Not Seeing Gains at the Gym? Have you heard of Mind-Muscle Connection?

Posted on March 30, 2021 by | 2 comments

When individuals talk about increasing muscle mass and getting stronger, several different strategies are brought up. For example, most people like to focus on nutrition or training harder at the gym. Don’t get me wrong, these are important strategies to improve your physique and build muscle mass, but there is one thing that is often overlooked. This is the phenomenon called “Mind-Muscle Connection”.

A study conducted in 2015 by Joaquin Calatayud and team, describes the mind-muscle connection and what happens when you mentally apply yourself during workouts. If you haven’t heard of mind-muscle connection, you may be wondering what it is and how can this apply to you?

What is Mind-Muscle Connection?

In simple terms, mind-muscle connection (MMC) is when you consciously and deliberately contract a specific or group of muscles in your body. The brain sends a signal to your muscles at the “neuromuscular junction,” telling the particular muscle to contract. The neuromuscular junction acts as a bridge and connects the skeletal system to the human body’s nervous system.

This video showcases what MMC is in a nutshell:

Source: PictureFit (YouTube)

MMC used in Resistance Training

The study determined if performance will improve if an individual focused on specific muscles (chests and triceps) when doing a bench press.The subjects of the study were separated into three groups where they performed the bench press while: 1) not concentrating on any specific muscle in the body, 2) concentrating on the pectoralis (chest) major muscles, and 3) concentrating on flexing the triceps muscles. In these conditions, the subjects performed the bench press at 20%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 80% of their 1-repitition max (1-RM). The final results of the experiment showed that the muscle activity did increase when emphasis was put on the two target muscles, but only up to 60% of their 1-RM.

Man performing bench press. Source: muscleandstrength.com

You may be asking, why is MMC only effective up to 60% 1-RM? This is because when you create a mental connection with your brain to the muscles, it requires concentration and attention. You will only be able to concentrate when you lift a weight that you can manage, for example, around 20-60% of your 1-RM. If you go over 60% of your 1-RM, you will not be able to solely focus on the specific muscle, since your mental focus will be directed towards how heavy the weight is.

How can you create MMC when you lift? Give these two tricks a shot during your workouts:

  • Slow Down: Your muscles have to work more if you move slowly, allowing you to have more time to connect your brain to the specific muscle movement.
  • Ego Check: Many people are obsessed with lifting more and more weight, but instead, focus on the quality of each repetition.

It is common to see muscle growth coming to a halt when going to the gym and when results are not seen, this results in a lack of motivation. For those of you who are experiencing this, MMC can be the missing piece for you.

– Parwaz Gill

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The Power of Seaweed: How a Small Snack for Cows can have a Big Impact on the Planet

Posted on March 29, 2021 by | 6 comments

Apparently, seaweed is not just healthy for people, but when given to cows it will be good for the planet. The large amounts of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere are driving global warming. A significant amount of these emissions are a result of cows belching and flatulating in the amount of around 142.5 million metric tons of methane per year.

Cows Feeding: Source: flickr.com/U.S. Department of Agriculture

Beef and dairy are common sources of nutrition for people all over the world. In Canada alone, the average person eats around 40 lb of beef and drinks 66 L of milk per year. The issue is growing cattle is notorious for its harmful environmental impact due to the methane gas the animals release. Although methane is only 16% of the total human-caused greenhouse emissions, it is much more potent than carbon dioxide (which makes up 76% of the greenhouse gases released), making it an important agent we need to manage. The ecologically harmful process, of producing and emitting methane by cows, is described in the video below created by Laura Beil and Erin Otwell at Science News.

Video Source: Science News | YouTube

It turns out that adjusting cattle feed can greatly reduce the amount of methane they create. A recent study headed by Dr. Ermias Kebreab and his team found that adding a certain type of red seaweed (scientifically known as Asparagopsis taxiformis) to cows’ diet could play an important role in reducing greenhouse emissions. The researchers observed that the more seaweed in the diet the less methane the cows released. In addition, the study tested how different forage (grass and hay) to concentrate (corn and molasses) ratios, in combination with the seaweed, decreased cow methane production. The best results were noted when their diet had lower forage levels (compared to concentrate) and greater amounts of seaweed. This feed combination was measured to reduce beef methane emissions by more than 80%!

The type of red seaweed fed to the cows: Asparagopsis taxiformis: Source: flickr.com/Guilherme Fluckiger

It is worth noting that adding seaweed to the cows’ diet did not change their meat quality. A tasting panel confirmed that steaks were equally delicious regardless of what the cows ate in the study.

Adding seaweed to cow feed is a simple, low-cost, and nature-based solution to a very serious problem. The ability to reduce the amount of methane cows release is great news for the many people who rely on dairy and beef in their diet.

Child Enjoying a Burger: Source: Flickr.com/Anna-Lena Nordin

– Adam Soliman

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Dining Out: Are we digging ourselves an early grave?

Posted on March 29, 2021 by | Leave a comment

How often do you find yourself sitting down to eat at a restaurant? Or maybe even taking a detour to your favourite fast food drive-thru? If your answer is along the lines of, “more often than I’d like to admit”, then it’s time for some serious reflection. A recent study led by lead investigator, Wei Bao, from the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa linked frequent consumption of away-from-home meals to an increased risk of all-cause death.  

Eating Out – How Often and Why (adapted image). Source: Statistics Canada

The downside of dining out

It should come as no surprise that the dietary quality of meals from restaurants and fast food chains fall below home-cooked meals. You may have noticed that serving sizes at restaurants are quite large. Due to this, people have no way of controlling their calorie intake and the risk factor for obesity increases as well. In addition, fast food meals are usually high in sugar and sodium. Meals with added sugar are not only addictive but low in nutrition. It’s quite evident how addictive McDonald’s fries are and that may be due to them being coated in dextrose, a form of sugar. Meals high in sodium cause water retention which in turn can make you feel bloated and can also elevate blood pressure which puts stress on your heart. Most fast food meals also contain a large amount of carbohydrates. The video below called “How do carbohydrates impact your health?”, by the TED-Ed Youtube channel, explains what carbohydrates are and the downside of eating too many.

It gets worse

The dietary quality of food away from home is not exactly top tier but the problem does not end there. Recent evidence has also linked this poor dietary quality to an early death. Lead investigator Wei Bao’s study is one of the first to put in numbers the connection between eating out and mortality. The findings from this study built on previous knowledge, similar to what was discussed above, of how eating out often has negative impacts on our health. There were 35, 084 participants from this study that reported their dietary habits, such as how often they were dining out, in a questionnaire. During the follow-up with these participants, 2,781 deaths occurred. From this number, 511 deaths occurred from cardiovascular disease and 638 deaths occurred from cancer.

Sharpen those culinary skills 

The fact that dining out frequently is not only unhealthy but is now linked to an early death should be a wake-up call for those of us that rarely eat home-cooked meals. The best recommendation for avoiding severe health problems would be to reduce the amount of meals we eat prepared away from home and instead sharpen our own cooking skills to prepare meals at home. Additionally, restaurants should practice portion control and reduce the serving sizes of their meals as another study has proposed. Hopefully, with this information, you’ll listen to your parents when they say “there’s food at home”.

– Ramdeep Dosanjh

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Plastics: Why They Are Bad, and a New Plant-Based Solution!

Posted on March 29, 2021 by | 4 comments

From water bottles to cigarette butts to straws, plastic has become an important asset to many of the products and appliances that we use today. However, with the huge influence that plastic has on the manufacturing industry, comes the potential destruction of the environment. Luckily, a study conducted by Mecking and others discusses the invention of a new plant-based plastic that can potentially fix this problem!

why are plastics bad?

Most of the plastics that are used today are manufactured from petroleum, which is a fossil fuel that is formed when dead organisms are broken down throughout millions of years. Then, petroleum is converted into a type of material that is unrecognizable by the organisms that normally break down products like petroleum. This results in plastics that decompose very slowly, or do not decompose at all. These plastics tend to accumulate and end up in landfills and incinerators, or even worse, dumped into the environment.

“Plastic Ocean” by Kevin Krejci is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

what about recycling?

There are two types of plastics that need to be addressed. The first type is thermoset plastics. These are plastics that are not recyclable. The second type is thermoplastics. These are plastics that can be melted into smaller parts and re-formed into different plastics. This is the process that we call mechanical recycling. However, every time these plastics are recycled, their quality starts to decrease. In fact, a piece of plastic can only be recycled 2-3 times before it reaches a point where it can no longer be used!

plant-based plastic to the rescue

A solution to this imperfect recycling procedure is to utilize a new recycling method known as chemical recycling. This is a process that breaks down plastics at the molecular level, which can then be used to create other materials without a decrease in quality.

Check out the video above by CNBC for more information on chemical recycling!

 

In Feb 2021, a paper was released in Nature by Mecking and others, discussing the invention of a new plant-based type of plastic. Rather than using fossil fuels such as petroleum, this type of plastic is composed of plant oils. This plastic can utilize chemical recycling at a much more efficient rate than what is originally possible.

Normally, chemical recycling of fossil-fuel-composed plastics requires a lot of energy; temperatures above 600 degrees Celsius are required and only 10% of the plastic can be utilized for other materials. In comparison, their new plant-based plastic only needs to heat to around 250 degrees Celsius and can utilize up to 96% of the original material!

Stefan Mecking, the lead author of the study, acknowledged in an interview in the Academic Times, that their new plastic would have a hard time competing with the cheap cost of ethylene. Hopefully, with further refinement, Mecking and his team will be able to lower the price point of their plastic to a level that is suitable for the plastic industry.

– Aaron Yoon

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Stress in Allergy Alleviation

Posted on March 28, 2021 by | 4 comments

For most people, springtime means plenty of fresh air, pretty blooming flowers, and beautiful colours; however, for the other 30% of the population (including myself), springtime means runny noses, watery eyes, constant sneezing, and itchy skin among many other symptoms – those affected by seasonal allergens like pollen are far too familiar with some of these. If only there was something effective and cost-efficient that could help alleviate our allergies.

Common Allergy Symptoms
Credit: Bioresonance, bioresonance.com

With allergy season approaching just around the corner, usually at the start of spring, some of us may have already started experiencing these symptoms. Those with seasonal allergy, or allergic rhinitis (hay fever), have probably tried many strategies to help manage their symptoms. Some opt for over-the-counter medications, while others opt for lifestyle changes like tightening cleaning regimens, replacing air filters, or even avoiding outdoor activities where airborne allergens are more common. Although these strategies may work for some, they are costly and take up excess time.

Treating your Seasonal Allergies
Credit: Beaumont, beaumont.com

How does an allergic reaction happen?

Before we start to understand why a new allergy-alleviating strategy might work, we need to first explore how seasonal allergens actually cause an allergic response.

seasonal allergiesExamples of Seasonal Allergens
Credit: HealthJade, healthjade.net

Let’s take tree pollen as an example. During springtime, trees will start to release their pollen as airborne particles. Sometimes, these particles enter through our nose, and our body incorrectly tags them as dangerous foreign substances. Our first reaction would be to sneeze in an attempt to rid the nasal cavity of these particles. The tree pollen can also stimulate mast cells, our body’s defending cells, to release a compound called histamine that travels through our body to various sites. Histamine is responsible for causing runny noses, watery eyes, and all the other symptoms of seasonal allergy. Essentially, pollen allergy is our body overreacting to these airborne foreign substance. The entire process is drawn in more detail below (0–1:45 min).

Why Do Some People Have Seasonal Allergies (0–1:45min)
Credit: Eleanor Nelson TedEd, youtube.com

So what can I do to relieve my symptoms?

New research shows that decreasing allergy symptoms may be as simple as decreasing our stress. Dr. Yamanaka-Takaichi at the Osaka City University has found that during times of stress, there is an increase in the size and number of mast cells – the same cells that produce histamine during our allergic reactions. When we are stressed, our body releases CRH, a stress hormone that promotes our mast cell to multiply. An increase in mast cells directly correlates to an increase in histamine, and leads to stronger allergic reactions.

What this means for us is that de-stressing can actual help alleviate some of our allergy symptoms. Although it may not completely rid us of our allergies, it has shown to decrease the severity of allergic reactions in some patients.

Like Dr. Yamanaka-Takaichi says, next time your allergies act up, remember

“Relieve your stress, relieve your allergies.”

~William Lee

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6-Month Summers by 2100

Posted on March 27, 2021 by | 3 comments

Have you noticed the length of summer increase within your own lifetime? Do you wonder what the seasons will look like by the end of this century? A team of researchers completed a study, published last month, that examined how climate change is influencing the length of our seasons, and how they may look by 2100. 

Seasonal change at a Ryton pond. Source: Keith Hall

In order to understand how our seasons may change in the future, the researchers looked at historical climate data from the years of 1952-2011, specifically in the Northern Hemisphere. They defined the start of winter as the onset of temperatures in the coldest 25% of the specific time period they were looking at. Similarly, they defined summer as the onset of temperatures in the hottest 25% of the time period. Their results showed that the length of summer increased from 78 to 95 days from 1952-2011, and that spring, autumn and winter decreased from 124 to 115, 87 to 82, and 76 to 73 days, respectively. All seasons showed an increase in average temperature. 

It is thought that if these trends continue in the same manor, that summer in the Northern Hemisphere will last for 6 months by the year 2100. Furthermore, winter will not be longer than 2 months, and summer and autumn will both shrink significantly as well.

How would this impact our world?

Changing the length of seasons has numerous environmental and health risks. For example, it can greatly impact agriculture, as drastic weather can damage plant growth. An increase in summer would also mean that disease-carrying mosquitoes can increase their range, heading north. Longer summers also lead to an increase in wildfire frequency and intensity. In 2020, we saw how devastating wildfires can be, with the Australian bushfire crisis. Furthermore, seasonal changes show animals shift their migration patterns, and plants start budding earlier, this creates a distortion in plant-animal interaction, disrupting environmental communities.

How can we help?

It can seem rather daunting when we hear stories like this, and as regular citizens, it’s hard to understand what exactly is in our control. Large corporations and our governments hold the key to mitigating climate change, so what can we do? Well, every action counts – big and small. One action you can take is researching what your own local government is doing to combat the climate crisis. If you feel like they could be doing more, write to them. Make your voice heard – and continue to make small changes like biking instead of driving, and recycling regularly.

– Madeline Filewych

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The Space Junk Crisis

Posted on March 22, 2021 by | 3 comments

You likely don’t think about space junk very much every day, but what if I called it an orbital death sphere? Although this may sound hyperbolic, the current amount of orbital trash may become a serious crisis very soon. So what is space junk, and what are we doing about this death sphere?

Space Junk, Space Debris, Orbits, Space, Universe

Source: pixabay.com

Our Orbiting Landfill

Humanity has now been launching things into space since Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957. Since then, we have launched thousands of satellites into the earth’s orbit. Now, launching a rocket is an incredibly difficult task, so historically we have put all our efforts into getting them out of the atmosphere. A consequence of this mentality is that few launches have planned for what happens with the payload once it has served its use. This has resulted in a graveyard of satellites circling earth. But why should we care about a space graveyard?

Sputnik, Satellite, Astronautics, Nasa, Cosmonautics

Source: pixabay.com

The Death Sphere 

Orbiting space junk is moving at thousands of kilometers per hour. This means that some of our space junk is traveling more than 10 times faster than an average bullet.

The real problem comes from orbital collisions. If two satellites happen to run into each other in orbit, the collision could result in thousands of smaller “bullets”. In addition to this, this single collision could cause a cascade of collisions.

This process is known as Kessler Syndrome which is named after the rocket scientist Donald J. Kessler who first realized the possibility. The end result of this cascade is a proverbial “death sphere” which describes a field of small debris encircling our planet. This could trap us on this planet, as any attempt to launch something into space would be met by a stream of destructive debris. A more complete picture of how this happens is shown by the YouTube creator Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: 

YouTube Preview Image

So how do we prevent this from happening? Well thankfully people have started coming up with some solutions.

Saving the Satellites 

Attempting to clean up our space junk is a very difficult but necessary task. A recent study published by the International Academy of Astronautics found that the risk of a catastrophic impact with space debris is as high as 45% for  projects such as SpaceX’s new satellite. Furthermore, the study went on to say:

“…(Kessler Syndrome) could result in low Earth orbit (LEO) becoming unusable, and remaining in an unusable state for perhaps thousands of years…” (IAA)

Getting to space in the first place is incredibly difficult, and if you can get to space how do you get so much junk out of our orbit? Well, many very unique solutions have been proposed over the years including giant trash catching nets, shooting puffs of air at the junk, and even sending up little janitor robots. Most of these solutions have only been theoretical, until this morning.

File:Elsad.png

Source: Astroscale Holdings Inc.

Earlier today, a magnetic junk capturing satellite was launched by the Japanese company Astroscale. This fascinating piece of engineering uses powerful magnets to capture metallic debris, and safely remove it from orbit. Projects like this give us hope that we will not be restricted in our space fairing ability in the future. Hopefully we can be rid of our orbiting garbage before it grounds us for good. 

-Declan O’Driscoll

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Borrowing from Mosquitos – A Potential Broad-Spectrum Antiviral

Posted on March 22, 2021 by | 2 comments

A team of researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) have found a promising antiviral in the strangest place – a protein called AEG12 found in the gut of mosquitos. This recent study lead by Dr. Alexander Foo found that AEG12 strongly inhibits the family of viruses that cause Yellow Fever, Dengue, West Nile, and Zika, and that the protein may also inhibit their distant relative: coronaviruses. Although the virus-killing AEG12 protein sounds promising, it may still be a long time before its safe to use in humans.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can carry viruses such as Yellow Fever, Dengue, and Zika (Image source)

Foo and His Findings

Scientists have long been on the hunt for effective antivirals, and researchers like Dr. Foo have been making great progress in the field. Foo’s recent study showed that AEG12 was effective at killing flaviviruses (such as Dengue and Zika) but was less effective at killing coronaviruses. Using methods and software tools for understanding how proteins work and specialized laboratory techniques to study viruses, the team was able to piece together how AEG12 is such a successful virus-destroyer.

Flaviviruses are enveloped: meaning that each virus particle is surrounded by a membrane. The infection process, in the video below, shows how the virus must first attach to the surface a human cell (0:28) and then fuse its membrane with ours to get inside (1:12).

Essentially, the AEG12 protein carries little membrane pieces of its own, which are different from the type found in the virus’ membrane. When it comes across a virus, AEG12 trades its pieces for the virus’. Once enough chunks are swapped out, the virus’ membrane becomes unstable and can’t fuse with our cells: effectively “killing” the virus.

The AEG12 protein swaps out viral membrane pieces for unstable pieces (Image source)

Even though AEG12’s virus-killing abilities sound promising, Foo’s team found that AEG12 breaks apart red blood cells. Although useful to a mosquito that needs to digest a blood meal, use of AEG12 in humans would lead to a very serious blood disorder that could be fatal if left untreated.

There is Still Hope

So, AEG12 isn’t safe for use in humans… Yet. With some clever solutions and careful bioengineering, further research could find a way to modify AEG12 so that it targets viruses and ignores human cells. The development of a drug or molecule effective against enveloped viruses could save lives across the globe – addressing not only the headlining COVID-19 pandemic, but the ongoing epidemics as well.

-Maya Bird

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A Potential New Class of Insect Repellents Using Catnip!

Posted on March 22, 2021 by | 2 comments

Although catnip is often used as a special treat for cats due to its euphoric and hallucinogenic effects, it has quietly been known as a powerful insect repellant. This strong reaction towards insects has led to scientists considering catnip as a potential replacement for currently available insect repellents.

However, up until now, it was not understood how exactly catnip repels insects. A recent study performed by Dr. Nadia Melo and her research team provides the necessary context to show how exactly one of the main chemicals in catnip, nepetalactone, can be used to create the next class of insect repellents!

Insect repellents are used to fend off insects such as this mosquito, which can spread disease through its bite.

Source: Unsplash.com/ekamelev

What’s wrong with current insect repellents?

DEET and permethrin are currently the two most commonly used chemicals in insect repellents. These chemicals get the job done, but they do have their downsides.

Firstly, certain mosquito species are developing resistance (ability to withstand effects) to insect repellents containing these chemicals according to a study performed by Dr. Deletre’s research team. This is very concerning as it is important for insect repellents to be effective at stopping mosquitoes because they are prominent spreaders of diseases such as malaria.

This short video by MalariaGEN does a great job explaining what resistance is in further detail and talks about how insecticide resistance occurs.

Video Source: MalariaGEN | Youtube

Furthermore, insect repellents with DEET and permethrin have their dangers, as they can potentially have toxic effects in adults based on reactions that some people have had. 

Keeping these reasons in mind, it is clear that there is a growing need for a better insect repellent than the current insect repellents on the market.

This is where catnip comes into play.

What makes catnip a good insect repellent?

Catnip contains a chemical called nepetalactone that is able to repel certain insects including mosquitoes. Research has shown that nepetalactone has similar effectiveness to DEET, indicating that it can be a good replacement for current insect repellents. Furthermore, nepetalactone has shown that it is non-toxic to humans based on the many interactions that humans have had with catnip.

How it works:

Dr. Nadia Melo and her research team were able to determine exactly how nepetalactone causes a strong reaction in insects. They found that nepetalactone was able to activate a pain receptor called TRPA1 in insects, which caused a strong irritating response in the insect’s body. In other words, nepetalactone turned on a switch in the insects that resulted in them experiencing pain. 

Scientists have stated that the way this chemical irritates insects is more complicated than the way that DEET and permethrin repel insects. Thus, they have suggested that mosquitos and other insects are less likely to obtain resistance to nepetalactone. 

Future of Nepetalactone:

The doors are now open for a new generation of insect repellents based on catnip. 

The use of nepetalactone to make new insect repellents can potentially replace current insect repellents containing DEET such as the one shown here.

Source: flickr.com/skiarc

Nevertheless, there is still work to do. Future studies are now looking into whether nepetalactone can be modified to trigger an even stronger reaction in insects. Furthermore, they are looking into exactly which species of insects that this insect repellent will work for.

-Karnvir Dhillon

 

 

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