Science Forward

For a Greener NYC!

Although I’ve already expressed my constructive criticism in class in regards to the culminating event of the class at the Macaulay building, I was still able to really enjoy my time spent there observing other projects and topics. The two that caught my attention the most— out of the five or six I was able to see— were the one related to the geophysics applied to the wine industry and the one presenting the idea of green roofs around the city.

I think these two stood out because they explored interesting and very different applications of the sciences. The first one mentioned, from what I remember, further explored the benefits of applying geophysics on the quality of wine produced by vineyards. It highlighted the idea that soil of varying qualities (most importantly, fertility-wise) could be mapped and depending on the varying characteristics, the industries produced certain types of wine (with different textures and flavors. What intrigued me the most is actually finding out the actual correlation between soil moisture, for instance, and the type of wine produced, whether sour or sweet; if there is any correlation between the two, because it is possible that the level of moisture affects different aspects of wine quality. Who knows?!

This topic deeply intrigued me since I had the amazing experience of going to San Francisco and visiting a few vineyards. And although the tour only lasted one day, the amount of things I was able to learn about wine were super helpful, such as how to appreciate your first tasting of any wine.

The second project, touched upon an idea I had previously been exposed to during a group presentation during my biology I class. What stood out about this particular project, however, was that the group included the psychological effects that having a “greener” city can have on its inhabitants. The project explained that there are many benefits from planting grass and full blown-out gardens in the roofs of buildings; one of them being the ability to produce our own vegetables. In addition, green roofs provide a storage for water during storms therefore, decreasing the amount of runoff in streets and sidewalks, they also moderate the temperature of water and act as natural filters, they can filter noxious gases, but they can also help foster a more relaxing city due to the fact that these creations can actually help reduce noise. The color green also contributes to this feeling of relaxation and calmness as their study showed.

Overall, GREAT JOB MACAULAY KIDS! 🙂 & I’m also somewhat upset that I didn’t get to see much more.