Category Archives: Issues in Science

Ionic Liquids: The Future of Electronics

Salt is a popular resource with many forms and uses. It helps keep ice off the roads, flavours our foods, and replaces hard metals in our water. In their liquid form, these salts have properties that make them excellent electrolytes (carriers of electric charge), but melting them takes a lot of heat. Table salt, for example, takes about 800 °C to melt, enough to incinerate most of the electronic devices we use. However, the recent discovery of a new class of compounds called ionic liquids may provide a way to use liquid salts as electrolytes in our much cooler environment.

Picture of Table Salt and its melting point Source: Flickr Creative Commons

Picture of Table Salt and its melting point
Source: Flickr Creative Commons <https://flic.kr/p/6EQ3Y4>

Ionic Liquid and its melting point Source: Snapshot of video from University of Leichester

Ionic Liquid and its melting point
Source: Snapshot of video from University of Leichester

Erin Lindenberg

Erin Lindenberg

We had the opportunity to meet with Erin Lindenberg, a PhD candidate in the Chemistry Department at the University of British Columbia. The following video demonstrates and describes what Ionic Liquids are, and how our researcher carried out her experiment.

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Video Music: “The Jazz Piano” – http://www.bensound.com

Now, the video showed possibilities in improving the effectiveness of electrolytes, which in the future, may have an impact to the general public through improvements in everyday necessities. However, before anything can be created, scientists must experiment with new concepts and/or theories. In our podcast below, we had a conversation with our researcher on how her study can possibly provide a solution or give ideas to other researchers also studying about Ionic Liquids, along with several challenges faced over the course of her research.

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Podcast Music: “Funky Element” – http://www.bensound.com

Modern technology depends on electricity as a source of energy, and portable electronics like cell phones, laptop computers and portable music devices are popular in modern society. Their batteries are essentially packages of electrical energy that can go wherever the device goes, but some of them are big and hazardous with many safety precautions. Erin’s research may lead to the production of smaller and more efficient batteries, possibly making popular electronic devices safer, more portable, and capable of operating longer without charging the batteries.

-Group 2: Lilly Inoue, Michelle Bak, Jared Martin, Sung Hoo Jegal

 

Questioning Chemotherapy

The increasing amount of cancer cases is no secret in our world today. According to Statistics Canada, one in four people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Billions of dollars are being used to find solutions to this disease; however one method of treatment is particularly controversial. Chemotherapy is the treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances by cytotoxic and other drugs. After doing some investigation I was shocked when I came across statistics about the effects chemotherapy had on the human body. Although chemotherapy has saved many from an early death, the negative effects it has on others is not to be overlooked.

Example of Chemotherapy Machine Source: Flickr Commons

Example of Chemotherapy Machine
Source: Flickr Commons

What stood out to me the most when investigating chemotherapy was the results of surveys conducted on 118 doctors from McGill Cancer Center asking if they would consider chemotherapy themselves if they were terminally ill with cancer.  Three of every four doctors would refuse chemotherapy for themselves due to its devastating effects on the entire body and the immune system, and because of its extremely low success rate. How could one feel comfortable if the physician administrating chemotherapy doesn’t agree with the method themselves? Furthermore how could a physician feel comfortable administrating it to an unknowing patient?

I was even more shocked when I discovered that Chemotherapy doesn’t universally affect all types of cancer the same way. In a book called “Questioning Chemotherapy,” by written Dr. Ralph Moss he reveals the ineffectiveness of Chemotherapy against cancers such as breast, colon, prostate and lung cancer. The types of cancer that Chemotherapy has proven to neutralize are 2-4%! If the health benefits are not as effective, then the body is left fighting off the stress and damage that it got from the process. If anything you are doing more damage than help. Now I understand why doctors would not go ahead with this themselves.

Before and After Image of Skin Cancer Cells. Source: Flickr Commons

Before and After Image of Skin Cancer Cells.
Source: Flickr Commons

So what exactly is the stress that Chemotherapy puts on the body? Chemotherapy attacks rapidly dividing cells in the body, which is how cancer cells are in nature. However, the most rapidly dividing cells in the body are the cells in our immune system. This is vital because the immune system is what fights off disease in the first place. If Chemotherapy is used on a type of cancer that it is not effective against (96%), and it fails, then the body is left to recover using a now damaged immune system.

Considering the results of my investigation I believe Chemotherapy, at best at this point, should be used as an alternative method instead of the standard one to treat cancer. During my research I came across many inspiring success stories where patients had overcome cancer by strengthening their immune system. The main way to do so is through your diet, especially with fruits and vegetables. I have always been a strong believer that food is our greatest medicine because it is always more bioavailable to the body than synthetic medicines.

Video on Alternative Cancer Treatment by Dr. Ralph Moss
Source: Youtube
Author: Beth Greer

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Frozen Food : to eat it or not to eat it?

Fast food picture. source: Google image (free to share)

Frozen Food is getting a bad rap.

Many people think that the frozen meals are unhealthy, opting for a fast-food meal over a frozen food, according to a British consumer group that tracks grocery shopping habits.

But a new study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that people who regularly have frozen meals consume 254 fewer calories and 2.7 less grams of saturated fat per day than people who eat fast food. Also, adults who ate frozen meals had higher daily intakes of important nutrients such as protein, fiber and potassium.

Nestle USA, the maker of lots of popular frozen-food brands such as DiGiorno, Stouffer’s, and Hot pockets, funded a study. The findings have been reviewed and considered impartial. Does the findings mean a frozen lasgna is better for your health than a hamburger and fries? Not really.

Nutrition facts of an example of frozen food. source: Google image (free to share)

Registered dietitian Staci Nix McIntosh, an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Utah College of Health, notes that the researchers did not compare meal for meal frozen versus fast food and cautions against taking the study findings at face value. “There are lots of factors at play here,” she says, “not the least of which is that people who consume fast food and people that regularly eat frozen food are people who choose different methods of quick meals and may have different lifestyles in general.”
Still, frozen foods can be healthy choices, depending on what you pick. McIntosh says to look for these items on the label:

1.Vegetables, but without the sauce.
2.High nutrient content relative to calories—potassium, calcium, fiber, vitamins A and D, and iron. You want a meal that will provide those nutrients while not exceeding your overall energy intake for the day.
3.Low sodium and no trans fats.

 

The Slow Carbon Cycle

As we may already know, the carbon atom is very essential to life on Earth.
We use carbon to fuel our economy and we also eat the carbon we get in form of
sugar from plants.  The reservoirs of carbon are where the carbon is stored. Being the fourth most abundant element in universe, carbon is mostly stored in rocks. It can also be found in fossil fuels, ocean, soil, atmosphere and plants.

The carbon cycle is when carbon flows from one reservoir to another in an exchange. In this blog, I will describe the slow carbon cycle, which is the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere, land and ocean.

The slow carbon cycle initiates when atmospheric carbon combines with water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3). This acid falls on rocks and it dissolves them. When the rocks dissolve they form ions such as calcium and these ions flow into the rivers, which leads to the ocean.  In the ocean, the calcium ions react with carbonate and produce calcium carbonate, which makes the shells of different organisms. When these organisms die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean where layers of sediment are buried and carbon is stored in limestone.

600px-Marine-microfossils-major_hg

These are four marine organisms living in the ocean. The micro organisms in c and d have shells that are made of calcium carbonate. When these organisms die, these shells sink to the ground to form limestone. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Then how is the carbon transported from the bottom of the ocean back into the atmosphere? This is done though volcanoes. Volcanoes make the rocks at the bottom of the ocean melt under extreme pressure and heat. When the rocks are heated they combine with silicate minerals and from this process carbon dioxide is formed and released back into the atmosphere.

800px-Puu_Oo_-_Beach_1988

This is a volcano in the ocean which effectively melts calcium carbonate in the bottom of the ocean and through reactions produces and releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. Source: Wikimedia Commons

I find this process to be very unique. Through the slow carbon cycle, carbon flows through different reservoirs and meets the biological needs of the living organisms in that reservoir. When the organism no longer needs the carbon, the carbon then flows out of the system and into another system where it is more useful.

Naqsh Fatima Bhangu

Flu Season is coming

The weather is getting cold. We can see people who get flu (influenza). I also had flu and could not leave from the bed for a weak. During staying in the bed for a weak, I wanted to know more about flu and how can we prevent this flu from our ordinary life.

 

http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/flu-shot-worsens-h1n1-symptoms-new-research-reveals/

http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/flu-shot-worsens-h1n1-symptoms-new-research-reveals/

What is flu?

Influenza is well known as “the flu.” It is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae. The most common symptoms are fever, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, and general discomfort. However having influenza also forces you to infecting other diseases. Flu can affect the lungs. Seniors old people, young children, and people who have lung or heart diseases, certain chronic health conditions, or weakened immune systems.

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Transition passage of flu

Influenza can be spread in three main ways. First is by direct transmission. Influenza can also be transmitted by direct contact with bird droppings or nasal secretions, or through contact with contaminated surfaces. Second is by the airborne route. The most of influenza is transmitted through the air by coughs or sneezes from other people. Air contains the virus and when people breathe, the virus goes into other people’s body. The last is through hand-to-eye, hand-to-nose, or hand-to-mouth transmission. All the routes are from contaminated surfaces or from direct personal contact such as a hand-shake. Especially in the airborne route, the droplets that are small enough for people to inhale are 0.5 to 5 µm in diameter and inhaling just one droplet might be enough to cause an infection. Also influenza survives in airborne with low humidity and a lack of sunlight in winter aiding its survival.

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v18/n10/full/nm.2953.html

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v18/n10/full/nm.2953.html

Mechanism of flu

The mechanisms of influenza infection is the inhibition of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) resulting in lowered cortisol levels. Therefore it will cause fatigue and headache. Also influenza invades cells and the cleavage of the viral hemagglutinin protein can not work normally. The normal structure of the hemagglutinin can only be cleaved by proteases and viruses cannot infect other tissues. However, influenza harms the hemagglutinin structure and infect other tissues in lungs.

How to prevent flu?

http://ncrc.umich.edu/flu-shot-clinic

http://ncrc.umich.edu/flu-shot-clinic

How can we prevent from the flu in this cold winter season? For the accurate answer for preventing flu, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend 3 steps to prevent from the flu.

First is take time to get a flu vaccine.

Second is hygiene and actions to stop the spread of germs-washing hands, covering nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, avoid touching eyes, noses, and mouth

The last step is taking flu antiviral drugs which the doctor prescribed. Wrong antiviral drugs can make illness worse and people have different flu virus, so the antiviral drugs are not always work for every situation.