Permafrost science

We discussed the arctic tundra in class as a biome. These scientists are looking into the permafrost and what possibly could happen if large amounts of it 'defrost' in the coming years. It seems that they are worried about the amount of methane and carbon dioxide that could be produced.

Comment on the the ecology of the biome and how heating up the permafrost could affect the entire ecosystem. AP Biology students might also want to focus on the positive feedback look that is mentioned in the article. Lastly, determine whether this is valid science and worthy of the money invested by the Department of Energy

DNA in a cup of water?

Biodiversity is difficult to measure, especially in aquatic settings. There is a new technique, much like one described in an earlier blog post where scientists tested the DNA found in the soil. In this technique scientists take a water sample from a body of water can find the biodiversity. It's an interesting technique.

What do you think the benefits of this would be? What are some drawbacks? When you're answering, think in terms of the scientific method.

Stereotypes: Women like fruits and vegetables, men like meat

The American Society of Microbiology has made a huge step forward in the differences in diet between the human genders. They determined that males prefer meat and poultry while females prefer fruits and vegetables. While this seems like identifying that water is wet, it might also be very good for following food poisoning cases. Do you fit in with this study's findings?

Pride and Arsenic? Arsenic and Sensibility?

Was Jane Austen's death caused by arsenic? While classic English literature is usually out of the scope of science class this article identifies how some scientists are investigating the death of Jane Austen. If you comment, also identify your favorite Jane Austen book or movie from the book (if you have one). I watched a movie variation of Pride and Prejudice based in India call edBride and Prejudice. It was interesting.

What causes a muscle cramp?

Football cramps are a mainstay of August and September football games. Their cause remains a mystery to scientists. There are plenty of hypothesis, and some new (circa 2002) ideas about their causes.

AP Biology and anatomy students, read through and identify the new ideas and how they fit in with the maintenance of homeostasis. All students can read through and propose ideas for studying these cramps. What conditions would be necessary? How valid would any study be? What could coaches do to avoid these cramps during the early season games.

Drink up - there's only a little weed killer in there...

A new study published has linked atrazine (an herbicide) to hormonal regularities in women.


"Women who drink water contaminated with low levels of the weed-killer atrazine may be more likely to have low estrogen levels, according to a new study."

"The newest research, which compared women in Illinois to women in Vermont, adds to the growing scientific evidence linking atrazine to altered hormones."

The company that makes atrazine disputes the results, saying that there are too many other factors that could contribute to the problem.

As you comment think about the study. How large was their sample size? Could that have an effect? Are there other studies confirming this data? Are there other factors that could account for these differences? As we move on in content you might also want to relate the use of atrazine to the use of glyphosate (Round-up) and think about what might happen if more and more plants become resistant to Round up.
 

Pepper protection?

We talked in biology about how some plants produce toxic compounds to protect themselves. Peppers have such a compound (although how much is natural, and how much is due to artificial selection is a question to be answered later). The compound in question is capsaicin. The amount of it is measured by the Scoville Scale (a measure of pepper hotness).

As you read the article, identify how peppers would benefit from this compound and also how it might hinder their distribution. The rest of the article deals with using isolated capsaicin in pepper spray by police and in personal safety devices. In your opinion, is this safe to continue?

More antibiotic resistance article

We will continually be dealing with articles like these. Here's another one to view and review.

Antibiotic resistance marching across Europe - Scientific American

New clues for improving antibiotics in tolerant bacteria - Scientific American

Useless - 10 million kid antibiotic prescriptions a year - MSNBC

What should be done about these issues? What do you think about the future if nothing is done?

White Nose, Black Death

This is an interesting article comparing the White Nose Fungus that is killing many North American bats to the Black Death of the middle ages. The idea is that neither affliction is tremendously dangerous on its own in healthy organisms, but when those organisms are stressed it changes their mortality tremendously. The White Nose Fungus affects the torpor of bats. The fungus has been found in European bats for years, but doesn't affect them as much. It was thought that it was moved to North America by spelunkers

Biology students you can comment upon the ecology of that and also how losing a predator in a food web will affect the overall ecosystem.

Wolfote?

It has long been known that coyotes, wolves, and dogs can interbreed. It seems that wolf and coyote hybrids are now roaming the East Coast.

What affect could hybrid coyotes have on the ecosystem. Are there positives? Are there negatives? How much do you trust the research?

Stem cells to pituitary gland

Japanese scientists have grown an entire organ outside of the body. They grew a pituitary gland from embryonic stem cells. This is a first because scientists have had success creating tissues, but entire organs have been difficult up until now.

Some ideas for comments are: How could this be used for medical advances? Is this ethical to work on for humans? How does this relate to class work?

Honeybees: Why are they decreasing?

Nature.com has an article about the decrease in animal pollinators (The pollinator crisis: what's best for bees) and the effect that has on the environment. Bees have been decreasing for years, as their graph shows, and these scientists based in California are looking for reasons why. As you comment upon the article think about the how this research could be used in different regions of the country. Also identify how this article connects the last few chapters that we have studied.

Update (11.16.11):
The European Parliament is getting involved by taking action to protect the bees as well. Is this an appropriate response, and should the government of the United States do something similar to this.

Why science majors change their minds

The New York Times has an article in it about why STEM (Science, Technology Engineering, Math) majors wash out and do not complete college in the same majors as they entered. It was determined that 40% do not complete the STEM major, either switching majors or dropping out. If premed students are included the dropout and transfer to other majors increases to 60%. There were a few quotes in this article that I found interesting.

But, it turns out, middle and high school students are having most of the fun, building their erector sets and dropping eggs into water to test the first law of motion. The excitement quickly fades as students brush up against the reality of what David E. Goldberg, an emeritus engineering professor, calls “the math-science death march.” Freshmen in college wade through a blizzard of calculus, physics and chemistry in lecture halls with hundreds of other students.

There is no doubt that the main majors are difficult and growing more complex. Some students still lack math preparation or aren’t willing to work hard enough.

Other deterrents are the tough freshman classes, typically followed by two years of fairly abstract courses leading to a senior research or design project. “It’s dry and hard to get through, so if you can create an oasis in there, it would be a good thing,” says Dr. Goldberg,

The latest research also suggests that there could be more subtle problems at work, like the proliferation of grade inflation in the humanities and social sciences, which provides another incentive for students to leave STEM majors...After studying nearly a decade of transcripts at one college, Kevin Rask, a professor at Wake Forest University, concluded last year that the grades in the introductory math and science classes were among the lowest on campus.

Other bright students may have breezed through high school without developing disciplined habits. By contrast, students in China and India focus relentlessly on math and science from an early age.

As you read the article it does identify that many schools are working on more authentic projects and hands on activities even at the college level. It still doesn't eliminate the fact that many times - SCIENCE IS CHALLENGING!

Update: The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) identified that Engineering majors spent more time studying and preparing for their classes than other majors. Science majors were just behind them in terms of hours per week studying. That is above and beyond the extra class time that lab classes include.

One of my favorite Sundays - Fall Back - Some information about Daylight Savings Time.

Read the National Geographic Article about Daylight Savings Time. It covers the history and how the reasons behind it. Comment on whether we should continue to have DST or if it's something that has served its usefulness. The other article is discussing how DST affects of circadian rhythms. Tell me what you think.

Other DST articles
Why Daylight Saving Time should be abolished.
Permanent Daylight Saving Time? Might Boost Tourism, Efficiency

Why pioneers bred like rabbits...

A new study out of Canada has used data from church birth and death records and identified that the pioneers had more children and those children contributed more genes to the modern gene pool than those that came after them.
   

Families that colonized the Canadian frontier contributed more genetic material to the modern population than folks who stayed home, says a new study...According to new research, the desire to expand into new territory may have provided an evolutionary advantage to those who had it over those who lacked it.

The article also compares the pioneers of the Canadian frontier to the plants and animals that colonize new habitats.

What do you think of the research? What do you think of conclusions and comparisons. Is there a genetic component to fertility as is suggested in the article?

Got a fever? Sweat it out...

This MSNBC article references some research in which scientists studied the activity of different cells at different temperatures. In the controlled study they researched mice and immune cells effectiveness against viruses.This other article also reviews the study

Biology students, when you comment identify how this fits in with the information that you learned about viruses and how the body fights them off. Both biology and AP Biology students can comment upon how it's safe to allow the body temperature to rise to a certain level (102 Farenheit), but higher than than can cause issues with homeostasis. AP Biology students also can note how this ties in with positive feedback.

Hunger on the wing

This is a link to the Discover Magazine article that 5th hour is reading in class. No extra credit for this one, yet.

Malaria vaccine?

GlaxoSmithKline has come up with an experimental malaria vaccine. It does not offer immunity from malaria, but shown some benefits. Describe the experiment and offer some suggestions upon how it could have been improved.

The other article identifies some other ways that scientists are looking to create vaccines for malaria. Which of these would work the best? What problems do you think scientists encounter?

History, English, PE, and science all rolled into one!

This article explains some research into medieval history.

"On August 13, 1415, the 27-year-old English king Henry V led his army into France.  ...a force of fewer than 7,000 English soldiers—most of them lightly armed archers—repulsed 20,000 to 30,000 heavily armored French men-at-arms"

The researchers looked into to physiological reasons why the English might have have such success in battle against such long odds. What do you think about their research? Was there a control? Is this valid research, why or why not? Could this type of experiment be used to understand any other historical situations?

A different kind of article

I read this SI article about a player, Eric LeGrand from Rutgers University that severed his spinal cord between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae (in the neck) in a football game. It's about his recovery and the challenges that he faces. This isn't available for extra credit, but a great read all the same!

How does DEET work?

Mosquito repellents sometimes use a chemical, DEET, as a part of the arsenal used to keep mosquitoes from biting. As you read the article, identify how and why it works. AP Biology students you should apply this to your knowledge of proteins and how their folding structure (noting that smell receptors either in the nose or the antennae are simply receptor proteins on the membrane surface)

Diet Counters Bad Gene

This podcast reviews a research study in which the causes of heart disease were studied. It was determined that although one of the causes of heart disease is a gene, the diet of the person determined whether or not the gene was turned on. Comment upon the research of the study. Was their study valid, why? What could be done to make the research better?

New Zealand Oil Spill

This National Geographic website has a series of pictures and captions about the recent oil spill from a cargo ship that ran aground on a reef. As of October 13, 2011 they are attempting to offload the fuel, but the ship runs the risk of breaking in two. What effect could this have on the ocean ecosystem? What about the ecosystems of the nearby beaches and islands? How do you think this compares with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that occurred recently?

Update: As of October 18, 2011 they were taking the fuel off, but some of it has the consistency of peanut butter so it's hard to pump. The ship is also leaning quite a bit more and is in jeopardy of breaking in half, especially as they are continuing to remove oil and fuel.

Not Dead "yet" Sea

This blog post from Scientific American documents a few of the living organisms found in the Dead Sea. Comment on the biodiversity and explain why there are so many different organisms that can live in the seemingly inhospitable environment.

Tanning booths for minors?

California has banned tanning booths for minors. What is your opinion about this scientifically and personally. The scientific aspect of this should focus on the aspect of increased skin cancer rates and amount of vitamin D.

UPDATE: These two links (Tanning Truth &  Tanning Info Center) both identify that there are clearly benefits to tanning, especially in a controlled method such as indoor tanning booths. Look at these and identify any flaws in their thinking and possibly any flaws in the idea of banning tanning booths for minors.

Stem cell advances

Once human cells differentiate it is very difficult to get them to revert back to their original totipotent or pluripotent state. This Science News article identifies that scientists think they have found a way (or have started to) to get human cells to revert back to an embyronic state. Do you think this is worthwhile research? Cancer was mentioned as an issue with transplanting these cells, why could cancer come from these cells?

New concussion test?

This partial article details how researchers have come up with a new test for concussions. Do you think it would work in a high school setting? What problems might occur and how would you solve those? What do you think is done now for concussions?

DNA in dirt?

This article identifies that scientists are using the amount of DNA found in the dirt of an area to determine species diversity? How did they determine the accuracy? What are the advantages and drawbacks of this research?

Ethanol plants engage in carbon sequestration

ADM is introducing an idea in an ethanol plant in Decatur to sequester the carbon dioxide produced in during ethanol formation deep under the ground. Discuss whether you think this is a valid idea to study.

Liquifying viruses use genes

Gypsy moth caterpillars can be infected by viruses that kill in a very interesting way. Read the article and comment about how the viruses work and why it's an adaptation that was successful.

Scientists study gene interaction in cancer

Scientists have long known that cancer has genetic roots. This article investigates the actual interaction with the genes that are affected, called tumor suppressor genes. Review this article and explain what this has to do with mitosis and the cell cycle, or determine the role of transcription in the expression of cancer.

Black Death extinct?

This MSNBC article cites research that states that in doing forensic DNA work on bodies of Black Death victims the strain of Yersinia pestis that caused the Black Death is extinct. The next article identifies that there has been very little evolution in the bacterium.The last article identifies how antibiotics have adjusted our thinking of bacterial pandemics.

What do you think of the research? What errors could there be? What other evidence is there that the strain of Y. pestis that caused Black Death is no longer with us? What would have caused there to be so little evolution in the bacterium? Could the conditions that are cited in the latter articles arise again to cause another pandemic?

Organic farming - better for antibiotic resistance

It seems that going organic cuts poultry farms superbug (antibiotic resistance) issues. The resistance drop was very fast, in as little as a year. Read the abstract here.

Another Roundup (glyphosate) research article

It seems that using Roundup on soil year after year, might have an adverse affect on the soil and possibly on the presence of soil fungi.

Another chance to aid in research - Garlic Mustard Field Study

Researchers out of Duke University are studying the invasive species of Garlic Mustard. We can be a part of this if we can identify the plant and note its ecological location. Garlic Mustard is an invasive weed native to Europe that has the ability to crowd out native species in Illinois

Cellulosic Biofuel and Farmland Conservation

What is the benefit of NOT farming land and harvesting the grasses that grow for cellulosic biofuel?

Patentable genes

This Discover article discusses why genes can be patented. What do you think?

Citizen Scientists, again

I came across another opportunity to engage in the science collection practice. This one is called School of Ants and it's based out of North Carolina. I have ordered 3 kits for ant collection!

Project Squirrel

This is an idea called Project Squirrel where students can be involved in collecting data. Check it out.

Self control as a child- key to future success?

I ran across an interesting study in which researchers looked at the self-control of people as children and then measured that against their habits and activities as 32 year olds.

Genetically modified lawns?

It seems that the Scotts corporation is working on making a Round-up Ready grass seed. The USDA isn't prepared to regulate it though.

turtles, lizards, and phylogenetic trees

Scientific American has an article about how scientists have determined that turtles have a closer common ancestor with lizards. This adjusts the reptilian phylogenetic tree a bit.

Lessons from eugenics for modern school reform

I came across a fascinating blog from Scientific American in which modern school reform with its fascination in standardized testing was compared to the eugenics movement. Read it and tell me what you think.

Memories...

This article discusses how scientists are researching erasing memories by using drugs that affect the hippocampus in the brain.

What do you think of this research? How would you (personally) use the information? Is this something that schools could use? What are some negative effects that could come from this?

This article is from Wired magazine and it is a study about how the internet and search engines affect memory

Placebo effect

Chalk up another one for the Placebo Effect. This article is a study about the duration of colds. What do you do for a cold to shorten its duration and does it work?

Identify a few of the things from the scientific method used in this experiment as well.

New case of antibiotic resistance

This MSNBC article shows a new case of antibiotic resistance. Where will the medical profession turn when there are bacteria that cannot be killed by any antibiotics?