An Inconvenient Truth

The documentary titled “An Inconvenient truth” starring Al Gore, former Vice president of the US, sheds light on the topic of climate change. This documentary’s focus is to educate the public and re-energize the environmental movement around the world. This documentary was so successful that it is the 9^th highest grossing documentary in US history.  The reason behind the title is that important topics like these are typically hidden from the public’s eyes through politics. Lots of evidence is provided further explaining the changes of earth and possible disasters that we foresee.

The reason behind climate change on earth is because of all the greenhouse emissions produced; the greenhouse gas which has the main focus is Carbon Dioxide(CO₂₎. Many people, especially politicians who are scientifically illiterate may argue that climate change is not occurring but there is a lot of evidence supporting climate change occurring. Today, CO₂ levels in our atmosphere are higher than it’s ever been observed on earth. CO₂, a greenhouse gas, helps warm up the earth by preventing radiation from reflecting back into space off the earth’s surface, it helps keep the radiation in our atmosphere. Lots of the ice and glaciers in the world are melting and lakes are shrinking and drying up. Pictures of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa are shown comparing what used to be the mountain and what it is today, lots of the ice has disappeared. Also, sea levels are exponentially increasing, over the last 40 years 1.5 million square kilometers of ice have melted. Lastly, a key piece of evidence is that the 10 hottest years on record have occurred within the more recent years, and as of the year the documentary was released it was 10 of the last 14 years.

The amount of problems are numerous and extremely serious as some the problems can cause destruction of the earth. Ocean temperatures which are rapidly increasing with all the melting ice is the cause behind hurricanes and tornadoes, the reason so many destructive natural disasters are occurring in the more recent years is because of the ocean’s warming. Temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit are becoming the normal for many locations, for example in India 122 degrees Fahrenheit was reached the year before the documentary was released. Many species are also at high risk as they are losing their habitat, where once averaged 40 degrees Fahrenheit, now averages much less causing animals to go extinct.

Politicians and people in power often try to put climate change out of our view because they believe correcting this will ruin the economy, what they don’t realize is that by not correcting climate change, there may not be a world for them to have an economy. George Bush, former president of the US denied to follow the Kyoto protocol of 1997 which stated that countries which signed it such as the US would lower their greenhouse gas emissions. However, Bush’s logic was that the economy would suffer, these people are our leaders and they need to become literate of the topic of climate change.

Blue represents temperature, red represents CO2 concentration

           An Inconvenient Truth really allowed me to understand how vital climate change is, it can possibly destroy all life on earth. As more CO₂ and other greenhouse gases are produced, the earth will further continue to warm up. The point emphasized by scientists, Al Gore and myself is that we need to do something now, we have to limit our greenhouse gas emissions as scientists predict our current rapid development of earth will give us only 5 years to do something or else the changes will be irreversible. Currently, there are about 400 ppm of CO₂ on earth, the point of no return is 450 ppm which is what we have to prevent ourselves from reaching  This documentary was really an eye opener for many around the world and it is informative to the point that it is being made part of school curriculums internationally.            

Sources

An Inconvenient Truth (documentary)

http://vimeo.com/16335777

An Inconvenient Truth: A Review and Synopsis

http://www.come2order2day.com/articles/inconvenient.html

World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/09/fossil-fuel-infrastructure-climate-change

Regeneration

           Regeneration of humans is the act of reforming a body part to its natural appearance after damage. For example if a leg is amputated, then regeneration of the leg would mean that leg would regrow and appear the same way as it was before getting damaged. Regeneration of humans only exists to a limited extent, the most severe damage a human can regenerate is the front of a fingertip being regrown. Humans currently have no way of regenerating bone or nerve tissue. 

            Many people around the world are missing certain limbs with over a million people in the US alone missing a limb. Also, a good portion of these people are war veterans who risk their lives for their country, each year roughly 120 American soldiers lose a limb and these veterans along with the general limbless population usually choose to have a prosthetic limb which may give them some attributes of a real limb but not nearly all as the sense of feel is very weak in prosthetics and the thought of knowing you don’t have a real  limb can be frustrating and challenging. Regeneration would allow these people to live their lives as they did before getting injured, although initially the regeneration process of a leg or arm would take at least 20 years to complete on a human, it would be a lot faster for future generations.

            Salamanders and the axolotl are amongst the organisms which can regenerate limbs. The axolotl is a very unique animal in that it can have its spinal cord crushed or a segment removed and it would still recover. When examining DNA of creatures such as these, it answers how they have properties such as regeneration as their DNA is about 10 times as complicated as that of a human's. 

            The actual process of regeneration of human limbs is far to come, most likely not within the next 30 years. However, there are ways that have been researched on how to make this phenomenon possible. The primary step in each case involves extracting a certain cell or gene and the primary long-term goals are to be able to add the cell or gene to a wound site which would allow regenerative properties for the human. Macrophages are one of the cells that are currently being researched for use in human regeneration. They are a type of repairing cell which devours dead cells and triggers immune cells to respond to pathogens such as bacteria and virus carrying cells. When macrophages were removed from salamanders at Monash University in Australia where it is currently being studied, the salamanders no longer hand regenerative properties. When a salamander loses a limb, nerve signals are sent causing growth to start again under the stump. Another gene that may be the answer to human regeneration is gene p21, which when removed from MRL mice in an American lab allowed them to regenerate, holes in the mice had been repaired along with hair follicles and cartilage. This has been the only mammal so far in which scientists have been able to give amphibian-like regenerative properties to. However, the removal of gene p21 can easily lead to uncontrollable cell division also known as cancer.

                In my opinion scientists are a far way from discovering regeneration of human limbs, however, I believe that they should continue to work with their current cells and genes that they believe might be the answer but also continue to examine DNA of regenerative creatures in order to find any other cells or genes which may actually be the answer to regeneration of humans. Initially, I believe scientists should focus on the short-term goal of scarless healing because that is regeneration in a lower form, I believe if they research and progress in small steps they will be able to regenerate human limbs eventually. This would help millions of people around the world, the ability to have a fully functioning limb is something that almost everyone would be able to have.     

Sources   

Scientists identify cell that could hold the secret to limb regeneration

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/23/4358418/salamander-macrophages-could-aid-limb-regeneration

The role of p21 in regulating mammalian regeneration

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3152998/

How can salamanders regrow body parts?

http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/reptiles-amphibians/salamander-regrow-body-parts1.htm

How much DNA?

http://salamandercandy.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/how-much-dna/

Pig’s Extracellular Matrix

http://www.pitt.edu/~ooo13/EngineeringTrendsandIssues.html

Regeneration

http://ebooks.infobaselearning.com/View.aspx?ISBN=9781438139463&PGSelectedAbsolute=105&WithAllWord=regeneration

William George Unruh

            William George Unruh is a top Canadian scientist who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba where he earned his bachelors of Science degree in physics at the University of Manitoba in 1966 before earning his PhD in 1971 from Princeton University. Unruh is currently a professor at the University of British Columbia where he studies topics such as quantum physics, gravitational theory and cosmology.

          His concerns about relationships between matter and particles, and gravity have led to further research in areas such as black hole physics and phenomena. What interests me about Dr. Unruh are the topics he researches, he researches theories about black holes and wants to go beyond current scientific knowledge. I like his attitude towards this topic, because even though it is a topic that is relatively hard to research as black holes aren’t that close to earth, he still does it. Unruh wants to find an explanation for the formation of the eternity-expanding universe and which forces were present at the time of formation. He has been trying to find a quantum theory of gravity which means interactions between particles and matter, and gravity. Much of his work is done on theoretical physics which makes him a true scientist in my opinion, always trying to contribute to the scientific community. Apart from studying the formation of the universe, his main studies are based on sonic black holes which Unruh calls "dumb holes" where fluid has the ability to flow faster than the speed of sound. He says that hot sound waves are produced in these holes, however the evidence is not there to prove his theory.

Unruh may be best known for his discovery in 1976 called the Unruh effect. He, along with Stephen Hawkings discovered that the number of particles found in a region depends on the acceleration of the measuring device used. He discovered that a vacuum which does not contain particles would be detected as having particles by a measuring device. In simple terms, the theory says a thermometer waved around in empty space such as a vacuum will result in a non-zero temperature due to acceleration. However, the Unruh effect is still under dispute as it is not evident that what he claimed to observe is actually true. In my opinion, the Unruh effect sounds believable, I believe that devices used to measure aspects such as temperature were designed to be used in normal circumstances where particles exist, that is one of the reasons I believe a non-zero temperature is detected within a vacuum.

His research has triggered many other researchers to research further on topics he discovered such as the Unruh Effect, for example, they are currently coming very close to proving that his theory is correct as in 2011 researchers claimed that in their experiment, the Sokolov-Ternov Effect, the Unruh effect may have also been proven. Unruh’s research means a lot to society because disputable topics about how the universe was formed for example is currently being researched by him along with other interesting topics. Through his research of quantum physics, we might actually understand entirely how black holes operate. He researches some of the biggest mysteries of the universe and if his research hasn’t already answered some of the questions he originally had, eventually it will through others’ research adding to his. The topics he researches might not interest some people but if they were to understand it more possibly through his research, it would make topics such as black holes a lot more interesting.  His discoveries and theories have contributed to him being named one of the top Canadian scientists of all time.

Sources

W.G. Unruh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Unruh

Canadian Institute for Advance Research- William G. Unruh

http://www.cifar.ca/william-g-unruh

Science.ca-William G. Unruh

http://www.science.ca/scientists/scientistprofile.php?pID=228&pg=0

Unruh Effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unruh_effect

A Mystery: The Bermuda Triangle

                 “The Bermuda Triangle” is a documentary by BBC’s SuperNatural series which depicts many theories and mysterious incidences which occurred in the Bermuda Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle is considered by many, to be the most dangerous area of water in the world. There have been so many cases to support this idea which the documentary makes evident.

                                         Part 1 of the documentary

                        This name “The Bermuda Triangle” is reserved for an area of water where many planes and ships have disappeared without any traces of evidence. The primary case and mystery of the Bermuda Triangle is “Flight 19” which consisted of 5 American bomber planes that never returned to land after leaving Florida’s naval base at 2:10 pm, on December 5, 1945. Taylor, the lead pilot of that day had originally planned to fly the 5 planes towards the Bahamas and then return to Florida’s naval base. While out there he became confused and did not know which direction they were in, Taylor believed he was over the Florida Keys instead of the Bahamas which is an easy mistake to make as they are so similar in appearance from above, so Taylor decided to fly north believing he would fly into Miami but instead Flight 19 never returned. Flight 19 was actually on their correct route and flying north of the Bahamas would have meant flying over open water, eventually they would’ve ran out of fuel as land is nowhere nearby when travelling just north of the Bahamas. While communicating with the base in Ft. Lauderdale, Melvin Baker, a radio man had been telling Taylor how to return back to Ft. Lauderdale, he realized that Taylor had to be over the Bahamas because the reception was too strong to be coming from the Keys. However, Baker did not have authority to order Taylor in which direction to head so Taylor stubbornly disobeyed Baker’s expertise and ended up flying flight 19 into a place that would never be known. That was not the end of the story as two Mariner planes were launched to search for Flight 19 and only one returned, the other had been said to disappear into thin air.

                        The disappearance of Flight 19 was just one of the mysteries; one of the many other cases occurred in 1967 in which the “cabin crews of witchcraft” disappeared, when the coastguard eventually reached their location, their boat was nowhere to be found. There are so many theories about the Bermuda triangle and ways in which how certain cases have been solved but there are just too many cases to say it was due to bad weather. In reality, many years after, research had been done and it had been discovered that in many ship and plane disappearances, bad weather had occurred those days but that cannot prove anything. One of the believable theories about how the Bermuda triangle is able to make all of these disappearances occur was the theory about Methane Hydrate which is a highly occurring solid in the Gulf of Mexico area. The problem is that when this methane hydrate is formed from methane gas, it creates an immense amount of bubbles which lowers the buoyancy of ships and it was proven by Dr. McIver in a smaller scaled trial at the University of Texas when their boat sank in the water filled with methane Hydrate, it was also explained as to how this would affect planes, the methane would penetrate the surface and the reach the air in which planes flew, then the methane would make the air highly combustible. However, a fatal flaw was found to his theory, if his theory was true, boats and planes would not be disappearing only in this concentrated area as methane is dispersed throughout the oceans. One theory that has not been proven wrong is the theory of microbursts which are quick powerful bursts of sinking air which can happen at any time and do occur in the area. Microbursts could easily bring down a plane keeping this theory alive.

          In my opinion the mystery of the Bermuda triangle is something that may be discovered in the future but there are just too many possibilities right now as to how all these disappearances have occurred. This documentary truly depicts all factors of this mystery, it proves how certain cases occurred which seemed to be mysteries at one time but later had a full explanation. But only few cases have had explanations and the current theories are called theories for a reason, many of the theories and cases that have been solved have been kept from the public’s eye making this mystery seem even more mysterious. If you ask the average person about the Bermuda Triangle they will most likely only know about the disappearances but not the solved cases and possible explanations. What I believe is that something is down there sucking all these planes and ships down because it can’t be a coincidence that these disappearances are concentrated into this small area of earth’s oceans. I don’t know what it could be, it seems to be one of the true mysteries of the world and it doesn’t look like it will have an explanation in the near future.

Sources

The Bermuda Triangle(Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5muUQ3kiKjY

Flight 19 in Bermuda Triangle

http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda2_000063.htm

Eugenics

            Eugenics is and has been a controversial topic ever since it started in the late 1800’s in Great Britain. During 1883, the term “eugenics” was founded by British scientist Francis Galton whose philosophy was to encourage the ablest and healthiest people to make more children in order to improve his race as a whole. However, eugenics is not entirely based off of his philosophy, there are actually two types of eugenics which are positive eugenics and negative eugenics. The type of eugenics that Francis Galton encouraged is referred to as positive eugenics, on the other hand, negative eugenics is discouraging those with undesirable traits from making children. Negative eugenics has even gone as far as sterilizing and preventing undesirable humans from making children.

            Negative eugenics have occurred throughout history, a main example is what Charles Fremont Dight, a physician in Minneapolis campaigned for and received. In 1923, Dight organized the Minnesota Eugenics society which campaigned for a sterilization law which was eventually passed in 1925. This law allowed sterilization of residents within state institutions who were considered insane. Later in the 1930’s 25,000 Americans were sterilized due to physical or mental disabilities, this could be blamed on the movement Dight started.

            There are many reasons as to why this is a controversy. For example, If someone is a criminal or a drug addict, it does not mean they have genes with those traits embedded into them because that is not possible. Therefore whenever certain types of eugenics such as sterilizing criminals occur, it is senseless because personalities have nothing to do with genes. Identical twins share identical DNA, however their personalities can be totally different. When observing human DNA, we are all very similar unlike other animals such as monkeys, two randomly chosen monkeys from the same tribe would most likely have very distinct DNA from each other unlike humans who all share similar DNA. Since the human gene pool is already small to begin with, if a form of eugenics were to occur, biodiversity among humans would shrink to almost none. Lastly, the typical characteristic people wish for their children to have is intelligence. If two of the most intelligent people on earth were to have a child together, that child would be born intelligent but they would also be receiving all the undesirable traits their parents may have had, so to create the perfect human would be almost impossible. 

             A positive point about eugenics is that it will create a healthier and more desirable population over time. For example, If only the athletic and intelligent are allowed to reproduce, the future generations will contain those “desirable” genes more than if eugenics were to not occur.  Also, eugenics allows the future generations to have less genetic diseases and to have more sane people. Heart problems and obesity are some of the problems that would be less apparent in our world further improving the human race. Most people would be physically more appealing increasing the overall self-esteem of earth as people wouldn’t be ashamed of themselves as they would be at a similar level of attractiveness as others.

            After researching about the ethics behind this topic, in my opinion eugenics should not occur due to multiple reasons. In my opinion negative eugenics goes against human rights as people should have the right to reproduce if they wanted to, it’s not as if a criminal creates a child, their child would also become a criminal. Emotionally, I believe that preventing certain people from producing children could really affect them, it’s just not fair. Equality is a law that has a major impact in our world today, especially in the United States, so then why do they have restrictions on who can become a sperm donor? You must meet certain physical and intellectual requirements in order to be a sperm donor in the United States, this in a sense defies their equality law. For those of you who don’t know, the holocaust of World War 2 where many people were deprived of their lives due to their religion and shade of skin was eugenics, it was an extreme form but it is still eugenics. If eugenics were to be allowed to a small extent, who knows what it could turn out to be? As we know, when something is allowed to a small extent people take advantage of it and it easily turns into something much larger than it started out as.

Sources Used

Minnesota Eugenics Society & Founder Charles Fremont Dight

http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history_topics/117eugenics.html

Who am I? What is Eugenics?

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/WhoAmI/FindOutMore/Yourgenes/Howdoyoubecomeyou/Whatiseugenics.aspx

Why Eugenics Will Always Fail?

http://io9.com/5925024/why-eugenics-will-always-fail

What is Eugenics?

http://www.euvolution.com/euvolution/basiceugenics.html

The Job of a Chemist

            Chemists are a type of scientists who study chemicals and how they react with each other. Their duties can include but are not limited to collecting samples and analyzing the chemical makeup of substances, and developing and testing products. Personally, I really enjoy learning what my earth and everything around me is made of. Learning all the elements that exist is something I enjoy because everything on earth is made up of one of more of the elements listed in  a unique way on a table we call the periodic table. Every so often, chemists discover new elements, sometimes they even create their own lab manufactured elements which are not naturally occurring. This allows people in this sector to have even more thought and knowledge about substances in our world.

            The primary step in becoming a chemist is taking math and science courses in high school as they play major roles in this career. Computer studies are also recommended as it is with most careers today. The lowest degree required to get a job in the field of chemistry is a bachelor’s degree, with this you would only be able to perform simple tasks such as running equipment and preparing chemicals. However, a master’s degree is required for more advanced positions such as researchers. For the most advanced positions such as professors at colleges or universities, a PhD is required in order to teach this subject. To become a chemistry professor, it will easily take a minimum of 10 years of university education, so as with any type of professor, you must be really committed if you wish to become one. Chemistry as I mentioned before is something I greatly enjoy, I am a type of person who likes to do things hands on, which the job of a chemist involves; teaching is not something I believe I would enjoy so I can say that if I studied chemistry at university I would probably be studying a maximum of 6 years. Right now chemistry and chemical engineering are two of the programs near the top of my list of preferred university programs. All the programs I currently have in mind of taking are all to do with science or engineering and the job of a chemist fits perfectly. If looking to study chemistry, The University of Toronto is one you can’t go wrong with, as a matter of fact this is a world renowned university, one that is rated fairly high in all subject areas. Some other universities which are recommended are the universities of Ottawa and Waterloo.

            An advantage of studying chemistry is that you can get recruited and become a chemist straight out of university as companies often recruit directly from there. This would greatly help students as at that time you would probably have very little job experience and not know where to start, but instead companies are making it easier by coming to you. Computers play a major role, sometimes all your work in a week may be done on one. For example, certain chemists develop and research theories, all of which is done through a computer. I definitely enjoy this because I spend multiple hours daily on mine and I usually don’t get tired of it allowing me to have an easier transition from university to the job of a chemist. There are multiple sectors to choose from such as field work and research labs, both of which involve hands on work and problem solving. The wages earned are also another benefit, annual earnings under $50,000 do occur but these are typically for people who are new to the field or in lower fields such as chemical testing. Working as a chemical researcher, you can expect to be earning roughly $70,000 by the midpoint of your career. I’ve always enjoyed science and from my grade 9 science class, I could tell chemistry was definitely my strong suit. I have a keen eye for knowledge and in this field, I don’t believe the gaining of knowledge can stop because researchers are always discovering new molecules, elements and other compositions of our world.

Sources Used

Chemist: At a Glance

https://www2.careercruising.com/careers/profile-at-a-glance/89

Chemist Profile

http://chemistry.about.com/od/educationemployment/a/chemistprofile.htm

What Are Some Careers in Chemistry?

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blcareers.htm

Thermite

       Thermite is a mixture of powdered metals which produces an amazing reaction when combusted. Its reaction is basically the burning of metal meaning an immense amount of heat must be involved. The thermite process was discovered in 1893 by Hans Goldschmidt.  The reactants in a thermite reaction are aluminum powder and a metal oxide such as manganese oxide, chromium oxide or copper (II) oxide, however, typically it is iron oxide that is used. Thermite reactions require a high temperature to ignite as iron’s melting point is over 1500^o C. You can achieve these temperatures with the use of a propane torch, or a lighter which is sufficient for small thermite reactions which can be done by curious individuals. After the metals have heated to a high enough temperature that they melt, the thermite reaction occurs rapidly. Performing a thermite reaction is very dangerous, not only because of the reaction, but also the reactant, aluminum powder, which is toxic and can harm humans. There is a risk of burns, a risk or material flying out and a risk of eye injury if looking at the bright light produced, for too long. It is best to ignite thermite from a good distance away. Personally, I would not attempt to create a thermite reaction without obtaining extensive knowledge of the process.

     Thermite reactions produce molten metal at temperatures of about 3000^o C. This temperature is achieved as once thermite starts burning it has the ability to increase metals’ temperatures rapidly. A bright light is produced similarly to the brightness of the light produced when magnesium combusts and similarly to the brightness of the sun. In other words, when this reaction occurs, do not stare at it for a lengthy time peiod.

    The chemical reaction of thermite using Iron (III) Oxide and Aluminum is shown below

Fe₂O₃ + 2Al --> 2Fe + Al₂O₃ + heat and light

skip to 1:20 for actual reaction

    Modifications have been performed to basic thermite reactions in order to modify the reaction and its products. An example is using ultra-fine aluminum powder in the reaction which increases the speed in which the reaction occurs. Another example is the creation of thermates which is composed of thermite powder and sulfate, it increases the original ability of thermite to cut through steel. This leads me to a theory about how the twin towers in New York City were destroyed in September of 2001. I assume that many of you reading this, will remember this tragic event. There is a theory with evidence supporting it which states that thermite reactions are what destroyed the twin towers. Evidence of hot corrosion of steel was found along with sulfur which supports the claim of thermates being used. However, from my knowledge I believe this may have played a role in bringing down The Twin Towers, but the impact of the planes into The Twin Towers could have easily took them down single-handedly. 

Positively, Thermite does have some good uses such as being used to weld steel train tracks together. Originally nuts and bolts were used to hold train tracks together, but then in the 1920’s they started to use thermite to weld steel tracks together. If you’ve used the train before, there’s a good chance you rode on tracks that were welded using thermite.  It can also be used to purify metal ores such as uranium ore which can be found throughout Earth’s crust.

Thermite has served some good purpose and possibly some negative purpose in our world and one thing for certain is the thermite reaction produces incredibly high temperatures, achievable through few processes. Personally, I may attempt to create a small thermite reaction in the future but for now I will stay with producing non-combusting/non-flammable reactions.

Sources Used

The Thermite Reaction

http://www.chymist.com/Thermite%20reaction.pdf

Thermite Reaction Demonstration

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2013/03/28/thermite-reaction-demonstration.htm

Theories that Aluminothermic Materials Were Used to Destroy the Twin Towers

http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/analysis/theories/thermite.html