Current Events -Malarial Mosquitoes Are Evolving Into New Species, Say Researchers

Blaise Sevier

7B

October 31^st, 2010

Malarial Mosquitoes Are Evolving Into New Species, Say Researchers

By ScienceDaily (Oct. 21, 2010)

Did you know that every 30 seconds a child dies from Malaria in Africa? There are two-hundred fifty cases of Malaria every year, and overall about 1,000,000 deaths per year. Did you know that there are about 2,500 species of mosquito in the world? Anopheles is a gene of a mosquito that carries malaria. There are about three hundred eighty species of anopheles, and only sixty can transmit malaria. The Imperial Colege of London has recently looked at two strains of Anopheles Gambiae Mosquito (this is the mosquito that carries malaria). The strains that were looked at are called S and M; they are identical in a physical since. New studies show that they have a genetically different, which means that they are becoming a totally different species. The cause and effect of this situation here is that the effort that goes into keeping the mosquito population under control maybe be extremely effective on one strain of mosquito but not on the other.  What scientists need to do is create an insecticide that can prevent both species from over populating. "Malaria is a deadly disease that affects millions of people across the world and amongst children in Africa; it causes one in every five deaths. We know that the best way to reduce the number of people who contract malaria is to control the mosquitoes that carry the disease. Our studies help us to understand the makeup of the mosquitoes that transmit malaria, so that we can find new ways of preventing them from infecting people." Says Professor George Christophides.

                I was looking through different articles about animals when I stumbled upon this one, the first line really intrigued me to reading this. I was amazed how many people die from this one disease alone! My dad had malaria before when he was in Africa; he had to be immediately shipped back to the States because it was so serious. This article relates to the unit that we are studying; we are studying about the effects of overpopulation and how it can severely hurt other organisms. Humans are the “other organisms” in this situation.  Because it is Malaria is a disease that kills a lot of people in this world, it is almost like mosquitoes that carry malaria are our top predators!

Sites Used:
 "Malarial Mosquitoes Are Evolving into New Species, Say Researchers." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101020151324.htm>.

The Fainting Goat!

      
     Biotonic Goats is the real name of the Fainting Goat. These goats don't have just one name they are also referred as the Stiff Leg Goat, Nervous Goat and the Wooden Leg Goat. These goats never lose consciousness when "fainting," but because of an genetic disorder the leg muscles of these animals freeze and that makes them fall over. This disorder is called myotonia congenita. Usually these goats are kept for smaller farms or as pets. The Fainting goat  is so famous that it even has its own Fainting Goat Festival!

Although this isn't a current events I thought it was a really cool topic that people should know about. I first heard about these goats this summer, when my Uncle showed me this really cool video of them. I was fascinated!
Here is the link to a video about Fainting Goats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg

Current Events- Pollution Killing Flower's Fragrance

Blaise Sevier 7B

19^th October, 2010

Pollution Killing Flower's Fragrance

 

 

          Don’t you love to smell flowers? The sweet sent just makes my day! There are so many different types of flowers out there with wonderful scents. You’d better smell as much as you can or else the scent will be wiped away. Wait how can that happen? The culprit is Mr. Pollution, car exhaust and smoke from factories is destroying these lovely plants. Researchers say that the distance that the scent used to travel is only one third of what it used to. All flowers have scent molecules these are distributed all the time but when Mr. Pollution gets in the way it basically breaks apart the fragrance molecules. We will not be the only ones who will be disappointed but also the bees who rely on the flowers fragrances; this could cause a huge disruption to the bee population.

          Wow, this really makes me think about what is happening to all the plants and animals in this world. The disruption that we have caused is destroying populations, ecosystems and many more things that maybe cannot come back. I am reading all these articles about animals dying and plant populations are disintegrating. I really think we need to take charge and help save the environment. I am proud to say that we have started this, but I think it might be too slow. That by the time we are finished cleaning up our mess that we made it will be too late. I say we should work double time to not only save the fragrance of flowers but animals that could be lost in the future.

Bibliography

"Pollution Is Killing the Fragrance of Flowers - Science Videos - RedOrbit." RedOrbit – Science, Space, Technology, Health News and Information. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. <http://www.redorbit.com/news/video/science/5/pollution_is_killing_the_fragrance_of_flowers/24559/>.

Here is the site that I used

http://www.redorbit.com/news/video/science/5/pollution_is_killing_the_fragrance_of_flowers/24559/

What's Killing the Killer Whales??

Mystery in Seaworld

A killer whale died unexpectedly at Seaworld. This is the third pre-matured death of a killer whale in the last four months. Marine Biologists are at the scene right now trying to figure out what has happened. What they think happened to these animals is boredom and stress of captivity which then leads to depression then tragically to death. Since 1985 24 Killer Whales have died in captivity, roughly one whale per year. Now, three have died in the past four months alone. Not a single one of them over 30 years. On average, Killer Whales live in captivity for about 30 years, in the wild they life more than 40 years. The ones that died this year weren't even middle aged. Even though this is not a current event, I thought it was a very interesting topic that I wanted to share.
If you want to learn more about the mystery click HERE

A Great Leaping Discovery

A Great Leaping Discovery

The Gibbon is quite a social creature, although very territorial with a wide range of vocal displays. Their songs can be heard from distances up to one kilometer away. One thing that makes this loud mammal very different from other monkeys is that they have a ball and socket wrist this enables them to leap from tree to tree up to 35 miles per hour. There were six different types of Gibbons, but as of September 21^st, 2010 German scientists have discovered a new species! Nomascus annamensis or Northern Buffed-cheeked Gibbon is a new type of crested gibbon which is now one of the most endangered species in the world. This type of Gibbon lives in tropical and subtropical rainforests of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Southern China. The new male species is covered in black fur and its cheeks are a deep orange/ golden color. The female has more of a softer orange still with black fur. Gibbons have been endangered by being kept as pets, people eating them or processed into traditional medicines. "The discovery of a new species of ape is a minor sensation," said Christian Roos from the DPZ.

I found this article to be captivating; I learned that a Gibbon has an actual wrist just like we do. When I read about the discovery of the Pea Sized Frog I was fascinated, and now reading about another discovery was truly amazing. I did some more research to find out more about the different kinds of Gibbons and what they sound like. Compared to many other monkeys there cry is high pitched and very recognizable. Watching the Youtube video I found about Gibbons gave me some very good key information. I also looked on Wikipedia to find out more on the Gibbons strange wrist. I think as I continue learning about different kinds of animals I become more intent on becoming an Ecologist. This article has helped me understand that there are animals, plants, and many other creatures that are out there but haven’t been discovered yet.

Click Here to see a cool Gibbon Video!

By Blaise Sevier

Bibliography:

Gibbon." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbon#Anatomy>.

"YouTube - The Swinging Gibbon." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSLFHPd8LX0>.

"German Scientists Discover Rare Ape Species in Asia - Yahoo! News." The Top News Headlines on Current Events from Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. <http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100921/sc_afp/scienceanimalconservationgermanyvietnamlaoscambodia>.