Communicating Science (14w212)

Airplane food tastes different, why?

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Elice Xie | 1 comment

Many people find being up in the air an unpleasant experience, from uncomfortable seats with little leg room to unappetizing meals. Why does the food that airline companies serve taste bland or unappetizing? It might not be the airline’s fault that the food tastes bland. Two factors can affect the taste of food: lack of humidity and lower air pressure.

Air Canada – International Flight Meal
Source: Wikimedia Commons

From the moment you leave the ground, the flavours of food become manipulated. This is due to the change of altitude and pressure of the plane. Taste and smell are one of the first senses to change at higher altitudes. Since one of the factors that can alter the flavours of the food is smell, it makes sense that taste will also change at higher altitudes. The pressure in the cabin of the plane dries out the nose first. A small area of mucous membrane that lines the inside of the nose contains olfactory nerves. It has hair-like projections that can detect smell. Olfactory nerve endings can be affected by the reduced humidity. In the parched air cabin, the odour receptors does not work properly and the effect of it makes the food taste twice as bland.

Olfactory Nerves in the Nose
Source: Wikimedia Commons

As the plane is ascending to higher altitudes, the change in air pressure will numb about ⅓ of the taste buds in your mouth. Taste buds contain many different types of taste receptors, each type detects one of the five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and unami. Food in the mouth stimulates the receptors and triggers a nerve impulse in the nearby nerve fibre which are connected to cranial nerves. These signals are sent to the brain and the brain interprets the combination of impulses from taste and smell receptors. But before the impulse is sent to the brain, taste molecules must be dissolved in the saliva in order to reach and stimulate taste receptors. At high altitudes, the water content of saliva decreases and becomes more concentrated and viscous. This leads to dry mouth. Dry mouth makes it hard for the taste receptors to bind to taste molecules.

The combination of low humidity and pressure reduces the sensitivity of the taste buds and olfactory nerves that’s in our nose. No wonder why the meals that airlines serve taste different than meals eaten on land.

Here’s a video explaining how smell and taste are needed in order to taste the flavours in our food uploaded by chichin85:

– Elice Xie

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Uncategorized

Tagged brain, food, nerves, smell, taste

Is nail biting a sign of perfectionism?

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Siana Lai | 2 comments

Next time someone tells you to stop biting your nails, tell them to stop boring you! A new study has found that people prone to body-focussed repetitive behaviours may be perfectionists.

Biting your nails might mean you’re a perfectionist
credits to: flickr

Body-focussed repetitive behaviours are a group of behaviours where an individual causes damage to themselves. Examples of these behaviours include biting nails, hair pulling, and biting the inside of their cheek. Individuals can spend hours doing these activities, taking away from their day. Engaging in these behaviours can lead to psychological symptoms like depression, shame, and isolation.

In this study, the researchers looked at 24 people that exhibited body-focussed repetitive behaviours and a control group of 24 people that did not exhibit these behaviours. The participants were first screened through a telephone interview then completed questionnaires to evaluate emotions including boredom, anger, and guilt, to name a few. Then, the participants were experimentally exposed to four different situations, designed to provoke different emotions: stress, relaxation, frustration, and boredom.

The researchers found that in the boredom and frustration situations, the participants that had a history of body-focussed repetitive behaviours reported a greater urge to engage in these behaviours than control participants. Moreover, none of the participants felt the urge to perform these behaviours in the relaxation situation. Kieron O’Connor, the principal investigator has stated “We believe that individuals with these repetitive behaviours maybe perfectionistic, meaning that they are unable to relax and to perform task at a ‘normal’ pace. They are therefore prone to frustration, impatience, and dissatisfaction when they do not reach their goals. They also experience greater levels of boredom.”

Perfectionism can lead to depression.
credits to: Flickr

This new research falls in line with what we already know about perfectionism and its detrimental effects on people. A study has shown that perfectionism can lead to anxiety, depression, and may even be a risk factor for suicide. In fact, two separate studies have looked at the link between perfectionism and suicide. The first study found that when conducting interviews with the loved ones of people that had recently killed themselves, more than half of the deceased were described as perfectionists without prompting. The second study found that more than 70% of 33 men that committed suicide placed exceedingly high expectations on themselves, a trait associated with perfectionism.

It doesn’t take much to imagine why perfectionists are driven to self harm so often. The impossibly high standards that they hold for themselves means that they aren’t happy even when they achieve success. It has been suggested that anxiety over making a mistake may be what is holding them back from success. Research has confirmed that the most successful people in any given field are less likely to be perfectionistic. Imagine having a surgeon that had to be absolutely sure about each cut before making it, their patients would spend much longer on the table, increasing their chance of death.

Check out this TED talk all about perfectionism:

– Siana Lai

2 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

Tagged body-focussed repetitive behaviours, hair pulling, health, nail biting, perfectionism, psychology, suicide

The Power of Power Naps

Posted on March 22, 2015 by sara | Leave a comment

A student napping in a library. Source: Flickr Creative Commons. Image by: umjanedoan

Many of us already know how lack of sleep can be detrimental, whether it be from personal experience or simply because we have been taught that sleep deprivation is bad for our health. Unfortunately, due to school, work, or other reasons, some people simply cannot afford a good eight hours of sleep every night; but that does not necessarily mean that they cannot be healthy! The key to survive short nights of sleep lies in the power of ‘power naps’. A short nap, ranging anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour, can have extraordinary benefits in terms of health and memory, even if someone is sleep deprived.

As shown in a recent study conducted by a group of neuropsychologists at Saarland University in Germany, a power nap of 45 to 60 minutes can significantly improve learning and memory. Indeed, the researchers asked participants to remember single words and pairs of words (e.g., milk-taxi); half of these participants were then allowed to take a short nap after the learning phase, while the other half watched a DVD. Surprisingly, compared to the DVD group, the ‘nap’ group performed significantly better when recalling the word pairs. This can be explained by the fact that memories are consolidated, or strengthened, when we sleep (either over night or during daytime napping), and that stronger or efficient consolidation leads to better chance of recall later on.

Memory performance was assessed by recall of words or word pairs.
Source: Flickr Creative Commons Image by: Chris Blakeley

Adding to the benefits of enhancing learning and memory, Dr. Faraut from the Université Paris Descartes-Sorbonne in Paris, France, found that even just a 30-minute power nap is enough to counter the negative effects of a poor night of sleep. Indeed, in their recently published study, suggests that napping can help the immune system as well as the neuroendocrine system to recuperate from lack of sleep. The proper functioning of these systems are crucial for humans in order to protect us from diseases, regulate our digestive and respiratory systems, as well as to relieve stress.

Bearing the benefits of power naps in mind, students pulling ‘all-nighers’, along with other sleep-deprived individuals, should definitely consider spending some time napping here and there. This would allow their brains to consolidate newly formed memories as well as allowing their bodies to counter the damage done by lack of sleep.

This short video offers a quick summary of the benefits behind power naps, take a look!

This video was uploaded to Youtube by AsapSCIENCE

Sara Larivière

Laboratory nurseries could save Coral Reefs

Posted on March 22, 2015 by buttress | Leave a comment

A natural underwater Atlantis is found beneath the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean; clustered corals of all shapes and colours create the home of a vibrant array of fish species. But these reef ecosystems are declining and are threatened with destruction unless the corals can be saved. Marine researchers have uncovered the secret to breeding pillar corals in the laboratory with the hope that these can be transplanted to reefs to reverse such trends.

A Caribbean coral reef ecosystem (copyright – Ken Clifton)

Corals are soft-bodied organisms which associate with algae, they form a hard limestone base which forms the structure of reefs. These cover less than a quarter of one percent of the ocean floor yet support 25% of all marine life. That equates to 2 million species whilst also acting as a nursery to a quarter of the oceans fish. In addition to the beauty of an ecosystem rivalling the diversity of the Amazon rainforest, coral reefs are vital fisheries. If sustainably managed, one square kilometre can yield 15 tonnes of fish per year whilst the total commercial annual output of coral fisheries is valued at $5.7 billion. Furthermore, coral reef fish species are a significant food resource for over a billion people worldwide and are the principle protein source for 85% of this total. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we conserve these ecosystems.

Pollution from oil depots enters the ocean and poisons coral reefs (copyright – Kris Krug)

However, one quarter of coral reefs are considered damaged beyond repair whilst the remainder are under serious threat. The warming ocean temperature has disrupted their associations with algae; this is known as bleaching and leads to the death of corals. Climate change has increased CO₂ levels; this has raised the acidity of the ocean which then dissolves the coral limestone skeleton. Moreover, pollution from oil, industry and agriculture has poisoned the corals thus furthering their decline. Overfishing also poses a threat through disordering the complex food webs of the ecosystem whilst fishing practices such as trawling can directly damage the reef.

Pillar corals of the Caribbean reef (copyright – BioMed Central)

Marine researcher Kristen Marhaver and her team are hoping to reverse these effects through raising juvenile pillar corals in the laboratory environment. Coaxing the corals into reproduction was a difficult task; Dr. Marhaver drew the “analogy to in vitro fertilization in humans.” Pillar corals build single gender colonies and spawn eggs or sperm on very few nights annually. The offspring then grow at just half an inch per year. However, the team succeeded and learnt of the optimal conditions of water, bacteria and other species that help them to grow in the wild. Furthermore, there is hope that these laboratory grown juveniles could be transplanted back to the Caribbean reefs to regenerate the ecosystems. Marhaver added, “We do see that coral juveniles can survive in places where the adults are suffering badly, so we are thinking that some reefs can recover in places we have given up on.” Such research can only help to protect and potentially regenerate these crucial coral reef ecosystems upon which so much is dependent.

Toby Buttress

Intelligent robotics are revolutionizing the world of prosthetics.

Posted on March 16, 2015 by imran khan | 1 comment

The loss of a limb or its functionality can devastate a person’s quality of life. The Amputee Coalition estimates 2 million people in the United States are living with limb loss. The congressional research service reports that more than 1,600 amputations involving troops between 2001 and 2010, who were also considered as major limb amputees. Finding a replacement for a limb can be frustrating, expensive and unrealistic. Though a replacement can be possible, seldom is the functionality of the replacement as complete as the original body part. Researchers in Intelligent Systems, robotics, and Cybernetics are working on ways to improve control over prosthetics with direct help from their muscles and nervous system. This technology takes advantage of biomaterials which make up an interface site. These interface sites are stations where neurons from the human body interact with the robotic limb. The interfaces monitor and interpret signals from the nervous system. Once the signals have been received from the neurons, algorithms are used to determine the action of the prosthetic limb. This smart technology of nerve and robot interaction is continually being refined by researcher and they hope to tailor each prosthetic limb to an individual based on the specific interactions.

On a micro scale, researchers at Lawrence livermore National Laboratory are making gains in developing thin-film polymers which mimic the functionality of neurons. They are moving ever closer to designing the world’s first neural system which will enable naturalistic feeling and movement in prosthetic hands. Known as a Hand Proprioception and Touch Interface (HAPTIX), the research hopes to provide control and sensation for amputated hands. If successful, HAPTIX will reduce what is known as “phantom limb” pain, a sensation some amputees feel despite a missing limb. The HAPTIX interface incorporates sensors that provide tactile feedback to the patient from their hand. This means that a prosthetic hand will not only act like a human but will also feel pressure, touch and texture through this smart technology. The biggest challenge for the research team has been deciphering the complex patterns of neural stimulations which act as natural touch and movement.

By Imran Khan

1 Comment

Posted in Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged Amputee, phantom hand, Prosthetics, robotics

Gradual Weight Loss vs. Crash Dieting?

Posted on March 16, 2015 by harrimal cheema | 3 comments

When we eat less, we loose weight. However, is this kind of weight loss really worth it? Adding restrictions to what one eats just causes lack of essential nutrients making us feel weak and exhausted.

Gradual weight loss is better than crash dieting because a person is more likely to gain back the weight lost through crash dieting. In crash dieting, a person is loosing stored carbohydrate glycogen and not fat. Their body enters starvation mode and several health risks are associated with that.

The video below, lists the health risks associated with crash dieting and outlines the benefits of gradual weight loss.

Short-term health risks include feeling exhausted, irritable, stressed and craving for food all the time. Dieting does not provide ones body with required vitamins and minerals and hence, the person experiences fatigue all day. On the other hand, long-term risks of crash dieting include osteoporosis (weakening of bones due to lack of calcium in diet) and eating disorders like anorexia (food restrictions despite having a thin figure) and bulimia (eating large amounts of food in a short period of time).

Crash dieting allows for faster weight loss however, the more weight one looses through a starvation diet, the more their metabolism slows. Hence, slower metabolism means more chances of weight gain in the future as normal diet begins. As a result, healthy eating and staying active are the two main factors for healthy weight loss. One should aim for gradual weight loss i.e., loosing 2-3 pounds a week rather than losing 10 pounds a week through crash dieting.

Crash Dieting Cycle. Image Source: Flickr Credits to the Diet Cycle.

Body dissatisfaction is one of the main causes of crash dieting. We often compare our body size and structure to other people and judge ourselves without realizing that each person is different and has their own body type. A person maybe lean and skinny while another weighing the same may be broad structured. So, before comparing our body size to others we should keep in mind that we all are different and we should accept our body the way it is. We should not put our lives in jeopardy by adding on the extra stress and pressure through crash dieting. Research has stated that many cycles of crash dieting may cause organ failure as our vital organs don’t get enough energy to function and they begin to burn tissues of heart, leading to heart failure in future.

Therefore, stay happy and active and never do crash dieting. Love your body the way it is and gift it with proper nutritional food. Never compare yourself to others and loose weight through starvation. Choose gradual weight loss over crash dieting and than see how satisfying the results are.

– Harrimal Cheema

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Public Engagement, Science Communication

Tagged anorexia, bulimia, carbohydrate glycogen, crash dieting, fat, gradual weight loss, heart failure, osteoporosis, slow metabolism, weight loss

Cure for Skin Cancer…? RNA!

Posted on March 16, 2015 by seungwon lee | 1 comment

Skin cancer. It is the most common form of cancer, affecting over 3.5 million people in the United States alone. The incidence of skin cancer is steadily increasing in frequency each year and in fact about one out of every five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer in their lifetime.

Currently, we have many available treatments for these skin cancers except none of them are very efficient. That’s because they not only affect tumors, but they’re also damaging perfectly healthy tissue, and that’s where this new RNA treatment comes in.

We want to find a way to specifically target skin cancers without damaging any other surrounding cells. But cancer work is rarely that simple or easy because cells are quite frankly very complicated. If one of your cells was a city, then this is what the subway map might look like.

Subway Map (Source: The Guardian )

A city has more than just the subway. There are buildings, roads, airports and buses. This process here is only a portion of what the cell does but it’s extremely important, nonetheless. This particular map illustrates cellular metabolism—the collection of the entire chemical processes that occur in a cell in order to maintain life. Now each other subway stations represent a chemical and the lines that connect them represent proteins. We want to find a single protein out all of these that is only expressed in skin cancers and not in healthy skin cells and it’s found to be Malonyl CoA Acyl carrier protein transacylase, or MCAT for short.

MCAT plays a very specific role in the cell to convert one chemical into another except it functions in the larger pathway that is responsible for the cell’s production of energy. Without MCAT, this entire pathway falls apart and the cell is no longer capable of generating large sums of energy. Thus, in healthy skin cells, because they don’t use very much energy, the cells were able to function normally without MCAT. On the other hand, because skin cancer cells grow so rapidly and consume so much energy, MCAT activity was essential for their survival.

But how was this possible?

Normally, a ribosome translates a messenger RNA in order to produce the mature MCAT protein. However, translation can be interfered with this process by binding a short strand of RNA to the messenger RNA. This then physically blocks the ribosome preventing it from producing the MCAT protein.

Inhibited Translation. (Source: INTECH )

So what do we do here? In the future, we will be able to develop a lotion that can deliver a drug to inhibit MCAT. People can apply the solution to a region with a potential skin tumor. As a result there preventing the onset of skin cancer without affecting any of the surrounding tissue. A treatment like this is not only much more effective than current therapies, it’s also more accessible less invasive and much cheaper.

Written by Seungwon Lee

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Public Engagement

Tagged health, Malonyl CoA Acyl carrier protein transacylase, MCAT, ribosome, RNA, skin-cancer, tissues, treatment, tumors

The Snooze Button: Friend or Foe?

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Rajpreet Gill | 7 comments

Do you have a love-hate relationship with your alarm clock? I know I do. If your mornings are anything like mine, they consist of hitting the snooze button multiple times before groggily getting out of bed. The snooze button, a control on a clock that resets the alarm to repeat after a given time interval, is used by many people to allow for a few more minutes of sleep. Many believe that this time spent sleeping helps the body rest up, but could these few more minutes of sleep be doing you more harm than good?

Sleep Matters
Source: Flickr Commons
Credit to: Navy_NADAP

The average adult requires 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night and during this time most adults usually pass through the five stages of the sleep cycle: stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4 and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. On average, a complete sleep cycle takes anywhere between 90 to 110 minutes, with each stage of sleep being characterized by different brain waves and functions. A commonality between all five stages of sleep, however, is that hitting the snooze button can result in the sleep cycle being interrupted at any stage, resulting in what is known as fragmented sleep.

Stages of Sleep
Source: Flickr Commons
Credit to: bedzine

One study found that fragmented sleep, sleep in which the sleep cycle is interrupted, has less of a restorative effect than having a continuous sleep. In addition to this, fragmented sleep can lead to impairments throughout the day which can be traced back to sleepiness. A more recent study found that these impairments include a shortfall in cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts and thinking about multiple concepts at the same time. Furthermore, deficits in learning, memory, attention and decision making may also accompany fragmented sleep. The same study also noted how there is a chance of one’s executive functions, which are essentially a set of processes that relate to an ability to plan and complete a task or meet a goal, being impaired.

Although some individuals may believe that they are helping themselves by hitting the snooze button and squeezing in a few more minutes of sleep, the aforementioned studies suggest otherwise by showcasing the counter productivity of the snooze button.

The following video, by AsapSCIENCE, does a great job in presenting information regarding the snooze button and tips on what you can do to avoid feeling tired throughout the day:

Personally, after learning more about the effects of the snooze button I know that I will make more of an effort to refrain from hitting the snooze button. After all, why sleep in segments when you can have a long, continuous sleep?

-Rajpreet Gill

7 Comments

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

Tagged alarm clock, health, Sleep, sleep cycle, snooze

The Science Behind That Sweet Smell of Bacon

Posted on March 16, 2015 by samantha mee | 2 comments

Bacon is a simple food. It’s salty and it’s crispy. It can be eaten with pancakes, eggs, for breakfast or for dinner. The smell of it alone is enough to drag someone out of bed first thing in the morning. The joy of bacon doesn’t arise solely when you eat it, but rather when you start to cook it, allowing its aromas to be released.

Bacon
Bacon Source: Wikipedia Common

The question is, what makes bacon smell so good? The American Chemical Society (ACS), partnered with the Compound Interest Blog, together have come up with the answer as to why the smell of bacon can be so irresistible. The answer? Science! That particular smell of bacon is the product of 150 different organic compounds. As heat is applied, the sugars, amino acids and fats present in the meat break down, allowing the Maillard Reaction to take place. This reaction occurs at a high-temperature allowing the amino acids of the meat to interact with the reducing sugars present in the bacon fat. This mechanism is also responsible for turning your food brown as it cooks. It is this combination of the 150 compounds that produce the drool-worthy fragrance that bacon emits.

The chemistry behind the Maillard reaction.
Maillard Source: Wikipedia Commons

Among these organic compounds are aldehydes, hydrocarbons and nitrogen-containing pyridines. As referenced in the video below, a study conducted in 2004 by Carrapiso and colleagues researched the aromas released from friend bacon and fried pork loin. Their work concluded that the nitrogen-containing compounds present in bacon are likely the main cause of the preferential aroma, which are unique to bacon and not replicated in other pork products

Many different types of foods (for example, coffee, chocolate and bread) can all undergo a Maillard Reaction, each have their own distinct combination of organic compounds and thus different aromas. This is why baking bread doesn’t smell the same as frying bacon. However, it is these specific compounds that flavor scientists have targeted over the years in the generation of artificial flavors (which includes maple syrup).

Check out this video by ACS and the Compound Interest blog on the science behind bacon.

Thanks for reading!

Samantha Mee

2 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged American Chemical Society, Amino Acids, Aroma, Artificial, Bacon, Maillard, Organic Compounds

iPhones change the game for medical research

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Ian Villamin | 3 comments

ResearchKit allows users to participate in medical research studies on their iPhone. Source: Kārlis Dambrāns Flickr

Apple has designed ResearchKit, a new software platform that allows people to participate in medical research studies through their iPhone. ResearchKit is the latest solution for the lack of participants in numerous studies which limits the understanding of certain diseases.

While the software will be officially released in April, they have already released five free apps designed by numerous universities and hospitals to help with breast cancer, asthma, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

One of the five apps called mPower, aims to help researchers understand more about Parkinson’s disease. When using the app, Parkinson’s disease patients can measure their tremors, balance and voice at different times of the day. For example, to measure tremors, the participant would have to use two fingers and tap alternately on the screen. iPhones also have a built-in accelerometer to measure the participant’s balance and a voice recorder to measure any variations in speech. Others without Parkinson’s disease can sign up for this study to be part of the control group as a basis for comparison.

mPower has already recruited over 7,000 participants within a couple hours of being released, surpassing the previous record-holder for a Parkinson’s study of 1,700.

Check out the video below by CNET, showing some of the tasks in mPower.

This is all amazing, however, privacy is a big issue that many iPhone users should be aware of. Apple says that all information is kept private and participants are in control of which studies they want to be a part of. But, according to The Verge, John Wilbanks, a man who worked on some of the apps, says that they can’t promise perfect anonymity. He explains that they do remove all traces of where the information came from, but because they make it available for a lot of research, there is a chance of someone re-identifying a participant.

ResearchKit certainly attracts more people to participate in research studies, as opposed to current methods of posting ads on a bulletin or online, but having the chance of someone getting access to your identity might not be worth it. There would also be some limitations on the research because a study states that lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher rates of disease. Since iPhone users are most likely wealthier than others, this could create some bias in the results. As for availability, ResearchKit is only available to users with the latest iPhones and iPod touch devices in the U.S and it is unknown when it will be available worldwide.

Although using apps for healthcare are nothing new, a big name like Apple may be able to make them a thing of the future for research studies. Whether this is a good or bad thing, we would have to wait for stronger security improvements and see if the first few apps yield any useful results.

Watch the video below by Apple, which shows their vision of ResearchKit.

-Ian Villamin

3 Comments

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

Tagged apple, iphone, research, researchkit, software

Airplane food tastes different, why?

Is nail biting a sign of perfectionism?

The Power of Power Naps

Laboratory nurseries could save Coral Reefs

Intelligent robotics are revolutionizing the world of prosthetics.

Gradual Weight Loss vs. Crash Dieting?

Cure for Skin Cancer…? RNA!

The Snooze Button: Friend or Foe?

The Science Behind That Sweet Smell of Bacon

iPhones change the game for medical research

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