Why it's Important to Brush Your Teeth

by Jonah Smith, age 14

Your dentist will always tell you to brush your teeth. But why? Not brushing your teeth can cause tooth decay, an infectious disease caused by sugar-loving microbes that live in the mouth. A new study, however, might want to make you brush your teeth even more. Researchers have found that these tiny mouth microbes can combine to cause more damage than expected.

Damage from dental plaques causes cavities. Plaque coats the teeth in acid which breaks down the tooth’s hard enamel covering. Dental plaques are a type of biofilm and many types of microbes can form biofilms in the mouth. Young children who have severe tooth decay have a specific type of biofilm: the bacterium Streptococcus mutants and the fungus Candida Albicans. This fungus is a type of yeast that can cause infection in the human body.

To gather some more information, researchers collected 44 saliva and dental plaque samples from young children. Fourteen had healthy teeth and thirty had severe tooth decay. The scientists studied these samples to see what kind of germs lived in their mouths. The children with healthy teeth had bacteria, but no yeast, and children with tooth decay had both. [Read More]

The Science Behind Spring's Most Popular Weed

by Malak Al Quraishi, age 12

When you're picking weeds, you may wonder how dandelions spread so easily across the grass. You might ask yourself, why are dandelions so effective at spreading their seeds widely?

Jena Shields, a biophysicist at Cornell University, had the same question when her advisor saw his child playing with dandelions. She noticed that not all dandelion seeds fly off into the wind at the same time. She then was inspired to research why that was happening.

Her research consisted of gluing dandelion seeds to a fine wire, then plucking them off. She found that dandelion seeds from different parts of the flower are only released in certain directions, depending on where the wind blows. For example, if the wind blows south, then some dandelion seeds will go south. The other seeds hold on tens to hundreds of times more tightly until the wind blows in the direction they are supposed to go in. Unless there is a strong wind, then they will fly in all directions. [Read More]

Lumpectomy Advances Breast Cancer Treatment

by Dulce Maria Vazquez, age 14

A new study has found that many women with breast cancer can get rid of the tumors without having their breasts removed. This can be achieved through a lumpectomy, the surgical removal of multiple cancer lumps. This surgery usually lasts about 40 minutes with patients claiming that it is not a painful operation, Patients who dealt with many tumors have been studied using sensitive imaging techniques.

It has become more common for women to be diagnosed with more than one cancer tumor in the same breast. Some researchers inquired whether or not lumpectomies were better than the removal of the breasts itself. Two- hundred women who had two to three tumors in the same breast ranging from ages 40-87 were studied.

To meet surgical qualifications, tumors had to be no greater than five centimeters and remain two to three centimeters away from the normal breast tissue. Recently, three percent of the women in the study had their cancer return post-lumpectomy. This study was discussed at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which caught the attention of several researchers. John Kink a Florida-based surgeon at the Moffit Cancer Center believes the integration of lumpectomies to be “a step forward” in the field of cancer research. [Read More]

Quetzalcoatlus: The Flying Giant

by Aloniab Gezae, age 8

The Quetzalcoatlus is the biggest flying creature of the late cretaceous period. It is not a dinosaur, it is actually a pterosaur, which was a group of flying reptiles. Its wings were 40 feet wide.

Quetzalcoatlus had a crest, long neck, and a long sharp beak. Some scientists think that the Quetzalcoatlus looked through the sand with its sharp beak to find crabs and worms, others think they hunted for fish along the water. It lived about 70 million years ago in North America, around where Texas is now.

Archaeologists found the first fossil of the Quetzalcoatlus in 1975, and it took them years to realize that such a big reptile could fly. Quetzalcoatlus started to fly by launching itself eight feet in the air, because its muscles were able to push it up, and its light bones helped it fly. [Read More]

The Closest Black Hole to Earth is just 1,500 light-years Away

by Emily Rodriguez Lima, age 13

There are plenty of black holes in outer space. Astronomers have found what they believe is currently the closest black hole to Earth.

Gaia BH1 is about 1,560 light-years from Earth and has a mass 10 times bigger than that of the sun. It is the first black hole discovered to be close to Earth, the second closest is around twice the distance at 3,200 light-years away.

Like many black holes, Gaia BH1 eats gas from massive stars that are clustered together. As the black hole eats the gas, it forms a disk around the black hole that can only be seen through x-rays. A star that is orbiting a black hole at a safe distance will not get eaten, but since the gravitational pull of a black hole is massive it can get pushed and pulled around space. [Read More]

William Bebee Pushed Barriers in Scuba Diving

by Marie Pietz, age 11

Exploring the sea is something that most of us don’t think about, but it’s important to understand the dangers of it as well as seeing how it can be successfully accomplished.

A common danger is running out of oxygen. This may happen because the diver has gone too far down underwater and does not have enough time to return to the surface. Another massive danger is the pressure underwater, which can crush and kill the diver. This may happen because the pressure is so high that it crushes the bathysphere, an old kind of submarine that was used throughout the 1930s.

William Bebee was man on a mission to break many records, especially those in the science field. William was born in Brooklyn, New York in the late 1870s, and in the 1930s he began breaking records in the New York Zoos. In 1934, he set the record for the deepest bathysphere descent at the depth of 3,028 feet. At the time many believed it was a bad idea. [Read More]

Webb Space Telescope Sends New Images to Scientists on Planet Earth

by Lah’Nylah Bivens, age 15

The James Space Webb Telescope launched on December 25th, 2021. It is the newest and most powerful space telescope. It has been sending images and data to scientists on Earth since early summer 2022.

This telescope helps scientists study information and data from our universe's earliest galaxies and stars. NASA scientists have been discussing the image they received of the Southern Ring planetary nebula. The image depicts a gas that surrounds a dying star. Researchers found the image fascinating, particularly since this is what our own sun could look like in five billion years. They also report that the star is pushing out its outer layers which include oxygen and carbon that could help feed other space objects. This happens when a star is dying and a new star is coming to life.

This telescope sits 1.5 million kilometers from Earth and has allowed us to see the most distant galaxies we have ever observed. The Webb telescope has made many other discoveries. It has photographed a large variety of early galaxies that are estimated to date up to 280 million years after the Big Bang. It also discovered a younger area named NGC 3324 which shows “cosmic cliffs” and stars being created. NGC 3324 is about 8,500 light years away from Earth. This telescope has also found a massive gas exoplanet named WASP-96b. The telescope data allows scientists to analyze and investigate what seems to be water in its atmosphere. [Read More]

Greenland’s Frozen Hinterlands are Melting Faster than Expected

by Theodore B. Morrison, age 15

Climate change has been impacting the planet for ages since humans started producing greenhouse gases. One impact climate change has had is the melting of the glaciers, which scientists have been trying to track for some time. One group has been following a particular ice stream to help keep track of the effects of climate change.

This group used GPS to track ice stream movements. The furthest point inland observed by this group transitioned from approximately 344 meters a year to 351 meters a year in three years. The quick movement of ice streams is projected to raise the global sea level by 14 to 16 millimeters by 2100. That is the same quantity of increase in global sea level rise by Greenland’s entire ice sheet in the last 50 years.

The tracking of this specific stream was motivated by the hope of discovering more about the effects of climate change. These sea level rises could change the world's coastlines and many scientists and climate activists hope to attempt to reverse or stop these effects of climate change on a warming planet Earth. [Read More]

Plants: Poultice or Poison?

by Juan Esteban Palma, age 10

It is important for humans to understand that some plants have medicinal properties and have been utilized for centuries to heal wounds or maintain well-being. In ancient times, healing plants were grown in special gardens and used to heal injuries. Today, there are still many plants used for medicine or other needs.

The cosmetic industry is one place we see the use of plants. Specifically, many plants have pleasing smells and soothing oils that can help with skin problems. Two plants that are commonly used in today’s cosmetics are jojoba and aloe vera. They are usually found in dry places and are known to moisturize and soften skin.

Along with cosmetics, plants are often used to treat illness. In China, the ginseng root has been used for nearly 5,000 years. This powdered root has a stimulant effect that helps recover from illness. Ginseng is grown commercially and is sold throughout the world. Another example of medicinal use of plants comes from the oils harvested from the beans of castor oil plants. These oils have been used to clean the immune system since Ancient Egypt. However, these plants contain one of the most potent poisons known: ricin. Eating one ricin bean is enough to kill a human. [Read More]

2.5-Yard Elephant Tusk Fossil Discovered in Israel

Researchers in Israel recently found a 2.5-yard-long fossil that belonged to a long-extinct straight-tusked elephant. It is believed to be the largest fossil ever found at a prehistoric site in the country.

This amazing fossil was discovered near a piece of land called a kibbutz on the central plain running parallel to the Israel’s Mediterranean coast. The discovery was made by researchers from Israel Antiquites Authority (IAA) in a joint excavation from Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University. Avi Levy, lead researcher of the find, called this fossil, “The largest complete fossil tusk ever found at a prehistoric site in Israel or the Near East.” This site is at least 500,000 years old based on the stone tools recovered from the area, the antiquites authorities said.

“Very puzzling, very enigmatic,” said Omry Barzilai, an IAA archaeologist also in the discovery, because it was not known whether ancient people hunted the behemoth on the spot or they brought the animal’s tusk to this spot. [Read More]

Scientists Say Invasive Species of Crayfish Might Leave Wisconsin on its Own

by Lah’Nylah Bivens, age 15

The rusty crayfish appeared in Wisconsin 50 years ago. Since this crayfish is not native to Wisconsin it is considered an invasive species. The rusty crayfish pushed native crayfish out of their dens and ate the native aquatic plants, causing harm to the lakes. This harmed the local spawning grounds, leaving fish unprotected.

Rusty crayfish may have found their way to Wisconsin by traveling in buckets to be used as bait. These crayfish are native to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and the streams of the Ohio River Basin states. They also can be found in New Mexico, Northeastern states, areas in Ontario, Canada, and states surrounding Wisconsin.

Crayfish reproduce at alarming rates due to the female rusty crayfish laying around 80 to 575 eggs at a time. It takes about three to six weeks, depending on the temperature of the water, for the eggs to hatch. Scientists have studied these crayfish over the years and have found that the population can die off naturally. Due to destroying their own habitats and fungal diseases, recent studies have shown that the rusty crayfish population has dropped to zero. [Read More]

Study Reveals COVID-19 Pandemic Prematurely Aged Teen Brains

by Ayelen Flores Ruiz, age 13

New MRI brain scans show that teen brains have matured beyond the years of their physical age (as much as three to four years) after the Covid-19 pandemic. This shows the importance of this time for teens’ brain development.

Scientists studying this topic were working on teen mental health before the pandemic hit, so they already had some ideas on what could have affected teens before and after. Researchers revealed that the pandemic was hard on teens, increasing anxiety and depression and prompting scientists to look at the changes that were being made to the brain.

Scientists took MRI scans from 64 teens after the pandemic. They compared the scans to different groups from before the pandemic, matched by their age and sex. The after-effects were the thickening of the hippocampus and amygdala, and the thinning of the cerebral cortex. All of these are a process of maturing for teens. This process usually takes time, but it was determined that the brain matured three to four years beyond their actual age. [Read More]