Category Archives: Science in the News

Landscape Patterns Influence Lobsters’ Ability to Survive

Posted on November 28, 2012 by teepundora | Leave a comment

Marine life, as well as the ocean itself, plays an enormous part in people’s lives. From food resources to recreational activities and vacation spots, the marine environment has played many important roles. Since the ocean covers 70% of Earth’s surface, you can imagine the vast amount of marine species that rely on ocean habitat.

Jennifer Selgrath, a PhD student from University of British Columbia, seeks conservation solutions in marine habitats in order to contribute to ocean health. She conducted a research in Rhode Island using American lobsters as a model organism to determine the impact of habitat edges on the survival rates of animals that live in it. Jennifer hopes this research will find new alternatives in supporting ecosystems to protect natural environments.

Rhode Island
Image from Jennifer Selgrath

“I was really interested in taking ideas of conservation and ecology and applying them to real world conservation projects.” Jennifer spoke enthusiastically, “So it wasn’t just an idea that was something on paper but was rather making changes in the world.”

Here’s a video with a summary of Jennifer’s research as well as her explaining the research procedures and her results:

Jennifer later describes the trials she endured in order to perform the research underwater:

“When you scuba dive, you’re limited because you start building nitrogen in your body and so it’s actually dangerous to scuba dive too long or too deep.” Due to problems such as the limited time they can stay underwater, collecting data was not easy.

Jennifer’s team ready to dive into the ocean.
Image from Jennifer Selgrath

“There were big waves that would surge back and forth, so I would be trying to sample and catch lobsters and the waves would be pushing me back and forth, which was really difficult!” she explained with a smile as she recounted her experience. It was evident that her determination allowed her to overcome these challenges.

Click the link below for a story that highlights a current issue which affects lobsters today:

Click Here

Leo and Grandma.
Image from: Genie Cheung

A recent study found that lobster shells are thinning due to warmer waters along with human pollution. Due to last winter’s warm temperatures, there has been an overabundance of lobsters. Warmer water increases food supply which draws the lobsters out sooner. This causes many young lobsters to be harvested with thin soft shells. Just this summer, a dispute happened between Nova Scotia and Maine this summer over lobster prices. There was a huge import of lobsters from Maine to Canada which has dropped the price of lobsters significantly. Young soft shelled lobsters will rely on the marine habitat even more to survive. With all the coastal development happening, this may have a huge impact on these lobsters. With this current news, Jennifer’s research on the effect of habitat edges on lobster distributions can be applied to seek ways for better protection.

Blog submitted by: Group 6

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Posted in Outreach Project, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged conservation, habitat disturbance, habitat edges, lobsters, marine habitat, marine life, marine research, ocean, price dispute, research

Public vs. Private Schools in University Preparation

Posted on November 28, 2012 by jromeyn | Leave a comment

The adjustment to first-year university can be overwhelming for any high school graduates. Apprehension runs high while students question what this new chapter of their life will bring… Will you fit in and make new friends? Will you find the course load too academically challenging? It is important that students be well prepared for the transition from high school to university, but are they aware that the high school sector they attended may have already played a large role in this preparation?

Photo from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9204603/Fines-for-universities-slammed-by-admissions-don-Professor-Steven-Schwartz.html

Professor George Bluman, a mathematics professor at the University of British Columbia, has performed research on this topic. In his research paper, Bluman uses a two-level statistical model to determine the relationship between student performance in first-year physics courses and student variables such as high-school grades and gender. He then determines how this relationship is affected by high-school factors such as school type and location.

Check out the video below where Professor Bluman discusses the results of his study, that Vancouver public school students outperform private school students in first-year university.

Of course it is important to note that there are many academic differences between high school and university.

Firstly, high school students attend 7-8 hours worth of classes each weekday, of which attendance is mandatory. In university, however, the amount of time spent in class differs depending on the day, and whether the students attend class is their own prerogative. In addition, in high school, teachers are proactive in taking on the responsibility to ensure all students meet deadlines, complete homework assignments, and fully understand concepts. In university, however, if students struggle with course material, they must take personal initiative to refer to textbooks or attend office hours for additional help.

Ultimately, there is a larger sense of personal freedom in university when compared to high school. Students must possess a mature attitude toward their new-found independence. University can take a toll on students if they are inadequately prepared for this freedom.

If public school graduates are more academically successful in university than their private school counterparts, as Bluman’s research suggests, then it is assumed that public schools do a better job of preparing their students for University life.

Check out the podcast below where the pros and cons of public and private schools are outlined, and Professor Bluman’s view on them is expressed.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Professor George Bluman
Photo from: http://www.straight.com/article-215506/getting-students-snuff

After all, it is a personal choice as to whether to attend public or private schools, and there are many factors that must be considered in this decision-making process. However, the take-home message from this study is that contrary to the BC Fraser Institute Report and popular beliefs, students who have attended public schools can academically perform as well, if not better, than their private school counterparts.

Blog submitted by: Jackie Romeyn, Hayoung Nam, Mervin Wong, and Lydia Fan

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Posted in Outreach Project, Science Communication, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged performance gap, private school, public school, research, school rankings, university transition, Vancouver

Discovery of new materials resistant to bacterial attachment

Posted on November 12, 2012 by leukocyte | 2 comments

Source: http://bit.ly/RU3wav

A new class of polymers resistant to bacterial attachment discovered by a team of scientists at The University of Nottingham could lead to reduction in medical device failures and hospital infections.

Source: http://nbcnews.to/XzNYOh

Bacteria form communities, called biofilms, on many commonly used medical devices such as urinary and venous catheters. Because biofilms are formed by a very large number of bacteria, they are resistant to bodies’ immune defenses and antibiotics. This can lead to systemic infections or device failures (devices like catheters, heart valves and prosthetic joints).

Researchers from the University of Nottingham have found that when the novel material, made of new class of polymers, was applied to the surface of medical device, it repelled bacteria.

Source: http://bit.ly/QCI5Oj

The study was lead by Dr. Morgan Alexander and Dr. Martyn Davies in the School of Pharmacy together with Dr. Paul Williams in the School of Molecular Medical Sciences. The researchers believed there were new materials that could resist bacteria, but they had to find them. They needed to screen thousands of different chemistries and test their reaction to bacteria. This was not possible using conventional methods and so they were helped by experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who developed a technology to screen hundreds of material simultaneously, looking for new structure-property relationship. This approach led to identification of novel materials which were resistant to bacterial attachment and to biofilm formation.

The new materials work by preventing infection at the earliest possible stage, when the bacteria first attempt to attach themselves to the device. This means that biofilm formation is stopped. In the laboratory setting, scientists were able to reduce the numbers of bacteria by up to 96.7% when compared with a silver-containing catheter that is available commercially. Moreover, the polymers were effective at resisting bacterial attachment in a mouse implant infection model.

Infections caused by biofilms on the surface of implants are resistant to body’s natural defenses and they often cannot be treated with conventional antibiotics. By using the new polymers, bacterial attachment would be inhibited, and the body’s own immune system would be able kill the bacteria before they would have time to generate biofilms.

To hear about this exciting discovery from the scientists themselves, watch the video below:

Source: http://bit.ly/W4vkJ8

The research has been published in August 2012 in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Submitted by: Nesim Lichy

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

Tagged attachment, bacteria, bacterial, biofilm, biofilms, device, failures, hospital, infection, medical, MIT, Nottingham, novel, polymers, reduction, research, resistant, University

Fish Oil: Possible Solution for Brain Recovery

Posted on November 12, 2012 by yryu | Leave a comment

Brain is like central command post that controls and commands our body. Without the command post (brain) every part of the body will be nonfunctional. For example, severe brain injury like, traumatic brain injury, is lethal and barely recoverable. However, there seems to be a solution for treating traumatic brain injury. The solution is Omega-3 fish oil.

Image from: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/19/health/fish-oil-brain-injuries/index.html?iref=allsearch
Courtesy: Ghassemi Family

In March 2010, Bobby Ghassemi 17-year-old student got sever traumatic brain injury due to a car accident. He was diagnosed with Glasgow Coma Score of 3, meaning dead (a brick of wood is diagnosed with Glasgow Coma Score of 3). Bobby had so much bleeding within the brain that pressure has to be released by taking portion of his skull. Doctors believed that full brain recovery was unlikely or rather impossible. But Bobby’s father, Peter Ghassemi, was looking for a way out and found out that fish oil could help his son.

Fish Oil and Traumatic Brain Injury (video)

Michael Lewis, Army colonel and a doctor, suggested to Ghassemi that fish oil could help recovering damaged brains. Lewis claimed that 30% of the brain is composed of Omega-3 and by saturating the brain with Omega-3 could help to reconstruct the brain. Problem with this theory is that there was no research that support it is a good treatment except the case of Randal McCloy. McCloy was only survivor of mine disaster in West Virginia in 2006. McCloy’s brain was severely damaged due to high intake of carbon monoxide and methane. McCloy’s neurosurgeon, Dr. Julian Bailes, injected large doses of Omega-3 into McCloy resulting almost full recovery of the brain.

Image from: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/11/health/health-fish-oil/index.html?iref=allsearch
Courtesy: Getty Images

So what does Omega-3 does to the brain? Hee-Young Kim et al. claims that Omega-3 fats helps to accumulate fatty acids around the neurons to prevent cell death and further help to reconnect damaged neurons. In addition, based on the animal testing, the fish oil can help to reduce neural inflammation from concussions. Animals that received fish oils after concussion showed 98% recovery.

Drawback from this treatment is that there are little human testing done so far and recovery of Ghassemi and McCloy is just only two cases to prove or to say Omega-3 is effective in treating patients with traumatic brain injury. However, there are no clear treatments or drugs that can cure traumatic brain injury like Omega-3 did. Therefore, Omega-3 might be the best solution for treating the patients with brain injury at the moment. Further research on Omega-3 effectiveness on brain injury could explain why miracle recovery of both Ghassemi and McCloy has happened.

By: Young Ryu

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

Tagged brain, fatty acid, Fish oil, Glasgow Coma Score of 3, Omega-3, Traumatic brain injury

Drink Yourself to Health

Posted on November 12, 2012 by rebel | 1 comment

Courtesy of ThinkStock

Although water, tea, beer and coffee are drunk in greater quantities, wine holds a special place in many cultures. Just think of the holiday season that is approaching andd how wines often pair with great holiday meals.

Wines, especially red wine, have been found to contain several compounds such as resveratrol, melatonin, and flavonoids that are beneficial to human health. These three compounds target different health issues and each will be discussed further in depth.

Resveratrol is produced when the grape skin is fermented during the wine-making process. According to a review article published in 2008, resveratrol was shown to provide the cardio-vascular health benefits normally associated with a caloric restriction of about 20% to 30% of the calories from a typical diet. Such caloric restrictions promote longevity in mice. “Caloric restriction is highly effective in extending life in many species. If you provide species with less food, the regulated cellular stress response of this healthy habit actually makes them live longer,” says Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, chief of the division of biology of aging at University of Florida’s Institute on Aging.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring compound found in plants and animals including humans, and is also present in red wines. Besides its commonly known function as a control over our circadian rhythm, it is thought to reduce oxidative damage by its antioxidant properties and therefore to slow down aging.

Flavonoids also are antioxidants and are present in all plants. Major dietary sources of flavonoids include red wine, tea, dark chocolate, and citrus fruits. According to an article from Psychology Today, they are believed to reduce risks of cancer, stroke, heart disease and asthma.

Courtesy of Cardiocore

The information above suggests that drinking red wine may prolong life, slow down the effects of aging and help avoid certain diseases. However, excessive consumption of alcohol is associated with health risks that may mitigate the above benefits. Perhaps, with wine, the key lies in moderation, if only to avoid nasty headaches!

Check out this video if you want to learn more about benefits of red wines.

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Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged aging, antioxidants, cancer, flavonoids, heart disease, melatonin, red wine, resveratrol

The versatility of the little blue pills

Posted on November 11, 2012 by chencui | 3 comments

A recent Canada Supreme Court decision on Nov.09 has ruled against pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the holding company of the medicine Viagra, to renew its patent due to disclosed ingredients. This decision would allow other companies to produce cheaper generic versions of the drug. Viagra is a very profitable drug, as Viagra Canada alone made over 80 million dollars last year. However, Viagra is also a very versatile drug as scientists around the world find it useful for different purposes.

the blue Viagra pills

Viagra is a world well known drug specialized to cure erectile dysfunction for men. Sildenafil, the main ingredient of Viagra, can produce nitric oxide (NO) that increases blood flow by enlarging the blood vessels.

Researchers in the U.S. have found that Viagra could increase the effectiveness of cancer drugs when the two are used together. They discovered that applying Viagra and cancer treatment drugs at the same time could kill prostate cancer cells effectively in mice. Even though some experts are still debating the role of Viagra on cancer, it is still a very positive sign for further cancer research.

There has also been success with treating plants with Viagra pills by English scientists. Sildenafil produces nitric oxide (NO), and the chemical can also provide a boost for plant growth as well since humans and plants share genetic similarities in some ways. The Viagra treated plants usually can stay fresh a week longer, and it works especially well for cut plants as their lifetime almost doubled with Viagra treatment. Thus, researchers even anticipated a gardener’s type of Viagra in the future.

healthy flowers in a vase

Regardless of the price, Viagra seems like a very versatile and effective drug, and the unsuccessful patent renewal could lead to future competition among sildenafil drugs in Canada.

3 Comments

Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged human health, medicine

Finally, no more shark-fin soups!

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Jeremy Cheng | 2 comments

Recently, the Vancouver city council has suggested a new rule that will ban the sale or trade of any shark fin products. In Toronto and many cities around the world, shark-fin products are already banned. Although this rule causes many Chinese communities to protest, it receives supports from many animal-protecting groups and scientists.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/shark-fins-are-loaded-with-a-neurotoxin-study-finds/

Myths and Facts about sharks and their fins

There is a ridiculous myth suggesting that sharks do not develop cancers; and therefore, shark-fins are great for fighting cancers. This claim is obviously untrue because sharks also develop cancers like human do, and no researches have been done that suggest eating shark-fins will help to fight cancers. In fact, researchers have discovered that almost all types of shark-fins contain high amount of mercury and β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). BMAA is produced by many species of cyanobacteria in the water environment while mercury comes from water pollution. Cyanobacteria are blue-green algae that use photosynthesis to produce energy. Researchers have found that BMAA is linked to brain disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and is considered as a neurotoxin.

Moreover, the concentration of mercury and BMAA will accumulate as one animal eats another animal. Sharks are known to be at the top of the food chain; their eating habits are varied just like human. Therefore, almost all shark species contain high concentration of mercury and BMAA, and when we consume shark fins, these harmful substances will likely stay within our body.

http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/shark-fin-soup-facts.htm

Another strange belief that some people have is that sharks are dangerous so there is no problem that they are extinct. This is clearly false because every species in the food chain is important, especially animals that are at the top like sharks. If all sharks are extinct, the number of their prey will increase significantly. This affects the species at the middle and bottom of the food chain. The whole ecosystem will become disrupted. Furthermore, it is true that some sharks attack human, but statistically, the number of death caused by shark attack is very small. According to International Shark Attack File (ISAF), the fatality rate of shark attack is only 1.5% while the fatality rate of alligator attack is 4.3%.

One interesting fact about the shark-fin soup is that it is actually tasteless, but people who ‘enjoy’ shark-fin soup actually care more about the symbolism than the taste. Shark-fins represent power in Chinese culture. Shark-fin soup has been around since the Ming Dynasty, and it was only consumed by powerful and wealthy people because they believe shark-fins were beneficial for their health. It is sad to see the sharks being cruelly finned just because some people still have those false beliefs.

I am glad that our government steps up and finally ban the trade of shark fins. Who would feed their family with food that is full of mercury and BMAA??

This is a video that discuss the effect of killing sharks for their fins:

Posted by Jeremy

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged BMAA, brain, Food chain, human health, shark fins

An underground garden in New York City

Posted on November 11, 2012 by rsjamie | 1 comment

New York may not have the first hanging garden, but may have the first underground garden. In October, 2012, CNN reported that New York is planning to raise 60 million dollars for developing “the world’s first underground park” at the Manhattan’s Lower East area.

The LowLine Park

In the most densely populated area of Manhattan, New York City, most people works and lives at high-rise buildings; yet, there is a need for fresh air and relax space. To cope with the city’s needs, two engineers, Dan Barasch and James Ramsey of RAAD studio came up with the LowLine Park proposal earlier in February 2012 at the Kickstarter campaign. The project aim to transform vacant underground space, a historical Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal, which opened in 1903 and closed in 1948, into an extraordinary subterranean public park.

According to Scientific American, the two engineers aim to use a remote skylight technology, an advanced fiber-optical system, to gather sunlight and funnel them down to underground, which would provide just enough UV light to support plants growth. As the light source comes directly from the ground above, the light would change just like the natural sunlight throughout the day. This technological advancement would overturn traditional dark and humid impression of an underground space.

This YouTube shows a video demonstration of the LowLine project.

A sample sized installation of this LowLine Park project has been built in the former Essex Market Building on Delancey Street for public viewing in September. As stated by Meghan O’ Rourke, an American writer of online magazine Slate, the space “feels like Alice in Wonderland looking around after her long fall into the depths of the earth. There, inside the cavernous warehouse and sustained by light cells out of “Star Trek,” is a mossy knoll, complete with a Japanese maple and a praying mantis (which Barasch and Ramsey have dubbed “Zoltan”)”.

This may be the world first underground park, however, this innovation was from the High Line Park project, which was built on an old elevated train platform in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan West side. It has brought in more than 4 million tourist attraction and 12 thousands employment opportunity since the opening of the park’s second section.

Building more accessible green space for public has been a fast-growing field in many capital cities; however, this project may not be approved by New York City councils as there are security risks associated with underground park like this. This may be a great place for homeless and illegal actions. Public support and community involvement is needed for this project to work.

Location of the LowLine park

Post submitted by Jamie Tsai.

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Posted in Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science in the News

Tagged Green, Manhattan, Park, Underground park, urban planning

Worrying about math literally hurts

Posted on November 11, 2012 by celineh | 2 comments

Math. Image Source: Cliff Mass Weather Blog

A lot of us grimace at the thought of doing math. Some people’s heart start to beat faster, while others start to feel nauseated from just worrying about the math homework that is still calling out their name. With this math anxiety problem happening not only in kids but adults as well, it leads us to wonder whether math is really that painful to do.

Math phobias are usually developed in schools. It typically arises from poor teaching or bad experiences in math. This leads to limited understanding on the subject which makes the person want to avoid it even more. Unfortunately, further avoidance causes less exposure to math practice, enhancing the anxiety.

Region of Posterior Insula activated in brain from math anxiety. Image Source: Science Daily.

Recent research gives a possible explanation on why people with math anxiety have such a hard time overcoming this fear and jumping straight into math problems. Researchers found that the anticipation of doing math and threats of bodily harm activates the same region of the brain. Using fMRI scans, they tested adults who were shown to have math anxiety and examined their brain activity when given mathematical equations to verify. The scans show that the anticipation of doing math, not doing math itself, caused a response in brain similar to physical pain. It activates the posterior insula in the brain that registers direct threats to the body as well as the experience of pain. As a matter of fact, increase of math anxiety activates more of the posterior insula. This suggests that people with math anxiety experiences painful dread before they even start the problems which makes them want to avoid it even more. It indicates that the anxiety from the prospect of doing math may arise from negative psychological reactions and not just because the person have poor math ability.

There are several solutions on how to overcome math anxiety. Perhaps most people have already heard of these tips. One way to overcome this anxiety is to not dread over the mistakes that you make from doing math problems but be persistent. One of the most effective way of learning is to learn from your mistakes. Another way is to is do lots of practice, especially when you are having difficulties.

So the next time you feel anxious about tackling your math homework and procrastinate by going on facebook, tumbler, twitter or even just staring into space, think about how the longer you put it off, the more pain your brain actually feels. Doing math doesn’t hurt but thinking about it does!

Here is a video on the symptoms of math anxiety and how it prevents math learning:

Post Submitted by: Celine Hsin

2 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

Tagged math, Math anxiety, negative psychological reactions, posterior insula

Snakes on a plane! (The good kind).

Posted on November 7, 2012 by jromeyn | Leave a comment

Samuel L. Jackson in the movie “Snakes on a Plane”.

No need to call Samuel L. Jackson about this one! British jet engine manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, is developing robots with a snake-like appearance for use in the detection and repair of damage to aircraft engines.

A typical jet plane engine consists of a vast number of sensors to monitor engine conditions such as pressure, temperature, and vibrations. These sensors are monitored by ground-based machines that use intelligent algorithm technology. However, what if a bird were to hit a fan, or debris damage a compressor blade? For issues such as these, engine inspection is required.

Engine inspection is currently the job of a fibre-optic device called a borescope, which can be manually placed into a jet engine port by a borescope specialist. Unfortunately, there are far too few of these specialists available to operate borescopes within the 14,000 Rolls-Royce engines, flown by 500 airlines on 4000 aircraft worldwide.

“We don’t have enough specialists to go around so we need to automate this capability,” says Rolls-Royce senior vice-president Pat Emmott.

Another problem with the borescope is that once it detects an engine issue, the plane must be entirely taken out of commission in order to disassemble and repair the engine. This process is a setback that costs airlines millions of dollars.

Rolls-Royce aims to mitigate these challenges through the use of robotic snakes. This initiative is part of a €4 million European research project called “MIRoR”, which aims to be completed by July 2014. The hope is that these robots will potentially save significant time and money when airlines run into engine problems.

A typical robot snake.

Wondering how they work? The snake robots enter an engine and are remotely controlled to relay images to an expert. Keep in mind that a running aircraft engine can reach up to 3,000-degree Fahrenheit temperatures. “These cameras won’t have to operate at engine temperatures — just survive them,” says Emmott. “So we’re going to need some interesting ways to keep them cool.” In addition to a camera, the snakes will also exhibit a UV laser to detect blade fractures, and an apparatus to sand down damaged compressor blades.

The snake will have to be of a substantial length in order to be effective for use in a jet engine. Rob Bukingham, director of OC Robotics in the UK, sees battling gravity as the biggest issue in this innovation, since the longer the snake, the more difficult it will be to control. According to Buckingham “the more joints you add, the more difficult it becomes to maintain the curviness.”

Interested to see these cool snakes in action? Take a look at this video to see a similarly designed robot snake designed by OC robots. This particular snake is able to cut metal and concrete!

Post submitted by Jackie Romeyn (group C).

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Posted in Science Communication, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged airplane, engine, innovation, robotics, science, snake

Category Archives: Science in the News

Landscape Patterns Influence Lobsters’ Ability to Survive

Public vs. Private Schools in University Preparation

Discovery of new materials resistant to bacterial attachment

Fish Oil: Possible Solution for Brain Recovery

Drink Yourself to Health

The versatility of the little blue pills

Finally, no more shark-fin soups!

An underground garden in New York City

Worrying about math literally hurts

Snakes on a plane! (The good kind).

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