Hubble's Greatest Hits

On Friday, April 24th, the Hubble Telescope turned 25 years old.  For the past 25 years, the telescope has been taking amazing images of outer space that truly pique the curiosity.  Click on the following link and look at the 50 images selected by National Geographic as the best images ever created by the Hubble Telescope.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150316-50-great-images-from-the-hubble-space-telescope/

Star Power 

Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 looks through the Horsehead Nebula in a uniquely detailed infrared image. A classic target of astronomy, the nebula normally appears dark against a bright background, but Hubble penetrates the shroud of interstellar dust and gas.

While I love all the pictures of Earth and other planets, the Horsehead Nebula picture is definitely my favorite.  When looking at this image, I can truly imagine stars and other galaxies coming into existence.  Plus I love how it looks like the Nebula is waving at the Hubble Telescope.

Look at all of the images and pick your favorite.  Write a brief comment about why you chose the image that you did.  There are tons of other images out there, so if you find another Hubble Telescope image that you like better, please include the URL of where you found it.  You do not need to comment on anyone else's post, but you may comment on the National Geographic website if you would like to.

Look who turns 45

Earth Day has its roots in the 1970's--at the height of hippies and flower-child culture, modern day environmentalism had its birth.

Thousands of people jam a quadrangle at Independence Mall in Philadelphia during Earth Day activities in 1970.

This Tuesday, April 22, Earth Day celebrates its 45th birthday.  As part of the Earth Day festivities, there was a giant Global Citizen celebration yesterday in Washington D.C.  Artists including Fallout Boy, Usher, Mary J. Blidge, and help raise public awareness about environmentalism.  Check out the video below.

I am going to give you some options in your blog assignment for this week.  Pick the one that interests you the most.

A.  Write about the the history of Earth Day.  How did it get started?  Why?  Who was the president?  There are many available sources, so at the end of your post paste a copy of the URL where you found your information.  Here are two available sources:

http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement

http://www2.epa.gov/earthday

B.  Write about how Earth Day has changed.  A lot can change in 45 years including public opinion.  How is Earth Day today different than Earth Day 1970?  What progress has been made?  What changes have been made in the areas of land, water, air and species?  Again, please paste a copy of the URL where you found your research at the end of your post.  Here is one available source:

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/45-years-earth-day-how-environmentalism-has-evolved-n343886

C.  Finally, what can you do?  You are just a high school kid.  Can you make a difference?  How can you get involved in the Earth Day movement?  Is it possible for one student or even one school to make a difference in our global environment?  Here are a couple of places where you can look.  Please paste the URL where you find your ideas at the end of your post.

http://www2.epa.gov/earthday/earth-day-events

http://www.visitmchenrycounty.com/events_details.cfm?eventer=1407

How to Clone a Mammoth

This week National Geographic magazine published a book review for How to Clone a Mammoth. In the book, the author, Beth Shapiro, explains how science "might" be able to recreate  "lost worlds from our distant past."  She addresses the common question...  "Will there ever be a real Jurasic Park?"

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/10/book-in-brief-how-to-clone-a-mammoth/

You do not need to read the entire article and you definitely don't need to read the book.  Look in the book review; I just want you to define de-extinction.  Then I want you to think of a species that you would bring back from extinction.  Try and pick an extinct species that has not been picked by one of your classmates.  What species would you bring back from extinction?  Why?  Where would you think would be the best place for this species to live in the current day?  What niche would it occupy in that ecosystem?  Do you think it would endanger other species living in that area?

Killing Cancer

Even though we finished mitosis, meiosis and cancer last Friday, I still thought it was worthwhile for you to watch these clips of the 60 Minutes episode.  Start watching the epsiode at about 13 minutes for the "Killing Cancer" part.

If you do not have 30 minutes this week to watch the video, you may read the following article from Forbes magazine instead:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2015/03/30/60-minutes-covers-dukes-polio-virus-clinical-trial-against-glioblastoma/ 

What do you think?  Write a scholarly response about either the 30 minutes of this video or the article.  In your paragraph, you need to tell me three things that you liked and three things that you didn't like.  Finally, what do you think is the future of using recombinant viruses to treat cancer?