HON CHEMISTRY: Wow! Did you realize radiation was everywhere? It turns out there are some pretty useful applications of radioactivity! Let’s finish talking about that tomorrow.
Hon Chemistry 2-23-23 Applications of Radioactivity, Pt. 1
NCS Chemistry and Physics
Use what talents you possess, for the woods would be silent if no birds sang except for the best. – Henry van Dyke
Marine biologists have been researching the population of sharks and have noticed something very concerning. The scientists believe that the population is decreasing at a very continuous and large rate. Scientists have made claims that the issue is very serious and we need to do better with shark management before it is too late. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/shark-ocean-fish-population-recovery-extinction
It has recently been discovered that a certain type of fungi actually helps bark beetles destroy trees. Through tests, it has been proven that the fungi can change a tree’s chemical profile. In doing so, the tree loses some of its defense mechanisms allowing for the beetles to easily destroy it.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bark-beetles-fungi-chemical-signals-infest
It has recently been discovered why people are more likely to catch illness’s in the winter than in the summer. While doctors stress that the cold doesn’t cause a cold it does force people inside. A mixture of people being forced inside together and poor ventilation causes for more diseases to be spread amongst each individual. Therefore in the summertime when people go outside and away from each other in a more ventilated space, there is less disease.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/why-easier-catch-cold-flu-covid-winter
Strokes cause paralysis because of the damaged connection between the spinal cord and the brain. The electrodes on a new electrical device can align with sensory nerves, stimulating them and activating some muscles. This allows some voluntary movement for patients.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stroke-recovery-new-treatment-implant-patient-paralysis
Recently, scientist have developed a way to heal tissue after a heart attack in animals. Before, doctors hoped to treat heart attacks while it was happening. With this new discovery, scientist hope to be able to salvage and relate tissues directly after a heart attack instead of during.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-biomaterial-heals-heart-attack-damage
Using gamma rays from aluminum 23, scientists have discovered that the Milky Way galaxy creates quadruple the amount of stars yearly than we once thought. This find is important because it is always good to learn more about our galaxy and it also helps us better understand how other galaxies work.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/milky-way-star-formation-astronomy
Our galaxy is always churning out new stars, but recently scientists have found that much more stars are being produced than we thought. “…the Milky Way converts four to eight solar masses of interstellar gas and dust into new stars each year.” This equates to 10 to 20 stars being formed every year. This is around 3 times more than what scientists originally estimated. This discovery was made through the detection of gamma rays from the decay of Al-26, a radioactive isotope of aluminum which is found primarily in massive stars.
Recently, it has been noted that the Earths inner core could have stopped rotating with the earths mantle and crust. Since this discovery, scientists have questioned if the Earth’s core is rotating in reverse or its usual path. If this is true, the magnetic field of the Earth and its length of days could be altered. In 1996 multiple scientists inferred that the inner core of the Earth spins about one degree per year faster than the rest of the Earth’s layers. Using data from earthquakes, researchers learned that seismic waves were now going across different parts of the inner core that helped prove the theory of its opposite rotation.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earth-inner-core-reverse-rotation
Recently, scientists have been able to create 3d scans of proteins. The 3d scans revealed how the protein behaves in different pH levels as well as how it interacts with molecules. This allows scientists to observe how the protein, LRP2, is able to filter out chemicals that can cause long-term disease in the kidneys and the brain.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/protein-3d-maps-toxic-substances-organs