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Magnetism Everywhere!

Posted on November 30, 2016 by | Leave a comment

How many of you have some of your most important information or precious memories stored on a computer? In modern society, technology has become a vital part of how we live and how we choose to store and process information. However, there is one key concept that is applicable to many of the technology we use, it’s called magnetism.

Many technological breakthroughs of various different fields are based on the concept of magnetism (the attractive and repulsive force between objects). Magnetism is used almost everywhere in our society; from little gadgets to medical apparatus, these all involve the fundamentals of magnetic forces.  To gain a better understanding of what magnetism is, listen to the podcast below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To07hEn84hY

Now you know better what magnetism is, consider how it’s being studied today.

Applications to Current Research

Dr. MacFarlane and a team of scientists ran a study where they investigated the magnetic properties of a mineral called hematite. One of the things that they focused on in their study was the surface molecular orientation of a magnet. Different surface orientations result in an object with varying levels of magnetic forces. Which is interesting, because the strength of a magnetic force allows it to attract or repel different objects!

A major component affecting the surface orientation of a magnet is something called Phase Transitions.

Phase transitions are used to describe the change between different states of an object. An easy example of this is the change of states of water.

Freezing water into ice is a phase transition between its liquid state and its solid state. For magnets, the phase transition is between the paramagnetic and the ferromagnetic state. The difference between the two is mainly shown with the application of an magnetic field, the area surrounding the magnet that is able to experience the magnetic forces (shown in the diagram below).

Hand drawn diagram of phase transitions in water and in magnets

Hand drawn diagram of phase transitions in water and in magnets

Caption: Diagram of Phase transitions inspired by images found on

The paramagnetic state of a magnet is when the material loses its magnetism after the magnetic field around it is removed. Conversely, the ferromagnetic state is when the material keeps its magnetism even after the magnetic field is removed.

If an object is in the paramagnetic state, it will not be able to attract or repulse any other objects. For an object in ferromagnetic state, it has the ability to attract other objects just by itself without any magnetic forces affecting it. Most magnets are of ferromagnetic state which is why they are always able to attract other objects!

According to Dr. MacFarlane, during Paramagnetic state, the molecules (ions) in the object are moving randomly around rapidly. So, every time you look at them you would see a different arrangement of the molecules (magnets). After cooling to a certain temperature, you would get the ferromagnetic state where the molecules would gradually line up parallel to each other in a lattice and freeze into a magnetic structure.

Moreover, another version of the ferromagnetic state is the anti ferromagnetic state. The anti ferromagnetic state is when the molecules are lined up opposite to each other instead of parallel to each other.

By this point you may be thinking that all of this information is a lot to grasp, but don’t forget that research done about magnetism is important for the current way our world works! Remember when we asked about the information you store on your computer? It wouldn’t be possible without magnetism.  Watch the video below to find out how:

https://youtu.be/Kfs1fkaPDWQ

Generally speaking, aspects of magnetism and phase transitions may still be rather abstract to us…but at least we all now realize that these concepts surround us everyday!

-Group 2: Beth B, Kayleigh B, Delia M

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Does Pressure Affect People’s Hair Color?

Posted on November 14, 2016 by | Leave a comment

In recent years, many people have started to pay attention to the changes of their hair color. Lots of parents are worried about their children as many teenagers have started to grow white or gray hair. Many people hold the view that high stress is responsible to this transformation of hair color from normal black, red, brown or gold to white or gray. Some even claim that Barack Obama, the President of the USA, is a evidence of this opinion as his hair color has turned from fine black to gray obviously in a few years after being elected. However, is stress the key factor that can affect people’s hair color?

A combination photo shows President Obama on April 29, 2009 and on August 5, 2012. Obama's hair has become visibly greyer since he was first sworn into office on January 20, 2009 as a 47-year-old. 

Credit:(JASON REED AND JONATHAN ERNST)

To fully understand how stress may affect people hair color, we have to learn some basic knowledge about our hair. We can imagine our scalp as a factory and our hair is the product. The hair follicles on the scalp are workers that are producing hair along with melanin cells. Healthy melanin cells can  protect people from oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is known as an imbalanced status of oxidation and antioxidation in human’s body. It is also regarded as an important cause of aging and diseases. When people reach around 30 years old,  the hair factory will start to waste. Oxide like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) will start to accumulate in scalps. This change in our body will weaken and kill melanin cells. The hair factory will start to produce white hair because of the shortage of melanin cells. Therefore, the primary cause of the change of hair color is oxidative stress.

Can mental stress cause oxidative stress to affect people’s hair color? In fact, researchers lack the experimental evidence to answer this question as ethicists will not allow scientists to artificially let subjects feel high pressure in a long period for the researching purpose. However, many scientists have been studying the problem of  hair loss and change in hair color. They claim that hair color can be influenced by several factors, such as endocrine dyscrasia, psychological trauma, tension and disturbance of blood circulation. Also, earlier in 2016, a England research group found a kind of gene (IRF4) that is related to the change in hair color. Moreover, scientists also remind people that some external factors, including smoking, air pollution and bad dietary habit can also increase the chance that hair color turns to white.

 

 

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The Mystery of Ticklishness

Posted on November 14, 2016 by | Leave a comment

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Chances are, at some point in your life, you’ve been tickled on your armpits, sides, feet, and found yourself hysterically bursting into laughter and giggles. Have you ever pondered what kind of purpose ticklishness serves?

imageMichael Bretch and Shimpei Ishiyama at Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience in Berlin published a paper last week investigating a rat brain’s response to tickling and provided us with an insight as to why ticklishness evolved.

When the researchers tickled the rat, it not only responded with ultrasonic (or sound waves with a frequency too high for human ears to hear) vocalization that is equivalent to laughter, but it also chased after the researcher’s hand for more tickling! The rat also jumped in joy after getting tickled, a response known as Freudensprünge, which is a joyful leaping behaviour observed in many mammalian species. However, near the end of the following video edited by ScienceNews shows that the rat enjoys being tickled only when it is in a good mood just like humans:

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While the rat enjoyed the tickling, the researchers examined its brain. A large area of the brain called somatosensory cortex, which responds to touch sensations, was highly active when the rat was being tickled. When the researchers just electrically stimulated its somatosensory cortex, the rat responded with ultrasonic vocalizations, or the laughter, as if it had been tickled. Interestingly, this region of the brain was also responsive during a rat’s play behaviours!

What is intriguing is that response to tickling is similar between humans and rats. They even share some areas susceptible to tickling such as soles of feet! Dr. Brecht explains that such similarity takes us back through evolutionary history to the common ancestor of humans and rats that likely used tickling as a way to build social bonds.

The link between pleasure and tickling, which activates the same area playing does, taken together with the fact that you can’t tickle yourself leads Dr. Bretch to infer that perhaps “ticklishness is a trick of the brain to make animals or humans play or interact in a fun way.”

 

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News, Uncategorized

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Why Clowns Are So Scary

Posted on October 31, 2016 by | 5 comments

As far as I remember, it has always been an acceptable and popular choice to dress up as a clown for Halloween.

The same really can’t be said for this year.

The past few months have made the public seriously afraid of clowns. Typically, with a fear like this, people would say that it’s irrational and unfounded. But in this case, I think the fear is fairly justified. There have been numerous reported sightings of ‘creepy clowns’ all over North America and the UK. There have even been some eerie sightings locally, in the Greater Vancouver area.

Of course, part of the public fear is grounded in the fact that these individuals have displayed threatening behaviour. However, the question is, what is it about the sheer idea of a clown that frightens us?

There are several plausible psychological reasons behind why clowns often trigger a fear response in us. In my opinion, the most significant aspect of this phenomenon may be the fact that clown make-up or masks conceal facial expressions. Humans rely on the interpretation of facial expressions to gauge intentions. When this is lost, an individual naturally becomes scary to us, because we can’t tell who they are or what they want.

This leads me to my next point. Clowns are unpredictable. This is meant to be a part of their amusing demeanour–after all, it is the unpredictability of humour that makes us laugh. However, this trait of clowns can also be taken in a negative light, because it can be scary to not know what someone might do.

Both of these psychological reasons have touched on the theme of the human desire to gain familiarity with other individuals. We often find that the more familiar and similar someone is, the more we may like them. We also find the opposite to be true, where we may not feel warmth for people who are different or foreign to us (which is why some North Americans easily reject foreign refugees–but that’s another matter).

This could be another element of our fear of clowns. The clown character is constructed to be very different than the average person, with the goal of amusing people through surprisingly strange and quirky behaviours. However, this difference from human norm can be so large that it makes people entirely unable to relate to clowns, thus making them scary.

It appears that these psychological ideas are something that filmmakers have long understood. There have been many movies where the villain is a clown. The success of these movies often partially relies on the ability of the portrayed villain to scare the audience.

With all that being said, there are some really nice people in the clown profession.

It is unfortunate that their professions may be harmed because of the spread of this fear. However, this phenomenon poses intriguing questions about the line between what we find amusing and scary.

Uzair Ahmed

 

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Liar, Liar… Brain on Fire

Posted on October 31, 2016 by | 4 comments

Whether you lied to get out of homework, or to get out of work, or even just lying to your friend to make them feel better… we have all been there. Lying is a part of the human condition, but have you ever wondered what triggers you to tell that lie? I’ll admit that there have been many instances where I have lied. For example, I’ve told my friend many times her hair  looks great – when it really doesn’t.

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Image Courtesy of Pinterest.com

Studies in the field of neuroscience show there may be a biological explanation behind why lies escalate over time.

 

Image Courtest of: Huffingtonpost.com

Image Courtesy of: Huffingtonpost.com

So what triggers a lie? Psychologist Tali Sharot from the University College of London suggests that the brain becomes numb from the aching it causes, thus lying becomes a routine.  This explains why people progress easily from smaller to bigger lies; they become used to the fabrication.

Sharot and colleagues suggest that the “emotional adaptation” is the logic behind the acceleration of dishonesty. A little white lie can’t hurt anyone, right? You’re inclined to feel slightly bad from your first lie, but what about the few dozen after that? Will it feel just as bad? I’ve lied many times as a child and used to feel incredibly guilty, but now making the same lies just doesn’t feel as bad.

Sharot then conducted a study with 80 volunteers. These volunteers were to scrutinize jars containing pennies and estimate how much money was in them. The volunteers had partners who had to estimate as well, but had blurry pictures. Thus, the partners had to rely on the volunteer’s advice to estimate. Some volunteers were told that the more accurate their guess, the more the both of them would win; an incentive to send the truest estimate. In other instances, the more the partner overstated the money the jar contained, the more the volunteer would win and the less the partner would; an incentive for the volunteer to give the partner false information. Of the two cases, the second situation had partners lie more.

Next, 25 volunteers underwent neuroimaging when they were providing information to their partners. The amygdala, the part of the brain that responds to processes encountering emotional experiences, spew out activity after the first lie. This represents the idea that lying is unpleasant.

Image Courtesy of: http://brainmadesimple.com

Image Courtesy of: http://brainmadesimple.com

However, activity experiences by the amygdala decreased before subsequent lies. The larger they decreased, the more lies were detected by the volunteers in the next rounds. This suggests that the more decrease in amygdala activity, the more comfort one will experience when lying.

“Think about it like perfume. You buy a new perfume, and it smells strongly. A few days later, it smells less. And a month later, you don’t smell it at all.” 

    – Tali Sharot, a psychologist at the University of University College of London.

Image Courtesy of: Pinterest.com

Image Courtesy of: Pinterest.com

This idea of emotional adaptation relates to every human, because let’s be real… we all lie when we think we can get away with it. You experience less guilt when you easily get away with lying. The moral of the story is, don’t become a liar, because a little white lie doesn’t end just there. It begins to snowball. Also, you wouldn’t want your nose keep growing like Pinocchio, I know I wouldn’t.

Image Courtesy of

Image Courtesy of  www.disneyclips.com

By: Harmen Tatla

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Posted in Science Communicators, Science in the News, Uncategorized

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Disappearing Glaciers

Glaciers are consistent bodies of moving ice sheets that usually exist in high latitude areas and high mountain areas. They are formed by huge amounts of high-density ice that have been condensed and refrozen. 97% of total glaciers and 99% of total ice amount on earth are contained in the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet that are located in the Polar regions. The ice contained in these ice sheets is the largest fresh water bank on earth such that it has the ability to change the climate throughout our world.

图片搜索结果

Credit: http://www.onlyonesolution.org/albedo.html

 

The melting ice sheets throughout the world have drawn much attentions from the news media in recent years. The public has noticed that climate change has become one of the major troubles that human beings are facing. Also, it has been reported that the average thickness of glaciers on earth has decreased by 11.5 meters since 1980, and this phenomenon is caused by people using fossil fuels recklessly. Additionally, energy companies are still searching and drilling for more oil and gas in the Arctic and this will make the climate issue worse.

图片搜索结果

Credit: http://climatechangeconnection.org/

Now you see it, now you don't - Climate 365 graphic

Credit:NASA Climate 365 project, http://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/4/

Scientists have been collecting temperature data since the 18th century. According to those data, our planet is getting warm constantly since the industrial revolution. Many people still hold the viewpoint that the increasing density of greenhouse gases is the main reason for Global Warming. However, scientists have found that the change of greenhouse gases’ density does not match the exponentially increasing trend of the average temperature. Meanwhile, glaciologists have claimed that the ice contained in the Polar regions has the ability to affect the global climate. In fact, as so much ice sheets have disappeared in the past few decades, lots of area on the surface of earth have turned from bright color of ice into dark color of water. Since dark colors can absorb heats faster than bright colors, our earth is now absorbing much more heats than in the past. Consequently, the melting glaciers have much greater influence on the climate than the greenhouse gases.

Credit:NASA, http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/global_warming/global_cooling.html

Last but not the least, the melting glaciers can result in much more serious consequences than just higher temperature. Melted sea ice produces a huge amount of water as ice sheets are the biggest water bank in the world. Also, it has been reported that about 40% of total glaciers have melted in the past four decades and the sea levels is rising slowly since 19th century by 0.1-0.15 m every 100 years. Many people still think that it does not matters since rising sea levels seems not so dangerous and it’s coming very slow. However, the rising sea levels may destroy many cities throughout the world.

Credit: The daily conversation from Youtube

In my opinion, the melting glaciers is just the start of  the disaster that may cause human’s extinction. Also, the masses have not fully realized the trouble that mankind is facing. Our planet will survive in extreme weathers as it has survived for 4.6 billion years. But we may be the generation that decides if human being can still live on earth. Therefore I suggest that everyone should start to think the changes that people need to make in order to protect our world.

 

Yitao Gu

 

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Posted on October 3, 2016 by in Issues in Science, Uncategorized

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Toughest Animal on Earth

Posted on September 26, 2016 by | 2 comments

What is the toughest animal on earth?

Perhaps the camel that can weather the dry and arid deserts of the Sahara, or the polar bear that can survive year-long frigid temperatures of the Arctic? Maybe the African elephant weighing in at 14,000 pounds?

But the award for the most resilient animal has to go to the moss piglet – a microscopic critter who can survive even in the vacuum of space.

Moss piglets, or tardigrades, are not new to the scientific community. However, their tenacity has fascinated biologists for centuries. A recent study in September published in Nature Communications have shown that we may even be able to use their DNA to help our cells withstand harmful radiation. Understanding what makes these little guys so tough may one day help our survival in space as well.

A tardigrade (Credit: Eye of Science/SPL)

A moss piglet (Credit: Eye of Science/SPL)

So what exactly is a tardigrade?

Tardigrades are tiny creatures not much larger than a millimeter in length. Also known as ‘water bears’, these animals lumber lazily around in their aqueous natural habitat like bears out of hibernation. At first glance, their plump round bodies, four pairs of stumpy legs, and slow gait make them unlikely contestants in a race of hardiness. However, their ability to thrive in the harshest of environments is astonishing.

Movement of tardigrades (Credit: Craig Smith from YouTube)

Tardigrades commonly live on moist mosses and lichens feeding on plant cells and bacteria. But scientists have collected them from the deepest seas of Mexico to the highest mountains of  the Himalayas.

The tardigrade’s unique ability to survive in extreme environments has prompted scientists to test them to their limits.

In 1998, Japanese researchers put tardigrades to the test by crushing them under 600 megapascals (MPa) of pressure. This pressure is six times greater than the water pressure in the deepest part of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, and the tiny water bears were still able to subsist. To put things in perspective, the strongest human free divers have only been known to survive 3 MPa of pressure.

In 2007, tardigrades became unwilling astronauts as they were shot into space. Far from their native environment, the water bears were left naked in outer space without oxygen, exposing them to hard vacuum and deadly solar radiation. After 10 days, a few tardigrades still managed to survive.

What is their secret to survival?

When taken out of water and dried out, tardigrades enter a state of suspended animation and curl up into a tight ball called a “tun”. In this state, the tardigrade reduces its metabolism by 99.99 percent and produces a mixture of molecules that prevent it from freezing and also encases it in a matrix of biological glass.

A tardigrade in its tun state (Credit: Eye of Science/SPL)

This combination of survival mechanisms is the key to the tardigrade’s resilience. In this dormant state, they have been show to survive for up to 10 years without water. Not even temperatures near absolute zero can crack their shell.

So the next time you are asked to name the toughest animal on Earth, forget the elephant and remember the tardigrade!

Justin Tao

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News, Uncategorized

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Finding Dory! And Save Them!

Posted on September 26, 2016 by | Leave a comment

This summer, there was another pixar cartoon movie”Finding Dory”. There are a lot of cute animals in the movie. But the movie itself actually have negative impact to the nature. you may ask why?

Here are some stories,nemo fish is actually belong to the clownfish family. And every year, over 1 million of them was taken from the ocean. After the last ocean movie”finding nemo” in 2003, what people didn’t expect is an 40%  increase of the nemo fish in the pet fish market and aquarium trade. And, this is not the end of the bad news, they are really vulnerable to extinction for several reasons: First, the clownfish are dependent on stinging sea anemones, which thrive on only healthy coral reefs, to hide from the predators. But, due to rising temperature, the coral dies. And this makes the clownfish have less place to live. Second, the carbon dioxide make the see water more acidic, and this will block the signal that lead the clownfish back  to home. And the commercial aquarium trade makes their situation even worse, as 90% of the commercial aquarium fish comes from the ocean.

Therefore, there are some scientists actually start a program called “ Saving Nemo Conservation Fund“. They are trying an alternative to collecting wild clownfish from the ocean. Nursery breeding is an easy way to prevent overcollection of clownfish in the wild. And for the 7 out of 28 species of clownfish are bred in Australia . Unfortunately, none of the ten host anemone species are bred in captivity for aquariums.

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So, how about Dory? Well, it turns out dory is not as lucky as nemo, as they are  currently unable to be bred in captivity. So,if you see a Royal Blue Tang, as known as Dory, in an aquarium shop it will have to come from the wild.

 

 

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