Science Journalist Club

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Science Journalist Club

• Miss Parkinson

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Top science story

•  
• The weird weather we've had this year has caused
  terrible problems
• Each group will be given an article about this
  subject

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Weird weather

• We will then hold a discussion forum with each
  person contributing information about the article
  they have just read they can also include their
  own thoughts and opinions on the matter
• Try not to be repetitive each person in the
  group should contribute something different

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Fun activity

• Now condense the story you have just read and
  develop a news report that would be suitable for
  radio about the subject

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3. How Does Your Brain Know When You're Hungry?

• The sensation of being hungry is useful - it
  tells you that you need to eat. And how do you
  know when to stop? Another sensation is at work -
  the sensation of being full. These sensations,
  like all sensations, are the result of the
  activation of certain patterns of neurons in the
  brain. But which ones exactly? Until recently,
  studies of those structures and of the feeding
  cycle have been only fragmentary - measuring
  brain regions only at specific times in the
  feeding cycle. Now, however, researchers from
  the Duke University Medical Center have mapped
  the activity of whole ensembles of neurons in
  multiple feeding-related brain areas across a
  full cycle of hunger-satiety-hunger. Their
  findings open the way to understanding how these
  ensembles of neurons integrate to form a sort of
  distributed "code" that governs the motivation
  that drives organisms to satisfy their hunger.
  Read full story.

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4. What's the Connection Between Global Warming
and Hurricane Intensity?

• Previous studies have shown that global warming
  triggers more hurricanes. Now a new study has
  also shown that the average hurricane is getting
  wilder and more intense."The large increases in
  powerful hurricanes over the past several
  decades, together with the results presented
  here, certainly suggest cause for concern. These
  results have serious implications for life and
  property throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, and
  portions of the United States." Read more.

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5. Brain Gene Shows Dramatic Difference from
Chimp to Human

• The genetic difference between a chimp and a
  human is only about 1 percent. But that's a
  pretty important percent! Scientists have long
  debated why our brain is so much larger than a
  chimp's brain. Many thought that the genetic
  difference is too small to account for such a
  large difference in outcome. Some speculated for
  example that maybe human diet was responsible for
  the increase in brain size.But now scientists
  have discovered that it's genetic after all. They
  uncovered that the genetic difference between us
  and our closest cousins involves some genes that
  have experienced very fast changes and that these
  genes are activated during a critical stage in
  brain development."We found 18 differences
  between chimps and humans, which is an incredible
  amount of change to have happened in a few
  million years," lead researcher Katherine Pollard
  said. Read full story.

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Animals

• Make the noise of the animal on the Post-it note
  and roam around the room finding your partner
  animal

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Top science stories

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• The weird weather we've had this year has caused
  terrible problems for one of the countryside's
  most beautiful creatures - the barn owl.
• A pet hamster has been given a new home after
  taking an unexpected journey from south west
  England to Scotland.
• A three million-year-old child's skull has been
  uncovered, which is one of the most exciting
  finds in years.
• Male snakes con females to keep warm Studies of
  garter snakes suggest that there may be more
  reasons for male animals to act like females than
  previously thought. BBC Science reports.
• Killer sweatScience In Action reports on the
  ability of sweat to keep skin-dwelling bacteria
  at bay. Scientists