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 ...