Author: TiffanyZ

In the past two decades, glaciers have been melting more ice than they can replenish. According to an article by Brandon Specktor, Antarctica loses an average of 118 gigatons of ice per year, which is as much water as 400,000 Olympic-sized pools. This is caused by global warming, which happens when greenhouse-gases and other chemicals are emitted into the atmosphere. 

There are many consequences of global warming, like melting glaciers. This could cause the world with many disasters. To start, small islands can be submerged completely into the water because the sea levels have risen. In addition, bigger cities near the sea, like San Francisco, which is largely populated can be flooded. This could injure many people and even kill some. Although this may only seem of concern to people who live near the ocean, everyone who is worried about the economy of the world should care. 

However, there are countless ways to prevent all these tragedies from happening. First, one can start powering their home with renewable energy, like solar panels instead of fossil fuels, which damage the environment. Another thing that produces a lot of carbon is meat. From all the space the livestock takes up to the food it consumes, it creates harm to the air in multiple forms. Lastly, people could try to plant more trees as they are able to take in carbon and make it into oxygen, which is good for humans. These are just several of the methods to reduce climate change, and I believe we should put more effort into helping the world we live in. 

Because the US government has kept what happens inside jails extremely private, not many people know the torture that prisoners go through daily. I, along with Laura Rovner, a law professor, believe that criminals should not be put in solitary confinement as it is a form of torture. Rovner talks about a man, Tommy Silverstein who was put into this torment for thrity-three years for killing a corrections officer. Although some people may think that he deserves it after what he had done, there are several reasons why many people should not have been put in solitary confinement. To start, this form of torture can result in someone not even knowing if they exist anymore, which could damage their brain and thoughts. It can result in them going insane or committing suicide, which has happened many times. In addition, when put through this, criminals are not really in our world anymore, Most of them have not even seen a blade of grass or any living thing for years. However, there are several alternatives to this. 

One option is to put criminals in a larger area with a couple of other inmates. Instead of steel walls and just a toilet and bed in their cage, they could add some other stuff that makes it less of a torture. Additionally, they could also put these people in jail instead of solitary confinement. If one is put through this torture, it may teach him a lesson, but no one in the world should deserve this sort of punishment. 

Although graphene has been discovered for several decades, there are not many products that include graphene in them. Graphene is like graphite, which is used for writing, but it is only one atom thick, making it 2D. The reason it is not produced a lot is that people have not been able to implement ways to use it in many products that are drastically better than the original. For example, when the first products that had graphene in them did technically include this element, but it did not change much about the merchandise. Nevertheless, I believe that we should still put more effort into using graphene in goods since it has a lot of potentials. 

As technology becomes stronger, scientists will find more ways to create this element for use in the future. However, as of right now, experiments have been tested on graphene to see how it can be made in bigger bulks. One way that was discovered is by burning plastic to about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Although this may seem extremely difficult, I think people will be able to find ways to do it as technology is becoming better by the second. In addition, it is also getting rid of plastic. 

If people are going to spend their effort creating a machine that can go to that temperature, there needs to be a reason they are doing that. To start, there have been tests that have proven that graphene is almost ten times stronger than steel when it comes to 3D printing. Since 3D printing can be used for many things, having something this much stronger will definitely come in handy. It has also been shown that graphene can be used for touch-screens. If graphene is used for this in the future, plastic can be used with it, avoiding many phone cracks. Even though this tiny element may seem like nothing, it can be used in many different ways to make our world better. 

“A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury is a story about how small things can change the future drastically. The protagonist, Eckels is traveling back in time to be able to shoot some dinosaurs. He is warned several times that touching anything he is not supposed to can cause great dangers. Unfortunately, he goes off track and steps on a butterfly. Although this does not seem important, when Eckels returns back to the present, he realizes that a whole nother president has won the election, and the alphabet is all different. The tour guide he went with realizes, too, and shoots Eckels. 

This story teaches us that something may seem insignificant, but it can change the future by a lot. Although I do not believe that time traveling will ever be created, if it were to be, people would need to be careful when going to the past. Another lesson that is taught is when doing something important, make sure to pay close attention to what you are doing and listen to directions. If Eckels had just stayed on the trail instead of being too curious and walking off, the world would not have been changed so much. 

“The Lady, or the Tiger,” is a short story by Frank R. Stockton about a king who determines if people are guilty by having them open one of two doors. One has a beautiful maiden that the man needs to marry, and the other has a tiger ready to kill the man. However, in this scene, the man that is presented with the two doors is the lover of the princess. The princess tells him to choose the right door. The readers are left to decide which door he chooses. If I were the princess, I would hope he picks the door with the tiger. 

It may seem like a terrible decision, but there is one main reason why I think this is the best choice. To start, if the man were to marry the maiden, the princess would never forgive him as she loves him. The princess would most likely be happier knowing that the man died loving her rather than live loving another girl. 

This is hard to write about… 

Scientists and astronauts have been trying to find a way for humans to live on Mars for a while now. According to Mike Wall’s “Colonizing Mars may require humanity to tweak its DNA”, “If humanity is ever going to settle down on Mars, we may need to become a little less human.” This means that people will need to be trained to overcome the tough breathing situations there and other hazards that may be presented to them. One thing that could be done is genetic engineering. I believe that there are pros and cons to living on Mars. 

Being able to live on Mars can help the Earth greatly. Global warming and overpopulation are starting to become huge problems, and if some people move to Mars, the Earth would not be as damaged. Just in the past 20 years, the temperature has risen a lot because of all the factories people are creating and overpopulation. In addition, many poor people are not able to take care of themselves here, but on Mars, it would seem like they are receiving a second chance. When people move to a new planet, they would surely need to open more jobs for people, giving these under deserved people another chance. 

On the other hand, there are also several cons to moving to Mars. However, I believe the most important is the possibility that something controlling the air or food on Mars will break down, and most of the people will die. In addition, according to this article, scientists may have to create genetic mutations in order for humans to be able to survive on Mars. This could also be a huge risk if it does not work. 

The choice of living on Mars may seem like a one-sided argument, but we need to take in all the factors that go into this before making such a big decision. 

Sinan Aral and his team discovered an interesting fact about fake news: it travels much faster than real news. For example, an article about Barack Obama possibly being injured was shared many more times than real news about this former president. This is because fake news is always much more surprising than real news, and people feel that they have been given a secret, urging them to send it to someone else. Aral gives several solutions to this. However, they all have their bad effects. 

I believe one of the most important ones is labeling types of media. For example, much of the food we eat is labeled with details, but when it comes to the information we take in, not much is. When information is specified, it can tell us if the source is credible or where the source came from. Knowing this data, people can detect if something is real or false more easily. On the other hand, one big question is: who gets to decide what the labels are? Nevertheless, I believe that we should at least try this technique when trying to solve this issue. 

Another solution to this problem is to use technology to figure out which news is fake, and which is not. Artificial Intelligence has a good reputation, such as Alexa from Amazon or Google Home. Using machine learning could slow down how fast these news are being spread much better than us humans could. Although this solution may seem almost faultless, there is one huge mistake in this. Machines do not know the ethics and philosophy of what is truth and what are lies. 

I think that we, as humans, should try harder to find more solutions to implement in order to prevent fake news, which can create national disruption, such as the false news about President Obama being injured. 

Although many people may believe that using technology can help cure the coronavirus, it may actually be harming more people instead. According to Scientific American’s article about tech hurting the fight against this virus, they give several questions that creators need to ask themselves before using machinery to help our battle toward this disease. Being able to read these questions and answer them can help people when trying to create positive impacts on coronavirus through technology. 

I believe the most important question is, “Are you listening to experts and vulnerable communities?” If one does not listen to the requirements and learn the basics about the thing they are trying to solve, they may try to invent a device that is already made or something that, in reality, does not fight the battle against this situation at all. For example, if one is trying to help the coronavirus, they may try to start a company that creates masks when there are many other non-profit organizations that have spent years doing this. These novice creators may use the wrong fabrics, and the masks would just be useful. On the other hand, many people may think that technology will hugely impact the coronavirus in a positive way. Even though this can be true, if these questions are not answered, it can also be extremely harmful. This information may seem only useful to engineers, but everyone who knows any people in the tech industry should try to spread this information so that no one is harmed from poor communication. 

For several years, researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a Seattle nonprofit dedicated to neuroscience, have been mapping out a rat’s brain with extreme detail. Their finished map now includes around 100 million cells. They then 3D printed the model of the rat’s brain. These rodents are commonly used as organisms to be tested on as their brains are similar to humans, and they are able to be trained easily. There are several ways that this 3D model can help enhance our knowledge of the human brain and do better things.

According to the San Francisco Union-Tribune, “Rodents can be a good model for humans because a lot of the structure and connectivity that exists in human brains also exists in rodents, especially rats. ” Many of the experiments that are tested on rats and a model of a rat’s brain can help scientists learn more about the human brain which is clearly beneficial. For example, knowing a good model of a brain can help psychologists learn how to help people with disabilities or just give people a better understanding of why they’re body functions the way it does. In addition, rats share many of the same characteristics as humans. For example, they are strangely social. Because humans are also social, scientists may be able to connect these two and the reason rats are social may be the same reason for humans. Lastly, mice can be trained easily. This can help during experiments as the results will be more constant. If this research about the rat brain is continued, it can benefit many.

Kimberly Lybbert, a high school teacher and mother of six, claims that students will grow up to love themselves more if adults in their life are more supportive of what they do. She asked some of her students to write down their ideas about adults around them, and one written by a seventeen-year-old girl read, “an idea should not be invalidated by the age of its creator.” Although many parents believe they are doing what is right for the kids, it may actually be dragging them down. 

Commonly, grown-ups will scold children when they do something wrong, but they should actually ask them about what happened. The children already know that they have messed up, so parents should not lower their self-esteem by becoming angry. This will allow students to feel like they are supported, and because they know what they did was not good, they will try their best not to do it again. Asking about what happened will make their child feel better about themselves, making it much better in the long run if something were to happen. Although grown-ups think scolding their children or calling them lazy will motivate them to not do/do things in their future, there are much better alternatives to it. In addition, adults should learn to trust that their kids have ideas that are just as important as adult’s. One example Lybbert gives is about Abraham Lincoln. She says that Lincoln could have become an amazing farmer like his father raised him to be, but he decided to follow his dreams and learn about slaves and ended up becoming an amazing president and freedom fighter. Even though right now, teenagers may seem like lazy people, if they are given trust from older people, they can grow up to love themself more.