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?