Is Global Warming Worsening Hurricanes?

Hurricane Gustav and Hanna hit the United States not long ago and Hurricane Ike is scheduled to hit soon. Hurricane Gustav with maximum sustained winds of 110 m.p.h caused an estimated $20 billion of damage. Although less that Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which caused $38 billion of damage, you also have to take in the fact that we were also ready for this hurricane. With so many storms in such a short period of time, there is one question. Could global warming be strengthening hurricanes? Researchers led by a meteorologist, James Elsner, have been studying data of tropical storms since 1981. These researchers have found that the maximum wind speeds of very strong storms have been dramatically increasing.

Global warming has risen ocean temperatures. What this means is that developing hurricanes can absorb more warm air. Hurricanes are powered by the transfer of energy from the ocean to the atmosphere (evaporation). As the water's ability to evaporate increases, so do the hurricane's power. As long as a hurricane is in waters of 79°F, they will continue to grow.

Scientists have not confirmed that global warming is actually increasing the power of hurricanes, but data will improve over time with more storms coming.

by Calvin

Is Global Warming Worsening Hurricanes?
By Bryan Walsh from Time Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1839281,00.html

Elephants Adapting Blog

Humans are probably the greatest hazard to animals around the world. We often kill animals for fur, shell, meat, or to keep the population under control. The African Elephants have learned to distinguish friends from foes by use of smell. You might have heard that elephants also have other defense mechanisms up their sleeves. For example, the can hear vibrations through their feet, they have an excellent sense of smell, they can form protective circles etc. But you have probably never heard of the fact that elephants can distinguish certain groups of humans.

The African elephants can tell the difference between ethnic groups by smell alone. There are two different groups of humans that live near the elephants in the Amboseli National Park, Kenya. One group that lives near the elephants is the Maasai. The Maasais' lives circulate around cattle. Their diet mainly consists of milk and the meat of cattle. They also wear distinctive bright red clothing. Sometimes the Maasai kill an elephant to show manliness.

The other group of people that live near the elephants is the Kambi. The Kambi traditionally wear white articles of clothing, and their diet consists of meat and mainly vegetables. They never have killed elephants. An experiment was conducted to see what the elephants' reaction was to the two different groups of people. First, a Maasai piece of clothing was hidden out of sight near the elephant's grazing grounds. The reactions of the elephants were astounding. They ran continuously for 0.6 miles. After stopping, they were still quite nervous, and calmed down a few minutes later. The reaction to the Kambi's piece of clothing was quite different. The herd of elephants walked about 150 feet away, and stood comfortably grazing.

Another experiment was conducted in which a person held up two pieces of clothing, one red and the other white, (neither garment had been worn). Surprisingly, the stronger reaction was to the red garment of clothing. This experiment can be very helpful in many ways. For example, nowadays many elephants are rampaging towns and destroying many crops. Because of this many elephants are being killed worthlessly. We can use odor cues as a tool to keep the elephants from destroying fields and crops. For example, we can set up those odor cues at the outskirts of towns to prevent the killing of such an amazing creature.

The elephant is one of the world's smartest creatures. It can recognize itself in a mirror, it can forms defensive circles with the young ones within, and they are one of the largest and fiercest creatures. It is amazing in every aspect. The elephant is the largest land mammal, and its trunk has close to one hundred thousand muscles in it! Elephants also help the ecosystem in many ways. For example, termites of tem depend of elephant dung for food and homes. Another example is that they often pull down trees to eat leaves. By doing so, they clear the way for new vegetation. Now many elephants are being poached, and their habitat is being destroyed day by day. We should establish a sustainable program to protect the population of elephants and their habitat. This can be achieved by looking into the conclusions reached by the experiments.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071018-elephants-smell_2.html.

AS

Blood cancer cells

Recently Australian scientists figured out a way to stop deadly blood cells from growing and hopefully put to an end asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and leukemia. In order to find a cure to this life threatening process, scientists had to identify the protein which causes the damaged blood cancer cells to spread. Their breakthrough innovation led to the start of a medicine to stop the damaged proteins from operating.

The receptor protein is the protein that lies on the surface of the blood cells and controls the way they are spread. Scientists say that they can now invent a drug that can attach to the receptor protein and stop the protein from telling damaged cells to multiply. By using X-ray and synchrotron imaging, scientists were able to build an image of the protein and this will hopefully help them find a way to stop the process of multiplying damaged cells.

The hormone that manages the creation of blood cells attaches to receptor proteins and from there sends a message to blood cells telling them to multiply. When the blood cells are damaged, the message from the protein telling it to multiply causes the cells to over-produce and that leads to asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and leukemia. Researchers figured out that by stopping the damaged cells from reproducing they could also stop the growth.

There is also another drug recently found that can help cells kill blood cancer. This can help fight tumor cells and help prevent tumors. German-U.S. firm Micromet, hopes to have a clinical trial next year to get this drug approved.

by Amy

sources:

news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080814/hl_nm/cancer_micromet_dc

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,401303,00.html

picture- www.cancerinformation1.com/images/leukemia.jpg

Seven Senses of a Horse

The Senses, All Seven of Them, of a Horse

You know the five senses, sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. Did you know that horses have seven senses. It has long been known that a horse is extra sensitive, but it has only recently been discovered just how sensitive they are. The sixth sense is the ability to sense all motions and emotions of any organism around them. If you are leading the horse and your head turns only slightly toward an object, the horse will follow your gaze. When you are riding, if you turn your head, the horse will actually veer toward the direction you are looking. Also, if you are afraid, the horse will automatically sense the fear through your touch, your position, even your grip on an object. They will react to any emotion. Calm is called the neutral emotion, because the horse can not sense anything through the calm. If you relax, you become neutral, or calm.

The seventh sense is a strange ability. A horse can find its way home under normal circumstances, even when a GPS cannot locate. Scientists still do not know why this happens. The only certain thing is that it is a sense that few animals in the world possess. The only known animal that has this sense is the birds. An experiment conducted in August shows that you can trailer a horse somewhere and leave it to its own devices and it will find its way home easily.

Horses have poor vision and taste, but their hearing, smelling and touch senses are very acute. It is debated that these three contribute to the sixth and seventh senses. There are no names for these senses, but there might be if scientist's can fathom the mystery of the horses seven senses. There could be more that haven't been discovered on all animals. Maybe even human's have them.

by A.S.

Skin Cancer

What is skin cancer and what causes it?

Skin cancer occurs when normal cells increase in size and start to multiply without normal controls. A mass called a tumor is formed as they multiply. Since these types of tumors are on the skin, they are called lesions. The tumor usually can be noticed in the early stages because it commonly develops in the outermost layer of skin, called the epidermis. This way the tumor may be treated before it even becomes cancerous. The main factor of skin cancer is excessive exposure to UV rays. It has been proven that from 10 AM until 4 PM, the sun is at its strongest and therefore most dangerous state. Not only is skin cancer a result of natural sun rays, but artificial ones too, such as tanning salons or sunbeds. Sunbeds in particular can lead to the most fatal type of skin cancer, malignant melanoma. Melanoma starts in melanocytes, a kind of skin cell. When these skin cells join together they can form a mole. If these moles change color, shape, elevation, or size, they can be a sign of malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma alone affects more than 53,600 Americans each year. It is responsible for 75% of deaths caused by skin cancer.

How do you prevent skin cancer?

One way of reducing the risk of getting skin cancer is by diminishing exposure to UV rays and sunburn. Another way is by wearing protective clothing, such as long sleeves and hats, when outside. Using sunscreen of an SPF of about 50 that blocks UVA and UVB radiation is necessary also. Scientists say that you should reapply this sunscreen every two hours and after swimming. Recently, studies showed that sunscreen does not help prevent malignant melanoma.


How common is skin cancer?

Out of all types of cancer, skin cancer is the most common. More than 1 million Americans each year are diagnosed with this disease and at least 10,000 people die from it in just the United States alone. Studies say that this is 90% increased from the 1960s. Americans are paying more than half a billion dollars a year for medical treatment concerning skin cancer.


What treatment is offered for skin cancer:

Almost all skin cancers are treated by removing the lesion and then making sure all of the tumor cells are gone. This is done for early and high-risk types of skin cancer. Freezing off the cancer, otherwise known as cryotherapy is commonly used for low-risk disease. If the disease has spread, like melanoma can for example, surgery or even chemotherapy may be needed. Chemotherapy often shortened to "chemo", is when medical drugs are used to treat a disease. The great thing about this method is that it works on the entire body, unlike other treatments like radiation therapy or surgery that only remove cancer cells in a specific area.

References:

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

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/skin_cancer/article_em.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/forum.asp?articlekey=4262

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_7X_What_Is_Chemotherapy_And_How_Does_It_Work.asp

by Andrea

Cellulitis

Cellulitis is a common infection on the skin, and deep under it in the soft tissues. The bacteria enter the skin through open wounds or scrapes. It is more uncommon, but sometimes they enter through closed normal skin too. The bacteria cause infection and inflammation. The inflammation causes the skin to look very red, like it has been severely sunburned. It also causes swelling, warmth and pain. The inflammation itself causes the skin to be in a very uncomfortable state. Then comes the blisters, and when the blisters arrive, it is obvious that the cellulitis is extremely bad. If the infection gets bad enough, and treatment doesn't cure it. Amputation may be the last hope.
Cellulitis symptoms & treatment:
Cellulitis has many terrible symptoms such as, redness, major swelling, warmth, pain, large blisters or pus forming under the skin, tender or swollen lymph nodes near the infected area, and a fever may occur if the bacteria get into the blood stream. Caring for cellulitis infections is pretty simple. It can even be done at home. Just rest the area that is involved and elevate it as much as possible. The elevation will reduce swelling and make the area a bit more comfortable. Over the counter pain-relievers, such as Tylenol or Motrin, will help keep the fever down, reduce swelling, and decrease pain. If the cellulitis gets bad enough, hospital treatments would be the last resort.
Cellulitis Causes:
The bacteria that cause cellulitis enter the body through open wounds, other infections, breaks in the skin, punctures or other foreign objects that enter the skin, or infection of the bone underneath the skin. The best way to prevent this infection would be to keep the body healthy, and clean and cover up open wounds or any breakage in the skin as soon as possible.
Sources:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/cellulitis

Posted by Lauren

Amniotic sacs not so helpful

An amniotic sac is a two layered sac that holds a baby inside of it. This sac includes fluid called amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby and protects it. Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have found that the amniotic fluid inside some of the sacs carry many bacteria that can cause the mother to have a premature baby. A premature baby is considered to be a baby born under 37 weeks and 12% of all pregnancies in the United States are considered premature. The scientists found fungi and bacteria in 25 of the 166 women in the study. This is 15% of the group of women and 50% higher than in the past studies that were done.

Amniotic sacs are what all of us have been in. They protect us from all the dangerous things inside our mother's stomach. If there was no amniotic sac formed during the birthing process a baby would not live. Having an infection inside the sac means the baby gets sick and wants to come out before it dies. This means you have a premature birth because the baby pushes out of the sac and when the baby comes out of the sac it has to come out of the mother.

"We only know the names of relatively a few of all the bacteria that exist, and a lot of them are difficult to culture or can't be cultured with our current technology," physician Robert Goldenberg tells us. Doctors think that in a woman's body the trigger for these bacteria are infection-causing microorganisms that live in the amniotic fluid. Even though all this information sounds like the bacteria and infections are linked to premature birth Dr. Daniel DiGiulio says that the studies have not yet confirmed that premature birth is linked to the infections and bacteria in the amniotic fluid.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/35826/title/Amniotic_sac_not_so_sacrosanct

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amniotic%20sac

by Mel