Category Archives: Science Communication

Negative Side Effects of Caffeine

Posted on January 28, 2018 by ji yoon park | 1 comment

What is the first thing you do to make yourself less tired? In order to stay awake to work or study, most people consume caffeine for mental alertness . Caffeine is not only included in coffee, but also included in tea, coke, chocolates, energy drinks, and other products that we regularly consume in our daily lives. Caffeine works by stimulating the adrenaline production and blocking sleep-inducing chemicals.

Image credit: Pete

Although caffeine can help people by energizing them instantly, it can also affect people negatively. If more than 300 mg of caffeine consumed in one day, which are approximately three cups of coffee or three to four cans of soda, it may allow people to stay fully awake. However, the most frightening side effect of excessive amount of caffeine is insomnia, which can caused by six or more cups of coffee (approximately 250 mg of caffeine). From insomnia, one’s work performance and quality of life may be affected negatively.

Image credit: Michael Burger

Caffeine can also cause an increase in stress hormones because when a heart beats faster by the consumption of caffeine, it decreases the blood supply to the intestines. Due to the decrease in the blood supply, it may lead to the indigestion.

Can there be any other severe negative effects of caffeine that may have on humans’ health? In 2011, a study by British Journal of Pharmacology stated that caffeine could possibly reduce the chance of fertility in women because caffeine crosses the placenta and reaches the fetus. Also, University of Nevada School of Medicine showed that caffeine can reduce a woman’s fertility rate by about 27%. Therefore, due to immature metabolism of caffeine in fetus, caffeine can build up toxic levels in fetus, which leads to a higher chance of miscarriage and low birth weight of newborn babies.

What can we do to minimize the possible negative consequences from excessive caffeine consumption? Most people unconsciously become addicted to caffeine due to the desire for wide awakeness. Instead of searching for caffeine-containing drinks or food, it is better to get more sleep or consume other essential nutrients that make you less tired. Therefore, your eating or exercise pattern can be modified in the replacement of excess consumption of caffeine.

Author: Victoria Park

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in News

Tagged caffeine, coffee, energy drinks, negative, side effects

How Does Carbon Dioxide Cycle Through the Oceans?

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Ellen Chen | Leave a comment

Have you guys ever wondered where carbon dioxide (CO2) molecule goes after you exhale? A lot of carbon dioxide on the Earth, including what we exhale and carbon from our factories or cars, actually ends up in the ocean. Once CO2 molecule is in the ocean, it might travel in through the surface for a while before going back to the air above or it can travel deep down into the ocean and stay there for hundreds of years. A computer model was made to track CO2 in the ocean in order to find out where it travels and the time duration it stays at the bottom of the ocean. Research has shown that carbon dioxide cycles in different levels of the ocean. This information enables us to find out how the ocean responds to and contributes to global climate change.

The oceans play an important role to the Earth’s climate change because it can take in a huge amount of carbon above and store carbon in the atmosphere. In fact, more than 93% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the world is stored in the oceans. Fortunately, most of the CO2 is stored in the oceans, which leaves less CO2 in the atmosphere. The reason is that Greenhouse gases such as CO2 can trap heat that is radiated back to the Earth, which can overheat our planet. Thus, oceans help to store a large amount of CO2.

Tiny plants called phytoplankton live on the surface of the water where they can be exposed to sun. They gather CO2 from the atmosphere to build their bodies. When they die, phytoplankton sink into the bottom of the oceans and bacteria break them down to release the stored carbon dioxide back into the seawater. This process is called biological carbon pump, which pumps carbon dioxide into the bottom of the oceans for many years.

Study has shown that phytoplankton are usually bigger in colder areas compared to warmer areas and stick together into large clumps when they die. This will make them heavier and sink down into the ocean further and faster before they get decomposed by bacteria. The colder area of the oceans also slows down the bacteria growth, which allows phytoplankton to sink further down before their carbon dioxide be decomposed and released by bacteria.

If humans keep continuing to pollute the Earth and emit CO2 to the atmosphere, the oceans and the world will become warmer. The warm oceans can not store more CO2, which will cause CO2 to be released into the atmosphere and further heat up the Earth. In order to break this cycle, humans need to work together to save our planet and reduce the use of fossil fuels and factory waste into the atmosphere. Also, human beings can avoid many natural disasters such as hurricane, blizzard, and volcanic eruptions resulted from the effect of Global Warming.

Still smoking cigarettes? It’s effects on your cells just might make you quit.

Posted on January 27, 2018 by celia dossot | Leave a comment

If you are a smoker, you have surely heard that smoking damages your lungs. More surprisingly, without even killing the cells, the smoke does damage to the tiny hair-like extensions on the surface of your cells called cilia.

You may have known about the presence of cilia in the body, but why is it important to keep them in good shape?

Photo by Louisa Howard, Wikipedia Commons.

Cilia are found in many parts of the body, notably the respiratory system. The cilia we find here are motile, which means they can move (non-motile cilia also exist). They coat the nasal passageways all the way down to where the trachea (the windpipe) first branches off into the lungs as air passages called bronchi.

Created by Theresa Knott, GNU Free Documentation License.

The most crucial function they carry out in the respiratory system is to protect the passageways and to beat in a rhythmic manner to keep the airways clear of mucus and dirt. (See video below showing live beating of the cilia, from the Cilia Scientist)

Interestingly enough, in the nasal cavity, the cilia beat so that the particles move backwards towards the pharynx (the back of the throat), while in the trachea, the cilia beat upward towards the pharynx! This is so the mucus and dust mix can then be swallowed or, less politely, coughed up.

Liv Tyler, Flickr Commons.

One way to damage the cilia is, of course, by smoking cigarettes. In fact, some of the thousands of chemicals in the smoke are actually toxic to cilia; resulting in their paralysis. This means the damaged cells are unable to clear the tar and mucus from your lungs, letting the tar get even deeper in your airways to cause inflammation and other possible complications.

Fun fact: “smoker’s cough” is more prevalent in the morning. The reason for this is because at night, the cilia’s clearing function is no longer inhibited by the smoke and can regain some function. Upon waking up, the smoker coughs to get the mucus and tar accumulation out of their lungs.

So why is this important?

Defective cilia, due to mutations or human behaviour, have a huge impact on the functioning of your body. At the end of the day, take care of your cilia and they will take care of you!

– Celia Dossot

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Electric Toothbrushes: Could They Replace Manual Toothbrushes?

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Zhihao Kang | 1 comment

The most expensive toothbrushes in the world Reinast Luxury Toothbrush cost 3200 Euros, about 4000 Canadian Dollar, and this toothbrush have no electric technique at all. This news make people start to think why do they use electric toothbrush, even the 4k toothbrush is manual.

Sources: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwSVBpUZl78

Oral diseases are common diseases affecting human health. Have you found your gums bleeding or toothache? Such mild oral discomfort could be ignored easily. However, these discomforts are possibly caused by plaques, which could lead to tooth decay, gingivitis and periodontitis. Thus, we need to pay more attention to brush well.

Using professional gear to wash the teeth is the most efficient way to clean plaques, but what should we use at home, manual or electric toothbrushes?

Sources: Google Images

Most people might think the electric toothbrushes is going to win, because it is more expensive and more advanced than the manual one. However, according to number of studies about toothbrushes, the electric and manual toothbrushes work the same if you use correctly.

There is a experiment on YouTube testing the effect of the two types of toothbrushes by using plaque disclosing solution. The result even shows that the manual toothbrush did a better job than the electric one. However, due to the different skills of tooth brushing on different toothbrushes, this experiment could only show that the electric toothbrush are not working as good as people think.

Sources: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZVVUIGtLPE

Even so, many dentists are still recommending the electric toothbrush. There are some reasons are given frequently. Due to the advanced technology, electric toothbrush could remove debris efficiently. Replaceable brush head is another benefit of electric toothbrush. People could just replace brush heads instead of buying a new toothbrush which is easier to find the best fitting one and more environmentally-friendly.

About the advanced technology, a well-known brand Oral-B masters the oscillating-rotating-pulsating technique . According to the Oral-B laboratories who invent this, the advanced technique agitates the liquid that surround the user’s teeth and creates “non-contact” brushing effect which could disrupt the dental plaque at distance instead of the simple rotary brushing design.

In summary, it seems like the brushing technique and the toothbrushes are both very important and the UNMC (University of Nebraska Medical Center) dentist gave us an objective opinion about the comparison of electric and manual toothbrush in the video. As I mentioned above, tooth-brushing skill might be more important than the the toothbrush. Thus, do not cut down on the time while using electric toothbrush, and pay more attention when you are brushing your teeth.

Sources: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SMRd9osrZo

1 Comment

Posted in Outreach Project, Public Engagement, Science Communication

Tagged dental, electric toothbrush, health, oral health, plaque, toothbrush

The Upside of Stress

Posted on January 22, 2018 by jasmine hyun | 3 comments

If you are a university student or a human being for that matter, you know how it feels to be under an overwhelming amount of stress. Chronic stress, as many may already know, can be detrimental to one’s mental and physical health. Long-term exposure to emotional pressure can lead to elevated blood pressure, heart disease and depression.

Source: Flickr Commons by Emma Brown

Although it would be great if we could be lounging around on a resort far far away from deadlines, exams, and responsibilities, researchers have found that stress at acute levels can actually be beneficial to one’s cognitive function and immune readiness.

Note that chronic stress is referred to as the response to emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period of time whereas acute stress is stress one suffers for only a short period of time.

Scientists at UC Berkley have put this to the test by using rats as test subjects to see if short-term stress really could lead to a boost in cognitive function. They found that after subjecting the test subjects to acute but short-lived stress, this caused a spike in the rat’s corticosterone levels which also led to the development of new cells in the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with memory function. The researchers discovered that two weeks after exposure to acute stress, the test subjects performed better on a memory test compared to the test subjects that were not exposed.

Source: Flickr Commons

Source: Wikipedia

Not only is there a correlation between acute stress and memory function, but researchers at Harvard University found that the same hormones released during acute stress can aid to enhance immune readiness during ‘fight or flight’ situations which led the subjects to be more alert as well as be more attuned to possible environmental threats. Some examples of possible triggers for acute stress include preparing for a job interview or being involved in competitive sports, whereas examples of triggers for chronic stress include being in a bad relationship or being stuck in a job that you dislike for a long period of time.

Although acute levels of stress can be beneficial for some individuals, one’s personal experience is a big factor in determining whether a response to stress, even at low levels, can lead to positive or negative effects. For an example, if a person was to have a history of post-traumatic stress disorder, even stress at low levels can trigger a negative response.

The takeaway message is that although too much stress can lead to adverse consequences to one’s health, the right amount of acute stress can improve brain performance. Therefore it is definitely worth figuring out where your own optimal stress level lies.

If you are still experiencing stress after reading this post here is another way to make stress your friend.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU

Author: Jasmine Hyun

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science Communication, Science in News

Tagged Acute stress, Chronic stress, Cognitive function, Good stress, Mental health, Physical health

Buffet? Think again…

Posted on January 22, 2018 by dong yan | 1 comment

Do you enjoy eating food? Do you enjoy being able to indulge on numerous varieties of food all in one place? Well a Buffet restaurant or an All-You-Can-Eat (AYCE) restaurant has been invented due to this demand. Ever since the buffet style restaurants have been pushed out in 1939, it has grown immensely in popularity. However, many people are not aware of the health risks associated with these meals.

The AYCE buffet restaurants has one main crude goal, it is to fill the customers’ stomach as cheaply and as quickly as possible. This is called the “Fill the Customer Belly Cheaply” metric. In order to do this, these restaurants provide the perception that the food is high quality and attractive to the customers, while minimizing food waste. The menus are usually flexible, featuring many different cuisines and cooking techniques, but these are usually saturated with cheap vegetables and meats, and they mainly use seasonal ingredients. Because of this, people not only over-indulge on the food but they are also taking in foods with minimal nutrients.

There are two reasons why people overeat at buffet tables. The first reason is that they have a mindset that they must eat the amount of food equivalent to the amount of dollars they spent. The second reason is “ingestion analgesia”, the role of this is to defend eating from ending. Even when your stomach has reached its maximum capacity, you still keep eating. You block out the painful feedback from these feelings by releasing endogenous opiates into our brain and body. This is also the reason why people tend to eat dessert after their meals, the reaction to stomach pain due to overeating is reduced when you eat something sweet. The negative effects of overindulging on food includes: sugar level spikes, which could lead to Type 2 diabetes; expansion of waist size, building fat on your waist area is extremely dangerous and is the cause of many cancers and health issues; and the acidity level in your body increases and can cause a serious condition called reflux.

In conclusion, it is important to note the negative effects of overeating, not only in buffets, but also on an average day. It is the best when you eat to the point that you are 80% full per meal, with an optimal diet having well-balanced portions of each food category. The next time you go to an All-you-can-eat restaurant, remember the negative impacts overeating has and control your portions as appropriate.

-Cyndi Yan

1 Comment

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

Tagged diabetes, ingestion analgesia, overeating, reflux

Living in Raincouver? Watch Out for Water Splash!

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Conway | 2 comments

Have you ever gotten splashed by a car while walking on the streets? Have you ever been driving on a rainy day and were unable to see properly through the windscreen? In fact both of the situations are related to the water spray of car wheels.

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

The video above is about people splashed by cars which is quite common during a rainy day.

The spray and splash of wheels can cause serious consequences such as car accidents. As there will be a myriad of puddles during a rainy day, it reduces the visibility of road users every time when a wheel hits a puddle and causes the splash and spray. Therefore drivers average a longer reaction time to avoid any potential collisions with other cars. According to previous studies, car accidents are 70% more likely to happen on rainy days than during dry conditions. In addition, rainfall and wet pavement can cause approximately 12,000,000 accidents per year. The following picture is an example of a reduced visibility during a rainy day.

Title: Scene of a rainy day by a driver’s perspective
Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-20356243-stock-footage-pov-close-up-cars-speeding-on-dangerous-multilane-highway-with-poor-visibility-on-dark-foggy-and.html

Researchers from the University of Southern California explored the mechanisms behind water spray using fluid mechanics (the response of fluids to the forces exerted on them); however, the basic mechanism behind this can be explained by the contact between the puddle and the car wheel. When a car is driven pass a puddle in a high speed, a huge amount of water drops attaches to the wheel and have the same angular acceleration (the acceleration of an object moving in circular motion) as the wheel. As the car continues to travel in a high speed, the water drops will gain enough inertia and leave the tire.

Sketch of water leaving a rolling car wheel Source: http://www.wp-industrial.co.uk/Elastohydrodynamic_Lubrication.html

Above is a sketch of water leaving a rolling wheel. Since the water is travelling with an angular acceleration, it will leave the wheel with a velocity and continue on the path represented by the big red arrow.

In order to increase driver’s visibility on rainy days, researchers have come up with the idea of Curtair to reduce the volume of water sprays. Curtair is an air curtain that surrounds a car wheel with air nozzles and a moisture sensor. When the car is driven under wet conditions, the sensor will be able to detect water and make the air nozzles release air. Thus, a smaller volume of water spray will be produced.

Photo of a new technology (Curtair)
Source: https://projects.ncsu.edu/project/nsaudiovideo/pdf/curtair-poster.pdf

There are no further discussions regarding the results of Curtair, but we can reasonably predict that the invention may positively impact the visibility of drivers.

– Conway Chen

2 Comments

Posted in Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science Communication

Tagged Acceleration, Angular Velocity, Fluid Mechanics, Liquid, Physics, Technology, Water Spray

Kepler: A view into the past to focus on our future

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Ryan Berg | Leave a comment

Where would modern astronomy be without scientists like Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus or Johannes Kepler? We probably would not be scanning the stars of the Milky Way for exoplanets only 450 years later. We owe a lot to these scientists for their ingenuity.

We have moved on from the days of handheld telescopes in the 1600’s to ones that now orbit the Earth and our Sun. More specifically, I am referring to the Kepler Space Telescope which has been operated by the National Aeronautical & Space Administration since its launch in March 2009. In the earliest days of astronomy, scientists exploration of the cosmos was limited by the technology at the time. The first handheld telescope was created by Hans Lippershey in 1608, and it wasn’t until 1990 when the Hubble Space Telescope was launched that we could begin to learn more about our past. Kepler took to the skies 19 years later for a more focused and significant mission (in my humble opinion as a student of astronomy).

Kepler’s job is simple. Launch up from Earth and be placed in a heliocentric orbit where it will scan the same 150,000 stars in the Cygnus constellations. In doing so, NASA is hoping to confirm the existence of exoplanets orbiting stars outside of our solar system. This is fascinating, to think that in just over 400 years we have progressed from a geocentric model of our solar system to accepting that we revolve around the sun and to finally acknowledge the existence of thousands of planets orbiting hundreds of thousands of stars. This is quite literally just the tip of the iceberg to discovering life on other planets.

Kepler uses what is known as the transit method to discover these exoplanets. This means that Kepler stares at the same 150,000 stars looking for a decrease in the amount of light produced by any star, once these dips in light have been recorded by repeating observations, astronomers can confirm the existence of an exoplanet. This video shows what I described.

I believe that the transit photometry method is currently our best opportunity to discovering more exoplanets. We have seen a tremendous increase in confirmed exoplanets since its launch, and Kepler is consistently delivering more confirmed exoplanets to present day. Unfortunately, Kepler encountered technical difficulties in 2014 and its mission was restructured and released as K2, its mission has been altered but it remains in service to this day.

This blog is on the same topic as my individual short presentation I gave last week. As a CMS student focussing on Physics/Astronomy, Math, and Earth & Ocean Sciences these scientific advancements are on the cutting edge of astronomical discovery and I believe it is a subject that deserves our attention. Although we may have thought at one point to be unique in this universe, it is becoming abundantly clear we may have neighbours.

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” – Arthur C. Clarke

Author: Ryan Berg

Category Archives: Science Communication

Negative Side Effects of Caffeine

How Does Carbon Dioxide Cycle Through the Oceans?

Still smoking cigarettes? It’s effects on your cells just might make you quit.

Electric Toothbrushes: Could They Replace Manual Toothbrushes?

The Upside of Stress

Buffet? Think again…

Living in Raincouver? Watch Out for Water Splash!

Kepler: A view into the past to focus on our future

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