Communicating Science (2012w211)

From Toy Soldiers to Convicted Criminals

Posted on February 11, 2013 by dianemuta | 3 comments

Vintage Toy Lead Soldiers by USA Direct To You via Flicker

What if someone told you that if lead is found present in your bones, you are more likely to be a delinquent? In 2007, you may have encountered a report or read an article on lead poisoning due to lead containing toy products and households.

Following such reports, the general public understood the effects of lead poisoning as a toxin. In 1996,USA had banned the use of the element as an additive to gasoline. However, minimal amounts of lead were still used in the production of batteries, jewelry,toys and paint products. After the 2007 Mattel recall , customers around the world looked carefully at the lead label when purchasing house and toy products. In 2008, Henry Clement, Canadian Health Minister, announced that the government would increase the number of inspections with an increase in a maximum fine of $5 million if high levels of lead were detected in children’s jewelry and other products.

The public and government then understood that lead has a dangerous effect whether a child was breathing or swallowing it. Children exposed to high levels of lead can suffer from kidney and brain damages. While low levels of exposure is a health hazard to all.This knowledge resulted in lead safety campaigns and sites such as www.leadfreekids.org. , which offers support and advice about lead inspections and protection techniques. In 2010, the federal government decided to effectively ban lead from toys for children and other home products.Health hazards such as kidney damage, brain damage, hyperactivity, headaches,hearing problems could be prevented with precautions.However, lead exposure could result in more than these physical health problems but behavioural problems such as delinquency.

More studies have now been developed on lead poisoning. In 2013, Summer Miller pointed out data from US Centre for Disease (CDC) and suggested that high levels of lead exposure lead to juvenile delinquency. They have now diagnosed that 10 micrograms per deciliter of lead can cause lead poisoning. Subsequently, this small amount of lead can be identified with signs of headaches and abdominal pains. As informed in 2007, lead exposure impacts the human brain.Miller states that studies now find higher levels of lead in delinquents and how it affects their intelligence, communication skills and behaviour.

Kids play with toy guns – Wadi Nisnsa – by Dror Miller via Flicker

This was observed in a 2000 study in Allegheny County. It concluded that 216 youths in a Juvenile Court had a higher high bone-lead level in comparison to 201 non-delinquents control in a Pittsburgh high school. Children with cognitive and behaviour problems are more likely to have higher blood concentrations due to lead exposure.

Sometimes it is not just about what children swallow or touch or symptoms we physically see, sometimes just that exposure can change the way things play out.

From Toy Soldiers to Convicted Criminals

-Diane Mutabaruka

3 Comments

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

Tagged environmental pollutants, health canada, lead, lead in toys, lead poisoning, leadfreekids, mattel

Uncovering the Secret Sexual Side to Our Favorite Fungus!

Posted on February 10, 2013 by sydneyschnell | 1 comment

With Valentine’s Day only a few days away, love is definitely in the air. As it turns out, even fungi are in the mood!

Valentine’s Day Cupcakes. Sugar Daze via Flickr Creative Commons.

A recent study has discovered that Penicillium chrysogenum (P. chrysogenum) have a sexual side. While you may not recognize the name P. chrysogenum, it is likely that at some point in your life you have depended on this fungus to help you feel better. P. chrysogenum is popularly known for its production of the antibiotic penicillin, which has been used for treating bacterial infections since it was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928.

Penicillin works by preventing bacteria from building cell walls. Lacking this external support, the bacterial cell is very fragile and bursts, resulting in death of the cell (click here to watch this process). As we do not possess the same cell wall components as bacterial cells, penicillin is an effective treatment for human bacterial infections, as the antibiotic interferes with bacterial cells but not our own cells!

Penicillium Growing on Bread. Logan Sakai via Flickr Creative Commons.

Previously, it was thought that P. chrysogenum only underwent asexual reproduction. In this reproductive strategy, fungal cells duplicate their genetic material and divide, resulting in two identical clones called daughter cells.

However, researchers suspected that P. chrysogenum would be able to sexually reproduce if provided with the right conditions, as the genetic sequences required for mating could be found within the DNA of this species. Supporting this belief, a recent experiment by Bohm et. al has shown that when proper conditions are met, P. chrysogenum fungi will sexually mate to produce new genetic strains of offspring.

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Image of P. chrysogenum Fungus. Engineering at Cambridge via Flickr Creative Commons.

This discovery has been dubbed the “secret sex life” of P. chrysogenum. So, light the candles, turn on some romantic music, and spread out the rose petals?

Not quite; these fungi require a special “love potion”. After testing a variety of light and nutrient conditions, experimenters found that P. chrysogenum engaged in sexual mating when grown in darkness, in an oatmeal base supplemented with biotin (a vitamin).

Fungi Love Potion? Oatmeal! Nillerdk via Wikimedia Creative Commons.

Furthermore, researchers found that fungi engaging in sexual activity also produced more penicillin than asexual fungi. These findings are important on an industrial level, as sexual strains can be used to maximize penicillin output when synthesizing this antibiotic for medical usage. While high antibiotic-producing strains have been engineered before, they are genetically unstable and have short lifespans. However, knowing that sexual reproduction in P. chrysogenum occurs, engineered strains can be sexually mated with normal strains to produce offspring that are both genetically stable and produce large quantities of antibiotic.

While I can’t promise that oatmeal and biotin will help you get lucky this Valentine’s Day, it appears that you won’t need to worry about a penicillin shortage in the near future!

– Sydney Schnell

1 Comment

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

Tagged Alexander Fleming, antibiotic, asexual, bacterial, Bohm, chrysogenum, fungi, genetic, infection, mate, penicillin, Penicillium, reproduction, sexual, Sydney Schnell, Valentine

The Terrible Twos.. Even more Terrible?

Posted on February 8, 2013 by mirandamarchand | 4 comments

Everyone has heard about the “terrible twos” , a developmental period with frequent temper tantrums, mood swings and a child who just says “no” to everything. New research has now discovered that lying is yet another milestone to be on the watch for at this age.

Jon Eben Field via wikimedia common

In an recently published study, Dr. Angela Evans and Dr. Kang Lee set out to investigate when children begin lying. Previous research has shown that children of at least three years of age will lie under laboratory conditions but it was unknown whether younger children would also lie.

The children in the study were all seen individually in a quiet room where they completed a series of tasks, such as reverse block sorting, which is designed to measure executive function and verbal deception as measurements of their cognitive function ( a persons thought processes).

An example of blocks that could be used in a reverse categorization test
Polylerus via wikimedia commons

To test whether or not the child would lie, they were placed in a temptation-resistance paradigm in which the child played a game with the investigator. A toy was placed behind the child and a noise associated with the toy was played. It was the child’s job to then guess what the toy was. On the third round the investigator would put the toy behind the child, playing an unrelated noise, but this time would look for something in the corner with their back towards the child.

About 80% of the children peeked at the toy. Of the 52 children who looked at the toy, 40% of them lied about having looked. Nearly 50% of three-year-olds who peeked lied about it, compared to only 25% of the of two-year olds. Before this study the earliest time that lie telling behaviours had been observed was approximately three and a half years-old.

This study also found that the children who performed better on the executive functioning tasks were more likely to lie about having peeked at the toy. This tells us that the children who are telling the lies are more cognitively advanced than those who are not. This makes sense because the telling of a lie is a fairly complex cognitive process.

Dr. Evans recently did an interview with CBC radio’s quirks and quarks to explain the findings of the experiment, which you can listen to here.

While you may think lying is just another bad quality to develop in the terrible twos, look on the bright-side, if a two-year-old is lying it just means that they are more cognitively advanced than the truthful two-year-olds.

– Miranda Marchand

4 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Public Engagement

Tagged brain, cognition, development, milestones, research, terrible twos

“You are what you eat”— dietary nutrients determine sleep patterns

Posted on February 7, 2013 by meganlin2002 | 10 comments

Recent study led by Dr. Michael A. Grandner, instructor and member from the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania, shows that certain dietary nutrients may be associated with a person’s sleep pattern; specifically, in terms of the duration of sleep.

Image taken from RelaxingMusic from Flickr

In fact, from the statistical analysis, the research team found that many of the differences were largely driven by several significant, key contributing nutrients:

Water
Lycopene (commonly found in tomatoes)
Carbohydrates
Vitamin C
Theobromine (commonly found in chocolate)
Dodecanoic acid / Lauric Acid (commonly found in coconuts and palm kernel oil)
Choline (commonly found in eggs and fatty meats)
Selenium (commonly found in nuts, meat and shellfish)
Calcium
Magnesium(commonly found in broccoli and nuts)

Based on their research findings, Grandner found that people who have very short sleep (less than 5 hours) tend to have lower intakes of water, lycopene, carbohydrates, those with short sleep (6 hours) have lower vitamin C, water, selenium and those with long sleep (more than 9 hours) have lower intakes of theobromine, dodecanoic acid, carbohydrates and choline.

With midterms still ongoing and those dreaded finals coming up, for those of us who fall under the short or very short sleep categories, perhaps by reading this blog post you might start reconsidering your daily diet and foods that you should add in or perhaps even take out.

Did you know that sleep deprivation is also known to be associated with obesity, metabolic dysregulation, cardiovascular diseases, psychiatric illnesses and performance deficits?

So, the next time when you’re having a bad morning from not sleeping enough, you should also reflect back to what and how have you been eating lately.

10 Comments

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

Tagged healthy diet, Healthy life style, Sleep deprivation, Sleep quality

Owls; Their Amazing Head Turning Ability Solved

Posted on February 4, 2013 by christinab | 6 comments

Owls are known for their ability to turn their heads “All the way around”, but have you ever wondered why?

Owl perching by Peter Trimming

Well first off, contrary to popular belief, owls are not able to turn their heads the full 360 degrees. Most owl species, but not all, can turn their heads up to 270 degrees. The reason why they have adapted this ability is thought to be linked to the fact that unlike humans, with movable oval eyes, owls have tube like eyes that do not have the ability to swivel much.

If a human snapped their neck at the speed and angle that owls are able to do, there would be severe trauma to the neck and arteries, or completely stopping the blood flow to the brain. To test how this works, researchers, led by Fabian de Kok-Mercado, injected dye into the blood stream of dozens of owls, and used a CT scan to track the flow of dye throughout the bloodstreams of the owls.

After the CT scans were completed, they then injected a plastic like substance into the blood stream, let it harden, then dissected the owls to find out how the arteries were oriented.

Northern spotted owl by user USFS Region 5
Via Flickr

It was found that the owls neck bones, or vertebrae, contain holes that are much larger than those found in humans. In humans, the holes are just about as big as the arteries, whereas in owls they are about 10 times larger. These likely contain air sacks meant to cushion the twisting motion of the neck. This may explain why the blood vessels do not break during the rapid head turning motions of the owls.

The researchers also noticed that the artery slightly enlarges as it gets closer to the head. This is thought to allow blood to pool so that the brain has extra blood to work with as the head swivles.

Above is a video explaining the details of how owls are able to turn their heads up to 270 degrees. [By user SciFri via Youtube]

And there you have it, the science behind how owls can turn their head at great angles. Wouldn’t that be cool if humans can do that to?

…

Okay, maybe not. Lets leave this to the owls.

-Christina Bell

6 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science Communication

Tagged #arteries, #owls, #vertebrae, SCIE300

Deconstructing the Aurora Borealis

Posted on February 4, 2013 by seanmac | 3 comments

If you are lucky, there may have been a moment in your past (perhaps recent or many years ago) where you where able to glance up at the evening sky, and gaze upon an incredible spectacle of vibrant lights – seemingly more magical than a creation of the physical world.

These displays of mesmerizing color and intensity – called an aurora – generally occur at high latitudes, and are known as either the aurora australis (the ‘southern lights’) and the more recognizable aurora borealis (the ‘northern lights).

Aurora Borealis in Greenland II
photo credit: Taraji Blue

The aurora have intrigued people for centuries, as seen by their presence in numerous traditional texts and stories.

These often provide an explanation for their existence – like the Algonquin people of eastern Canada, who feel the aurora borealis are giant bonfires created by their creator as a warming reminder of love – and are typically beautiful in essence and design.

Aurora-Borealis-41, taken from photobucket
uploaded by franemtnurse

However, even today, many of the thousands that travel north and south simply to catch a glimpse of this natural phenomenon, do not fully understand how the aurora actually come to be.

What causes an aurora event?

Chemists and physicists might tell you it is actually quite simple.

In reality, the light display one observes is produced by the collision of charged particles and atoms, high up in the sky, in a part of the atmosphere called the thermosphere.

Sunset Over the Indian Ocean (NASA, International Space Station Science, 05/25/10)
photo credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

These particles – usually electrons – originate from solar winds entering Earth’s atmosphere, after traveling from the sun.

These winds flow along the magnetic field lines of the earth, allowing the particles to interact with gas atoms in the atmosphere.

It is these interactions – between charged particle and gaseous molecule – which give off the light we observe during an aurora event.

The video below gives a much more in-depth view of the astronomical nature of the aurora:

SeanMac.

3 Comments

Posted in Public Engagement, Science Communication

Tagged Astronomy, computing science, environment, physics

More human than just another Artificial Intelligence

Posted on February 4, 2013 by jaejoon | 3 comments

Ask your (grand) parents: had they, 30 or 40 years ago, anticipated to live in an era where people carry cell phones, do face time, or shop via the Internet? Some may had imagined to witness today’s technology and some may had not. One of the most debated future technologies that many scientists feel skeptical believing we won’t ever achieve is human-like artificial intelligence. However, new software made last year may bring us closer to creating computers that operate like human brains.

So far there has been a number of artificial intelligences (AI) so smart that one of them has won the quiz show Jeopardy (IBM’s Watson) and another makes video games on its own (Angelina). Artificial Intelligences are programmed to think like people so that if one asks it and a real human a question, he cannot distinguish whether answer is from the real human or an AI. However, AIs do not at all work like human brains do; they are computers pre-programmed only to perform tasks with the data they store.

This time, a team of scientists of the University of Waterloo made an artificial brain that works more similar to ours. Its name is Spaun, acronym for Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network. Spaun is a supercomputer with 2.5 million simulated neurons (average human brain has 80 – 100 billion), an eye, and an arm. With its 2.5 million neurons, Spaun processes what it sees with its eye and performs tasks like a human brain would. Below is a video and a summary of some stuff Spaun can do:

it can recognize, write, count, and remember numbers as well as forgetting them. via Youtube user: CTNWaterloo

The abilities of Spaun may not seem as impressive as AI Watson or Angelina, and even stupid in comparison, taking 2.5 hours in real time per 1 second in the video. However, the importance of Spaun’s birth is that it works like a human brain. With this, scientists can run experiments unethical to perform on human subjects such as killing neurons and observing brain degradation. Now that we have an artificial model of human brain, I think we are a little closer to the future where computers will think and make decisions on its own like humans.

3 Comments

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

Tagged AI, Aritificial intelligence, Artificial brain, Spaun

TV Before Bed = Bad Idea

Posted on February 4, 2013 by algovani | 8 comments

Watching TV at night
image taken from Photobucket, upload by username: marketingsumit

We all have our own nightly bed-time routines, and for many of us it includes using electronic devices. Some people surf the web on their computers, others talk or text on the phone, and lots watch TV right before bed. However, several studies have shown that using electronic devices, especially watching TV, before going to sleep can impact the time it takes to fall asleep as well as the quality of sleep.

Primary Effects

Watching TV tends to stimulate brain activity. Depending on what we’re watching, and how long we’re watching it for, the amount of time it takes to fall asleep is almost always increased. A study conducted by Flinders University, Australia found that the time it took for seventeen-year-olds to fall asleep rose, from a normal average (at that age) of 22 minutes, to roughly 40 minutes if the teens watched more than an hour of TV before going to sleep. This study also found that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, was decreased in those that watched TV before bed. REM sleep is an extremely important stage in the sleep cycle and is key to having a good quality sleep.

Furthermore, research from the University of California has also shown that light (in this case from the TV), before bed can interfere with body rhythms and suppress hormones like melatonin that promote sleep.

The overall general point here is that TV watching before bed will increase the time it takes for you to fall asleep.

Secondary effects

Taking longer to fall asleep, even if it’s only a half hour difference, can eventually lead to sleep deprivation. The average adult needs 7 – 9 hours of sleep each night

How you feel when you’re sleep deprived
Image taken from Photobucket, uploaded by VacationMarketing

. When you don’t get enough sleep, it carries over as a “sleep debt”. Losing a half hour to an hour of sleep each night can add up and you could start feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. These symptoms include irritability, trouble concentrating or focusing, blurred vision, decreased judgement, and of course sleepiness.

The the 2011 “Sleep in America” poll, conducted by The National Sleep Foundation, surveyed approximately 1500 people between the ages of 13 and 64. They found that 95% of those surveyed use an electronic device an hour prior to sleeping at least 4 nights a week. They also found at least 63% of those surveyed aren’t getting enough sleep. Perhaps, with some awareness of the affects of the use of electronic devices before bed, this number could be decreased.

Going to sleep isn’t like turning off a switch. Our brains need time to “wind down” before sleeping. By not using electronics before sleeping, we give our brain this much needed time. This will ultimately lead to better quality sleep, falling asleep quicker, and an improved mental state.

8 Comments

Posted in Public Engagement

Tagged Electronics, Rest, Sleep, Sleep deprivation, TV

DNA Discovers Sea Turtle’s Fidelity

Posted on February 4, 2013 by aleonchu | 3 comments

There are many endangered species in our planet where some animals are becoming rarer due to many factors like habitat constraints or poaching. The Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is one of those animals with its population decreasing due to a many elements. Some of these include commercial exploitation, habitat loss and amazingly their monogamy is also to blame.

Their carapace is commercially valuable, which makes these turtles prime victims.
Photo Credits: Johan Chevalier

In an attempt to understand these turtles’ way of life underwater, scientists started analyzing their DNA and those of their offspring.

Female Hawksbills have the ability to carry sperm for up to 75 days in such a way that this accommodates for the long journey to shore where eggs are laid. Now, sea turtles in general are actually polygamous. This increases offspring diversity and it is very common to see a variety of fathers in offspring from the same nest since female turtles mate with many partners during mating season. That’s where Hawksbill Sea Turtles are different.

A nest of Hawksbill Turtles all from the same father due to monogamous mothers, unlike most other species of sea turtles in the world.
Credits: www.seaturtlenet.com

By DNA analysis it was concluded that a female Hawksbill only mates with one partner per mating season. Keeping in mind that a mating season comes every 2-4 years for a regular sea turtle, this is quite a commitment. This would not have been possible to conclude, however, from mere observation alone. Since sea turtles mate in the deep ocean, the only way to arise to this conclusion has been through DNA analysis. Further analysis, also concluded that female Hawksbills are also not selecting ‘better quality’ males to mate with either.

Quite simply, DNA is the reason behind the story of a Hawksbill’s fidelity coming to light. To mate with a single male and not be selective, sounds like loyalty to me. In the Hawksbill’s case, this is not playing out to their favor though. A less diverse population of offspring means less chances of survival for the hatch-lings.

With the help of Dr. David Richardson (lead researcher in the turtle’s DNA analysis) having narrowed down times of mating, now conservationists will be able to draw their focuses on target times on the season and areas of nesting.

DNA analysis now has not only uncovered a possible reason for endangerment to a species, but now could also be its salvation.

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

Tagged DNA Analysis, endangered species, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, mating patterns

4-stranded DNA

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Shirley | 1 comment

Four-stranded DNA? Not double-stranded? DNA is generally double-stranded, but it has an exception. Due to an increase in advanced technology and the creation of an antibody that targets four-stranded DNA, it has been proven that four-stranded DNA is present in human cells by researchers. Four-stranded DNA can form in the guanine rich region of the DNA. Hence, the scientific name for the DNA structure is G-quadruplex.

DNA G-quadruplex. Photographed by Jean-Paul Rodriguez

Guanine is one of the four building blocks of DNA, and the others being: adenine, cytosine, and thymine. The oxygen molecules of Guanine are exposed when the G-quadruplex forms, and to stabilize the structure, a cation (positively charged ion) is present at the centre of the structure. In addition, the four guanine molecules are held together by hydrogen bonds in planar arrangement.

There has been an increase of attention for the research of four-stranded DNA since 1962. Before the experiment of Quantitative visualization of DNA G-quadruplex structures in human cells was done, four-stranded DNA in human cells was just a theory. Even though G-quadruplex was made in test tubes and found in single-cellular life, there was no direct proof that G-quadruplex can be formed in human cells. In the experiment mentioned above, researchers found four-stranded DNA in regulatory regions of human DNA, such as promoters, enhancers, repressors, and untranslated regions. In addition, telomeres (a region of DNA that protects the deterioration of DNA) also show motifs of G-quadruplex. From where G-quadruplex can be found, it can be inferred that G-quadruplex has potential functions of regulating DNA replication, transcription, and stabilizing chromosome.

The experiment further explored the presence of G-quadruplex throughout the development of human cells and found that it is most abundant when a human cell is rapidly dividing. Therefore, the researchers think there is a relationship between G-quadruplex and the presence of cancerous cells. New possible therapies for cancers may be formed by the disruption of G-quadruplex formation.

Much more research and detailed studies need to be done for G-quadruplex. The study of G-quadruplex could prove to have numerous beneficial possibilities, especially in the area of cancers. With the prospect of a potential key that may successfully create new treatments, researchers continue to have high hopes for the future.

Communicating Science (2012w211)

From Toy Soldiers to Convicted Criminals

Uncovering the Secret Sexual Side to Our Favorite Fungus!

The Terrible Twos.. Even more Terrible?

“You are what you eat”— dietary nutrients determine sleep patterns

Owls; Their Amazing Head Turning Ability Solved

Deconstructing the Aurora Borealis

More human than just another Artificial Intelligence

TV Before Bed = Bad Idea

DNA Discovers Sea Turtle’s Fidelity

4-stranded DNA

New User

Recent Posts

Categories

Authors

Blogroll

Science Feeds

New User

Recent Posts

Categories

Authors

Blogroll

Tags