed into heat. This heat cruises around the air in the city and flows into the jetstream, so it spreads around the planet heating up villages. Big metropolises in America use up 42% of the annual global consumption. This means that humans are responsible for global warming. 

I enjoyed reading this article because it talks about a huge issue. Humans should find a way to stop energy from transforming into heat. Soon, I will not be able to ski, for snow will be very scearse. I hope that a majority of people will except the new life with machines that do not transform energy into heat.

Reflection on the Wave Experiment

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In the this experiment, my partner was Nikola. We used a plastic tray, two pipettes, a paper towel, modeling clay, cork and water. First, we dropped water in the center of the tray using pipettes and it produced circular waves that pushed the cork outwards. When there was one drop in the corner, it pushed the cork towards the opposite corner. When there was one drop at the end, it pushed the cork towards the other end. When there were two drops were close together in the center, they made a bigger wave. When there were two drops in the corner, again the wave was bigger and pushed the cork towards the other corner. When there were two drops at the end, the wave was bigger and pushed the cork towards the other end. If two waves going in opposite directions met, they went under/over the other wave. If a wave hit a barrier it bounced off and lost some energy. If a wave hit the side of the pan it bounced off. If a wave got to the paper towel, it would go under it. A wave would always go through the gap in between the barriers. The larger the frequency the more waves, the wave source produces in a second. The larger the amplitude the more energy the waves carries. 

Current Event

Outbreak notice

Malaria in Greece

By: Ivan Cukanić

Author of the Article: Center for Disease Control and     Prevention

Date Published: November, 24th, 2012

Source: Center for Disease Control

URL: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/outbreak-notice/malaria-greece-sept-2012.htm

Although it is considered as an officially eradicated disease in Greece from 1974. with only  sporadic cases of malaria connected only to travelers from Africa and Asia, there are, day by day,  new cases of this mosquito spread disease. Attica, Karditsa, Laconia, Viotia, and Xanthi are regions of Greece affected by this dangerous disease. The Hellenic Center of disease control and also European CDC take part in thorough monitoring of new cases and organize better mosquito control, but also public information and education about malaria. 

Malaria is parasite disease transferred from an infected to a healthy person by mosquito bite. In the early stages of the disease, symptoms of malaria are very similar to banal viral infections with fever and chills, but if left unrecognized, it can even be fatal. With almost 500 million cases and 1 million deaths per year worldwide, it is one of the largest health problems in the world. It is very common in undeveloped and developing world regions, often in swamp areas which favor mosquito reproduction and multiplication. Malaria is a quite common disease in many parts of Africa, Central and South America, Asia, South Pacific and Eastern Europe.  It is recommended for all travelers to Greece to use insect ( mosquito ) repellent on exposed skin, to wear protective clothing and to spend time indoor in mosquito protected places. In case of travelling to an agricultural region of Eurotas, CDC recommends taking medicine prescription for disease prevention.  It is of great importance to take all fevers seriously during and up to one year after travel and to seek professional medical help as soon as possible. Malaria is a completely curable disease in case of prompt and adequate treatment.

I liked this article because it warns people about diseases they forgot that even existed in some parts of the world. If not prepared, you can get malaria and if you don’t recognize it, it can even kill you. This connects to science because it involves mosquitoes, protozoa and diseases. I think this site is reliable because it has “.gov” in the URL.