Author Archives: Daphne Wu

Newly Discovered: Four Species of Algae on West Coast of North America.

Posted on April 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

It may come as a surprise to you but algae, or seaweed, has been around for a long, long time. Fossilized algae have been discovered that dates back to 1.6 billion years ago. It is incredible that they have managed to survive throughout the different climate changes that have occurred. UBC researcher in the department of botany, Sandra Lindstrom, is interested in the phenomenon of North Pacific algae species surviving the Pleistocene era, which was about 2 million to 10 thousand years ago, where glaciers covered this part of Earth.

Last year, Dr. Lindstrom and her colleagues discovered four new species Pyropia, a genus of red algae on the west coast of North America. Despite the fact that seaweed in this area has been studied by scientists for well over 50 years, Dr. Lindstrom and her team has managed to identify these new species by the use of modern genetic analysis tools: DNA sequencing and PCR.

How was it done?

When outward appearances, or morphology, of organisms are too similar to differentiate them definitively as separate species, their genes will set them apart. The video below will give you more background on Dr. Lindstrom, her research, and explain how she took advantage of a gene called the rbcL gene to uncover hidden species of Pyropia.

Credit: Hamed Hussaini, Jamie Chan, Daphne Wu, Parvin Pabla.

What do we use algae for?

Seaweed, or nori, has been harvested in China for about two thousand years. Used mainly as a food source in Asian, algae have also been used for energy as biofuel, and as fertilizer. In the podcast below, some common applications of red algae is highlighted along with an interesting tidbit about Dr. Lindstrom’s work for the industry.

Credit: Parvin Pabla

More possibilities?

Now that unexpected new species has been identified, there is room to explore about physiological factors contributing to the algae’s survival despite the harsh environment due to glaciation, and how species separated and evolved into unique new species in different locations.

Daphne Wu, Parvin Pabla, Hamed Hussaini, Jamie Chan.

Of pathogens and allergens

Posted on March 14, 2016 | 1 comment

Most of us have heard of the medical phenomenon called the Hygiene Hypothesis. Since the late 80’s, scientists have noticed that lower rates of infectious diseases in children could be responsible for the rapid spread of allergies in the 20th century. They proposed the theory that our immune systems do not develop properly without exposure to a wide variety of germs while we are growing up. Due to increased sanitation and personal hygiene standards in our society, while the prevalence of serious diseases lowered, the occurrence of asthma and allergies have skyrocketed.

Allergy prevalence in children © Source: Cologne University

Allergies is when the immune system mistake a harmless pathogen for a serious threat to your body. For example, pollen is a very common allergen. When pollen particles comes into contact with your body through the nose and eyes, your immune system can either realize that it is not causing harm as an infectious bacteria would, or it can treat it as a threat. For people with pollen allergies, your immune system will mount an attack on the invading pollen particles. It will cause your blood vessels to dilate and increase the flow of blood to where the particles entered your body, namely the nose and eyes. This is why those body parts will appear red when you are suffering from allergies. It will also cause specialist immune cells called mast cells to secrete a compound called histamine. This is what causes the discomfort of itchy eyes and leaky noses that we all associate with allergy season. Hence why anti-allergy drugs are called antihistamines. In more serious cases of peanut or shellfish allergy, the immune system will overload the body in defense compounds and cause something called anaphylactic shock, which is life threatening and can be treated by epinephrine, hence “Epi-pens” are used to combat this.

The theory of hygiene being the cause of asthma and allergies is quite straightforward. The scientists believe if we are exposed to many different disease causing pathogens, then our immune system will recognize many different pathogens, and therefore will not react as strongly to those that don’t cause disease.

To further explain this theory, here is a video made by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology describing a study of the Amish people in American in support of the hygiene hypothesis:

This topic raises many following discussions such as: how often should you shower? Should you let your kids be dirty? And not to mention, are antibacterial soaps really good for you?

Daphne Wu

1 Comment

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

Tagged allergies, health, hygiene, pathogen

Of Not-Science

Posted on February 8, 2016 | 1 comment

So for a lack of things to write about, I thought I should highlight a few famous, terrible, (and possibly justified) misuses of science in movies for your entertainment. I don’t think this topic needs much of an introduction, as it is well known that Hollywood is a little loose with their portrayal of how the world actually works.

1. Air in Space?

I’m sure all science fictions fans are familiar with the hum of hyperspace travel, the blips, zaps, and “pew pew pew” of laser guns. We also can’t forget about the fiery, booming explosions of attack ships (and the occasional planet) in action-packed space movies. As cool as these sound effects are, I think most Trekkies and Star Wars fans alike will have already realized the problem. THERE IS NO SOUND IN SPACE. Sound is a vibration that travels through particles, and since space is a vacuum (therefore no particles), everything that is filmed to occur in outer space should be silent as a grave. Even the explosion of the Death Star would be a soundless affair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WBG2rJZGW8

Also, since space is just vacuum, we aren’t even supposed to see the laser beams coming out of guns and cannons! First of all, lasers are photons, which travel at the speed of light, so our eyes would never catch it happening. Also, in order for the beams to glow, it must reflect off of surrounding particles. We’ve already established that there are no particles in outer space.

Admittedly, for these movies to be scientifically accurate would be beyond boring, which is probably why the directors can’t afford to do so. (Got to justify that 200 million budget.)

2. The Not-so-Heroic Catch

How many times have we seen the damsel in distress falling from a great height to her certain doom, only for the superhero of the story to swoop in at the last minute and catch her, bridesmaid style?

Superman Catching Lois (Source: Google Images)

Cliche-ness aside, there is actually something completely wrong with this! When an object (such as a human being) travels at a high velocity and comes to a stop suddenly, it would react the same way regardless if it hits the pavement or a superhero’s arms. I’m sure you can all imagine the result.

Of course, if the directors cared more about portraying true science rather dramatized romance, the movie would be rated R for scenes of graphic violence…

3. What happened to Darwinism?

In the ever-so-popular X-Men series, a group of certain individuals labelled as mutants pop up all over the world and display awesome super-human powers including but not limited to: wings, psychic abilities, teleportation, shape-shifting abilities… you name it! In the series they credit it to mutations that occurred randomly in a small fraction of the human population due to evolution.

X-Men characters. (Source: Google Images)

Just…No. That is not how evolution works. It takes thousands to millions of years for any significant change to occur in a species via evolution. That’s because the chances of mutation actually happening is very low, and most are usually harmful. Humans are much more likely to get cancer or harmful genetic diseases rather than develop regenerating cells and eternal youth (looking at you, Wolverine).

These are just a few of the numerous scientific mistakes in popular TV shows and movies. Though these may be cringe-worthy for science-minded folks like us, most people would agree that without certain embellishments, many movies wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining to watch. Do you question why there aren’t more action movies that are exciting while adhering to the laws of physics? Or do you think that movies should have some level of exaggeration, and that whether or not they conform to modern science is irrelevant to their purpose? What kind of an effect will inaccurate science in popular media have on the viewers, particularly the younger generations?

-Daphne Wu

1 Comment

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

Tagged cancer, inaccurate science, mutation, physics, space

Of Existential Cats

Posted on January 18, 2016 | Leave a comment

Generally, when we hear the term “Quantum Mechanics“, we think of complicated mathematics, incomprehensible physics, and an old guy with a penchant for sticking out his tongue in pictures. This subject is often portrayed by our society as something intimidating, something so intellectually challenging that only a select few can possibly hope to understand. Is it though? Yes, it may be complicated; Yes, there may be math. Calculus, even! But it is perfectly reasonable to think that any average science undergrad can grasp some of the fundamental principles.

One well known example underlining those principles is the Schrodinger’s Cat experiment. This famous problem came about one day when the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger decided to conduct an experiment. Except, due to ethical, legal, or just plain lack of funding for killing felines for the sake of scientific curiosity, he never did conduct the experiment in real life. Instead, he settled for imagining the whole thing. The premise is this: we have a cat, a radioactive source, and a jar of poison all sitting in a box. Over the course of one hour, the box is left untouched. If the radioactive atom decays, a mechanism attached to a Geiger counter will release a hammer that smashes the jar of poison, leading to a very painful death for our poor, unnamed cat. If it does not, the cat narrowly escapes death by cyanide and is rewarded by living (maybe) another hour.

The point of this experiment is thus: According to quantum mechanics, the radioactive source is a mixture of states – a superposition, if you will, of the atom having decayed and not decayed. Very complicated – but imagine a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and the thin layer where the peanut butter comes into contact with the jelly and therefore mixes into a synergistic substance that is amazingly both peanut butter and jelly at the same time, then you get the gist. Now here’s the important part: Since our cat’s life is dependent upon the radioactive atom decaying or not, then the cat must also be in a superposition of two possible states – alive, or dead. In other words, unless we open the box and find out for sure, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. This isn’t to say that it has equal probability of being alive or dead, but (I repeat) that the cat is ~~literally~~ theoretically both alive and dead at the same time. Now when we actually open the box, the cat will be forced into a definite state of dead or not dead. But before you open that box, we have a magical, half-alive, half-dead, not-quite-a-zombie, still-unnamed, cat, which we will never see, because the act of observation either kills or saves our cat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-2pDxAPPnw

This illustrates the peculiar phenomenon in particle physics: that the act of observing something, an electron, for example, forces it to collapse into a certain state. Whereas when it’s unobserved, it can exist in a combination of many possible states.

Let’s take it out of context, do you think this means our world is only the way it is when we are actively observing it?

Daphne Wu

Author Archives: Daphne Wu

Newly Discovered: Four Species of Algae on West Coast of North America.

Of pathogens and allergens

Of Not-Science

Of Existential Cats

Add Users

Recent Posts

Categories

Authors

Author Archives: Daphne Wu

Newly Discovered: Four Species of Algae on West Coast of North America.

Of pathogens and allergens

Of Not-Science

Of Existential Cats

Add Users

Recent Posts

Categories

Authors

Tags