On Monday, a small crew of six astronauts descended to the undersea laboratory Aquarius off the coast of Florida. In the laboratory, the trainees will practice activities associated with outer space travel, such as spacewalks, crane operation, and handling safety concerns. The program is titled NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO. Ironically, this trip made by the “aquanaut” trainees comes at a very difficult time for NASA as the Obama administration prepares to cut support and finance for the space program. I enjoyed Kenneth Chang’s “NASA Under the Sea” article because it was very well written and easy to understand. I also liked the topic; I find spaceflight and the different aspects of the NASA program very interesting. I also liked the way Chang covered the story, he was very detailed and informative describing the “aquanaut’s” activities.
I do not have many suggestions to make the article even stronger. If I were to add one thing, it would be the viewpoint of critics of NASA and its programs. This would provide a further understanding on the current issue, which is whether or not to continue funding space exploration. Another suggestion I have is to explain more of the simulations that trainees will experience while in the NEEMO base. This would just be to provide more information about the nature of the program.
Overall, I enjoyed Kenneth Chang of the New York Times’ article. It was very interesting and well written. I learned a new fact through reading it. I was unaware of the existence of the underwater training base, Aquarius. It was quite fascinating to learn about its use and the features of NASA training. Overall, I think the article was excellent.
Aine Cain
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/science/space/11neemo.html?ref=science
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
“What to Do When a Newborn Can’t Hear”
I found the article “What to Do When a Newborn Can’t Hear” to be very interesting. It talks about hearing loss in young kids and the many different effects of it. Nowadays, many babies have their hearing screened in the hospital when they are born. Before babies were screened, the average age for diagnosing hearing loss was about two and a half. It was discovered usually when children had problems with their speech. Hearing loss is actually one of the most common congenital disabilities. It can be genetic but it sometimes develops from an infection. There are many diseases that can harm a developing fetus, such as rubella that could possibly lead to deafness. Now, there are also a variety of different ways to test for hearing loss. For example, otoacoustic emissions can be used. This is where a tiny microphone is inserted into the ear of a sleeping baby to measure the echoes from the cochlea when it is stimulated by sound. It is very important for infants to get follow up screenings as well. The article emphasizes how big of a deal this is and that the earlier hearing loss it detected the better it will be for the kids’ future. Children with hearing loss can receive hearing aids if needed and many go to therapies in order for them to develop properly and be able to speak better.
I learned many surprising facts in this article. First of all, I did not know that deafness in children was a big problem. According to the article two to four babies out of 1,000 are affected by it. Prior to reading this, I also did not know that hearing loss in newborns was often caused by disease, I thought that it was just hereditary. The article also made me realize how important it is for hearing loss to be discovered in a child as soon as possible. The earlier it is detected the better the children will be able to get help and special treatment in order to help them develop. I also certainly did not know that being deaf in one ear could cause as many problems as the article talks about. I was aware that there were treatments to screen babies for hearing difficulties but I did not know exactly what the procedures entailed until reading this.
I liked this article a lot. I think that it was very clear and it also was fairly easy to understand and it was not too wordy and lengthy. I thought the topic was interesting and intriguing and that is why I picked it. I thought it was interesting to learn about the many causes and effects of hearing loss, and also the many available solutions such as hearing aids and speech therapies if necessary.
Dale Bellitto
I learned many surprising facts in this article. First of all, I did not know that deafness in children was a big problem. According to the article two to four babies out of 1,000 are affected by it. Prior to reading this, I also did not know that hearing loss in newborns was often caused by disease, I thought that it was just hereditary. The article also made me realize how important it is for hearing loss to be discovered in a child as soon as possible. The earlier it is detected the better the children will be able to get help and special treatment in order to help them develop. I also certainly did not know that being deaf in one ear could cause as many problems as the article talks about. I was aware that there were treatments to screen babies for hearing difficulties but I did not know exactly what the procedures entailed until reading this.
I liked this article a lot. I think that it was very clear and it also was fairly easy to understand and it was not too wordy and lengthy. I thought the topic was interesting and intriguing and that is why I picked it. I thought it was interesting to learn about the many causes and effects of hearing loss, and also the many available solutions such as hearing aids and speech therapies if necessary.
Dale Bellitto
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