Exploring Science

       Plants have a range of defense mechanisms against herbivores or omnivores. No, they won’t pull out boxing gloves and fight off a caterpillar, but they do have other ways to keep from being eaten. Plants have a fairly simple anatomical structure, they have an epidermis on the outside, cortex (tissue right after the epidermis), medulla (inner tissue), cambium (separates the xylem/phloem), and the xylem/phloem which regulate transport within the plant.       The layout of these structures help us to get a better understanding of exactly how these defense mechanisms defend the plant. A study suggests all of the mechanisms of plant defense and explains how each of them help the plant to survive. One mechanism that actually changes the epidermis is called lignin which is a type of polymer, or cluster of cells. Lignin provides structural support to the epidermis and limits the entry of diseases into the plant and provides less nutritional val...

  Veganism can be a very sensitive topic for some. Primarily because of the hypocrisy surrounding it. For example, some vegans eat honey even though it’s made by bees and some vegans wear leather or wool even though they’re technically animal products. Which is why many people don’t take it seriously.  Thoughts that surround the term veganism are that people who are on this diet are really healthy. Which can be true in some aspects, but not entirely. Especially because there’s so many plant-based meats that are frozen and easy to make that contain high amounts of sodium i n order to increase shelf life . Compared to most meat products there is a large difference in saturated fat and sodium per serving. Since there are so many meat products though it really depends on the type of product. For example, grilled chicken can be recommended for people on a diet whereas red meat like ground beef is known to cause heart problems. A research article talks about the impacts of red...

     US Filtration System      There are a number of things a person needs in order to live: food, shelter, and most importantly, water. The average person can survive without water for 3 days whereas food is more like 2 weeks. All 7 billion of the people on this Earth need water to survive so, what happens when we run out? In the United states it is a law that there must be a clean and available water source for every living environment. In some countries this is not a bare minimum requirement and even if there are water sources available, not all of them are completely uncontaminated.  A research article suggests the types of chemicals some are being exposed to and the effects on people after exposure. Some examples of the possible chemicals are lead, arsenic, nitrates, fluoride, cadmium, and mercury. These chemicals are extremely dangerous to anyone who drinks it and especially to children who are still in the process of development. These chem...