Grade 10

What Would Happen if the Moon Disappeared?

Rain - Lok Yu

Have you ever think about why the Moon is protected by the other 8 planets in the anime “Sailor Moon”? Moon doesn’t seem to be important in our lives. At the daytime, most people go out and seek for the sunshine; at night, most people sleep at home, waiting for the next sunshine. People mostly will not pay attention on the Moon, it seems useless and worthless in our lives. Imagine one day if the moon disappeared at the morning, most people do not notice of the Moon disappeared since there might not have any obvious change. In fact, if the Moon disappeared, the world would be a mess.

Overview | Earth's Moon – NASA Solar System Exploration

 

What will be the impact on the ocean?

The tides are the periodic fluctuations of sea water on Earth, which caused by the tidal force of the Moon and the Sun. The reason of why sun is about 400 times bigger than the moon, but has a less effect on the tides than the moon is because the Moon has a shorter distance from the Earth. Therefore, the main influence on the tides is the Moon.

In fact, tides will be decreased by 75% since the loss of the moon’s gravitational pull. When the pollutants in the sea water cannot be discharged to the shore through the tide, a large number of seabed organisms will be harmed, and the clear ocean will become turbid. Moreover, coastal animal cannot get food that the tides washes ashore. Those coastal animals, such as crabs, shellfishes, marine snails, etc., will lose of food resources from the ocean and perish due to food shortage in the short term. Moreover, birds that feed on these coastal animal will also perish by losing food resource. Ultimately, the coastal ecosystem will be destroyed, as will coastal food chain.

Curious Kids: How does the Moon, being so far away, affect the tides on Earth?

What will be the impact on the animals?

Moon is the only natural light that shines in the dark. The moon provides a dim light for some predators, to observe their prey in the dark easily. The disappearance of moon will affect the predators which hunt prey at night will have difficulty hunting because the loss of moonlight. Conversely, the chances of prey being caught will be greatly reduced. This increases the survival rate of the prey, but reduces the feeding rate of the predator. A large number of predators will be malnourished and eventually die due to the inability to eat. This affect the proportion between the predators and the prey will have a hug gaps, which lead to the food chain disorder and the extinction of predators. As a result, without the moon, the food chain will be disturbed gradually, life on earth, including human, will perish within a short term due to food shortage.

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Che...

What will be the impact on the time?

It is well known that day and night are formed by the angle at which the earth revolves around the sun, but without the moon, the earth would be totally different. Moon affects the movement of the earth around its axis, which means that the earth will rotate differently if the moon disappeared. The Earth stays at a 23.5 degree tilt because of the Moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth, which makes the Earth rotates in a stable position. Today’s 24 hours, day and night, and four seasons are all because the moon’s gravitational pull, which keeps the earth at a stable degree. One day, if the Moon disappeared, the Earth would rotate faster, the time of day and night will be faster, the seasons will become unpredictable. Imagine if the moon never appeared, the concept of time of the day will be completely different, maybe people would more cherish the time more than people in 24 hour.

Moons, Seasons, Tides, Eclipses - Earth Science - Astronomy Unit

Resources:

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/what-would-happen-if-moon-disappeared

https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/05/09/why-does-the-moons-gravity-cause-tides-on-earth-but-the-suns-gravity-doesnt/

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-life-earth-would-change-without-moon-disappeared-2018-3

https://www.popsci.com/what-would-happen-if-moon-suddenly-disappeared/

https://astronomy.com/news/2019/11/what-if-the-moon-disappeared-tomorrow

Biotechnology – Whole Genome Sequencing

Rain - Lok Yu

The greatest advancement in whole genome sequencing is figuring out the patterns of DNA and what makes each person different. It creates a high-resolution view of a genome and all the details in it. There are different types of whole genome sequencing such as: large genome sequencing and whole human genome sequencing. Human genome sequencing is a view of the entire persons genome, showing all their DNA and the patterns in it showing large amounts of data in a short time. Large genome sequencing is genome sequencing for animals, plants, and humans, it provides large amounts of info in a short amount of time which is helpful towards disease research. Whole genome sequencing helps with figuring out DNA structures in everything living, it is very helpful with population genetics. People used to have trouble with genome sequencing, but with evolving technology, it has become easier than ever in analyzing genomes and getting information.

Whole Genome Sequencing | Sequencing.com

The best use of Whole Genome Sequencing is to identify genes that are inherited in living organisms, especially in new-born babies. By scientifically studying the genetic genes in the baby, parents can know whether the child has a genetic disease. As a consequence, parents can prevent or treat the disease early to reduce infant mortality due to genetic diseases. From the article “Whole Genome Sequencing at Birth: What Research Can, and Should, Be Done with a Baby’s Genome” (Bionews, 2022), every day in the UK, about 10 newborns are born with treatable rare diseases. Since those newborns have similar symptoms to common diseases, they cannot be diagnosed rapidly. However, Whole Genome Sequencing can give an accurate diagnosis by an in-depth understanding of biological genes. In addition, newborn genomic data after the whole genome sequencing has the potential to help develop diagnostics and treatments for various diseases, especially rare diseases. 

University of Toronto Entrepreneurship | This is the place to target genetic diseases - University of Toronto Entrepreneurship

Moreover, according to the article “New Research Illustrates the Benefits of Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing for Critically Ill Infants” (GeneDx, 2022), rapid whole-genome sequencing provided a potential, partial or full diagnosis in 53% of newborns. 30% of infants diagnosed with whole-genome sequencing had no previously documented suspected genetic disorder. Therefore, the genetic information that can be learned from family history is limited and inaccurate. The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) has new research in collaboration with the University of Washington, Seattle Children’s, and the Brotman-Baty Institute. Research demonstrates the utility of rapid whole-genome sequencing (rWGS) can be used to diagnose critically ill infants in newborn intensive care units since Whole Genome Sequencing could rapidly provide an important diagnosis for infants in NICU. Whole Genome Sequencing is a more accurate and faster way to find newborn inherited genes. 

What is Whole Genome Sequencing? - UK Health Security Agency

Whole-genome sequencing can be used not only for humans, but also for other organisms that carry DNA. I found an article about reviving Dodo from extinction, but it hasn’t been achieved yet. But I believe it will be possible soon. The research team is trying to use the same method of cloning sheep, but birds have complex reproductive pathways, and the research team does not have well-conserved DNA. In the future, whole genome sequence analysis is expected to become a standard genome analysis method not only in the research field but also in the fields of cancer diagnosis and personalized medicine due to cost reduction by innovation of DNA sequence analysis. technology.

 

Bibliography:

Whole Genome Sequencing at Birth: What Research Can, and Should, Be Done with a Baby’s Genome https://www.bionews.org.uk/page_161839

Critically ill infants may benefit from whole genome sequencing https://www.scienceboard.net/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=4095

New Research Illustrates the Benefits of Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing for Critically Ill Infants https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-research-illustrates-the-benefits-of-rapid-whole-genome-sequencing-for-critically-ill-infants-301509574.html

A high-resolution view of the entire genome https://www.illumina.com/techniques/sequencing/dna-sequencing/whole-genome-sequencing.html

The return of the dodo? Scientists sequence the entire genome of the flightless bird for the first time – raising hopes it could be brought back from extinction https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10622925/Dodo-genome-sequenced-time-raising-hopes-brought-extinction.html?trk=organization-update-content_share-embed-video_share-article

Whole Genome Sequencing https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/whole-genome-sequencing

Science 10 – Cheek Cell Lab

Rain - Lok Yu

 Cheek cell DNA

 Stained cheek cells

 Cheek cells after membrane disruption (Acid)

Question 1.

I believe that the first solution (Cheek cell DNA) would be useful in this process because it is the one that will not easily destroy the strands of DNA during the cell extraction and the experiment. Also, we can clearly observe the structure of DNA without using   the microscope.

Question 2.

The most interesting part of the experiment is when we were doing the stained cheek cells, we could see our cheek cells clearly, and see how they shape. Also I found that the cheek cells would have different reaction when different solutions are added. For example, when I added to HCl (Acid) to my cheek cells, all of the cheek cells disappear. I found that the acid would change the pH of the cells and denatured protein which the cells result in tissue necrosis. This is the new knowledge I found after the Lab.

Science 10 – Paper Planes

Rain - Lok Yu

How can we make the plane has a faster speed?

In this Paper Airplanes experiment, we hypothesis if the plane is sharper and skinnier, it would go faster because it would have the easiest to throw. Also, the more air the wings can catch underneath then the faster it will go. During this experiment, we base on the speed and distance of the paper plane (Dependent Variable). We have the same size and same type of white 8*11 paper (Controlled Variables). However, each paper planes has different shape, style, and length (Independent Variable).

Plane A – Sharper, smaller size, skinny, shortest wings

Distance: 17.5 feet

Time: 0.85 seconds

Plane B – Wider, shorter wings, bigger size

Distance: 20.9 feet

Time: 0.87 seconds

Plane C – Biggest size, widest wings, blunt nose

Distance: 42.4 feet

Time: 0.93 seconds

***********************************************************************

Resolution

The smallest and the sharpest plane (Plane A) has the shortest distance, the biggest plane (Plane B) has the farthest distance; however, when every plane has the same ending distance as 15 feet, Plane A has a faster speed than Plane B, which the smallest and sharpest plane has the fastest speed. We found that the shape of planes affects the speed and distance. Plane with bigger wings has low induced drag, so it goes slower and farther, because of the resistance, so the plane went smoothly and slowly. Opposite, plane with smaller wings goes faster and has shorter distance because the structure of the plane is light enough, has less resistance. Also, we found that if we curved the wings, the plane can go faster, because when the air touch the plane quickly, the pressure decreases. The less pressure paper plane is, the faster it flies. Our observation is is useful for people to research the resistance of the wind, and for people who would want to make different functions of real plane according to the structure and shape. Different shape and structure of plane can affect how far, how fast, how slow, etc. It was a great experience for me to learn how to do he teamworks with others, I learned the effect resistance through the flying distance and speed of the plane. In the next time, I would do different size of paper for next time.

Self-Assessment_Paper Plane