I did an article review on “Virgin Galactic one test flight closer to space tourism” By Sharon Gaudin which is about how a Company tests rocket as it takes reservations and deposits for commercial space flights. The company, which is looking to be the world's first commercial space-line, now is in the final phase of vehicle testing after launching space ship Two at 10:02 a.m. ET from the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California. "The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt, our single most important flight test to date," said Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson, in a statement. "Today's supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship's powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year's end." Branson called today's test flight "history in the making." The company is planning on making its first space flight before the end of this year. Virgin Galactic already is taking reservations for space flights. People can sign up to be what the company calls Pioneer Astronauts, which would enable them to be among the first 1,000 people to go into space with the company. It also requires a full upfront payment of $200,000. Virgin Galactic noted on its website that these seats are nearly sold out. Those interested also can sign up for the Spaceship Charter program, which costs $1 million and gets the buyer an exclusive flight with five friends.

 I would certainly love to take a flight. They have worked these flights up to code and to what they need to be, this company has really revolutionized flying into space for the public. Overall this was a great article to read and really opened up my eyes.

Summer STEM Program at Manhattan College School of Engineering

This sounds like an interesting opportunity for Sophomore and Junior students, who are interested in Engineering. Deadline for the application is May 15. See your science teacher for the application or download it from here.

Manhattan College Summer Engineering Prog-04162013 by Charles Ippolito

Sun Unleashes Biggest Solar Flare of the Year Yet

http://www.livescience.com/28662-sun-biggest-solar-flare-2013.html

      In the article Sun Unleashes Biggest Solar Flare of the Year Yet by Tariq Malik, the article describes the impact of the recent solar flare and how it effected humanity. The article explained that at around 3:16 a.m., radio connection was lost in many places of the world and was registered as a 6.5 sun storm. The article then went into detail on how an even greater storm might affect earth and how we can stay prepared. The number of the storms are ramping up and this is what studies have found, "Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment, since the sun's normal 11-year cycle is ramping up toward solar maximum, which is expected in late 2013." We will never know when a storm may occur however, we will always be ready.

            This article is significant to our everyday lives 

because we will not know when the next solar storm may be. We 

must stay prepared and stay out of harms way for solar storms 

could be deadly. This incident could happen any day to anyone

and it is very serious.

            There are very few critiques I have on this article. 

The one area where the author could have changed is how we as 

citizens can be prepared and alert. I wish that he gave us a few 

sentences that we could use to help us in this situation. Other 

than that, the article was interesting, educating, and important.

posted for J. McCann

Origin of Life: Power Behind Primordial Soup Discovered

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130404122234.htm

           

           In the article “Origin of Life: Power Behind Primordial Soup Discovered” researchers at the University of Leeds believe they have solved a key puzzle about how objects from space may have kindled life on Earth. While many believe that during the meteorite bombarding of the early Earth important ingredients for life came about. Before this discovery scientists have not been able to explain how living organisms sprung out of life less rocks. The new study shows how a chemical, similar to one now found in all living cells and vital for generating the energy to live. Scientists believe this chemical could have been created when meteorites containing phosphorus minerals landed in hot, acidic pools of liquids around volcanoes, which were common across the early Earth. All life on Earth use a process called chemiosmosis to create its energy to live. The chemical called ATP key for chemiosmosis to work is broken down and is changed during respiration to release energy used to drive the reactions of life. Due to the complex enzymes required for both the creation and break down of ATP are unlikely to have existed on Earth when it was bombarded. This made scientists look for a simpler chemical with similar properties to ATP, but that does not require enzymes to transfer energy. The scientists simulated the impact of a meteorite with the hot, volcanically active during early Earth. They placed samples of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite, an iron meteorite that fell in Siberia in 1947 and placed it in acid that was retrieved from the Hveradalur geothermal area in Iceland. The rock was left in the acid for over 30 days and observations were made. After the scientists found the compound pyrophosphate, the part of ATP responsible for energy transfer. The scientists concluded this compound could have acted as an earlier form of ATP.

            With the new idea that pyrophosphate acted as ATP in the early stages of the Earth and help living organisms spring out of life less rocks gives scientist a stronger grasp on what earth and its surroundings were like before life. As scientists learn more about the Earth it will give them a better idea of how humans came to be and evolved over time. Also pyrophosphates are now being found of different planets, such as Mars. The Curiosity rover on Mars recently reported the presence of phosphorus on the Planet. One of scients part of this experiment was found saying "If Curiosity has found phosphorus in one of the forms we produced in Iceland, this may indicate that conditions on Mars were at one point suitable for the development of life in much the same way we now believe it developed on Earth," added Dr Kee. With this new develop this could prove that Earth is not only planet that has living organisms.

            Even though I found the article to be good I found it to be boring and some parts. Also, I found the peace to be hard to follow at points; you had to have some scientific back round to understand what the author was talking about. Overall I found the peace to have an interesting topic. 

posted for L. Lynch

Blacks Have Same Gene Changes as Whites, Alzheimer Study Finds

          I read the article “Blacks Have Same Gene Changes as Whites, Alzheimer Study Finds”, written by Gina Kolata. This article is based on a research that was able to prove that African Americans have a higher risk of obtaining Alzheimer than a European. They tested some older people and found that African Americans with Alzheimer’s were more likely to have the gene ABCA₇ that is actually thought to cause this disease. Another gene APoE₄ also causes the disease but it is equally found in African Americans as whites. They tell us more about the experimenting. They say that they used “6,000 African-Americans who were over age 60 and had participated in studies at 18 medical centers.” They were able to prove that the gene ABCA₇ increased the risk for African Americans by 80% and for Europeans only 10-20%. Some scientists or doctors argue that the relationship between these studies is not really significant. Dr. Hardy explained that there could have been a slight variation in the gene of African Americans and there is no historical reason as to why this gene gives them Alzheimer.

           I think that this study is important to humanity and making further conclusions in science. There was another study that because African Americans were slaves, if an African American and a white where raised exactly the same, the white would have a better IQ. This led to the belief that African Americans fell behind on education because of their slavery. These experiments on a population basis are important to understanding our world and the effects that different factors can have. Understanding these genes and how they work will only help in the long run whether a way is find to fix it so that it doesn’t cause the Alzheimer disease.

            I really enjoyed the article. I wish there was more of an explanation on why African Americans have the effect of having a higher risk of getting the disease because of the gene but was still interesting. The author did a good job of explaining the experimentation process and analyzing it. Many facts were also given about the topic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/health/african-americans-have-higher-risk-of-alzheimers-study-shows.html?ref=science&_r=0

posted for Y. Louka