Author Archives: Keanson Phanvan

The Truth Behind Aspartame

Posted on November 13, 2018 | 2 comments

Sugar vs. Aspartame (artificial sweetener): if you were to ask anyone which of the two they think is the healthier alternative, the majority of people would say the latter. Is that really the case, or is the negative connotation associated with “sugar” masking the truth?

Common Sweetener Packets. (Image from Evan-Amos [Public domain], Wikimedia Commons)

For years people have been trying to cut down on their sugar intake and have been looking for a healthier alternative. For some, they miss and crave the sweet taste of sugar because their body is unable to properly regulate it. As a result, many of these people have found their solution in artificial and natural sweeteners. One of the most successful and controversial artificial sweeteners, aspartame, has especially sparked the interest of many. Is it better or worse than its sugar counterpart?

Over the last couple of decades, many claims have stated that aspartame increases the risk or is a cause of the following: headaches, dizziness, or depression. A 2007 study showed a link between cancer and aspartame in rats. Ironically, links to long-term weight gain have also been tied to aspartame intake.

On the other hand, Aspartame has been deemed safe for consumption up to 50 mg per kg of body weight, even in pregnant women and children. It is also a safe alternative for people with diabetes who cannot consume high sugar levels.

Sweeteners are substituted for sugar in many popular soft drinks. (Image from The Hits)

Comparing the pros and cons, aspartame looks to have some bad effects, but they can only be speculated, and has no real scientific basis to prove or disprove these claims. On the other hand, aspartame has been scientifically proven to be safe for consumption.

There are too many reasons to list why lots of sugar intake is bad for you.  Therefore, I am all for the switch to sweeteners like aspartame instead of sugar.

 

 

 

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Intentionally Bendable Phones?

Everyone remembers the huge backlash that Apple received back in September of 2014 with the release of their iPhone 6 Plus because of it’s ability to bend quite easily. With the amount of backlash that they got, surely no one in their right mind would purposely create a bendable phone right?

Well, according to a recently published article in Science Daily, engineers from The Austrian National University (ANU) have created a semiconductor material that can be used to make mobile phones bendable because of its thin and flexible properties. It is made up of both organic and inorganic materials; not to be confused with the ‘organic’ in ‘organic foods’, but meaning that it is carbon-based (and non-carbon based for inorganic).

The Inside of a Semiconductor Phone. (Image from Technology24)

And there’s more. This material is biodegradable and is easily recyclable, which would drastically reduce the amount of electronic waste created from electronic devices.

From 2014 – 2016 , only 3-4% of all E-waste around the world was recycled each year. Graph by Keanson Phanvan, data from The Global E-waste Monitor – 2017, United Nations University (UNU)

Surely this must provide some sort of trade-off: sacrificing computing power for environmentally friendly material in the phone. But it doesn’t. According to Dr. Sharma of the ANU Research School of Engineering,

“We have the potential with this semiconductor to make mobile phones as powerful as today’s supercomputers.”

We live in a world where we could potentially have a phone that is capable of bending whilst at the same time is able to run as fast as a computer. It is innovative, but do we really want our mobile phones to bend?

Personally, I would rather have my screens kept flat. I don’t see the advantages a bendable phone provides when it comes to texting, calling, scrolling, and watching movies, etc. I wouldn’t mind if you were able to bend it back into a completely flat shape, but if its like any kind of metal, that is not possible. As a perfectionist, even just a little curve in my phone would be enough to bother me tremendously.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for making alternatives to help our environment by reducing electronic waste, but I’m sure in the future there are going to be other alternatives that do exactly that without causing my mobile phone to bend. It doesn’t matter if the phone would hypothetically cost $1, the price of a bending phone is too much to pay.

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Posted on October 21, 2018 in Manufacturing, News

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Should Some Breads be Age Restricted?

Posted on September 23, 2018 | Leave a comment

What if I were to tell you that every time you had consumed bread from a bakery, you were also consuming alcohol as well?

Although it is not recent news, a common way for bakers to create loaves of bread is to add yeast into their dough to make it rise. This idea comes from a famous french chemist named Louis Pasteur, who discovered the process of fermentation in 1857. In this process however, ethanol (the type of alcohol found in beer and other alcoholic beverages) is produced as a product. Is bread really safe to eat without the feeling of intoxication?

The short answer: Yes.

The process of fermentation involves converting one molecule of glucose into two molecules of both ethanol and carbon dioxide in the absence of oxygen.

The Process of Ethanol Fermentation

According to chemical engineer/data scientist Josh Velson,

“However, during the baking process, most of the alcohol in the dough evaporates into the atmosphere. This is basically the same thing that happens to much of the water in the dough as well.”

So no worries, bread is perfectly fine to eat. If bread is one of your favourite things to eat like me, this feeling of relief is the best thing since sliced bread.

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