Radioactive Babies Oh No!

Article

I just read something very disturbing in this article. According to recent studies done in Germany, Switzerland and the US, researches have found that radiation has had an effect on the sex of babies born. Ever since the U-bomb there has been some concern. And as it turns out it's not without cause. Studies show that radiation exposure causes men to father more boys.

This honestly scares me. I know that radiation has caused birth defects, but even in these small doses it seems to be causing problems. If this gets too bad there could be a dramatic drop in females born. This is one of the many prices we must pay for our industraial society. I sincerly hope that we try to do something to prevent or help this situation.

- Lauren (Ren) Stogner

Wrote this last week ( 5-27-2011) and couldn't post it.

In a normal mammal, the excess to UV lights could starve them, make
them blind, and make them more vulnerable to other predators.
Reindeer are use the UV rays to their advantage, it helps them find
food. Reindeer have can see more than 400 more wave lengths than us,
humans. They can also see in almost darkness. Reindeer have very keen
eyes.

I find this very interesting. I did not know that eyes were that
different. I knew dogs could only see certain colors and some people
could be colorblind. I think that this is quite cool. I guess it is
all really about natural selections, those with better eyes move on.


2011http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/05/26/reindeer_see_a_weird_and_wonderful_world_of_ultraviolet_light.html

E. Coli bacteria on Organic Vegetables

In Germany, a reported 16 people have died after being infected by a chain of E.Coli. E. Coli are gut bacteria, but a certain strain called STEC carry genes for a toxin that attacks capillaries in the gut. This causes bloody diarrhoea and starts the clotting system, blocking capillaries and other organs. STEC is carried by cattle who dont get attacked wby the toxin. The most common victims are children who got it from beef or water infected by cattle faeces. The outbreak in Germany is rare, but the European Union Center for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm reported an increase in E.Coli infections since 2008. If the strain travels through cattle faeces, researchers weren't surprised because cow manure is used mainly to fertilize organic crops. Many other reports have shown a higher presence of E.coli on organic vegetables.

I think that since E.coli, in this case could lead to other problems that people should somehow try to prevent this. Maybe manure could be tested for E.coli bacteria and if positive be thrown away or treated for it. If possible, organic vegetables could just be washed extra well before distribution. E.coli can probably get nasty and if it has killed people and a spread is going around then, something should be done to stop it if they know the source.

NASA is not a quitter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/science/space/25rover.html?ref=science

NASA reported on Tuesday, May 24th that they were stopping the efforts to reconnect with Spirit. It has been stuck in a sand trap for about two years since last winter. Spirit, one of the two rovers on Mars, had engineers hoping that when spring arrived so would the connection. But when spring came, the connection was still lost. Now NASA is coming to the conclusion that spending more money and time on Spirit is a waste. This thought has came to the ending of signals and communication with Spirit, the last message was sent last Wednesday.

I think NASA should not be called a quitter. I can agree both parts of this story though. I understand that NASA will now be saving money and time, so they can now benefit another study, but I also think NASA should at least explore all their options. If they stop sending signals to Spirit, why not create a new rover and spend the money on that rover? NASA should be open minded and I think they are handling this disappointing operation very smoothly. People should understand that the scientist and engineers worked very hard on Spirit; people need to stop hating, NASA is not a quitter.

-Holley Hurst :)

Brain scans reveal why some people feel your pain

Summary:
Some people can feel your pain but in their bodies. This might not make much sense but according to scientist, who have done brain scans on people who haven't lost any limbs on their body's and then do test on people who have, they found something strange. They found that people that have lost limbs like their arms or legs feel "Synaesthetic pain" which is feeling pain in a limb that is no longer there. This pain is imagined and it happens from seeing or hearing things that could harm someone. When someone observes or imagines pain, it activates parts of the brain which makes you feel like the pain is real.

Example:
"When I hear my husband's power tools, or see a knife, I often get a sharp pain through my phantom leg," says Jane Barrett, who has experienced synaesthetic pain since losing her leg in a motorcycle accident.

Opinion:

I chose to write about this summary because i thought it was unique how disabled people can still feel pain in limbs that they no longer have. I would hate to see a knife and get sharp pains where my limb used to be. This shows that scientist are learning more and more everyday about the human body and soon they will have answers for almost anything about the human body. This could help doctors and any kind of person who has a career that has to do with the body of humans and maybe even animals. I would recommend this article to any person who has lost a limb and gets those sharp pains when they see someone hurt or see something that could hurt someone, so they can learn why it happens.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028144.200-brain-scans-reveal-why-some-people-feel-your-pain.html

-Candace Duvall

http://www.frcblog.com/2011/05/human-neurons-from-skin-cells/

This blog is about scientists growing nerve cells from skin cells in a lab dish. They first tried it with mouse cells and the conversion worked. For the human conversion, you need to add four more genes to the skin cell. This is a major breakthrough for people who have had a stroke.

I never knew that nerve cells could be regenerated. I personally would have not thought about just adding more and more genes to the skin cells to make them into nerve cells. I think this stuff is cool and the fact that we are actually accomplishing these things is even cooler.

Change the tune of song birds

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/05/26/songbirds_tweak_their_songs_in_in_different_ways_to_cope_with_clamor.html

Birds rely on their songs to communicate and find mates. We made the world today a noisy place with driving and construction. We are drowning out their music making them more prone to attack and preventing them from communicating. Two species of vireo in New Mexico, the grey and plumbeous. To go above the blaring 85-100 decibel world the grey vireo raises the pitch of the highest part of song. On the other case the plumbeous vireo raises the pitch of the lowest part. These may affect however environments with numerous bird species

Some people think that a birds song can't change because thats what they sing constantly. But the birds need to cope with the environment around them in order for them to flourish. Whose to say that there are thousands of birds out there that do this.The more we continue our manifest where we believe were superior the more we will damage the world. If we limit the amount of birds in the world whats next.