Power Company Loses Some of Its Appetite for Coal

This article was interesting, because it involved environmental restrictions stepping in to shut down coal burning boilers in one of the biggest coal burning plants in the United States. American Electric Power announced recently that they will have to switch to a different method and instead burn a safer and more environmental friendly gas.  The plant would have been forced to shut down if the they decided not to change. On Wednesday the power plant said that it would close both of the coal burning furnaces at Big Sandy by 2015, but left open the possibility that one of the units would be remade to use natural gas. This power plant currently burns over 2.5 tons of coal each year. So far about 55 different power plants have announced they will be closing or changing over from coal. 


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/business/energy-environment/aep-has-plan-to-close-kentuckys-big-sandy-power-plant.html?ref=science&_r=0

‘Famous’ Wolf Is Killed Outside Yellowstone

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/science/earth/famous-wolf-is-killed-outside-yellowstone.html?ref=earth&_r=0

I found this article on an alpha wolf pretty interesting, especially since we just watched a clip about wolves. Researcher called the wolf 832F. The wolf had a collar that had a GPS installed on it, and it tracked its every move. People referred to the wolf as "the rock star". For the past 6 years tourists have fell  in love with the wolf. Scientists said that the wolf was shot and killed outside of the parks boundaries last Thursday. This wolf was known as the alpha female and was being tracked by researchers to see how she lives her life.

Earliest known dinosaur discovered

http://news.yahoo.com/earliest-known-dinosaur-discovered-000536001.html

I found this article interesting because it is about a dinosaur fossil that is over 245 million years old. The fossil has been kept in a museum in London. The specimen has recently been related and indentified as the Nyasasaurus parringtoni, the earliest dinosaur to roam the earth. The Nyasasaurus parringtoni was about the size of a medium sized dog. The fossil was found in a lake called Lake Malawi (the article says it was Lake Nyasa at the time it was found) in Africa during the 1930's. Scientists have said the Nyasasaurus probably stood upright, was a meter tall at the hip, 2-3 meters long from head to tail, and weighed 20-60 kg. I find it interesting that about 80 years after the fossil was found that it is finally revealed as what the type of dinosaur it was. 

Green Building Designs Can Help Protect Homes During Natural Disasters

http://www.enn.com/energy/article/45269

This article not only talked about how solar power and alternate fuel can be safer during
 a disaster, but it can also attempt to stopping the global warming process. The design 
of the buildings are a major outcome to whether or not a building can sustain a disaster. 
Experts believe that if buildings have solar panels and the buildings are built stronger it 
will could potentially save people's lives. Buildings in the United States produce around 
40% of global warming gases, while they also use 70% of the electricity. Scientist believe 
that if buildings are built with solar power and have an alternate fuel source, global warming 
could stop approaching at such a rapid pace. This whole article pretty much summed up how 
the United States has to start being more concerned with the Earth, and protecting it. 

Even Moderate Drinking in Pregnancy Can Affect a Child's IQ

My article was about mothers drinking during pregnancy. A study that tracked 4,000 mothers during their pregnancy. After the child has turned eight years old, scientists found that the IQ of the child is lower then normal. The IQ was about two points lower than it should have been. This was only seen in children whose mothers drank during pregnancy. Children with mothers who did not drink, had normal IQs for their age. This study was only tested with women who were moderate drinkers, not heavy drinkers. The mothers were tracked throughout their pregnancy and filled out questionnaires every couple of weeks. The children were tested with a shortened version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. This study found that Alchol during pregnancy does indeed affect the fetus. 

Great white shark killed California surfer

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/24/us/california-shark-attack-death/index.html?hpt=hp_c2


Since we have been talking about sharks, I found that this is an interesting article. A great white shark that killed the suffer was said to be about 15 to 16 feet long. The shark attacked a 39 year old man and bit him n his torso. He was attacked off the coast of Vandenberg Air Force Base. The man was pulled out of the water and had CPR performed, but to no avail. The man was pronounced dead at the time the paramedics arrived at the scene. This is the second attack in the same area within the past two years, and both people died. 

Elevated carbon dioxide may impair reasoning

Elevated carbon dioxide may impair reasoning 

This article talked about how CO2 levels effected how people would think. The normal outdoor CO2 level is 400 ppm. The indoor amount can range anywhere from 600 ppm which is considered a good amount, or as high as 2,500 ppm. Researchers set up a test which got college students to gather n a room together for 2.5 hour intervals. The researchers then changed the amount of CO2 that was vented in and out of the room. While the students were in the room they used computers and had to role play on them. The students were put through a series of tests on the computers and had to do an organization game and try to manage it as it went through and series of problems. The study wanted to see what would happen with different levels of CO2. The study revealed that ventilation has to be increased in classrooms for all students to be able to think and react better.


http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345791/description/Elevated_carbon_dioxide_may_impair_reasoning

Bird Extinctions on the Rise

I found this interesting because this study only goes back 500 years. Human population is on a rise, just like it has been for thousands of years. Before humans were around this land was occupied by different animals like birds, mammals, rodents, and water life. As the human population increases the natural resources and forests decrease. Over the past 500 years, 279 different species of birds have gone extinct. That equals to one bird species going extinct ever 1.8 years. As humans keeping spreading throughout the world, and its islands, birds habitats are being taken over and are forced to move out. Most of the birds ended up staving to death because their food became the food of the humans, and because it was also being destroyed.

http://news.yahoo.com/bird-extinctions-rise-172316664.html

The $1 billion mission to reach the Earth's mantle

My article was pretty interesting, and government is doing something that has never happened before.   The government is going to create a plan to drill 3.7 miles beneath the sea floor into the earths mantle. This will allow scientist to test different samples and could show a lot about evolution. No one has ever been this deep inside of the earth, and once the government drills into the mantel, they can test samples and learn about pre existing life. Groups of international scientists have been getting together and they first have to come up with a way to drill through 6.2 miles of solid rock before they can even begin drill to the mantle. This whole experiment will take place in the middle of the ocean.  The bedrock is the thinnest in the oceans, so they want to drill there.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/01/tech/mantle-earth-drill-mission/index.html

Extreme Climate Change Linked to Early Animal Evolution

I learned a lot of new things from this article. Obviously humans have a huge impact on climate and the environment, but I never knew that it was as severe as it is now. Oxygen levels have raised incredibly over the last couple of years. As the atmospheric oxygen increases, oceanic oxygen is decreasing rapidly. More and more species are changing and some are even to the point where they are dying out. There have been raised oxygen levels dated back 635 million years ago, but none as high as today's. Some people are saying the problem could be associated with glaciers that have melted and flooded waters and created a higher temperature.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120926161722.htm

Japan Sets Policy to Phase Out Nuclear Power Plants by 2040

This article was about Japan wanting to get rid of nuclear power. Last year Japan had one of its largest nuclear plant disaster, and it would like to put an end to that. Japan had planned to use nuclear energy for a long time, but after the disasters they want to get rid of it instead. By the year 2040 Japan hopes that all of its nuclear plants are shut down, and they find a new source of energy. Some officials believe that Japan could be at stake if they do not make the right decision. There are some antinuclear people who are pressing Japan to take action even quicker and close all nuclear plants as soon as possible.

Article link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/world/asia/japan-will-try-to-halt-nuclear-power-by-the-end-of-the-2030s.html?ref=earth

Tasmanian Devils' best hope for survival could rest on being less ferocious

My analysis of the article:

Scientists have been struggling to figure out if there is any vaccine or cure for this spreadable and contagious cancer. Every time a Tasmanian devil see's one another, they began fighting and biting. Over half of the Tasmanian devil population has died out over a 16 year span. The cancer is spread through the saliva of the Tazmanian devil, and they are dead within 6 months of being bitten. If the Tazmanian devils continuing attacking each other they may all die out within the next 15 years. 

CNN Article 

.(CNN) Taking the devilish element out of one of Australia's most iconic but endangered animals could save it from extinction.

Evolving to be less aggressive could be the best hope for saving Tasmanian Devils in the wild, suggest scientists from the University of Tasmania, in a new study.

The species is facing extinction from Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), an infectious cancer that is spread by the animals biting each other. It is believed that the cancer has wiped out over 60% of the animals since it was first discovered in 1996.

While the animals are solitary they are social and meet regularly either during mating, establishing social hierarchies, or when feeding around carcasses. On all occasions they bite each other.

We found the more aggressive devils, rather than being super-spreaders are super-receivers of the cancer.
Rodrigo Hamede, University of Tasmania

However, the recent study led by Rodrigo Hamede, published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology, led to the surprising discovery that the less a Tasmanian Devil gets bitten the more likely it is to become infected with the cancer.

"Our results --- that devils with fewer bites are more likely to develop DFTD --- were very surprising and counter-intuitive," he said.

"In most infectious diseases there are so-called super-spreaders, a few individuals responsible for most of the transmission. But we found the more aggressive devils, rather than being super-spreaders are super-receivers."

Over a period of four years, Hamede and his research team studied the animal at two locations in Tasmania and discovered that most of the tumors found on Tasmanian Devils were located in their mouths.

"This means that more aggressive devils do not get bitten as often, but they bite the tumors of the less aggressive devils and become infected," explained Hamede.

There is currently no vaccine or treatment for DFTD and once infected Tasmanian Devils do not live much longer than six months.

One of the study sites -- West Pencil Pine in western Tasmania -- was less badly hit by the disease, leading Hamede to feel hopeful that further research there could aid the survival of the species.

"Firstly, we need to explore the genetic differences that might be lessening the impact of DFTD in the West Pencil Pine devil population," said Hamede.

"Second, we need more detailed data on devil behavior to define 'shy' or 'bold' types. We could then use this information to develop a management strategy to reduce the spread of the disease by boosting natural selection of less aggressive, and therefore more resilient, devils."