Drought Does Long-term Damage to Rainforest

Title: Drought Does Long-term Damage to Rainforest

Author: Tom Marshall

Publication: Planet Earth Online

Date: 6th February 2013

Link: http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1358&cookieConsent=A

This article speaks about the reoccurring droughts in the Amazon rainforest and its effects on the biodiversity. Each drought has an immense effect long after the rains have returned. The droughts occurred in 1997/1998, then in 2005 and once again in 2010. Satellite data shows that the drought that hit in 2005 caused major changes in the forest that have not been recovered by the time of the most recent drought in 2010. This evidently caused even more damage to the forest canopy. A great number of trees have already died out and scientists predict that this danger is leading to a cumulative decrease in trees in the area.

Scientists predict that droughts will occur every 5 years and this is not enough time for the organisms to recover from the previous droughts. The danger in this happening is that once the trees starting falling, this will create gaps in the forest, allowing light and air in to dry out the interior and further create damage. The area will be more flammable and fires could easily be started. The forest would not be a “rain forest” anymore, but simple a scrub.

 

The specie that has the biggest risk of becoming extinct are the very tallest trees that tower above the rainforest canopy. These are most exposed to the sun and hard winds. Their height makes it far too hard for them to reach water all the way to their top. These bigger trees are greatly affected and they begin dying off three years post the drought.

What could humans do to help? How can we protect the trees from dying out and making gaps in the canopy creating a bigger possibility of fires occurring? 

Negative People Are More Sensitive to Sound

Title: Negative People Are More Sensitive to Sound

Author: Harriet Jarlett

Publication: Planet Earth Online

Date: 26th March 2013

Link: http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1417&cookieConsent=A

This article speaks about the correlation of an individual’s personality and how sensitive they are to sound. Researchers from the University of Nottingham came to the conclusion that your personality can make you think that noises generated by micro wind turbines are louder than what they really are. They measured the sound from small/micro wind turbines and then spoke to the people living in these urban areas. Results showed that people that had a negative outlook were more prone to thinking the wind turbines we’re loud, while those that were more optimistic reported that they barely, in some cases not at all, heard the sound.

Professor Carol Eastwick asked the participants to rank the different noises that they heard. The experiment included different words such as humming, beating, whistling and the individuals were also asked to explain their views on wind turbines.

The closest correlation was that of personality and what was heard. There was no split found between gender or age. Individuals that showed to have a negative outlook were those that complained about feeling discomfort and noise related symptoms such as headaches and fatigue.

Being a higher level psychology student, I personally feel like this experiment was conducted in a proper manner. The independent and dependant variables need to be more concentrated. Perhaps there were results that the article did not include, but those would be a grand aid when looking at this study. It is hard to believe that someone’s “personality” could affect what they hear. A person’s “personality” can not be generalized to the way they act in one day. Maybe the person was having a rough day or those that seemed upset or aggravated were simply the ones that lived closest to the wind turbines? Many other factors need to be considered before making such a generalization. 

Two Headed Shark Found by Fisherman

Title: Two Headed Shark Found by Fisherman

Author: Brian Clark Howard

Publication: National Geographic News

Date: 26th March 2013

Link: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/26/two-headed-shark-found-by-fisherman/

Yes, it is exactly what it looks like – A two headed shark!

A bull shark was captured by a fisherman working off the Florida Keys. When he opened up the shark, he found a live, very unusual fetus with two heads on it. He gave the organism to a group of scientists working under Dr. C. Michael Wagner of Michigan State University and he explained that this phenomenon is the first double headed shark ever recorder in bull sharks, and one of only around a dozen total double headed sharks in the world. 

Axial Bifurcation is the process in which the embryo doesn’t finish splitting into two different individuals in cases of twins. This mutation is common in other animals and has been seen in humans as well. Unfortunately these organisms have a really difficult time surviving in the wild as they have problems finding food and protecting themselves from predators. They usually die as soon as they are born and this is what happened with the bull shark as well. The fisherman predicted that even if it was allowed to be born on its own, it would not have survived as its body was very petite since most of the energy went into growing out the two heads.

Studying these kinds of rare organisms can help us better understand developmental processes and provide possible research as to why this mutation occurred. This event raises questions in relation to awareness of the pollutions in our sea and the health of our oceans. 

Paignton Zoo Gorilla N'Dowe Paints Gorilla Sculpture

Title: Paignton zoo gorilla N’Dowe paints gorilla sculpture

Author: Devon

Publication: BBC News

Date: 26th March 2013

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-21939221

It is widely known that the human closest relative comes from the “Monkey Family”. Scientists are always conducting experiments that would show the relation between this species and humans. This article speaks about an interesting public art project that involved gorillas participating in creating art work. The project was year long and it marked the 90^th anniversary of the Devon zoo. It was supposed to highlight the plight of gorillas in the wild. 

The gorilla in the image that is shown painting the sculpture is named N’Dowe, and his work will be used for educational purposes before it is auctioned off. His keeper said he was motivated by the promise of grapes, and that he chose to use his fingers and lips rather than brushed to apply the paint.

It is predicted that there will be around 30-40 life-size silver back gorillas with an addition of several smaller ones (like the one in the picture with N’Dowe) and they will be displayed in the summer. The locations of the sculptures will be given on a map that will lead to the trail. It is predicted to be a quite fun and entertaining activity. In autumn, the sculptures will be auctioned off and the money raised will be donated to the Cross River Gorilla Project, which is currently the most endangered ape in Africa with only 300 individuals left.

It is quite fascinating to see animals perform human like activities. It makes me wonder what other things apes, and other animals are capable of doing and if these actions stimuli their brains into performing better and thinking more actively in their daily lives. 

Title : New Ancient Members of Whale Family Found
Author: Mauricio Handler
Publisher: National Geographic

This article is about the recent discovery of four new species that are ancestors to modern baleen whales. As the article explains baleen whales are named for the material that their teeth ware made of. The material is very similar to what human's finger nails are made of. This find represents a large step in the evolution of whales. These new species that were found not only have teeth, they have been dated to a time when toothed baleen whales should have been extinct for about five million years. In fact at the dig site there was a huge diversity of this species of whale. This suggests that not only was the lineage of these teethed baleen whales not extinct it was actually doing well at the time when these specific whales died. There has never been toothed whales from this time period found before so this find is very important in documenting the evolution of whales. It helps us understand the specific transitions that baleen whales went through to get to how we see them today. Scientists haven't yet named the majority of the species that were found in this dig and there is continuing research about these new species of whale and what they mean to the evolution of baleen whales as a whole. I think that this is an important article because it is an example about a key part of science. Science is always changing, theories shift and we accept different ideas over time. It is one of the best things about science because it never stops progressing, but its also one of the most detrimental parts of science. It allows people to second guess scientific based primarily on the fact that because scientific theory can be altered it cannot be trusted as fact. 

Extreme Storm Surges May Occur More Often

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349035/description/News_in_Brief_Extreme_storm_surges_may_occur_more_often



The reason for the new extreme storm surges, as scientists say, is climate change. As the climate drastically warms, and changes so often, it is predicted that there will be more storm surges. A storm surge occurs when there is an abnormal tide rise- that is what triggers a storm surge. It is when hurricanes push the water towards the coast. Overall, they said storm surges will be much more frequent, about two to seven times, more frequent. After the storm surge in 2005, hurricane Katrina changed the way people viewed storm surges, how dangerous they are, and what damage they can do. It is one of the most dangerous environmental hazards, and people are just learning how to deal with it. If we face stronger ones from now on, there has to be a way to solve the problem.

Solar Power to Hit Cost Parity Next Year

Title: Solar Power to Hit Cost Parity Next Year
Author: RP Siegel
Publication: Triple Pundit
Date: 18th March 2013

Even though it was often deemed impossible, solar power is finally starting to be available, surpassing 100 GW threshold. For now, a third of it is in Germany, since its government has been supporting the cause, and even implemented tariffs (FiT). Germany has 5 times more solar power than the United States, despite getting much less sunshine. Their target by 2020 is reching 40% and 80% by 2030. China is a close second, and is even expected to surpass Germany by the end of this year.

The IEA (International Energy Agency) expects the solar instalations to grow up to 230 GW by 2017. If it progresses as predicted, the 6 Celsius scenario might be avoided (more about that in this article).

The Deutsche Bank is expecting the solar market to become a sustainable one in 2014. The bank also put stakes on on possible large markets in India, which is especially important since India is currently the number two consumer of coal in the world, so having a solar power market might help lessen the consequences.

Spain, Italy, UK, and Japan are also working on development of solar power, and the United States awaits legislation that would give the solar the same status as real estate.

A benefit of solar power also lays in affordability - China is expecting the price to drop to 42% per watt by 2015, making it cheaper than coal and natural gases.

'Black Death pit' unearthed by Crossrail project

While excavating areas for London's Crossrail project, which aim it is to establish a 118km long high speed rail link with 37 stations all over London, bodies were found deeper in the ground.

It was known that there is supposed to be a burial ground somewhere outside of the city of London, but the exact location was never found. Now, 13 bodies have been found in an 5.5 m shaft. Pottery, probably from the mid 14th century was found very close to the bodies. Researchers believe, the bodys belong to the time of the "Black Death", which was a pandemic in the 14th century. Further analysis will help discover the plague. The skeletons DNA may help investigate the development and spread of the bacterium, which killed thousands and thousands of people. The dead bodies were laid in 2 neat rows which leads us to believe that these skeletons are from the earliest era of the Black death, before the bacterium had developed completely.

Archaeologists from the Museum of London will continue digging in order to discover even more. These findings are on of UK'S largest archaeological ventures and they weren't even discovered on purpose. "We've found archaeology from pretty much all periods - from the very ancient prehistoric right up to a 20th-Century industrial site, but this site is probably the most important medieval site we've got," said Jay Carver, project archaeologist for Crossrail.

He also believes, that this is on of "the most significant discoveries" made in a long time. It is very significant because of the data which it provides, not only the location of the burial ground but also the bacterium's DNA. They can then study the plague which killed thousands and thousand of people in London.

I personally can't believe that we still keep finding evidence of epidemic  plagues from the 14th century. Those bodies have been laying in the ground for over 500 years now and yet we still haven't found all the evidence. This article makes me think about how much more there is undiscovered in the world we live in. We keep thinking we have found out everything and created everything, but archaeologists and chemists and scientists keep finding new evidence, which is just unbelievable.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21784141

Will “Call of Duty” Be Assigned for 10th Grade (Gaming) Homework?

Title of the Article: Will “Call of Duty” Be Assigned for 10th Grade (Gaming) Homework?

Source: Scientific American.
Website URL: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/talking-back/2013/03/06/will-call-of-duty-be-assigned-for-10th-grade-gaming-homework/

Where to begin? It is beyond obvious as to why I chose this article, however here is a clarification: just from the title having “gaming homework” already sounds appealing to a 16 year old boy. Having a ‘gaming’ class is the perfect class for many boys of my age and interests, and it would be something that many teens such as myself would enforce. That would not be a class, but more of a break. Before reading this article I was aware of the fact that ‘gaming’ improves your hand-eye coordination, thinking process, and on top of that it contributes to your decision making (by coming up with a decision in a shorter period of time compared to not playing video games, as well as having the ability to weight the two situations and choose the one that is of a greater significance/benefit to you).
The article focused a lot on the studies done by Professor Wilingham of the University of Wisconsin. He has said that playing ‘call of duty’ (a game full of shooting, quick decisions, etc) increases memory, reflexes, alertness and so on forth. All of these qualities are essential to every human being and that is why I support his research. By improving these qualities we become more aware of our surrounding which benefit us in many ways, improved reflexes are essential for staying safe in your environment, while coming up with a good decision (problem solving) in a short period of time saves you a lot of time and energy. Not to mention memory…
“What we really want to do is target a cognitive process [say, attention or memory] and then design a game that packages practice of that process into a gaming experience. That effort has been ongoing for 20 years or so in the education world and game designers have found it much more difficult than anyone thought it would be.” As told by Dr. Wilingham. It is understandable that coming up with a perfect game (which develops all the qualities mentioned before) is difficult but it is definitely worth it. Just because these qualities are found in games, many kids will spend a large quantity of their time playing them which would lead up to extra points in the performance of the qualities. In conclusion, adding video games (which work on the qualities such as reflexes, memory, etc) to the school curriculum will definitely benefit those qualities since a surplus of time will be invested into them.

Females Butterflies Can Smell If a Male Butterfly Is Inbred

Title of the Article: Females Butterflies Can Smell If a Male Butterfly Is Inbred

Source: Science Daily.
Website URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130305200457.htm

While I was browsing through “science related” websites, hunting for a topic for my current event, I came upon this article. The reason why it caught my eye is simple: in the past month in our ESS class, we have discussed evolution, adaptation, speciation, pretty much the transformations animals/humans go through in order to survive and “become better are surviving”. We have also discussed the genes, and how offspring are determined. The final reason why I chose this article is because it focused on “Inbred” offspring, and this was interesting since we discussed how ‘weak’ the offspring of two related parents are as well as how their productivity level is low. By choosing this article, I have informed myself more on this topic since it covered the weakness and sterility offspring are prone to if the parents are related.
To give you a quick overview of the article: Scientists at the University of Cambridge came upon the discovery that most female butterflies have the ability to ‘smell’ or identify inbred male butterflies. The color patterns of the inbred butterflies are ‘less conspicuous’ and they release small quantities of pheromones (pheromones are describe as chemical substances released by mammals and insects – attractant for the opposite sex). The reason why the female butterflies can ‘smell’ the inbred counterparts is because the inbred males have a 50% chance of being sterile. The eggs of the female butterfly will still be fertilized however, the offspring won’t develop and live. I thought of evolution when I read this article. The female butterflies have wasted time and energy carrying ‘unfertilized’ eggs which were ‘fertilized’ by inbred males. They were blocked from reproducing since the inbred males did not ‘carry out their part of the job’. After centuries the female butterflies have developed a sense which foretold them if a male is inbred in order to avoid mating with that specific butterfly – which ultimately reduced the female’s nurture of ‘dead egg’s’. This has contributed to the population of the butterflies since female ones focus more on finding the ‘right’ mates, thus their specie manages to reproduce. I find this to be fascinating since a lot of time and effort has been saved for the butterfly population just because of that one adaptation. Even thought ‘inbred’ humans are much easier to identify, I hope that in the future of mankind the opposite gender will ‘develop’ some sense which would warn them about the inbred counterpart – which would lead to less deformed offspring.

By Mihajlo

Camels Ancestors Lived in the Arctic

Title of the Article: Camels Ancestors Lived in the Arctic.

Source: Science News Website.

Website URL: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348716/description/Camel_ancestors_lived_in_the_Arctic

From my past current event I briefly talked about the engraved valleys within the Antarctic - however in this article we will be looking at the other pole. As mentioned before, in our ESS we discussed Tectonic Movements, Evolution, as well as speciation. I have chosen to write about this article since it deals with Camels millions of years ago, and it can be seen that they varied a lot from the camels we know of today - also the fact that speciation occurred way back then due to the tectonic movements and climate change is beyond obvious.

The title of the article hooked me immediately: "Camels in the Arctic"?! An animal that is iconic for the desert might have been adept to extreme cold once? No - however I was deeply disappointed once I've started reading it. The beginning of the article contradicts the 'mystery' and 'fascination' (in my opinion at least)  found in the title. The authors of the article have said that 3 million years ago, WHEN THE ARCTIC WAS A LOT WARMER THAN TODAY, the ancestors of camels have roamed the Arctic. I lived in disbelief that camels started off as animals which had to adapt to extremely cold weather in order to survive - after they have been physically isolated from the 'original camel specie'. With that sentence my interest for the article was crushed. However I still managed to find some interest in the physique of the camel. The bones found in the Canadian Arctic region, when compared to camels nowadays, are 29% larger. The team of scientists have concluded that the ancestor of the camels in that area was roughly 900kg in weight, and 2.7 meters in height. 

By Mihajlo

The Making of Antarctica's Hidden Frojds

Title of the Article: The Making of Antarctica's Hidden Frojds

Source: Science Daily.

Website URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130305160321.htm

As the 3rd quarter began we started to talk about the Grand Continent named Pangaea. The super continent had all of the today's continents in one 'larger' continent - and this was estimated to be about 300 million years ago. We also discussed how the movement of the tectonic plates can affect speciation as well as evolution. The 11th grade class was taught that many species got separated when the tectonic plates moved, thus speciation occurred where one specie began to 'evolve' and adapt to the new area it was headed to, while the original specie did not go through the same change. The constant change and movement of the plates is responsible for the great diversity of animals we have today.  I chose to write about this article since it related to the unit we were studying. Even though it does not mention anything related to speciation, it elaborates on the fact that between 20-30 million years ago erosion occurred in the Antarctic, however it is not visible (without digging) since the evidence can be found beneath the massive Lambert Glacier (which covers a large segment of the isolated continent).  

"Glaciers can carve deep valleys quickly -- and did so on Antarctica before it got so cold that the most of it got covered by one or two miles of thick, stationary ice." I find it fascinating how our planet will never remain the same - but with the momentum of the tectonic plates it will alter.  The research done by this team has been a challange for them. As mentioned in the article: scientists mostly hike the area before coming up with its topography - while collecting some rock samples and sending them back to the lab. It is difficult in Antarctica's case since 97% of its composition is ice.

By Mihajlo

Erratic Climate Change in the Himalayas

Nepalis Adapt to Changing Climate
by Kieran Cooke and Dailyclimate.org
Published February 22, 2013 at ScientificAmerican.com

The Himalayan ranges have dealt with many climate issues in relation to global warming, in addition to resource conservation conflicts. Recent arguments have emerged between China, Pakistan, India and Nepal regarding the mismanagement of water resources that rest on the nations boarders as well as the construction of dams. Due to the tension between these nations, river flow and management data is often classified by the governments. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development is an intergovernmental body that gathers information about the environment of the multiple nations, as well as notes the effect of climate change. They recently conducted a surveyed 6000 households about the effects of climate change, as well as their attitudes towards the controversial issue. Early results show that around 80% of the families surveys in the Koshi River basin noticed higher temperatures, with 90% noting unusual rainfall patterns. Valdemar Holmgren, a specialists at the Centre stated that, "early indications from one area in Nepal clearly show people are fully ware of changes in climate patterns." He then goes on to explain, "in many areas farmers are changing crops in order to adapt to changing climate conditions. But for many, it is very hard." In addition to climate issues, the changing societal organizations and migration patterns have lead to many struggles for local businesses. Another organization working to monitor climate change in this ecologically unique area is the United Nations Environment Program. They have concluded that from 1982 to 2006, the temperature of the region has raised by 1.5 degrees Celsius  Also, it is recorded that on average, temperature rise approximately 0.06 degrees every year. Overall, climate change has taken a significant toll of the highly complex and unique ecosystems of the Himalayan mountain ranges, greatly effecting the lifestyles of the people.

This article is fascinating in that it discusses the societal impact of climate change, rather than the more commonly covered environmental impact. The struggles of the Nepalis farmers to deal with the changes the erratic weather patterns clearly demonstrates the current effects global warming, illustrating how this issue must be dealt with immediately before peoples' livelihoods are compromised. Also, the Himalayas are a remarkable and singular mountain range that must be preserved for future generations of explorers and scientists to study. This article also confronts another important idea: international competition for resources. The arguments between the nations of this region over the misuse of freshwater resources shows how vital conserving these natural resources and communicating internationally about them is to successful environmental management. Also  it could foreshadow a dismal future created by the over-pollution of freshwater, consequently leading to the shortages of the biologic necessity  In conclusion, this articles discussion of societal climate change effects, as well as disputes arising from resource management, two issues that are extremely important to environmental preservation and conservation. 

Where the Wild Things Go … When There's Nowhere Else

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130228155757.htm

February 28^th, 2013

Recently, ecologists have found that some endangered species, especially primates and large cats, have found shelter from human disruption in mangrove and peat swamp forests. These biomes are located in the coastal regions of tropical areas within Africa and Asia. The mangroves are characterized by thick vegetation, trees adapted to growing in salt-water and a wet, swampy forest floor scattered with layers of fallen leaves, dead branches and logs. Humans are relatively uninterested in mangroves, which provide animals facing extinction a place to seek shelter from humans.

Katarzyna Nowak, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at Princeton University, created a list that consisted of 60 primates and 20 felids (large-cats) that were found to distribute their time between their natural habitat and swamp forests in Africa and Asia. The list included tigers, which are currently facing extinction with only 3200 tigers predicted to be alive today.

One problem that some of the animals seeking refuge in these swamps may come across is the lack of freshwater and food sources. Some animals also lack mobility in these forests since few mammals are actually adapted specially to survive in these environments. There are however few species of cat who are accustomed to fishing as well as crab eating macaques. These species may be better accustomed to surviving in the swamp forests.

Research has shown that in fact 55% of the Old World monkeys, such as baboons and macaques, either live in the mangroves all year round, seasonally, or whenever they need to seek shelter. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, in 2008 a staggering 125,000 lowland gorillas were found to be living in the swamp forests of Lake Tele, Republic of Congo. This population of gorillas found was larger than was thought to exist in the wild. Lake Tele is extremely remote and is therefore somewhat inaccessible. As well as gorillas, the Bengal tiger also lives solely in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world located in Bangladesh.

I personally believe that it is quite horrible that we have forced certain species to abandon their natural habitats due to increasing pressure caused by human overexploitation of these species and their respectful resources. It is however relieving to know that many of these species are able to survive in the mangroves and avoid extinction such as the lowland gorillas in Lake Tele. I chose this article because it goes hand-in-hand with the topic of loss and maintenance of  biodiversity in ecosystems.