10 environmental science articles - Article Example

?Summary In 2008, twelve orphan chimpanzees were released back into the wild after being equipped with GPS tracking devices attached to collars. Six males and six females were released, all ranging between eight and twenty years of age, making this only the second time that captive chimpanzees were sent to live among wild chimpanzees and the first time to be released with means to monitor their whereabouts. Due to the tracking devices, researchers were able to monitor the activities of the chimpanzees, discovering that five of them created their own community in the area where they were originally released, two of which gave birth to healthy offspring. One of the other females integrated with success into a community of wild chimpanzees. By releasing the chimpanzees back into the wild, awareness programs and environmental education programs have increased, drawing attention from people who frequent the park. The release has also caused a halt in illegal hunting and fishing. It is because of the release that other sanctuaries are considering releasing some of their own back into the wild in the near future. These sanctuaries feel that the more people are educated about the animals being released, the more likely the animals will be able to survive in the wild without having to fear humans bringing harm to them or their environment. Article Quality The quality of the article could have been better. While it explained the benefits of releasing the chimpanzees into the wild and tracking them with GPS, the article could have gotten more into detail about how well the chimpanzees were adapting to their new surroundings. It also failed to go into detail about how people were being educated and supportive of the chimpanzees’ release. Article Topic The subject matter of this article is very interesting. There are often stories that are not so successful about animals being released into the wild. By using GPS to monitor the whereabouts and conditions of the chimpanzees, as well as informing people about the project, the release was able to be a success. If other sanctuaries use similar tactics, perhaps more animal releases will be just as successful. Summary A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health revealed that an increased intake of berries is capable of decreasing the chances of men and women developing Parkinson’s disease. The study conducted also showed that men could decrease their chances even more by also eating apples, oranges, and other food items that contain flavonoids or anthocyanins, which have proven to be neuroprotective. Flavonoids and anthocyanins can be found in plants and fruits, but also in berries, chocolate, and citrus fruits. These dietary components are also known as vitamin P and citrin. This was the first study to focus on the impact of flavonoids on the development of Parkinson’s disease. The study consisted of 49,281 men and 80,336 women. They were each given a questionnaire that was used to determine the amount of flavonoids that each person took in on average. The connection between flavonoid intakes and risk of Parkinson’s disease was then analyzed. The participants were then followed for twenty years. During the twenty years, it was found that the more flavonoids that a male took in, the less of a chance he had at developing Parkinson’s. While women showed no significant results with flavonoids, it was revealed that women can decrease their risk by increasing their intake of anthocyanins. Article Quality The quality of the article is very good. It summarized the most important aspects of the study, such as who was involved, what took place, the results, and the importance of the study itself. However, the article could have gotten into more detail about the effects of flavonoids and anthocyanins and how they actually protect the brain. The article only informed the reader that these components are capable of protecting them, but it would be even more beneficial to know how. Article Topic The topic of the article is fascinating, informative, and very beneficial. It reveals a connection between healthier living and the decrease of Parkinson’s disease, which is very common in people as they get older. If more people knew methods to decrease their chances, fewer people would develop the disease. This information could greatly impact science, medicine, and the lifestyles of older people. Summary Resveratrol, an organic compound found in red wine, has been found to have a connection to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. This finding was revealed in a study done by Professor Peter M. Tessier. The study showed that resveratrol has the ability to single out toxic peptide isoforms that have been associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Since resveratrol leaves the undeformed peptides alone, and the toxic isoforms become nontoxic when affected by resveratrol, researchers believe there are structural differences between peptide isoforms that essentially play a role in the deaths of cells. Further experiments were done in attempt to find further connections between resveratrol, peptide isoform structures, and Alzheimer’s disease. When peptides were generated by the researchers, with three being toxic to humans and two being nontoxic, and resveratrol was added into the mix, the resveratrol neutralized the toxicity of the toxic peptides but left the nontoxic peptides alone. Despite the effects of resveratrol, the two different peptides are virtually identical, which has caused researchers to take a greater interest in determining what about the toxic peptides that have the ability to cause cancer and aging of the brain and how resveratrol can turn the tables on dead brain cells. Article Quality The article is very informing, compacting a plethora of information into a small article. The article divulges into all important aspects of the topic, focusing a great deal on how vital it is for the researchers to understand the information being presented. Though the article is left wide open in regard to a conclusion about the study, it is made known that researchers, based on the information found, can continue their research, narrowing their focus even more. Article Topic The topic of the article is vital to understanding the workings of the brain as it ages. It reveals that a connection has been found between certain components, both regular and deformed, and the organic compound resveratrol, which could have the ability of tending to the brain to prevent the developing of Alzheimer’s disease. This knowledge is not only important to science and medicine, but to the people who risk developing Alzheimer’s or other diseases that mar the brain as the person gets older. Summary A new study conducted by Charles Weschler and his companions has revealed that the skin flakes that people constantly shed may be irritable to people, but they are also very beneficial to indoor environments. People shed approximately five hundred million cells each day, completely shedding their entire outer layer of skin every two to four weeks. Though the skin cells, regarded more as dust by most people, builds up on furniture and forces people to clean from time to time, they have the ability to reduce the amount of air pollution in an indoor environment, such as an airplane cabin. Skin cells contain the oils cholesterol and squalene, the latter of which is able to reduce levels of ozone, which was revealed during a study that took place in a stimulated airplane cabin. More than half of the ozone in the cabin was removed due to the ozone reacting to exposed skin and hair of the passengers. Yet another study was done, this time involving dust samples that were collected from five hundred children’s bedrooms and the daycares that the children attended. The decrease of ozone was not as significant as in the airplane cabin, but enough was reduced to confirm the connection between ozone reduction and skin cells. Article Quality The article was very informative and revealing, including two separate studies to help support the claims made by the authors. Instead of leaving the results to one study, the second study in the daycare centers was undergone to make sure that the first one was not a fluke. This helped to ensure that the findings were accurate. They may not have been significant the second time around, but the article detailed reasons as to why the hypothesis still holds true. Article Topic The topic of this article was enlightening, realizing that something as annoying as skin cells (dust) can be helpful to keeping indoor air cleaner. Despite these findings, it would be too much to hope that people would leave the dust where it is to better clean their air, though that does not make the findings displayed in the article any less insightful. However, the researchers behind this study can better understand how these particles can play an even larger role in cleansing indoor air of pollutants and use their future findings to promote cleaner air through more natural sources. Summary Researchers in Portugal have found a correlation between the risk of childhood leukemia and increased levels of chlorine-containing chemicals found in the atmosphere. It has been revealed by Maria do Carmo Freitas and Marnia Martinho that the emissions from paper industries, forest fires, manufacturing of pesticides, and fossil fuel power stations could possibly increase the levels of chlorine-containing carcinogens in the air. Freitas and her companions set out to investigate the presence of twenty-two chemical elements in the atmosphere and the leukemia deaths in numerous countries throughout Portugal. By collecting lichens, which are used as biomarkers of pollution, over a large geographic area, researchers are able to more accurately find a correlation between chlorine-containing chemicals and leukemia occurrences. The research done by the scientists showed only a slight connection between exposure to the carcinogen benzene and leukemia cases in children in Portugal. Research prior to the current study revealed absolutely no connection, but since then the amount of leukemia cases have increased. Although, the presence of chlorine-content has been connected to the development of diabetes, and malignant growths, which are present in many forms of cancer, have significant associations with iodine, nickel, lead, and other chemicals. Article Quality The article kept jumping from one topic to another, barely focusing on its original purpose, which was to inform the reader of a connection between chlorine-containing chemicals and leukemia in children. While the article briefly covered the basics, most of the piece focused on the purpose of lichens in determining pollutants in the air. Not only was very little covered in regard to the connections that were supposed to be made in the article, but the article ended more or less on a cliffhanger, leaving the reader with almost the same amount of information they had before reading the article. Article Topic The topic of the article was promising, though the article did not fulfill its duties. The concept of finding a correlation between chemicals in the air and the amount of children developing leukemia could have greatly benefited the science and medicine communities. The researchers made it known that further studies need to be conducted to find better results. Summary Geophysicists and planetary experts from Stanford University and universities in Tokyo discovered what caused Tokyo’s March 11 magnitude nine earthquake catastrophe to be as great and destructive as it was. The intensity of the earthquake and the gigantic tsunami that followed was due to a sequence of bizarre geologic events that scientists had only seen in simulations prior to the devastating March earthquake. The earthquake took place in what is known as a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate is being forced under another and into Earth’s interior along an active fault. After the initial jolting caused by the quake, the fault ruptured from a different direction, deforming the seafloor and causing the tsunami. The strength of the earthquake and the resulting tsunami was due to the to the second rupture, which dramatically displaced the seafloor. Though this concept had been seen in simulations prior, the Tokyo earthquake was the first real recorded experience. The aftershocks that were also abnormally intense, most having the magnitude of a regular earthquake, compared to normal aftershocks were also caused by this rupture and displacement. This caused the shockwaves to move in the opposite direction of the original earthquake, damaging an even greater area. Article Quality This article is very informative, explaining every aspect that is needed to understand what took place that fateful day in Tokyo. The piece divulges into the cause of the earthquake, which is backed up by findings from studies done by scientists. It goes into complete detail about what took place between the Earth’s plates, its interior, and the fault along the ocean, providing a clear picture of all that went on that day. Article Topic The fact that scientists discovered something that they had only seen in a simulation will be very beneficial to the educating and understanding of earthquakes. The information that they have found and the phenomenon that they have witnessed will allow them to look at previous and future earthquakes and determine of similar events have already taken place. With the increasing of science and technology, and with the addition of this new information, scientists can increase their knowledge of the formation of earthquakes and tsunamis. Summary Scientists at MIT’s Center for Biomedical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado have found that algae and cyanobacteria, which are microorganisms that live in water, are capable of producing hydrogen. With this discovery, these scientists believe that a carbon-free fuel is a future possibility. The only reason that this plan has not be fully put into action is because the algae makes the hydrogen as a byproduct, with its main focus being that of producing sugar, which it needs to survive. The scientists with the aforementioned facilities, however, have found a way to reverse the production settings of the algae by introducing a bioengineered enzyme, causing the algae to produce more hydrogen while producing just enough sugar for it to survive. Once the science behind the procedure is strengthened, the plan is to get the algae to produce hydrogen in large quantities by means of water and sunlight. The hydrogen produced can then be placed in a fuel cell, or it can be used to generate electricity, power a vehicle, or be combined with other fuels to make resources, such as methane, more renewable. This will greatly lessen our dependency on finite resources since the algae needed exists everywhere on Earth. Article Quality The article goes into great detail about the entire process involved in producing hydrogen from algae, thus making it a high quality article. The scientists reveal what can be done with the algae and what they want to do with it, but they also point out some of the obstacles in their way. However, the article also explains what needs to be done to overcome these obstacles to benefit from the hydrogen that algae is capable of offering. Article Topic In a day and age when finite resources are running out faster than ever, coming upon something like algae that is capable of producing hydrogen is one of the greatest accomplishments in environmental science. Everyday, scientists set out to discover different ways to make sure that we never run out of the materials that we need, and this was done by learning how to reverse the production of the hydrogen-producing algae. With a little more work, people of the Earth will soon be able to run their vehicles and use electricity without fear that the resources to do so will run out in due time. Summary In 2009, scientists at UCLA discovered that there is a link between a person developing Parkinson’s disease and the exposure of two chemicals that are often used on crops to fight pests. The study consisted of people that lived near farms that used pesticides containing fungicide maneb and paraquat on their crops, excluding the farmers that lived directly on the farms. It was found that these people who were exposed to these chemicals increased their likelihood for developing Parkinson’s disease by seventy-five percent. A follow-up study revealed even more interesting facts. Instead of focusing on where people lived, the newer study looked at where they worked in comparison to the farms, again excluding those that worked on the farms. A third pesticide chemical, ziram, was also introduced into the study. The results of this new study was that the threat of Parkinson’s was increased threefold with the presence of ziram; ziram and paraquat alone increased the chance of someone developing Parkinson’s disease by eighty percent. The study found that the risk of Parkinson’s was greater for those working within distance of a farm using specific pesticides as opposed to people who live in the general vicinity; people who live and work in the same area are at an even greater risk. Article Quality The article is very detailed about the entire situation, stating what the scientists were looking for, how they went out to discover it, and what the results were. The article focuses on numerous studies that were done to determine if the findings from the previous studies were correct. Various factors were changed in each study to increase the geography of the findings, which helps to support the overall results of the study. Article Topic This article brings the environmental science and medicine fields one step closer to understanding how Parkinson’s disease can be prevented in people that live in certain areas. The information presented in the article can provide the proper scientists with ways to make cleaner pesticides that are still effective at killing pests, yet greatly decrease the risk of Parkinson’s. As such, these findings can drastically decrease the amount of people who develop Parkinson’s, as well as possibly discovering other ways that the risks are increased. Summary Numerous conservationists from a variety of conservation and research groups have discovered that humpback dolphins in the western Indian Ocean are hardly found together, determining that the populations of these dolphins are kept apart by currents, surface temperature differences, and other environmental barriers. These findings were determined using genetic data from dolphins and information about the environment from remote-sensing satellites. The study that was conducted that revealed the aforementioned information was a breakthrough in research on marine wildlife and deciding how best to manage the humpback dolphin. It is also one of the first studies that have allowed scientists to understand how marine environments can influence the population structure of the dolphin, which, in turn, enhances the understanding about what may start the evolution of a new species of marine animal. Through this study, scientists have discovered that there is a genetic break between dolphins in the western Indian Ocean. It is believed that the current is the greatest factor keeping these dolphins apart. The information that has been gleaned through the various instruments by the scientists will help researchers form management and protection measures to keep the species of dolphin alive and well. Until then the species is listed as a Near Threatened species. Article Quality The article is of very good quality, focusing on the factors that keep the humpback dolphins apart from one another. The piece is very informative about the decrease in population of these animals, especially in regard to why it is happening. However, while the article briefly mentions the status of the species on the endangered list, the article should have gotten more into how the scientists intend to manage what is taking place with the species to avoid complete extinction. Article Topic It is important to understand why some species evolve into a new type of animal, or why some animals end up on the endangered list. The article revealed that, especially with marine animals, the currents and surface temperature can keep animals away from one another. If scientists can determine the cause of population separation, then they can possibly determine ways to prevent the population separation from happening in the future, saving the species. Summary In 2009, biologists have discovered that they can determine the sources of toxins in water by using clams to trap pollutants. Clams have the natural ability to clean water, by absorbing toxins in their tissues when they draw in water. When they are placed in areas of heavy pollution, biologists can open them, take them from their shells, and use numerous lab tests to reveal the pollutants in the specific area of water. Since streams and rivers contain a variety of pollutants, such as chemicals from pesticides, that come from highways and industrial parks, biologists are placing clams throughout these waterways to find the source of toxic leaks, trapping the pollutants. Biologists are using high school students to place the clams in strategic locations, and then to pull them out when they are ready to be analyzed. When the clams are taken to laboratories for examination, biologists pull them from their shells and discover the kinds and quantities of pollutants in the water. Once the biologists are able to determine the types of pollutants, they can then go to the source of the toxins and put an end to the source to prevent future contamination of the water. On one venture with the clams, biologists discovered that a banned pesticide in Maryland, which had been buried, and begun to leak. All of this was determined by looking at the clams and the leak was stoppered. Article Quality The article discusses the issue at hand, which is that our waterways are polluted, and then divulges into what can be done. The article is of very good quality, containing all of the vital points to understanding the problem at hand and how biologists were responding to the issue. The article also discusses precisely how the clams are able to work as pollutant traps and determiners, providing readers with insight about the environment and the workings of these small creatures. Article Topic The subject matter of this article is fascinating as it reveals unique ways that biologists are going about ensuring that are waterways are clean of pollutants. It is an inexpensive method, and it can get people actively involved in the workings of and in the caring for the environment. The waterways can slowly but surely become clean and contaminate-free through this method. 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