Category Archives: Issues in Science

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Use the cold night sky to make electricity!!!

Posted on November 18, 2019 by | Leave a comment

photo from:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-21/stargazing-how-to-photograph-night-sky/9776494

How many times has your phone shut down in the cold air? Imagine if instead of your phone turning off you could use the cold to charge it.

Researchers at Stanford University and University of California, have found a way to use the cold air at night to generate electricity similar to using solar light. In their research which was published on September 12th, they claim that their “work highlights the many remaining opportunities for energy by taking advantage of the cold of outer space as a renewable energy resource.”

This device works by covering one side with aluminum paper and facing it towards the sky, then covering the aluminum plate with a transparent sheet and insulting all around the device to prevent heat from getting in. This method allows them to use a technique called radiative sky cooling which uses a thermoelectric generator that utilizes the difference in heat in the device compared to its surrounding to generate electricity. As heat enters the space between the aluminum plate and the transparent covering that has a temperature lower than the surrounding it is put out by thermal radiation; this transfer of energy is how this device makes electricity.

photo from digitaltrends

Interestingly, the making of this device has only cost them $30  and has generated enough electricity to light a small LED light bulb.

This finding can help provide power to remote areas, low income areas, and when you are on the move. However, this device is still at elementary stages but with further research and improvements it can be a beneficial low cost path of generating electricity.

In the video below lead researcher Raman and other researchers on his team explain how this process works and how it can also be used as an alternative to air conditioning for cooling buildings.

 

-Zahra Ghodsi

 

 

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Posted in Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science Communicators, Science in the News

Mother Nature: The Ultimate Bioterrorist

Posted on November 18, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Global Pandemic.
Source (Flickr)

There are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes and pandemics. While it may seem that humanity is making great strides in the medical sector in terms of advanced vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and devices for primary health care, you would be surprised to find that the risks of millions dying due to pandemics are higher than ever. Bill Gates, an American businessman and philanthropist is one of the believers that a global pandemic is coming and the world is severely underprepared.

“People rightly worry about dangers like terrorism and climate change (and, more remotely, an asteroid hitting the Earth). But if anything is going to kill tens of millions of people in a short time, it will probably be a global pandemic,” Bill Gates wrote in his annual “What I learned at work this year” letter.

To understand why Bill Gates and an international panel of experts assembled by  the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that viral diseases like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and flu would potentially kill millions and destabilize economies as well as national security according to the  Global Preparedness Monitoring Board(GPMB), it is essential to have an  idea of how pandemics start and spread.

How pandemics start and spread globally

Types of Microbes. Source vecton

Pandemics start at the microscopic level where among the major types of microbes, bacteria and viruses cause the deadliest infections. The ability for a bacteria and virus to move from one living organism to another makes them candidates for the cause of  an inevitable pandemic.

In particular, viruses that infect animals may spillover to humans becoming new types of viruses known as zoonotic viruses. For instance, the H1N1 virus that caused the Spanish flu pandemic which killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims in 1918, is a zoonotic virus that resulted from the combination of influenza A virus from birds and from humans in a pig. What makes zoonotic viruses more lethal than other infectious viruses is that they contain parts (specific to animal immune response system) that the human immune system would not be able to detect hence enabling them to evade immune responses by the human body. In addition, their ability to mutate fast only worsens the human immune system’s situation as a losing side in this life or death microscopic warfare.

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In our modern world, technology has been the primary facilitator for the spread of these viruses globally. For instance, SARS spread to over 17 countries on three continent within a few week due to fast globally widespread air travel. Although SARS outbreak did not end up becoming the worst pandemic that humanity has seen, it was surely a clear sign that the next pandemic will be able to spread in a few days.

Is there anything that can be done to prevent the impending doom?

While it may be impossible to stop global human movement and improvement of transport technology, the best chance to preventing a pandemic would be controlling the spread at its source. For instance, the CDC deployed detectives  to caves in Uganda to understand how bats could spread Ebola related viruses to humans directly or through other animals. In addition, governments around the world should invest in the innovation for prevention early even when everything seems fine now!

By Flipos Tadese.

 

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Outreach Project, Science Communication, Statistics, Uncategorized

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Blue light exposure may be killing you

Posted on November 4, 2019 by | 3 comments

Over the past decade, the world has witnessed numerous electronic devices coming to market. Billions of cell phones, laptops and tablets have been produced and all of these devices have become fixtures in people’s lives. With this rise in the usage of these devices, concerns also arose regarding the detrimental effects these devices. One of the problems brought up when discussing the problems with these devices is about their blue light emission.

Blue light is found in the visible spectrum of light between 400-450nm and has higher energy than other visible light, such as yellow light. Blue light emission today mainly comes from light emitting diodes or LEDs. The devices mentioned above all use LED screens that emit blue light. This exposure to blue light has been rumoured to cause a variety of health issues such as sleeping problems. More worryingly, however, blue light may shorten your lifespan.

Free photo of man looking at a cell phone screen in darkness from Needpix

In a study published last month, researchers showed that fruit flies that were exposed to blue light had a shorter lifespan than those who saw no blue light. The researchers divided the fruit flies into three groups: flies exposed to blue light for 12 hours, flies exposed to light with blue light filtered out for 12 hours and flies kept in complete darkness. They found that the flies exposed to blue light had reduced climbing ability compared to flies kept in the dark or those exposed to non-blue light. Additionally, these flies had higher brain neurodegeneration, which is the death of neurons. Furthermore, the flies exposed to blue light had significantly shorter lifespans compared to the other groups of flies. In this context, significance implies that these flies died sooner due to the blue light exposure rather than by chance or due to individual differences.

Another interesting result of this study was the inclusion of mutant flies without eyes in the study. These mutants also experienced brain damage, impaired movement and shorter lifespans when exposed to blue light compared to those not exposed to blue light. This suggests that blue light causes these effects by some mechanism other than retinal degradation. That mechanism, however, is unclear and more research is needed to determine how blue light causes these results.

In light of these results, it’s important to consider how to reduce blue light exposure. One way to reduce exposure would be to wear glasses that block blue light. These glasses have special lenses that filters out blue light and prevents it from hitting your eyes. Another way would be to turn to software. For example, twilight is an app you can download on your phone that automatically starts filtering out blue light after sunset to prevent interference with sleep. Similarly, PC and Mac users can also filter blue light by using the “Night Light” and “Night Shift” features found on their respective devices.

Free photo of glasses resting on a keyboard from Pixabay

Written by Kuljit Grewal

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Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News

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Cancel Fast-Fashion, or cancel the Environment?

Posted on November 4, 2019 by | 4 comments

Let’s face it, who doesn’t like a good bargain deal for clothing? No one enjoys going out of their way to pay a whopping sum of money just to keep in trend, and for those with that mentality, fast fashion is the way to go. However, behind all the glorious deals, that allow consumers to snag trending clothes at a reasonable price, comes a major cost to the environment.

Fast-Fashion Giant: Zara

 

The fast-fashion businesses has been booming especially in developed parts of the world, which raises eyebrows in concern for how sustainable practices are. Given the rate and magnitude at which these clothes are produced, it is at the same rate the unsold products are discarded and wasted. For example, these businesses claim their wasted, unsold merchandise is reportedly burned, thus further instigating the negative climate impact. And this does not even dive into the tragic details of production.

Certain synthetic materials such as polyester and nylon, not only have a lasting impact due to the stubborn nature of these materials being unable to biodegrade. These materials end up in marine ecosystems which affect the food chain from the bottom up which in turn have a ripple effect on larger mammals such as humans. There, we see the full circle coming together.

Microplastics in Marine Environment

 

This raises concern whether fast-fashion culture needs to be stopped, and have more sustainable practices replacing it. The answer: it is complicated. Although it is a necessity to have more sustainable sources of clothing, the reality is that big giants such as: Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, these brands are not going to change if the consumer mind-set remains the same.  As a matter of fact, the LA times reports that over 50% of adults under the age of 34 agreed they would make a switch to a more eco-friendly brand. Meanwhile, less the 40% of adults over the age of 50 had the same mindset. This is a tell tale sign that young people are the catalyst for the future. So, how would one go about making sustainable changes to their wardrobe? Check out Sedona’s take on how she made the switch!

Given this insight, thrift shopping is a possibility of creating a new business model that creates sustainable practices within our economy. Although this model is imperfect, and there is still some waste created, it is no where near the waste of fast-fashion businesses. Remember that improvement is better than staying stagnant, and remember that you have a lot more influence than you know.

Written by Molly Fu

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Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News

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A robotic hug For Jellies

A robotic hug For Jellies

How does one capture a very delicate animal such as the jelly? The research conducted at Harvard University in Cambridge lead by Nina Sinatra has the answer.

They engineered a robot that mimics a human hand to capture delicate Jellies whose body is 95% water, slippery, and very soft. This robot, which they presented on August 28th, 2019, can capture a Jelly using its soft foamy fingers in a hug like motion. Before researchers were forced to use their own hands, which the jelly could slip from or use nets that could harm the incredibly delicate, and fragile tissue, or worse, robots made to capture other brittle sea animals such as sea cucumber would tear jellies apart.

The problem with capturing jellies without hurting them was an obstacle to fascinating scientific research. So far, Jellies have helped us learn vital information such as techniques to study microscopic organisms and macro-molecules with Green Fluorescence Tag microscopy. In this method, green fluorescence protein is extracted from jellies and used to dye parts of the cell and study vital information such as gene expression.

Jellies Have the potential to teach us far more, as they have many abilities that could be of assistance to us. For example, Jellies can reverse their aging process, and that is one of the things that humanity has been trying to reach since its beginning, leading to legends or stories such as “fountain of youth.”

Now this robot’s impressive structure can help open the door to opportunities that jellies hold for us. The machine incorporates a 3D printed palm that has the shape of a rectangular box with six fingers made of soft rubbery silicone attached. The fingers have a more rigid side made of nanofibers and channels of water that go through the fingers. When the jelly is in contact, the robot pumps water into the fingers, which causes them to bend on the more on, the stiffer side and close in the jelly.

This foamy robot is a step to further discoveries for a brighter future. The abilities of this robot can give scientists the opportunity to study more fragile and hard to capture marine animals. In addition,  using robots similar to this to collect specimen can reduce potential harm to animals and make research more friendly.

Zahra Ghodsi

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Posted on October 7, 2019 by in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science Communicators, Science in the News

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