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Article 1: Why Do We Age? A 46-Species Comparison Summary: Evolutionary biologists used to believe that the reason we age is reliant on our fertility and probability of dying. They viewed aging as an inevitable part of the evolutionary process. However, an evolutionary biologist of our time, Owen Jones, created a comparison between humans and 45 other species and their aging patterns. There was a ton of variety between the different aging processesmore than was to be expected. The processes varied from aging backwards and showing no signs of aging whatsoever. However, creating this comparison was a lot more complicated than one would think. Jones had to figure out a way to standardize all of the data. To do so he needed to create a definition of relative mortality and relative fertility. This experiment and comparison posed the question of why organisms and things age so differently from others, instead of the age old question How could aging evolve? This study didnt necessarily discover anything that will extend humans lifespans dramatically, but what we have learned over the years about staying healthy and fit will continue to slowly extend our life spans to a certain point. Reflection: From a very young age, I have been aware of the process of aging of those around me. When I was young enough to understand that my parents were getting older and were eventually going to die someday, but not old enough to understand that they werent likely to die anytime soon, I can remember crying because I could tell they were aging and I didnt want to lose them. Ive realized since Ive gotten older that there is no need to worry about my parents dying of old age anytime soon, but I still notice the process in them. This article didnt go into very much detail about the actual process of aging for humans and other species, so it has definitely sparked my interest in learning more. I can see the connection between the spark in

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fertility at a younger age for humans and the release of certain growth hormones in teenagers as they get older. Citation: Hughes, Virginia. "Why Do We Age? A 46-Species Comparison." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 8 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. Article 2: Unmasking Skin Summary: Our skin is made up of three layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the hypodermis. The epidermis is bloodless, the dermis has collagen, nerve endings, and elastin, and the hypodermis acts as an energy source, insulator, and cushion for the body. Experiments have proven that the more skin to skin contact humans have, the more your nerve cells are stimulated, sparking a process of a complex system of signals between neurons in the skin and brain. The skin on the human body is able to process pressure, temperature, and pain through the skin. You never feel something as wet, it is merely the combination of pressure and a cold temperature, its your brain creating the feeling of wet. Burns are complicated to recover from, and the deeper the burn, the longer lasting the effects. Burns that need skin grafts can be sensitive forever and can be made from harvested skin of that person, cadaver skin, and pigskin was used at one point. Sunlight provides essential vitamin D but can cause skin cancer by damaging the DNA within the skin cells. The generally accepted method of preserving skin quality without wrinkles and lines is by hydrating skin and using absorbable antioxidants. Less natural ways of skin preservation include getting Botox, which tends to make skin look stretched tight and unnatural. Reflection: As a woman, taking care of our skin is something that is encouraged from a young age. Were told that proper protection will prevent wrinkles and sun spots and will keep us looking younger longer. Ive always been curious as to which methods are urban myths and

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which will legitimately help your skin, so it was interesting for me to see the different methods compared side by side by the author. We spent a lot of class time learning about the layers of the skin, so it made sense to me when the article was describing how difficult it is to recover from an intense burn accident like that of the firefighter and the 9/11 victims. Its very interesting that theyre trying to develop a layer that can act as a skin graft. If this advancement can be made, many people will be in less pain and will make quicker and more sterile recoveries from serious burn wounds. Citation: Swerdlow, Joel. "Unmasking Skin." National Geographic n.d.: n. pag. National Geographic. National Geographic Society. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. Article 3: The Atkins Diet: Y oh Y? Summary: Essentially, the Atkins diet is eating as much protein as you want as long as you stay away from any type of carbohydrates as best you can. The inventor of the Atkins diet, Robert Atkins, thought he outsmarted the body by making a diet that would cause the body to use up the stored fat it has more quickly than it normally would. However, recently some studies have shown that eating more protein simply makes you feel fuller at a faster rate and for a longer amount of time. If you feel fuller, the less you are inclined to eat, therefore decreasing the number of calories you consume. Rachel Batterham of University College, London and her colleagues have formulated a theory that peptide YY is the link between weight control and protein intake. The function of peptide YY in the body is to regulate hunger, stimulated more effectively by protein than a dietary carbohydrate. Batterham conducted a study that showed a greater production of peptide YY in those that had more protein in their diets.

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Reflection: This article first caught my eye because my dad has gone on the Atkins diet before and I was interested to see if he had been wasting his time or if he had really been benefitting from the diet. I find it really funny that Robert Atkins had this idea in his head that his diet worked for a certain reason, and he died believing that he created something that essentially tricked the body into doing something it wouldnt normally do. This potential new weight loss system is intriguing to me because we hear all the time about how obesity levels in America are rising and were the fattest country in the world. I have always been really active because of sports and such and I know how much Ive benefitted from them, so it worries me that our country is heading down a path where kids arent fit and healthy. I hope this new theory turns into something that will help our country and people around the world to be healthier. Citation: The Atkins Diet: Y oh Y?, September 7th, 2006, from The Economist print edition Article 4: Longevity: Eat Less, Live More Summary: It has been shown in science that if an animal burns more calories that it consumes, it makes them live longer and have healthier lives, as well as reduces diseases. The Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) shows that this idea is also true for humans. One thing about this study that was different than others is that they used subjects who were of different weights varying between healthy to slightly overweight, so as to reduce the confounding variable of just a plain old healthier diet. Subjects with restricted calories were at a lower risk for both type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Reflection: This article is very interesting to me but seems pointless and obvious. To me, burning more calories than you eat would obviously result in weight loss and a healthier life. Its great that theyve been able to prove that through an experiment but I think that it should be fairly

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obvious that thats the case. Of course, I could just be having 20/20 hindsight, but it seems like common sense. Also, this study is fairly pointless because if an unhealthy person doesnt have the motivation or willpower to simply eat healthier, then it seems unlikely that they would have the desire to eat less. Citation: Eat Less, Live More, April 22 2006 from The Economist print edition Article 5: Jamming the Signal Summary: Bacteria are able to work together and attack the immune system more effectively because of their communication with each other through chemical signals. This makes them especially dangerous because disease-causing microbes can attack living tissue. Some chemists are looking to block this communication between the bacteria, therefore disallowing for a collective defense against antibiotics. Dr. Blackwell is using the quorum-sensing molecules that bacteria excrete and absorb to communicate to screen them for their effects on different species of bacteria. These molecules, called ALH, in addition to blocking the communication between bacteria, could be used to increase the communication of bacteria in plants to benefit leguminous plants. Reflection: One thing I dont really understand in this article is how the bacterias communication through chemical signals makes them more dangerous because disease-causing microbes can attack living tissue. Im not sure if the bacteria can only attack living tissue if they have joined forces with the other bacteria around them. Anyways, its pretty frightening to think about the fact that the unwanted bacteria in your body could be working together to take down your immune system through their communication through ALH. Another question I have is

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about how the ALH actually works, and how merely excreting it and absorbing it allows the bacteria to communicate. Citation: Jamming the Signal Sep 14th 2006 from The Economist print edition