Polyester Suits: a Fashion and Environmental Faux Pas

Posted on March 7, 2019 by | 7 comments

Although polyester suits are no longer a fashion statement like they were in the ’70s, polyester and other synthetic materials such as nylon are still very popular materials used to make clothes due to their accessibility, durability and cost-effectiveness. Polyester, nylon and acrylic fibers are among the most popular synthetic fibers on the market. As their name would imply, synthetic fibers are manmade, synthesized fibers and are petroleum-based products.

Figure 1: The manufacturing process of synthetic nylon fibers. Source: Japan Chemical Fibers Association

One of the advantages and appeals of synthetic fibers is that they can be made using recycled materials. This recycled material can be old polyester materials themselves or can even be old plastic water bottles or other recyclable plastic products. There are many companies actively working to use recycled materials to make their apparel and while this may seem beneficial and an excellent solution to fully utilize plastic products to their full potential, it may actually be a double-edged sword. More people could be inclined to use plastic products, as they would assume that the plastic will be recycled properly. Unfortunately, that is not often the case. Not all the plastic products on the market are recycled responsibly and instead can contribute even more to the growing plastic pollution and microplastic issue as mentioned in my previous post. But even when plastic IS effectively recycled to make new fabric, there still is another hidden micro problem, a microfiber problem.

Figure 2: The cycle of synthetic polyester apparel made from recycled materials. Source: Japan Chemical Fibers Association

The video above outlines the not so micro issue surrounding microfibers.

Essentially, every time you wash a piece of clothing made of synthetic materials, tiny fibers or pieces of plastic, called microfibers are released. These microfibers are a type of microplastic since they are essentially micro pieces of plastic. It causes an issue due to the microfibers being too small and bypassing the filters in both our washing machines and at water waste treatment sites.

Figure 3: The estimated amount of fibers released from every wash for three synthetic fibers commonly used in the textile industry. Source for data.

This study estimates the amount of microfibers released (in mg) after the first five washes of 6 kg (the weight of a typical load of laundry) of three different types of commonly used synthetic materials. Figure 4 illustrates the data from their study. While looking at this data, it can be concluded that after the first five washes, the number of microfibers released decreases. However, other studies conclude the opposite—that the amount of microfibers released actually increases the more that the clothing items are washed due to the degradation of the product and the loss of structural integrity.

Figure 4: The amount of fibers (in mg) released from washing 6 kg of synthetic material. Source for data.

So, what can be done to mitigate the amount of microfibers entering our waterways and contributing to the alarming microplastics issue? Some studies suggest implementing better, higher quality filters in waste treatment plants and found them to be extremely effective at trapping these microfibers, decreasing the amount of microplastics entering waterways by 98%. Additionally, there have been other suggestions that include using proteins found in squids to make a biomaterial that can be used to make fabrics. The simplest solution, however, is to just be more conscientious about the products you purchase. By looking for products that have blends of both synthetic and natural fibers not only can recycled materials be incorporated, but also the integrity of the fabrics is improved to prevent less microfiber shedding, leading to the best of both worlds.

~Isla

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Are artificial sweeteners the better alternative?

Posted on March 7, 2019 by | 1 comment

Currently, there are many sugar substitutes that replace table sugar.  They give the desired sweetening taste while providing fewer calories. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate and approve sugar alternatives that meet the criteria.

Sweetener prices with relative to sugar. Adapted from Sugar and Sweetener Guide

In addition, many sweeteners are a lot cheaper, and still provide the same sweetness as table sugar. Although these substances are generally recognized as safe, consuming artificial sweeteners have some drawbacks to one’s health. Recently there has been news that shows the products are perhaps more dangerous than beneficial.

Neotame chemical structure. Source: Wikimedia

Artificial sweeteners require an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), informing how much of that substance an individual can take daily, without the risk of receiving toxic effects. Neotame, a recently approved sweetener by the FDA, has an extremely low ADI level of 0.3 mg/kg. Even though it has sweetness 7000-13000 times more than table sugar, it is still approved because there are no deadly effects.

In 2017, research by many researchers in the United States further investigated the effects of neotame, on a mice’s gut microbiota in their digestive system. After four weeks, the mice that consumed neotame (dose level of 0.75 mg/kg) experienced decreased levels of malic acid and glyceric acid, both important acidic components to aid food digestion. In addition, fecal metabolism exhibited decreased activity, causing the concentrations of fatty acids, lipids, and cholesterol levels to rise. This shows how neotame can harm our digestive system in the long run.

A collection of soft drinks. Source: Flickr

For sugar alternatives in soft drinks, people are stating that the only real side effect of no-calorie sweeteners is the tendency to eat even more. This won’t happen immediately, but several studies claim that soft drinks will eventually lead to weight gain. At the same time, another study showed the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in the United States was linked to a 121% increase in type 2 diabetes. Even though the sweetness is there, people’s appetite won’t be satisfied until the calories are consumed, ironically leading to a craving for more food.

Examples of other sugar alternatives. Source

Sugar substitutes are still common to use for many because of their lost cost, adding little to no calories to a daily diet. There is no way one can completely avoid sugar consumption, for sugar is essential energy to our body. Instead, consumers should be more aware of what sugar substitutes they are consuming while reducing sugar intake, to stay as healthy as possible.

 

-Taiki Matsumoto

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The Link Between Stress and Technology

Posted on March 6, 2019 by | 3 comments
Whether it is stress over a failed exam, or feeling stress when put in a new environment, we have all experienced stress before and know that being stressed is not a good feeling.

Figure 1. Participants rate their stress level on a scale of 1-10, where 1 equals “little or no stress” and 10 means you have “a great deal of stress”. Photo source: American Psychological Association

Although stress usually has a bad connotation associated with it, there is also positive stress. For example, positive stress can motivate you and help you complete tasks more efficiently. However, high levels of stress can lead to anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and other chronic illnesses. Stress levels found in humans have increased drastically over the years and may be a concern to a high percentage of the human population. There are many factors that can explain the increase in stress over the generations, but let’s focus on one that we are all familiar with: technology.

Could the increase in stress over the years be linked to technology use?

Let’s first look at smartphone ownership over the recent years.  In 1992, the first smartphone, the Simon Personal Communicator by IBM, was introduced and 15 years later, the first iphone was produced. The popularity did not start immediately and only began increasing around 2011, where approximately 35% of U.S. adults owned a smartphone. The percentage quickly ascended over the next 6 years to 77%. With more advances in technology, people are now overly dependent on their smartphones. But, who can blame us for being overly dependent on our smartphones? Not only can it take high quality videos/photos, but you can even pay with smartphones nowadays – it’s all just one tap away.

                             Figure 1. Smartphone Ownership                                Adapted from: Pew Research Center – Internet & Technology

So, what evidence is there that proves that technology adds stress to our lives? Well, sleeping patterns can be easily affected by technology, one second you’re getting ready for bed, and the next second you are asking your friends whether the dress is black and blue, or white and gold and then you realize it’s way past your bedtime. The constant distractions our smartphones present make us less efficient when completing tasks as simple as going to bed at an appropriate time.

Image result for blue light screens

Photo source: Lifewire

Furthermore, the blue light emitted from our phone screens can reduce melatonin production, which reduces your sleep quality. When sleep quality is reduced, one then becomes less resilient and stress levels and anxiety increase.

In conclusion, it is evident that the accessibility and convenience of technology can negatively affect our living qualities by causing stress levels to rise. As stated above, sleep is easily affected by technology use and sleep is crucial for out bodies to function properly. Therefore, although technology can be very handy, one should be aware of the effects of technology on your stress levels.

Watch the following video for more information on the effects of technology:

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Steps in Improving Transistors for a New Era of Computing

Posted on March 5, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Transistors are a piece of technology universally used in modern devices today, and a smartphone in your pocket will contain about two billion. Transistors are used to amplify electronic signals and switch them on and off, and are the reason for the sophisticated technology we have access to. They are semiconductors, meaning they conduct electricity worse than a metal but better than a resistor, and commonly made of silicon or germanium.

A diagram showing the energy difference an electron needs to overcome for movement in a metal, semiconductor, and resistor.

A basic transistor. Source: Wikimedia Commons

However, there is a limit to the size of a transistor, one that we grow ever closer to. This has prompted research into quantum technology, designing new devices with new components that have exponentially faster computing speeds than our current technology. Rather than semiconductors, quantum devices use superconductors, materials with zero electrical resistance when cooled below a certain temperature.

A quantum computer developed by IBM. Source: Flickr

Some researchers have considered a new design to develop more advanced computing: a hybrid semi/superconducting transistor. Yan et al. published a study describing a new method of producing these in March of 2018. They took advantage of epitaxial semiconductor crystal growth, meaning highly ordered growth, on top of a crystalline superconductor to achieve this. This allowed for the production of a semiconducting transistor on top of a superconductor. Here is a video simulating some different forms of epitaxial growth that show its very consistent order:

This new transistor design has the potential to be used as a superconductor or semiconductor at will, only requiring a temperature change to activate or deactivate superconductivity. As well, Yan et al. achieved this using nitride based semiconductors and superconductors, which are non-toxic and very stable, presenting some interesting applications. This differs from many common arsenic-containing semiconductors, like indium arsenide, that are quite toxic. They also found that the produced transistor had a property called negative differential resistance (NDR) when superconductive, which allows for amplification of electric signals. Telephone lines use this property, and the ability of the transistor to activate or deactivate NDR with temperature has potential use.

A Gallium Nitride crystal, the semiconductor Yan et al. used. Source: Wikimedia Commons

While Yan et al.’s method shows promise for the future, there were some significant issues in their specific method. The most relevant was that they found fairly low electron mobility in their material, something that another semiconductor like indium arsenide excels in. This presents one of the biggest limitations of this current design, as matching the mobility of indium arsenide will be difficult.

Indium Arsenide, a highly effective yet toxic semiconductor. Source: Wikimedia Commons

While Yan et al.’s specific design may not be the solution to transistor limitations, it does present a promising method for designing a different hybrid transistor. Hopefully, other researchers can use this result to produce an even more effective transistor so that widespread quantum computing can become a reality. If you would like a more scientific summary of Yan et al.’s paper, you can find it here, published by the Nature journal.

– Nicholas Patterson

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The Age of Misinformation

Posted on March 3, 2019 by | 4 comments

Misinformation is false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead or not.

With the internet quickly gaining popularity near the turn of the century, information sharing had become easier than ever before. News traveled quickly as news-agencies could publish online and social media could spread it. Anybody could share their thoughts on websites. The Information Age was here.

Social Media Platforms that Americans use for news; adapted from American Press Institute.

Compared to the past, the internet offered a much faster medium for information. This was beneficial because plenty of info became easily accessible to the public. However, both experts and people who claimed to be the former could share their knowledge.

With the speeds at which information could now move, misinformation could also spread quickly. Take the Boston Marathon bombing incident as an example. On social media websites (like 4Chan, Reddit, and Twitter) there were internet sleuths hard at work identifying the Boston Bombers. Even credible news-agencies were racing to report the information without proper verification. This caused more harm than good; false information was given credibility. One family had to remove a Facebook page that they had put up to find their missing son.

Social Media Platforms. Source: kisspng

 

On the internet, everyone has a voice. It is simple for anybody to find a community that shares a point of view that they agree with. Sometimes, this idea may not be correct. One only needs to look at vaccines to encounter this scenario. In the past few decades, some people have begun to reject vaccinations and declare vaccines to be the cause of autism spectrum disorder. While it is true that the rate of diagnosis has increased in this time period, this is likely due to advancements in autism research.

Autism prevalency overtime (diagnosis was 8 years after year of birth); adapted from CDC.

Unfortunately, the idea of this link quickly gained traction after Andrew Wakefield published his research about the relationship between the usage of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Eventually, he had his paper retracted and he was barred from practicing medicine in his country.

Vaccine Clipart. Source: Clipart Panda.

Even after many studies and investigations found no link between autism and the MMR vaccine, there were still people who believed in vaccines being the cause. Even after proof of his conflict of interest- his patent, there were still people who believed him. And at present, people who oppose vaccines can find like-minded individuals to share and cement their beliefs. Once an idea has been accepted by an individual, it becomes highly resistant to correction.

Example of misinformation and the inability to correct; Source: Chris Meserole (Law Fare Blog).

Further complicating the situation, everybody also tends to prefer to read content that relates to their narrative while ignoring other ones. Whether it be a news article, a comment, or even a blog post like this one, one must remain diligent about the content they are reading.

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Fast, Faster, Fastest

Posted on March 2, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Fast, Faster, Fastest

List of the world’s fastest 100 meter sprinters. Shorter time is better. Data retrieved from rankings.com

From horses to cars, trains to spaceships, many aspects of the world are happening in smaller time frames. For example, from Carl Lewis’ 1984 Olympic performance to Usain Bolt’s 9.58 s record at the Beijing Olympics. However, while sprinting has been slowly reaching its plateau, computational power has been exponentially growing.

Exponential growth of computational power over time

Modern day computers run at incredible speeds thanks to the even faster networks that have been developed today. From vacuum tube transistor to the 10 nm technology rolled out from Intel. Moore’s law is based on an observation by Gordon Moore, which found that the number of transistors that can fit inside an integrated circuit doubles every two years. 

Since 2017, Moore’s law has shown signs of stagnancy. It should have been obvious that at some point, this prediction would no longer hold up simply due to the physical limitations of shrinking the transistor size. With contemporary technology, the resources of constructing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) with 14 nm transistors, which is equivalent to 70 Silicon atoms, is entirely feasible. When transistors begin to approach the size of electrons, not only is it harder to trap electrons which are what makeup electrical currents inside the computers and dictate the 0’s and 1’s bit of information stored on the computer, manufacturing these smaller transistors also poses a problem as well. CPUs which essentially the brain of the computers, are made up of dies cut from large silicon wafers which need to made from pure silicon (99.9999%). The problem is to make the patterns on the die, one needs to have a laser source that is already much smaller than the wavelength of purple light: 400 nm. Lasers with shorter and shorter wavelengths are being used and eventually similar to microscopes the wavelengths of light are not longer able to be manipulated smaller and other sources will have to be used.

While the future seems uncertain on the fate of future computers, it is also amazing to think that computers that were used to launch mankind onto the moon are now dwarfed by the power of electronic devices that fits into our pockets. For the vast majority of consumers, it is not how fast the computer runs that dictate our productivity but how we decide to utilise it.

References:

(1)
http://www.umsl.edu/~siegelj/information_theory/projects/Bajramovic/www.umsl.edu/_abdcf/Cs4890/link1.html?fbclid=IwAR13eqZfAC6YzT0D16eWYz3goDs3BdUtmIbrIIxgc0D7Fy9uOcl8W8tw8ck (accessed Mar 2, 2019).
(2)
From Sand to Hand: How a CPU Is Made. Geek.com, 2009.
(3)
Jurvetson, S. Moore’s Law over 120 Years; 2016.
(4)
Top Ten Fastest 100 Meter Sprinters in History https://www.rankings.com/sports-track-sprinters/ (accessed Mar 2, 2019).

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Battery for future electric cars

Posted on March 2, 2019 by | 3 comments

In recent years, the car industry got a huge revolution for the blossoming of electric cars. More and more people put attention on electric cars for its quietness while running and amazing acceleration ability. Also, since electric cars are driven by electric motor, means no refuel on the gas station thus no direct CO2 emission, this environment-friendly property has been greatly spread by major media.

Source: C.-X. Zu & H. Li Energy Environ. Sci. 4, 2614–2624 (2011)/Avicenne

 

However, there are two major problems dragging the wide application of electric cars back. First, the cost of making the batteries for electric cars are extremely high. Winfried Wilcke, heads of IBM’s nanoscience and technology division got interviewed and said: “battery packs for electric cars cost more than $500 kWh−1“. While, in comparison, it is reported by The Union of Concerned Scientists, the cost of making electric cars are comparable to gasoline-powered cars if the cost for battery packs is between 125 and 150 kWh−1. Second, the range of electric cars from one charge is significantly smaller than gasoline cars. The range of electric cars is averaged at around 150mi while gasoline cars are around 400mi.

An electric car made by Tesla Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

 

For solving those problems mentioned above, research groups around the world are trying different solutions and developing new batteries. Magnesium-ion battery and  Sodium-oxygen battery are two of the approaches scientists working on. The Magnesium-ion battery uses magnesium ion that can carry the double amount of electrons of lithium carries and it migrate in pairs. In total, magnesium ions can carry four times more charges that currently used lithium ions.

For the sodium-oxygen battery, it can only provide half of the range supported by lithium-oxygen battery but 5 times more than the lithium-ion battery. Also, sodium is cheaper than lithium, therefore the cost of making battery pack to provide the same amount of range can be cut down to as low as 1/5 as the lithium-ion battery.

Adapted from Tao Liu, Gabriella Bocchetti and Clare P. Grey

As mentioned above, the lithium-oxygen battery has an amazing energy density to make the long-range electric car become reality, but as reported by a group in the University of Cambridge, the impurities in the air can clog the electrode of the lithium-oxygen battery and this damage the battery after few dozen charges. But researches are investigating the reasons behind it and finding solutions to solve it.

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The Worth of Bachelor’s Degree

Posted on March 2, 2019 by | 4 comments

Is College Still Worth It? | Jason Lange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB2WWhd9fwk& (accessed Mar 1, 2019).

We are always told at a very young age, that if we ever want to be something that the only path is to go to university. As such, many of us go off to school to attain our bachelor’s degree but is the degree worth it?  Over-saturation in the number of graduates with bachelors¹ has given rise to the issue that with more and more people having degrees, even higher education is required. Given available data, the amount of earned bachelor’s degrees in the STEM field (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in America has risen by 48% from the years 2000-2012. The trend-line heavily implies a significant and steep rise in graduates with bachelor’s² in the coming years with no clear sign in slowing down.

A graph of total bachelor’s degree vs. year in STEM in American colleges.
Who earns bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering? https://nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/college-14.html (accessed Mar 1, 2019).

With this increased trend of higher education, over-saturation is a prominent problem that is affecting thousands of unemployed graduates³. While the minimum used to be a high school degree, it seems that in this modern era a bachelor’s degree is now the new minimum. While before a bachelor’s degree could get a decent paying job, now seems to be the requirement into most entry-level positions. An example would be a degree in psychology, due to its high saturated field, a Ph.D. is required to get anywhere in psychology. This doesn’t mean that a bachelor is worthless though, the skills you attain during your studies can be easily and readily translated to many differing jobs. In the case of psychology, the people skills and understanding of the psyche can be translated4 into numerous jobs that require communication. When compared to the time of our parents, the amount of graduates is significantly less than today’s trends.

Graph of Parent’s highest education of graduates with Bachelor’s (2007/2008) in American Colleges
What level of education do parents of recent bachelor’s graduates have? https://nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/college-01.html (accessed Mar 1, 2019).

The data provided from a 2007/2008 study, indicates that the students graduating with a bachelor’s degree; roughly 50% of their parents had a bachelor’s degree or higher. This is a clear indication that trend-lines of graduates have significantly risen over the years5, and will only continue to rise throughout the coming years. While this doesn’t indicate that university or a bachelor’s degree is worthless6, it is still quite worthwhile to attain higher education. This trend-line only indicates that with each passing year the market of graduates will only get more saturated, resulting in more and more unemployed graduates. So while it’s worthwhile to get a bachelors, it will be significantly more worthwhile to get a masters or doctoral degree.

 

~ Danial Yazdan

¹Cardoso, A. R. Economics Letters 2007, 94 (2), 271–277.

²Graham, M. J.; Frederick, J.; Byars-Winston, A.; Hunter, A.-B.; Handelsman, J. Science 2013, 341 (6153), 1455–1456.

³Who will hire all the PhDs? Not Canada’s universities. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/who-will-hire-all-the-phds-not-canadas-universities/article10976412/ (accessed Mar 1, 2019).

4Coldwell, W. A PhD with your coffee? Barista serving your drink might be better. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/a-phd-with-your-coffee-barista-serving-your-drink-might-be-better-educated-than-you-are-8895053.html (accessed Mar 1, 2019).

4Astin, A. W. (1998). The changing american college student: Thirty-year trends, 1966-1996. The Review of Higher Education, 21(2), 115

6Lavoie, M.; Finnie, R. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques 1999, 25 (1), 101.

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Insomnia has a shared genetic risk with mental illness and metabolic disorders

Posted on March 2, 2019 by | 3 comments

Recently, Professor Danielle Posthuma from the Free University of Amsterdam and Professor Eus JW Van Someren from the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience convened an international research team. This team has identified the cell types, regions, and biological processes that mediate the genetic risk of insomnia for the first time. Genetic risk is the contribution genes play in the chance of developing certain diseases. These findings, published in Nature Genetics, are a significant step in mastering the mechanisms that cause insomnia.

Image from Marygrace Taylor

Insomnia is a very common disorder in today’s society. Currently, one out of every 10 persons has a poor quality of long-term sleep and suffers from the serious consequences of insomnia during the day. Nearly 800 million people worldwide suffer from chronic insomnia.

Prevalence of Insomnia in the General Adult Population by Age. Data taken from DOI: 10.3988/jcn.2009.5.1.20

Although treatments relieve some symptoms, most people with insomnia still complain that they cannot sleep well. It has been found that susceptibility to insomnia often runs in families, and it seems that the problem is related to the brain. Before this study, researchers had only discovered several genes associated with insomnia susceptibility, and it was not clear which areas of the brain do these genes work in. To solve those problems, such a large study was conducted.

The findings were achieved by evaluating the DNA and sleep characteristics of more than 1.33 million people. The researchers identified a total of 956 genes that contribute to the risk of insomnia. They found that some of these genes have a major impact on the function of axons. Axons are a protrusion from a neuron that allows brain cells to communicate with each other. Another part of these genes is active in specific cell types in the frontal cortex and subcortical nucleus of the brain.

Neuron Structure. Retrieved from Wikipedia Common.

Brain Domain. Image Created by Dorling Kindersley

The researchers compared risk genes for insomnia with risk genes for other diseases. Surprisingly, Insomnia is genetically more related to psychiatric traits ( depression, anxiety, etc.) and metabolic traits (obesity, diabetes, etc.) than to other sleep traits. Here is a YouTube video about insomnia, depression, and anxiety.

Danielle Posthuma, a research author and professor of statistical genetics, said: “Our study shows that insomnia, like so many other neuropsychiatric disorders, is influenced by 100’s of genes, each of small effect. These genes by themselves are not that interesting to look at. What counts is their combined effect on the risk of insomnia. We investigated that with a new method, which enabled us to identify specific types of brain cells.” Guin Smit, a neurobiologist at the Free University of Amsterdam, said: ” These findings are a breakthrough since we can now for the first time start searching for underlying mechanisms in individual brain cells in the laboratory.”

 

 

Wenxin Zhao

 

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