CSB8: A Pressure Test

This project was made by Rahul and Thyne

After a day of playing soccer, a day full of exercise, your muscles ache, your eyes are blurry, and your body is begging for nourishment. However, your hands do not feel any different than before your exhaustion. In fact, you will be attending a piano recital in a couple hours and your performance will probably not be altered by the soccer game in any way. My partner Thyne and I tested this by asking if doing different activities, such as jogging in place, keeping a weight suspended in air, and typing rapidly, affects your ability to apply pressure? From our prior knowledge on body systems, Thyne and I know that this project utilizes the muscular system and its energy source, ATP. ATP is a molecule that helps muscles perform work, and it is formed from the contents of the food you eat. Once you perform work, the ATP molecule becomes an ADP molecule and is stored to be recycled back into an ATP molecule. The activities we are testing all use up the body’s ATP storage, however we want to observe their impact on the hand in particular. Does using ATP in some muscles affect the ability of the hand to perform work or do the muscles of the hand operate individually? We hypothesized the latter stating that all the activities will decrease the amount of pressure you can apply on the sensor but the activity that is most associated with the hand and uses it the most, or typing, will lower the maximum pressure by the most amount.

To test our experiment we used a dynamometer, which is basically a hand grip pressure sensor. After recording our originals, Thyne and I performed a particular activity and then applied pressure on the sensor. After recording our right hand, we recorded our left hand to increase the amount of data we possessed. The data we now provide is the average between the force that Thyne applied and the force that I applied and is measured in Newtons. Our original right hand force was 195 Newtons, our right hand force after jogging was 197, our right hand force after lifting a weight was 164, and our right hand force after typing was 147. Our original left hand force was 190, our left hand force after jogging was 200, our left hand force after lifting a weight was 163, and our left hand force after typing was 174. As you can see, the original was the highest, jogging provided little or no change, weights decreased substantially, and typing decreased even more so. The only data that doesn’t affirm was the 174 Newtons for the left hand but that must have been due to us pressing the dynamometer differently towards the end.

To analyze the data, jogging, which used various muscles but used the muscles in the hand the least, had no effect. Lifting a weight, which used the muscles in the hand more than jogging but less than typing, had effect. Typing, which used the muscles in the hand the most, had the most effect. Therefore, our hypothesis is partly supported. Typing had the most effect on the hand since even though it used only a few muscles, used the muscles in the hand the most. However, contrary to our hypothesis, jogging had no effect on our maximum pressure. According to these findings, you will be able to excel at your piano recital after your tiring soccer match.

CSV#7: Big Bang Not Really the First Birth of the Universe

U.K. scientist believes that the Big Bang was not the beginning of the universe, but rather a part of a series of "cosmic deaths and rebirths". Roger Penrose, theoretical physicist at the University of Oxford, thinks that circular patters in the universe "pervasive background" may show that the universe was actually formed before the Big Bang. It also suggests that the universe has had multiple cycles of creation in the past.

However, there is controversy over this theory that some scientists do not agree with this idea. The theory of Penrose and another scientist, Vahe Gurzadyan from Yerevan State University, contradicts the theory of inflation. The theory of inflation say that the infant cosmos underwent an enormous growth spurt in its first tiny fraction of a second. Therefore, scientists say that inflation would have erased the patterns that Penrose and Gurzadyan have claimed that they have found. In their paper, Penrose and Gurzadyan suggests that the circles that they found were created by collisions with large black holes that occured in the previous universe. This would then create sphere shaped gravity waves that may have entered this universe.

I was interested in this article since I always thought that there was only one beginning of the universe, and the idea that there could have been more seemed interesting. One question that I have is how were Penrose and Gurzadyan able to detect the gravitational circles in the universe. Also, if there were multiple beginnings of the universe, could another rebirth happen again, and what would cause the death and rebirth of the universe? If these findings are further supported by more evidence, we could be closer to understanding how everything came to be.

Citations:

"Scientist: Big Bang not the first birth." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 8 May 2011. .

http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/gehall/images/explosion.jpg

CSB#6: Global Warming Happens More Often than You Think

One of the main issues that is being discussed is global warming. However, this event may have occurred more frequently than most people think. Recently, scientists have found that these periods took place about every 400,000 years 50 million years ago.

According to a team led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, these past events were due to the releasing of carbon dioxide that was hidden at the bottom of the ocean. This is the most likely cause for the warm periods, and each period raised the earth's average temperature by about 3.6-5.4 degrees Fahrenheit. This amount is similar to predicted temperatures in our current global warming. The scientists also say that these past occurrences can put into perspective of what could happen to us if we continue to pollute the environment.

The main reason that I chose this article is that I am pretty interested in global warming. Also, I did not know that an event like this actually happened as frequently as this. However, the fact that this event can occur naturally does not mean that people can continue to overuse fossil fuels that greatly contribute to the problem. One question that I have though is how was all of the carbon dioxide released out of the ocean and what happened to life on earth afterward?

Citations
"Ancient global warming periods seen." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. .
Picture
http://photos.mongabay.com/06/1207a.jpg

Antihydrogen: Catch and Do Not Release

For a long time, many physicists have tried to trap antimatter atoms. Physicists want to be able to trap relatively sizeable amounts of antimatter, about a few atoms, despite the possibility of large explosions if the antimatter comes into contact with normal atoms. However, the danger of antimatter is only one of the problems, containing and creating them is the real challenge. About 80 years ago, antimatter was predicted to exist by physicist Paul Dirac. It was also experimentally verified a long time ago, and is used in PET scans, or Positron Emission Tomography. However, positrons have a net electrical charge while antimatter atoms do not. Because of this, anti-atoms are difficult to control. In 2002, a team of scientists at CERN made a few thousands of antihydrogen atoms. However, the atoms disappeared almost instantly, destroying themselves with contact with nearby matter. Because of this, the atoms were not examined, and scientists are still trying to capture these atoms.

Although antihydrogen atoms do not have a net electric charge, they have something called magnetic moment, and researchers have created a superconducting magnetic trap that would hold the pieces of antimatter by interacting with the magnetic moments. In order for this to work, the scientists must make antihydrogen atoms with a low enough kinetic energy, or else the atoms would leave the trap and be destroyed by normal matter. For the atoms to reach low enough kinetic energy would mean producing low temperatures, about 0.5K (-273 degrees Celsius). Putting all of these conditions together, however, is incredibly difficult, and the machine was only able to produce 38 antihydrogen atoms that lasted one fifth of a second. Now other teams of physicists are working to produce, hold, and control antimatter, and hopefully some of the groups will be successful.

This to seemed like an interesting article, since these scientists are trying to make the opposite of matter. For that to happen, the scientists had to make temperatures close to absolute zero, which seems basically impossible. However, if the scientists could study the anti-atoms, this could lead to them finding out more on the creation, and existence of our universe. One thing that worries me about this project is that antimatter can be a devastating substance. In the article, it was mentioned that the anti-atoms were able to release more energy than nuclear explosions, and the fact that the physicists are trying to make a lot of the stuff seems almost too risky to try to do. Hopefully the scientists will be able to find a safe way to contain the antimatter, and also be able to study it.

Citations

Larson, Chris. "Antihydrogen: Catch and Do Not Release." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 4 Mar. 2011. .

CSB#4: Nanotech Can Lead to New Medicines

Definitions

• nanotechnology: the branch of technology that deals with the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.
• nanotube: a cylinder molecule of fullerene

Summary

• A group of Canadian scientists have discovered a breakthrough in nanotechnology that could benefit medicine. These scientists at McGill Universities have began to develop a way to have nanotubes transfer medicine throughout the human body. The researchers said they made examples of DNA nanotubes that could hold and give off small cargo when a specific strand of DNA is introduced. Before, nanotubes could only be made into a simple cylinder, but now complex shapes that could be used to hold in material, or porous to let out material can be made. However, this is as far as the new discovery goes, but eventually, this can be used to have medicine that only begins to react in the presence of a certain virus or bacteria.

Discussion

• This article interested me mainly because of nanotechnology. The fact that such small objects can be used in medicine is pretty amazing. Also, if this nanotech is improved on, we could develop types of medicines that would only activate when around certain illnesses. That means we could make all sorts of different vaccines or cures for diseases that we previously not possible.

Questions

• Could this technology be used to learn about the human body at an incredibly small scale?
• How would different shapes and designs of the nanotubes affect its ability to move in the human body?

Citations

• "Nano DNA system may deliver medicines." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 7 Jan. 2011. .

Picture

• http://www.xintek.com/images/nanotube.jpg
  

CSB#3: Gamers Try to Unlock Protein Puzzle

Definitions

• Protein- organic compounds that are made of large molecules composed of long chains of amino acids
• Amino Acids- an organic compound containing both a carboxyl and an amino group

Summary

• Scientist are recruiting professional gamers to learn about the structures of proteins using a new game. Seth Cooper from the University of Washington in Seattle thought of the idea to bring in the people from the net to help solve how proteins fold amino chains to help them become the "building blocks of life". In this new game "Foldit" each player must twist, and manipulate proteins to create 3D structures that the protein is able to maintain. Right now 57,000 players and counting are playing "Foldit", and some top scorers are able to outdo modern computer algorithms that do the same thing. Some other features that have made this game popular are its competition, team gameplay, and its addictiveness, and because of its popularity, the University of Washington is even creating a new center for game science. As Cooper says, "[People say that] computer games are trivial;... [but this] shows you can actually use computer games to solve really hard problems."

Discussion

• One of the reasons I chose this article was that I personally like computer games, and the other reason was that I was curious about how a video game could be used by scientists to help them find new discoveries. This article also really shows how new knowledge in science can be discovered in all sorts of ways, even in gaming, the thing that most parents hate. Also, with the blend of thousands of minds working on one thing, all of the creative minds of a society can contribute greatly to this study and provide ideas that no one else had thought of before. However, this process of experiments has its own downsides. For example, it would be hard to tell whether or not what a person does in the game would actually benefit the scientists. How would they tell if someone made a breakthrough, or if that person cheated. Although this is a fun new method for scientific studies, there are plenty of problems that can result from it.

Questions

• Could this method of exploring science be improved upon so it could be much more effective?
• What other methods could scientist use to solve scientific puzzles?

Citations

• "Computer game unlocks protein puzzle." United Press International 5 Aug. 2010:
  n. pag. Science Online. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
  

Picture

• http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/files/2010/08/Foldit.jpg

CSB#2: Genetics Offers New Biotechnology Tools

Definitions

1. Biotechnology - the use of microorganisms to perform industrial or manufacturing processes
   
2. Cisgenics - a type of genetic engineering that is similar to plant breeding
   
3. Gibberellic acid - a type of plant hormone

Summary

• Scientists at The Oregon State University, led by professor Steven Strauss, found that cisgenics might give way to new possibilities in biotechnology. Cisgenics uses genes from similar species of plants to help them produce more quickly. Because of this, they found that they can, not only improve forestry, but also crop agriculture around the world. The way this process works is by manipulation the gibberellic acid in a tree, they are able to affect its growth rate and wood properties of the tree.

Discussion

• This is a great breakthrough in this field of science, because up till now, were were only able to use biotech to transfer genetic traits from one species of animals to another.
• Since we now have greater control over how a plant can grow, that means we can increase the rate of crops yield, and making more food than normal. 
• Just by using cisgenics, we might be able to solve some of the world's problems, such as hunger and the rate of deforestation.

Questions

• Does this process make any other drastic change in the plant that could be harmful and hard to detect?
  
• Can cisgenics also shorten a plant's life span since we increase their growth?

"Genetics Offers New Biotechnology Tools." United Press International, Inc 11 
     June 2010: n. pag. Science Online. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. 
          activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE40&SID=5&iPin=UPI-1-20100611-132628-bc-us-cisgenics&Sing 
     leRecord=True>.