How to measure variables for the new project

Recently in class, we started a project on investigating on improving our human body machines using our knowledge of work. We were to come up with a research question and think about the ways to prove it through measuring the change in the variables.

My research question is "How does the widths between the hands affect the amount of work performed while doing a pull-up?". The independent variable or the manipulated variable is the widths between the hands and the dependent or the response variable is the work performed while doing a pull-up. In this blog, I will be brainstorming ways to measure these variables.

*A pull-up in this context is an exercise involving one pulling himself up against a horizontal bar enough to touch his bottom of the chin on the top of the bar.



The widths between my hands can be measured with a ruler fairly accruately

To measure the work performed while doing  a pull-up, I must know the mass, acceleration, and the displacement since work = m x a x d.

             The mass that I pull during a pull-up is
              my total body weight - (weight of my hands+forearms)

            The acceleration is equal to the gravitational acceleration (9.81) since I am working against it.

            The distance over which I pull up myself can be measured with a ruler and is essentially the                 distance between the bottom of my chin and the bar when I am hanging with my arms                         straight on the bar.


I think I can measure these variables accurately through the ways mentioned above but if not I am considering making a model for better measurements.

This week we began the next unit. Unit 2.

How can we use our knowledge of physics to improve our human body machines?

Physics: Motion, Forces, Energy

WORK: MAD : Force * displacement (F*D)

We completed an exercise of finding the amount of work you perform if you jump one meter off the ground.
First we find the force which is:
F=m*a
F=!00 kg * 9.81 m/s
F= 981 N

Work= F*D
Work= 981 N * 1 meter= 981 J

J= Joules (unit for work)

Matija Kondic's Science Blog
4/10/2015

Throughout this week I have been learning about the motion of objects travelling at various speeds in science class. I have also learnt about (shown by a student in class) what the impact would be if 2 cars collided with each other frontwards travelling at 50 mph. 

A science article that relates to what I have been learning about in class is "How Your brain Tracks Moving Objects" on Live Science. This article relates to what I have been learning about in class due to the fact there is a speed (motion) of a ball travelling at 100 mph that how "brains can predict the path or motion of a moving object." According to the article, when a baseball player hits a home run off a 100 mph fastball the opponents "can track a fast moving object" and the "brain processes visual information and is lastly responsible for calculating where a moving object will most likely end up." 

Baseball travelling at 100 mph

Matija's Science Blog 
27/9/2015

From the start of Monday the 21st of September my class mates and I have been learning about Kinematic equations and how to use them in kinematics problems based on Kinematic equations. An article on the Business Insider relates to what I have learnt about in class because using the kinematic equations can help us solve the speed, distance velocity and time of (as said in the article) the supersonic passenger jet airliner Concorde. As claimed in the article by the author, "The Concorde flew across the ocean for the first time 42 years ago today — here's what it was like." 

An Air France Concorde

On the article the author claims that, "On September 26th 1973, an Air France Concorde flew from Washington DC, to Paris - marking the first supersonic flight by the Anglo-French airliner." As said from the beginning, the aircraft flew across the ocean. Here this would be the North Atlantic ocean because the Concorde aircraft flew from Washington DC to Paris and the ocean between the United States and France is the North Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft's maximum speed is 2,179 km/h and if we were to find out the aircraft's time from Washington DC to Paris we would use the equation Time = Distance/velocity. 3,828/ 2,179. 3,828 miles to km = 4.8 km. 4.8/2179 = 0.0022 minutes.

Darija Djuraskovic
Grade 10
Science


In the past week we have been doing a lot of kinematic equations and problems. We have also submitted our journal for the experiment in which we have included both our 4 graphs that we have made and our calculations for the average. We have ended the journal with a conclusion and a hypothesis.

After we have submitted the journal we began answering the 30 kinematic questions online and then we have began making our own real life kinematic problem which we had to present and explain to the whole class on the board. My real life kinematic problem was given in the formula for speed(speed= distance/time) We also printed out our poster where we wrote the problem and then submitted it.

For the last class we were making notes on Friction and gravity from the science book, Science Explorer, sections 2,3 and 4.

Darija Djuraskovic
Grade 10
Science

During the last couple of classes we have been doing experiments on measuring motion and velocity.

Our first experiment didn't go so well, we needed time to do all the instructions and we had to repeat the experiment couple of times. We also had to watch videos for homework just to learn how to work with lab quest data logger operator. We had to learn how to calculate the velocity(speed) and to recognize precisely a graph.

On the other hand the other experiment went very well and we managed to finish it successfully. The experiment was set differently (Figure 1) but in groups we gathered all our knowledge and without any teachers help we managed to finish it in no time.

This is a picture of how the other experiment looked at:

Figure 1

Science Blog

Matija's Science Blog

I am going to explain how an article on the Bloomberg Business explaining about slow-motion money relates to what I have learnt about in Science class. Firstly velocity is what I have learnt about in science. The article named "Slow motion money" relates to velocity because there is a graph (shown in Figure 1 below) showing the speed of money and how it has changed the US economy over the 20th and 21st century. Velocity is involved with speed of something in a given direction which is what the graph showed. Normally if you were to figure out the speed of anything you would use the equation Speed= Distance/Time. However on the graph from "Slow motion money" it claims that: "Money velocity measures how quickly one dollar moves through the economy by tallying the number of times it gets spent per year."

Figure 1. A graph representing the speed of money (US dollars)

The highest point that the US dollar reached is 2.19 (distance), 1998 (time). The lowest point that the US dollar reached is 1.59 (distance),  2014 (time).

Acid Rain

Kora Saint-Lot

Mr. Youell

Acid Rain

17th March 2015

Causes, Effects & Remedies of Acid Rain

According to US. E.P.A acid rain is a mixture of dry and wet deposited material that comes from the atmosphere containing a higher amount of nitric and sulfuric acids (nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide). The sources of the oxides that cause the acid rain are natural, volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and man made, combustion of fossil fuels (as seen in figure 1 and 2).

Figure 1: Factories producing lots of nitric and sulfuric acids.

Figure 2: Volcano spewing gasses into the atmosphere. 

When those previously mentioned oxides are found in the atmosphere they will react with the water in the clouds or the already falling rain and create weak acids known as acid rain. When that rain falls it causes lots of damage to many different things. Such as: buildings, forests, lakes, oceans, rivers and humans. The effect is not limited to only the areas where the most pollution occurs but carried by the wind the gasses can travel great distances and cause damage further away. In highly polluted areas the gasses can be incorporated into the dust and smoke and fall onto the ground. This is called dry deposit, which can be washed away by falling rain and this also increases the acidity.  

Figure 3: Diagram of dry and wet deposition.

When the acid rain falls onto any stone buildings or statues it corrodes it and bit by bit the rock fades. Famous limestone and marble monuments (building and statues from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt...) are especially in trouble of being eroded. 

Figure 4: Effect of the acid rain on limestone statues.

Entire forests are being affected because the acid in the rain "weakens" the trees, making it easier for them to catch diseases. It also removes nutrients that the tree needs from the soil such as calcium and magnesium. Acid rain deposits nitrates that can lead to increases in nitrogen in forests. Nitrogen is an important plant nutrient, but some forest systems may not be able to use all they receive, leading to nitrogen saturation. In the Eastern United States, there is evidence of nitrogen saturation in some forests. Nitrates can remove additional calcium and magnesium from the soils. Continued nitrogen deposition may alter other aspects of the nutrient balance in sensitive forest ecosystems and alter the chemistry of nearby lakes and streams. The acid that falls directly into lakes and rivers causes the acidity of the water to fall and all living organisms inside the water are affected. Some types of plants and animals are capable of tolerating the change in pH. Some, however, are not able to survive and decrease biodiversity.

Figure 5: Deforestation because of acid rain.

Acid rain is a major problem and solutions are already being found and put into action to help with the pollution in the air that is one of the main causes of it. For example: Scientist have come up with various ways of cleaning the toxic gasses that are being released when fossil fuels are burnt. One of the methods is a machine called "scrubbers". The machines are basically devices that control the pollution by using liquids to wash toxic "pollutants" from the gasses released into the air (see figure  6 for more detailed diagram).

Figure 6: Diagram of the inside of a scrubber.

             Acid rain has become a big problem and people need to start reacting now before it is too late. Most of the damage is caused by human actions and can be reduced but each individual person needs to make a small step in conserving energy. Walking, riding a bike instead of taking a car when possible can be big contributors the the problem since energy production is the biggest cause of acid rain.  If we do not start taking actions now it will soon become irreversible and there will be consequences. Not only to the environment and earth but to us humans living on it. 

Science in the News 2014

Noah Meine

Mr. Youell

Science in the News  2014

March 30th, 2015

                                 Science in the News 2014

The year 2014 was a packed one for science in general and over the last 12 months scientists have made huge advances in all fields of science, but this year has been especially busy for astronomical sciences. In 2014 there was historic growth in the study of the Mars, dark matter, and scientists may have even found evidence to support the big bang. However even as busy as 2014 was for space science, some of these stories are still more prominent than others.  Therefore the stories which really caught my eye over the course of 2014 were the stories which have global and long-lasting implications.

Figure 1: Artistic Interpretation of Kepler 186f: 

The first Earth- Sized planet discovered inside the Habitable Zone 

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/ames/kepler/nasas-kepler-discovers

-first-earth-size-planet-in-the-habitable-zone-of-another-star/#.VLuAk

kfF-Sp

Early in the year (April),
NASA announced the discovery of planet Kepler-186f, an alien planet approximately 490 light years away from Earth. Using the Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers were able to see how Kepler-186f orbits another star in the “Goldilocks Zone”, (also known as the habitable zone) which is the range of distance from the star which would allow liquid water to exist on Kepler-186f’s surface and would allow for Earth-like atmospheric conditions (see Figure 1).  This astronomical discovery goes to prove that planets which are similarly sized to earth can exist in the habitable zones of suns other than our own.

        Kepler- 186f resides in the Kepler-186 solar system, which is home to four other companion planets, Kepler-186f being the outermost of these planets. NASA quotes that “on the surface of Kepler-186f, the brightness of its star at high noon is only as bright as our sun appears to us about an hour before sunset.” Therefore, Kepler-186f is placed on the outer edge of the habitable zone. And although we know Kepler-186f’s size, we are still trying to understand the mass and composition. Previous research and observations, however predict that a planet with all the known features of Kepler- 186f is likely to have a rocky surface, which allows the possibility of liquid water being found on its surface.

So, what makes the discovery of Kepler-186f so much more prominent than the discovery of other Earth-like planets? All other worlds found inside the habitable zone are at least 40% larger than Earth, whereas this planet has a radius that is 1.1 times the radius of Earth, making it very similar in size to our planet. In addition, all other planets found inside the habitable zone have a makeup which is hard to understand for scientists whereas Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth than any other planet found so far.

        Paul Hertz, a NASA lead scientist and the “Astrophysics Division director at the agency's headquarters in Washington” says that "The discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step toward finding worlds like our planet Earth.”

Figure 2: Artistic Impression of dark matter around

 the Milky Way Source: http://www.iflscience.com/physics/

has-first-dark-matter-particle-been-found

Regardless of whether or not Kepler-186f can actually sustain life, this discovery paved the way for the future hunt for a “Second Earth”, and this continues to be one of the most relevant focusses in space science.
       
        Another hot topic for scientists studying space and the cosmos which really came to light in 2014 was the issue of dark matter. As an article from Space.com explains, astronomers may have finally detected dark matter, a mysterious substance which contributes to the majority of matter in the universe (see Figure 2).

        This article describes how a team of scientists observed an “odd spike in X-ray emissions” while looking at data collected by the XMM-Newton spacecraft, operated by the European Space Agency. This spike in X-ray emissions were said to have come from the Andromeda galaxy and the Perseus galaxy cluster. The signal picked up corresponds to no known particle or atom in the universe, and therefore could have been created by dark matter, researchers say.

Figure 3: "Supposed Dark Matter Cluster" 

picked up by NASA's Hubble Telescope 

Source: http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy

/science-x-ray-signal-andromeda-other-

galaxies-evidence-dark-matter-02338.html

        Dark matter gets its name because it does not absorb or produce light and therefore it cannot be directly observed by any technology we have today. This is why dark matter is so elusive and hard to find. However scientist know dark matter exists because it interacts through gravity with the known matter we can observe. In addition, there is also a lot of dark matter in the universe. Observations made by astronomers suggest that 80% of the matter in the universe is “dark” (see Figure 3).


        "After having collected thousands of signals from the ESA's XMM-Newton telescope and eliminated all those coming from known particles and atoms, we detected an anomaly that caught our attention," a lead researcher in charge of collecting data from the XMM-Newton named Dr. Alexey Boyarsky says.

        Although the data is not absolute, researches have come up with came up with numerous particles though to make up dark matter. These hypothetical particles include axions and sterile neutrinos, the cousins of normal neutrinos (confirmed particles).

        Dr. Oleg Ruchayskiy a team member and contributor to the study quotes that, “Above all, the signal's distribution corresponds exactly to what we were expecting with dark matter, that is, concentrated and intense in the center of objects and weaker and diffuse on the edges.” She also goes on to say that, “If the discovery is confirmed, it will open up new avenues of research in particle physics. Apart from that, it could usher in a new era in astronomy."

Figure 4: An image taken from the ROLIS instrument 

of the Philae lander of comet 67P/C-G 

Source:http://www.space.com

/27740-rosetta-comet-landing-success.html

        The final space story which I will discuss took place later in the year, around mid-November. This story is perhaps the most notable from 2014, and it regards the ESA’s (European Space Agency) historic feat to land a space probe on a Comet speeding through deep space for the first time. The space probe, named Rosetta along with its Philae lander launched in 2004 for a 10 year, 6.4 billion kilometer journey to study the makeup of comet 67P/C-G (see Figure 4), in order to ultimately help scientists understand more about comets.

        In greater depth, the Rosetta mission’s purpose is to help scientists study and understand comets in more detail. Comets are so intriguing to scientists, because they are physical travelers left over from the origin of our solar system.  Various studies also suggests that comets could have delivered water to early Earth.  Planetary scientist Stanley Cowley from the University of Leicester states that "Comet impacts are thought to have been one of the principal means by which water was delivered to the early Earth, around 3.6 billion years ago, possibly contributing half the water in our oceans”. Regardless, the Philae probe’s touchdown on comet 67P/C-G marks a historic feat where humans, for the first time were able to land a probe on a comet speeding through outer space.

      With more scientific discoveries concerning outer space happening every day, it is important to reflect on previous breakthroughs, such as the stories listed above, and realize that we as a race are approaching the peak of discovery. In other words, the scientific leaps which occurred in 2014 are fascinating, and with each discovery the scientific knowledge of space is improved, and we become ever closer to being able to fully understand the universe.

Science news in 2014

1.    Young blood recharges ‘old brain’ new mouse study shows

In May 2014 Stanford shared the results of their mouse study test. What they have done is they injected 18 month old mice with the blood of 3 month old mice. What they found out was that this increased the brainpower in the older 18 month old mice. That mouse then made new blood vessels that made him better on memory.

After these results have been announced, scientists have been wondering if this could also work on humans, but no one yet knows, the experiments would start maybe  in 2 to 3 years from now. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Could injecting older people with ‘young blood’ reverse the effects of aging?

Quote: "There are factors present in blood from young mice that can recharge an old mouse's brain so that it functions more like a younger one," said Dr Tony Wyss-Coray of Stanford University School of Medicine.

Click here

2.       Scientists hope that this could also lead to discovering new treatments for Alzheimer’s.

Harvard University scientists also discovered that the new blood could also be used to keep the brain and muscles young and strong. They discovered something called a ‘youth protein’ known as GDF11 which is in blood in large amounts and as we get older that increases slowly.  Last year they discovered that the protein could repair damaged and unhealthy hearts. However, the new study showed that in mice the protein could repair the whole body not just the heart.

Click here

Alzheimer’s is a very heart-breaking and difficult disease that goes for older people. It is said according to the Alzheimer’s Click here that around 36 million people in the world have this disease. A person with Alzheimer’s has memory problems, first they start forgetting small things like where they left the keys and later as the disease goes on the person can forget family members and even who they are.

 It is known that our brain works by sending signals like chemical messengers to let the brain cells talk to each other but people that have Alzheimer’s have less of these chemical messengers. Over time brain cells also begin to get smaller to size and slowly die. There is an example in figure 2. Click here

 

Figure 2: A scan of a healthy brain compared to a brain affected with Alzheimer.

This is very difficult for the person suffering from the disease because they will usually have moments when they realize and are aware of their horrible condition. It is also very difficult for the family members that have to watch someone they love suffer and not recognize his/her own children.

Even though medicine has allowed us to live longer, but diseases like Alzheimer’s are becoming more common in people over the age of 65. What makes this disease so cruel is that people can’t have also a proper goodbye.

 So far they have only made medicine that slows down the disease but there has never been a cure. This would be a very important discovery that would affect millions of people around the world.

3. Stem Cells Could Hold a Cure to Type 1 Diabetes

In October a huge discovery was made by the Harvard researchers. Their team tried to use stem cells as to cure the awful disease diabetes type 1. Of course, it has been announced that this is one of the most important and successful discoveries by  now.

 Click here

 The researchers used the stem cells to create beta cells. Beta cells are cells which produce something called insulin; the insulin protects the organism from getting a disease. But those beta cells would be made in much bigger quantities.

 Stem cells are cells in the body that have the ability to turn into anything, such as a skin cell, a liver cell, a brain cell, or a blood cell. Which means stem cells may also turn into beta cells. (Figure 1)

 Click here

Beta cells are cells that make insulin, they are found in the pancreas that helps keep the blood sugar levels equal and in balance. People that have diabetes type 1 their beta cells get destroyed by the immune system.

People then used human Embryonic stem cells (Embryonic stem cells are cells that are made when a fertilized egg starts to divide itself) to create beta cells that work just like the normal beta cells in our human bodies. At the moment animal trials are taking place and hopefully human trials can begin in the next couple of years.

Figure 1 above: human-stem-cell derived beta cells.

People or victims with this kind of disease can have serious problems. They might get heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and early death. What people do is they inject insulin for the people that have diabetes type 1 to survive and live. And I found out that according to the statistics there are currently around 384 million people in the world suffering from diabetes.

Click here

By 2035 they are expecting that another 205 million people will be affected with diabetes. This is a huge problem for the whole world and it would be an incredible discovery to find a way to cure this horrible disease by then.

Figure 2- cell transplantation for diabetics

Science in the News 2014

Brodie Feeney

Mr Youell

23/3/2015

THE FUTURE IS NOW

The future is now. It really seems to be. After searching over some amazing articles, I found some of the greatest inventions and achievements of 2014, may it be as comical as the first Hover board or something as extreme as landing a spacecraft on comet.

This is something that many people including myself have been wishing for since they have seen Back to the Future 2. It is the Hover Board; it may not be as slim and fast as the one seen in the movie but I still want one. The writer of the article in GIGAOM, Signe Brewster had the chance to ride and talk to the founder of the Arx Pax company and creators of the Hendo Hover Board (see figure 1) Greg and Jill Henderson. She described her short ride “As if I was standing on a giant air hockey puck hovering three quarters of an inch above the ground.” At the time she was not brave enough to try any sharp turns or anything more than slowly moving between 2 instructors. After talking with Arx pax founder she learned that they were not trying to create a new way to get across town, they were really just taking a small step of their larger idea which was to create hover technology for anything they want. Arx Pax is trying over the next year to make the board smaller and stylish and expect to make it silent. I then read over the comments of the story expecting people to be excited but found lots of negativity. Many Complaints of its battery and shape, I see how the community is slightly disappointed but I am excited, I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years these will be what everyone dreamed for.

Figure 1 The Hendo Hover Board

In the past many soldiers have died from blood loss in war but this will happen no more, thanks to the simple invention called XSTAT. This article that I read by Popular science by Rose Pastrose, is able to explain the use and application of XSTAT very clearly. This syringe (see in figure 2) filled with tiny sponges is able to seal a gunshot wound in 15 seconds and stop heavy bleeding. Steinburg the creator of XSTAT says “By the time you even put a bandage over the wound, the bleeding has already stopped.” Compared to earlier methods where the treatment may be as painful as the wound itself the XSTAT is the obvious choice. This syringe will inject tiny sponges coated in blood-clotting antibacterial substance and these sponges will then expand in the wound causing the Bleeding to stop. This invention will boost survival in the battlefield and spare injured soldiers from additional pain. The company behind XSTAT, REVMEDEX was given the seed grant, sponsored by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the future they Hope to be able to heal larger wounds and make the sponges biodegradable so they do not have to take them out.

Figure 2 The XSTAT syringe

If getting to another planet wasn't hard enough, well now we have managed to land a spacecraft on a comet. In the article I first read by the Guardian you are given a full insight into the entire mission. The Rosetta mission currently hopes to unlock the secrets behind the comet and learn more of how the solar system was formed. The idea of landing the probe on the comet was already seen as impossible and only got harder overtime as they learned the shape of the comet, making it hard for the probe to even land. They learned quickly also that they would not be able to control the ship real-time and would have to precalculate the entire mission, calculating every variable. The situation only got worse when they learned that the probe did not land correctly and are now scared that the stability of the probe will not last as long as they hoped. But the probe is anchored down at the moment and will be able take sample of the comet, thus revealing the entire internal structure of the comet. This quote By Chris Hadfield the former Canadian astronaut and commander of the International Space Station gives you a good explanation of why this is so important “Comets are the original source of Earth’s water. That lander is now in position, poised to re-write what we know about ourselves.” This will show to be one of the greatest moments in our history.

Figure 3 the probe orbiting the comet

Overall this year was filled with many exciting and important moments, many of which I did not get the chance bring up. But these few will forever leave their mark in medical and space history and a little bit of fun. I personally can’t believe that somewhere out there, someone is riding their own Hover board or someone is having there life saved in record time or a probe is mapping the movement of a comet. Each of these companies and industries hope to do better and more things to change the world as we know it in the coming years and this makes me feel that 2014 will act as the start of a larger future.

Sources

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/12/rosetta-mission-philae-historic-landing-comet

http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/how-simple-new-invention-seals-gunshot-wound-15-seconds

https://gigaom.com/2014/10/20/back-to-the-future-was-right-a-working-hover-board-will-be-available-in-2015/

Science in the News 2014

Da Kyung Lee

Mr. Youell

Science 9S

1/15/2015

What's Happening in the North Pole Region?

Since global warming has been a hot issue in the world throughout, such North Pole or South Pole which made by ice are seriously damaged.

Figure 1

(see figure 1) As the temperature in the Arctic is increasing, the surface made by snow and ice is melting quickly. In the past year, 2014, there were lots of articles about the situation on the Arctic. Among them, I have found three articles which come up with different researches. Especially one of the articles say the arctic stayed same without volume changes.

The first article from BBC News that was published on 15th of December, says that the Arctic held up its ice volume in 2014. In october, the spacecraft observed 7,500 cu km of ice cover when the Arctic traditionally starts its freeze-up. But this was only slightly less than 2013 which recorded 8,800 cu km. That is, the two cool summers have allowed the pack to increase and then hold on to a good deal of its volume. Rachel Tilling from the UK’s Nerc Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling  at University College London, said “What we see is the volume going down and down, but then, because of a relatively cool summer, coming back up to form a new high stand,” and she added “So, what may be occurring here is a decline that looks a bit like a sawtooth, where we can lose volume but then recover some of it if there happens to be a shorter melt season one year.”  This is really surprising that the some of volume which has been melting down can come back up to form a new high stand by low temperature.

The next article from NPR that was published on 18th of December, brought completely different research with first one. The researchers from the 2014 Arctic Report Card say that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the average rise on the rest of the planet and the trend isn’t letting up. This is caused by arctic amplification. Jackie Richter-Menge who is a polar scientist collaborating with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, proved how it works, “the surface of snow and ice cool reflecting a lot of the sun’s energy back up into the atmosphere. But warming air temperatures melt snow and ice. And when they melt, they expose the darker region.” This also happens same when sea ice melts. (see figure 2)

Figure 2

The last article is from BBC News that was published a day ago from the second one. It says that the scientists have found that the animals could stay well on the arctic ground than their previous thought and were hastening the release of green house gases from a frozen store of carbon called permafrost.

Figure 3

Although they have different researches, it's true that the arctic is melting day by day and it would be endless. (See figure 3) The polar bear has nowhere to go because the ice which he can live on is melting. Not only this polar bear, lots of polar bears or other animals are dying out from the ice melting, even at this time. The ice or animals that have been already disappeared are very hard to be returned as before. So we should think about the global warming again more seriously.

Work Sites:

- http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30399079

- http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30456869S

- http://www.npr.org/2014/12/18/371438087/arctic-is-warming-twice-as-fast-as-world-average

Science in the News 2014

Science News of 2014

The past year, 2014 has been filled with all different kinds of world news, some exciting, some surprising, but also very tragic. Since the start off the past year, there were three disappointing aircraft incidents, one that even made history. On March 8th a Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Boeing-777 disappeared somewhere over the South China Sea while heading to Beijing. 131 days later, on July 17th, another Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 also Boeing-777 has been shot down near Ukraine while heading to Amsterdam and months later, towards the end of the year, on October 31st, there was a different type of aircraft accident. Virgin Galactic, a "suborbital" space plane crashed during a rocket powered test flight.

Air Malaysia is one of the most famous airlines flying all over the world daily, and although the same airliner has experienced two accidents in the same year, people worldwide vow to continue flying with them. One of their international passenger planes disappeared on March 8th while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport. The Boeing aircraft 777, fight MH 370 carried 227 passengers and 12 crew members which have all been missing since. Less than an hour after the plane took off, at 01:19 am was the last time the air traffic control made voice contact and that was while it was over the South China Sea. Ever since the plane has been reported missing and nothing from the aircraft has been reported found, including no debris. Days after the flight went missing, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak confirmed that the plane crashed in the Southern Indian Ocean  (see figure1). There have been many hypothetical scenarios as to what could have happened on the plane. One is that the cabins have been filled with smoke which could have left the pilots unconscious. The second hypothetical scenario could have been pilot sabotage, a part of the crew member could have been behind it all, but there is still and ongoing investigation behind it. It has been ten months since the disappearance of the flight and yet no news about it. This has been the most expensive search in aviation history and no airline search has been taking this long to uncover which makes it one of the most significant stories of 2014, also one of the reasons people looked for hope in 2014. 

           

                   Figure 1: Confirmation of where the plane crash took place.

Months later, another Malaysia Airlines flight incident happened above Ukrainian- Russian border (see figure2). On July 17th, Flight 17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has been shot down by pro-Russian separatists using an air missile. The Russian government blamed the Ukrainian government, but it has been believed that the pro- Russian who was forced to shoot down the plane has been told that they shot down a plane from Kiev, not knowing it was a passenger plane from Malaysia. The crash took away all the lives of all 298 people on board where the corpses of the bodies remained 34 km around Hrabove, Ukraine where the crash happened. This flight has been confirmed as the deadliest aviation incident in Ukraine, deadliest airline shoot down, seventh deadliest aviation incident in history including a Boeing 777 and Malaysian Airlines worst incident of all time. Both MH 370 and MH 17 made history and shaped the world news in 2014, making it a tragic year. Having two different aircraft incidents of the same airliner made both significant stories of 2014 making it difficult and upsetting. 

Figure2: What the wreckage of the plane looked like when it crashed by the Ukrainian border.

Differ from the two previous aircraft incidents, both involving Malaysian Airlines, this was the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crash. The suborbital space plane during a rocket-powered test flight ended with a crash where one of the pilots died and the other had a fatal injury (see figure3). It seemed to have been the engine that hasn't been prepared properly which led to the crash in the first place. When the carrier craft released the spaceship, the officials on the ground noticed something off about the engine only two minutes into the flight. CEO and the general manager of the space port, Stuart Witt was one of the eyewitnesses of the incident. Just like Witt, many other witnesses stated that they saw the plane engine looking like it did not perform properly and it seemed like the engine started then in the flight stopped and then started again. There seemed like the explosion wasn't visible, but it sure was seen to fall into pieces. Tests have been done throughout the years to develop the motor and to make sure there is same outcome each time and this time they were ready to put the motor in and try it out in space. Although they were determined the motor was ready, it led to the crash and a loss which was another plane crash incident recorded in the year 2014.

                                 Figure3: The site of the Virgin Galactic crash.

2014 has been a year of devastating news and losses and what made the headlines were the stories of plane crashes which have caused scares all over the world. The two Air Malaysia flights have been what the world was talking about and differ from these two plane crashes there was the virgin galactic space ship which also created another tragic news story for the year. All of these catastrophes have been investigated on ever since and they have been getting the world to hope and pray for a change. 

Kristina Mitrovic

Patrick Youell

Science

3/29/2015

During 2014 there were many events that happened all around the world. The top three most important news stories were the curiosity rover, Ebola outbreak that took place In Africa,and the Rosetta probe.

Rosetta probe (Figure 1) is a space probe that was launched 2004 on March 2^nd, with the goal to investigate the 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet. The probe was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket. On August 6^th 2014, the probe reached the comet orbit and became it’s first satellite. Right away it started to make many high resolution photographs in order to determine the best position for landing. Location named J was chosen. Philae lander (Figure 2) detached from Rosetta on November 12^th 2014 but it didn’t land on planned position. It bounced twice and landed more than 1 km far from J. Unfortunately, the landing position was in a shadow, and solar panels were able to collect solar energy only 90 minutes instead of 6-7 hours like previously was planned. The second problem was that one of three Philae “legs” was not in contact with comet surface. The lander was supplied with ten instruments in order to complete it’s mission: research of the nucleus, determination the chemical compounds present and study of comet activities and development over time. 1

Ebola outbreak

Ebola started in 1976 in Africa. It is a disease that causes fever and bleeding. Along with those symptoms come vomiting, diarrhea, and red eyes. During 2014, there was a outbreak. This disease started spreading so vigorously that it killed more than 8,000 people. There are 21,689 people that were affected in 2014 and there is still no cure. Imagine all those people that are living and fighting this disease right now? Doctors tell us that there is 86 people with the disease, 59 died. At the moment they are working on a vaccine that might be the answer to the problem. This is the most important news that was in 2014 because it affects people. It is a dangerous disease and because of it 8,000 people died. It is important to know how to protect yourself from this disease, to be able to survive.

 Did you know what the curiosity rover does, and why it is on Mars? The curiosity rover, that landed there on 2012, show spikes of methane which means there is a possibility for life there. Even if  scientists still aren't sure of cause, one of the possibilities is that it might be bacteria like organisms there. To support their theory, they found out that 95%  is from microbial organisms. Scientists are now putting curiosity rover to test weather of not life on mars is possible. 

These were one of the most exciting things that happened in my opinion, all three of these events brought some kind of change to our world, and I think everyone should read and know about it :)