Electricity has a new little sister, Magnetricity.

While I was searching for the news in the science, I found a really interesting theme. The tittle of the theme was Magnetricity and to be honest, I was really curious about it. After some research, I found that Magnetricity is the use of the Magnetic charges, which behave like Electric charges,that flow into biological systems and batteries and  they may could be used in the future for example for magnetronic devises.That was discovered by a english team of scientists at a not specific time period[it is not known when they discovered it].

Then an other scientist,Steven Bramwell, discovered that a molecule flips and squirms. That helped him got realize, after he made it to separate the two poles of a magnet,that the monopoles can move independently one from each other. This scientist also said that these monopoles are getting so far one from each other that they even cannot remember one each other.That was one of the reasons why I liked that theme.
  

That theme is also really interesting because a lot of scientist have told that Magnetricity could be used for charging magnets or it could be used for mini memory to the computers.

The magnetic charges can be created only when you put spin ice (two monopoles) in a temperature that is almost absolute zero.

Figure 1: The separation of the two poles of a magnet.

There is a really big possibility that Magnetricity could be used in the future, but to do that the spin ice must be in a temperature that is almost absolute zero.

The Search for the Cure

            Searching through the articles on Society for Science, I found an article on Ebola. Ebola is a fatal infection that is passed through fluids which are shared by two different people; one of which is already infected. The article, written by Nathan Seppa, discusses the problems with Ebola and how some scientists and doctors claim to have found the cure to this disease. 

In December 2013, the first known outbreak of Ebola occurred in West Africa. After nine months, by August 22, reports Seppa, 2,473 people have been infected, and 1,350 have died. The article states that this is "far and away the biggest epidemic ever of this horrific, hemorrhage-causing disease." However, some therapies may be near. These treatments have been tested on animals, but almost never on humans, making this still an experimental drug. 

In spite of the treatment still being experimental, many scientists insist on it being used as soon as possible, because it is a risk that should be taken. Thus, some care centers have already been opened in parts of West Africa, more specifically, on the borders of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia (see fig1). These are the areas where there have been the most confirmations of the disease. 

One of these experimental drugs is called ZMapp. It is a mix of antibodies made by Mapp Pharmaceutical, in San Diego, California. Doctors have only tested this drug on six people in Africa, and the supply has already run out. Other than these six humans, the drugs had only been tested on monkeys and other animals. Another drug that is being tested is called "RNA interference." This one would stop the virus from reproducing in the body. 

The vaccines that have been thought of, on the other hand, are meant to "rev up" the body's infection fighting immune system so it can later recognize and fight a particular infection. The WHO (World Health Organization) Assistant Director-General, Mary-Paul Kieny, said that the tests could begin late this month. 

I personally think this article is very important to show society about the problems in the world. It shows how scientists from all around the world are trying to work together to make the world a better and safer place. This article relates to science because it conveys the message that with science, people can find the cure to everything. Science is the future, and, as shown in this situation relating to an infection as vital as Ebola, science can bring theories and treatments closer and closer to reality. 

Figure 1: A sign in French landmarks one of the only Ebola treatment centers in the area.

Can Clostridia help us defeat food allergies?

The problem of food allergies has risen in different countries. One of those is the UK.  Since 1990, the number of annual hospital admissions because of food allergy reactions has increased by 500%.

There is no cure to these diseases until now, when a team of scientist from the University of Chicago lead by Prof Nagler is working on a way to cure these allergic reactions and give the chance to eat the foods they never could.

The experiment was about using a kind of gut bacteria (Clostridia) in an experiment with two groups of mice. It was suspected that because of the lack of this particular bacteria caused by overusing antibiotics, a high fat diet, excessive hygiene and infant formula feeding.

One group of them were treated with antibiotics which caused them to  destroy Clostridia and the other wasn’t. However, both of the groups were in sterile lab conditions from their birth. These groups were exposed to peanut allergens and both of them produced antibodies. The ones without antibodies produced more of the antibodies, thus the ones with less antibodies produced more which leads us to the conclusion that gut bacteria made the allergic reaction not too strong. Also when Clostridia was present they produced a high number of signaling molecule, interleukin (IL-22). When this molecule was neutralized the level of allergen in the animals’ bloodstreams have increased.

According to the scientists the first thing you have to do is be sensitized to an allergic reaction and then input the Clostridia and let it work its magic.

Although this seams like an ideal solution to the problem Prof Kathryn Nagler says: ‘There are of course no guarantees, but this is absolutely testable as a therapeutic against a disease for which there's nothing.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2735051/Deadly-gut-bacteria-eradicate-food-allergies-researchers-reveal.html

Hi-tech Fabric

Lana Jovsic

Mr.Youell

Science ext.

30/8/14

Hi- Tech Fabric That Changes Color

It is not secret that the “hi tech” world is evolving fast and we generally don’t know the extent to which all of it could lead us to. Knowing that it is always good to keep up to date with all of the new invention added to the world of technology.

As I was searching for an article to write about one especially caught my eye because it was very unique. This article I originally found in DOGOnews and it was Hi-Tech Fabric Changes Color When Exposed to Human Touch or Music by Meera Dolasia and then I continued my research on WIRED on an article Watch: High-Tech Fabric Changes Color When You Touch It by Kyle Vanhemert. Both of these articles are about a High Tech fabric that changes color depending on the temperature and sound in its surroundings.  The fabric was originally invented buy a Hungarian textile designer Judit Eszter Karpati and was given a name Chromosonic. First of all the fabric was dyed with a thermo chromatic ink which allows the fabric to change color whenever the temperature is increased or decreased. For example if you were to place your hand on the fabric there would be a temporary change of color on the textile because by you placing your hand you apply heat and it interacts with the thermo chromatic ink. In order for the fabric to interact with sound the designer weaved nichrome wires into the fabric and then connected them to a microcomputer. The energy which is being sent from the sound waves causes the wires to heat up which then changes the temperature of the fabric and interacts with the already dyed thermo chromatic ink which again causes the fabric to temporarily change color. For a better visual representation you can look at “Figure 1”.

In this picture it is shown how the fabric interacts with the "hi tech fabric"

            As the author of the article published on “Wired” Kyle Vanhemer says “It’s more then a piece of décor but less than another screen reminder that technology can be used to change our habitats” this item isn’t something we cant live without but would be a great contribution to our Hi-tech world. The fabric itself isn’t meant for sale but the concept could be further developed into something that can improve our daily lifestyle. For example one variation would be an article of clothing, which could measure the body temperature of people. The thing that is left to be tested is how safe it would be for the fabric to be worn by humans and would there be any health problems caused by it. In my opinion I think that this is the base for something that could improve our daily lifestyle and I really think that if this idea is further developed it could lead to something

outstanding.

"Watch: High-Tech Fabric Changes Color When You Touch It | Design | WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 11 July 0014. Web. 31 Aug. 2014. <http://www.wired.com/2014/05/high-tech-fabric/>.

Dolasia, Meera. "Hi-Tech Fabric Changes Color When Exposed to Human Touch Or Music." DOGOnews. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2014. <https://www.dogonews.com/2014/5/29/hi-tech-fabric-changes-color-when-exposed-to-human-touch-or-music>.

Ice melting

Global Warming: Ice melting

Since 1990, humans have been the primary cause of melting glaciers worldwide. Carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases occur naturally, trapping heat in the atmosphere and keeping Earth’s climate stable. 

But human activities over the last few centuries have released greenhouse gases at levels that are affecting the climate.

  
From 2.7 million to 4.4 million square kilometers has ice melted over the past approximately 10 years.

 The water that melted caused deaths of animals and also animal extinctions, environmental damages at many places and making the sea level rise which means that a few years from now the sea level may rise so fast that it will flood some places.

This image gives you an idea of how it looks now.

Changing memories of mice    Zoe Nellen

According to an article in the Wall Street Times, a new method of molecular biology enables that scientist can rewire the circuits of the brain of mice and manipulate their memory. They rewrite the memory using lights to control the activity of the brain cells. 
How does this work?
They gave a mouse fearful memories to be able to identify, which brain cells are activated, when a memory is "produced".
The "Where" of a memory is "saved" in a brain cell called Hippocampus.
The feelings of a memory are saved in a cell called amygdala.
Both are connected to each other. Scientists wanted to change this connection using a cutting-edge technique , also known as optogentics.

Mice that avoided places in their cage before, started to like them, because they had no bad memories of them anymore. But it is also possible to change pleasurable memory into fearful.

The assignment of memories and feelings is similar to humans and scientist hope that it would be possible to help traumatized people such as using a drug.

It isn’t practical to fire lasers into human brains in a similar way but it could inspire other approaches that might be medically useful.

Sources: http://online.wsj.com/articles/scientists-experiment-with-reworking-memory-in-mice-1409158818

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/gehirnforschung-genetiker-pflanzen-falsche-erinnerungen-in-maeuse-1.2105548

Futuristic Telepathetic Chat

Themistoklis Daniilidis

Mr. Patrick Yuell

Science News

9/4/14

                                                          Futuristic Telepathetic Chat

   Imagine a world where you don’t have to write messages on Facebook, Whatsapp and Email, but just by simply wearing a special hat you would be able to communicate with your relatives, who live in the “opposite corner” of our progressive planet. A planet where doctors could easily diagnose a health problem a person has. Imagine yourself controlling a robot by just wearing a hat and giving directions just by using your brain, not using any electronic messages or pressing buttons. That’s exactly what scientists and doctors are trying to accomplish and made a huge, progressive step in a Medical Center’s laboratory in Israel, a new easier way of communicating using Telepathy. “In a first-of-its-kind study, an international team of neuroscientists and robotics engineers have demonstrated the viability of direct brain-to-brain communication in humans” (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Direct brain-to-brain communication demonstrated in human subjects." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 September 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140903105646.htm>.)

  The first experimental demonstration (Figure 2) of this new technology took place amongst curious volunteers in France and India and the distance between the two machines was about eight- thousand kilometers. Older studies have also shown that the special technique of this great new technological invention can also be used by doctors to analyze how the brain of a person works. These machines could also be used to improve the “communication” between people and robots or computes since instead of typing or clicking buttons just with their thoughts the robots and computers would follow their mind. The experiments were really successful since the correct transmission of the message was about 85%. Since of course, this was the first experiment only a few easy words were used between the volunteers, such as “Hello” and “Goodbye”. How does this system work? (Figure 1) This system works in a really interesting and smart way. So, the “transmitter” (The person who sends the message) wears a cap and which recognizes and records and the electrical activity of the brain.  Later on, the hat communicates with a laptop and all the data taken from the brain are translated to into a binary system and the message is finally sent via the internet.

    Let’s all hope that really soon, people won’t only be able to say extremely simple words using these machines but totally be able to communicate.  I would also like to mention that I found these great news at my old science teacher’s blog and it was also written in the well-known website called “sciencedaily” and the article was written by Carles Grau.

Figure 1: Way that this machine/ system works.

Figure 2: The curious volunteers during the experiment.

Sources:

1.     Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Direct brain-to-brain communication demonstrated in human subjects." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 September 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140903105646.htm>.

2.       http://tinanantsou.blogspot.com/2014/09/blog-post_4.html

3.       http://bidmc.org/

4.       Google Images

New Prosthetics Technology

New Prosthetic Leg Technology

Jared Rogerson

Science 9A

Science in the News

9/1/2014

Scientists in a hospital in North London have recently developed a new Prosthetic leg that is better and more efficient than any before it. It is called Itap (intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthesis) and is attached to a metal mechanism that is implanted directly onto the bone. This is different than previous prosthetics which are attached to the skin where the leg had been removed or lost. Some of the benefits of this type of prosthetic is that you can actually feel that the prosthetic leg is there and have greater mobility because of it. "Just knowing where my foot is, my ability to know where it is improved dramatically because you can feel it through the bone.” says Mark O’Leary, one of the first people to use this new type of prosthetic leg.  

The developers of Itap say that the main inspiration for it was the way that deer antlers grow. They tried to recreate the way that the antlers grow directly from the bone, while having the skin grow back into a seal that it is comfortable for the person with the prosthetic as well as preventing the leg from getting bacterial infections from contact with the air or other objects.

The main group of people that Itap are designed for are soldiers in the military who have lost their legs. It is much more efficient and easier to use in the fact that it only takes one surgery, as well as it has increased mobility and comfort compared to previous prosthetics. Also Itap can be removed and attached really easily, so if the actual prosthetic is damaged in any way it could be replaced and attached to the already implanted metal plate.

In conclusion, this is another step in the direction towards better ways to replace body parts that have been damaged in any type of accident, and allowing the person to have better control, as newer and newer prosthetics are being invented.         

Matija Kondic      31/8/2014

Global warming heat is hiding in the Atlantic Ocean

An article on the “ABC Environment” caught my attention. It affirmed that on August the 22^nd 2014, scientists have observed that the amount of heat trapped from rising greenhouse gases is being stored in the Atlantic Ocean which will mask the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. In Figure 1 below you can see the warm and cool surface waters circulating around various oceans. 

                                                     

                                                                          Figure 1 

The circulation of warm surface waters circulates through different oceans around the world.

This century the Atlantic Ocean has been hiding global warming heat by soaking up vast amounts of heat from the atmosphere. It will cause the water temperature to increase to a higher level until 2030, where the heat will be released from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The heat is also causing ice bergs in the Atlantic Ocean (some off the coast of countries near bye the Atlantic ocean) to melt which is explained in the “National Geographic news” and shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2
Ice bergs off the coast in Greenland shown in this picture, are breaking apart and may carry atmospheric heat which may help to slow global warming heat.

A social impact on this Global warming heat would cause a severe situation to food production in countries/continents next to the Atlantic Ocean explained in the “Hope Project" (by Daniel H). Those continents/countries include: Europe, North America, Eastern Canada, South America and Africa. Food production with global warming would be ruined due to levels of carbon dioxide arriving into the atmosphere and then into the food which people eat. With food productions decreasing, people working in the food industry or markets could lose money and face poverty. A dangerous fact about global warming is that many people face death and sickness as well as diseases expected by weather events such as blazing storms.

One Economic impact of this global warming problem is that it can deplete fish stock it. Fisherman wouldn't also able to collect fish and make enough money for themselves to survive because most fish that live in the Atlantic Ocean cannot survive in warm climates. Fishermen wouldn't also be able to sell enough fish at the fish markets for everyone to buy. Stocks of fish available in the market would decline. Therefore the price of fish would go up.

An Environmental impact on this problem would lead to a number of animals being extinct and moving to new oceans for survival. The reason is that a number of marine life animals that live in the Atlantic Ocean are meant to adapt to cold climates. In Consideration of global warming heat in their habitat, they can’t survive.  

The political implications involve mainly China if they are the country responsible for emitting the most amounts of Greenhouse gases. An example could be that America would stop trading with China if they were found guilty of polluting the atmosphere causing temperature of the Earth to increase. This could cause a political problem between China and America. Just like the current problem with Russian involvement in Ukraine. America might not want to continue a trade agreement with Russia anymore. This can cause political implications and war between both countries. The same could happen above with China and America. 

Alistor Doyle of The ABC Environment has 1 opinion on the Global warming issue in the Atlantic ocean. His opinion is that the Atlantic ocean crisis is a disaster to wildlife in the ocean. Daniel H, the author of the Hope Project and Jane J lee the author of National Geographic news both agree with Doyle. Daniel H and Jane J Lee's opinion is that it is terrible how global warming in the Atlantic Ocean could lead to certain disasters.

In my opinion I must admit that I agree with the 3 authors.This is a major catastrophe to our planet and I even agree that China and America could have political problems.

Sources:

• http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2014/08/22/4072365.htm
• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140821-global-warming-hiatus-climate-change-ocean-science/ (information including ice berg picture)  
• http://www.hope-project.org/development/social-and-economic-effects-of-global-warming/

Junk Food Makes rats lose appetite for Balanced Diet

Da Kyung Lee

Mr. Youell

Science 9S

8/28/2014

Junk food makes rats lose appetite for balanced diet

Through many interesting articles, I found a very interesting article from Science Daily that made me curious with the title. The title is Junk food makes rats lose appetite for balanced diet. 

(Figure 1; the picture of Margaret Morris)

Margaret Morris is a professor who is a head of Pharmacology from the school of Medical Sciences. She experimented young male rats to connect each of two different sound cues with a particular flavor of sugar water between cherry and grape. Then healthy rats lifted on a healthy food and stopped reacting to cues to a flavor that they have recently overindulged. This mechanism is happened common in animals and protects against overeating and promotes a healthy balanced diet. After 2 weeks the rats still on a diet that included daily access to cafeteria foods, pies, dumplings, cookies and cake with 150% more calories. The rats gained 10% of weights and their behavior changed dramatically. They became indifferent in their food choices and no longer avoided the sound advertising the much familiar taste. This shows that they had lost their natural preference. Like this change of the rats even took for some time to return to a healthy diet. As the result, the researchers think a junk food is a food that changes in the reward circuit parts of the rats’ brain as in the Orbitofrontal Cortex which is an area of the brain responsible for making decision. In addition, they also say this result might have implications for people’s ability to limit their intake of certain kinds of foods because the brain’s reward circuitry is similar in all mammals.

(Figure 2; the picture of the rat)

But it could be a problem if the same thing happens in human. In general, people like to eat junk food because it’s fast to get and easy to eat anywhere and delicious. Some of people are also eager to have it. But, this doesn’t make us only fat. Eating junk food excessively can change behavior, weaken self-control and lead to overeating and obesity. The World Health Organization evaluates the population which is over 10% of the world’s adult population is obese and at least 2.8 million people die in each year because of being overweight or obesity. Overweight and obesity are in danger for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

In my opinion, we are better to not eat junk food excessively because it could make a problem in our health that we losing appetite with healthy food. Moreover, we could die with gaining too much weight. However, if you don’t eat the junk food all the times and keep having regular diets, you will surely be fine.

Source (Science Daily); http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140827151744.htm

Additional Source(US Daily News); http://www.dailynewsen.com/science/junk-food-makes-rats-lose-appetite-for-balanced-diet-h2577920.html

Plastics that can heal themselves.

Self-regenerating plastics.

Written by: Alex Fortin

Imagine you just dropped your phone; you slowly pick it up in fear as your screen could be broken. You grab it and slowly turn it over. Your case looks fine, but wait what’s that? A crack straight through the middle of the screen! This will ruin your day, you’ll have to get it repaired for a costly price or even get a new a phone! But what if I told your there was a simple solution to this problem. What if I told you in the future that you could break your phones screen all you want without a worry, because it would just repair itself.                                                        

 Scientists in Illinois at the Beckman Institute have managed to create a plastic that can completely and fully regenerate itself. Scientists have already managed to create materials that can already repair themselves, but those are on tiny scales, microscopic levels. This material can however regenerate a much bigger size of damage, the biggest test they’ve done so far is a hole that simulates the impact of a 9mm bullet, and they managed to make it repair itself! You may be asking “Well how does this magic work, I mean surely it must be fake, to create a material out of thin air? You must be tricking me.” And to you good Sir (or Madame) I say “It’s not magic, it’s simply fluids and gelatin!”

                

             The way that it works is that upon the plastic taking damage two fluids will flow into the plastic and into any cracks or holes in the plastic. When the fluids start to mix they harden and become a hard polymer material whose colour can vary, by simply dying the fluids differently, (See figure 1). The biggest challenge for them to overcome was gravity. Usually the fluids would just fall out, but they designed the fluids to act like a blood clot and harden, rather than just bleed out. They may also control the speed of which it hardens and at the rate the fluid pours out. This would be useful for say many uses. If you get in a car crash and it fills very quickly, the fluid may miss some dents and cracks here and there. Where if you say drop your phone you can have the fluid quickly fill the damage and harden quickly, so your phone would be ready to use.

  

(Figure 1, this picture was taken about half way through the process and show the two fluorescent liquids result when combined.­)

                

This product is still early in development and its uses are many, ranging from medical uses where the fluids could be used to fix bones to practical everyday uses like fixing the screen of your phone. There are many uses and this would be an amazing development in science and mankind if it manages to succeed. Many people already think that this product is a good idea, like the Illinois Newspaper who wrote an article on this. I personally think that this is an amazing advance into technology and could prove to be very useful in future 

use.

If you want more Information on this these are source I used:

A link to the video.

A news report on this.

GUT BACTERIA MAY PROTECT AGAINST ALLERGIES

15 million Americans and every 13^th child suffer from a food allergy. Just recently a story in Science Daily revealed the study about gut bacteria (See Fig 1), which may be a solution to prevent food allergies. To test how this works, Nagler’s science team tested two groups of mice. One group was raised in a sterile environment, while the other one was exposed to antibiotics. Both groups of mice showed higher level immune responses to food allergies then mice with regular gut bacteria. (See Fig 2)

The plan is to develop a new probiotic and put it in a pill to treat allergies. “The researchers have filed a patent to develop ways to prevent food allergies, and they plan to work with biotechnology companies to engineer such probiotic therapies.” –Charles Choi, CBS News. 

Even though the causes of food allergies are still unknown, previous studies say that genetics, and the environment might have a role in this. "This kind of change in such a short time frame must be explained by something in the environment," Nagler told Live Science.

This is truly an amazing discovery which can change the quality of many people’s lives. But will this have the same effect when used on people? Will it be as successful? In my opinion there is a great chance that soon we will have a good medication for preventing food allergies.

How Running Makes you High

          When you run at 80% of your maximum heart rate for about 30 minutes your body forms to mood modifiers, Endorphin and Anandamide. Endorphin is actually an Opioid which is a name for a number of chemical substances that act like Morphine in the human body. Opioids are also used in anesthetics and pain relievers. Going back to the Endorphin and Anandamide. Anandamide is similar to THC which is the main element of Marijuana. Your blood flow carries the two chemicals to your blood brain barrier. at this point they are basically at the gate to brains blood system. Anandamide passes easily because its small but the Endorphin is bigger and therefore its harder for it to pass. But don't worry your brain produces Endorphin.

          The two chemicals are now tapped into your main nervous system were they limit the signaling power of pain sensors called Nociceptors that spread out through your spinal-cord. As a result of this you don't really realize how much your legs are burning. The Endorphin downshifts you pre-frontal and limbic regions which control  your emotion and motivation. You now become calm and comfortable, and as more Endorphin kicks-in you might even in some cases feel euphoric.
          Anandamide triggers the release of Dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls the lust, pleasure, and addiction. It also binds to cannabinoid receptors in your brains pleasure circuit where it sends bliss vibes for minutes and even hours. Bliss vibes in figure 1

figure 1

“Amputee hails new prosthetic: ‘It’s like they’ve given me my leg back’”

Brilliant minds at a north London hospital, according to a story in The Guardian, have transformed the lives of amputees who are taking part in a trial that allows an artificial limb to be attached directly to the bone, giving them feeling and mobility beyond compare. Until now, they could not live their lives to the fullest, limited by their prosthetic.

Haroon Siddique, the author of the article, says that ITAP (intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthesis) is a discovery that allows them to feel normal. Instead of the traditional ball-and-socket joints that consist of a socket placed over the stump, there is a metal implant that is attached to the bone and sticks through the skin for the prosthetic to be attached to. This is, I think, a brilliant invention, giving thousands of people an opportunity to live their dreams, and get beyond their disabilities. It is indeed a like a dream come true for these people. They get another chance at complete happiness.

One of these people is a physicist who works at a hospital in southern London. He said that before the implant he was limited, like other amputees, even carrying crutches or a stick due to the discomfort of the socket. However, since the implant in 2008, he has climbed Kilimanjaro and walked 100km in the South Downs in just 26 hours. He has, in other words, taken advantage of this opportunity at a new way of life. This is, I think, inspiring. He says that “It’s like they’ve given me my leg back. I know that sounds a bit trite. I can walk as far as I like, do anything I want within reason. There’s no limit (see fig.1)

Figure 1: Mark O’Leary, physicist at a hospital in Southern London. Mark was one of the first to have the implant, and it has been a success.

Although only a small group of people can actually benefit from ITAP due to skin conditions, problems with the bone, etc.  that don’t allow the implant to function correctly, the ones who do will have significant benefits. ITAP may also affect the business that produces prosthetics, both in a good way and bad. The businesses that are not willing to start making ITAP will suffer with their economy, but those who do will gain greatly.

This new invention can be used by many different people the world over. Among those who would benefit the most are those who get wounded at war; soldiers that is. Short stumps, for example from explosions tend to create more problems when it comes to sockets. And young people tend to have great expectations of their prosthetics, when in fact; they are still at a great disadvantage due to the handicap. But with ITAP, these problems are now gone.

In the long run, this is good news. We don’t know how well ITAP will do on the market, as it is expensive, but well worth the money. It changes lives, literally. The people who are using it know what I’m talking about. Now, having a missing limb is not as hard as it used to be. There are ways around it, ways to still live a great life, and include all the aspects of it, doing what you always wanted, and not being held back by a the handicap. 

The Mission to an Unloved Planet

Many years have passed since the first humans were sent to space, and from that day people have walked on the moon, spacecraft have been sent to Mercury, Mars, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and even one is on its way to Pluto which is not considered to be a planet in our solar system. In all these years people never had any missions to a planet that we consider a “weird planet” Uranus. This is why this article “The Mission to an Unloved Planet” has captured my attention; a group of scientists from around the world are planning a mission to Uranus.  This group of scientists has until January 2015 to submit a detailed mission plan to the ESA.

 

Figure 1: Picture of how the planet Uranus looks.

The main idea of the mission is to get more facts about the planet such as: The internal structure of the planet, find out more about the atmospheric composition and then finally the scientists can understand how the planet was formed. The thing that I ask myself, is why do we need to have a space mission to Uranus? The answer is really simple; Uranus is one of the most interesting planets in our solar system. One of those characteristics is the interesting atmosphere that Uranus has it is circled by 26 small moons, it has a few unclear rings and it has a weak magnetic field. Another interesting characteristic is that Uranus is tipped over on its side, which means that this planet rotates on an axis that point’s directly at the sun.

Figure 2: Voyager 2 on its way to the edge of our solar system, passing next to Uranus in 1986.

Though there is a really good reason why in the history of space there was only one minor mission to Uranus. First of all, the planet is around 3 billion kilometers away from the sun, which means that any spacecraft sent to Uranus will take up to 15 years to get there. The more you are away from the sun the less sunlight there is, which means that there would be no use of solar panels, so the scientists would have to use a nuclear power source in order for the spacecraft to get to Uranus. Using a nuclear power source is riskier to build and operate then using solar panels. Another problem that the scientists have is how to communicate and get data from the spacecraft that is so far away. The only way is to fit a huge dish on the spacecraft or build one on the earth. But the major problem of the mission is keeping the whole crew together that means the engineers and the operations team for the mission together for more then a decade.

The planning of the mission to Uranus has already failed once in 2010 when ESA and NASA had a proposal for a mission to Uranus known as Uranus Pathfinder. This mission plan wasn’t proposed with detailed information, which didn’t stop the scientists who came back together once again and have a deadline till January 2015 to make a new mission plan to Uranus for the ESA.  But even if the mission is approved by the ESA the mission wouldn’t be launched till 2020’s and it would reach Uranus in the mid 2030’s.

The mission to Uranus would bring us a better understanding of how the universe was formed and how the planet its self-functions. The science and technology that would be used on this mission would be even more sophisticated then the one that we used on the earlier mission that would help us improve even more. In my opinion that would be good for us because that knowledge that we got from the mission would be used in the near future.