Forensic science podcast

This is a podcast where a television show was interviewing a forensic scientist by the name of Sara Bisel.
jazzdncr

Doctors Find Atherosclerosis in Scans of Egyptian Mummies

Who: The Journal of the American Medical Association and a team of cardiologists and other doctors.

What: Doctors used CT scanning on mummies from the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo to identify atherosclerosis,which can lead to heart attack or stroke. The article says that The cardiologists were able to identify the disease in some mummies because atherosclerotic tissue often develops calcification, which is visible as bright spots on a CT image.

When: Based on context in the article I would presume that these tests occurred recently, however the mummies lived between 1981 B.C. and A.D. 334.

Where: These mummies were taken to be tested from museums all around the world, 2o of them in fact. I am not sure as to where the testing took place.

Why it is important/My opinion: In my opinion, it is very important to have this new found knowledge because it can give us a better understanding of the disease and helps us in the future with mummies. We now know to test mummies for this disease instead of just assuming their death was a result to environment/lifestyle surroundings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/health/24heart.html?ref=health

Extra Credit.

One show that i really enjoy watching is called House. It is about a doctor who is given the cases that others think are unsolvable. His patients usually have very rare diseases that other doctors would not be able to diagnose. This show relates to science in a big way. In order to be a doctor you have to be able to understand science and how the human body works. You need to obtain knowledge about cells and DNA. You must be able to explain the unexplainable. Also, on House the doctors write down the symptoms a given patient has and then they think of what disease they might be suffering from. Then they test these different diseases in order to eliminate some of them. The patient usually tests positive for something and then given treatment. Their process is much like the scientific method. With the scientific method you gather your information, form a hypothesis, test your hypothesis many times, and then draw your conclusions. This is much like what the doctors on House do. As you can see, the show House greatly relates to science.

2-Pound Dinosaur Holds a North American Record

Who: The newly discovered animal Fruitadens haagarorum, Richard J. Butler, and Dr. Chiappe.

What: A new dinosaur was discovered and named the smallest dinosaur ever found in North America. It had a body length of around 30 inches and weighed an estimated 2 pounds.

When:  I would presume this animal lived around 160 million years ago based on information from this article.

Where: North America. Possibly Colorado (the article did not mention a specific location however it did mention Colorado.)

Why: This is very important because now we have more knowledge about dinosaurs and there is another species of them in our world that we've discovered.

My opinion: I think that it is very cool because dinosaurs lived millions and millions of years ago however, today we are still finding dinosaur bones all over the earth. 

For more information click here

In Suprise, Moon Shows Sighns of Water

Current Event Blog 2009-2010

Who: Scientists such as, Lori M. Feaga of the University of Maryland, Roger M. Clark of the United States geographical survey, Lawrence A. Taylor of the University of Tennessee and NASA.

What: Scientists have discovered traces of water in the moon's surface.

When: Does not state the date but i presume this occurred recently.

Where: The moon.

Why: For years the moon has been thought to be a completely dry place however, now scientists believe that there might be a possibility of water being able to form on the moon.

My Opinion: I think this is very important ! I feel this way because this gets us one step closer to being able to survive on the moon. If we are able to get water from the moon it will be a huge breakthrough for mankind.

To read the article click here

Structure of the Earth: Plasticity Lab

Response Blog

In class we did a lab.  The materials we needed in this lab were cornstarch, water, 2 small beakers, stirring rod or spoon, eyedropper, food coloring, and newspaper.  The procedure was to add about 5 teaspoons of cornstarch to one beaker and put 20 milliliters of water in another beaker.  Then stir the two together and add food coloring.  After playing with the outcome for a little while, we were given questions to answer.  The mixture was really watery but when pressure was applied on both sides, it turned to a solid.  When handled, the mixture would slide around and at the occurrence of force being applied to it, it turned to a solid.  This is similar to mantle because when pressure from two sides, in this case hands, it would stay in place.  But, when that pressure ceased, the mixture began to liquidate and move around.  This is just like what happens with the mantle.  Pressure from the crust and the core force the mantle to stay in place but when one of the forces move, so does the mantle. 

Response blog to October Sky

In class we watched a movie called October Sky.   After watching carefully and taking notes on the general ideas of this movie, we were asked to write a response blog.  Well, I will start off with a basic summary of the movie.  The time period of October Sky is during the "cold war" in a little town where mining was pretty much your only job choice if you were a man.  After the first successful rocket launch of Sputnik, a teenager was inspired.  He saw the rocket shoot across the sky and felt liberated.  He wanted to go to outer space and create a rocket that people in his home town and China would be able to see.  Throughout the movie, Homer struggled a lot.  Everyone went against him, they called him rocket boy and told him he would fail.  Even his own father didn't believe in him.  After his father was hurt while mining, which happened frequently, he could not work.  Homer knew what he had to do.  He stopped with the rockets and worked in the mines.  Mining was very dangerous.  One of the boys fathers was killed in a mining tragedy, his head was cut right off.  Also, coal mining is very bad for your lungs and body. Homer tried to cooperate with his family but after discovering that his rocket didn't start the fire that had been blamed on it he was back to building and testing rockets.  The way he proved his rocket was not what started the fire was by using his new math skills that he acquired from science. His father told him he respected him for what he was doing in the coal mines, but when he found out Homer quit, he told him he was ashamed of his own son.  I think Homer had great self control because there were many times where if that was me i would have lost it.  In the end, Homer and his friends were able to successfully launch many rockets.  They went to the National Science Fair and won first place.  This opened up many doors for them, including pretty much their choice of any college they wanted with a full scholarship.  This movie taught me so much. Over all science is really important and helpful but in order to succeed in science you have to experiment, persevere and believe in yourself, even when no one else does.