Hey Everyone Check out My New Uncomplicated Scientist Website!

Hey everyone, I am transferring my blog to a new website at www.uncomplicatedscientist.com.

You can check my new post Can New Biodegradable Products Actually Destroy the Environment?


Hope you Enjoy!

Science and Thor-How They Decided to Bring a Magical World To Reality

 A cool article about the consultants and the science behind the movie Thor, Copernicus -vs- The Science Of THOR!!

True the science is a stretch.  We are dealing with Norse gods here, how truly scientific or realistic can we get, but still accurate science in a movie, even in the background and truly add to a movie.

We really don't want a repeat of Spiderman 2 do we?  In Spiderman 2, the villain was working with tritium, an extremely rare element.  There is only a few pounds of it on the entire planet.


In actuality, the exact opposite is true.  Tritium is a radioactive version of hydrogen, extremely prevalent on earth.  Hydrogen is the most prevalent form of matter in the entire universe.


Does this fact necessarily take away from the story?  There is something to be said about poetic license, however, a truly good story, even one that is based in a world of magic is so much better when a touch of accurate realism provides the foundation.

Duh Research is Everywhere. Go Science!

Drawing by (magicmarie/stock.xchnge)

Research is important.

Even seemingly pointless research, sometimes can have value, by providing a glimpse of thought into the the collective memories of the human race.  Sometimes we do learn things we didn't know before.

Then again, some are simply pointless and are a waste of resources.  But again, that is just my opinion.

I guess Eryn Brown, author of the Spokesman Review article, ‘Duh’ research a staple of science, agrees with me. 

Hey, I got an idea, let's spend tons of money to determine if the sun rises in east  and sets in the west, similarly in all countries.

Just Saying... :)

Personality is Important in Determining Hotness. Duh?

I always felt that personality was key to attractiveness.  Maybe this isn't the same for everyone, but psychology research described by the EurekAlert! press release Does our personality affect our level of attractiveness?

I mean, I'm sorry, no matter how cute, or handsome, or physically attractive that you might be; rudeness, bigotry, racism, ignorance, selfishness (I can go on and on), will always make you extremely ugly in my eyes. 

Just Saying...

Beware of Super Sticky Ultra-bad Cholesterol!

Cholesterol, what is it good for?  Absolutely nothing? 

No, actually, cholesterol is quite valuable for our health and our life.  Too much of a good thing, or course, usually will kill you.

There are several types of cholesterol.  HDL = good cholesterol, LDL; VLDL= Bad cholesterol.

And now, we have to worry about MGmin-LDL.

MGmin-LDL, besides being kind of fun to say, is a new form of cholesterol that is apparently quite dangerous particularly for people suffering from congestive heart failure and is often found higher in people with type two diabetes.

MGmin-LDL is like cholesterol on steroids.  It is a form of cholesterol that is formed in our body when a sugar group is added to a normal LDL cholesterol molecule.  The sugar group altered the shape of the LDL molecule, which actually makes it more sticky and more likely to build fatty plaques in your arteries.

Described in the EurekAlert! press release Super-sticky 'ultra-bad' cholesterol revealed in people at high risk of heart disease, researchers feel that this finding, could be a possible explanation of why Metformin, a type 2 diabetes medication which lowers blood sugar levels, and likely blocks the conversion of LDL to MGmin-LDL.

In other words, high cholesterol or high sugar = bad. 

High cholesterol and high sugar = very bad. 

Another Reason For Pregnant Women to Take Folic Acid!

                              A precious gift (doriana s/stock.xchng)

Folic acid is an essential vitamin that pregnant women should take to avoid the possibility of numerous birth defects, although since acid is not regulated, you should consult your doctor first to get a suggestion on high quality prenatal vitamins.


Researchers found that female rats who were given folic acid while pregnant and breast-feeding had offspring that were over 60% less likely to get colon cancer.


Awesome, give it up for folic acid!

Folic acid given to mother rats protects offspring from colon cancer

Is Bacteria Trying to Kill Us With Rain?

after a hailstorm in early spring (carterboy/stock.xchng)

Kind of a scary thought, that bacteria can control the weather.  I mean small bacteria actually having a big role in precipitation, causing it to rain, hail and snow; it gives you thoughts of a world domination plan set into motion by E.coli.

I really think this must freak out people who are germ-a-phobes.  Could you imagine, how much bacteria is in a normal rain storm or snow storm?

The article, Live bacteria can bring on rain, snow and hail, describes how bacteria, fungi, and other organic material in the atmosphere can cause a seeding effect, which could result in cloud formation and an eventual storm.

In hail, researchers, found an exceptionally large concentration of bacteria. 

Scary?  Actually I find it pretty cool that the storms around the world are essentially bacterial highways that connect distant points around the globe.

I wonder, in places where big storms are more common such as hurricanes in the Caribbean, is there also a higher level of bacteria?

So Are Santa Clause's Reindeer Tripping in Their Own Surrealistic World?

Snowy Reindeer (jede hoog/stock.xchng)

Check out the EurekAlert! press release Reindeer see a weird and wonderful world of ultraviolet light and find out the answer.

Unlike humans, in which UV rays damage our eyes, UV rays do not damage reindeer eyes, and reindeer are able to utilize UV light to actually see images.  Definitely a stark contrast from us.


I always wanted to see the world through gamma rays.  Not sure why, but it sounds cool.  Infrared would be cool too.

Kids MythBusters--Vote For them!

Check out the article from Knoxnews, Myth-busting students need votes and look at the video, of the Tesla Club Members.  If you are a fan of Mythbusters, you should enjoy this.

Vote for the video by Friday May 27th and give the kids a chance to get Mythbuster merchandise and the chance to come and see the Mythbusters in San Francisco.

Men! Take a Brisk Walk and Maybe Prostate Cancer Won't Catch You!

According to research from scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and the Harvard School of Public Health, men that were disgnosed with early stage prostate cancer, who also reguarly walked at a pace of 3 miles an hour for at least three hours a week, showed less aggressive cancer and less likelihood that of reoccurance.

It is always nice when new non-invasive do it yourself methods can improve the chances of a person to fight a disease.

The scientists, however, wanted to point out, that it is the briskness of the walk that is the most important aspect.  Simply walking nine miles a week is not enough to show a benefit.

Brisk walking slows progression of early stage prostate cancer.

Can Taking Probiotics Prevent Obesity?

Checkout my new Uncomplicated Scientist website

High Fat Diet While Pregnant = Diabetes in Children?

Baby Love (ecahal/stock.xchnage)

Maternal diet indeed has an incredible effect on the unborn child.  This is not anything knew, but has somewhat been ignored for years.

High-fat diet during pregnancy programs child for future diabetes

To take it further, a father's diet can effect their unborn children too.

 Also dietary choices while pregnant aren't the only thing that can effect your evetual child.  Dietary choices, years, decades, and even generations before your child is born can effect their incidence of diabetes and other diseases.

You can read more about it in my article Are We What Our Family Eats?

Do your subsequent generations some good and eat a salad or two.  Or at least eat a well balanced meal and take care of yourself.

Your kids and grand-kids will thank you.

Geek is the New Black, Science Fairs are Where it's At!

About time!

Students at work (eieio1948/stock.xchng)

I remember that science fairs when I was growing up, were anything but exciting.  The three I projects I remember doing as a child, involved studying the effects of coffee on human teeth, building a simple stress test, and calculating the number of tiles that was in a local mall.  Yeah, I was a little lazy back then, but, science fairs really didn't offer much for kids to work with back then.

A few years ago, I volunteered at science fair, as a PhD to talk to students about their projects, and was presently surprised at the diversity and intelligence of the projects.  They were far above what I saw in my childhood.  Science has come far for students and it is important to encourage them further. 

Now science fairs and students are advancing in leaps and bounds. According to a TV news report Hip to be square: Science fairs evolve 'coolness' and global impact, science fairs have gone way beyond simple experiments about plant growth, and now have students focusing on real-life problems including cancer treatments, virtual reality, new energy resources, etc.

This is pretty cool; maybe one day we'll have science fairs like they do in Eureka.  If you have never watched Eureka, might I suggest doing so.  One of the coolest, funniest science-fiction television shows presently on TV on the SyFy channel.

In the show, Eureka is a town full of bumbling geniuses dealing with incredible technology.  Now imagine the science fair of the local high school in such a town; a mixture of incredible discoveries and potentially disastrous consequences. 

Well, perhaps we shouldn't hope for science fairs to actually turn out like they do in Eureka.  I like my life.

Pointless study of the week? You decide

Girls prefer the bad boy?  Really?  It isn't just some made up stereotype?  Check out the press release below on this shocking revelation.  :)

Happy guys finish last, says new study on sexual attractiveness

A great Youtube Video Song on Prostate Cancer

A great YouTube Video sent to me by twitter from maddie273.

Acetaminophen Can Prevent Prostate Cancer?

New data suggests that acetaminophen, the generic of tylenol, may actually prevent prostate cancer.  Of course there are health risks.  Acetaminophen can be very toxic to the liver.  Until more data is present, this is not a recommended treatment option for prostate cancer prevention.

You can read more about it in my examiner.com article, Acetaminophen May Prevent Prostate Cancer.

What does a glowing mushroom, a T-rex leech and a Pancake Batfish Have In Common? The 2011 Species Popularity Contest!!

The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, made the 2011 Top 10 lists of species.

A quick summary, in no particular order:

1. Darwin's Bark Spider

2. Bioluminescent Mushroom
 
3. Bacterium

4. Monitor Lizard

Monitor Lizard picture taken by SqueakyMarmot

 

 

5. Pollinating Cricket

6. Duiker

Common Duiker (pic from wikipedia)

7.  Leech

Photograph of Tyrannobdella rex provided PLOS

8. Underwater Mushroom

9. Jumping Cockroach

10. Pancake Batfish

Scientists list top 10 new species

A New Supplement that May Help with Diabetes, High Cholesterol and Obesity?

Naringenin provides bitter taste to grapefruits

At the The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, researchers have studied and developed naringenin into a supplement.  Naringenin, is the molecule found in grapefruits that induces a bitter taste of grapefruits. Naringenin is poorly absorbed into the body, however by combining naringenin within a cyclodextrin sugar molecule structure, the absorption of the supplement increased several fold. 

When given to rats before a high fat, high sugar meal, this supplement significantly decreased cholesterol levels and significantly increased insulin sensitivity.  More studies are necessary to determine the safety and effectiveness of this supplement, and presently clinical trials are occurring in the United States.  In time, naringenin may prove to be an excellent resource for the prevention diabetes, heart disease, and arteriosclerosis.

Pre-meal dietary supplement developed at Hebrew University can overcome fat and sugar problems

 Also, nargingenin is presently undergoing clinical trials to study effects against hepatitis C

A Pilot Study of the Grapefruit Flavonoid Naringenin for HCV Infection

What Other Things Can Zombies Make More Interesting?

The CDC has recently released a blog about the importance of preparing for a zombie infestation.  Do they know something we don't know?  Or was this a silly, but fun ploy to get people interested and truly think about the necessities in regards to surviving a disaster, whether natural or undead.

Now it makes me wonder, what other things can zombies make more interesting?  History?

Well, check out Dead Snow, a campy Norwegian horror movie involving zombie Nazis.



While not entirely historically accurate, it might make someone think about WWII, and the true evil monsters, not zombies but Nazis.

How about Math?  Well there was an actual mathematical theorem that was published: WHEN ZOMBIES ATTACK!: MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF AN OUTBREAK OF ZOMBIEINFECTION, describing how fast a zombie infestation would take to infect the world.  While the math is a little technical, the underlying paper is actually fun and informative? 


What about Biology?  The concept of zombies could be a great to understand putrefaction and decomposition.

You can also read some of these entertaining blogs dealing with the theoretical biology of zombies.

The Biology of Zombies

The Biology and Neurology of Zombies

Delay the Decay: How Zombie Biology Would Work | Science Not

 

 

Want a Loan, According to this Study, if you Have Bad Credit, You Better Be a Good Story Teller

While it likely won't help with a bank, a good story can go a long way for getting a micro loan through peer to peer loaning, whether you have bad credit or not.

A good story can trump a bad credit score in peer-to-peer lending.