The science story I've chosen for today is from the Boston Globe (released on Sep. 10) at this link: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2010/09/10/mystery_blooms_on_walden_pond/
The article is about jellyfish. I have no particular fascination with jellyfish, nor do I have any previous knowledge of the creatures or of any biology at all for that matter. And I think that may be part of the reason why the story's headline description ("Mystery blooms on Walden Pond - Scientists puzzled over tiny freshwater jellyfish") drew me: I wondered, how would you make this news story interesting? who cares about jellyfish? why would anyone read this?
Beth Daly, the writer of the story, had to answer these questions in order to write a successful piece; and I believe she did succeed. What she seemed to do was weave in the concept of mystery throughout the story, in order to engage her readers. It begins with the headline "Mystery blooms on Walden Pond," then she calls the freshwater jellyfish "a deeply mysterious species," and she even quotes the scientists not knowing much about them: she cites Steve Bailey, the New England Aquarium's fish curator, "'They are a wickedly cool critter that is still a mystery to us when so many other things have been demystified.'" In addition to the mystery, she introduces the idea of beauty, referring to the jellies as "dime-sized translucent pods" and "strange, beautiful seeds that had drifted down to the water surface from some flowering plant."
Though the article seems to slow down towards the end (how much can you really say about jellyfish?), Daly hooks the reader in and keeps him/her interested by underlining the mystery and beauty of the slippery animals.
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