Category: Published Science Articles

Stargazers willing to brave the cold and stay up until midnight or later will observe  a once-in-earth’s-lifetime event this month.  Possibly with the naked eye, and certainly with binoculars, they will be able to observe the newly discovered Comet Lulin on its trip through the inner solar system.  Lulin is named for the Taiwanese observatory where it was first seen in July, 2007.

Comet Lulin will look like a greenish fuzzy blob, with a very bright center, and probably a tail.  It will appear much bigger than a star.  It should be brightest on February 24, its closest approach to the earth.  At that time it will be half the distance between the earth and the sun–about 38 million miles– away and traveling at 31 miles per second toward the outer part of the solar system.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

“Around 1962, when we were living on Lake Erie, my parents took me on a special trip to see an eagle’s nest, thinking it might be my last chance for such a sight,” recalls naturalist Michael Arduser. 1962 was the year that Rachael Carson’s book Silent Spring made the public aware that widespread use of the insecticide DDT was decimating the country’s bird population.  Eagles and other raptors were especially hard hit.

Fortunately, in the long run their fears were not realized.  Although the country’s bald eagle population remained very low for nearly twenty more years, around 1980 the tide began to turn. Since then the eagle population has been steadily increasing.  In fact, Arduser, who is with the Missouri Department of Conservation, reports that the state now officially has 150 pairs of nesting eagles.  He and his colleagues think the actual number may be close to 200, up from zero pairs in 1980.

In 1978, the federal government listed the bald eagle as ‘endangered’ in 43 states, and ‘threatened’ in the other 5 of the lower 48.  From about 20,000 estimated nesting pairs in 1800, by 1963 only 417 pairs remained outside of Alaska.

The possible extinction of our national bird spurred regional recovery teams to undertake intensive programs to bring the eagles back.  These efforts were so successful that by 1995 bald eagles removed from endangered list, and upgraded to threatened.  Numbers continued to grow, and in 2007, the American bald eagle was “delisted” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Bald eagles have doubled in number approximately every five years.

“The eagle’s recovery is a testimonial to the resilience of nature, and also to people’s willingness to recognize problems and correct them,” says Arduser.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

Modern plant science could be instrumental in finding replacements for dwindling petroleum supplies. And the Danforth Plant Science Center is looking into a hardy plant that could be grown in Missouri as a key in making the transition.

“It is absolutely inevitable that the price of fuel will go up,” said Jan Jaworski, vice president for research at the Danforth Center. “In about 10-15 years the supplies of petroleum will begin to go down.”

Jaworski and his colleagues at the Danforth Center are focusing on Camelina sativa, pictured above. It was grown for centuries in northern Europe as a source of lamp oil, In this country, companies have begun cultivating camelina in Montana as a source of omega-3 oils contained in some food supplements.

The scientists envision that this rediscovered “near-crop” could be a vehicle for producing commodities to either replace some petroleum products, or be part of the manufacturing process of petroleum supplements such as ethanol — or both. If Camelina could be grown as a seed crop in Missouri, oils could be pressed from the seeds, and the remaining proteinaceous matter could be used as a source of enzymes to be used in the production of biofuels.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

Kix cereal –“a good source of vitamin D.”
“One serving of these mushrooms will provide your complete daily requirement of vitamin D.”
“A glass of Minute Maid multivitamin orange juice supplies as much vitamin D as milk.”

Vitamin D is enjoying its day in the sun. Increasingly, the nation’s food suppliers are associating their grocery items with the nutrient known as the sunshine vitamin, long recognized as necessary for bone health. You can hardly pick up a national publication over a year’s time without noticing a health piece on the virtues of vitamin D.

Prestigious medical associations and publications have advised increasing the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin D. In October the American Academy of Pediatrics urged that all children get 400 international units (iu) rather than the previously suggested 200iu. Researchers writing in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have recommended that adults get 800iu or more of vitamin D, rather than the current standard of 400iu.

A few years ago, increasing our intake of vitamin E was promoted as the secret to good health. Before that, many believed that mega doses of vitamin C would prevent the common cold, among other illnesses. Neither of these vitamins lived up to the hype. Why should we now change our habits to get more vitamin D?

 

This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

Up to three centuries ago, at the time of Galileo, there was no clock worthy of the name. The most technically sophisticated instruments used to measure time were sundials.

Sundials date back to about 1500 BC. And today, most are out of sight and out of mind.

But they made a comeback of sorts here earlier this month when the North American Sundial Society (NASS), a group devoted to the study and creation of sundials, met in St. Louis for its 2008 Annual Conference. About 45 sundial aficionados from the far reaches of the continent met to appreciate the relationship between time, the Earth and the sun. By the end of their conference, they left permanent additions to the culture and aesthetics of St. Louis.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.