Category Archives: Science in the News

Spiders: The more you fear them the bigger they appear.

Posted on March 4, 2012 by | 3 comments

Spider on a bathroom floor; image from flickr: MightyBoyBrian

 Eek! That creepy, crawly creature with eight legs that is inching towards you seems to be getting bigger and bigger. The next day when you recall your encounter with it, you describe it as “HUGE”. This fear that you feel when in the presence of a spider makes it actually appear larger in size than it really is. Having a phobia of something changes the  appearance of the object in a negative perspective to the person who is afraid of it.

Syringe; Image from flickr: hitthatswitch

For example, if the fear is not of spiders, perhaps it is of needles. These medical tools are associated with pain and therefore may appear larger to people who are more frightened of them. Personally, I am terrified of needles and this fear is detrimental to my health as I tend to avoid medical attention unless absolutely necessary. This is for fear of the possibility that I may get a needle. Phobia makes things more fearful and in return they appear larger in order to be more intimidating.

In order to prove this theory as factual, Michael Vasey, a professor of psychology at Ohio State University, ran a study that got published in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders. The target of the study was people who were suffering from a condition called arachnophobia. These people were extremely afraid of spiders and were observed over an eight week time period. The subjects were asked to approach a spider in a glass tank and were then asked to touch it with an 8-inch probe and then again with a shorter probe. After they had interacted with the spider, they were then asked to rate how much anxiety they felt on a scale from 1-100 and then were asked to draw how large they thought the spider had been in length from it’s tip to back end. 

Touching a spider; image from flickr: ŶΣŅΡǾΧ

Results

There were 57 people who participated in the experiment and it was found that there was a positive correlation; the more afraid a person was of the spider, the larger they thought it was in size. Vasey describes fear as a cycle, the bigger the spider appears, the more it is feeding into the phobia and the harder it will be to overcome in the future. This shows how our perception of an object is actually altered by the presence of fear. In order to treat phobias, psychologists have used exposure therapy where the effects are still not really understood to this day. This study also notices that a negative attitude is the factor which causes anxiety to heighten towards a “scary” object.

The purpose of this study is to eventually be able to treat these fears in the future. For now, scientists are working alongside psychologists to understand how fear can be controlled, and perhaps even diminished, for future phobic patients out there.

References:

Science Daily article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222204241.htm

MedicineNet.com blog post:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=155239

3 Comments

Posted in Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged , , , , , ,

Disrupted Biological Clocks Shown to Cause Neurodegeneration and Early Death

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | 3 comments

Researchers at Oregon State University have managed to show that disruptions to the biological clock can directly lead to neurodegeneration— the progressive loss of nerve cells—and early death. These findings are significant, as they represent a step forward in the extensive study of circadian rhythms, which are the basis of our internal clock.

The sleep cycle is affected by the biological clock. (Source: 'marcinbunsch' on flickr.com)

Circadian rhythms coordinate many of our biological processes, from eating and sleeping to molecular processes such as hormonal secretions. Over millions of years, animals’ internal ‘clocks’ have been fine-tuned to align very closely with the 24-hour periodicity of Earth’s rotation—that is, our biological clocks are synced with the length of the 24-hour day that we know. These internal rhythms are what cause us to eat at regular intervals throughout the day, and what cause us to sleep at night and wake in the morning. In other words, our biological clocks are responsible for our internal synchronization.

Many studies have been conducted on the effect these circadian rhythms have on animal health. Disruptions to the biological clock have previously been linked with neurodegeneration; however, it was not apparent whether these disruptions were the cause or the result of the neurodegeneration. The study at Oregon State University is the first to demonstrate that disruptions to the biological clock are, in fact, a cause of neurodegeneration and early death.

Fruit Fly (Drosophila melanogaster). (Source: 'Oregon State University' on flickr.com)

The researchers conducted the study on fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), which have been found to share many similarities with humans. The flies used in the study were genetically modified to show signs of neurodegeneration. In order to assess the effect of disruptions to the internal clock, some of these flies were further modified to have interrupted circadian rhythms.

It was found that the flies with disrupted internal clocks had a 32 to 50 percent shorter lifespan than those without the internal disruption. In addition, these flies also exhibited accelerated neurogeneration—as evidenced by signs of holes in the brain—along with decreased climbing ability.

Holes forming in fruit fly brain. (Source: 'Oregon State University' on flickr.com)

These results clearly show the importance of the biological clock in the maintenance of animal health and functioning. Through this study, a greater understanding of circadian rhythms and their effects on organisms has been achieved.

 

 

 

References:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120110140225.htm

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2012/jan/disruption-biological-clocks-causes-neurodegeneration-early-death

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Electric Cars Could Be Charged Wirelessly While Driving

Posted on February 13, 2012 by | 4 comments

While we used AC power and wires to build a massive electrical network in the 20th century, wireless energy technology could revolutionize the world in the years to come!  Recently researchers at Stanford University announced that they are working on a way to charge moving electric cars using a series of coils embedded in freeways. A wireless charging system would address a major drawback of plug in electric car, their limited driving range. The all electric Nissan Leaf, for example, gets less than 100 miles on a single charge, and the battery takes several hours to fully recharge.

(Image from ddmcdn website: (wireless energy) According to the theory, one coil can recharge any device that is in range, as long as the coils have the same resonant frequency.)

The Stanford project was funded by the Global Climate and Energy Project, and it is an extension of a wireless charging system (WiTricity) developed at MIT, which uses magnetic resonant inductive coupling technology famously developed by Nikola Tesla in 1894. The technology takes advantage of the magnetic property of electricity by communicating energy between two copper coils tuned to resonate at the same frequency. As one coil is charged, the other will absorb the resulting magnetic field and turn it back into electrical energy.

How this system works?

[(Image from Stanford: It shows how electric cars can be charged on the power line(highway)]

Two researchers from Stanford University proved that the coils could deliver 10 kilowatts of energy for 6.5 feet, and even more impressively the transfer of electricity is 97% efficient. Coils set into the road could give vehicles enough energy to move while charging their batteries at the same time, making the whole exercise of charging an electric car completely hands free. Because the coils are designed to be set in the middle of lanes, it is possible that they could also help navigate driverless technologies as well.

YouTube Preview Image

Video from Youtube: Postdoctoral scholar Xiaofang Yu explains the idea behind the new technology.

Fan and his colleagues recently filed a patent application for their wireless system. The next step is to test it in the laboratory and eventually try it out in real driving conditions.

“You can very reliably use these computer simulations to predict how a real device would behave,” Fan said.

The researchers also want to make sure that the system won’t affect drivers, passengers or navigation, air conditioning and other vehicle operations.

 

References

1.http://singularityhub.com/2009/06/30/the-wireless-future-of-energy-tranfer/

2.http://inhabitat.com/stanford-develops-wireless-electric-car-charging-system-for-highways/

3.http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/wireless-power.htm

4.http://www.teslaradio.com/pages/tesla.htm

 

 

 

 

 

4 Comments

Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged , , , ,

How The Zebra Got Its Stripes

Posted on February 13, 2012 by | 3 comments

Ever wonder why zebras have that distinctive black and white striped pattern? Scientist Gábor Horváth and his team have come up with a new explanation: Zebra’s stripes evolved to help ward off blood-sucking tabanids, more commonly known as horseflies.

Zebra

Photo from Flickr by garymacfadyen

Originally, scientists thought that zebras were white animals that developed black stripes over time. They thought this because the underbelly of the animal is white.  However, it has been found that zebra embryos actually start out black and develop their white stripes during their gestational period.  Horváth and his team hypothesized that zebras developed their white stripes to become less attractive to horseflies. Horseflies are attracted to horizontally polarized light.  This is because these insects like to mate and lay their eggs in water, which polarizes light horizontally.  Female horseflies, the ones that do the blood-sucking, are also attracted to the horizontally polarized light reflected from animals’ hides.  Darker surfaces reflect horizontally polarized light; this explains why horseflies are more attracted to darker horses than they are to white ones.

Horsefly

Horsefly photo from Flickr by Nigel Jones (insectman)

The researchers conducted their study at a horse farm close to Budapest, which was heavily infested with horseflies. The team used models of horses with black and white striped patterns, which varied in the angle, density and width of the stripes.  Also, they reflected different directions of polarized light off the models.  Their prediction was that completely white models would have the least, dark models would have the most, and striped ones would have an intermediate amount of flies.  Using oil and glue to trap the flies, it was found that the striped models actually attracted the least amount of flies.

Using their data that was collected, they found that the width of zebras’ stripes are positively correlated with the striped patterns that horseflies were least attracted to.  It was also seen that narrower stripes were less attractive to horseflies. This led Horváth and his team to conclude that the zebra developed its striped pattern to ward off horseflies.

A Zebra Camouflaged in tall grass. Photo from Flickr by Mister.Tee

There could be other reasons why zebras evolved stripes.  One reason may have been to camouflage into tall grass, as most of the zebra’s predators are colour blind. It is possible that the stripes may have evolved to confuse predators, making it hard to focus on one zebra at a time.  Another reason may have been for reproduction, with the stripes being a way for the animals to tell each other apart and choose mates.

It is likely that the evolution of the zebra’s stripes is a combination of many or all of these ideas, and there could also be other reasons.  One thing is for sure, nature is fascinating, and it is amazing to know that it is very likely that zebras evolved stripes to act as a natural insect repellent.  I may test this theory myself; you might see me wearing stripes next time I’m hiking through the woods!

References:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209101730.htm

http://jeb.biologists.org/content/215/5/iii

http://earthsky.org/biodiversity/how-zebras-got-their-stripes

 

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Immune Cells from Healthy Donors May Help Fight Cancer Cells in Patients

Posted on February 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

 

Image from University of Oslo : Professor Johanna Olweus and her research team

Today, it is estimated that 2 out of 5 Canadians develop some type of cancer during their lifetime. Cancer rates are increasing around the world and is becoming a major concern. Professor Johanna Olweus and her research team at the University of Oslo have recently come up with a new method to treat certain types of cancer. The treatment involves using immune cells from donors to attack cancers cells in the patient. They claim that this approach has potential to eradicate cancer forever.

 

Image from Wikipedia by Fvasconcellos : General structure of an antibody

There is no known “cure” for cancer at present, but it is managed in several different ways. Immunotherapy treatments have been quite successful for several cases. Immunotherapy for cancer usually involves introducing antibodies or performing bone marrow transplants. Antibodies are proteins produced by white blood cells that recognize specific pathogenic cells, molecules, or the infected host cells. By tagging the infected cells, antibodies allow the body’s immune system to attack only those cells and prevent further damage. However, antibody-mediated treatments are not always effective because due to its high specificity, antibody targeted against one type of cancer cell is not effective for others.

 

Image from Flickr by Microbe World : T cell (center)

Bone marrow transplants are performed for patients with leukemia or lymphatic cancer. It involves transferring the bone marrow, which produces new blood cells, and T cells from the donor. T cells are important immune cells that, like antibodies, target specific cells and perform immune responses. Host T cells do not recognize cancer cells as foreign or harmful, however, since cancer cells are in fact host’s own cells that grow and replicate uncontrollably. The added T cells recognize cancer cells both as foreign and harmful, and act quickly to eliminate them. The treatment is effective but also very dangerous at the same time; new T cells can attack normal, uninfected cells of other intestines, causing serious damage or even death.

 

Professor Olweus attempts to combine the effectiveness of the transplant treatment with the accuracy of the antibody treatment. She was able to select donated T cells that targeted cells found only in specific organs. The injected T cells killed both healthy and infected target cells, preventing the tumor from spreading any further. This could be a powerful tool for people with types of cancer such as breast or liver cancer, which affect organs that people can live without, or that can be replaced with transplants. Another advantage is that T cells are more effective in detecting abnormalities in a cell. Antibodies only scan the cell surface but T cells can analyze both inside and outside of cells, providing a higher level of accuracy.

 

The study has promising aspects, but obviously has limitations. The method doesn’t seem to work for cancers such as lung cancer where we can’t manage to live without the organ. Most people would still prefer to live with their organs intact, and it would be ideal if only the infected cells were targeted. With further research, hopefully we will be able to overcome such limitations.

 

References :

http://www.cancer.ca/quebec/about%20cancer/cancer%20statistics/cancer%20statistics%20in%20quebec.aspx

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/apr2003/canc-a26.shtml

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120203091815.htm

Leave a comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Medicine, Science in the News

Tagged , , ,

No more wires! Vital Signs monitored by Electronic Tattoos

Posted on February 6, 2012 by | 4 comments

The new patch that will revolutionise a patient's medical monitoring system. Image from John Rogers (University of Illinois)

The future looks bright for electronic monitoring, as temporary tattoos could revolutionise how the medical system keeps tabs on it’s patients.  The old, bulky devices that have been seen in hospitals, may now be replaced by the new, state-of-the-art temporary tattoo vital sign monitors.  Imagine the option of being monitored medically without the sticky gels and electrodes hooking you up to a machine; it sounds ideal to me! 

Electrodes; Image from Flickr: quinn.anya

Composition

John Rogers of the University of Illinois, termed this patch and it’s functions as “Epidermal Electronics.”    It takes the chemical components of larger electrodes (such as diodes, transmitters etc) that are found in the medical monitors of today, and builds them into wires only nanometers in size.  Rubber is then placed underneath this framework of wires which are placed on a water-soluble patch that resembles the structure of a rub-on tattoo and is only 40 micrometers in size (see Picture #1)!   The patch is flexible enough to expand and contract with the movement of the skin.  Application of the device is very similar to that of a rub-on tattoo, where it can be applied with a wet cloth and then a plastic shield is removed to reveal the vital-sign monitor.

 How it works
 
 How does this electronic device stick onto the skin of a person without falling off?  The chemistry of van der waals forces come into play, where the device touches the skin and they create an electric attraction between molecules.  This allows them to bend and form together with the two forces interacting to prevent the patch from falling off. 
If a patient is concerned with how the device appears, there is always the option of concealing it with a temporary tattoo that has a different design.  The video below from Youtube and NewScientist explains the monitor using a rub-on tattoo to hide the actual device: 

 YouTube Preview Image

Rogers and his team of researchers were able to determine that the chip was affective using a study of volunteers.  These people were able to place the minature monitor on their necks and any electrical changes from muscle movement throughout their body was sent through a computer that determined the participant’s vitals.

 What does this mean?

This device seems to be very beneficial for patients that need to be monitored for a few days in a clinical environment, however nowadays as our world is becoming more electronic we may be able to do this ourselves one day. The more options we will have for microscopic wireless devices in our everyday lives will rise. For example, iphones are currently creating applications to determine things like blood pressure, which is just a step in the direction of having vital signs monitored by our own cellphones!  The result could then be forwarded to a doctor electronically: no hassle, no fuss!

References:

NewScientist:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20787-electronic-tattoos-to-monitor-vital-signs.html

Article in The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/technology/wireless-medical-monitoring-might-untether-patients.html

 John Rogers of the University of Illinois:
http://chemistry.illinois.edu/faculty/John_Rogers.html

 

4 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Medicine, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

The Neuropsychology Behind Rubbing that Stubbed Elbow

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Everyone has experienced it at least once, where a slip or misjudgement quickly led to a painful stubbing of your elbow or toe. Usually when this happens though, there’s a near reflexive behavior we exhibit: we begin to rub the injured area instinctively-thinking this will help the pain! Could there be an actual biological purpose behind this? Well according to a 20th century theory from Neuroscientists Ronald Melzack and David Wall, pain and touch may actually compete for perception from your elbow to the brain. This  concept is known as the Gate Control Theory of Pain, and is still a dominant theory of the interactions of touch and pain today.

So how could rubbing your whacked elbow dull out the pain? The theory is based on the pathways of two receptors: mechanoreceptors, which transmit touch as changes in pressure, vibration and movement on the skin; and nociceptors, which transmit pain from damage or potential damage to the skin. Both receptors send nerve signals through different pathways to a region of the spinal cord known as the Substantia Gelatinosa (SG), which is full of transmission cells that send pain and touch signals to the brain.

Though both pain and touch nerve fibres leave the skin and arrive at the SG, the speeds at which they get there are drastically-different. Touch sensations reach the spinal cord through A-beta fibres, which are very fast due to their wide, myelinated axons. The sharp pain of nociception travels through slightly-slower myelinated A-delta fibres, and that dull, throbbing pain we feel occurs from a separate, slower C fibre.

The three theoretical states of the Pain Control gate. Via HowStuffWorks.com (References)

What Melzack and Wall’s Gate Control Theory proposes is that if touch and pain meet together in the SG, then touch will have an inhibitory effect on the transmission of the sensation of pain (left). So relating this back to that painfully-stubbed elbow, at first you’d may remember feeling a sharp A-delta pain followed by a dull C-fibre one (S). However, if you rub at the injured area afterwards, then the fast A-beta touch fibres (L) may cause an overwhelming inhibitory effect on the pain transmission through the SG, exchanging the perception as touch instead! So perhaps rubbing that elbow really does make a difference in the end. Worth noting though is there is a reason this theory has received scrutiny; it is a rather simple theory to explain an entire range of somatosensation we experience, and recent physiological work has shown that the transmission of pain and touch is more complicated than what the Pain Control Gate theory suggests. Regardless, it may be the only somatosensory theory that can explain the many observed interactions between pain and touch, including why rubbing the skin of that stubbed elbow seems to mask the pain so well.

References

Wolfe, J. M., Kluender, K. R., Levi, D. M., Bartoshuk, L. M., et al. (2009). Sensation and Perception. (2nd ed.). Sinauer Associates, Inc.

http://www.drgordongadsby.talktalk.net/page13.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/pain4.htm

Leave a comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Medicine, Science Communication, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Scientists Manage to Cloak a Three-dimensional Object

Posted on January 30, 2012 by | 1 comment

Researchers at the University of Texas have managed to cloak a three-dimensional object, essentially rendering the object invisible from all angles. This feat represents a major breakthrough in cloaking research, with previous studies having been either limited to two dimensions, or merely theoretical.

So, does this mean that Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak has become a reality? Not quite. This study was limited to working with waves at microwave frequencies, meaning that waves falling within the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum would still render the object detectable.

Left: Microwaves being blocked and scattered by object. Right: Microwaves being reconstructed by cloak. (Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16726609)

The researchers employed the use of plasmonic metamaterials—manmade materials with special light-bending properties. These metamaterials interact with light in a way that is opposite to that of ordinary materials. Our ability to see an object relies entirely on the process of light waves striking its surface and then reflecting back into our eyes. In the case of plasmonic metamaterials, waves striking their surface are scattered and reflected in a manner such that a “photo negative” is produced. This, in turn, results in the original waves being cancelled out, and it is this cancellation effect that renders the object invisible.

The process is similar to the way in which noise-cancelling headphones work. The headphones reduce outside noises by receiving them through a microphone, inverting them, and then playing the inverted signal back through the headphones. Since the inverted audio waves are completely out of phase with the audio waves coming from the listener’s environment, the two waves cancel each other out, significantly reducing the sound levels heard.

In essence, this study relates to the effectiveness of plasmonic metamaterials in cloaking real, three-dimensional objects in space. Although this study was limited to microwaves, the researchers hope to eventually extend their studies to work with waves in the visible light spectrum.

1 Comment

Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged