Is it too late to prevent climate change?

We have all heard about the very serious issue of climate change, but is it too late to prevent it? Our fragile world has been pushed to its limits in recent years and now we have caused our oceans to pass their "tipping points" warns the UN body. Even if we were to cut our emissions significantly our sea levels will rise by the end of the century. It only takes a slight global temperature change to cause this change and with this temperature change comes rapid melting of ice in Antarctica and Greenland.
The planet has already warmed by 1 Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Around 90% of our heat that gets trapped in our atmosphere is absorbed by our oceans. Our ice caps are melting at a rate that increases our oceans by 3.6mm each year. This will leave many of our ocean front cities and properties under water in the years to come with potential damages projected to increase astronomical amounts by year 2100. Even with our government agreeing to achieve a net-zero carbon emission there is already too much heat trapped in the oceans of our planet that will prevent this from making a difference.
As dark and gloomy as this sounds that doesn't mean we should just stop caring about the issue. As of now 70% of our worlds permafrost is predicted to thaw if our emissions continue to rise. This thawing will cause enormous amounts of CO2 and methane to be released into the atmosphere causing this whole process to happen even more quickly.
With all of this in consideration it comes down to the decisions you make on a day by day basis that could possibly lead to a prolonging of this horrible situation that we have placed ourselves in. We might not be able to stop climate change, but postponing it will possibly give us the time that we need to come up with a solution to the issue.

Posted by Joshua Gach (2)

Can SHC really happen to any of us?

When you think of  "spontaneous human combustion" it sounds like something straight out of an episode of The Twilight Zone, right? Well whether you believe that the SHC phenomena are true or not, there have been some cases that have concrete evidence of this occurrence. As you probably guessed it, SHC is the sudden combustion of an object into flames from NO heating source and purely through reactions of different chemicals. In a sense, that does sound like it could happen to us right? In the articles I've read that goes into great detail of all their case findings, they all noticed one important detail: they all occurred within the victim's home. Some rumors have said that victims have been reduced to ashes, yet these reports often talk about the individuals having strange burns on their bodies or experienced SHC and give their testimonies. How does it happen? Well, some theorize that it's due to methane in our intestines that are ignited by certain enzymes, however, these cases have not been found in cows who produce even more methane than humans. Whether it's true or not, I definitely do not want to find out for myself.


https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/unexplained-phenomena/shc.htm
https://www.livescience.com/42080-spontaneous-human-combustion.html

Posted by Foster Marfo (Group C)

Understanding the Power of Meditation

Understanding the Power of Meditation

At one point or another, we all have felt significant stress or anxiety. Currently, one of the most recommended methods for reducing this stress or anxiety is to practice meditation or mindfulness. In fact, doctors across various specialties have recently begun to prescribe meditation just as they would pharmaceutical medications. With numerous smartphone apps such as “Calm” and “Headspace” claiming that they can reduce anxiety, increase memory, and improve focus, many of us are left wondering how exactly meditation can have so many direct benefits.  

This was the question addressed by Bin He, a neuroengineer at Carnegie Mellon University, in his study on brain activity in Tibetan monks. Due to the fact that Tibetan monks dedicate years of their lives to meditation, Bin He was interested in identifying any significant differences in their brain activity that might explain how regular meditative practice can lead to so many direct benefits. To do this, He measured the brain activity of monks with on average 15 years of meditative experience, and then compared this activity with the brain activity of native Tibetans who had never meditated before. By utilizing electroencephalography (EEG), He and his colleagues found that long-term meditative practice decreases activity in the default network, which is described as the “letting your mind wander” network. In addition, they also found that the longer a monk had been in practice, the larger the reduction in default network activity was. He claims that overall, active meditative practice helps to “optimize” how the brain self-regulates and uses resources. 

In addition to this, Michael Posner, a neuropsychologist at the University of Oregon, along with his colleague Yi-Yuan Tang, have previously conducted studies that demonstrate the distinct changes in white matter resulting from active meditative practice. Specifically, this change in white matter refers to the increased myelination of axons, which allows for more efficient communication via action potentials between different regions of the brain. This increase in myelin also surrounds the anterior cingulate, which has vast connections to the limbic or emotional system. This provides a possible explanation as to why meditation can help reduce anxiety, enhance focus, and improve one's mood. In a related study Posner and Tang also found that participants exhibited improved attention and problem solving skills, along with decreased cortisol (stress hormone) levels in as little as five days. 

Generally speaking, there is significant evidence to support the claim that consistent active meditative practice offers an abundance of direct benefits to the brain, and by extension, to one's psychological/emotional health. Although research on meditation is still limited, current research shows that the best type of meditation is the type that an individual is most likely to practice consistently. With numerous smartphone apps ranging in price from 0-$5, meditative practice has never been more convenient and widely available. Just think, if someone started meditating today, within a week that person would experience reduced anxiety and improved problem solving skills. Why can’t that person be you? 

Posted by Kayla Rosiello (3)

Racism or Science? The MSG Debate

Racism or Science? The MSG Debate

Sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness… Can you remember the fifth taste? Each of our little taste buds can have up to 100 taste bud cells from which we are able to experience these delicious sensory experiences. The fifth taste, Umami, is described as the mouthwatering essence that lingers over your tongue, often sensed in broths and cooked meats. It originated from the Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda, back in the early 1900s, when he captured its essence with science, by extracting glutamate from seaweed and stabilizing it with salt to produce the compound monosodium glutamate (MSG). Wait... Did someone just say MSG? 

You’re likely familiar with the negative connotations with the term. Around fifty years ago, the New England Journal of Medicine published a letter by Robert Ho Man Kwok, a biochemist who reported falling ill upon eating at Chinese restaurants on his trip to America. Since its notoriety in the media skyrocketed in the 1960's, westerners have continuously self reported side effects to MSG, which are commonly referred to using the prejudice slang, “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”. Reports include symptoms such as headaches, sweating, flushing, numbness of the face and neck, palpitations, nausea, chest pain and sleeplessness. To this day, 1 in 4 Americans report avoiding MSG. 

However, MSG is one of the most thoroughly researched food additives and no studies have found evidence to back this claim. Although MSG is an artificial food additive, it does occur naturally in high Umami foods and our bodies need the compound to properly function. Additionally, we have receptors on the majority of our tongue that bind to glutamate. In fact, modern chefs and food scientists refer to the compound as a “flavor potentiator” for its ability to accentuate otherwise muted flavors.

Even now, it’s quite common for Chinese food restaurants and food items to advertise that they do not use MSG in their products. Fifty years ago, an academic journal carelessly published the false claim that MSG was correlated with negative health impacts. A claim which took on a life of its own through the media, permanently altering the public's perception on Chinese cuisine. Overall, the story behind the MSG media frenzy serves as a grave reminder to the scientific community the importance of effective and accurate communication.

Posted by Lauren Mason (3)

PLANTS DO IN FACT EXPERIENCE SENSATION

         Recently I've done some research regarding plants and wondered if they experience sensation. I know it is indeed a mystery to many but to my fortune and research, I have discovered that researchers have been studying the matter. They discovered that the Plant's unique nervous system is responsible for detecting distress or attacks on it, like when a leaf is getting eaten, distress signals get sent to other parts of the plant including the leaves with the aid of an amino acid called Glutamate, which excites the cell to release waves of calcium ions from cell to cell. The article states that researchers attempted to cut off a leaf from a plant to see if it reacts. The calcium levels radiated from the site and the surroundings and shot signals to the extremities. The researchers also discovered that the amino acid (Glutamate) was the trigger for the calcium distress waves. What remains a question is, how exactly does the plant transmit the signals? How would it compare to the human nervous system?

- posted by "wahib yared" (3)

Alternative to Antibiotics

 Over the past many decades antibiotics have been a great treatment to combat bacteria. The use of antibiotics has saved millions of lives, and was an incredible advancement in modern medicine. As the usage of antibiotics has increased and become more common, the effectiveness of antibiotics has decreased. As antibiotics are used, the bacteria that they are meant to get rid of have a chance to evolve as a population to be resistant to that antibiotic. Due to the possibility of evolution toward a resistant bacteria, the excess use of antibiotics can be dangerous. Also incomplete doses of antibiotics allow for the most resistant population of the bacteria in a patient to survive past the treatment and reproduce. This is another reason antibiotic resistant bacteria are evolving. In recent years antibiotic resistant bacteria have become more and more prevalent.

Antibiotic resistant species of bacteria are providing a problem as they can not be cared for with the traditional antibiotic treatment. This is causing researchers to look for alternative routes of medicine to treat antibiotic resistant bacteria. One promising corner of research for a solution to this problem is in bacteriophages. 

Bacteriophages essentially are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Bacteriophages were discovered in the 1920’s by Félix d'Herelle. They were initially used in the Soviet Republic of Georgia. Bacteriophages coevolve with bacteria and are specialized to specific strains of bacteria. Bacteriophages can be an alternative to antibiotics that are becoming useless due to antibiotic resistant bacteria. With antibiotics, bacteria will evolve to be resistant to the antibiotic, and the antibiotic can not evolve. Bacteriophages will evolve with the target bacteria as they become resistant. The current antibiotic crisis cannot happen with bacteriophages because bacteriophages will change with the bacteria. Bacteriophages have a specialized strain of bacteria that they attack, so only one strain of bacteria will be eradicated. With Antibiotics, more strains of bacteria, other than the target strain, can be attacked by the drugs.

As of today, there is not an alternative to antibiotics in mainstream medicine, but bacteriophages are a promising contender for the future of antibiotic resistant bacteria treatment. At this link you can find more information on the background and clinical uses of bacteriophages. Bacteriophages may hold the key for the future of fighting antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Posted By "John Mariano" (3)

How much do you know about Migraines?

I am sure that  most of us have experienced headaches of some sort at one point, including myself. Although I have experienced them before, I never took the chance to learn more about them. Turns out, tension and migraine headaches are the most common types of headaches. Between tension headaches and migraines, migraines are more severe and can affect our daily activities. Migraines are often characterized by a throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation typically on one side of the head. Some of the more severe symptoms of migraine include nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to sound and light. These symptoms can last from a few hours to even days which can definitely get in the way of our daily lives. 

As I was researching about migraines, I found out that migraines affect females and males disproportionately. Of the 38+ million Americans who experience migraines, 28 million are females. Not only are females prone to experience migraines more frequently, they often experience more severe symptoms as well. In order to explore the reason behind the sex difference in migraines, researchers from Shandong University, China, conducted a study. There are total of 92 participants in the study, 46 are patients with migraine without aura and (23 females and 23 males) and the other 46 are healthy controls. All participants were evaluated on their emotional characteristics such as self rate anxiety and depressive. The results suggested correlations between occurrence of migrates and higher levels of anxiety as well as greater attentive processing impairment. Those results also confirmed that females are more prone to migraines than males. Researchers stressed that attentive processing abnormalities are related to migraines which are more prevalent females. Since this study is only a correlation study, the explanation or reason for the sex difference in prevalence of migraines is still unknown. Although the study does not give us the answer for our question, it was another step forward to understanding migraines. 

Before researching about headaches, I did not know much about them including the common symptoms, causes, or remediation. As this topic is such a prevalent topic to many and myself as well, it was very interesting and definitely beneficial for further references. Though this study is only a correlation study, it is actually like many scientific studies nowadays as it is very difficult to pinpoint one explanation or causation.

- Posted by Emily Wong (3)