Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-50). / Progeria is a genetic aging disease of childhood affecting an estimated one in four to eight million births. Children with progeria experience a range of developmental disorders and aging-like symptoms, including wrinkled and discolored skin, stunted growth, visible veins, fat loss, hair loss, bone loss, joint contractures, and heart disease. Their average life expectancy is thirteen. There is currently no treatment or cure. The disease arises from a single nucleotide mutation in the LMNA gene, which makes proteins called lamins that comprise the inner lining of the nuclear wall. The mutation leads to the production of a misshapen lamin called progerin that builds up with time, disrupting nuclear shape and function. It is not yet clear how these changes lead to the disease's symptoms. Doctors probe potential treatments while researchers explore progeria's potential links to far more widespread health problems such as aging, heart disease, and laminopathies. Experts debate the extent to which progeria represents normal human aging on overdrive. It is seen as a segmental aging disorder, sharing only some symptoms with aging. Progeria may reveal insights into basic biological phenomena such as gene expression, DNA regulation, RNA splicing, protein processing, cellular aging, and stem cell differentiation. Instrumental to the discovery of the progeria gene and the growth of scientific interest since 2002 has been The Progeria Research Foundation. / (cont.) The story of its creation when Sam Berns, son of doctors Leslie Gordon and Scott Berns, was diagnosed with progeria in 1998, is also the story of the birth of modern progeria research in the U.S. Research highlighted in this thesis includes progeria's cardiovascular complications in transgenic mice; the discovery that progeria's symptoms can be reversed; clinical trials testing farnesyltransferase inhibitors or FTIs, statins and bisphosphonates, and all three together; the search for a cure; and the presence of progerin in the skin cells of healthy people. / by Stephanie Lynn Dutchen. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-47). / As one of the fastest-growing cities in America, Tucson, Arizona suffers from a classic case of urban sprawl. Fueled by the prevalence of lot splits and cheap suburban land, little was done to curb the city's unsustainable growth until 1998, when the discovery of endangered pygmy owls in Tucson sparked the creation of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. The plan aims to preserve biodiversity in Tucson and surrounding Pima County by limiting development in biologically sensitive areas of the desert. In addition, Pima County is applying for a county-wide Section 10 Permit from US Fish & Wildlife Service. Water is another limiting factor in the city's growth. When Tucson overdrafted its groundwater resources, the city bought additional water from the Colorado River, which was channeled to Tucson through the Central Arizona Project. Due to infrastructure problems, initial delivery of canal water in 1992 was shut down in 1994. Tucson Water, the city's main water utility, later turned to recharge and recovery as a way to treat river water. Even with the addition of river water, Tucson, like other cities in the American Southwest, continues to search for new water sources for its ever-growing population. / by Lisa Song. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2009. / "September 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-48). / A realm of serious scientific questions about gravity's role in biology is being researched in labs around the world, from NASA's Dryden Research Laboratories in the Mohave Desert, to Japan's Radioisotope Center at the University of Tokyo. Space biology research, as the field is often called, involves subjects as seemingly disparate but intrinsically related as hermaphroditic snails, brine shrimp, space chickens developing normally and space frogs growing enormous heads. Not to mention astronauts re-learning to walk on depleted leg bones and individual human cells attempting division with damaged internal structures. The questions asked of all of the subjects overlap: What is the most fundamental level at which life perceives gravity? Which biological processes on Earth have evolved as a result of and depend upon the presence of gravity? What is the smallest organization of life at which the presence and direction of gravity can be detected? For the purpose of space exploration, we might have to take gravity with us wherever we go outside of Earth. Yet after 52 years of space flight, and 47 years of manned missions, we still don't know what the prescription for gravity would be. Will human beings ever be able to completely escape its pull? Or are we unavoidably Earthlings? / by Iris Mónica Vargas. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2010. / "September 2010." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-32). / Music is part of human culture and has been around for several thousand years. In spite of its strong emotional appeal, the history of this human characteristic, and the source of its allure remain elusive. This thesis is a report from the front lines of research into the origins of human music, presenting four popular scenarios for the source of music. Music is treated as a homolog for gibbon song, as a co-evolver with language, as a sexually selected adaptation and as a cultural artifact that elicits universally reaching, culturally exclusive emotional responses from listeners. / by Nidhi Subbaraman. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-31). / Plastic trash is an increasingly significant source of pollution in the world's oceans. In some remote ocean regions, it is aggregating by the ton. This thesis investigates plastic trash as an emerging marine contaminant, with a specific focus on: the history of plastic trash in the ocean; areas of aggregation; potential sources; remediation efforts; behavior of the material in terms of degradation in the marine environment; impacts to sea life and marine ecosystems; and scientific research, both ongoing and planned, that will attempt to determine further potential impacts to marine ecosystems and human health. The second part of this inquiry provides a brief explanation of what plastics are, the history of plastic polymer development and the significance of the material's incredible contributions to society. It explores briefly the growing social backlash against plastic as a result of the publicized impacts of plastic ocean trash, and concludes with an argument, which states that the problem of plastic marine pollution is not due to the nature of the material itself, but rather lies in the ways we have chosen to use it. / by Amanda Rose Martinez. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-49). / Since ancient civilization, humanity has kept its eyes on the heavens, and the invention of telescopes has only increased its scrutiny. As astronomers strive to see the universe with increasing clarity, telescopes have been getting bigger, better, and more expensive. The astronomy community is currently preparing for the next generation of ground-based optical telescopes: giant behemoths that will have mirrors of over twenty meters in diameter, set atop of high, dark mountains. Technological advancements have finally made it possible to create telescopes this large, and they will be able to view the skies ten times more sharply than the Hubble Space Telescope. Once completed in a decade or so, these telescopes will shine light on our most pressing questions in astronomy. However, with price tags of around a billion dollars each, raising the money to build them is a challenge. This thesis explores the technology behind the extremely large telescopes and the politics behind their funding. Telescope research began as private ventures, the Medici family's patronage of Galileo being a famous historical example. Today, the story is not so simple, involving public governments, international collaborations, and endless fundraising. While over a dozen different extremely large telescopes have been proposed in the last two decades, only three remain as viable ventures: the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope, and the European Extremely Large Telescope. This thesis recounts their unfinished story. / by Fangfei Shen. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis: S.M. in Science Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 24-26). / Though zoos have come far from their early days of concrete boxes in caring for their residents' physical health, zoo animals' mental health-the feelings and thoughts beneath the furry and scaly exteriors-has only recently become a serious field of research. The fear of anthropomorphism, or the furnishing of non-human entities with human characteristics such as "happy" or "depressed," has discouraged scientists for decades from approaching this seemingly unscientific and unknowable topic. But as the concept of welfare becomes increasingly lauded as the main focus of zoos, crucial to zoos' attendance, their respect by society, and their future existence, zoo keepers, curators, and researchers are beginning to seek out new ways to discover and understand their animals' true feelings-broadening 'animal welfare' to include minds as well as bodies. This thesis explores new studies, technologies, and ways of thinking about animal mental welfare among zoo researchers. Specifically, the thesis focuses on researchers at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, who have developed a unique tool for studying welfare based on the idea that animals have emotions that can and should be ascertained-and that keepers, those who spend long periods of time with the animals, have the ability to tell how their animals are feeling. / by Julia Jane Duke. / S.M. in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-48). / There are few things as familiar to us as the experience of laughing and crying. Studying the two emotional expressions side to side is a way to see our species anew. A way of linking what we share with other mammals to that which sets us apart from all other species. Pulling laughing and crying onto center stage in all their theatrical glory creates a scene of which philosophers and anthropologists have long dreamt: a vision that is uniquely human. Laughing and crying are in many ways physiological and psychological opposites, but these complex behaviors are not exact reversals of the same bodily processes. Nor have researchers told me that they are connected in any biologically relevant way. But zooming out of narrow scientific definitions, digging into our evolutionary history, focusing on the disorders of laughing and crying, looking to the stage where actors and actresses come alive through their tears, there emerges a puzzle of psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary theory, and neurology slowly snapping together. / by Genevieve M. Wanucha. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-31). / A few decades ago, black holes were a theoretical quirk. Highly probable on paper, they were doubted more than touted; many scientists didn't believe they even existed. Today, however, black holes appear to be everywhere, from behemoths in the cores of almost every galaxy to more modest, stellar-mass objects spattering the Milky Way's arms. Astronomers suspect that super massive black holes like Sagittarius A* (the compact dark object at the center of our galaxy) may be a cosmic mafia manipulating the galaxies that house them, possibly even controlling galaxy growth. If this suspicion turns out to be true, black holes may have had more influence on cosmic structure than any other object. This thesis explores how black holes became science from pseudoscience, focusing on three shifts in astronomy: detailed proper motion measurements of stars zooming around the galactic center, the discovery of the apparent relationship between galaxies and their central super massive black holes, and the development of working numerical simulations of black hole mergers. These three steps have led up to the Event Horizon Telescope, a project which will combine radio telescopes around the world to peer into the innermost spacetime warps surrounding Sagittarius A*. If all goes well, astronomers may finally glimpse the "silhouette" of the Milky Way's central super massive black hole within the next decade, directly testing whether Einstein's theory of general relativity is right. / by Camille M. Carlisle. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-24). / Hydrothermal vents on Earth's seafloor host entire ecosystems that live off energy from chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis. This energy process uses chemical reactions between metals and hot gases from inside Earth's mantle to fuel thriving communities of exotic organisms. Some researchers think life originated at these vents and if they're right, that means there's a chance life could have also originated near similar hydrothermal vents on other planets or moons. One of the most promising places to search is the suspected sub-ice ocean on Jupiter's moon, Europa. This is the story of humankind's efforts to understand the origins of life by looking for it in extreme environments where life thrives without relying on the sun as an energy source. It follows an oceanographic expedition to the Mid-Cayman Rise, led by Chris German of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NASA's efforts to plan a future mission to Europa. By understanding how life can live without the sun, we may discover how life began on our planet and whether or not Earth is the only place in the universe capable of supporting a biosphere. / by Garret R. Fitzpatrick. / S.M.in Science Writing