Choosing White or Whole-grain Bread May Depend on What Lives in Your Gut

Alisa Fominykh

Mr. Ippolito

Biology 10H D Odd

June 6, 2017

Saey, Tina Hesman. "Choosing White or Whole-grain Bread May Depend on What Lives in Your Gut."ScienceNews. N.p., 6 June 2017. Web. 6 June 2017. <https://www.sciencenews.org/article/choosing-white-or-whole-grain-bread-may-depend-what-lives-your-gut>.

This week I read the short article titled “Choosing White or Whole-grain Bread May Depend on What Lives in Your Gut” by Tina Hesman Saey in which she covers the health responses of various individuals to a variety of bread types. This article surprised me since for years we are taught that whole grains are a significantly healthier alternative to refined or white grains however this article calls that belief to question. The experiment behind this article included 20 individuals who ate white and whole wheat sourdough bread who had their blood sugar levels studied. The average results proved no significant changes however the impact each bread had on a person individually was much more noticeable on a molecular level. Depending on the individual the blood sugar levels unexpectedly increased more prominently with a certain type of bread. Further findings then connected the spike in blood sugar with which microbes were present within the stool specifically bacteria called Coprobacter fastidiosus and Lachnospiraceae bacterium. However, it is still unknown how they exactly alter blood sugar levels.

These results are important since they further support other data from experiments world wide that nutrition advice and diets should be fit to the individual rather than to society as a whole. I chose this article since I only eat whole wheat bread due to the deep rooted teachings that it is healthier than white bread; however after this article am now wondering if my actions of doing so are instead harming my blood sugar as opposed to maintaining it at a balanced level. This also calls to question how other healthy foods may not be ideal for every individual despite what the media tells us.

This article was very informative however it was short thus giving it a feeling of lacking in sufficient information. However, the knowledge which was provided was presented in an easy to read and interesting matter which is vital to engaging the reader. Although the article was short it can be argued that it being so was convenient since it was not a hassle to read or understand. Finally I think the author could have mentioned more about other indications of nutrition needing to be personalized and used examples to further her point.

"Third Gravitational Wave Detection, From Black-Hole Merger 3 Billion Light Years Away."

Sarah Goodell

Mr. Ippolito

Core Bio: Current Event Review

2 June, 2017

Current Event #14

Overbye, Dennis. "Third Gravitational Wave Detection, From Black-Hole Merger 3 Billion Light Years Away." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 June 2017. Web. 02 June 2017. <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/science/black-holes-collision-ligo-gravitational-waves.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fspace>.

This week, I read an article called “Third Gravitational Wave Detection, From Black-Hole Merger 3 Billion Light Years Away” by The New York Times author Dennis Overbye. Overbye’s article discussed how in the past few years, astronomers have developed a new system of detecting gravitational waves, called LIGO, or the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. LIGO is designed to look for changes in gravitational waves, which alternately stretch space as they travel at the speed of light, by using lasers to monitor the distance between mirrors through a pair of antennae. About a week ago, scientists were able to detect gravitational waves from a pair of gigantic black holes that had merged together, which had resulted in a large mass weighing as much as 49 suns. This “black-hole merger” is predicted to have been located three billion light years from Earth, and is said to have shed more energy, in the form of gravitational waves, than all the stars in the observable universe. Since the formation of LIGO, this has been the third pair of merging black holes that has been discovered. Although LIGO’s founders and other astronomers originally did not know if there were any black hole collisions around to detect at all, they decided to test their hypotheses. Their results proved to be accurate based on Einstein’s predictions and equations, which verify that different frequencies of gravity waves all travel at the same speed, or the speed of light. So now, as David Reitze, who is the director of the LIGO Laboratory, said, “We’re starting to fill in the mass spectrum of black holes in the universe,” which had once gone undetectable. France Cordova, the founder of the National Science Foundation, which has provided one billion dollars to LIGO over the past 40 years, responded to the findings, saying, “This is exactly what we hoped for from N.S.F.’s investment in LIGO: taking us deeper into time and space in ways we couldn’t do before the detection of gravitational waves.”

Overbye’s article is relevant to society in that this is a topic that we have been trying to dive deeper into for years now. Black holes have continuously remained one of the greatest mysteries regarding space, given that they are not easily identifiable by telescope. The gravitational wave detections used to track the merging black holes can pave the way for future astronomical developments regarding what is still unknown and regarding space travel. Dr. Stanek, a co-leader of these discoveries working at Ohio State, wrote, “I am obviously biased, but I think this is a very important discovery, and one that the community is not yet fully ‘groking’ in how it will impact a number of things, including LIGO results.” Dr. Holz, who works at the University of Chicago, also said that “...this might be a channel for ‘heavy’ black hole formation...now in some sense we get to watch both the birth and the death of the black holes,” which is an amazing discovery for our society on Earth as a whole.

As I read Overbye’s article, I originally thought that it was very confusing and a bit too long. I had to read through his article multiple times just to understand the basics of the experiments being performed at LIGO. I also thought that he could have organized it better and put it into simpler terms to help the reader understand this concept at a deeper level. Although it was a more difficult read, the author was able to include quotes from a multitude of credited sources. Overbye also attempts to answer the ambiguous question he addresses: “Where did such massive black holes come from?” He takes two or three paragraphs after posing this question to suggest several possibilities, and even discusses how future research may be done to identify black holes’ origins. Overall, Overbye taught me a lot about black holes and about the research that is being done. I also learned about how that research will eventually change our society and our understanding of Earth.

"SpaceX Successfully Launches Used Dragon Cargo Ship in Historic First."

Susie Goodell

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology

6/3/17

Weitering, Hanneke. "SpaceX Successfully Launches Used Dragon Cargo Ship in Historic First." Space.com. N.p., 03 June 2017. Web. 03 June 2017. <http://www.space.com/37072-spacex-first-used-dragon-launch.html>.

Current Event 14

For this current event, I read the article, “SpaceX Successfully Launches Used Dragon Cargo Ship in Historic First” by Hanneke Weitering. In this piece, Weitering discusses the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 3rd. This rocket, headed to the International Space Station with supplies, launched at 5:07 pm and 8 minutes later, the first-stage rocket booster returned to Earth at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Just over 10 minutes after launch, the Dragon cargo craft attached to the top of the rocket separated from the Falcon 9 and in three days will reach the ISS. The Dragon capsule was first launched to the ISS on September 21, 2014. The company who created this capsule, SpaceX, are hoping to create a rocket with 100% reusable parts. A month after its first launch, the capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean and underwent extensive inspection and refurbishing to prepare it for its next flight. On the flight this weekend, the Dragon is bringing food, clothes, water, and a multitude of science experiments for the astronauts aboard the ISS. These experiments vary from biological research to technology demonstrations to educational activities for students to take part in. There is also a new, experimental type of solar panel being flown up. The Dragon capsule is extremely important in bringing new materials to the ISS for technological and scientific advancements.

This successful launch is an important step towards SpaceX’s goal to use completely reused rockets. This company still has a long way to go before it creates a 100% reusable rocket, including the major barrier of refurbishing the second-stage rocket booster, however they are making great strides. Reusing the parts makes it much cheaper and easier for the companies to launch, therefore making launches more frequent. “‘For [SpaceX], it’s the seventh launch this year, and you can tell we picked up the rate significantly,”’ said Hans Koenigsmann, Vice President of flight reusability at SpaceX. With increases in flights comes more discovery and new technological advancements.

This article was very well-written and informational. Weitering relayed the information clearly, using words that are easy for readers to understand. She also included many quotes from scientists working on the project, which strengthened her claims. However, the author did not provide many details about which parts of the rocket were reused and which were not. She also doesn’t give any background information about how the rockets are reused and the process that made researchers want to make this possible.

Catherine Faville

Mr. Ippolito

Current event 13

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/science/nasa-juno-spacecraft-jupiter-storms.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fspace&action=click&contentCollection=space&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

For this current event, i read the article NASA’s Jupiter mission reveals the ‘brand-New and unexpected written by Kenneth Chang, the article described how Jupiter is not what we had originally thought. They have found that the interior core is bigger than it was originally thought to have been , also having a strong magnetic field around the planet. All this information was brought to scientist from Juno’s mission, a orbiter that has recently arrived at the planet in july. The orbiter is able to take pictures of the planet, as well as using instruments to look deep within the surface of the planet, scientist predict that they will find a rocky type core like Earth's within the center, or a hydrogen base core.

This article has a great effect on society, this is because this is just another example of how we don't know as much as we think we do about the planets. This new discovery of how the planet jupiter works, as well as the makeup of the planet. This new information will aid scientist in learning more about our own planet Earth by looking at other.

The article did a good job at identifying what scientist were looking for with these new discoveries, as well as giving more details with the science behind the new discoveries, giving the reader more vivid information on the article. However the writer could have added more background information on jupiter itself, so we could compare and contrast what we originally thought to what we now have discovered.  In addition if they added why they needed or wanted this new information on the planet.

Challenging Mainstream Thought About Beauty’s Big Hand in Evolution----->Marina Alfano

Marina Alfano

Mr. Ippolito

Current Event 13

5/29/17

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/science/evolution-of-beauty-richard-prum-darwin-sexual-selection.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Gorman, James. "Challenging Mainstream Thought About Beauty’s Big Hand in Evolution."The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 May 2017. Web. 29 May 2017.

Manu Prakash, a physicist at Stanford proposed an interesting question that took many by surprise. “Why is there so much beauty?, and, “Why is there any beauty at all?”. These questions puzzled many and some began to wonder if their questions about beauty could be answered by science. Richard O. Prum, a Yale ornithologist (someone who studies birds) and evolutionary biologist offers a fragment of the answer in his book. However he only writes about one kind of beauty, whether or not the other gender is attractive kind of beauty. Yet he didn’t explain the appeal of how water moves when rocks are thrown into it or why the night sky is aesthetically pleasing. Dr. Prum is trying to revive something that Charles Darwin once studied, one that still sounds somewhat far reaching. The idea is that when the birds are choosing mates, they do so on a completely aesthetic driven level. Animals perceive a kind of beauty that Dr. Prum defines as “co-evolved attraction” meaning they desire a certain beauty such as bright feathers and their desires change the course of evolution. The mainstream view is often that animals choose mates because of their genes or health however in actuality mating is much more subjective than that. Dr. Prum wants evolutionary biologists to re evaluate their thinkings but he also wants to inform the public with a clear message about evolution. Wanting to pick your own mate, was not something that humans started in fact most animals practiced this long before humans existed. Darwin famously proposed one of the main factors of evolution to be natural selection more specifically, survival of the fittest. Even though the fittest of a species will live longer, they still must mate to produce further generations. So not only would you have to stay alive until you are able to mate, but you also have to choose a mate and that mate has to choose you. This process is called sexual selection and it plays a large role in evolution. If a female bird prefers males with long tails, then she will  mate with long tailed males and produce offspring with long tails and then those offspring will produce more long tailed birds. The author explained Darwin's thinkings saying “Darwin contended that selection-based mate choice was different from natural selection because the females were often making decisions based on what looked good — on beauty, as they perceived it — and not on survival or some objective quality like speed or strength.” Some evolutionary biologists believed that honest signaling, the determination of genetic fitness due to observing the phenotypes on an animal. “You can’t explain a peacock’s tale with honest signaling,” Dr. Hill said. Although some may say Dr. Prums book is scientifically disappointing, others argue that it is a revolutionary idea and it follows what Darwin believed.

Even though many people accept the theory of evolution, now people are trying to perfect it and it is still a topic that is widely debated. Most scientists believe that since we can see beauty creatures, that means it must be adaptive or a sign of qualities that are adaptive. Dr. Prum is doing what most scientists do, he is questioning what many believe and seeing if he can prove them wrong. He thinks that since animals have aesthetic preferences and they make choices based off those preferences, then beauty will inevitably appear. He is still searching for the full answer to his question, yet at least he knows a partial answer to the question, “Why are birds beautiful?”. He says “Birds are beautiful because they are beautiful to themselves.”

This article was well written, because it wasn’t bias towards one side. The author not only included Dr. Prums argument, but they also included a few of the opposing arguments and included quotes from both sides. Even though this piece proposes many unanswered questions, the author doesn’t overwhelm the reader and they leave the reader wondering just the right amount. Reading this made me want to research deeper into the subject, but it didn’t make me confused. I think that the article could have been slightly less lengthy because it took longer than most articles to read and sometimes it got repetitive. In order to appeal to people looking for a quick read, the author could have shortened the article by several paragraphs. Overall, I would recommend that you read this article because it is fascinating how something that seemed to be so concrete, like evolution, could still be argued today.

"NASA: Nearby Ocean Worlds Could Be Best Bet for Life beyond Earth."

Olivia Doyle

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology

25 May 2017

Strickland, Ashley. "NASA: Nearby Ocean Worlds Could Be Best Bet for Life beyond

Earth."CNN. Cable News Network, 14 Apr. 2017. Web. 25 May 2017.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/us/nasa-europa-enceladus-ocean-worlds-announcement-trnd/index.html

This week, I read an article entitled “NASA: Nearby ocean worlds could be best bet for life beyond Earth” written by Ashley Strickland. The article discussed new evidence discovered by NASA that lead researchers to believe Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus could be possible candidates for life beyond Earth. Through data collected by the Cassini spacecraft, researchers have found hydrogen molecules in water plumes on Enceladus, which could indicate the presence of hydrothermal activity inside its body, which could be a sign that there is life on this moon. Other evidence collected by the Hubble Space Telescope indicates that there was a water plume erupting on the surface of Europa. It is stated that this is the second time a plume has been observed in the exact spot, so it is highly likely that Europa has more of these to offer and support life. A cosmic dust analyzer on the Cassini satellite revealed silicon dioxide grains, indicating warm hydrothermal activity. Scientist Waite says, “This (molecular hydrogen) is just like the icing on the cake," Waite said. "Now, you see the chemical energy source that microbes could use”. From here, scientists are eager to collect more data from Enceladus and search for sulfur and phosphorus, which are other necessary ingredients for life. It is stated that, “The second step would be looking for signs of life by flying a spectrometer through the plume, searching for rations of amino and fatty acids, certain isotopic ratios indicative of life and other relationships in molecules that indicate energy for microbial life”. Additionally, the “Europa clipper” satellite is set to orbit Jupiter in 2020 to further investigate Europa’s crust for signs of life.

The discovery of water on Europa and Enceladus is a major scientific breakthrough. Thomas Zurbuchen says that it is the closest NASA has come so far to identifying habitable places in our solar system. “These results demonstrate the interconnected nature of NASA's science missions that are getting us closer to answering whether we are indeed alone or not." Another scientist, Schmidt, even believes that Europa is so similar to Earth that it could have been a place for life over the history of our solar system. This is not only revolutionary for scientists, but for ordinary communities like our own and humanity as a whole. To discover characteristics of life beyond our Earth suggests that in the future, humans could live other places in our solar system besides Earth. Waite says, “Understanding the diversity of our solar system is pretty important and the possibility of applying what we know here to exoplanets, it just opens up the range of possibilities for life beyond our previous expectations”.

In my opinion, the article was very well-written and did not lack any key components. The article addressed how the experiment was carried out and exactly how the data was collected, which gave the reader interesting information on NASA’s equipment and how it is used in scientific experiments. The author provided a solid analysis as to how this affects humanity as a whole and what life on these two moons could mean. She goes as far to explain where scientists will go next with these discoveries, which makes the reader interested in researching this topic further and seeing what happens with the next satellite. The author also provided different scientists’ opinions, which provided the reader with an understanding of experts’ differing views on the discoveries. She addressed past missions and why this one was so revolutionary. However, the author could have gone further in depth with explaining why each ingredient for life is necessary, and how we humans use each here on Earth. Overall, though, the article sparked my interest in the possibility of life beyond Earth and encouraged me to delve further into the topic of what makes a place habitable.

NASA's Jupiter Mission Reveals the "Brand-New and Unexpected"

Catie Burnell

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology Honors

May 30, 2017

NASA’s Jupiter Mission Reveals the “Brand-New and Unexpected”

I recently read the article “NASA’s Jupiter Mission Reveals the ‘Brand-New and Unexpected’” by Kenneth Chang of The New York Times. The article details NASA’s Juno mission on Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, that began in July of last year. The mission has yielded some impressive results - NASA found that “The planet’s interior core appears bigger than expected, and swirling electric currents are generating surprisingly strong magnetic fields. Auroral lights shining in Jupiter’s polar regions seem to operate in a reverse way to those on Earth… a belt of ammonia may be rising around the planet’s equator” (Chang 2017). Many photos taken in the mission have also been relayed back to Earth, further proving this new information. These findings come to the surprise of many NASA scientists, such as the principal investigator of the mission Dr. Scott J. Bolton, who said, “We’re seeing a lot of our ideas were incorrect and maybe naïve” (Chang 2017). A microwave instrument used in the mission detected a band of ammonia in the equatorial region of the planet, a feature that Dr. Bolton described as “startling… brand-new and unexpected.” The mission also studied the gravitational field of Jupiter in hopes of finding the composition of the core of the planet, a topic which had been largely debated. “Some predicted a rocky core… Others expected no rocky core, but hydrogen, the planet’s main constituent, all the way down. ‘Most scientists were in one camp or the other,’ Dr. Bolton said, ‘and what we found is neither is true.’ Instead, the data suggests a ‘fuzzy core,’ one that is larger than expected... perhaps partly dissolved” (Chang 2017). NASA has also found that the magnetic field of Jupiter is much more complex than scientists predicted, with some areas having a much stronger magnetic field than others. However, gaining these findings was no easy feat - “Juno takes 53 days to loop around Jupiter in a highly elliptical orbit, but most of the data gathering occurs in two-hour bursts when it accelerates to 129,000 miles an hour and dives to within about 2,600 miles of the cloud tops” (Chang 2017) Nevertheless, the discoveries made by the Juno mission have provided NASA and astronomical organizations globally with vital information about an important planet in our solar system.

This article is relevant to science today because of the push to learn more about planets in our solar system and beyond due to climate change, which is slowly turning Earth into an uninhabitable planet. Additionally, the information made by the Juno mission is vital to astronomers because not much was known previously about the planet and the findings detailed in this article show that many scientists were incorrect in their predictions about Jupiter.

Chang’s article was overall well-written. The quotes from Dr. Bolton were very helpful in receiving first-hand information from someone directly involved in the Juno mission, and the photos also included in the article were very interesting. However, I felt that the amount of information in the article was at times overwhelming and could have been simplified. On the other hand, Chang did have to detail findings from several journals, so having an article so full of information was inevitable. This article was very interesting and an enjoyable read.

Chang, Kenneth. "NASA’s Jupiter Mission Reveals the ‘Brand-New and Unexpected’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 May 2017. Web. 29 May 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/science/nasa-juno-spacecraft-jupiter-storms.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Science&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article