www.sciencedaily.com
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet HD 189733 b, roughly the mass of Jupiter, orbits a star 63 light-years away in extremely close company. Although the planet can't be seen directly, scientists used Hubble data to analyze its atmospheric composition and turn up CO2 as well as carbon monoxide (CO). They did this by comparing the light spectrum from the star with that from the star and planet combined, as the planet passes in front of its star. The very fact that we're able to detect it and estimate its abundance is significant for the long-term effort of characterizing planets both to find out what they are made of and if they could be a possible host for life. Other chemical signatures familiar to Earthlings have already been turned up by astronomical observations, including on HD 189733 b.
From this discovery it is possible that another planet might be able to host human beings due to the presence or carbon dioxide and monoxide in the atmosphere. Scientists will continue to test the atmosphere for other characterizations that could conclude another planet to be livable by humans.
Paragraph 1 a synopsis of article
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Life on Other Planets?
Is there extraterrestrial life on other planets? Scientists and Astronomers are currently testing for life on other planets far away. They have recently found evidence of carbon dioxide on a planet 63 light-years away. No life has been found on this planet, not only that it has not been found but it is impossible for life to grow there. The levels of CO2 is too great to sustain any life. The estimated temperature on this planet is roughly about 1700 degrees Fahrenheit. They will continue to look for more life on other planets.
-Dan
The Nature of Glass Remains Anything but Clear
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/science/29glass.html?pagewanted=print
For centuries, people have believed that a slow-moving liquid goes down glass for hundreds of years. It has been discovered that the windows were uneven to begin with. The atoms and molecules in the glass are different from that of the liquid so it is puzzling how the two can be as hard as the other. One of the biggest mysteries is the theory of the nature of glass and the glass transition. After decades of research, scientists were able to discover that as molten glass cools, the molecules do not slow down uniformly. To this date, we still don't know how glass is made and what its relation to the liquid is.
This article is reflecting the Earth's history. It is always nice to hear about the research that has to do with things that have been around for centuries. In a decade or so, it is a possibility that there will be more information concerning this matter.
The article was written nicely. There could have been more details but the information that was given was nicely said. I was able to understand the point of the article and what it was trying to achieve.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Early earth different than we knew it
Geologists now agree that Crystals in rocks that were found in Australia prove that the earth was not a desolate inhabitable place 4.5 billion years ago during the Hadean period. These crystals found embedded in rocks know as zircons are billions of years old and they offer signs that the Earth’s plate had begun shifting during the Hadean period. The minerals show that the plates were already forming continents and oceans 4.5 billion years ago. Zircons are composed of the elements Zirconium, oxygen, and silicon. They are really hard and durable and can survive harsh conditions that erode, melt, and destroy the rocks around them. The relative amounts of oxygen isotopes show that there was water. Zircons have high levels of oxygen-18 which in minerals in clays and carbonates that form in water prefer as well. The most common oxygen isotope is oxygen-16. Scientists believe the Earth at this time was a pretty placid place with both land and oceans. The temperatures on earth were cold enough to create large areas of lands covered by ice. The sun was much younger then and emitted 30 percent less energy then it does today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/science/02eart.html?ref=science
Silicon for better batteries
Researchers in South Korea have discovered that silicon based anode could greatly increase the storage capacity of lithium ion batteries. This would increase run times of cell phones and laptops by 7 times. New studies are taking place using silicon which forms lithium alloys and can hold a far longer charge then graphite.which has a relatively low storage capacity. However, silicon begins to crumble after a few cycles of recharging and can no longer hold ions effectively. Jaephil Cho at Hanyang University in South Korea believes that they have solved this problem by making porous silicon that is able to accomodate the expansion and contractions of silicon. Cho's team was able to demonstrate that the porous silicon stores an electrical charge of more than 2800 milliampere hours per gram which is about seven times higher than graphite. The team is already collaborating with battery manufactuers and said that they will not take any longer to recharge then the previous battery. The highly porous structure can be filled up quickly allowing for rapid charging. This technology may eventually be used for more advanced applications such as hybrid cars.
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/November/25110801.asp
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/November/25110801.asp
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Getting Warmer? Prehistoric Climate Can Help Forecast Future Changes
This article is about how scientists are testing fossils from the mid Pliocene time period. They have noticed that during this time there was extreme warming throughout the world and global average temps were 2.5 degrees Celcius greater than today. Scientists have also found out that CO2 levels during the mid Pliocene time were only slightly higher than today's levels which shows that just a slight increase in our current CO2 level could have a large impact on the temperature.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Noble C
http://www.plosntds.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0000312
The CNCDs and the NTDs: Blurring the Lines Dividing Noncommunicable and Communicable Chronic Diseases
World Health Organizations are finding statistics that deaths from choric noncommunicable diseases are now more than infectious diseases. Cancers are one of the greatest causes of the deaths. CNCDs account for sixty percent of the deaths worldwide. Form that sixty percent; eighty percent of those deaths come from houses with low or medium income. The factors of the diseases in the countries are all the same, more tobacco use, less exercise, and eating fast food too much. CNCDs are diseases that affect individuals over a period of time and which there are no know causative agents that transmitted from one affected individual to another.
The CNCDs and the NTDs: Blurring the Lines Dividing Noncommunicable and Communicable Chronic Diseases
World Health Organizations are finding statistics that deaths from choric noncommunicable diseases are now more than infectious diseases. Cancers are one of the greatest causes of the deaths. CNCDs account for sixty percent of the deaths worldwide. Form that sixty percent; eighty percent of those deaths come from houses with low or medium income. The factors of the diseases in the countries are all the same, more tobacco use, less exercise, and eating fast food too much. CNCDs are diseases that affect individuals over a period of time and which there are no know causative agents that transmitted from one affected individual to another.
Current Events Article 2
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081111093927.htm
The energy that light uses to carry information was used by researches to measure the effects that light had proteins. These probes tracked the way that the proteins bind, and it will further inform scientists on the function of the most abundant proteins, and eventually how proteins interact with drugs. Prof Parker says, “It’s a new step in the development of optical probes in chemistry and in observing the interaction between medical drugs and proteins.” When the scientists observed the effect that serum albumin (the most prominent protein), they discovered that the polarised light had intriguing characteristics. The rotation of the light was measured; it was discovered that probes omit circularlary polarised light, which inverts protein binding.
The energy that light uses to carry information was used by researches to measure the effects that light had proteins. These probes tracked the way that the proteins bind, and it will further inform scientists on the function of the most abundant proteins, and eventually how proteins interact with drugs. Prof Parker says, “It’s a new step in the development of optical probes in chemistry and in observing the interaction between medical drugs and proteins.” When the scientists observed the effect that serum albumin (the most prominent protein), they discovered that the polarised light had intriguing characteristics. The rotation of the light was measured; it was discovered that probes omit circularlary polarised light, which inverts protein binding.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Current Events 2
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/will-next-ice-age-be-permanent/?ref=science
Thomas J. Crowley and William T. Hyde, the authors of Nature, believe that an ice age may occur in the future. They wrote Nature to inform many nations about the ice sheets at both poles, which could ultimately cause an ice age if the human population doesn’t react. Both scientists used climate models and other techniques to assess the chances that the world could witness a climate transition from a warmer climate to a polar ice one, with expanding ice sheets at both poles. Dr. Crowley believes that this climate change is a function of human’s actions, whether we chose to act or not is up to us.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Genie in the Bottle Summary
Joe Schwarcz’s book, Genie in the Bottle, is an engaging book which demonstrates the relevance of chemistry to everyday life through a series of anecdotes. Schwarcz engages the reader from the first with an introductory anecdote describing his encounter with a water filter salesman. Schwarcz allows a certain degree of humor to percolate the book, however this does not distract from the extraordinarily informative nature of the anecdotes, instead making the book, and hence its subject, more engaging. As opposed to writing about obscure aspects of chemistry which one would be hard pressed to find connections to everyday life for, Schwarcz chooses to write about subjects which relate to everyday life: drinking water quality, the effects of stress and exposure to the sun on the body, the dangerous ramifications of a poorly regulated pharmaceutical industry, and the At the end of the book, the reader is left with a much greater appreciation for the important role chemistry plays in everyday life.
Schwarcz’s opening anecdote describes his conversations with a water filter salesman who came to his door. The salesman makes the argument to Schwarcz that he is placing his and his family’s health at risk by drinking tap water (which the salesman gravely informs the author “contains invisible chemicals”). In order to demonstrate the veracity of his claims, the salesman took a glass of tap water, placed two electrical diodes in it, and ran an electric current through the water. The result was that a “repulsive yellow scum” formed on the electrodes which was, according to the salesman, formed as the “invisible chemicals” in the water had been forced out of solution as a result of the electric current. Then, the salesman proceeded to filter some of the same tap water and repeat the electrode experiment again, this time to different results: no scum was formed. By this time, this reader was left feeling pretty disconcerted having drunk tap water all of his life. The salesman proceeded to engage in another test showing the effect of chlorine on human skin.
These demonstrations, however, were preformed to little effect on the author – he proceeded to demonstrate that these apparently alarming effects were little more than the result of harmless chemical properties of the way our world works. Schwarcz explained to the salesman (and the reader) how the yellow scum formed was formed from the rust of the electrodes in his experiment which occurred when water broke down (through electrolysis). This did not occur on the filtered water because the filtered water was devoid of some harmless ions, such as salt, which water requires to be dissolved in it in order that it may conduct electricity. Still, however, the salesman proved to be obstinate on some points, but in the end, Schwarcz demonstrated that these harmful-looking effects were in reality the results of the many chemical properties of our world being demonstrated.
In the chapter, “Surviving the Rat Race”, Schwarcz describes how the effects of stress can cause the body serious harm. He opens with an anecdote borrowed from a professor he heard speak on the subject when he was a child. The lecturer was twice in situations which could have been responded to with a great deal of stress: once confronted with a drunk who was being “mildly [verbally] abusive” (asking for a fight) and once when assaulted by a mugger. In the latter case the lecturer had no choice but to respond and defend himself – an action which caused his body to produce more adrenaline, his blood pressure to rise, and his reactions to dramatically increase. He was able to escape the confrontation through these effects, but he choose to avoid the unnecessary confrontation. His reasoning was founded in a study conducted in the 1930’s in which several rats were injected with various toxins. The result of these numerous toxins were all similar: adrenal cortexes were enlarged and the spleens and thymus glands shrank in reaction to the stress exerted on the rat’s bodies by the chemicals.
In “The Dark Side of the Sun”, Schwarcz describes the harmful effects of the sun on the human body. He starts out by setting the scene with tales of how in the beginning of the century, people believed the effects of the sun to be extraordinarily positive, so much so that mothers were instructed to uncover their “babies’ bonnets” and to expose them to the sun. In the latter half of the twentieth century, however, scientists began to voice concern over the potentially harmful effects of ultraviolet light on human skin. The initial signs of trouble were seen when a leathery, wrinkled look developed on the skin of people who were overexposed to the sun because of the breakdown in the bonds that hold together the molecules and proteins which keep the skin taught and useful. What can be inferred from this is that electromagnetic light can directly impact on the molecules in our bodies – a dramatic ramification for a culture which spends a great deal of its summers and other time basking in the sun. In fact, it has even been shown that UV rays can change DNA molecules, leading to cancer. The application of sunscreen lotion, however, was sown to be extraordinarily effective in preventing skin cancer.
Finally, in one of the most frightening anecdotes, Schwarcz describes the importance of a closely regulated chemical industry. To demonstrate this point, he tells the reader the story of Thalidomide, a drug introduced with great claims of being a miracle drug to cure insomnia without any dramatic side-effects. Well, in fact it turned out that there were quite a few babies exposed to the drug that developed various disfigurements including seal-like flippers instead of arms or legs. This difference was not noticed at first, however. The only discrepancy seemed to be that Thalidomide induced sleep in many people during pharmaceutical trials, an effect that it did not produce in the animal trials. The difference in outcome was the difference in the livers of the animals being tested (rats) and the human subjects: the human liver, unlike that of a rat, produces an enzyme that converts thalidomide into its dangerous form. This story contains two important messages: first that there are so many variables in the world that only direct testing can be effective and second, that some compounds can be harmless, but for one small change which can make them incredible toxic – an effect which is quite common in chemistry.
Schwarcz’s book describes an interesting set of stories which demonstrate the importance of understanding chemistry to our lives. In using several commonplace situations and clear and engaging writing, Schwarcz effectively conveys his message to a wide audience.
Schwarcz’s opening anecdote describes his conversations with a water filter salesman who came to his door. The salesman makes the argument to Schwarcz that he is placing his and his family’s health at risk by drinking tap water (which the salesman gravely informs the author “contains invisible chemicals”). In order to demonstrate the veracity of his claims, the salesman took a glass of tap water, placed two electrical diodes in it, and ran an electric current through the water. The result was that a “repulsive yellow scum” formed on the electrodes which was, according to the salesman, formed as the “invisible chemicals” in the water had been forced out of solution as a result of the electric current. Then, the salesman proceeded to filter some of the same tap water and repeat the electrode experiment again, this time to different results: no scum was formed. By this time, this reader was left feeling pretty disconcerted having drunk tap water all of his life. The salesman proceeded to engage in another test showing the effect of chlorine on human skin.
These demonstrations, however, were preformed to little effect on the author – he proceeded to demonstrate that these apparently alarming effects were little more than the result of harmless chemical properties of the way our world works. Schwarcz explained to the salesman (and the reader) how the yellow scum formed was formed from the rust of the electrodes in his experiment which occurred when water broke down (through electrolysis). This did not occur on the filtered water because the filtered water was devoid of some harmless ions, such as salt, which water requires to be dissolved in it in order that it may conduct electricity. Still, however, the salesman proved to be obstinate on some points, but in the end, Schwarcz demonstrated that these harmful-looking effects were in reality the results of the many chemical properties of our world being demonstrated.
In the chapter, “Surviving the Rat Race”, Schwarcz describes how the effects of stress can cause the body serious harm. He opens with an anecdote borrowed from a professor he heard speak on the subject when he was a child. The lecturer was twice in situations which could have been responded to with a great deal of stress: once confronted with a drunk who was being “mildly [verbally] abusive” (asking for a fight) and once when assaulted by a mugger. In the latter case the lecturer had no choice but to respond and defend himself – an action which caused his body to produce more adrenaline, his blood pressure to rise, and his reactions to dramatically increase. He was able to escape the confrontation through these effects, but he choose to avoid the unnecessary confrontation. His reasoning was founded in a study conducted in the 1930’s in which several rats were injected with various toxins. The result of these numerous toxins were all similar: adrenal cortexes were enlarged and the spleens and thymus glands shrank in reaction to the stress exerted on the rat’s bodies by the chemicals.
In “The Dark Side of the Sun”, Schwarcz describes the harmful effects of the sun on the human body. He starts out by setting the scene with tales of how in the beginning of the century, people believed the effects of the sun to be extraordinarily positive, so much so that mothers were instructed to uncover their “babies’ bonnets” and to expose them to the sun. In the latter half of the twentieth century, however, scientists began to voice concern over the potentially harmful effects of ultraviolet light on human skin. The initial signs of trouble were seen when a leathery, wrinkled look developed on the skin of people who were overexposed to the sun because of the breakdown in the bonds that hold together the molecules and proteins which keep the skin taught and useful. What can be inferred from this is that electromagnetic light can directly impact on the molecules in our bodies – a dramatic ramification for a culture which spends a great deal of its summers and other time basking in the sun. In fact, it has even been shown that UV rays can change DNA molecules, leading to cancer. The application of sunscreen lotion, however, was sown to be extraordinarily effective in preventing skin cancer.
Finally, in one of the most frightening anecdotes, Schwarcz describes the importance of a closely regulated chemical industry. To demonstrate this point, he tells the reader the story of Thalidomide, a drug introduced with great claims of being a miracle drug to cure insomnia without any dramatic side-effects. Well, in fact it turned out that there were quite a few babies exposed to the drug that developed various disfigurements including seal-like flippers instead of arms or legs. This difference was not noticed at first, however. The only discrepancy seemed to be that Thalidomide induced sleep in many people during pharmaceutical trials, an effect that it did not produce in the animal trials. The difference in outcome was the difference in the livers of the animals being tested (rats) and the human subjects: the human liver, unlike that of a rat, produces an enzyme that converts thalidomide into its dangerous form. This story contains two important messages: first that there are so many variables in the world that only direct testing can be effective and second, that some compounds can be harmless, but for one small change which can make them incredible toxic – an effect which is quite common in chemistry.
Schwarcz’s book describes an interesting set of stories which demonstrate the importance of understanding chemistry to our lives. In using several commonplace situations and clear and engaging writing, Schwarcz effectively conveys his message to a wide audience.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Underground Lab Probes How Matter Licked Antimatter
Underground Lab Probes How Matter Licked Antimatter
A question which has long puzzled scientists is: why is there more matter in our universe than antimatter? According to prevailing scientific theory, matter and antimatter were present in equal amounts at the start of the universe, however 2 seconds after the Big-Bang, something caused normal matter to exist in greater quantities than regular matter. (Anti matter is basically matter's opposite - protons have a charge of -1 and electrons have a charge of +1. When matter and antimatter come into contact with each other, they annihilate, a process in which a tremendous amounts of energy is released and could be used for very efficient power generation.) Inside the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, (an abandoned salt mine used for storing nuclear waste), Stanford researchers have built what they call the Enriched Xenon Observatory 200. The sensor is designed to track the behavior of neutrinos (elementary particles that travel close to the speed of light, lack an electric charge, are able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed). It is hypothesized that neutrinos may not have antiparticles (equivalents made of antimatter) and therefore might hold clues to the fate of antimatter. [Read: Wired Science]
A question which has long puzzled scientists is: why is there more matter in our universe than antimatter? According to prevailing scientific theory, matter and antimatter were present in equal amounts at the start of the universe, however 2 seconds after the Big-Bang, something caused normal matter to exist in greater quantities than regular matter. (Anti matter is basically matter's opposite - protons have a charge of -1 and electrons have a charge of +1. When matter and antimatter come into contact with each other, they annihilate, a process in which a tremendous amounts of energy is released and could be used for very efficient power generation.) Inside the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, (an abandoned salt mine used for storing nuclear waste), Stanford researchers have built what they call the Enriched Xenon Observatory 200. The sensor is designed to track the behavior of neutrinos (elementary particles that travel close to the speed of light, lack an electric charge, are able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed). It is hypothesized that neutrinos may not have antiparticles (equivalents made of antimatter) and therefore might hold clues to the fate of antimatter. [Read: Wired Science]
Thursday, October 23, 2008
From a Strip of Scotch Tape, X-Rays
Researches from the University of California have shown that it is possible to produce X-Rays by simply unrolling Scotch tape. They said that a fierce flows of electrons were set free as the tape was unpeeled and its sticky adhesive snapped free of the surface. The electric current generated strong, short bursts of X-Rays. Strong enough to take an X-Ray of a finger. This phenomenon cannot be explained in molecular scale yet. Other brands of tapes produces X-Rays while unpeeling them also, but in different levels of energy. This discover was very important to the future. One of the reasons is because maybe it can help in the medicine destroying tumors with bursts of electrons. And the best thing of this process is that, there is a possibility of a nuclear fusion, because this process is maybe the same process that lights the sun.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/science/28xray.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
Oops! A Fluorescent Light Breaks
Oops! A Fluorescent Light Breaks
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37136/title/Oops!_A_Fluorescent_Light_BreaksIn this generation, we’ve witnessed a big push municipalities and green-touting environment groups to swap out our energy-hogging light bulbs. With the new replaced fluorescent light bulbs, it's suppose to save energy while creating a longer and brighter light quality with the element mercury. However, a recent discovery has shown that these new light bulbs can be very dangerous by releasing a neurotoxic element that can taint your home when broken. Each of these energy efficient lights contains a pinch of toxic mercury, which can pollute the environment if a bulb breaks. If the bulb dies and isn't broken, it is required that instead of throwing it in a general trash, rather dispose it as hazardous waste. Therefore, be careful when putting in a light bulb.
Heat sensors guide insects to a hot meal
Thursday, October 16, 2008
From Old Vials, New Hints on Origin of Life
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/science/17life.html?ref=science&pagewanted=print
From Old Vials, New Hints on Origin of Life
Just over 50 years ago, with the help of ammonia, methane, hydrogen, water and electrical sparks, amino acids were formed by Dr. Miller. The problem is that the amino acids didn't get anymore complex. Scientists now question whether or not the air 50 years ago was different than the air today. One of Miller's graduate students had injected steam onto the sparks in hopes of finding a solution but only produced what could be found in a lagoon. With the help of another graduate student, the discovery of 22 amino acids occurred. This experiment has given hope to the discovery of new things.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Chemistry Nobel Glows Florescent Green
Chemistry Nobel Glows Florescent Green
By Larry Greenemeier
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=chemistry-nobel-glows-green
This year, three scientists, Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien, will be sharing the Nobel Prize for Chemistry this year for their work on green fluorescent protein. By combining Shimomura’s discovery of GFP in Aequorea Victoria jellyfish, Chalfie’s demonstration of how the GFP can be used as a tag for DNA, and Tsien’s expansion of the technology, the three scientists were able to show researchers life processes that they would have never been able to view before, such as how cancer cells spread or how nerve cells develop in the brain. “This is an example of chemistry enabling so many other fields,” says John Frangioni, assistant professor of medicine and radiology at Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It highlights how chemistry can touch biology, medicine and other very practical endeavors. I'm gratified that the choice was one of a technology that enabled so may other areas of science.” The green florescent protein allows for researchers to trace and monitor cells. The three scientists will share the $1.4 million prize.
By Larry Greenemeier
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=chemistry-nobel-glows-green
This year, three scientists, Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien, will be sharing the Nobel Prize for Chemistry this year for their work on green fluorescent protein. By combining Shimomura’s discovery of GFP in Aequorea Victoria jellyfish, Chalfie’s demonstration of how the GFP can be used as a tag for DNA, and Tsien’s expansion of the technology, the three scientists were able to show researchers life processes that they would have never been able to view before, such as how cancer cells spread or how nerve cells develop in the brain. “This is an example of chemistry enabling so many other fields,” says John Frangioni, assistant professor of medicine and radiology at Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It highlights how chemistry can touch biology, medicine and other very practical endeavors. I'm gratified that the choice was one of a technology that enabled so may other areas of science.” The green florescent protein allows for researchers to trace and monitor cells. The three scientists will share the $1.4 million prize.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
HIV Infection Study
H.I.V is now being spread all over the United States faster than people had believed before. The only thing is that only certain types of people seem to be getting it. Most new infections of white gay and bisexual men occur when the men are in their 30’s and 40’s, while black gay and bisexual men are more likely to be infected in their teens and 20’s. Scientists are publishing data facts and articles online because they want to find a way to prevent this continuously spreading faster and faster. 63% of black bisexual men and 81% of white bisexual men are newly becoming infected. I found this article interesting because why is it that certain types of people are only receiving it, mostly males. I also find it interesting that they are posting the results from the experiments scientists have taken online for everyone to see.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Animal Extinction
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/science/earth/07mammal.html?ref=science
In Barcelona, Spain there is a problem with extinction of animals because of habitat loss, hunting and climate change. Our own actions can cause species to die out and there are 188 mammals in the highest threat category. The Iberian Lynx was one of them which has a population of 84 adults and is declining. The fishing cat and the caspian seal have lost 90 percent of their population over the past 100 years because of hunting and their habitats changing. The percent of decrease has increased over the past 10 years. Even amphibians such as the Holdridge toad and the Cuban crocodile are in danger of becoming extinct. Other animals in danger are Indian tarantulas and the Rameshwaram parachute spider. The African Elephant on the other hand was removed from the vulnerable list and was listed as near threatened because of an increase of population.
Study of Energy Needed to move an Atom
This article published in the New York Times is a breakthrough in physical chemistry that may change the way we look at it. It is a reporting of the research that has been done to see exactly how much energy is needed to move a single atom. Along with I.B.M. scientists Dr. Heinrich and other researchers at Almaden and the University of Regensburg in Germany have calculated the exact amount of energy that is needed to move a single atom of cobalt along both a titanium and a copper surface. Ever since Donald M. Eiger spelled out "I.B.M." using 35 singular xenon atoms those at the company have been interested in creating structures out of individual atoms. Using an atomic microscope and utilizing the sharp tip of it Dr. Heinrich pushed a singular atom. To measure the force the sharp tip of the microscope was attached to a small tuning fork, commonly found in small quartz watches. Because of the tuning fork, the tip vibrates at 20,000 times a second until it comes in contact with the atom and the vibration frequency slows down. However a single atom cannot roll smoothly on another element due to the fact that there is a lattice of atoms underneath it and so the singular atom bumps over at an inconsistent speed. The lattice-like surface is often compared to an egg carton with the singular atom as the egg. The exact energy needed to push a cobalt atom is 130 millionth of an ounce of energy across titanium and 1,600 of a millionth of an ounce of energy across copper.
Three Europeans Win the 2008 Nobel for Medicine
Three Europeans Win the 2008 Nobel for Medicine
By
Rodrigo's Genie in the Bottle
The Genie in the Bottle by Dr. Joe Schwartz was an extremely good introduction to Chemistry because of the way the author presented the various topics of the book. The book consists of sixty-seven commentaries describing various issues in chemistry. The five most intriguing things that Schwartz describes in this book were the importance of rubber, date rape and the effects on the human body, the effect of stress on the human body, the Bunsen burner, and the effects of the sun.
In the section “The Silly Side of Flubber” Schwartz states how useless but necessary rubber is to people. He uses the example of when the U.S. stopped getting rubber imports from Japan. The lack of rubber resulted in a shortage of a lot of products. For example, rubber is a key component in making tires and other parts of the car, but it also was used to make ear plugs and other things for soldiers. Seeing the opportunity in this economic demand, Paul Hodgson and Ruth Fallgatter created flubber, earning themselves six million dollars. The author then digresses how simple and worthless this object really was and how ironic it was that it made these two men millionaires. “Flubber,” thought of by the author as idiotic, was just dumb enough to make these two men millionaires.
In the section “Playing with Fire” Schwartz discusses the development of the Bunsen burner. The first Bunsen burner made allowed for toxic gases to come out of it when used; so much so that Robert Bunsen, the creator, had to wear a gas mask when he was using it. As a result of releasing toxic gases into the air, it was dangerous for people to be around. Then Robert Bunsen found himself one day in a bad situation involving a fly and decided to begin to “play with fire.” He created a new device that would tube in flammable gas while still letting air to flow through it. He was attempting to create a “clean” fire so he deduced that the gas flowing through his device must also be clean. The result of his tribulations was in fact the Bunsen burner that we use today. Its popularity is epitomized by the fact that we too have many Bunsen burners in our own Chemistry lab.
The section “Nothing to Rave About” was very interesting. It talks about GHB (gamma hydroxybrutyrate), the drug also known as “Date Rape.” Surprisingly, it used to be legal because it helped people on diets and people who wanted gain quick muscle. It was only after many years that this drug was found to be so dangerous, thus they made it illegal. Even though it was illegal, people still used it all the time because it is one of the easiest drugs to make it. In fact, people can buy two of its main components in stores. He urges that teenagers be informed about just how dangerous this is, because people usually like to Even though people say it’s dangerous they have to have it driven into their mind for them to know. Along with date rape drugs being an interesting topic, the Bunsen burner was another good commentary.
In the chapter, “The Dark Side of the Sun” Schwartz explains how harmful the sun is to the human being. Back in the early 1900’s, when the ozone layer was not completely destroyed, the sun actually did good things to the people, it healed diseases. People were told to bath in the sun to heal some diseases by giving out vitamin D and if they did that now a day, they would just get skin cancer. The sun not only causes cancer, but it also creates wrinkles. Therefore, sun lotion was invented which helps protect people from the sun. Yet, even with the great invention of sun lotion it is still not a good idea to be in the sun all day. Sun lotion doesn’t work all the time and rubs off in water for the most part. The sun if still a very dangerous object and people don’t give it the respect it deserves. Sun lotion does not make you immune to the sun and when people learn that there will be a lot less skin cancer. Along with the sun being a very dangerous thing, stress is also a very interesting topic.
In Schwartz’s chapter “Surviving the Rat Race” he explains how stress can be a dangerous thing. He starts off his story by explaining how he went to an assembly and only remembered the story about the drunken man. The man had a lot of stress when he was drunk because of his high blood pressure. They used rats to test out if blood pressure was caused by stress. They found out that it did and that rats acted just like humans with adrenaline. It turns out that heart pressure, sweating, and heartbeat are all affected by how much stress a person has. This all tied into his drunk person story because a drunk person has no control of their senses and can’t handle stress in certain situations. Therefore that is why some drunk people get into fights and others just laugh. It has been proven that therapy have been set up to help people handle their stress that they are having. The therapies make it so that people don’t experience pain (Brest cancer patients) or crazy. Along with stress being an interest topic, date rape drugs were also an interesting commentary.
The Genie in the Bottle was a very interesting book. It took sixty-seven things that people would never think of and brought them to peoples eyes. Who would have ever known that some date rape drugs could be so harmful or that the Bunsen burner didn’t actually start of making fire. Schwartz’s book is a very good book and brought five things to my attention that I would have never known and I found them very intriguing.
In the section “The Silly Side of Flubber” Schwartz states how useless but necessary rubber is to people. He uses the example of when the U.S. stopped getting rubber imports from Japan. The lack of rubber resulted in a shortage of a lot of products. For example, rubber is a key component in making tires and other parts of the car, but it also was used to make ear plugs and other things for soldiers. Seeing the opportunity in this economic demand, Paul Hodgson and Ruth Fallgatter created flubber, earning themselves six million dollars. The author then digresses how simple and worthless this object really was and how ironic it was that it made these two men millionaires. “Flubber,” thought of by the author as idiotic, was just dumb enough to make these two men millionaires.
In the section “Playing with Fire” Schwartz discusses the development of the Bunsen burner. The first Bunsen burner made allowed for toxic gases to come out of it when used; so much so that Robert Bunsen, the creator, had to wear a gas mask when he was using it. As a result of releasing toxic gases into the air, it was dangerous for people to be around. Then Robert Bunsen found himself one day in a bad situation involving a fly and decided to begin to “play with fire.” He created a new device that would tube in flammable gas while still letting air to flow through it. He was attempting to create a “clean” fire so he deduced that the gas flowing through his device must also be clean. The result of his tribulations was in fact the Bunsen burner that we use today. Its popularity is epitomized by the fact that we too have many Bunsen burners in our own Chemistry lab.
The section “Nothing to Rave About” was very interesting. It talks about GHB (gamma hydroxybrutyrate), the drug also known as “Date Rape.” Surprisingly, it used to be legal because it helped people on diets and people who wanted gain quick muscle. It was only after many years that this drug was found to be so dangerous, thus they made it illegal. Even though it was illegal, people still used it all the time because it is one of the easiest drugs to make it. In fact, people can buy two of its main components in stores. He urges that teenagers be informed about just how dangerous this is, because people usually like to Even though people say it’s dangerous they have to have it driven into their mind for them to know. Along with date rape drugs being an interesting topic, the Bunsen burner was another good commentary.
In the chapter, “The Dark Side of the Sun” Schwartz explains how harmful the sun is to the human being. Back in the early 1900’s, when the ozone layer was not completely destroyed, the sun actually did good things to the people, it healed diseases. People were told to bath in the sun to heal some diseases by giving out vitamin D and if they did that now a day, they would just get skin cancer. The sun not only causes cancer, but it also creates wrinkles. Therefore, sun lotion was invented which helps protect people from the sun. Yet, even with the great invention of sun lotion it is still not a good idea to be in the sun all day. Sun lotion doesn’t work all the time and rubs off in water for the most part. The sun if still a very dangerous object and people don’t give it the respect it deserves. Sun lotion does not make you immune to the sun and when people learn that there will be a lot less skin cancer. Along with the sun being a very dangerous thing, stress is also a very interesting topic.
In Schwartz’s chapter “Surviving the Rat Race” he explains how stress can be a dangerous thing. He starts off his story by explaining how he went to an assembly and only remembered the story about the drunken man. The man had a lot of stress when he was drunk because of his high blood pressure. They used rats to test out if blood pressure was caused by stress. They found out that it did and that rats acted just like humans with adrenaline. It turns out that heart pressure, sweating, and heartbeat are all affected by how much stress a person has. This all tied into his drunk person story because a drunk person has no control of their senses and can’t handle stress in certain situations. Therefore that is why some drunk people get into fights and others just laugh. It has been proven that therapy have been set up to help people handle their stress that they are having. The therapies make it so that people don’t experience pain (Brest cancer patients) or crazy. Along with stress being an interest topic, date rape drugs were also an interesting commentary.
The Genie in the Bottle was a very interesting book. It took sixty-seven things that people would never think of and brought them to peoples eyes. Who would have ever known that some date rape drugs could be so harmful or that the Bunsen burner didn’t actually start of making fire. Schwartz’s book is a very good book and brought five things to my attention that I would have never known and I found them very intriguing.
Pressure Is on to Recycle Water Filters
Pressure Is on to Recycle Water Filters
by Mya Frazier
In this article, the author discusses how some people have noticed that while Water Filter brands are running ads that mock the wastefulness of bottled water, Water Filters themselves are not recycled in the United States. In Europe, the products of such brands like Brita, can be easily returned to the manufacturer for recycling or dropped off in stores. In the US, our waste systems are not equipped to recycle Brita filters and the cost of a nationwide recycling program would be astronomical. In my opinion, this story is ridiculous. Companies like Clorox, who owns Brita filters, are trying to run businesses off of a beneficial and "green" idea. There are those, however, that are unsatisfied with this progress and demand more than the company can offer. I understand that every company should be environmentally responsible for its products, but to say the Clorox is not already doing enough to rid us of plastic bottle waste since their own filters are not recycled is ridiculous. Even an expert from Ohio State University agreed that, “The water filter is a minuscule bit of waste. Even if everyone was using them it would be a minor part of what goes in landfills. Bottled water has a much greater ecological footprint.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/business/media/06filter.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
by Mya Frazier
In this article, the author discusses how some people have noticed that while Water Filter brands are running ads that mock the wastefulness of bottled water, Water Filters themselves are not recycled in the United States. In Europe, the products of such brands like Brita, can be easily returned to the manufacturer for recycling or dropped off in stores. In the US, our waste systems are not equipped to recycle Brita filters and the cost of a nationwide recycling program would be astronomical. In my opinion, this story is ridiculous. Companies like Clorox, who owns Brita filters, are trying to run businesses off of a beneficial and "green" idea. There are those, however, that are unsatisfied with this progress and demand more than the company can offer. I understand that every company should be environmentally responsible for its products, but to say the Clorox is not already doing enough to rid us of plastic bottle waste since their own filters are not recycled is ridiculous. Even an expert from Ohio State University agreed that, “The water filter is a minuscule bit of waste. Even if everyone was using them it would be a minor part of what goes in landfills. Bottled water has a much greater ecological footprint.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/business/media/06filter.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Genie in the Bottle
Steven Whang
The Genie in the Bottle
Joe Schwarcz's The Genie in the Bottle is a fascinating book that talks about the chemistry of everyday life. It has mixed stories about how chemistry impacts everyday lives and ways people never really expect. It talks a lot about interesting topics such as food and sunscreen which people would never really think is important. But this book shows that it does matter and how famous chemists made lives better. An interesting quote "You're more likely to get a cold from a handshake than a kiss or someone coughing in your face because the numerous crevices on the surface of our hands are an ideal breeding ground for microbes." shows interesting facts in the book.
Schwarcz interesting fact, "did you know that crazy glue works better in Miami than in Phoenix because its effectiveness depends on the moisture in the air." illustrates the importance in chemistry in modern life. He explains how cyanoacrylates (crazy glue) needs moisture to activate their bonds to hold objects better. The use of cyanoacrylate was also considered in medicine whether the glues could be used to hold human tissue together after surgery.
In today's society, majority of people view licorice as candy. However, they do not know that it is a flavorful herb that has been used in food and medicinal remedies for thousands of years. Schwarcs concludes and interesting fact that licorice root has been used in both Eastern and Western medicine to treat a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to liver disease. This herb has long been valued as a demulcent and expectorant and continues to be used by health care professionals today to relieve allergies, bronchitis, colds, sore throats, and tuberculosis, stomach problems and more.
Chocolate is probably America's favorite candy. Schwarcz explains that chocolate can even be used for medicinal value.For example, chocolate can be used to aid emaciated patients in gaining weight, to stimulate the nervous systems of apathetic individuals and to improve digestion. In the late twentieth century, attention focused on a class of compounds, phytonutrients, that tend to have antioxidant properties and are said to lower the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Among these phytonutrients are the polyphenols, in particular the catechins, which have demonstrated physiological antioxident properties.
Ginkgo biloba is one of the oldest trees on Earth, once part of the flora of the Mesozoic period. The ginkgo biloba is not an ordinary tree because it's leaves has interesting medical purposes like glue, licorice and chocolate. Schwarcz illustrates that the Ginkgo seeds were traditionally served to guests along with alcohol drinks in Japan. An enzyme present in the ginkgo seed has been shown in clinical research to speed up alcohol metabolism in the body, underscoring the wisdom of this folk custom. The leaf extract has been used in Asia for thousands of years to treat allergies, asthma, and bronchitis. It is also valued in Chinese medicine as a heart tonic, helpful in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia.
Almost millions of people go tanning to have their perfect skin tone. However, Schawrcz explains the effects of tanning which can lead to fatal effects such as skin cancer. Skin cancer is an uncontrolled proliferation of skin cells which can be caused by excessive, unprotected exposure to the sun. All outdoor athletes are at risk, especially if they compete for long periods in the summer during the middle part of the day. The term tanning is also used metaphorically for a hiding in the sense of physical punishment which leaves clear marks on the beaten skin. Therefore, people should realize, too much tanning is planning for cancer.
This book "The Genie in the Bottle," demonstrates interesting facts about chemistry that has been unknown to many people. Schwarcz's explanations of glue, intriguing facts on licorice, chocolate research, ginkgo biloba, and the effects of tanning demonstrates interesting facts that Schwarcz used to interest the people in chemistry. Joe Schwarcz uses "64 new commentaries on the fascinating chemistry of everyday life" that opens a path of the interesting world of chemistry around us.
Joe Schwarcz's The Genie in the Bottle is a fascinating book that talks about the chemistry of everyday life. It has mixed stories about how chemistry impacts everyday lives and ways people never really expect. It talks a lot about interesting topics such as food and sunscreen which people would never really think is important. But this book shows that it does matter and how famous chemists made lives better. An interesting quote "You're more likely to get a cold from a handshake than a kiss or someone coughing in your face because the numerous crevices on the surface of our hands are an ideal breeding ground for microbes." shows interesting facts in the book.
Schwarcz interesting fact, "did you know that crazy glue works better in Miami than in Phoenix because its effectiveness depends on the moisture in the air." illustrates the importance in chemistry in modern life. He explains how cyanoacrylates (crazy glue) needs moisture to activate their bonds to hold objects better. The use of cyanoacrylate was also considered in medicine whether the glues could be used to hold human tissue together after surgery.
In today's society, majority of people view licorice as candy. However, they do not know that it is a flavorful herb that has been used in food and medicinal remedies for thousands of years. Schwarcs concludes and interesting fact that licorice root has been used in both Eastern and Western medicine to treat a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to liver disease. This herb has long been valued as a demulcent and expectorant and continues to be used by health care professionals today to relieve allergies, bronchitis, colds, sore throats, and tuberculosis, stomach problems and more.
Chocolate is probably America's favorite candy. Schwarcz explains that chocolate can even be used for medicinal value.For example, chocolate can be used to aid emaciated patients in gaining weight, to stimulate the nervous systems of apathetic individuals and to improve digestion. In the late twentieth century, attention focused on a class of compounds, phytonutrients, that tend to have antioxidant properties and are said to lower the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Among these phytonutrients are the polyphenols, in particular the catechins, which have demonstrated physiological antioxident properties.
Ginkgo biloba is one of the oldest trees on Earth, once part of the flora of the Mesozoic period. The ginkgo biloba is not an ordinary tree because it's leaves has interesting medical purposes like glue, licorice and chocolate. Schwarcz illustrates that the Ginkgo seeds were traditionally served to guests along with alcohol drinks in Japan. An enzyme present in the ginkgo seed has been shown in clinical research to speed up alcohol metabolism in the body, underscoring the wisdom of this folk custom. The leaf extract has been used in Asia for thousands of years to treat allergies, asthma, and bronchitis. It is also valued in Chinese medicine as a heart tonic, helpful in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia.
Almost millions of people go tanning to have their perfect skin tone. However, Schawrcz explains the effects of tanning which can lead to fatal effects such as skin cancer. Skin cancer is an uncontrolled proliferation of skin cells which can be caused by excessive, unprotected exposure to the sun. All outdoor athletes are at risk, especially if they compete for long periods in the summer during the middle part of the day. The term tanning is also used metaphorically for a hiding in the sense of physical punishment which leaves clear marks on the beaten skin. Therefore, people should realize, too much tanning is planning for cancer.
This book "The Genie in the Bottle," demonstrates interesting facts about chemistry that has been unknown to many people. Schwarcz's explanations of glue, intriguing facts on licorice, chocolate research, ginkgo biloba, and the effects of tanning demonstrates interesting facts that Schwarcz used to interest the people in chemistry. Joe Schwarcz uses "64 new commentaries on the fascinating chemistry of everyday life" that opens a path of the interesting world of chemistry around us.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Lauren Genie in the bottle
The Genie in the Bottle
By Joe Schwarcz
In The Genie in the Bottle, Joe Schwarcz presents a collection of questions from a number of fields all having to do with scientific connections. The text demonstrates a person’s broad scientific knowledge and links it to many aspects of culture. In his commentaries, Schwarcz reminds us that with every breath and movement we are experiencing chemistry. The collections of essays blend everyday chemistry with stories from the history of science. The book reveals the captivating scientific secrets gathered by Dr. Schwarcz. Infused with Schwarcz's humor and keenness for magic and science, The Genie in the Bottle celebrates some of the most amazing aspects of our world.
One of the most intriguing commentaries to me was the Dark Side of the Sun. For one thing I never knew that there were baby elephant orphanages in Kenya but it was also interesting to discover the affects that the sun has on human beings. I never knew there was no such thing as a safe tan. I always thought that if you applied sunscreen it was fine to tan. That little piece of information definitely took a toll on me since I spent most of my summer tanning on a beach. Reading about that and the bad affects of sun exposure really pushed me to apply the sun lotion. I kept thinking that I was going to end up with skin cancer, forcing me to age quicker and have a haggard look about me. My thoughts also kept drifting to other disorders that could happen to me from sun exposure. For instance I learned that sun exposure can cause eye cataracts and impair immune systems. Another fact that I found captivating was wearing dark shirts on sunny days instead of light ones. Dark shirts attract the sun’s rays sparing you from sunlight, while light shirts on the other hand can be penetrated by rays. From reading this chapter my knowledge on the affects of sunlight has been broadened and it has made me take more precaution with sun exposure.
This next chapter that I have chosen is a rather odd one. The name of the chapter is kissing toads and it is about the effects that toads have on humans. In Australia during the 1930’s the sugar cane industry was thriving. The only problem was that the grayback beetles were eating the sugar cane. To get rid of the beetles Australia imported toads from Hawaii. Then the toads started to multiple along with the beetles. Rumors started that licking toads can cause hallucinations. Teenagers tried licking toads and experienced delirium, high blood pressure, and rapid heartbeat. Scientists hypothesize that the reason for this is a defense mechanism of toads. When danger is approaching toads activate glands that create a mixture of toxins leading the attacker to find food somewhere else. This chapter caught my interest because I thought licking toads was a myth that was told from time to time.
I enjoyed Berry good News a lot because it was nice to know that berries have extra health benefits. Blueberries for instance have been proved in studies with lab rats to help with memory loss due to old age. Scientist have tested blueberries to discover that they have the highest antioxidant rate out of any other fruit which means that the berries are good at neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals are linked to every aspect of aging from eye problems to memory loss. So, from this article I have now learned that when I get older and start to age more drastically I will start eating a lot of blueberries.
This next chapter the magic of Secret Inks is very interesting. It has a mix of chemistry, and magic. In this commentary Schwarcz goes back in time to the 1970’s where he talks about his creation of a wand that makes water change color. The magic was Gallic acid which reacts with iron chloride to form a dark blue compound that can be destroyed with citric acid which then brought the water back to its original colorless form. Schwarzc goes on to say that these chemicals can also be used to create secret ink. For the secret ink to work a person must first write a message in colorless Gall and then when the message arrives to its destination iron chloride can be used to let the words be seen. I found this information to be attention-grabbing and I like being able to know about it in case I ever need secret ink.
Lastly, I found Danger down the drain a particularly chilling chapter. Plumbers have come to my house before to unclog drains but I never knew about the disturbing creatures that could be causing the clogs. For instance it has been recorded in this chapter that strange creature ranging from rats to pythons has been extracted from pipes and in Singapore a python was able to sliver its way through a person’s pipes straight to the toilet. It was very interesting to learn that in different hemispheres and the equator water spirals down in different directions. In the northern hemisphere the water drains counterclockwise and in the south water drains clockwise and on the equator water spirals straight down.
By Joe Schwarcz
In The Genie in the Bottle, Joe Schwarcz presents a collection of questions from a number of fields all having to do with scientific connections. The text demonstrates a person’s broad scientific knowledge and links it to many aspects of culture. In his commentaries, Schwarcz reminds us that with every breath and movement we are experiencing chemistry. The collections of essays blend everyday chemistry with stories from the history of science. The book reveals the captivating scientific secrets gathered by Dr. Schwarcz. Infused with Schwarcz's humor and keenness for magic and science, The Genie in the Bottle celebrates some of the most amazing aspects of our world.
One of the most intriguing commentaries to me was the Dark Side of the Sun. For one thing I never knew that there were baby elephant orphanages in Kenya but it was also interesting to discover the affects that the sun has on human beings. I never knew there was no such thing as a safe tan. I always thought that if you applied sunscreen it was fine to tan. That little piece of information definitely took a toll on me since I spent most of my summer tanning on a beach. Reading about that and the bad affects of sun exposure really pushed me to apply the sun lotion. I kept thinking that I was going to end up with skin cancer, forcing me to age quicker and have a haggard look about me. My thoughts also kept drifting to other disorders that could happen to me from sun exposure. For instance I learned that sun exposure can cause eye cataracts and impair immune systems. Another fact that I found captivating was wearing dark shirts on sunny days instead of light ones. Dark shirts attract the sun’s rays sparing you from sunlight, while light shirts on the other hand can be penetrated by rays. From reading this chapter my knowledge on the affects of sunlight has been broadened and it has made me take more precaution with sun exposure.
This next chapter that I have chosen is a rather odd one. The name of the chapter is kissing toads and it is about the effects that toads have on humans. In Australia during the 1930’s the sugar cane industry was thriving. The only problem was that the grayback beetles were eating the sugar cane. To get rid of the beetles Australia imported toads from Hawaii. Then the toads started to multiple along with the beetles. Rumors started that licking toads can cause hallucinations. Teenagers tried licking toads and experienced delirium, high blood pressure, and rapid heartbeat. Scientists hypothesize that the reason for this is a defense mechanism of toads. When danger is approaching toads activate glands that create a mixture of toxins leading the attacker to find food somewhere else. This chapter caught my interest because I thought licking toads was a myth that was told from time to time.
I enjoyed Berry good News a lot because it was nice to know that berries have extra health benefits. Blueberries for instance have been proved in studies with lab rats to help with memory loss due to old age. Scientist have tested blueberries to discover that they have the highest antioxidant rate out of any other fruit which means that the berries are good at neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals are linked to every aspect of aging from eye problems to memory loss. So, from this article I have now learned that when I get older and start to age more drastically I will start eating a lot of blueberries.
This next chapter the magic of Secret Inks is very interesting. It has a mix of chemistry, and magic. In this commentary Schwarcz goes back in time to the 1970’s where he talks about his creation of a wand that makes water change color. The magic was Gallic acid which reacts with iron chloride to form a dark blue compound that can be destroyed with citric acid which then brought the water back to its original colorless form. Schwarzc goes on to say that these chemicals can also be used to create secret ink. For the secret ink to work a person must first write a message in colorless Gall and then when the message arrives to its destination iron chloride can be used to let the words be seen. I found this information to be attention-grabbing and I like being able to know about it in case I ever need secret ink.
Lastly, I found Danger down the drain a particularly chilling chapter. Plumbers have come to my house before to unclog drains but I never knew about the disturbing creatures that could be causing the clogs. For instance it has been recorded in this chapter that strange creature ranging from rats to pythons has been extracted from pipes and in Singapore a python was able to sliver its way through a person’s pipes straight to the toilet. It was very interesting to learn that in different hemispheres and the equator water spirals down in different directions. In the northern hemisphere the water drains counterclockwise and in the south water drains clockwise and on the equator water spirals straight down.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Vitamins May Hurt Your health; Problems with Dose and Contamination
http://chemistry.about.com/od/medicalhealth/a/vitamincontam.htm
In the article, "Vitamins May Hurt Your health; Problems with Dose and Contamination", the author Anne Marie Helmenstine talks about the hidden harm of Vitamins. A recent feature about a ConsumerLab.com’s investigation on the purity of multivitamins has caused many people to think before they swallow. The studied showed that not all vitamins contain or work the way it says on their labels. For example, The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women has been found to be contaminated with a very high amount of lead, over ten times the amount permitted. The pills are suppose to be for calcium, and since calcium and lead are found in many chemical reactions, it is hard to separate the two completely. Also, in kids Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears, there is 210% of Vitamin A. this is about 2,400 International units over the limit. The reason for the limit is because too much Vitamin A can weaken bones and cause liver damage in you children. The best thing to know about multivitamins is that the bigger the label the less chance of a harmful substance in it, but there is still a risk. Also one easy way to keep oneself safe from any harm is to never take vitamins after the expiration date.
In the article, "Vitamins May Hurt Your health; Problems with Dose and Contamination", the author Anne Marie Helmenstine talks about the hidden harm of Vitamins. A recent feature about a ConsumerLab.com’s investigation on the purity of multivitamins has caused many people to think before they swallow. The studied showed that not all vitamins contain or work the way it says on their labels. For example, The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women has been found to be contaminated with a very high amount of lead, over ten times the amount permitted. The pills are suppose to be for calcium, and since calcium and lead are found in many chemical reactions, it is hard to separate the two completely. Also, in kids Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears, there is 210% of Vitamin A. this is about 2,400 International units over the limit. The reason for the limit is because too much Vitamin A can weaken bones and cause liver damage in you children. The best thing to know about multivitamins is that the bigger the label the less chance of a harmful substance in it, but there is still a risk. Also one easy way to keep oneself safe from any harm is to never take vitamins after the expiration date.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Failed Anxiety Drug could Treat Cancer
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/September/10090802.asp
“Failed Anxiety Drug could Treat Cancer”
Scientists believe that they may have cracked a treatment that can kill cancer cells. The drug attacks molecules in the cell rather than the proteins. Siramesine has shown to be an effective drug but in 2002 they stopped using it because it was ineffective. Yet it has been shown to be effective on animal models. Recently in Finland, Denmark, and the UK it has been shown that the messenger in the cell involved cell proliferation. When starting the experiment at first the scientists said it was purely out of curiosity but as they looked closer they realized that what they had done could be very big. It creates a very strong hydrogen bond and the siramesine doesn’t let the cells do their job therefore stopping the cancer. A phosphatidic acid is formed which has been known to signaling pathway that promotes cell survival. This could be the cancer drug breakthrough scientists believe, but it is a very early stage and a lot has to be accomplished to know for sure it actually can cure cancer.
This article was very interesting. I learned that finally there could be a cure for cancer. If this experiment ends up working out, this could save so many lives every year. Even though it is an early stage in the testing, it is good to know that people are working on a cure that could potentially be a lifesaver.
This article even though very well written, it some what may have produced what can potentially be false hope. If these scientists end up failing with these testing, they will have let many people down. The scientists maybe should have waited to release this information until they were more sure on whether this drug could cure cancer.
“Failed Anxiety Drug could Treat Cancer”
Scientists believe that they may have cracked a treatment that can kill cancer cells. The drug attacks molecules in the cell rather than the proteins. Siramesine has shown to be an effective drug but in 2002 they stopped using it because it was ineffective. Yet it has been shown to be effective on animal models. Recently in Finland, Denmark, and the UK it has been shown that the messenger in the cell involved cell proliferation. When starting the experiment at first the scientists said it was purely out of curiosity but as they looked closer they realized that what they had done could be very big. It creates a very strong hydrogen bond and the siramesine doesn’t let the cells do their job therefore stopping the cancer. A phosphatidic acid is formed which has been known to signaling pathway that promotes cell survival. This could be the cancer drug breakthrough scientists believe, but it is a very early stage and a lot has to be accomplished to know for sure it actually can cure cancer.
This article was very interesting. I learned that finally there could be a cure for cancer. If this experiment ends up working out, this could save so many lives every year. Even though it is an early stage in the testing, it is good to know that people are working on a cure that could potentially be a lifesaver.
This article even though very well written, it some what may have produced what can potentially be false hope. If these scientists end up failing with these testing, they will have let many people down. The scientists maybe should have waited to release this information until they were more sure on whether this drug could cure cancer.
Oil Magnets
Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34477/title/Oil_magnets
The article "Oil Magnets" by Janet Raloff discusses the new ways scientists are experimenting with using magnetic rings to move oil. Oil spills are a constant problem, and are hurting the environment, thus scientists at the University of Carnegie Mellon have been investigation how to move oil by staying green. They have discovered a way, by using tiny iron cobalt magnets, to attract the oil. Ferrofluid is mixed with mineral oil, and then metallic nanomagnets are placed in the mixture. This combination allows for scientists to prove and demonstrate that the tiny magnets can move oils on their own. Although oil companies will not invest in this invention right away, when it becomes less expensvie and is looked into more, it will be a very useful way to clean up oil spills. The ocean is a common ground for oil spills and by using this method of magnets to attract and move oil can help make the earth greener.
The article "Oil Magnets" by Janet Raloff discusses the new ways scientists are experimenting with using magnetic rings to move oil. Oil spills are a constant problem, and are hurting the environment, thus scientists at the University of Carnegie Mellon have been investigation how to move oil by staying green. They have discovered a way, by using tiny iron cobalt magnets, to attract the oil. Ferrofluid is mixed with mineral oil, and then metallic nanomagnets are placed in the mixture. This combination allows for scientists to prove and demonstrate that the tiny magnets can move oils on their own. Although oil companies will not invest in this invention right away, when it becomes less expensvie and is looked into more, it will be a very useful way to clean up oil spills. The ocean is a common ground for oil spills and by using this method of magnets to attract and move oil can help make the earth greener.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ryan's Genie in The Bottle
The Genie in the Bottle by Joe Schwarcz is a well thought out and educational book that uses real stories of scientific breakthroughs to teach the interesting subject of chemistry. This book discusses in detail over twenty scientific experiments and discoveries ranging from the saving of millions from deadly diseases to the development of common household objects and even children’s toys. It is a fascinating collection of chemistry mysteries analyzed and explained so anyone could understand these concepts.
One topic covered in this book is the deadly secret behind the drug, thalidomide that was meant to help millions. During the time it was given to pregnant women to ease morning sickness, many children were born with disfigurements. The American chemist, Dr. Frances Kelsey, believed that thalidomide was the culprit. At first, she was refuted because in test subjects pregnant women didn’t have deformed children since none of these women were given the drug during the first trimester when the drug adversely affected the fetuses. Kelsey made this connection saving millions. Another interesting passage talked about the mysteries of mercury. The Chinese thought it could give immortality. The Romans were the first to realize that those who mined mercury had a shorter life expectancy. We now know the dangers of mercury. It is still, however used in electrical switches, dental amalgams, batteries, and thermometers. Professor Wetterhahn spilled mercury on herself during an experiment to discover the causes of mercury’s terrible effects. She died months later. One commentary that I found amusing was the one on silly putty. I found the history of one of my favorite childhood toys interesting since it demonstrated how things don’t turn out exactly how you planned. Silly putty was invented by General Electric during World War II as a synthetic rubber to be used for troops overseas. It was thought useless at first until James Wright used it to entertain people at a party. Ruth Fallgatter and Paul Hodgson, who owned a popular toy store, were in the crowd and bought the substance and marketed it as silly putty. A fourth passage that I enjoyed talked of the history of the bunsen burner discovered by Robert Bunsen. Bunsen saw a need for a non sooty and easily controllable fire. His first prototype consisted of a metal tube with strategically drilled holes through which air could enter and mix with the combustible gas flowing through a tube. The burner also led to the discovery of the spectroscope. Bunsen realized that different elements burn different colors when introduced to the flame. He developed the spectroscope to help find out what elements were in what compounds. These are two of the most important pieces of lab equipment used today. Lastly, a commentary that I found interesting was the one on Dr. Snow, a man who associated contaminated drinking water with cholera disease. Cholera can cause a person to lose ten liters of water a day. At the time, no one believed that cholera had anything to do with water as they thought it was air born. Snow was able to prove his theory when more then 500 people died of cholera in the Soho region of London. He discovered that the local water pump was the source since workers down the street at a brewery didn’t get sick because they only drank beer.
In conclusion, The Genie in the Bottle is great book for anyone who is fascinated by chemistry or wishes to learn more about the significant role that chemistry has played throughout the course of history.
One topic covered in this book is the deadly secret behind the drug, thalidomide that was meant to help millions. During the time it was given to pregnant women to ease morning sickness, many children were born with disfigurements. The American chemist, Dr. Frances Kelsey, believed that thalidomide was the culprit. At first, she was refuted because in test subjects pregnant women didn’t have deformed children since none of these women were given the drug during the first trimester when the drug adversely affected the fetuses. Kelsey made this connection saving millions. Another interesting passage talked about the mysteries of mercury. The Chinese thought it could give immortality. The Romans were the first to realize that those who mined mercury had a shorter life expectancy. We now know the dangers of mercury. It is still, however used in electrical switches, dental amalgams, batteries, and thermometers. Professor Wetterhahn spilled mercury on herself during an experiment to discover the causes of mercury’s terrible effects. She died months later. One commentary that I found amusing was the one on silly putty. I found the history of one of my favorite childhood toys interesting since it demonstrated how things don’t turn out exactly how you planned. Silly putty was invented by General Electric during World War II as a synthetic rubber to be used for troops overseas. It was thought useless at first until James Wright used it to entertain people at a party. Ruth Fallgatter and Paul Hodgson, who owned a popular toy store, were in the crowd and bought the substance and marketed it as silly putty. A fourth passage that I enjoyed talked of the history of the bunsen burner discovered by Robert Bunsen. Bunsen saw a need for a non sooty and easily controllable fire. His first prototype consisted of a metal tube with strategically drilled holes through which air could enter and mix with the combustible gas flowing through a tube. The burner also led to the discovery of the spectroscope. Bunsen realized that different elements burn different colors when introduced to the flame. He developed the spectroscope to help find out what elements were in what compounds. These are two of the most important pieces of lab equipment used today. Lastly, a commentary that I found interesting was the one on Dr. Snow, a man who associated contaminated drinking water with cholera disease. Cholera can cause a person to lose ten liters of water a day. At the time, no one believed that cholera had anything to do with water as they thought it was air born. Snow was able to prove his theory when more then 500 people died of cholera in the Soho region of London. He discovered that the local water pump was the source since workers down the street at a brewery didn’t get sick because they only drank beer.
In conclusion, The Genie in the Bottle is great book for anyone who is fascinated by chemistry or wishes to learn more about the significant role that chemistry has played throughout the course of history.
Sarah's Genie In the Bottle
Dr. Joe Schwarcz’s The Genie in the Bottle relates chemistry to events that occur in ever day life whether its what your eating or natural herbs that you take. He relates his own experiences with other peoples’ and explains the chemistry behind all of it. This makes you wonder what other chemistry you encounter in your own life.
One of his commentaries brought up the old idea of a princess kissing toads to find her prince which in all fairytales involves magic, when in Australia its chemistry. Cant toads were imported into Australia to fix a bug problem. Yet they didn’t realize that the toads produced “toad slime” and when licked, boiled down, or dried out and smoked, you could get a quick high. The slime, they later realized, were the toads’ defense mechanism against anything that tried to eat them. This licking of toads would lead to hallucinations and the person might see their own prince or another unreal figure.
At one point in his life, his daughter wouldn’t eat peas because they looked “yucky” so he tried to make them appear a little more appetizing. To do this, he added baking soda to a pot of boiling water with peas which kept them greener after being cooked instead of losing color. This was because vegetables contain natural acids that are released during cooking and effect the color so when you add the baking soda it neutralizes the released acids and leaves the peas looking greener than usual.
One day the chemist decided to grow an alien toy which uses the same thing that super absorbent diapers use. A woman’s baby had a urinary tract infection and she got it fixed but when she starting using super absorbent diapers she realized the problem came back, they later realized that the baby had been going to the bathroom normally yet the new diaper absorbed 2 times more than a normal diaper so she had been fine all along. The super absorbent polymers in the alien and diapers look like a dry white powder but have amazing effects. When water is added it absorbs it and turns into gel which can be turned back by adding salt causing the water to flow out of the gel. It was also used for fires since it was not flammable, anti-leak tapes, and an underwater sealer for the Chunnel, linking England and France.
Another interesting commentary brought up the idea that many red dyes originate from ancient bugs. The Mesopotamians realized that the female kermes insect, which clings to trees all its life had a red color which they used for Pope Paul II’s robes, but the bugs had to be picked off the trees individually by people with specially grown fingernails so the prices were very high and the market for kermes was cut off. The Aztecs found another insect that produced a red dye, called the cochineal. It was easier to get these bugs for they could be swept off a branch into hot water and then dried in the sun. Another insect, bred in Peru and the Canary Islands, is used today to dye lipstick, cherries, and even other foods.
A boy once bought a muscle enhancer from Doc’s Gym and ended up in the hospital, the illegal substance he bought was GHB. GHB was once a legal dietary supplement that induced sleep which increased muscle growth but it had some serious side effects and was made illegal, yet the substance is easily made at home. After it became illegal, kids started buying it underground as a rave drug that reduced anxiety and was even used as a date-rape drug because it can make the kid powerless to resist. Yet, although it sounds so bad it also has a potentially good side. GHB unlike GABA can cross the membrane that protects the brain from intruders. It is often used as an anti-depressant and an anxiety reducer. The drug is also not harmful and even helpful when taken in the right dosage.
Kyrie's Genie in The Bottle
Joe Schwarcz’s The Genie in the Bottle is a very interesting book which covers many topics in chemistry. It presents simple, yet convincing examples for everyone to understand. Therefore, the book helped clarify materials that were once ambiguous.
Schwarcz explained how the sun’s ultra violet rays severely damaged the human skin. Step by step, he explained how the skins proteins and elasticity would break down which consequently led to its after effects – skin cancer.
Another commentary he made was about how pain killers such as aspirin. For example, if aspirin was taken on a daily basis, it could reduce the possibilities of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction. Although people knew how aspirin worked, Schwarcz view on this topic has helped others understand the whole concept of it.
Schwarcz brought up the intriguing history of licorice. Today, many people view licorice as a treat; however, they were not aware of the fact that it was made from a plant which was used for coughs and digestive problems in ancient times.
He also explained how chocolate contains higher polyphenol than fruits, vegetables, and red wine. Polyphenol is an antioxidant helps prevent the oxidation of human LDL. However, overdose of LDL could cause cardiovascular diseases.
One last interesting commentary made was how the chemical characteristic in glue depends on the moisture in the air for it to “stick” properly. He explained how the chemical in glue – cyanoacrylates needs humidity to activate their sticky bonds to hold objects together.
Overall, this book definitely illustrates that there is more to chemistry than people have ever imagined. In such an intriguing way of reading chemistry, many would say that Schwarcz’s book The Genie in the Bottle “would be hard to put down.”
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sara's Genie in the Bottle
The Genie in the Bottle is a creative book about finding chemistry in everyday life and how to use it to our advantage. Dr. Joe Schwarcz writes about many obstacles faced by the average person. He describes chemistry all around, including food and health. Also, the book is full of fun and exciting things one has never thought was related to chemistry.
In the entry called “Jumpin’ Jimson Weed”, Schwarcz describes how a lowly little weed can cause harm to one’s body. The first known documentation of this affect is from the 1600’s when a group of soldiers, in Jamestown, decided to make a stew with flavored plants. Little did they know, the plant they used was Jimson Weed. This weed contains compounds that interfere with the nervous system; thus producing hallucinations. Also, it can cause the pupils to dilate, blurred vision, rapid heart beat, reduction of saliva, and work as a sedative; all practical in medicine. This proves that Jimson Weed can be used as a drug. There are many stories of people in Mecca that shared meals with strangers and would wake up in the hospital not know what had happened, just that there valuables had been stolen. This weed was used in the food and therefore making the unsuspecting victims eat it, then ending up robbed! Although this weed just seems like an annoying plant it still has other effects that can not to be seen with the naked eye.
One may think that a Toad is just a gross slimy reptile, but in fact it can be of some use. Dr. Schwarcz informs one on cane toads in his segment “Kissing Toads”. In the 1930’s sugar cane was very dominant in Queensland, Australia; therefore so were grayback beetles. These pesky beetles were so hard to get rid of that Australia imported cane toads from Hawaii to eat them. Soon the toads multiplied, but had no affect on the beetles. After some years the beetle situation was under control, but the toad problem was just beginning. They began to increase in number quickly which became even more of a problem as kids started boiling and licking them to get a cheap high. The toads caused hallucinations, high blood pressure, delirium, rapid heart beat, and seizers. The reasons for these outcomes are because when a cane toad senses a predator they release venom behind their eyes. The poison contains 15 different compounds, including bufotalin, a heart stimulant, and bufotenin, effecting the mind. These creatures surely live up to their appearance.
A common household item for millions is aspirin. It is a tiny tablet that takes only seconds to swallow in the attempt to relieve pain. Dr. Schwarcz describes in his entry, “Willow Power”, about how not only can one alleviate a headache with aspirin, but can also prevent certain types of cancer! In the 1980’s a study was conducted in which thousands of males were given aspirin or a placebo. There was such an astonishing reduction in heart attacks for the aspirin takers that the study closed early so all the subjects could take aspirin if they wanted. This amazing drug was first discovered by Gerhardt, and then was perfected by Felix Hoffmann. Aspirin is a very effective drug, if taken in moderation; proved by a woman who took twelve tablets a day for her arthritis. She soon began to hear music even in a sound proof room. After reducing her dose to about six she no longer heard music. Schwarcz says that only one measly aspirin a day can lower the risk of breast cancer, cataracts, colon cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
It is a well known fact that millions of people around the world love chocolate. What most don’t know is that it actually can be good for the body. Schwarcz informs one on what chocolate can do for your body in his passage, “Chocolate Lovers Rejoice”. Some believe chocolate is a divine message from God saying we should eat it due to the fact its melting point is human body temperature; thus melting in ones mouth. In 1996 Andrew Waterhouse at the University of California decided to take that theory one step forward. He discovered a class of chemicals called polyphenols, which in fact had been related to health benefits. These chemicals had also been found in fruits, vegetables, and red wine; acting as antioxidants, they counterbalance free radicals in our bodies. Schwarcz notifies one that free radicals are a by-product of breathing and have been found to be related to heart disease and cancer. Some years after Waterhouse’s breakthrough, Harvard researchers published a study about how chocolate may help one live longer. The test subjects were all males over the age of 65. Those who ate 1-3 chocolate bars a month lived on average a year longer. The ones who had 1-3 bars a week still lived longer than those who ate none, but still didn’t live longer than moderate consumers. The real lesson here is that anything, even chocolate is good in moderation.
An interesting passage, having to deal with food, is called “Feeding the Diet Industry”. In our modern America, majority of people are overweight; therefore the diet industry has been thriving on new ways to help American’s drop pounds. There are thousands of different diets that apparently work, but Schwarcz informs his readers on why some of them can and why others cannot. The passage enlightens one on what a calorie really is. According to Schwarcz a calorie is a unit of measurement that is the amount of heat needed to raise one kilogram of water 1 degree. Also, because they are forms of measurement, they can not be burned. The reason for life is through calories and that is why they are the reason for weight gain and weight loss. The body needs calories to function because they are a source of fuel. If one doesn’t have enough fuel ones body will burn its stored supplies and therefore one loses weight. If there is a surplus of fuel and the body doesn’t work it off, then one gains weight. By the end of the passage one learns that the only way to a successful diet is by eating right and exercising.
Dr. Joe Schwarcz is an amazing writer and uses his knowledge of chemistry to relate to the normal person’s daily life. He helps one understand what can be good and bad for the body and what fact from fiction is. Genie in the Bottle is an interesting and endearing book, which anyone can understand.
Noble's Genie a Bottle Post
The Genie in the Bottle by Dr. Joe Schwartz was an extremely good way to teach chemistry. He offered a “different view” on chemistry that no many other people take, like the comic book we read. The book consists of sixty-seven commentaries all of which describe different aspects of chemistry. The book discusses things such as Internet pages that are misleading because of information that is not correct. Another topic that Schwartz discusses is how the sun is actually very harmful, more harmful then people actually know it to be. Schwartz goes into detail about sixty-five other commentaries in this book along with the sun and Internet. The most intriguing things the Schwartz discusses in his book were the effects of the sun, the Bunsen burner, how stress effects people, date rape drugs and what they do, and how something like rubber a useless rubber has been so popular.
In the chapter, “The Dark Side of the Sun” Schwartz explains how harmful the sun is to the human being. Back in the early 1900’s, when the ozone layer was not completely destroyed, the sun actually did good things to the people, it healed diseases. People were told to bath in the sun to heal some diseases by giving out vitamin D and if they did that now a day, they would just get skin cancer. The sun not only causes cancer, but it also creates wrinkles. Therefore, sun lotion was invented which helps protect people from the sun. Yet, even with the great invention of sun lotion it is still not a good idea to be in the sun all day. Sun lotion doesn’t work all the time and rubs off in water for the most part. The sun if still a very dangerous object and people don’t give it the respect it deserves. Sun lotion does not make you immune to the sun and when people learn that there will be a lot less skin cancer. Along with the sun being a very dangerous thing, stress is also a very interesting topic.
In Schwartz’s chapter “Surviving the Rat Race” he explains how stress can be a dangerous thing. He starts off his story by explaining how he went to an assembly and only remembered the story about the drunken man. The man had a lot of stress when he was drunk because of his high blood pressure. They used rats to test out if blood pressure was caused by stress. They found out that it did and that rats acted just like humans with adrenaline. It turns out that heart pressure, sweating, and heartbeat are all affected by how much stress a person has. This all tied into his drunk person story because a drunk person has no control of their senses and can’t handle stress in certain situations. Therefore that is why some drunk people get into fights and others just laugh. It has been proven that therapy have been set up to help people handle their stress that they are having. The therapies make it so that people don’t experience pain (Brest cancer patients) or crazy. Along with stress being an interest topic, date rape drugs were also an interesting commentary.
“Nothing to Rave About” was a very interesting chapter. GHB (gamma hydroxybrutyrate) used to be a legal drug. It helped people on diets and also helped people gain quick muscle while lifting so they could get bigger quicker. Yet because this drug was so dangerous, they made it illegal soon after they had made it legal. Schwartz’s explains that even though they made it illegal people still use it all the time because it is one of the easiest drugs to make it. It consists of two things that people can buy in stores. He also explains that teenagers should be informed about how dangerous this drug is. Even though people say it’s dangerous they have to have it driven into their mind for them to know. Along with date rape drugs being an interesting topic, the Bunsen burner was another good commentary.
“Playing with Fire” discusses how the Bunsen burner came about. When the Bunsen burner was first made it had a bunch toxic gases that came out of it when it was used. Robert Bunsen, the creator, had to wear a gas mask when he used it. Not only did it release bad gas into the air, it was dangerous for people to be around. After one bad experience with a fly, Bunsen began to “play with fire”. It had a tube that let in air and had gas flowing through. He wanted to create a clean fire so he could see all the beautiful colors it created. The only way he could do this was to change the air so it was clean. He then created the Bunsen burner, which everyone still uses, and we use it in our chemistry class. The last interesting topic along with the Bunsen burner is the commentary about rubber.
“The Silly Side of Flubber” Schwartz’s explains what a useless but necessary object rubber is to people. When the U.S. stopped getting imports from Japan of rubber they weren’t able to make a bunch of things. Rubber not only helped make cars and other things back home but it helped make ear plugs and things like that for the soldiers. Then one day, Paul Hodgson and Ruth Fallgatter, created flubber. From this object they earned themselves six million dollars. This simple, worthless object made these two men millionaires. All it took was a simple stupid idea to make people millionaires.
The Genie in the Bottle was a very interesting book. It took sixty-seven things that people would never think of and brought them to peoples eyes. Who would have ever known that some date rape drugs could be so harmful or that the Bunsen burner didn’t actually start of making fire. Schwartz’s book is a very good book and brought five things to my attention that I would have never known and I found them very intriguing.
Nicole's Genie In the Bottle
In Dr. Joe Schwarcz’s novel The Genie in the Bottle, he offers a different look on chemistry in everyday life. There are commentaries that discuss the chemistry involved in health, such as how the sun is much more dangerous than we think and that natural weeds, such as Jimson weed can make people delirious. There are also chapters that discuss how food and chemistry are related, such as most diets not making people lose weight and blueberries keeping people younger. The last section of the book involves different topics, such as how toiletries were once thought to be deadly, but it really was a wrongfully informed Internet webpage. There are many fascinating chemistry experiments that can be done to inform the world more on different parts of life.
In The Genie and the Bottle, there is a chapter called “Health Matters”, which has many commentaries on naturally occurring parts of chemistry. In 1903, sunbathing used to be used as a cure for diseases such as tuberculosis, syphilis, Hodgkin’s disease, and festering wounds. The ozone layer was not being destroyed at the time, and it was recently founded that the sun increased the skin count of vitamin D. However, soon after it was discovered by different scientists that too much sun caused people to get wrinkly skin (or a haggard look), eye cataracts, and skin cancer. Therefore, sun lotion was suggested for people to wear. The SPF number is the amount longer a person could stay in the sun than without sun lotion, so if the SPF is eight, a person can stay in the sun eight times longer. However, sun lotions with an SPF higher than thirty still remains questionable if it protects people more. Another naturally occurring substance in the world that was studied by scientists because it faltered people’s health is Jimson weed. When the people of colonial Jamestown wanted to expand their land so they could grow the very successful crop of cotton, they encountered a problem when camping in the fields, preparing to fight the Native Americans. The colonists put weeds they found in the ground into their food to make it taste better, little did they know they were putting Jimson weed into their meals. The people soon were wandering around the fields laughing, delirious, and slurring their words. The weed was later discovered to having naturally occurring compounds that interfered with the human nervous system. There are many chemical experiments done to inform people about health as there are to discover unknown facts about food.
The chapter “Food Matters”, is similar to health matters, except for it discusses the unproven and proven facts about food. In the commentary about blueberries, it is proven from animal experimenting with rats that fruit and vegetables prevent aging within the body. Rats that were of the human equivalent age of sixty-five have a balance time of five seconds, where as younger rats like the teenage human have a balancing time of thirty seconds. However, since blueberries have the highest anti-oxidant capacity (which have the ability to neutralize aging chemical species), rats were giving blueberry extract, which increased the older rats ability to balance from five to eleven seconds. Also, as people grow older they lose their short-term memory. The rats that ate the blueberry extract were able to get through a maze unlike rats that did not take the blueberries. Therefore, from animal testing it could be proven that fruits and vegetables, because they contain anti-aging chemicals, are able to prevent people from aging. There are around 26,000 diets out in the world, but it is puzzling to why some think that one will work when all the others do not. The different diets do not have the same theories. Some are low in carbohydrates, others low in fat, low in calories, and high in protein. All the companies have different reasons for what their diets contain. However, in the end all diets eventually lower the metabolism’s need for calories, which then makes the small amount of food that dieters eat seem the same as before to the metabolism. Therefore, the only proven way of losing weight is to eat less, avoid fatty and sugary foods, and exercise more than a person is used to. There is also a chapter in Dr. Schwarcz’s called “Silly Stuff” that is about the mistakes made in chemical experiments and wrongfully informed people.
In the chapter “Silly Stuff” in The Genie in the Bottle, there is a commentary about toiletries being deadly. Many shampoos and tile detergents for bathrooms contain molecules like sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS. This molecule became common for using in bathroom substances because it was a good foaming and cleaning agent. SLS was also very quick and effective. However, websites began to post information saying that SLS will make peoples’ hair fall out, if it got in someone’s eye they could have a cataract, and lastly it gave people cancer. These people who wrote this were misinformed, and this is not true about toiletries and bathroom detergents. Therefore, bathroom soaps that contain the molecule of SLS are not dangerous to human’s health proven by chemical experiments.
In conclusion, The Genie and the Bottle discusses different parts of chemistry that are occurring people’s everyday life. Animals can be tested, and experiments can be done to prove different theories about foods, health, and the past. People’s diets and their health does matter, therefore scientists should be listened to because they will have an experiment to back up what they are saying, and prove it true. Dr. Joe Schwarcz’s book contains very informative commentaries about fascinating chemistry that relates to peoples’ everyday life.
In The Genie and the Bottle, there is a chapter called “Health Matters”, which has many commentaries on naturally occurring parts of chemistry. In 1903, sunbathing used to be used as a cure for diseases such as tuberculosis, syphilis, Hodgkin’s disease, and festering wounds. The ozone layer was not being destroyed at the time, and it was recently founded that the sun increased the skin count of vitamin D. However, soon after it was discovered by different scientists that too much sun caused people to get wrinkly skin (or a haggard look), eye cataracts, and skin cancer. Therefore, sun lotion was suggested for people to wear. The SPF number is the amount longer a person could stay in the sun than without sun lotion, so if the SPF is eight, a person can stay in the sun eight times longer. However, sun lotions with an SPF higher than thirty still remains questionable if it protects people more. Another naturally occurring substance in the world that was studied by scientists because it faltered people’s health is Jimson weed. When the people of colonial Jamestown wanted to expand their land so they could grow the very successful crop of cotton, they encountered a problem when camping in the fields, preparing to fight the Native Americans. The colonists put weeds they found in the ground into their food to make it taste better, little did they know they were putting Jimson weed into their meals. The people soon were wandering around the fields laughing, delirious, and slurring their words. The weed was later discovered to having naturally occurring compounds that interfered with the human nervous system. There are many chemical experiments done to inform people about health as there are to discover unknown facts about food.
The chapter “Food Matters”, is similar to health matters, except for it discusses the unproven and proven facts about food. In the commentary about blueberries, it is proven from animal experimenting with rats that fruit and vegetables prevent aging within the body. Rats that were of the human equivalent age of sixty-five have a balance time of five seconds, where as younger rats like the teenage human have a balancing time of thirty seconds. However, since blueberries have the highest anti-oxidant capacity (which have the ability to neutralize aging chemical species), rats were giving blueberry extract, which increased the older rats ability to balance from five to eleven seconds. Also, as people grow older they lose their short-term memory. The rats that ate the blueberry extract were able to get through a maze unlike rats that did not take the blueberries. Therefore, from animal testing it could be proven that fruits and vegetables, because they contain anti-aging chemicals, are able to prevent people from aging. There are around 26,000 diets out in the world, but it is puzzling to why some think that one will work when all the others do not. The different diets do not have the same theories. Some are low in carbohydrates, others low in fat, low in calories, and high in protein. All the companies have different reasons for what their diets contain. However, in the end all diets eventually lower the metabolism’s need for calories, which then makes the small amount of food that dieters eat seem the same as before to the metabolism. Therefore, the only proven way of losing weight is to eat less, avoid fatty and sugary foods, and exercise more than a person is used to. There is also a chapter in Dr. Schwarcz’s called “Silly Stuff” that is about the mistakes made in chemical experiments and wrongfully informed people.
In the chapter “Silly Stuff” in The Genie in the Bottle, there is a commentary about toiletries being deadly. Many shampoos and tile detergents for bathrooms contain molecules like sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS. This molecule became common for using in bathroom substances because it was a good foaming and cleaning agent. SLS was also very quick and effective. However, websites began to post information saying that SLS will make peoples’ hair fall out, if it got in someone’s eye they could have a cataract, and lastly it gave people cancer. These people who wrote this were misinformed, and this is not true about toiletries and bathroom detergents. Therefore, bathroom soaps that contain the molecule of SLS are not dangerous to human’s health proven by chemical experiments.
In conclusion, The Genie and the Bottle discusses different parts of chemistry that are occurring people’s everyday life. Animals can be tested, and experiments can be done to prove different theories about foods, health, and the past. People’s diets and their health does matter, therefore scientists should be listened to because they will have an experiment to back up what they are saying, and prove it true. Dr. Joe Schwarcz’s book contains very informative commentaries about fascinating chemistry that relates to peoples’ everyday life.
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