Author: Kenneth

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Environment Public Engagement Science in the News

“Doomsday” Pushed Back: Comet Elenin Desintegrated

A large comet spanning 3-5 km in width, large enough to have severe consequences if it had crash landed on Earth’s surface. Theorists hypothesized that it would be similar to the events that led to the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. These events may include unnatural drop in Earth’s atmospheric temperature, nuclear winters, and decreased sunlight.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_event

A comet is made of rock, ice, dust, and organic compounds and can be several kilometers long in diameter. However, comets are fragile and can be broken into smaller pieces fairly easily. NASA noted that comet Elenin flew within 75 million kilometers of the sun and broke apart. As the comet approached Earth, it was only a cloud of debris, only visible through a telescope.

 

Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program says that the comet won’t be back for another 12,000 years. He noted that there has been hype on the internet about the comet and the consequences of it entering Earth. Yeomans said that in scientific reality, the comet is incredibly miniscule to have any impact on Earth’s gravitational pull to affect any environmental changes on Earth. The comet passed Earth at a distance that is ninety times the distance of the moon, and its mass was one-hundredths the size of the moon. If anything, the moon is currently exerting significantly more environmental changes than Elenin.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

Maybe this event was nothing we should’ve been scared about in the first place. Only time will tell if the next space matter heading towards Earth is large enough for the hypothesized phenomena that were attributed to this comet.

 

Comet Elenin heads towards Earth

 

 

Further Reading:

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/10/25/remains-of-comet-elenin-maybe-spotted/

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-135

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Biological Sciences New and innovative science Science in the News

New technology used to map Yersinia pestis: New era of research into infectious diseases?

How cool would it be to track your ancestors back over 650 years? Well, if you are a Yersinia pestis, you are lucky because recently a group of Canadian scientists mapped the entire genetic makeup that will allow researchers to track your ancestor’s evolution and virulence over the centuries.

 

A scanning electron microscope micrograph depicting a mass of Yersinia pestis bacteria. Source: Wikipedia

So you may ask, what is a Yersinia pestis? Yersinia pestis is the bacteria that caused the Black Death in Europe. The epidemic caused by the bacteria was so great that it is estimated to have killed 30-60% of the population of Europe, in a span of two years. Due to their high virulence, when left untreated with antibiotics, two-thirds of those that get infected die usually within four days.

Source: Wikipedia
Source: Vancouver Sun

To gather data on the bacterium, the scientists took the remains of bones and teeth samples, carefully went through each piece to get all the different DNA’s found on the body. Then they filtered through all the DNA’s to find the one that belonged to Yersinia pestis. This “fishing” method of DNA could be used to study and reconstruct other ancient pathogens that turned into deadly killers, according to one of the researchers.

 

The Canadian scientists found that while comparing their reconstructed plasmid against the modern Y. pestis, it was found that the varient of Y. pestis maybe no longer be existing today. However, their study shows that Y. pestis DNA was found in the medieval dental tissues from the victims of the Black Death. This is another support that strengths the hypothesis that this bacterium was the organism that caused the medieval plague.

 

So, the mapping of Y. pestis may just be the start of genetic mapping of bacterial species. I wonder which virulent bacterium will be mapped next, revealing its stories of mutations and evolution through time.

 

 

 

 

More Info:

Original Paper:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/pmc/articles/PMC3179067/

 

 

Original News Article:

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Black+Death+mapping+marks+disease+study+researcher+says/5539174/story.html

Categories
Biological Sciences Science in the News

Natural trans fats: Beneficial for our bodies?

Walking down the isle of a grocery store, you come across a bag of cookies and a jug of milk. What do the two have in common? The presence of trans fat. Trans fat is the common name for unsaturated fat. To the everyday consumer, it’s the “bad stuff” that increases the risk chronic health problems.

So, what exactly are trans fats? They are fatty acids in the trans formation, which assemble into a solid much easier than those in cis shape. In industrial production level, they are made through hydrogenation of fatty acids.

Consumption of trans fats leads to many health issues. They include, increased risk of coronary heart disease, imbalance in the LDL:HDL ratio, obesity, liver dysfunction, diabetes and depression. With so many health risks attached to the consumption of trans fats, it is not surprising why they are labeled as the “bad stuff” among consumers.

Interestingly, not all trans fats are the bad. Recent research done by the Alberta Institute for Human Nutrition, and the Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, found that natural source of trans fat, such as milk and beef, may have potential benefits to cardiovascular health. According to Spencer Proctor, one of the researchers, their early research suggest that the intake of natural trans fats give similar effects as consuming polyunsaturated fatty acids. The potential benefits of natural trans fats include reduced weight gains, and cholesterol. On top of that, it may have anti-inflammatory effects.

Trans fat may be more beneficial than we thought previously, given that we only consume the natural ones. As they give similar outcomes as consuming polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are found mostly in nuts, seeds, fish, and vegetables. For those that avoided beef and milk due to trans fat can now go enjoy those products once again!.

Next time you go grocery shopping, keep this in mind!

 

Further Reading:

Research Article: Trans-11 Vaccenic Acid Dietary Supplementation Induces Hypolipidemic Effects in JCR:LA-cp Rats.

News Article: Vancouver Sun

 

 

 

 

 

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