Current Event 4

Scorpions that Glow in the Dark

David Braun

October, 24th, 2011

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/24/scorpions-that-glow-in-the-dark/#comment-12796

Have you ever wondered of having a pet that glows in the dark? I haven’t until now, but this article has really surprised me! As you can see from the title - scorpions can glow in the dark?!!!! The scientist have found this fluorescence lighting creatures in Saguaro National Park, in Arizona. The group of entomologists have used ‘black light’ to strike the scorpions which have re-emitted it as a green fluorescent light. The main part of this article, which is interesting for me from chemical aspect is what is responsible for such glowing??? The scientists have found out that there is some kind of nitrogenous substance that is placed in the cuticle of the scorpions, and that helps them illuminate such green light! How interesting this may sound and How many other compounds exist in this universe that we will find its purpose accidently? Who knows, maybe we will read it in some other futuristic article! :)

Current Event 3

Are Americans Ready to Start Drinking Their (Treated) Toilet Water?

by Elizabeth Svoboda, October 28, 2011

http://discovermagazine.com/2011/nov/06-americans-ready-drinking-toilet-water

Is ANYONE ready to start drinking his or her own treated toilet water? When I read the title of this article I was very surprised that something like this can be asked, because, WHO would actually drink this kind of water?! But later, when I started thinking about it, I realized that  I actually don’t know the origin of the water from the sink which we drink in our houses! Do we actually know what the process of its purification and preparation is before we drink it?

This article describes the situation of a small Texas City of the Big Spring, where the 2 million gallons of such recycled – toilet water next year will be added (daily) to the drinking water supply. The article further describes that there is a huge number of steps that eliminate different pollutions from the water, such as filteration, adding good bacteria to break down the solid sludge, or adding  chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide to dissolve or eliminate pollution. One of the environmental engineer says that such water is completely safe and that this water treatment involves a huge number of steps between the commode and faucet that gives water quality which is tested for more than 400 chemicals, and was completely good and healthy. Many of the people that have tried this water (I suppose before they knew its origin) didn’t make any differences between this water and the water we used to drink. So, is there a problem in our head that we should leave behind? I think there is because I know how I reacted before I read this article and started thinking of it!

There is also one more thing that has passed through my head while I started reading this article– I thought that this kind of obtaining drinking water could help people in Africa who are dying without any kind of water, but when I read that the amount of money necessary for one year of this working water treatment system (27 million dollars), I realized that unfortunately, this would be a great privilege for the rich part of the world!