Honors General Science Current Events

 On October 21st Vietnam experienced one of the biggest floods in its history. It killed over a hundred people and multiple more are missing, it destroyed over 7,200 hectares of lands. This caused many crops and livestock to parish. Yet the bad luck isn't over with another tropical storm on its way. I think that with all of these floods, storms, and Covid Vietnam's economy will be highly effected.  Article

       After reading about the fact that we, US citizens, are poisoning our earth and killing the marine environments, should make us all think again about throwing a piece of plastic away. After reading this article, I have learned that over the past 10 years we went from the twentieth ranking  to the "third among countries contributing to coastal plastic pollution when taking into account its scrap plastic exports as well as the latest figures on illegal dumping and littering in the country." We are now the third-worst in the world contributing to the pollution to marine life and the environment. Something needs to change. When you think about it, almost everything has plastic on it, for example, the plastic wrapping on boxes keeping it from opening up, led pencils, bubble wrap in boxes, and even everyday materials like some cups. Beyond our boarders, "the res earchers estimated that up to 1 million metric tons of U.S.-generated plastic waste ended up pol...

     According to the article, " Tiny, seemingly harmless ocean plants survived the darkness of the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs by learning a ghoulish behavior -- eating other living creatures.", it states how the asteroid decimated almost the whole population of living things when the asteroid hit, except this rare type of algae. To find out how this algae was able to survive such a harsh environment, they took fossils of the algae and made a model with a computer, which was able to monitor the feeding habits over time. Since this type of algae was so rare, they were lucky to find it in the first place. They were found in sediment, which was able to preserve them in the same way mammoths are preserved in tar pits. Scientists found that modern species with similar structures to this would include the Venus Fly Trap and sundews. They also found that once the debris of the asteroid cleared, this algae moved to coastal shelf areas. These small organisms a...

After the coldest day in Florida, scientists were able to study the point of freezing for reptiles. After doing many tests, they've finally discovered that lizards and other reptiles can withstand 1-4 degrees Celsius colder temperatures than before. Some scientists believe it is due to natural selection, but no one really knows for sure. Link to Article I believe that this discovery is beneficial, especially when it comes to global warming. No matter why or how these creatures can survive, the fluctuation of temperatures will affect many different animals, and knowing reptiles have a better chance at survival is great, especially since so many animals are being endangered now.

     Researchers suggest that the colds you've had in the past could potentially provide some protection from COVID-19. According to the disease experts at the University of Rochester Medical Center, the common cold produces memory B cells. These memory B cells are long lived immune cells that detect pathogens. They say these type of cells can stay in your body for decades helping to fight off diseases such as the common cold and COVID-19. If you also get Covid then you are less likely to get it again because it also produces these type of cells.  https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/can-the-common-cold-help-protect-you-from-covid-19

 Asian giant hornets are a hornet species native to China, Japan, and South Korea, more commonly known as "murder hornets". Scientist have recently tied a tracker on one of the hornets using dental floss and discovered where its nest was, then killed the nest. It was the second nest found in North American. They are currently residing on the West Coast in Washington state and British Columbia, Canada, though it was recently discovered that they would thrive on the East Coast. It's estimated that it would take them hundreds of years to reach the East Coast but with human aid, much faster.  I am honestly not surprised that they would survive on the East Coast because that's just our luck, but I also think that they may not migrate to here or even stay if they do reach us because it said that they prefer their native lands. We still should take extreme precautions due to the fact that they can kill people if they sting enough times. 

        Sarah Grube    Spiders all have their own tactics in catching their prey. Some spin webs, other inject their prey with their venom. However, the ogre-faced spider is one spider who does not use these traditional methods of getter their next meals. They usually dwell in tropics, like Australia and Africa, and they use a very interesting way to grab a snack. These spiders hang upside down and weave a rectangular web between their legs. Then, the spider waits for an unsuspecting insect to fly behind the,. Once they hear their soon to be meal, the spider swings backward, slinging the web at the insect. This is so interesting to scientists because we didn't know spiders could even hear until a few years ago. They don't really have ears like you and me, but through their legs. They can sense the sound vibrations, and hear in multiple different frequencies! I think this just goes to show there's always more to learn about the creatures ...

 A group of six researchers will spend two weeks traveling to a simulated Mars habitat. The crew members will not leave the solar powered dome habitat unless they are secured in a space suit. The dome will be placed on volcano Mauna Lou on the island of Hawaii and for 2 weeks, they will rely solely on solar power the habitat provides.  I think this will be a really interesting and cool experience for the crew members. Its really interesting that they can almost create a Mars like simulation here on earth. I wonder what information they will record while they are in the dome. I also wonder how difficult it will be to adjust to everything because they have no contact with the outside world.  https://www.space.com/hi-seas-sensoria-m2-mars-analog-mission-2020

Before the Trump administration’s widely publicized “zero tolerance” immigration policy went into effect, children were separated from their parents. A new report reveals that the deported parents of these 545 migrant children still have yet to be found and given the opportunity to reunite with their children. This means to me that these children are living without their parents and are probably scared while they’re parents are missing this time in their children’s life’s.   https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/migrant-children-separated.html

A Stranded Venezuelan Oil Tanker is a Potential Disaster     In an article written by National Geographic, it explains how an oil tanker is floating 24 miles off of  Venezeaula. The oil tanker hol ds " 1.3 million barrel s of crude oil " for almost two years. The tanker is called The Nabarima  and holds five times more oil than 1989 Exxon-Valdez, Alaska spill. If even a fraction spilled it would create a oil spill disaster that may last for years in the Carribean sea.      Eduardo Klein, an environmental scientist believes that the vessel is contained. He is familiar with how the tanker was made and knows that it is and will be fine, for now. Klein is most worried about how the Venezeulan government will react, or wont react to if the boat spills. The government has had two leaks this summer and didn't do anything about it.      Personally, I think that  The Nabarima is under control for now, but I'm worried about the sea. If the Ve...

       Recently, studies show that depression rates have striked three times higher during the pandemic. 40 percent of adults have had problems with anxiety. Dr. Epel says that it is a natural response to what is happening and  Adverse mental health effects are linked to being in a chronically stressful situation, especially for people whose lives have been severely disrupted by illness, financial stress or essential work.  Dr. Epel suggests limiting exposure to upsetting news and being kind to yourself and others who are experiencing emotional distress. As a way to cope with it she suggest to really think what personal care means for you.      I think that this article  is kind of sad. The reason I think this is because so many people are going through anxiety and depression. I have never been depressed my self but I am sure it is not very fun. I was reading some of the comments on the post and there were many students talking about how...

 A Florida graduate student discovered that the size of a bird's eye predicts where they breed and feed. If a bird has a big eye it has small prey or a dark environment. Big eyes also mean they have a bigger risk when humans turn forests turns to farmland. This is cool but I do not think this is very helpful. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/eye-size-predicts-where-birds-breed-and-feed

 Is it possible to kill someone with a fart? Your farts contain asphyxiants gasses, these in massive measures can be deadly. Then add some more toxic chemicals that you breath in on top of that. The air you fart out is compemplety from the air you swallow. So if you breath in massive amounts of harmful chemicals then if you survive they will come back out. Also you'd need to be in a air tight environment so that the test subject cant get fresh air. Lastly it would take multiple people one person can not emit that massive of a toxic fart to kill some one. okay, so after reviewing the facts here's what i think. It is a slim chance, a really slim chance. but diffidently possible. to pull this off you'd need to have a group of 2 to three people who have a digestive problems(basically a big farter) then have them breath in massive amounts of toxic chemicals. Then trap them in a air tight room with some else that have them all fart at the same time. I don't know if that's...

     Farmers are facing many problems relating to phosphorus, one of the key elements in fertilizers. One of the main problems is that much of the phosphorus they use can be washed away into water sources and cause algae to grow which sometimes releases toxic chemicals and kills the wildlife in that watercourses ecosystem. Another of the problems is that at the rate phosphorus is being used there may become a shortage. (Rosen, 2020)states, " Nearly all of the phosphorus that farmers use today—and that we consume in the food we eat—is mined from a few sources of phosphate rock, mainly in the United States, China, and Morocco. By some estimates, those could run out in as little as 50 to 100 years." These are two important things that are happening because they have an impact on the food we eat, both plants and fish, and could leave the future generations with agricultural and environmental struggles.

 The ichthyosaur is an extinct dolphin-like reptile that was found with a full stomach because it ate an animal as long as it was. Scientists think that it broke its own neck while trying to eat it. Thrashing its prey around in their jaws is how they rip it up.  https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/fossil-ichthyosaur-death-eating-long-creature

      Space information is important because Spacer is very relevent in where our economy and our lifestyles will be in the future. Some cool space events that happened in August of this year are that you could see Venus at sunrise on the 15th. On August 1st the moon makes a really pretty triangle with Jupiter and Saturn after sunset. On August 9th, you can see Mars super close to the moon before dawn. These are just some of the cool things that happened in space in August this year. It is important ot learn about space because of the impact it will have on our future. Science can help us learn all about space, and what is to come.    https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/details.php?id=1633

       These beaked whales set a record for holding their breath for 4 hours underwater. Seals and these whales are similar. They can hold there breath long and swim for miles in the deep oceans. Researchers don't know much about how the whales recover from this long expansion of time under water, but hopefully they can find a pattern.    How can a whale dive so deep? Whales, especially beaked whales, can dive through 2,000 meters of cold, dark waters. They are also special because they can of course hold their breath for a long time.  https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cuviers-beaked-whale-longest-record-dive

  A report done on the 6th of January tells about a study showing the relationship of stress and anxiety disorders. In this study, it is shown that stress is a big influence in anxiety and depression. While scientists are unsure which dependent-stressors correlate to which disorder, but they have found that, "high-severity stressful events have distinct links with different dimensions of internalizing psychopathology."(paragraph 3) Link to Report I think that this discovery, while limited in its knowledge, will really help when it comes to anxiety-related problems. Knowing that stress is a factor can help with coping with anxiety and even depression.

    The article I chose to read about was about a whale and its 4 hour long dive under water. The Cirvier beaked whale is known for making huge dives for a long time and very deep. One whale dived to a measure of  nearly 3,000 meters. In 2014 the record for longest dive was just over 2 hours and was 137.5 minutes.  On September 23, 2020 a nother Cuvier’s beaked whale has broken the record and it now sits at 222 minutes, nearly 4 hours underwater. The article further talks about how the animal can store that last with the amount of oxygen they have. Calculations say that they should only last half an hour under water so they last by relying on large stores of oxygen in their body and their slow metabolisms. " Once oxygen runs out, the animals may have the ability to tolerate lactic acid building up in their muscles from anaerobic respiration — a method of generating energy that doesn’t rely on oxygen. "  This is stated in the article and explains how they save th...

      The first movie to ever be filmed in space is set to hit in 2022 with Tom Cruise and Elon Musk's Space X. With his dangerous stunts that he does over the years it will be quite suiting for the type of movies he makes. It will be very expensive alone to produce the movie up in space because of how expensive rocket ships are to launch and safely make it back which they said will cost more than 200 million dollars to produce the movie. It will also be difficult to produce it up there when there is no gravity. These difficulties can further delay the movie when they have high hopes for the launch. However, this will be begin a new dawn into space tourism which Elon Musk wishes to expand on. 

       According to the article, "California's air quality is worse than India's. That's not good in a pandemic.", it states that millions of Californians were breathing in "dry, smoky air with ash in it". This is quality is very harmful to the lungs and can cause a series of long term health problems. Over one-third of the state of California has unhealthy air reaching the general public. That is a lot of people! The California Bay Area is currently blanketed with a thin layer of ash, which is resulting in the worst air in the world. It also stated that even healthy people are reporting headaches and bloody noses due to the current event. While wearing a mask may prevent you from some harmful things, studies show that it will do little to no help in protecting you from inhaling smoke particles. Lastly, the article also stated how the smoke all over the air leads people to become more vulnerable to catching COVID-19. In general, breathing in all this, ai...

      Stars are massive balls oh hydrogen and helium that produce nuclear fusion to create heat and light. Although many people believe that stars are on fire, they actually create their heat from extreme pressure and, as mentioned, nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is the is when two molecules squeeze together until they fuse into one. The reason it puts off so much energy is that not all the electrons are used producing a small amount of energy, but because it is done so much, so quickly, the energy output is massive. Our sun is on the medium to the smaller side of stars. The largest star we've discovered (UY Scuti) is so big that the gravity can not hold it together. It's blowing it's self apart. The brightest star in the sky (Sirius a) is 25 times brighter and nearly 10,000 thousand degrees hotter than our sun on the surface.