1. Mammogram: I am interested in this topic since my grandmother had breast cancer, my mom and me may have a respectively higher rate of breast cancer compared to others. As a result, my mom used to do mammograms every year and she insisted that it’s a good thing for her health. She also encouraged me to do it with her. However, a story on New York Times says that a new research shows that the death rates from breast cancer and from all causes were the same in women who got mammograms and those who did not. And the screening has harms. (Click here.)
Right now, I want to know exactly what are the harms are and how it harms women’s health. Also, I need to find out the proper frequency of a female adult getting mammograms. Does its advantage overweigh the disadvantage? What are the other ways for women to maintain breast health other than doing mammograms?
People feel confused with mammogram right now because we can’t really know whether it’s a good way of examine and prediction or it adds risk to our health, and that’s why some people insist on doing it while others never got it.
My target audience is all the females and those who have family history of breast cancer. These people are just like me and my mom, who care very much about their breast health and would like to know a lot more about what we can do to maintain a healthier life.
2. Data sync between flights and ground: I am interested in this because of the recent tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which was claimed went down into Indian Ocean by Malaysia president. This is absolutely sad news especially for those families who are experiencing the loss. Since their were 154 Chinese on board, the whole nation is paying close attention to this accident. However, after 17 days of searching, the evidence was so vague. Why we have to wait until the discovery of the black box? That is why I want to know about the technology of data sync between flights and ground. It took us way too much time to figure out what really happened to the jet.
In a recent story on New York Times, “The technology of tracking airplanes in flight or using deployable black boxes that can broadcast their location via satellites has been around for many years and gained attention after an Air France jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009”. So why the Malaysia officials did not apply this technology to their search of MH370? Is there any other possible means to get the information of the jet as it’s flying? That is what I need to find out.
In this case, my target audience would be frequent fight passengers and any other people who care about flying safety. It is important because accident happens. We have to know what to do before it happens, not afterwards.
WRT 102.22: Science & Society 