9/18/12
Today I read about the rising rate of obesity of people in the U.S.. Most people around the world including us Americans realize that the people in the United States are overweight. It's no secret that as a whole we could use a little exercise but according to an advocacy group that exercise is probably not going to happen. They have stated that they believe that by 2030 more then half of all Americans will be obese. The statement was released to promote government officials to talk to the public about the rising percent. There are a few states that will in increase a little but as for Mississippi, the most obese state, the percent will skyrocket making it the record holder for a couple of decades and maybe a couple more. Of course, this statement might not be accurate but it is just an estimate. They predict it based off of years of trending obesity. If the issue is faced and/or stopped it could be that obesity will continue and increase. Every state will have at least 44 percent of it's population overweight.
9/20/12
Today I read about a anti-Islam film made in the US and the repercussions from said film. Recently, a film was released that showed controversial footage about an anti-Islam United States. When word got around that this film was real people were outraged. They held riots and protests but were eventually taken down by military forces. It's not a surprise considering the film depict a racist country, unwilling to accept the Muslim culture which is not true whatsoever. This one man who directed the movie was from the US and was only one person speaking for millions, which he had no right to do. President Obama has tried his best to reassure the public that this is not was the government actually believes. Unfortunately though, a commercial was released about the film that showed President Obama being less then accepting of the culture. The commercial made the people of the United States into intolerable people. I believe that the belief that Muslims don't belong in the US isn't shared by everyone including President Obama, someone is trying to get a rise out of everyone.
9/24/12
Today I read about how breast cancer has four different genetic types. Researchers have been continuously studying different types of cancers throughout the body for many years now. They recently started taking samples from different types of cancers in different parts of the body from hundreds of patients. They found that cancers in a place other then the breasts can have the same genetic code therefor helping treat any trace of breast cancer. This proves that cancers have and can be be transferred from parent to offspring if the cancer wasn't developed because of outside sources. It can have a huge impact on the generations of people who have had cancer in their family. Making their children more likely to have that cancer. The mutant cells can be tracked based on who has the cancer. The study can lead to a cure to this horrible disease. The researchers just have to keep testing and tracking the cells of the cancerous area.
9/26/12
Today I read about a gay couple from New Jersey filing a law suit against a hate group for taking their typewritten picture for a hate crime. When a friend saw in the mail a picture of the men it was clear that the people who sent it was trying to protest gay marriage. The couple was outraged at the fact that their personal wedding photo was used to scare people in Colorado. The men are sympathetic towards the young closeted boys who now think that they will never be accepted for being gay. The anti-gay group called SPLC took the picture off line, edited it, and captioned it saying "State Senator jean White's idea of 'family values.'" Because the caption was so obviously demonizing the community of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders the group it officially known as a hate group. They stole the photo and used what was a beautiful moment in a couple's life and used it to hurt others and embarrass the men. They filed a lawsuit against the group today stating that they had no right to steal the picture and that they should be brought to justice. The professional photography, who owned that copy write, also filed a lawsuit against the group. The couple hope to take this embarrassment and turn it into a lesson to those you steal, and hate and make the people who fear their sexuality not so afraid.
9/28/12
Today I read about a super-massive black hole in the center of the M87 galaxy. A group of scientists were working on a project to combine telescopes from around the country to get a picture of the black hole nearly 50 million light years away. They used several telescopes including ones in Hawaii, California, and Arizona. The power of these telescopes combined were able to get the clearest and best picture of the black hole since the Hubble telescope took one in 1998. They found when they combined the pictures taken by the telescopes that the black hole had a galaxy long "plasma jet" shooting out from the center of the hole. They were also able to calculate the size of the black hole. Compared to other ones they have studied it is very large, 6.5 billion times more mass then our sun. They used several super computers to create what they think the hole would look like up close(picture above). The men and woman working on the project hope to combine more telescopes around the world to take a closer look at this black whole and maybe find others. The work they have finished now is only a small amount of what they could with more help from other people, computers and telescopes.
10/2/12
Today I read about the Great Barrier Reef. Since 1985 the reef has disappeared by almost half. This problem is causing many marine biologists and scientists to become very concerned. The cause of the decreased reef is many things combined. Pollution, storms and starfish are the cause. Starfish are apparently a very dangerous predator in the sea. People have no power to stop all of the the things causing the destruction. We can only sit back and see what could happen. The reef has been recorded as decreasing in size 1.45% every year since 2006. The reason why this is such a large concern is that hundreds of thousands of species will loose their habitat and possibly go extinct if the problem continues. If we were to get rid of the starfish problem the reef could grow almost as fast as it shrinks. This could be the answer to our problem.
Today I read about a new way to test for genetic abnormalities in babies. Genetic diseases are rare and therefore difficult to identify so doctors in the U.K. have gone forth and tried to change that. They developed a way to test a drop of blood from a baby and get an result of what disease would be causing it. The biggest part of it though is the speed. It takes 50 hours for the test to identify. U.S. doctors are stating that that is a speed of testing that is unheard of, especially with the genetics. It mainly looks for genetic disorders that they know about and have gotten the makeup of it. They said that three out of four times the test was able to identify the abnormality and was correct about it. The reason this test is so important is the results. They can lead to more knowledge about genetic codes. Also they can result in a faster and easier way to identify the disease and treat it.
10/8/12
Today I read about an experimental drug that could possibly slow down the rate a person gets Alzheimer's. The drug, Solanezumab, was developed by Eli Lilly. She began working on it several years ago and is now trying human testing. They took 1,012 people with the disease and gave half of the the drug and half a placebo with a test that measured how much the disease was progressing. In the end, the people who took Sola ended up having an 6% increase in the disease and the ones who were taking the placebo had almost an 8% increase. This test lead to another one with 646 patients with early onset Alzheimer's instead of anyone with any stage of Alzheimer's like that first test. The second test showed similar results. With both tests together they were able to calculate that there was a 34% reduction rate of people taking the drug. It has shown promise so far but nothing saying that it will be a success. Eli Lilly will continue to work until the drug is perfected.
10/10/12
Today I read about two American chemistry scientists winning a Nobel Prize. The two scientists, Dr. Robert Lefkowits and Dr. Brian Kobilka, made large contributions to the world of chemistry mainly in the 80s. They discovered that cells can pick up things outside the body such as hormones, light, smells and flavors. The reason this discovery was so important is because it lead to some of the medicines that improve our body today. The drugs are an beta-blockers and antihistamines. The two scientists stated that they had no idea they were being considered for a Nobel Prize. One saying that he initially thought it was a joke but when the phone was pasted around and a lot of Swedish people started congratulating he knew that it had to be true. When they were asked what they were going to do with the money they were rewarded they stated that they would save it for the future or their kids. The men have been the reason why we now know how the receptors in adrenaline work and are the cause of countless discoveries. They waited 20 years for the Nobel Prize and defiantly deserved it.
10/12/12
Today I read about a very large eyeball washing up on a shore in Florida. While taking a daily stroll on the beach, Gino Covacci happened to pass a large round white object. He had no idea what it could be but he than kicked and stared down at something that was staring back at him. Confused and slightly worried he put the eye in a bag and returned home to put it in his refrigerator. After calling the police and being connected to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission they took it and now are examining it. The eye being the size of a soft ball obviously came from some sort of large creature but scientists have yet to find out what. They have narrowed it down a bit. Ruling out octopus and squid because it seems to have had bones around it that do not exist in either creature. The scientists working on the project know it came from a fish because of the eye color. All sorts of odd things wash up on the shore.
10/16/12
Today I read about the discovery of a new planet with four suns. A group of people who go by "citizen scientists" were using a $600 million NASA telescope when they happened to find a planet they named PH1. It is one of six other planets that are circumbinary, having multiple suns. Most have only two giving it the look of Tatooine from Star Wars but it is rare to find one with four suns. The planets actually orbit the multiple suns. PH1 is larger then some of the planet in our solar system. It has a radius greater then the Earth's. The love of astronomy fueled the find and the people supporting it and who found it are astounded that such a thing was possible. The planet hunters announced their find on Monday October, 15 to Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. It is the first known quadruple sun system.