Image by 5gyres.com By Marcus Whalen
Staff Writer Polluting the ocean one millimeter at a time. Microbeads pose a serious threat to our environment.“Beat the Microbead.org” has been in a mission since 2012 to end the use of microbeads. Microbeads are small plastic beads normally around a millimeter in size. These beads are not biodegradable, so when they are dumped into the ocean on these garbage islands they beads either float on the surface or sink to the bottom. “Microplastics are the most harmful pollutants currently choking the oceans” the UNEP said.The group has convinced companies all over the world to stop the use of microbeads in their products to help protect our earth. These beads have been found on beaches all over the world.”Recent studies have shown microplastics can be found on almost every beach worldwide, on polar icecaps and just about everywhere in the oceans.” Beat the Microbead.org says. Microbeads have also been found in plankton and other fish. President Obama signed a bill in December of 2015 against the use of microbeads in products. The beads are most commonly found in facial cleansing products.The beads pull the oils out of your skin, but at the cost of ruining our oceans. Some companies are using alternatives to microbeads that still do the same thing, like apricot pits. Burt’s Bees is one company that does this. There are probably many students who attend LJHS who use products with microbeads, and don't even know how poor they are for the environment. This is not a new issue either, these beads have been around for a while but new studies are showing and proving how bad they are for the environment. Image by bbc.com By Tristen Olson
Staff Writer On the 31st of March 2016, in Italy, a group of Archeologists discovered a slab with a written language from the 6th century B.C. The slab is now 2,500 years old. The stone artifact had a language that looked like it was from the Etruscan culture that lasted from the 3rd century to the 6th century. The slab weighed in at 500 pounds and it is more than four feet tall and three feet wide. Archaeologists say that it could be a sacred discovery. The slab has about 70 legible letters on it. “This is probably going to be a sacred text, and will be remarkable for telling us about the early belief system of a lost culture that is fundamental to western traditions,” said archaeologist Gregory Warden. “We hope to make inroads into the Etruscan language,” said Warden. Warden is one of the people that was part of the discovery. He wants the language to come back and for people to recognize it. The archaeologists worked to find the tablets, so anyone can travel to find discoveries on their own. People have said the most active place for archaeology is Oregon State University in Corvallis where a Wooly Mammoth was recently discovered. |
LJHSLakeridge Junior High School is an award- winning academic institution located in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Archives
May 2016
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