Cisterns Helping Water Crisis

Author:

Neil Nagano- Young

Link to Page:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/17/gsif.rainwater.solutions/index.html

As cities in the west continue to get bigger the amount of pavement gets bigger. The laying of pavement eventually seals natural watersheds wasting millions of gallons of water. To add to this California has several laws that require water that hits the roof to go straight to the storm gutters wasting even more water. An organization has a plan to help California with its water problems through cisterns connected through a network of computers. A study showed that the creation of the cistern would also mean 50,000 new jobs. The collection and filtering of the water would also save millions of dollars in natural gas and electricity use.

I chose this article because I just saw the movie Chinatown which was all about the battle over water in the Southern California area and when I saw this article I thought it would show Jack Nicklaus. I also know that there is economic distress in this country and those new jobs would get a lot more people back on their feet. I also new that the collection of free clean water would be cool for my family as well.

Greenhouse Gases Pose Health Hazard, EPA says

Author:

Julia

 

Link to article:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/04/17/greenhouse.gas.hazard.epa/index.html

 

Summary:

This article is about how greenhouse gases can actually be a health hazard to future generations. An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator says that the concentration of greenhouse gases are now at record levels because of human emissions, and are probably the cause of the increase in average temperatures and climate changes. The EPA also says that climate change due to pollution could affect the national air quality in the future. Some believe this announcement will be a very important step in the efforts towards reducing greenhouse gases and global warming. A new effort toward reduction was recently announced from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, stating that it is scheduled to begin hearings next week on an energy and climate bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

 

Why did I think this was a good article for the Physical Science Current Events Blog?

I chose this article because I’m interested in global warming and how it’s affecting our planet. This article seemed to really relate to what we learned in class a few months ago, so I decided to read it, and refresh my memory of our lesson on greenhouse gases and the environment. This turned out to be a very informative and fascinating article. 

Otter-like fossil reveals early seal evolution

Name: Alexa Gores

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090422/ap_on_sc/us_sci_seal_evolution;_ylt=Alv9_xX6TmZB7y0PYpFnyscPLBIF

Summary:Throughout time, evolution has shaped our world. Scientists have been studying this subject for many years and have uncovered many different species that have evolved. Scientists are now saying that they have found a “missing link” in the evolution of seals and walruses. They have recently found the skeleton of a web-footed, otter-like creature. They discovered that this “newly discovered” creature was developing away from a land life. One expert stated that it fills a gap in the fossil record. They are not direct ancestors of the seal family but are from a different branch of mammals. These creatures are 23 million years old. The fossil of this interesting find was found on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic. The creatures name is Puijila darwini, meaning "young sea mammal.”

Why I chose this article: I chose this article becasue I enjoy learning about new fossil discoveries. I found this article extremely interesting, because I thought that it was very cool that scientists finally found the information that would close the gap in the fossil record, that they were looking for. I think that it is also very interesting that the newly discovered mammal was not a direct ancestor of the seal family.

Earth from the inside out

Author: Tayce Taylor

Link: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20090128/Feature1.asp

Summary:  For scientists, it is harder to look inside the Earth than out in the universe because the Earth is opaque which means that light cannot pass through it.  However, the mystery of how to look inside the Earth without light has been solved.  Some scientists tried to figure this out using neutrinos which are smaller than an atom that go through space.  Scientists that study the Earth are called geoscientists, "geo" meaning Earth.  The Earth goes through a process called radioactive decay, where the Earth can send off geoneutrinos.  A radioactive material loses some of its energy because it sends out particles.  After this process, geoneutrinos pass through the Earth into space.  Geoscientists want to catch some of these particles to find a way to look inside the Earth.  It's going to be a hard job because they are very small, and there aren't many in the universe.  Scientists have made detectors to catch these particles.  These devices are used underground and contain a liquid that produces light.  With this process, scientists are learning more and more about the Earth.

Why I chose this article: I chose this article because I learn more and more about my planet that I live on.  Finding out more interesting facts about it seem interesting to me.  Also, today is Earth Day, and I thought it would be a good subject because of the coincidence.

First 3-D Pictures of Solar Explosions Created

Name:

Melanie

 

Link:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090414-3-d-solar-storms.html

 

Summary:

An amazing new technology has been found and can revolutionize our knowledge of space.  Scientists have recently been able to take 3-D pictures of solar storms.  Using these pictures they can predict when these storms will affect our satellites and other equipment in space, as well as the astronauts.  Scientists have been able to receive 3-D pictures of space storms by using STEREO - Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory.  These are spacecrafts that can depict solar storms.  The STEREO can also illustrate the contents and measure the magnetic properties of solar eruptions.  This new technology is helping to improve our knowledge of what goes on in space.

 

Why I Chose This Article:

            I chose this article because I thought the title was cool.  I was searching for an article and this one caught my eye.  Once I started reading I was surprised to see all of the amazing technologies that have been invented these days.  I also didn’t know there was such a thing as a solar storm so that was pretty interesting to read about.  This does not completely relate to what we are learning right now, but it talks about our solar system, which is part of our atmosphere.  The article said that the storms can cause radiation and we learned about radiation a lot.

Name: 

Jack W

Link: 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-global-warming10-2009apr10,0,2416858.story

Summary: 

The article I chose is about how global warming will effect the production of corn. The hot temperatures caused by global warming will soon reduce corn production by three percent. This will rob Iowa of $259 million dollars per year, and California will lose $4.7 million. Global warming has also been predicted to reduce the amount of other crops produced in the near future. Along with reducing crop growth, global warming has been predicted to increase storms, pollution, weeds, bugs, and diseases.

Why did I chose this article?

I chose this article because I eat vegetables, including corn, very often. I thought it was horrible that so many crops would be lost and that so much money would be thrown down the trash, too. Also I am worried about the upcoming storms, bugs and diseases and I figured the rest of the class should be warned.