Science+News


 * WELCOME TO SCIENCE NEWS!**

Students from **Mrs. Shatraw's Biology** classes wrote these news articles last spring. The students and staff of __TBK Today__ thought you might enjoy reading some of their work. The first story is by **Bob Lucas**.


 * Drinking Can Cause More Than a Headache!!!**

Bill is a sixteen year old male in 10th grade. His mom and dad are going away for the weekend. He is left alone so he is having a few friends over. The friends bring food and beer; Bill says "no" to the beer, but his friends bring it anyway. The drinking begins and ends very late. Going out to drink with friends sounds like a good way to blow off steam after a hard week at work or school. Why? What is the worst that can happen? A hangover? Well, actually drinking can do a lot more damage to your body.

Most teens do not think about the effects drinking has on the brain. Walking, vision, speech, reaction time, and memory are all controlled by the brain. All of these are affected when you drink alcohol.

According to the teen alcohol website _ many problems are related to students drinking on the weekend. Some of these changes are visible as mood swings or flare-ups in temper and irritability. In school, these changes can be seen in poor attendance, low grades, and physical or mental problems, such as memory lapses, poor concentration, bloodshot eyes, lack of coordination, or slurred speech.

According to Duke University Medical Center researchers, alcohol severely disrupts a biochemical process associated with memory formation in young animals, and alcohol is much less potent in mature animals. These findings can correspond to the human teenage brain. There is mounting evidence that suggests that repeated exposure to alcohol during adolescence leads to long-lasting deficits in cognitive abilities, including learning and memory.

It is well known that alcohol produces learning and memory impairments. A few drinks might make it more difficult for you to learn a new person's name; however, a lot of drinks might completely impair your ability to ever remember meeting the person at all. According to students at Duke University, the heavy use of alcohol and other drugs during the teenage years predicts lower scores on tests of memory and and attention when one is in their early to mid twenties.

It is important for teenagers to realize that drinking alcohol may sound like fun, but it is destroying some of the functions of their brains. Teens also need to realize that drinking will effect them for the rest of the lives, so wait until your brain is fully developed before you go out and party.

by Chloe Grass**
 * Ship Frozen in Time

In 1849, a schooner named the Milan, left Oswego and sunk into Lake Ontario, a little west of Rochester. It was discovered in the summer of 2005, by shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville. When it was found it was in great condition. Scoville said, "It almost looks like it could be floated to the surface."

The Milan had been carrying 1,000 barrels of salt until it sprung a leak and sank. The ship was used for transporting corn, flour, wheat, salt, and lumber to ports on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Whe it left Oswego it was headed for Cleveland, and then sprung a leak near Rochester. The crew of nine climbed into a yawl, which is a smaller boat used for evacuation purposes. The captain of the ship had a Newfoundland dog that jumped off the ship, but was later found and saved. A passing ship rescued the crew and the dog.

For more than 160 years the Milan had been at the bottom of Lake Ontario. How many other ships are at the bottom of lakes waiting to be found?


 * Ticks and Lyme Disease**
 * by Joeyjohn French**

Ticks are found in many different parts of the world. They can be found where there is grass, woods, seashores, and even in your own back yard. Some ticks carry a disease called Lyme Disease which is a bacterial infection caused by an infected tick.

Lyme Disease was first discovered in 1986. Anyone can receive a bite by a tick, and get this disease. New York Senator Charles Schumer found a tick on his left leg one morning. There was a red rash around the tick. This is one of the few ways to detect if you may have the disease. Schumer removed the tick as soon as possible, but he later discovered that he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Schumer is now taking medicine that fights the disease.

Some ways to tell if you have the disease are if you are really tired, have a rash, or a high fever. If you find the tick early on, then you are less likely to have the disease. Lyme disease and ticks are not something to fool around with, so check yourself when coming in from the woods, or from playing in a field, or even walking around in your own backyard.

by Jesse Hares**
 * Wacky Deer or Chronic Wasting Disease?

What would you think about deer walking around and bumping into things? Seems a bit strange, but it can be a common sight in some states in this country. A new problem with the deer population is called Chronic Wasting Disease.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CDW) is a neurological (brain and nervous system) disease found in deer and elk in certain geographical locations in North America. CDW belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissable spongiform encephalopathy or TSE, also known as prion diseases. This disease attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, and produces lesions that result in death. Infected animals begin to loose their bodily functions and display abnormal behaviors, such as staggering or standing with poor posture.

CDW is similar to Mad Cow Disease, but there is no known relationship between them and any other TSE's in animals or people. Captive herds in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alberta, and Saskatchewan have been diagnosed with CDW.

There is no evidence that CDW effects humans, but public health officials recommend that human exposure to CDW be avoided as they continue to research the disease.

by Lauren Keyes**
 * You Smoke, You Choke

Every year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from diseases caused by tobacco. Emphysema is an illness that slowly eats aways at your lungs. People with emphysema usually get bronchitis multiple times and eventually suffer lung and heart failure.

The chemicals in cigarettes and tobacco smoke are extremely harmful. Ammonia is used for flavoring cigarettes, and it is also found in toilet cleaners. When you smoke, tar enters your body, and clings to the sides of your lungs, eventually suffocating them and turning them black.

Tobacco also contains carbon monoxide which is an odorless and poisonous gas. It is the same gas emitted from car exhausts. Carbon monoxide robs your body of oxygen, making your organs work harder. Over time, your airways swell up letting less and less air into your lungs, often resulting in death.