Earth Science                                                                                                             Lain Miller

Current events for 4^th Quarter                                                                         5/21/14

http://www.space.com/25945-cosmic-microwave-background-discovery-50th-anniversary.html

Wall, Mike. "Cosmic Anniversary: 'Big Bang Echo' Discovered 50 Years Ago Today."            Space.com. 20 May 2014. Web. 20 May 2014.

            For my current events report I read the article “Cosmic Anniversary: ‘Big Bang Echo’ Discovered 50 years ago today” by Mike Wall on space.com. 50 years ago today (March 20^th), as we learned in class when looking for proof of the big bang theory Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias were in New Jersey when they heard a background humming in their telescope and looked to figure out what it was. They discovered cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) across space. This CMB was from ancient light that began saturating in the universe 380,000 years after creation. At that moment they realized that they had discovered the origins of the universe. They found, and were able to prove, that the cosmos grew from a single point (which was the big bang) about 3.8 billion years ago. CBM is the oldest light in the universe.

The discovery of the CBM was so important because it was the first solid, provable evidence of the big bang occurring. It helps support the theory in proving that all light began saturating at one point of extreme energy. It also supports the theory of cosmic inflation, which explains how after the big bang, the universe expanded faster than the speed of light. The various temperatures and densities in the CBM help connect to the explanation of the formation of the first stars as they emerged after the big bang, which then gave rise to galaxies and solar systems toady. Today (march 20^th) the Penzias and Wilson, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in 1978 will attend a 50^th celebration party in their honor and in honor of CMB.

Overall this was a very well written article. The author, Robert Wall, did an excellent job explaining the relevance of Penzias’ and Wilson’s discovery and emphasized the important research and proof of the big bang which has come out of CMB. He made great use of other sources of research such as the two minute clip inserted in the paragraph, which explains how the CMB was formed through the big bang. Unfortunately the later half of the article was focused more on the celebration of the discovery, which was less helpful for my Current Event, but nonetheless, very interesting. I especially took an interest in this article, and chose this article, because it connected so well to the astronomy unit we learned in class. The background that I had on Penzias and Wilson, as well as the big bang itself made the article not only easy to follow, but easy for me to see the value and impact of it. I loved learning the details of how CBM connects to the big bang through cosmic inflation theory. If I had one suggestion for Robert Wall I would say to add another paragraph on the impacts of this discovery, and to focus less on the story of how it was discovered.  

Jack Millard                                                                                                    Earth Science

Research Paper                                                                                             5-22-14

Carnivorous Sand Dunes

            Last summer, on the shores of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a six-year-old boy by the name of Nathan Woessner was consumed deep into the sand. When help finally arrived, they had to dig the boy out of 11 feet of sand. Later this part of lake Michigan was closed by the parks service due to several more holes springing up here and there. These holes have proved both dangerous to beachgoers, and baffling to scientists.

            Close to the site that took Nathan was a professor of geosciences named Erin Argyilan. After being at the incident where a person was sucked straight into sand, she wanted to research the phenomenon. These hole sink very fast as if there is a pocket of air under a thin layer of sand, and go down so deep, some scientists couldn’t measure them with the tape measures they carried. These whole will later reform and fill in, within about one day. The geologists studying these holes claim that they are different from quicksand, which is a mixture of water. Quicksand is also different fro these holes because they slowly trap animals and humans and drag them down, but these holes happen instantaneously. These geologists also claim that dry quicksand is also possible and has been made under controlled conditions, but it has never been found in nature before.

            Later the National Parks Service worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to use ground-penetrating radar (GPR) so try to better understand these holes. They found that underneath the layer of sand was soil. This soil was exposed to the elements during the 1900’s, which may have caused weakening. The whole area was at one point mined for sand for the creation of glass jars. But this still doesn’t fully explain why pockets are randomly forming around the beaches. Old photographs from the 1930’s reveal that the area was at one point covered with trees and grass. The organic structures were presumably buried and may have deteriorated, leaving empty pockets in the sand. The true answer to why these holes are occurring is unknown but the NPS is still working to find out why. 

            This story is very relevant due to the fact that this is the first time that this phenomenon has ever been recorded. These holes have the capability to capture and even kill people and animals, so it is important to learn about them, and possibly stop them from harming people both here, and around the world. Though this beach is still closed, if it wasn’t, there could have potentially been similar incidents to Nathan’s fall. This affects society because it not only shut down the local beach of an entire community, but also could potentially occur in other places, having similar or worse consequences than what has happened on the shores of Lake Michigan.  

            The article was well written and presented in an easy-to-read manor that explained the topic well to someone who has little to no knowledge on the subject. The article also had a good sum of information of the event. However, the author neglected to provide background information on the topic ion general. If I had to change one thing, it would be to have more background information on these geological occurrences.

Article: http://www.livescience.com/45182-mysterious-man-eating-holes-appear-in-sand-dune.html

Lallanilla, By Marc. "Mysterious 'Man-Eating' Holes Appear in Sand Dune."LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 22 May 2014.

Current Event #2

Martin Wilkins

May 23^rd, 2014

Earth Science Even

Mrs. McClellan

Current Event

Citation

Klotz, Irene. "Chelyabinsk Asteroid Crashed in Space before Hitting Earth: Scientists." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 23 May 2014. Web. 23 May 2014

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/23/us-space-asteroid-idUSKBN0E22BP20140523

Chelyabinsk asteroid crashed in space before hitting Earth: scientists

            Last year, a video of an asteroid that had exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia was released. This asteroid left more than 1,000 people injured from debris and glass. New research has shown us that this asteroid made contact with another asteroid before reaching Earth. Jadeite, a mineral found inside the fragments of the asteroid explosion show us that the body of this asteroid collided with another asteroid. This collision could have easily caused the asteroid to separate from its parent’s body and send it over to Russia. Shin Ozawa, the lead researcher from the University of Tohoku in Japan, explained this all with a paper he published last week. This discovery will help scientist understand more how asteroids can collide and go towards earth. Also, they suspect this event to have happened 290 million years ago. This fireball mostly destroyed due to Frictional heating. This Frictional heating, traveling 60 times the speed of sound caused a force about “30 times as powerful as the atomic bomb dropped by the USA on Hiroshima.” Jade, the mineral found is only formed under extreme pressure and high temperatures. This is the second most powerful explosion in recorded history.  This Asteroid is truly a unique sample.

            With the technology we have today, we are now able to tell when an asteroid made its contact with another object in space. This will help us determine what caused certain asteroids to break apart. Also with the technology, we can tell when the event took place. This will help us in the future with objects falling onto the earth. We are able to calculate its precise path to earth as well. There could very much be more information found in the remains of the asteroids, we just need more time.

            I think Irene Klotz did a wonderful job of explaining the article and its content. She explained and described what the mineral was and how it was found. She also gave background history with the explosion (since it happened a year ago). The size of the asteroid and the damage done was very much in detail. One thing I wished she explained more was how they got the first event date. They just say how it happened 290 million years ago. That is my question, How do scientists suspect an event (in this case the asteroid) to have happened a certain amount of years ago and how *(with what evidence)?   

John Seminara                                                                                               5/23/14

Earth Science                                                                                            Current Event #2

            Works Cited:

Vergano, Dan. "Weird Winter: Is the Pacific to Blame?" National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 22 May 2014. Web. 23 May 2014. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140522-climate-global-warming-winter-science/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_r1p_us_se_w>.

Weird Winter: Is the Pacific to Blame?

            The Article that I read, entitled, Weird Winter: Is the Pacific to Blame, written by Dan Vergano, essentially discussed the rather peculiar weather that occurred in the Western Hemisphere this past winter. The main focus of the article was to suggest the idea that the strange winter was caused by a “curiously warm winter in the western Pacific.” One of the most interesting notes made by this author would be the data that suggests Alaska endured a rather warm winter while other places such as Detroit and England froze. In addition, the author noted that the American Midwest had one of the coldest winters on record, as a result of the repetitive polar vortex, as described by meteorologists. A polar vortex is a very cold low-pressure system that caps the arctic and is normally positioned by the polar jet stream flowing down over the U.S. This winter, one cause that led to a continuous pattern of polar vortex’s that developed over the U.S would be the speedy north-south winds that allowed artic air to flow deep into the U.S. According to one scientist who works for the science department in the White House, the warming of the artic and melting of sea ice there caused the change in the jet stream, which ultimately led to the more rotten winter. On the contrary, a different scientist proposed that the warming of the western Pacific Ocean was to blame for the harsher winter conditions. According to the analysis, abnormally warm Pacific Ocean waters stretched roughly from Fiji to Indonesia. Subsequently, they were able to form tremendous storms with energy that reached high into the jet stream and rerouted the jet stream. The loopy jet stream sent warm air into Alaska and colder air down to freeze the rest of the continent. Nevertheless, it is clear to most scientists that a winter similar to our last is not foreseeable anytime in the near future. However, it is said that during an El Nino warmer winds are pushed into the western Pacific through trade winds. In addition, the incredible amount of rain across North America and in the Pacific was also a consequence of the warmer pacific and also contributed to the altered jet stream across the U.S. Ultimately, this article discussed some of the unique aspects of this winter and some of the contributing factors to the harsher conditions across the U.S, demonstrated by some of the examples including a warmer Pacific Ocean, altered jet stream, and lastly, some robust climate changes. Yet, most of the information that was summarized from this article clearly pertains to everyday life. First off, the articles explanation of why the winter was so harsh leads into some current environmental issues such as man-made climate change. Because the arctic climate increased which caused sea ice to melt, there is subsequent speculation that man-made climate changes amplified some of the effects, potentially even enough to help alter the jet stream in North America. This obviously transitions the harsh weather to global warming, however some scientists remain skeptical that there is any correlation at all. Still, it demonstrates that people can impact the weather by changing some everyday routines such as walking or riding a bike rather than driving. Many small changes undertaken by the general population could possibly lead to a decrease in man-made climate changes and make winters a little bit more bearable on the people who suffered from the harsh 2014 winter. Although it is more likely that an abnormally warm Pacific caused the climate change, people can still be more careful about their decision making to reduce the amount of climate change that humans contribute to the environment.

            Although the article exhibited very imperative information as well as how that information relates to society, the article did still lack some important content and analysis. I think that it is clear the author used many different reliable sources and gave informative backgrounds as to where the information he used is coming from. With this being said, his development of some of the ideas and statements are rather lackluster, for he could have looked further into the past and dug out other studies done on relating changes in water temperatures or climate changes to new weather developments. It is blatant that one of the more important aspects of the article that the author is lacking is past examples of climate change and changes in water temperature impacting weather. In addition, it would have been more interesting than necessary to look briefly into the weather occurrences in Europe and Asia this past winter, which would possibly uncover climate changes in different regions on a more global scale. Lastly, another notable point that this article is lacking would be that the climate change impacted crop production in the U.S during this past winter due to very cold temperatures. Nonetheless, the article still did an excellent job at relaying an enormous amount of significant information while demonstrating its impact on society. 

Current Event--"NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'doughnut' theory"--Serina Aridi

Serina Aridi                                                                                       5/23/14

Earth Science—C ODD                                                                   Mrs. McClellan

            NASA’s WISE Findings Poke Hole in Black Hole “Doughnut Theory”

NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'doughnut' theory." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 May 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140522162314.htm>.

Many scientists believe that the appearances of black holes are the result of its “doughnut” position in space. “Doughnut” is the name given to a ring of dust that surrounds a black hole, scientifically named “torus.” For many decades, scientists have accepted the “doughnut theory,” which states that a black hole’s doughnut position will determine whether or not the black hole is more or less visible. For example, if the face of the doughnut of a black hole can be seen, then the black hole is easily distinguishable. Conversely, if the edge of the doughnut of a black hole is being viewed, then the black hole is hidden. The theory was developed in the 1970s to give a type of reasoning as to why black holes have different appearances; however, NASA’s explorer WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) proposed new evidence that has prompted the questioning of this theory. Although there is new evidence as to what determines the appearance of a black hole, NASA has not yet figured out what the details are, but they are sure that the doughnut position is not the sole determiner of the appearance of a black hole. Scientists used the evidence from WISE and measured the degrees of which objects clump together in the sky by obtaining data from 170,000 active black holes. The accepted model suggested that the hidden black holes and exposed black holes clump together in a similar way; however, the data showed that the hidden black holes are more clumped together than the exposed black holes. Therefore, the doughnut theory had to be relooked because the theory also suggested that the doughnut structures are random. To further understand the new evidence, dark matter also plays a part since every galaxy is surrounded by dark matter, a substance that outweighs the matter of people and objects in the galaxy. Since hidden black holes are more clustered together, they are found more often in places that contain halos of dark matter. This could be a clue as to why black holes occur.

Because of the data obtained from WISE, scientists are now able to further develop theories that can give humans more answers about what occurs in space. By conducting experiments to learn about the appearance of black holes, scientists are also able to learn more about dark matter, as well as scientific structures of objects in space. Scientists are able to relook at theories surrounding the “doughnut theory,” which can also give clues as to what can potentially harm planets like Earth. By being aware of the structure and causes of objects in space, humans are able to prevent threats from these objects. Since we know what types of black holes are occurring and where they develop, scientists are able to manage and keep track of intergalactic threats or changes. Additionally, with more information about black holes and dark matter, scientists can develop more information about similar objects, which would further develop the knowledge of space for the public, including students studying earth science, or others who could potentially find more evidence to support or disprove a theory.

I believe that this article was well-written; however, some of the wording could have been simplified. Some parts of the article were hard to understand, like the explanation of the data that was conducted from the 170,000 black holes. I had to reread this part multiple times to understand what the data had disproved, since there was not a clear explanation of how the data does not support the original theory. In order to improve the reader’s understanding of the data, I would have stated why the conclusions of the data go against the original theory, as well as using a more simplified language at this point in the article. Otherwise, I was very pleased that the article did provide background information of other scientific terms that the reader may not have been familiar with, such as dark matter, and that the article provided secondary explanations, such as the prime statement of the doughnut theory.

Alessandra Diaz                                                                                                             Earth Science IH

Current Event #2: "Super-Heavy Element 117 Confirmed"                                               May 22, 2014                                       

"Super Heavy Element 117 Confirmed." Super Heavy Element 117 Confirmed. Phys.org, 2 May 2014. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://phys.org/news/2014-05-superheavy-element.html>.

    

           With this upcoming addition to the periodic table, the heavier side of the table will now be even more crowded with the newly confirmed “super heavy” element 117. Although the scientific breakthrough has yet to have been named, element 117 is changing the face of super heavy element research. A research team from the German GSI Laboratory created atoms of element 117, which are the heaviest ever to be observed. Weighing forty percent higher than lead atoms, element 117 is put into the super heavy element category, along with all other elements with atomic numbers higher than 104. A huge international collaboration between seventy-two scientists and engineers, representing institutions from twelve nations worldwide.

            The majority of the elements forming the super heavy section are suspected to form part of a theoretical ‘island of stability.’ This nuclear physics theory accounts for an undiscovered set of extremely heavy isotopes of transuranian elements, pertaining to elements with higher atomic numbers than that of uranium: 92. This ‘island’ theorizes elements that are more stable than those closer to uranium, with far longer half-lives of minutes or days, although some optimists suggest half-lives lasting up to millions of years. Despite no super-heavy elements ever to be found in nature, those that are created still only last for a short time. 

            To produce element 117, a huge collaboration between such intricate technology, such as a nuclear accelerator, a nuclear detector, and an actinide isotope production separation facilities, were needed in the process. The American Oak Ridge National Laboratory provided the intense neutron irradiation process, followed by chemical separation and purification. In the end, 13 milligrams of the highly-purified bK-249 isotope were turned into a target, which was able to withstand the high-power calcium-ion beams of the GSI accelerator in Germany. Atoms of element 117 were separated from mass amounts of other nuclear reaction products, which were identified through their radioactive decay. An American research group re-launched a campaign for creating berkelium, a transuranian radioactive element. After performing a sufficient amount of 22 milligrams, the substance was cooled for 90 days before chemically purified for the same duration of time. Having a half-life of 330 days, half of the berkelium would not longer have been berkelium in less than a year. As such, great international collaborative work was needed to transfer the substance across the world to use the best facilities available. After being placed on a titanium film and being sent to the world’s best particle accelerator for super-heavy elements, the decay of element 117 was finally detected through two chains of odd-odd isotope and of an odd-even isotope chain (odd pertaining to less stable elements). Through this process, two other previously unknown elements were identified, being among the longest-lived super-heavy isotopes known. However, the longer an isotope lives, the harder it is to reliably identify it. That being said, an improvement in the way in which TASCA performed the experiment contradicted this prior belief by better separating unwanted background products, which allowed for more sensitive identification of super-heavy nuclei.

            The discovery of element 117 opens numerous doors for the theory of the ‘island of stability,’ as it gives rise to questions of even longer-lives isotopes and has been a huge lead forward in the path to the production and detection of elements situated on the “island” of super-heavy elements.

            The discovery of elements as heavy as 117 is proving to scientists every day to continue testing the limits of the periodic table. Discoveries such as this one help scientists better understand how nuclei are held together, whose answers could then be applied to help solve national needs, such as stockpile stewardship and homeland security. Such discoveries would increase the reliability and safety of the nation’s nuclear detectors and nuclear stockpile. Although scientists have yet to find a direct use for super-heavy elements, heavy elements are used in smoke detectors and in nuclear weapons. With more experimenting on element 117, scientists hope to discover the application of element 117, along with other super-heavy elements, as their uses are expected to be very practical, as they are expected to be far more stable than the periodic trends suggest.

            Overall, I thought the article was well written and to the point, but that being said, it lacked the explanation necessary to fully comprehend the article. Many terms and ideas involved were highly complex and required much outside research, which did make the article quite difficult to comprehend, as no explanations were given in the article about the importance of these super-heavy elements or about their life applications. However, the article was informative, intriguing, and well versed. The topic at hand interested me personally, which created an immediate sense of interest in what was being read. Had the big picture questions been addressed, the article as a whole would have been far more captivating. It is also possible that some of the ideas I would have liked the article to touch upon have still gone unanswered, as most of the research surrounding these elements and their uses is theoretical. Also, the reasons why the elements is now confirmed instead of earlier is not quite clear. Since the element is so new in its discovery, little information is to be found regarding the exact reasonings as to why it is now considered confirmed and the reasons it is now given that title, since the article said that some scientists said that more tests should be conducted before giving the element a name. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the content of the article and found the topic very interesting. Despite a lack of explanation in some areas, the article as a whole kept me alert and wanting to read on and continuing reading about more recent research on element 117, other super-heavy elements, and on improvements regarding the theory of the ‘island of stability.’

Earthquake cloaking could protect cities from temblors

Earth Science Brian McHale

Current Event #2 05/22/14

Invisibility cloaks may soon no longer only be something from Harry Potter. A group of scientists and researchers from the Institut Fresnel in Marseilles, France have recently presented a theory that could prevent earthquakes in nuclear power plants and possibly even entire cities. By drilling a precise pattern of “boreholes” into the ground, the so-called “seismic invisibility cloaks” could alter the direction in which seismic waves travel through the earth’s surface during earthquakes. This obviously begs the question of how this is possible, and what the “cloak” will actually do. “To produce invisibility, metamaterials rely on geometric structures smaller than the wavelength of the light they are deflecting.” Earthquake waves are seismic waves, and the structures that the team of scientists used were deep and narrow holes drilled in the soil. Each hole would disperse of the incoming seismic wave if drilled in precisely the right position and location. This cloak theory was recently tested by using a “vibrophone” (not the instrument), which can vibrate the ground at up to 50 times per second. As predicted, most of the seismic wave energy was deflected by the boreholes, with only 20% reaching the energy detector.

Earthquakes have always been a major issue for civilized places because they can completely destroy entire cities and leave millions of people homeless, injured, or even dead. Just within the past few years, cities in Chile, Haiti, and Japan were demolished by powerful earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 7.0-9.0. Having these “cloaks” and borehole patterns set up in places around the world may have profound impacts on the future of earthquakes and their damage. Although the scientists are not quite ready for their ideas to be put into action, the group’s next experiment will definitely get them one step closer to their goal. The team will inflict magnitude 6.0 earthquakes, with frequencies of 2-12 vibrations per second. If these Earthquake-proofing cloaks could decrease damage done to major cities in the future, the world could be a much more secure place. “It would be a dream for me to see this done for real one day, not just tests,” said one of the scientists.

I found this article from Cosmos Magazine to be very interesting and informative on a new form of technology that could have an extremely positive impact on the world. I never would’ve even imagined that something like this would be possible. I liked the way it described the process of creating these experiments, and what the procedure of creating one of these “cloaks” is like. However, I believe that the article could’ve been structured better, and there was some vocabulary that not every reader might know. I had to look up a few words while reading. But overall, I found this article to be well-written and informational.

Dooley, Philip. "Earthquake Cloaking Could Protect Cities from Temblors."Cosmos Magazine. N.p., 28 Apr. 2014. Web. <http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/earthquake-cloaking-protect-cities-temblors/>.