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.
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