Honors General Science Current Events

 Being in lockdown seems like torcher, so when I read the article "Dramatic effect of coronavirus lockdowns seen from space" I was intrigued to hear that there is some good coming out of being in a pandemic for so long. In China, air pollution has cleared up faster than ever before. There is usually a drop off around Lunar New Year, but never one as dramatic as this. You can even see it from space, as satellites pick up this data from U.S. and in Russia. This has shown a substantial drop in nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide is usually found in plants and other machines. The decrease in this gas is probably because of the lack of travel and slowdown in the economy.  I thought this was very interesting because coronavirus has only brought us bad news after bad news and to finally see some good come out of it is surprising. To see that the air pollution is decreasing is a good thing and it is important to see that we can continue to help get rid of or lessen the amount of air p...

'Australia Floods See Swarming Spiders and Wet Wallabies as Animals Seek Refuge' Article      The article I chose to read is about the Australian floods and how people are seeing swarming spiders and wet wallabies as the animals are seeking refuge. the article is titled, "Australia floods see swarming spiders and wet wallabies as animals seek refuge." The article talked about how this is the worst flooding in decades-- first fires now floods. People watched as thousands of spiders scaled their backyards. Someone said, "All the brown you can see is spiders trying to beat the floodwater, All the brown you can see is spiders trying to beat the floodwater."  Many had to save cattle, pets, and dogs from shelters at risk of flooding as well.      This article was very interesting and terrifying to me as well. I dislike spiders and to imagine thousands of spiders in my backyard and everywhere I look is so scary. I also felt bad for all the animals in dan...

 In this article, scientists are creating human tear ducts that have the ability to cry and are implanting them into mice. In the Netherlands, disembodied human tear glands are being grown in petri dishes. This could be a step forward in the treatment of dry eye. The scientists divided this study into 3 experiments. The first experiment was to grow the glands, the second was to implant them into mice, and the third was to focus on pinpointing the origin of dry eye. Their experiment showed that the mouse organoids modified to lack PAx6 produced fewer tears, showing the idea that that gene is linked to dry eye. I think implanting disembodied human tear glands into mice is kind of gross. However, if it's a step to possibly get better treatment for those with dry eye, I think it's a good idea. I think its great that they found the specific gene linked to dry eye.  https://www.livescience.com/crying-organoid-tear-ducts-grown-in-petri-dish.html

     A new method of dehydrating fruits has been discovered that can cut energy used in half, keep the fruits nutrients and be completed in half the time of the normal method. This method is ionic wind which uses no heat to dehydrate, because heat breaks down the vitamins and other healthy chemicals the human body can't produce. " Ionic wind is generated by electricity. When you apply a high enough voltage to a bare, positively-charged wire, it will create an electrical field. That field will strip electrons from nearby air molecules . Usually, between 10,000 and 30,000 volts will suffice"( Iranshahi,20)  I think this is a great breakthrough in the culinary science world because now dried fruits will be more healthy and vitamin packed, I'm interested in how these new dried foods will taste.

     In this article, it mainly talks a out how these dogs can help kids while learning in class. These dogs help not only help reduce blood pressure, but also help kids keep their self esteem up. A recent national survey of adolescent mental health found that about 8 to 10 percent of teens ages 13 to 18 have an anxiety disorder .  A therapy dog can lift moods in the classroom, often provoking laughter. The therapy dog is also there to offer friendship and a shoulder to lean on for students. These dogs overall just help keep kids focused and happy. Why not keep them in the classroom, it's not like they cause a problem?  I found this article interesting because you always think of dogs and think loud and energetic. But, these therapy dogs are trained not to be loud and bark at little movement like squirrels. These dogs are so calm and just help kids focus and feel more positive. If these dogs are calm and make the kids learn easier than just sitting and list...

 During Perseverance's landing on Mars, some people noticed the parachute had an interesting pattern. NASA later confirmed it was a secret code that they had implemented. After so many tries, Maxence Abela and his father decoded the message using binary code. The message read "Dare Mighty Things," which is a reference to President Roosevelt's "The Strenuous Life" speech from 1899. After this mystery was solved, people began to notice other hidden codes on Perseverance, which NASA later confirmed was intentional. I find it interesting that NASA took the time to implement codes and hidden messages into their work, and I am excited to see what we can discover next. link to article

     Why is mustard gas so deadly? Mustard gas reacts with the water in your lungs and inflates your tissue, in turn, making it impossible to breathe. This also explains the soars that people experienced when coming in contact with it.