Test your knowledge of science items that have been in the news recently. Answers are at the bottom.
1. On Saturday, March 19, the moon appeared much larger and brighter than usual. This was because it was slightly closer to Earth than it is on average, and, because it was a full moon, the effect was even more dramatic. This phenomena is called a “supermoon.”
Because the moon affects ocean tides, some astrologers tried to blame the near arrival of the supermoon for Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. However, astronomers debunked that idea. “The effects on Earth from a supermoon are minor,” explained NASA scientist Jim Garvin. He said the small differences in the moon’s tidal forces are not enough to overcome the larger forces within Earth, including its energy balance that drives plate tectonics.
What is the average distance between the Earth and moon? And how far away was the moon on Saturday?
2. Astronauts at the International Space Station unpacked Robonaut, the first humanoid robot in space, last week. Astronauts attached Robonaut to a fixed pedestal, where it will remain with its fists clenched and its arms folded against its chest until testing begins in May. Its legs should arrive next year.
The robotic team at Johnson Space Center in Houston NASA wants to see how Robonaut performs in weightlessness. The robot will work as an astronaut helper at the space station for the next decade.
What is Robonaut’s nickname?
3. Gene therapy given to about three dozen Parkinson’s disease patients resulted in 23 percent of the patients scoring better on a standard motor-skills test while those who received a placebo therapy did about 13 percent better. All the patients were taking Parkinson’s medication.
The brains of Parkinson’s patients become overactive after losing a normal supply of a chemical called GABA. Researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center drilled a hole into the study group’s brains and introduced a virus engineered to bring in billions of copies of a gene to help the brain make GABA. Other patients had holes drilled into their skulls so they thought they received the therapy. The study was published online in the journal Lancet Neurology.
Parkinson’s affects about one in every 500 people. What are its symptoms?
4. Here’s another reason not to take antibiotics unless you have a bacterial, not viral, infection.
Yale University researchers found when they gave mice neomycin antibiotics the mice were more susceptible to influenza viruses. They determined that the antibiotics were killing beneficial bacteria naturally present in the mice — bacteria that trigger the body to create antibodies to fight a flu infection in the lungs. When antibiotics killed the bacteria, the virus was left to multiply.
Researchers found the antibiotics dramatically reduced the neomycin-sensitive bacteria in the mice’s guts, not their nasal passages.
Scientists have known for long that beneficial bacteria in the gut help keep the digestive tract healthy. About how many beneficial bacteria species live in our digestive tracts?
5. Every spring, ozone over the Arctic thins. This year, it could be worse than usual. Over the past six weeks, a large area there has lost half of its ozone, European scientists announced last week. The area of depleted ozone usually stays over the North Pole, but it can temporarily shift south to Italy and Greece, which means people as far south as the northern United States could briefly be exposed to higher ultraviolet radiation this spring, Science News reported.
How large is the ozone-thinned area of the stratosphere above the Arctic?
1. The average distance of the moon is 238,000 miles. The supermoon was about 221,567 miles away.
2. Robonaut's nickname is R2.
3. Parkinson's causes tremors, rigidity and slow movements.
4. A person has 300 to 500 species of beneficial bacteria in his digestive tract.
5. The ozone-thinned area above the Arctic is about 15 million square kilometers. In the Antarctic, the situation is worse. There, a hole opens every year.
Source: Space.com, NASA, AP, The Washington Post, Nature News, Science News, NIH
About the supermoon:
About Parkinson’s disease:
About friendly bacteria:
Bonus: Have you been following the Mercury probe?
Space.com: 10 surprising facts about Mercury Probe