Article Summary: ' Accounting from Above'

Article: Accounting from Above

Publishing Date: February 12^th 2009

From: The Economist

URL: http://www.economist.com/research/articlesbysubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348924&story_id=13097822

Understanding the earth’s carbon cycle would answer many questions regarding the cause and effect of global climate change. Thus far, researchers have only been able to analyze specific areas of the earth with regards to greenhouse gases. However, the launching of two satellites that are designed to monitor greenhouse gases from space will provide concentration maps of areas around the entire globe.

The satellites Ibuki, launched by JAXA (Japanese space agency), and OCO (Orbiting Carbon Observatory), launched by NASA (American space agency), will be providing the information that will help the understanding of where carbon enters and leaves the atmosphere. Ibuki orbits the earth approximately every 100 minutes and it has two detectors that gather information from 56,000 places on the earth. It does this by measuring, with a spectrometer, the amount of sunlight that is reflected from the earth’s surface, therefore detecting the carbon and methane concentration (they both reflect sunlight, each in a unique way). OCO, which will be part of a larger group of satellites, orbits the earth every 99 minutes and studies the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the earth, again through reflected sunlight.

Currently, it is estimated that the carbon cycle turns over approximately 330 tons of carbon dioxide every year and oceans absorb approximately half of this. The satellites will provide information on this topic. In addition they can resolve debates over, for example, where the large surface ‘sink’ of atmospheric carbon dioxide is located, since they provide information on areas that are inaccessible to humans. Though the information they provide will be less precise, they will cover a much larger area and provide a lot of data.

Article Summary:'Australia aflame'

Article Title: ‘Australia aflame’

Published in: Economist.com

Publishing date: February 9^th 2009

URL: http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13092587&source=features_box_main

Monday February 9^th brought with it further news of one of the worst natural disasters in Australian history. The state of Victoria has been ravaged by wildfires, starting on the 7^th, that have killed over 130 people so far, destroyed more than 750 homes and burned down 350,000 hectares of land. It overshadows the fires of January 13^th 1939, on ‘Black Friday’, and February 16^th 1983, on ‘Ash Wednesday’.

Recent temperatures of 45°C, alongside with strong winds and the drought in south-east Australia, created the extremely dry conditions that are the reasons for the immensity of the fires. Though some were caused by natural occurrences such as lightning, arsonists are also held responsible for a number of them. Also, it has been claimed that some have been re-lit after the fires were controlled. The fires affected national parks and farming lands 70 km from Melbourne most, yet also affected Latrobe valley; in total, most of the state of Victoria was affected by the inferno. Though the authorities had improved their co-ordination and communication skills considerably after Ash Wednesday, the conditions allowed for the rapid spread of the fire. The communities were caught by surprise, many people died trying to escape in a hurry. Already, Kevin Rudd, prime minister of Australia, promised A$10 billion for the relief of the victims of these fires.

Predictions that there would be a general increase in the Forest Fire index across south-east Australia from 34 years up to 2007 seem to be horribly true. Links have already been made to climate change; it supports the prediction that the fire seasons would begin earlier, end later and be more intense. It is not out of the question, seeing as the fires grew much more frequent since the arrival of the settlers 221 years ago.

Article Summary: 'Twinkle, twinkle, little laser'

Article Title: ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, little laser’
Publishing Date: Jan 21st 2009
Published on: Economist.com
URL: http://www.economist.com/research/articlesbysubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348924&story_id=12966262

Water is a precious resource and a scarce one in certain parts of the world. One reason for this is that farmers do not know when and how often to water their crops and therefore do it instinctively or at set times. Automatic sprinklers make the watering itself easier, yet the problem is the amount of water that is being wasted, which is a severe problem not only for poorer countries.
Previous measures to curb water usage in drought-prone areas of the world, such as California, have not had a great effect; rising water bills and limiting the amount of water that can be used are two of them. However, a new method has been developed by Dr. Kleissel and his colleagues of the University of California, using an apparatus called a ‘scintillometer’. With the use of lasers, the amount of moisture above a crop can be detected, which allows the farmer to determine if and how much the crop needs to be watered. This is done by computing the amount the laser beam twinkles as it passes across a field towards the telescope. The more the laser beam twinkles, the more water is evaporating from the field, meaning that the plants need to be watered. This method is derived from the fact that stars appear to twinkle since the air currents caused by evaporating water make their light shimmer as it passes through the earth’s atmosphere.
This technology has found other applications too, such as measuring conditions above airport runways. This particular innovation costs between ¼ and ½ a million, meaning it is not readily accessible to the average farmer. Therefore it is currently only a method applicable to large farmers that may or may not be located in drought prone areas.

Article Summary:'Does even more than a spider can'

Article Name: ‘Does even more than a spider can’
Publishing Date: Jan 29th 2009
Published in: The Economist (print edition)

URL: http://www.economist.com/research/articlesbysubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348924&story_id=13013043

Spider silk is an evolutionary marvel, it being stronger than steel yet still managing to stretch by 40% of its length before breaking. Naturally, this has gained the interest of engineers who see the possibility of an entire new family of polymers derived from spider silk.
Studies have already identified the genes that determine the different properties of spider silk; more specifically, they have identified the DNA sequences that code for the proteins that determine them. Three main properties of spider silk are its hydrophilia (affinity to water), hydrophobia (aversion to water) and the ability of its proteins to spontaneously form larger structures. Dr. Kaplan and his colleagues from Tufts University have discovered that by rearranging the order of the DNA sequences coding for these properties, several new forms of silk can be produced. Also, proteins can be made to assemble themselves in different solvents, such as propanol, resulting in thicker fibers and spheres.
These new varieties of silk could have several potential uses. The spheres of spider silk can, for example, be used as capsules for medication which would deliver the medication over a longer period than regular capsules. Silks light weight also makes it ideal to make strong components in aircrafts, for example. To what extent this technology can effectively be applied on a material not meant for human use is another question.

Article Summary: 'When feathers meet metal'

The article ‘When feathers meet metal’ was published on Economist.com on January 23^rd 2009. The link to the article is: http://www.economist.com/research/articlesbysubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348924&story_id=13002454

The extraordinary emergency landing on the Hudson River of US Airways flight 1549, which all 155 passengers survived, has raised concerns about the cause of the plane’s engines failure: bird-plane collisions. Though over the past 20 years, ‘only’ 219 people have died due to bird collisions in American airspace, this risk has to be lessened further. Yet is there a global method for keeping birds away from planes?

Most bird strikes on planes occur during takeoff or landing, 60% of all collisions occurring at below 100 feet. Commonly small birds such as doves or larks are involved, posing no threat to the aircraft. However, to further reduce the possibility of bird interference, the runways at airports have to remain bird free.

Legislators have proposed screens that would be installed over the engine intakes, preventing birds from being sucked in and causing them to fail by, for example, shattering the fans. However, these screens would be sucked in by the engines and therefore would be more dangerous than a collision with a bird. Furthermore, if a bird got stuck in the intake grill, the interruption of air flow would cause the engine to stall as well. Past methods of keeping birds separate from planes include gas canons, pyrotechnics, lasers, ultra-sound, etc. Pulsing lights have, according to Precise Flight (aviation safety company), halved the number of bird air strikes. More expensive and therefore not viable solutions include stripping the surrounding area of all nature and covering it with tarmac; a lack of food and shelter would mean no birds. Decoys such as scarecrows are only effective for so long, until the birds grow accustomed to them, considering them as part of their natural environment. Natural predators would only be effective if trained properly.

On the whole, keeping birds away from planes really depends on the location of the airport; its natural surroundings and resources determine which method(s) would work most effectively. You could just hire a guy with a shotgun.

Article Summary: 'Second Life'

The article ‘Second Life’ was printed in The Economist on January 15th, 2009. The link to the article is: http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12926042

It has been claimed that 100 species become extinct every day. Yet according to Joseph Wright of the Smithsonian Tropical Institute and Helene Muller-Landau of the University of Minnesota, these predictions are overstated and there is the possibility for environmental improvement. Not only is the human population growth slowing in many tropical countries; the increasing urbanization of the population is leaving agriculturally marginal land vacant and open for a ‘second forest’ to re-grow. Wright and Muller-Landau predicted that this land would, within a few decades, regain half of the original biomass, allowing for its re-colonization by many species. They believe that by 2030, more than one third of the tropical forests original territory will still remain and in certain areas, its size could even increase. Due to this, the rate of extinction should also decline.
This view is, though positive, not taking into account certain factors and ‘symptoms’ that may or may not affect the rate of extinction, as well as the forest growth rate. One of these, proposed by Elizabeth Bennet of the Wildlife Conservation Society, is that though tropical forests look healthy from satellite pictures, in reality they are empty; this is known as ‘empty forest syndrome’. This is because large birds and mammals are less resistant and therefore more likely to become extinct; in addition, they are hunted and used for trade. Though the extinction rate has been overstated, the species that survive are insects. Secondly, a country’s population growth rate is not the sole indicator of the expected growth rate of the tropical forest. Industries require land for production and it is likely that the vacant land will not remain so for long; the liberalization of agriculture and the rise in demand for bio-fuels alone could lead to the increase in demand for land in the tropics. In addition, climate change is another unfavorable factor that affects the rate of extinction; certain tropical species are not equipped to deal with a rise in temperature by as little as 3°C. In conclusion, the optimistic prediction of these two individuals takes into account certain positive aspects of human development; however, the reality of many negative factors will probably guarantee that their hopes will never be fulfilled.

How to read

You annotate the book, highlighting key ideas which you know are significant. Putting key words in the margins so that you can easily refer back to them when you need them is an efficient way of organizing notes. This makes it easier to find important points when referring to the book later on. A small summary at the end of each chapter also makes reviewing easier.