Category Archives: New and innovative science

With Age Comes Wisdom

Posted on March 18, 2011 by | Comments Off on With Age Comes Wisdom

Researchers from Sussex University have found that there may be some truth to the old saying “listen to your elders”, or at least in elephants there is.  When comparing the leadership skills of matriarch elephants it seems that wisdom really does come with age.

Source: kenyatravelideas.com

In simulated crises, matriarchs over the age of 60 tended to assess threats more accurately than their younger counterparts.  Researchers led by Karen McComb played recordings of various lion roars to 39 wild elephant families in Ambseli National Park in Kenya and judged how defensive they became after hearing the threatening lion calls.

Both the young and old matriarch elephants reacted more defensively to the calls of three lions than to the call of only one lion, showing that they could both accurately make threat assessments based on quantity.  However, only the older matriarchs reacted more defensively to the calls of male lions than those of female lions.  This strong reaction to male lions is an important awareness that can only be gained from experience.  Although male lions do not often attach elephants, when they do the results can be devastating.  It only takes a single male lion to bring down an elephant calf.

Source: hk.science.museum

You can watch a video here to see the defensive behaviour of the elephants after a lion call is sounded.

In the wild elephant herds can remain together for decades, so having a matriarch that can provide leadership as well safety is invaluable.

There seems to be a trade-off between old and young matriarchs.  With a young matriarch the herd gains the strength and fitness of a young leader who can defend the group, but an older matriarch offers experience and wisdom to accurately assess danger to the herd.  Given the choice wild elephants value experience over youth.

The original article can be found here.

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Posted in Biological Sciences, New and innovative science

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Tree Rings Give Scientists Insight to Earthquake History

Posted on March 18, 2011 by | Comments Off on Tree Rings Give Scientists Insight to Earthquake History

It’s something we’ve all probably heard through the grapevine – the ‘looming’ earthquake that is going to hit the Vancouver region. After the recent devastation on Japan, one may be led to wonder, how are the effects seen down the road? Will the anguish still be prevalent hundreds, or even thousands of years from now?

In a recent conversation with Tom Balakshin (a friend and avid geologist) about the earthquake history in the Pacific Northwest, he enlightened me on how scientists track the history of seismic activity – specifically noting an earthquake that occurred in Northwest Washington approximately 1000 years ago. Though physical traits such as an abrupt uplift in shorelines, and evidence of a deposition from a tsunami, one of the most fascinating discoveries looks past the land formations, and to the vegetation of the surrounding land.

Prehistoric rock avalanches (believed to be the product of forceful seismic activity) in the Olympic Mountains between 1000 and 1300 years ago caused surrounding trees and plants to be completely submerged in water – trapping them in by rock dams. Scientists were able to determine the trees that drowned during the avalanche by observing tree rings. Trees that were underwater showed patterns uncharacteristic of those in normal conditions, such as diminished wood quality and varying ring spacing due to the death of outer layers. Analysis of the dead wood allowed scientists to determine that the avalanche predated the last ring about 100 years, as well as also indicating which season the trees died in.

Who would’ve thought that the rings of a tree could not only tell age, but also the environmental conditions that were present at that time? Even though the memories of those victimized through these devastations never fade, this just goes to show the Earth itself has its own way of keeping track of these natural catastrophes.

Check out this brief video on how scientists actually use the rings to reveal the tree’s history!

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Environment, New and innovative science, Science in the News

Dealing with Nuclear Waste – How can we hide something forever?

Posted on March 17, 2011 by | 1 comment

Radiation Symbol - Daderot via Wikimedia Commons

Nuclear waste is toxic to all organisms and remains active for 100 000 years. To put that in perspective, it’s about the same amount of time that the human species has existed and we’ve changed a lot in that time frame.

To find out how nuclear radiation affects people you can read this article on ABC News, or watch: Radiation and the Human Body – ABC News.

Nuclear power plants have produced between 250 000 and 300 000 tons of nuclear waste worldwide. Interim storage of this waste currently consists of above ground water pools. This is not a viable long-term solution because conditions are unpredictable and long-term, in this case, is 100 000 years. We have no idea what the world will be like in that amount of time.

Finland has begun creating a permanent storage facility for their nuclear waste. They’ve named it Onkalo – “hiding place” in Finish. Onkalo consists of a series of tunnels descending 5 kilometers into the bedrock. Construction began in 1970 and will be finished in 2100, meaning that nobody working on the project today will be alive when it is finished. When Onkalo is complete the tunnel will be filled with rock and clay, and the entire site will disappear back into the surrounding area.

The documentary “Into Eternity” gives a disquieting look at the construction of Onkalo and science behind it. Narrated as though it is being watched by a future generation, the film begins by saying “stay away from this place and then you will be safe.” You can watch the film on youtube.

There is no way to guarantee that future species won’t dig into Onkalo. We are still unable to decipher many of the languages spoken by our ancestors. Will languages spoken today mean anything in the future? How can we communicate danger to the unknown?

Whether or not to mark Onkalo’s presence is still being debated. Many worry that marking the site will peak the curiosity of future “humans”, leading them to dig it up, before understanding that it was built to protect them. Humans have a history of ignoring signs to leave things undisturbed. When the Egyptian’s built the pyramids, they never intended for them to be excavated. However, the wishes of the distant past were not enough to stop us. On the other hand, what if we don’t mark it and it is discovered by accident and there are no warnings in place?

This leads me to think that curiosity might have killed the cat, but radiation may wipe out the future and makes me wonder if nuclear energy is really a good alternative energy source? Is it really responsible to leave around tons toxic waste that could destroy future organisms? And isn’t it rather unsettling that even after 130 years of construction the only thing we’re going to be able to do is hope that Onkalo and the secret it contains are never discovered?

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Posted in Environment, Issues in Science, New and innovative science, Uncategorized

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Searching for disease-unlocking keys

Posted on March 13, 2011 by | 1 comment

Ryan Centko, molecular connoisseur

Have you ever heard of a molecular connoisseur? Like wine connoisseurs, they are able to pick up on minute details and identify differences that an untrained person cannot. Only they are identifying molecular structure-scale details and differences, not fruity legs and woody undertones. My friend Ryan Centko is a self-described molecular connoisseur in training. And as part of research that was just published in Organic Letters, he recently helped discover 4 previously unknown molecular compounds in a fungus called Penicillium purpurogenum. While the 4 compounds found are structurally very similar, they may differ from one another in one or two very subtle ways. The structures that Ryan helped to uncover could prove to be the keys that unlock, or cure, diseases that do not yet have effective cures.

Ryan is part of a group of scientists working in a lab at UBC scouring previously unidentified or unexamined organisms for new compounds. He recently spoke with me about his work on Penicillium purpurogenum, the purplish fungus found on Averrhoa Bilimbi, or what can be better described as cucumber trees, in Sri Lanka.

Averrhoa Bilimbi, the cucumber fruit tree. de Silva photo.

Penicillium purpurogenum in a petri dish. de Silva photo.

I found out that the fungus was brought over to UBC researcher Raymond J. Anderson’s lab by a Sri Lankan scientist named Dilip de Silva. Ryan, a PhD candidate working under Anderson, got to take part in the analysis of this exciting organism. To begin the search for unique molecular compounds, the fungus was first prepared for examination. This involved growing it in petri dishes in the lab. Once the fungus grew into a large enough amount, it was mixed with a solvent such as ethanol. Finally, the whole mixture was dried into a sort of paste – the optimal substance for the identification of new compounds.

The four new compounds found within the Sri Lankan Penicillium purpurogenum have been named Dhilirolides A, B, C, and D. Ryan and the rest of the team have sent out the Dhilirolides A – D compounds to researchers around the world who are going to be taking these “keys” and seeing whether they have antibiotic potential (seeing whether they can find the appropriate disease “locks”). In the meanwhile, Ryan and the rest of the team are looking for more unique compounds within Penicillium purpurogenun – Dhilirolides E – Z, perhaps? As Ryan says, the more unique structures they find, the better chance they have of finding something that could work as an antibiotic.

Read Ryan’s Organic Letters paper here!

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Posted in Biological Sciences, New and innovative science

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The Keys to Longevity

Posted on March 12, 2011 by | 1 comment

Longevity is a goal most of us strive for, and in most of our minds the keys to accomplishing this consists of being happy, eating healthy, and not stressing too much. However, it appears that these common assumptions made by people are in fact wrong. In a recent article published by Science Daily (which can be found here), they reported the findings of a twenty year study about longevity and the results are not what we would expect.

Image from: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature1/index.html

The study, which is called “The Longevity Project”, was conducted by a group of scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). These scientists examined, and refined previously collected data by Stanford University. The data which was initiated back in 1921, documented the lives of over 1500 children as they grew, starting from the age of ten. The children were studied throughout their lives, and information regarding family histories, relationships, hobbies, pet ownership, job success, education levels, military service, and numerous other details were collected. The scientists at UCR discovered many similarities in the data and they concluded that personality characteristics and social relations from childhood can predict one’s risk of dying decades later.

On average, it was discovered that test subjects who were the most cheerful and had the best sense of humor as kids lived shorter lives. While, individuals that were most prudent and persistent stayed the healthiest and lived the longest. This is definitely counterintuitive to what most people think. It appears that the subjects that were cheerful as kids tended to take more risks with their health across the years, hence risky or dangerous activities shortened the lives of many. Those that were prudence and persistence on the other hand, often developed many important and beneficial habits throughout their lives. The scientists found out that happiness is not a cause of good health, but instead happiness and health are related because they have common roots.

Image from: http://www.forbes.com/2002/08/07/0807sport_8.html

Furthermore, some of these intriguing key findings include that marriage may be good for men’s health, but it does not really matter for women. Men who remained in long term marriages generally lived longer than single or divorced men. As well continually productive men and women lived much longer than their more laid-back counterparts. Lastly, people who felt loved and cared for reported a better sense of well-being, but surprisingly it did not help them live longer. The clearest health benefit of social relationships comes from being involved with and helping others. The groups you associate with often determine the type of person you become, healthy or unhealthy.

These results are definitely interesting, and hence we should keep them in mind when we are trying to extend our longevity. In fact, it would probably be beneficial if we started to incorporate some of these findings in to our daily lives. For instance, we should all be more productive, and we should all be more involved. Hopefully in the future, the average life expectancy of people can exceed 100 years old.

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Posted in Biological Sciences, General, New and innovative science, Physical Sciences, Uncategorized

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