Page 30 - 200812 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - December 2008

30 Top 5 Science Discoveries of 2008 30 Top 5 Science Discoveries of 2008 Top 5 Incredible But this August, the Wildlife likely the latest downturn will be anywhere near Top 5 Incredible Science Discoveries of Conservation Society announced its scientists as bad, lessons learned from the mistakes and Science Discoveries of unknown previously a had uncovered successes of the 1930s should come in handy 2008 population of about 125,000 gorillas living in for today's politicians. 2008 the Republic of Congo. The discovery was a By Clara Moskowitz welcome bit of good news for the beleaguered 2008 was like the 1980s By Clara Moskowitz apes, and conservationists say it means their The world descended upon China in Science is mostly an incremental process, a efforts have been working. August for the Summer Olympics, turning a slow peeling of the onion to offer small But gorillas aren’t out of the woods yet. spotlight on the country for better (friendly glimpses of understanding. But over time, They still face imminent threats, especially people, rich culture) or for worse (media scientists remove enough layers to expose from the deadly Ebola virus, which has restrictions, controversial gymnasts). It felt a bit stunning truths about nature. decimated many gorilla populations. like the 1980s, when the insular, 30-year-old republic first started to open its doors to the 5. Stronger link between birds and dinosaurs 2. Electron filmed for the first time West, seeking economic progress and Paleontologists have long known that In a motion-picture first, scientists acceptance. What the world saw was a big, modern birds are the closest living relatives of caught the movement of a single electron on complex place filled with potential, but one also the long-gone dinosaurs. But just how the film. facing some serious growing pains in the form transition between dino and Big Bird happened The discovery, announced in February, of student protests. has not been fully understood. was made possible with a new technology that This year, scientists uncovered more generates extremely short pulses of intense laser 2008 was like the 1970s fascinating new links between ancient dinosaurs light to illuminate the particle. The resulting Also in August, Russia rolled into and their living feathered friends, which movie shows an electron leaving an atom after neighboring nation and former Soviet republic emerged some 150 million years ago during the being excited by ultraviolet light. Since this Georgia in an invasion eerily reminiscent of the Jurassic Period. actually happened in much less time than a USSR's expansionary campaigns during the In November, scientists announced the second, the sequence was slowed down for Cold War. Back then, the United States was discovery of a fossilized dinosaur nest that human eyes to last a full three seconds. committed to fighting the spread of proves dinosaurs were forming bird-like nests The groundbreaking achievement Communism and backed the Soviets' and laying eggs long before birds evolved. should open up doors for new study into the opponents. Today, things are a bit more Another link was established in October, workings of atoms, not to mention a new genre complicated, and there was brief but widespread when paleontologists announced the discovery of film: subatomic cinema. alarm that the United States and its allies may of a fossilized dinosaur that apparently sported be forced to pick up arms against Russia again. tail feathers thought to have helped the creature 1. The Arctic melts Georgia and Russia ultimately came to a peace balance on tree branches.Though the creature A piece of the year's most sobering news agreement on their own, though observers couldn't fly, it may represent a step in the is also some of its most significant. In worry it could be a sign of things to come. direction of feathers for flight. September, Arctic sea ice reached the second- And a third analysis of fossils revealed lowest level recorded since the beginning of the 2008 was like 2005 that a huge carnivorous dinosaur called satellite era, according to the National Snow As Hurricane Ike sped towards the U.S. Aerosteon had a breathing system much like and Ice Data Center at the University of Gulf Coast in early September all eyes were on that of today's birds, with hollow bones that Colorado. When stacked next to 2007's ultimate New Orleans, which just three years earlier had filled with air and possible air sacs that would record low, the picture is grim: Global been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Luckily for have pumped air through its lungs. warming's effects are before us. that city's vulnerable levees but unfortunately The news also spelled disaster for polar for the state of Texas, the storm shifted 4. Memory's limit found bears, whose primary habitat is sea ice. In May westward and hit the low-lying island of Common knowledge — and phone the Interior Department officially listed the Galveston as well as Houston. Advanced, urgent number conventions — have held that people polar bear as a threatened species. Officials said evacuation orders were credited with saving can fit about seven things in short-term the decline of Arctic sea ice off Alaska and many lives, but as happened in 2005, many memory. But research announced this April Canada could result in two-thirds of polar bears people ignored the call to flee. found that the true fundamental limit, when all disappearing by 2050. memory aids are taken out of the equation, is 2008 was like the 1960s History Repeats: How actually about three or four. History Repeats: How Barack Obama was the uncontested Psychologists presented subjects with an 2008 Reflected the Past newsmaker of the year with his historic election 2008 Reflected the Past array of colored squares, then showed a single win on Nov. 4, which will make him the nation's By Heather Whipps colored square and asked people to recall if it By Heather Whipps first African-American president when he is was the same color as the original square in its inaugurated Jan. 20. It's a momentous occasion, position. The scientists used a mathematical For all the talk about change, everything especially considering that when Obama was model that assumed people could only old seemed oddly new again in 2008. born in 1961 at the height of the Civil Rights remember three or four squares, and found that The events of this year, perhaps more movement and during the summer of Freedom it accurately predicted the spread of results on than any other, had a way of dredging up Rides, blacks hadn't yet been guaranteed the the test. historic memories, bad and good — from the right to vote safely and without discrimination. The research doesn't mean we should ongoing, Depression-like economic scare to the reduce phone numbers to four digits, though. In Civil Rights struggles that led to Barack MORE ‘X’ TRIVIA... most real-life situations, we can use memory Obama's milestone election win. tricks, such as grouping items together (i.e. Overall, 2008 was a year that made - There’s a “Cinderella” story in Finnish breaking phone numbers into a chunk of three more sense if you had paid attention in history folklore. But the girl’s name isn’t Cinderella. digits plus a group of four) to improve on our class. Here's how: It’s Tuna. brain's minimal capacity. - Average lifespan of a major league ball: 5 2008 was like the 1930s pitches. 3. Huge new population of gorillas With the economic plummet taking firm - Tip: If you have to give your dog a pill, put it discovered hold of the national consciousness in the latter far back on its tongue, then blow in his nose. The critically endangered western half of the year, talk about the possibility of - The most common street name in America is lowland gorilla has been nearing extinction due "another Depression" had journalists Park Street. to disease, hunting and deforestation. Until scrambling for their Cliff Notes on the original - The Neanderthal’s brain was bigger than yours recently, scientists had put the number living in incarnation. The Great Depression was long, is. the wild at about 50,000. deep and devastating, and while it doesn't seem More ‘X’ TRIVIA to come!