Andrew+Rearson

= Week 3: =

= = Infants exposed to rodent and pet dander, roach allergens and a wide variety of household bacteria in the first year of life appear less likely to suffer from allergies, wheezing and asthma, according to results of a study conducted by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and other institutions.



This phenomena is apparent at farms because the kids who live there tend not to have allergies. The new study confirms that children who live in such homes do have higher overall allergy and asthma rates but adds a surprising twist: Those who encounter such substances before their first birthdays seem to benefit rather than suffer from them. Importantly, the protective effects of both allergen and bacterial exposure were not seen if a child's first encounter with these substances occurred after age 1. media type="custom" key="26173182"

The study was conducted among 467 inner-city newborns from all over the east cost, whose health was tracked over three years. The investigators visited homes to measure the levels and types of allergens present in the infants environment and tested them for allergies and possible wheezing from tests such as the periodic blood and skin-prick tests, physical exams and parental surveys. In addition, the researchers collected and analyzed the bacterial content of dust collected from the homes of 104 of the 467 infants in the study. =This connects to what we have been learning about and how other drugs may help different issues they were not intended for this week. instead of drugs we should just implicate ourselves into more diverse environments to create immunity to many different things.= http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140606091157.htm = = = = = WEEK TWO: =



This week there was an article that I read on Reddit about how in just the Milky Way Galaxy there Might be 100 million planets with complex life. This was something that something that I had always heard of but never actually saw anything about. In the science community there are articles every once and a while that appear about a planet that could have life on it. Scientist have been studying a list of more than 1,000 exoplanets for metrics such as their density, temperature, chemistry, age and distance from the parent star. From this, teams of scientists have formulated a “biological complexity index” that ranges between 0 and 1.0. The index is rated on “the number and degree of characteristics assumed to be important for supporting multiple forms of multicellular life,” the research teams stated. Scientists are now trying to figure out the best way to gather the data for these planets. One of the sad parts of this experiment is that the planets that are the closest to earth end up being farther away. The next-best shot at finding extra-terrestrial life forms is on Europa, a moon of the planet Jupiter. Right now, there is no other body in the solar system that attracts as much scientific attention as this bright strange-looking moon, the smallest of Jupiter's four large satellites. Europa seems like a good bet. Life might be a bit strange, but perhaps not a lot stranger than the life forms recently found around hot vents in the abyssal ocean. Liquid water and sources of energy are the essential prerequisites for Life. Europa might well have them. Strong tidal heat could keep the inside of Europa warm enough to have liquid water beneath a layer of ice. Therefore, any organic compounds would be mobile, in water. They could interact. .



This connects to class because in the movie Wall-e, the human race had to leave earth because of the pollution and trash they left had no chance for life. One of the goals of the ship was to search for another planet in order to find a planet that would be sustainable for life because earth was ruined.

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= WEEK ONE: = media type="custom" key="26026710" This week while perusing the inter-webs, I came across this video about solar panels that are within the road. The video describes the solar panels and the many advantages to having them instead of regular roadways. The author states that if all of the roadways in America were solar roadways, three times the amount electricity that is needed by the US would be produced. The video that is displayed above, was made to be a more informative version of the creators' original video which was slower and less likely to be watched by a casual web user. This is a link to the solar road's original video: [|SOLAR ROADWAY WEBSITE]. The original video and the one linked above both encourage the watcher to contribute to an indiegogo fundraising effort which funds the creators of the solar roadways concept.

Solar panels are known for being extremely expensive though, and the question is: how long will they take to pay off. According to [|Nerd Wallet] on average, a 3kW Photovoltaic(pv) solar system for a house will take 17.5 years to recoup its initial investment of $10,500. However, that’s after the 30% federal tax credit. Without such a credit, the system would take 23 years to pay off. Because the average lifespan for a PV system is 20 -25 years, this means that much more than half of solar panel users are losing money. When considering the cost of solar panels for an individual house, its hard to imagine that solar roadways would be cost effective. According to the graph neatly provided by Nerd wallet, all the fossil fuels are becoming more and more expensive. Solar technology is a good option for renewable energy.

Solar Technology is directly connected to plants because both obtain the most efficient energy from the sun.