Yee, Amy. "Gazing Into Danakil Depression’s Mirror, and Seeing Mars Stare Back." New York Times. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 4 Feb. 2017.
The article I choose to review was about how scientists have been using the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia to test out their hypotheses about life on other planets. This geological wonder has been described as “a miasma of sulfur and chlorine, the rocky landscape sprouts patches of neon green and yellow that resemble oozing scrambled eggs.” The Danakil Depression, lies in a remote northeast region of Ethiopia named Afar, near Eritrea. It is situated about 100 meters below sea level, making it one of the world’s lowest places. It is also one of the hottest places on Earth, with an average daily temperature of 34.4 degrees Celsius and it receives only about 100 millimeters of rain each year. It is classified as a volcanic region and recently, scientists have been studying this area to understand the possibilities of life on other planets and moons. Moreover, this month, a team of astrobiologists from Europlanet, an association of research institutions and companies doing planetary research, have been studying this depression for its geology, mineralogy and especially its biology, to be used as an analogue to Mars. One of the main researcher, Dr. Gómez stated that the aim of this project is “to try to know the limits of life and the possibility of such forms of life in other planets like Mars.”
This information about this place in Ethiopia is very important to the scientific world. Scientists that want to know more about what life is and exactly what conditions can life sustain, gain a very big help with the Danakil Depression. This location helps scientists tests all of their hypothesis as it contains some very different conditions from what would normally be found on Earth. This lets them continue their research without having to go on plants that it is impossible to go on, and it gives them the opportunity to learn and discover many different things concerning life. This article shows just how useful a place like this is to scientists and also just how much even the top scientists still don’t know about life.
Overall this article was well written and interesting. The author had a thorough description of the Danakil Depression which was a great asset to the article and made it on the whole very informative. Amy Lee also put in many quotes from Felipe Gómez Gómez of the Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid, giving the readers a lot of different insights on this world phenomenon. However, one weakness of the article is that it did not go into the comparison of the Danakil Depression and Mars enough, and I felt some questions were left unanswered. To make this article better I would add another paragraph in, just to compare the differences and similarities of these two unique places. On the whole, this article taught me about a whole new place that I had no idea about and helped me gain a new perspective how diverse the Earth really is.
ReplyDeleteYee, Amy. "Gazing Into Danakil Depression’s Mirror, and Seeing Mars Stare Back." New York
Times. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 4 Feb. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/science/danakil-depression-ethiopia.html
Chloe wrote an excellent response to the article “Gazing Into Danakil Depressions’s Mirror, and Seeing Mars State Back” by Amy Yee. Chloe did a great job of describing the physical aspects of the Danakil Depression by incorporating a quote from the article. The quote compares the landscape to “oozing scrambled eggs” so that the reader is better able to visualize how the the Danakil Depression is similar to the face of Mars. Her discussion of how the article effects society is also interesting and touches on significant topics. She explains that this area in Ethiopia can help scientists to discover more about how certain environmental conditions can sustain life, and can allow them to test their hypotheses easily and effectively. This is important because Chloe is able to relate the seemingly small scientific development to a much larger scale when she puts it in the perspective of its effect on all of humanity. I also agree with Chloe that the author should have included a more thorough description of the similarities and differences between the Danakil Depression and Mars because this was the focus of the article and is an important factor in the research being conducted by scientists in the area.
While Chloe’s current event report was well-written and thorough, there are two areas that she could improve upon. Chloe briefly mentions a project being conducted by a team of astrobiologists from Europlant in the area, but she does not describe the project in depth. I think that she should have included some information related to the goals and the methods of this team, so that the reader is able to gain a greater understanding of the importance of the Danakil Depression. I also think that Chloe should have elaborated on what exactly the team hopes to learn from studying the area. She does a great job of including information about the physical features of the Danakil Depression, but I think that her review lacked in its discussion of the scientists and how the area resembling Mars can actually help them in their research.
After reading Chloe’s current event report, I have learned a lot about an area of Ethiopia that is strikingly similar to the surface of Mars and that scientists are conducting tests in the area to gain a better understanding of the conditions necessary for life. This is extremely important because time, money, and effort are preserved by conducting these significant tests on Earth in-person as opposed to on a separate planet using drones and other non-human factors. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this topic and I can’t wait to find out about the breakthroughs that will be made thanks to the Danakil Depression.
Charlotte Prior
ReplyDelete2/6/17
Current Event 16
Yee, Amy. "Gazing Into Danakil Depression’s Mirror, and Seeing Mars Stare Back." New York Times. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 4 Feb. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/science/danakil-depression-ethiopia.html
I read Chloe's review on the article, "Gazing Into Danakil Depression Mirror, and Seeing Mars Stare Back."” I think that this article is very interesting and Chloe did a good job in picking something that interesting and relevant today. She also did a good job of not using excessive language and making the review difficult to read. I also did not notice any spelling or grammatical errors that made the review hard to read, which was great.
One thing that I think Chloe could improve on is elaborating on quotes from the article and more specific details. She could also add some more to her opinion of the article and whether or not she liked the author's point of view.
This was an interesting review to read and it was a story I had never heard of before. It is amazing that places like this exist on our planet.
Grace Randall
ReplyDeleteCE 16
Yee, Amy. "Gazing Into Danakil Depression’s Mirror, and Seeing Mars Stare Back." New York Times. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 4 Feb. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/science/danakil-depression-ethiopia.html
Chloe’s review of the article,"Gazing Into Danakil Depression’s Mirror, and Seeing Mars Stare Back," was very well done. Her summary was clear and concise, while still providing a depth of information about this topic. She also incorporated relevant quotes from her article that definitely added to the credibility of her review and helped me understand the information better. For example she included a quote from one of the scientists who explained the aim of the project as, “to try to know the limits of life and the possibility of such forms of life in other planets like Mars.” Finally, I thought Chloe did an exemplary job connecting the article to society. She made a very strong point saying “This article shows just how useful a place like this is to scientists and also just how much even the top scientists still don’t know about life.”
Overall Chloe did a good job, but she still could improve a few areas. For example, while it was good that she was thorough about the physical aspects of this place in Ethiopia, she could have gone into more depth about the details of its possible uses. Also, she could have expanded on her personal opinion and reception of the article. She relied a lot on the data and information already provided.
I was very interested in Chloe’s review and the article she cited. I had brief knowledge about this topic before and was unaware that there was the possibility of replication of other planets on parts of Earth. It reminded me of the power of our solar system and how constant research in this field could make a huge difference.