Cell Phones and Brain Tumors, Are they related?

Cell phones have been a vital part in society for many years. It allows communication to be much easier and sharing information also easier. However, scientists have suggested that cell phones can cause brain tumors because of the radiation coming out of the speakers. Cell phones use non-ionizing radiation while X-rays are more dependent on harmful radiation. Even though cell phones don't have that much radiation, it can still be harmful for your future.

Even though there aren't many justifications to support this claim, there is one that stands out. In 2010, a medical survey took a poll on a region's brain tumor history. Scandinavia has had a major increase in brain tumors since 2000. Why is this so? Scientists state that this could be because Scandinavians were exposed to cell phones in the early 1990's, and it was the first region in the world to see the cell phones similar to the ones today. Why is this important? Well, scientists say that it would take normally 10-15 years for the effect of radiation from cell phones to start. For Scandinavians, that is just around the time that they started to use cell phones. Thus, this theory grew more popular when logic was used to conclude that cell phones could relate to brain tumors in several years.

Sanjay Gupta, a world renowned medical correspondent for CNN, states that using an earpiece could be good substitute. He says that not only it can help prevent exposure to radiation to the brain, it is also mandatory when driving in a car in several states. Texting and emailing are viable substitutes as well. He also states that even if you use a cell phone, you shouldn't hold it right against your head. You should hold from 5/8 in. to a full inch away from your head. This voluntary option can even be recommended by most major cell phone companies.

People may just roll their eyes and say that it isn't possible that cell phones can cause brain tumors. Yet, it is clearly possible. Radiation can cause cancer, and cell phones use radiation.Nonetheless, cell phones can cause cancer. A cell phone does have major perks obviously, yet there are also downsides. So just be careful when you use when, that can be the best prevention of all.

Should the last smallpox virus be destroyed?

Smallpox has been one of the most dangerous and lethal infectious diseases in the history of mankind. Now, scientists have the opportunity to destroy the virus once and for all. In 1980, the WHO (World Health Organization) eradicated smallpox and thirty years later, there are only two locations where it can be found. One is at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. Another is in a remote Siberian town in Russia.

Some people who witnessed the disease firsthand have a whole perspective view on the situation. They fully believe that Variola, the virus that causes smallpox, should be destroyed. Yet, in 1993, Russian officials argued the fact that there might be a hidden stock of the virus somewhere in the world. They might unleash it for the use of bioterrorism, which can be devastating for the human race. If the virus were to be destroyed, then it would be nearly impossible to find a vaccination that would work. On the other hand, if the virus were completely destroyed, then it would be the end of one of the worst human calamities in history.

In addition, there is also the possibility that someone could bio-engineer a virus. With the advanced use of technology these days, it is possible that one day smallpox could be made superficially. Dr. Inger Damon, a scientist at the Poxvirus and Rabies branch at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is one of the few people in the world who have access to the lethal virus. She states that valuable research could be learned from the virus, such as future prevention and maybe research for a future disease similar to smallpox.

Without a doubt, the WHO should keep these viruses for several reasons. First, someone can launch a bioterrorist campaign spreading out the smallpox virus. It would be much easier to make a vaccine that can handle the matter easily. Also, future research can be possible from the virus. Even though this virus has caused many problems in the past, we should clearly keep the virus because of the above reasons.

Lab Report: Soaring Straws

In science class, we conducted a lab that compared and contrasted between elastic potential energy (EPE) and gravitational potential energy (GPE). EPE occurs when an object is stretched back and has the potential to do work. On the other hand, GPE occurs when an object is at still point and has the potential to do work. In addition, potential energy can change into kinetic energy, or energy that it is motion. With this in mind, there are also some comparisons between GPE and EPE. The greater the EPE the greater the GPE. This statement can be proved because of the "Soaring Straws" experiment. Constantly, my partner and I saw how the more you stretched the rocket launcher the higher it would go. The manipulated variables throughout the lab were the rocket, the way we stretched the rocket, and the amount of stretch per trials. In the first set of trials, we constantly stretch the rocket launcher 10 cm. In result, the average height that the rocket reached was 2.95 meters. The average GPE was 52.1 mJ and we found this by multiplying the mass of the rocket(1.8g) by the gravitational acceleration (9.81) by the average height(2.95m). In the second set of trials, the amount of stretch was 7 cm. From this, the average amount of height reached by the rocket was 2.42m and the constant GPE was 42.73mJ. Finally, in the third set of trials, my partner and I constantly stretched the 2 cm. From this, the average height was 1.5 m and the GPE was 26.48 mJ.

Even though my partner and I tried our best to make the information as accurate as possible, we couldn't successfully accomplish this feat. First, the GPE is not accurate because you only substitute the gravitational acceleration with 9.81 when you are sea-level, and my partner and I didn't know exactly where we were at sea-level. Second, we couldn't accurately determine the height the rocket reached per trial the peak of it's movement was difficult to actually see so we estimated exactly where it was. Third, the more and more trials we conducted, the more and more our rocket launcher got damaged. Therefore, the later trials are inaccurate because our weak rocket launcher couldn't handle the toll it was taking. A better way to do the project next year is to rebuilding the rocket launcher every day so they can perform to their best and we can get accurate results. All in all, this project showed me how EPE and GPE compare and contrast through a fun and interactive lab.

The Toothpick Fish Lab

In the wild, many animals get eaten. However, some are able to survive because they are able to camouflage and hide in their environment. They can become camouflage because of the alleles they receive from their parents. With this in mind, I have constructed an experiment that describes the relationship between genetics and the wild.

In the first generation of fish, there were twelve total fish; six green (50%), two yellow (17%) four orange (33%) and no red (0%). This is a normal amount of green fish because the color green is the dominant allele and the red and yellow alleles are recessive alleles. Also, the red and yellow alleles combined for incomplete dominance, which produces the color of orange. In the second, third, and fourth generations, all yellow fish were eaten because of their inability to camouflage. With this in mind, there would be less yellow and orange fish and more green and red. In the second generation, there were eleven total fish; six green (55%), two red (18%), two yellow (18%), and one orange (9%). There were still yellow fish because there were still yellow alleles. Also, the red allele was more apparent. In the third generation, there were only nine fish; seven green (78%), and two fish (22%), but no yellow or orange fish. This was the case because all of the yellow fish were eaten. This paved the way for more green and red fish. In addition, there were only two yellow alleles left. Since there were no yellow fishes in the third generation, there was no possible way that the number of fishes decreased in the fourth generation. Therefore, there were still nine fish. There were six green fish (66%), two red fish (23%), and one orange fish (11%). You can see that one of the two yellow alleles remaining mixed with a red allele to form an orange fish. In the fifth generation, disaster struck as algae and seaweed was destroyed by factory waste. As an effect green fish couldn’t camouflage as they were eaten. So, there were only three fish left; two red (67%) and one orange (33%). Obviously, there were many green fish eaten so the population decreased dramatically.

There are several ways I could have changed this lab. First, I could have selected different alleles. For instance, I could have had more orange and red fish so there would be less decrease of the overall fish population. Also, this project has shown me how genes affect nature. The color of an organism can be the decision if it survives or eaten, like the fish in the lab. If an organism cannot hide in it environment and protect itself, then it will be eaten by the prey. This can then pose a huge concern to scientist because many of these organisms can become endangered, many extinct. With this in mind, scientists should try to make a “designer organism”, designing it the way they want it, so it can live in its habitat successfully. Genetics has a lot to do with nature, and this lab showed me how.

The Art of Codominance

Codominance . . . an agreement. A mutual understanding between two alleles that agree to show in the offspring. An example of codominance can be eye color. If say the eye color green and blue are both dominant, then one eye will be green and blue. In a Punnett square, a codominant combination of alleles are both capital letters, but they have to be different. Codominance is like peace between two countries. If say they both want a certain piece of land, then they will both agree to have some parts of the land similar to one country, and another piece of land similar to the other country.

Incomplete dominance . . . a disagreement. Both of the alleles want to show but they won't agree on a mutual understanding. Show, they have to blend. An example of incomplete can be flower color. If one flower is red and another is white, then you would think that the dominant allele can take over the recessive allele. However, maybe both the red and white color allele are both dominant and they just won't agree on which one will win. So, because of the laws of nature, the offspring must have a color. Therefore, the colors blend and the flower is pink. If say these alleles were codominant, then there would be spots of red and white. On the other hand, these two alleles couldn't agree on a color so they had to blend.

Incomplete dominance and Codominance are two fascinating features that everyone should all learn sometimes in their lives. With this knowledge we can try to figure out who we got our genes from and if they have an example of an irregular combination of alleles. Incomplete dominance and codominance are all the part of the mysteries of life, and we can observe them and learn more about genes and alleles.

The Interesting Field of Genetics

For the past two weeks, I have learned the interesting field of genetics. This subject is the science of heredity and shows us what is related to what. Many credit this field to Gregor Mendel. He was a monk who studied the cross breeding of pea plants. From then on, scientists have experimented in genetics to such a degree that in 1996 a sheep named Dolly was cloned in Scotland.

First, we learned that humans have 46 chromosomes in a cell. The only exception is 23 chromosomes for a sex cell. Once the two sex cells fertilize, they then combine to make the 46 cells. Another interesting feature we learned about genetics was the Punnet square. The Punnet square shows the mathematical probability of which alleles the child will inherit from each parent in a neat and simple box. We first learned how to use a mono-hybrid Punnet square, a pretty basic concept. There is only one allele that you have to multiply by. Then, comes the di-hybrid punnet square where gametes come into play. To me, gametes are similar to the distributive property, which is what I told several students in my class to help them understand it better. If say you are told to show the possible combination's of alleles through a punnet square. You are then given these alleles: GgBB and GGbb. To find the possible alleles that the child will have, you have to use "the distributive property" as I mentioned before.

Because of genetics, scientists would not be able to read many different types of cells and its genetic material. We would also not be able to find the different alleles that each cell possess. Clearly, the field of genetics has had a huge impact on our world today.