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Vol. 5 Issue. 1
Table of Contents 3 Letter From The Editor 4 - 5 Tips 6 - 7 Tracking Diabetes 8 3-D Map of The Galaxy 9 As Above, So Below 10 - 11 A Green Algal Love Story 12 - 13 The Split Brain 14 Ten Math Fields You Didn’t Know Existed 15 - 17 Biophotons 18 LIFE NOT AS WE KNOW IT 19 Battle Over Bacteria
20 - 21 A Desensitized Generation 22 - 23 STROKE OF GENIUS 24 - 25 Synesthesia 26 Beer Is Better 27 AWARENESS IS BLISS 28 Shedding Light On Atropine 29 JOURNEYS WITH PERSPECTIVE 29 Primer - A Film Review 30 THE CUTTING EDGE 31 The Optic Cleanse
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Welcome back, Mustangs! The school year is already underway and the time has come to do what is right in all that we do. Though many of us are unsure of what the future will bring, especially for my fellow fourth year undergrads, we journey on with that all-too-familiar Western spirit, embracing change as a way of life. I’m incredibly excited not only to be your Editor-In-Chief this year, but also a person that amplifies the voices of other students. Regardless of what faculty we fall under, ultimately, we all have something meaningful to share and the opportunities for one to speak their mind have never been more apparent. Though it is a Science Students’ Council magazine, The Current encourages all writers, respects all viewpoints and satisfies all readers. As a person who absolutely craves knowledge, I will say this: I have never been more honoured to live in such a point in history as the present day. We live in a time where discoveries hide at every turn, where innovations in all disciplines are beginning to radically change our way of life. Indeed, the future is at our very doorstep. And do not make the mistake of assuming it is bleak and opposed to our existence. Quite the opposite, in fact. I believe our tomorrow to be one of personal empowerment and planetary unity, so long as we exhibit the self-responsibility and mutual respect required. So my dear Mustangs, you mustn’t fail to dream beyond the boundaries created for us. Instead, dare to be creative, risk taking the road less travelled, challenge what is accepted by the majority. If you weren’t here to help shape the world, trust me, you wouldn’t be here. I believe in you. Just don’t forget to believe in yourselves. And then maybe one day, we will fulfill our destiny of exploring and discovering the vast stretches of the Universe, both inner and outer. Be at One,
Igor Angelovski
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TIPS: 8 or 9 Pieces of Advice From An Upper-Year Science Student By: Eugene Leung
Welcome to the first year of the best years of your life. As you timidly walk around campus, trying to find classes and friends, a good thing to remember is: you’re not alone. Everyone in that first Biology class is new, eager to learn and grow not only as a scientist, but as a person. University can be the best time of your lives and one of the most memorable. I was there in your shoes and I remember what I did wrong and what I did right. I’d like to pass along a few words of wisdom from someone who would like to think that they’ve paid their dues at Western and bled purple for the last three years.
1) Raise your hand
You’re probably thinking immediately, “This guy’s insane” and you’re probably right, but remember, this isn’t Degrassi High. You’re paying for this education and the point of university is to (drink, party and see how much alcohol your liver can handle before you call SERT for resuscitation) learn. Screw what all the other people think, if you have a question, ask it! There are no stupid questions. Unless it really is a stupid question, like you asking, “Why is the sky blue” in an Economics class. Remember, you can always go to office hours and ask the prof there if you’re afraid of ridicule. But most likely, at least one person out there is thinking the same thing you are and too scared to raise their hand.
2) Volunteer
This has to do with the above tip, but if a prof needs volunteers, say, “Screw it, why not?”. Get out of your seat and try something. Don’t sit at the back of the class, sit at the front so profs will recognize you and remember you. I volunteered in first year to be a model and attached is a picture of what happened. Slightly embarrassing, but looking back, it was hilarious and one of my most treasured memories of first year biology.
3) Meet new people
You might make friends among your floor, but I urge you to find other people and make friends with them. I loved my floor; they were supportive, funny, happy, smart and everything, but I found time with other people. One of my best friends was a friend that I messaged on Facebook one day and said “Hey! You seem smart and funny and everything. Let’s sit together”. No, I wasn’t trying to pick her up.
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4) Learn the passageways and where each Tim Horton’s is on campus
This will come in handy for when it’s cold or raining, but with a short ten second jaunt in the open, you can go from B&GS all the way to Weldon Library. Also, since you’ll be using coffee like no other, know the location of each Tim Horton’s. And good to note, going to Med Sci’s Tim’s and back is often shorter than waiting in line at Nat Sci.
5) Make friends outside of your floor
When I got into university, I sat with some of them and they intrioduced me to other friends of theirs; roommates, friends, former classmates, etc. I decided to visit one of them (the friends that I got introduced to); they lived in the same rez that I did. When I went to visit her, her roommate decided to drag me to say hi to EVERYONE on that floor; even the RA and the Upper-year soph. I was thinking at the time "You insane," but looking back, that was one of the best things that happened to me. I got introduced to everyone on that floor and in the second part of that year, I spent most of my time with that floor since I clicked so well with them; I was happy with my floor, but happier there. In fact, I still live with people on that floor; we rented out a house and it's been 2 years, going into 3. One of the girls I met on the island that fateful day? We don't know how it happened since we didn't really talk during that day, but she's one of my best friends.
6) Try
As a person, you won’t grow unless you make mistakes and figure out where you went wrong. If you’ve never failed, you’ve never tried.
8) Learn to count 9) Learn where resources are
There are many resources available to you; Learning Skills, Mental Health, etc. Ask around and learn where they are; the people in there are there to help you. You’ll figure your way as you go along, but most importantly of all, enjoy yourself.
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Tracking Diabetes: PET Imaging Using Radioisotopes
With the ever-increasing prevalence of diabetes within the human population, new methods and techniques in medical biophysics and diagnostic imaging are paving the way on how we screen and diagnose diabetes, and ultimately, track the progression of this disease in patients. Dr. Savita Dhanvantari and her team at Lawson Health Research Institute, here in London Ontario, are developing a radioisotope biomarker that has been shown to activate the LAT1 amino acid transporter, which is usually active on islet cells of the pancreas. It is thought that the LAT1 amino acid transporter is up-regulated with diabetics in the form of islet cells known as Beta-cells. The radioisotope, 18F, and its radiolabelled derivatives have been quite popular in tumor imaging and diagnosis using Positron Emission Tomography (PET). One of 18F’s amino acid derivatives, 5-(2-[18F] Fluoroethoxy)-L-Tryptophan, more commonly referred to as [18F]-L-FEHTP (or simply FEHTP), is being investigated as a possible biomarker for identifying dysfunctional Beta-cells.It has been shown in tumor imaging studies that FEHTP enters cells via the LAT1 transporter. After uptake, there is a 110-minute window of opportunity for imaging, which is dictated by the radioactive decay rate (i.e. half-life) of 18F. If their hypothesis is correct, there will be an increased uptake of FEHTP in dysfunctional pancreatic Beta-cells, which will be easily identifiable on a PET scan.
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By: John Demarco Diabetes occurs when the pancreatic Beta-cells stop producing insulin or when cells throughout the body become resistant to the insulin being produced. A vast majority of cells in the body, specifically those that compose adipose tissue, striated muscle and the liver, require insulin-dependent glucose transporters in order to facilitate the transport of glucose across the plasma membrane. The interaction between insulin and its receptor initiates an up-regulation of Glucose Transporter 4 (GLUT4) that allows glucose to enter the cell. In the case of insulin resistance, the insulin receptor becomes abnormal and insulin can no longer bind, preventing the uptake of glucose. If glucose cannot enter the cell it continues to circulate in the blood, increasing in concentration. Chronic hyperglycemic conditions, among other symptoms, make constant insulin production a necessity. This high demand for insulin causes an up-regulation of amino acid transporters (such as LAT1) in order to meet the high insulin demand. Eventually, this triggers a cell signaling network response that attempts to return the Beta-cell to homeostatic conditions. However, this overwhelms the intracellular network in the process and causes failure in the Beta-cell’s feedback mechanism, which becomes unresponsive. A signaling cascade is later initiated that leads to Beta-cell apoptosis (programmed cell death), which causes insufficient insulin production from the remaining cells. This is how Type II Diabetes develops, a disease accounting for approximately 90 percent of diabetic cases. Type I Diabetes comprises the other 5–10 percent of people living with diabetes and can be classified as an autoimmune disease. This is because the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the pancreatic Beta-cells, thinking they’re the enemy. This also leads to insufficient production of insulin (if any at all), resulting in high blood glucose levels. Having high blood glucose can cause diabetes-related complications, which can be very serious and even life threatening. Complications such as chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers, lower limb amputation, retinopathy (causing blindness), stroke, nerve damage, and cardiovascular complications are very common when diabetes is left unchecked. Properly managing blood glucose levels reduces the risk of developing these complications. If the theories of this study can be supported with experimental evidence it will open a whole new world for the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes, allowing for optimized treatment plans and better, personalized medications.
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3-D Map Of The Galaxy By: David Samuel Uren The world’s largest digital, space camera is now beginning its mission to map 1 billion stars in our galaxy. Gaia is a satellite launched by the European Space Agency in 2013, and it houses the equipment capable of surveying 1 percent of the stars in the Milky Way. With a digital camera containing nearly 1 billion pixels, or 1000 megapixels, Gaia is capable or recording many important properties of stars, such as position, motion, brightness, temperature, and chemical composition. After its launch in December of 2013, Gaia faced several setbacks which delayed the start of the mission, including ice forming on key components of the optics as well as a higher amount of light than expected passing the satellite’s Sun Shield. With these setbacks resolved and calibration completed Gaia can begin a project, which when completed in 5 years, will produce the first ever detailed 3-D map of the Milky Way. According to the European Space Agency, Gaia will image the 1 billion stars 70 times through the next 5 years. From this data the small apparent motions of stars will allow astronomers to accurately determine their relative distances and motion in the galaxy. In order to produce the highly accurate 3-dimensional map, Gaia will observe 48 million stars each day, amounting to 50 GB of data stored each day for 5 years. This project requires an impressive amount of accuracy in order to be of any use. To achieve this, Gaia is constructed to be capable of measuring positions extremely accurately. It is equivalent to being able to measure the width of a human hair 2000 km away. With this impressive technology Gaia will surely produce the long awaited and unprecedented map of our Milky Way.
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As Above, So Below: Mindful Meditation & Molecular Changes By: Piera Godinez Have you ever wondered how putting yourself in a calm, relaxed state could impact your biochemical machinery? Well, research done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has provided the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation. Scientists from Spain, France, and Wisconsin have all reported that the effects of a single day of intensive mindfulness meditation can change our genes. The study, published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, showed that after eight hours of mindfulness practice, meditators showed a range of genetic expression changes. These included altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, meaning that people could recover from stress and its physical ramifications much faster than was previously thought possible. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows rapid alterations in gene expression within subjects associated with mindfulness meditation practice,” says study author Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Most interestingly, the changes were observed in genes that are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs,” says Perla Kaliman, first author of the article and a researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona, Spain, where the molecular analyses were conducted. The results show a down-regulation of genes that have been implicated in inflammation. The affected genes include the pro-inflammatory genes RIPK2 and COX2 as well as several histone deacetylase (HDAC) genes, which epigenetically regulate the activity of other genes by removing a type of chemical tag. What’s more, the extent to which some of those genes were down-regulated was associated with faster cortisol recovery to a social stress test that involved performance of an impromptu speech as well as tasks requiring mental calculations in front of an audience and video camera. So the next time you feel stressed and out of it, practice some deep breathing exercises in a place where you can focus your attention. Before you know it, you’ll be relieving many stress factors that directly affect your biochemistry.
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A Green Algal Love Story: In Words & Art By: Jeremy Lant “Write an essay or something about these algae,” said Sara Asmail, a Masters student from the Smith lab in Western University’s Biology Department, where I am an undergraduate research volunteer. It was easy to understand why Sara wanted me to write an essay about algae: they are beautiful, bewilderingly diverse and complex, and help sustain life on Earth. But not everyone is as stoked on algae as Sara and I. So I accepted Sara’s challenge, and wrote a story —with illustrations—about how I was introduced to these wonderful creatures and how one alga in particular has recently stolen my heart. What are algae? The dull answer is chloroplast-containing organisms that do not have roots, shoots, or leaves. The sexy answer is that algae are marvelous, multifarious, sun-loving species. They can be found in almost any ecosystem on earth—from the hottest deserts to the Antarctic to alpine glaciers. They can be giants, forming endless forests on the sea floor or tiny unicells invisible to the naked eye. They can be flat and skinny like a kite, fat and round like a globe, or bent like a boomerang. They can be peacefully pumping out the oxygen that fills our lungs and atmosphere or maliciously replicating in our blood as deadly parasites. They can be Casanovas, partaking in complex mating rituals and acts of cooperation, or highly efficient solo artists. They can be seen from outer space, forming blooms that stretch for hundreds of kilometers. They can be green, red, pink, fluorescent yellow, or colorless. They can be cool, hot, or frozen solid. They are anything but ordinary and not the least bit boring. My algal love story began in high school science class—I was young and naïve when it came to algae. My teacher was very excited to show us a live sample of this thing called Volvox: “Take a drop from this beaker and use it to prepare your own microscope slide,” he instructed the class. I was not too savvy with a microscope in those days, and after struggling a great deal to get the slide in focus, I began to lose patience. So I left the field of vision in place, and just stared, pretending I knew what I was doing. Then as I sat there, feigning competence, a wonderful thing happened: from the edge of my field of view, it came tumbling in…
Volvox is a multicellular globular green alga that rolls through the water like a bright green beach ball. Because many of its closest relatives are unicellular, it is thought that Volvox holds, within its cells and DNA, the secrets for the evolution of multicellularity. The species I observed in class that day was called Volvox carteri. It’s a roly-poly pond addict with an intricate sexual cycle. Volvox’s smooth-moving ways swept me off my feet that day and it became my first algal love. But, like many a first love, I don’t want to talk about it anymore… After my experience with Volvox, a period of time passed in my life where I didn’t see much algal action. I experimented with some other life forms for a while, like bacteria and land plants, but it wasn’t until I reached first year of university that I was re-introduced to algae.
VOLVOX
11 It was in first year biology that I came across what is, in my opinion, the true diva in the world of algal research: Chlamydomonas. It’s a microbial superstar and the most highly studied alga in the world, being used as a model for investigating everything from photosynthesis to flagellar motion to the origin of plants. It was my enthusiastic first-year biology professor, Denis Maxwell, an algal connoisseur and Chlamydomonas researcher extraordinaire, who first introduced me to “Chlamy.” In a lecture strewn with excitement and hyperbole, Dr. Maxwell projected the spectacular Chlamy on a giant screen and proceeded to list all of the wondrous features of this puny alga. “It even has an eye,” screamed Denis, “which guides it towards the light. And look at those two lovely flagella, my goodness! Those babies propel it to the sweet spot—not too bright, not too dark, that’s the way Chlamy likes it.” All I could think during that lecture was, “Chill out, Dr. Maxwell. It’s just an alga.” So I went back to my residence room and did some online reading to figure out what could possibly make my professor so excited. I found that Dr. Maxwell’s enthusiasm was more than justified: not only does Chlamy have a wide range of basic research applications and a completely sequenced genome, but it also has many practical uses, including biofuel production and bioremediation. Impressive, but Chlamydomonas was too flashy for my tastes. The high-impact papers and competitive research environment were a turn off for me—I wanted plants and algae contain three different types of genome: a nuclear genome, which is big and stored in the head to find a genus that was more mysterious. So I dropped the diva and office of the cell (the nucleus), a mitochondrial genome, went for its sister—the sister lineage of Chlamydomonas, to be precise, which is generally small and found in the power house which is called Polytomella. of the cell (the mitochondrion), and a chloroplast In many ways, Chlamy and Polytomella are alike: both are single-celled swimmers that thrive in fresh water and have multiple fla- genome, which is medium sized and—you guessed it— housed in the chloroplast, where photosynthesis takes gella (although Polytomella has four, which is two more than Chlamy). place. Never has there been a concrete example of a There is, however, one really big difference between them: Polytomella isn’t green. Polytomella lacks chlorophyll and cannot derive energy from plant or alga that doesn’t have all three of these genomes, that is, until Polytomella came along. sunlight—it’s an evolutionary burnout. When I first saw a high-definition image of Polytomella, I was underwhelmed, it just looked like Chlamydomonas, but with a couple of extra tails and no colour. But A recent study led by the Smith Lab at Western University showed that Polytomella has discarded its entire chloroplast genome! Crazy, eh? Let me try to explain how this happened. Polytomella descends from a photosynthetic ancestor, but at some point in the distant past it lost the ability to perform photosynthesis—probably from a deleterious mutation—and therefore survives by absorbing small, energy-rich molecules from its environment as opposed to converting sunlight into sugar. Since losing photosynthesis, Polytomella’s photosynthetic organelle, the chloroplast, has been “put out to pasture.” It’s lost all of the brightly colored chlorophylls, complex inner-membrane structures, and light-harvesting infrastructure found in photosynthetic chloroplasts. Thus, it is not surprising that the genome within the Polytomella chloroplast has also withered away. That said, the Polytomella chloroplast still performs some crucial functions apart from photosynthesis, like synthesizing fats. Other non-photosynthetic plants and algae have also lost large sections of their chloroplast genome, but Polytomella is the first organism to have taken this process to the ultimate extreme—genome loss. Eventually, Polytomella may lose its chloroplast outright, but for this to happen, it will have to find a way to outsource remaining chloroplast functions (like fatty acid biosynthesis) to other organelles in the cell. So that’s how I got hooked on algae—from my first experience with the stunning Volvox, to a short-lived affair with the high-flying Chlamy, and to a lasting love for the eccentric Polytomella. I hope that I piqued your interest in green algae, and sold you on Polytomella, which has been hiding in the shadow of Chlamydomonas for too long. Not that Polytomella would care—it doesn’t crave the limelight or the sunlight.
CHLAMY
POLYTOMELLA
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The differences between the left and the right hemisphere of the brain have been popularized in culture through notions such as the left brain is analytical and logical and the right brain is creative and emotional. In the scientific community however, there is debate to the accuracy of these statements, and evidence exists supporting the involvement of both hemispheres in various components of behaviour across a wide variety of tasks. While the dominance of hemispheres in more abstract functions and behaviours is still a topic of argument, there is more confidence in the lateralization of processes in areas of vision, motor control and language. A fascinating demonstration of this hemispheric lateralization can be seen in patients who have undergone a corpus callosotomy, a surgical procedure used to treat chronic epileptic seizures. The operation involves severing the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerves that connects the left and right hemispheres and acts as a means for the two sides to communicate and share information. While patients are generally able to do the various everyday things they could do before the operation, testing under specific conditions reveals the oddities of the split brain produced by the removal of the main conduit for interhemispeheric communication. The experimental method involves having the person fix their attention on a dot in the center of a screen and flashing objects quickly to either the left or the right of the dot. This is intended to exploit the fact that the neuronal wiring of the human brain results in left hemisphere processing the information in the right visual field and the right processing the left visual field. The task ensures that only one hemisphere “sees� the object.
By: Tanner Joseph Scidmore
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The Split Brain
If an object, say an apple, were flashed in the right visual field, a split-brain patient would report seeing an apple. However if the same object were flashed in the left visual field, the person would report not having seen anything! This is because for this patient (and the majority of the population), language is localized in the left hemisphere. So when ONLY the “non-verbal� right hemisphere sees a picture in the left visual field, the person would report seeing nothing. However, if asked to draw a picture of what they had seen with their left hand, the person would draw out an apple. This is because the control of movement is also arranged in a contralateral fashion, and the right hemisphere’s control of the left hand allows the person to draw out what that side of the brain had seen. Such were the observations made by neuroscientists Sperry and Gazzaniga in their conduction of their split-brain studies. While demonstrating the interesting aspects of lateralization as a result of anatomy, their studies also supported ideas that in order to perform a task such as verbally seeing something, the areas of the brain involved in sight and speech must be able to communicate with each other. Roger Sperry received the Nobel Prize in 1981 for his work concerning the functional specialization of cerebral hemispheres.
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Ten Math Fields You Didn’t Know Existed
Helen Ngo
We’ve all taken a calculus class that has made us cry, but there’s plenty more math where that came from—and some of it doesn’t even have any numbers in it! Here are ten fields of modern mathematics with open problems and exciting, active research. 1. Functional Analysis: Remember that linear algebra class you took, and how they told you that you could transform things over finite dimensions? Now drop the “finite” part — that’s right, you can do linear algebra in infinite-dimensional space, and it’s called functional analysis. 2. Group Theory: Ask your chemistry professor about this one—it’s the study of symmetry and transformations, and has applications in the study of crystal lattices. 3. Topology: Can you turn a coffee mug into a doughnut without breaking it? Topologists can. 4. Field Theory: Yes, there is a field of math called “field theory.” You can add, subtract, multiply, and divide over things that are not real—the complex (imaginary) numbers are an example of an interesting field. 5. Real Analysis: i.e., fancy calculus. John Green said, “Some infinities are bigger than others,” but an 18th century Real Analysis professor probably beat him to the original idea. Real Analysis deals with limits—i.e., how close you can get to things. 6. Number Theory: We all know prime numbers are those that have no factors other than 1 and itself, and as it turns out, primes have applications everywhere. But given a very big prime number, when will the next one crop up? As it turns out, this is one of the biggest mathematical mysteries of all time. 7. Algebraic Geometry: Remember in high school when you would be given quadratic equations and forced to solve for the zeroes? Algebraic geometry is a bit like that, except the polynomials are bigger and badder. 8. Noncommutative Algebra: Usually, a + b = b + a. But sometimes it doesn’t—and in that case, algebraists want to know about it. 9. Metric Spaces Everyone knows how to measure distance in Euclidean space. But one day a bunch of mathematicians got creative and decided to measure distances differently — for example, on a sphere, distance can be defined as an angular measure instead. Different ways of measuring distances are called metrics. 10. Knot Theory: We’ve all struggled to untie impossible knots. Knot theorists don’t even bother, because mathematical knots are designed so that the ends are joined together and thus can never be untied. Ever.
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Biophotons
you are what you emit
By: PatrekĂźr SÓ§renson Also known as ultraweak photon emissions (UPEs), biophotons are emitted by the human body with a visibility 1,000 times lower than the sensitivity of the naked eye. While not visible to us, these particles of light (or waves, depending on how you are measuring them) are part of the visible electromagnetic spectrum (380-780 nm) and are detectable via sophisticated modern instrumentation.
16 Optical & Mental Light Emission: The eye itself, which is continually exposed to ambient powerful photons that pass through various ocular tissues, emit spontaneous and visible light-induced ultraweak photon emissions. It has even been hypothesized that visible light induces delayed bioluminescence within the exposed eye tissue, providing an explanation for the origin of the negative afterimage. These light emissions have also been correlated with cerebral energy metabolism and oxidative stress within the mammalian brain. And yet, biophoton emissions are not necessarily epiphenomenal. Bókkon’s hypothesis suggests that photons released from chemical processes within the brain produce biophysical pictures during visual imagery, and a recent study found that when subjects actively imagined light in a very dark environment their intention produced significant increases in ultraweak photo emissions. This is consistent with an emerging view that biophotons are not solely cellular metabolic by-products, but rather, because biophoton intensity can be considerably higher inside cells than outside, it is possible for the mind to access this energy gradient to create intrinsic biophysical pictures during visual perception and imagery.
Celluar & Genetic Communication: Apparently biophotons are used by the cells of many living organisms to communicate, which facilitates energy/information transfer that is several orders of magnitude faster than chemical diffusion. According to a 2010 study, “Cell to cell communication by biophotons have been demonstrated in plants, bacteria, animal neutrophil granulocytes and kidney cells.” Researchers were able to demonstrate that “… different spectral light stimulation (infrared, red, yellow, blue, green and white) at one end of the spinal sensory or motor nerve roots resulted in a significant increase in the biophotonic activity at the other end.” Researchers interpreted their finding to suggest that “…light stimulation can generate biophotons that conduct along the neural fibers, probably as neural communication signals.” Even when we go down to the molecular level of our genome, DNA can be identified to be a source of biophoton emissions as well. One author proposes that DNA is so biophoton dependent that is has excimer laser-like properties, enabling it to exist in a stable state far from thermal equilibrium at threshold. Technically speaking a biophoton is an elementary particle or quantum of light of non-thermal origin in the visible and ultraviolet spectrum emitted from a biological system. They are generally believed to be produced as a result of energy metabolism within our cells, or more formally as a “…by-product of biochemical reactions in which excited molecules are produced from bioenergetic processes that involves active oxygen species.”
17 Circadian Emission: Because the metabolism of the body changes in a circadian fashion, biophoton emissions also vary along the axis of diurnal time. Research has mapped out distinct anatomical locations within the body where biophoton emissions are stronger and weaker, depending on the time of the day: Generally, the fluctuation in photon counts over the body was lower in the morning than in the afternoon. The thorax-abdomen region emitted lowest and most constantly. The upper extremities and the head region emitted most and increasingly over the day. Spectral analysis of low, intermediate and high emission from the superior frontal part of the right leg, the forehead and the palms in the sensitivity range of the photomultiplier showed the major spontaneous emission at 470-570 nm. The central palm area of hand emission showed a larger contribution of the 420-470 nm range in the spectrum of spontaneous emission from the hand in autumn/winter. The spectrum of delayed luminescence from the hand showed major emission in the same range as spontaneous emission. The researchers concluded that “The spectral data suggest that measurements might well provide quantitative data on the individual pattern of peroxidative and anti-oxidative processes in vivo.”
Absorption & Information Transfer: Perhaps most extraordinary of all is the possibility that our bodily surface contains cells capable of efficiently trapping the energy and information from ultraviolet radiation. A study published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology in 1993, titled, “Artificial sunlight irradiation induces ultraweak photon emission in human skin fibroblasts,” discovered that when light from an artificial sunlight source was applied to fibroblasts from either normal subjects or with the condition xeroderma pigmentosum, characterized by deficient DNA repair mechanisms, it induced far higher emissions of ultraweak photons (10-20 times) in the xeroderma pigmentosum group. The researchers concluded from this experiment that “These data suggest that xeroderma pigmentosum cells tend to lose the capacity of efficient storage of ultraweak photons, indicating the existence of an efficient intracellular photon trapping system within human cells.“ More recent research has also identified measurable differences in biophoton emission between normal and melanoma cells. Melanin is capable of transforming ultraviolet light energy into heat in a process known as “ultrafast internal conversion”; more than 99.9% of the absorbed UV radiation is transformed from potentially genotoxic (DNA-damaging) ultraviolet light into harmless heat. If melanin can convert light into heat, could it not also transform UV radiation into other biologically/metabolically useful forms of energy? This may not seem so farfetched when one considers that even gamma radiation, which is highly toxic to most forms of life, is a source of sustenance for certain types of fungi and bacteria.
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LIFE NOT AS WE KNOW IT
NAME: Vaquita (Phoecoena sinus ) HABITAT: Lagoons along the Sea of Cortez SIZE: 140 cm in length LIFESPAN: 20 years This porpoise is known to be the smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world, with less than 100 along the coast of California. The “little cow” tends to be more solitary than its dolphin cousins, but still use echolocation to hunt fish. Since they do not dive to great depths, they frequently get caught during gillnet fishing and their numbers have dwindled as a result.
NAME: Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius ) HABITAT: Arid savannahs of the Southern Kalahari SIZE: 14 cm in length LIFESPAN: Not known These incredible little birds get their name from the massive nests they construct for their respective colonies. Each containing rooms for up to 400 birds, the nests are constantly rebuilt and modified with mainly dry grass and straw and many have lasted for over a century. Such hardworking birds are a wonder to behold!
NAME: Bitter Oyster Mushroom (Panellus stipticus ) HABITAT: Deciduous forests all over North America SIZE: 3 cm broad caps LIFESPAN: 1 year to maturity Though inedible due to the taste, these fungi are not toxic and have the remarkable ability to undergo bioluminescence. This is accomplised through special enzymes called luciferases, which upon oxidation of the pigment luciferin, give off a ghostly, green glow. These mushrooms were apparently used in traditional Chinese medicine as a styptic to stop hemorrhages.
NAME: Grandidier’s Baobab (Adansonia grandidieri ) HABITAT: Shrubland of South Western Madagascar SIZE: 100 ft in height LIFESPAN: Hundreds of years Baobab trees are gigantic! They can store up to 100,000 L of water in their trunk and often live for over a millenium. This native of Madagascar is currently listed as an endangered species due to excessive agricultural activity.
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Battle Over Bacteria! by: eugene leung
The largest cause of deaths prior to the development of antibiotics was infections due to pathogens; in the late 19th century, seven people died to infections and disease for every one person that died due to actual combat. With the development of antibiotics as well as better hygiene practices, the ratio of disease-related deaths to combat deaths dropped from 1 to 0.1. As more and more antibiotics and antimicrobials were developed, nowadays disease-related deaths are vastly outnumbered by other causes, such as accidents and cancer. However, due to the gross and inappropriate overuse of antibiotics, pathogens are slowly becoming resistant to antibiotics that are used to counter them. Today, most strains of bacteria are resistant to penicillin, the first antibiotic discovered and slowly some bacteria, such as Enterococcus are becoming resistant to the antibiotics doctors call “drugs of last resort”, the final drugs that the medical community uses if they have no other choice. Most terrifyingly, there are strains of Enterococcus that are resistant to almost every type of antibiotic available.
A New Zealand man was quarantined in his room for six months after surgery to remove intracranial pressure in Vietnam. After returning to New Zealand, he was isolated as standard precaution for overseas patients, where a blood test revealed that he had a strain of Klebsiella pneuomonaie which was resistant to every type of antibiotic available. To prevent possible spread, he was quarantined in his room for six months, where not even his twin sister was able to give him a hug. The medical community is worried that bacteria such as these, nicknamed “superbugs” would become commonplace and that the world would soon progress back to an era without antibiotics, which would not only prevent simple diseases from being treated, but it would also limit the treatment of cancer and prevent surgery from being done in a sterile manner as well. However, some new research has propped up, giving the medical community a small ounce of hope. Researchers have found that a naturally occurring protein inside a type of fungi has the ability to inhibit the activity of the enzymes that cause antibacterial resistance and allow the antibiotics to work. More research has to be done in order to find more compounds like this that would allow medical practitioners to once again gain the upper hand over antibiotic resistant bacteria.
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A Desensitized Generation: Do Electronics Affect Emotional Intelligence?
By: Naeema Ghanem
It’s a stark, yet not too unfamiliar reality that kids of the 21st century have spent an extraordinary amount of time glued to their electronic screens. Whether those glass sheets belong to computers, television sets, smart phones, or personal gaming consoles makes no difference. One unfortunate side-effect of this behavior among youngsters is the incredible lack of natural means of communication, namely face-to-face contact. And although adults have displayed similar patterns of electronic distraction, one can only imagine the impact it has on the developing minds and impressionable personalities of children. In a recent study from University of California in Los Angeles, researchers were intent on understanding the effects of this very phenomenon. Their experiment consisted of two groups of sixth-graders (from the same school), where one group abstained from screen-watching for five days and the other group were left to their own devices (to screen-watch as much as they wished). At the end of the study, it was revealed the sixth-graders without access to smart phone, television or video game screens were much more adept at reading and recognizing human emotions.
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It has long been clear that watching TV or playing video games for hours on end have been associated with physical disorders (such as obesity and poor eyesight) in addition to behavioural disorders like attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Such activities are even regarded by many (especially those adhering to the Waldorf philosophy of child rearing) to interfere with an adolescent’s thought process and through overstimulation of the senses, subvert the development of more intellectual pursuits. With the conclusion of the UCLA study coming to light, it carries certain implications that cannot be ignored. One implication in particular is the integration of technology into public classrooms, and if this modern teaching method simply compounds the problem of emotional indifference in children. UCLA college professor of psychology and senior author of the study, Dr. Patricia Greenfield, explains that, “Many people are looking at the benefits of digital media in education, and not many are looking at the costs. Decreased sensitivity to emotional cues — losing the ability to understand the emotions of other people — is one of the costs. The displacement of in-person social interaction by screen interaction seems to be reducing social skills.” What was perhaps most fascinating about Dr. Greenfield’s study was the response of the control group, where 51 sixth-graders were denied access to electronics during a 5-day field trip to a nature and science camp. According to observations by camp counselors, students quickly adapted to the “no-screen” protocol and by the end of the week, they scored significantly higher on an emotional reasoning assessment than at the start of camp. This assessment was designed to score the accuracy of emotional sensitivity by having the students try to recognize what feelings characters were expressing in pictures. Unlike the control group, the experimental group of 54 students was allowed to have electronics for the five days of the study. This group was unable to read non-verbal cues as well and assessed facial expression with considerably less accuracy. In the end, if children are to truly relate to peoples’ feelings, they should not be denied opportunities to develop the necessary emotional skills, which can only be honed from face-to-face human interactions.
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STROKE OF GENIUS! Letting the Sparks Fly: The Legacy of Nikola Tesla By: Valerio van Dreumel
Very rarely is mankind graced with such ingenuity as was the mind of Nikola Tesla. This young Serbian inventor who (throughout the course of his life) invented solutions that would eventually launch the world into a technological age, inspired many with his ideals and motivation for his work. He was always concerned with the state of the planet, primarily the numerous people without access to even basic power sources, and created technologies so that all can share in the abundance of energy that exists. Here are some of his most influential ideas to have been realized; inventions that to this day have made our way of life possible.
Radio
Alternating Current
Despite claims that this invention was the product of the work of Guglielmo Marconi, the radio was officially seen as Tesla’s creation since 1943, when the Supreme Court overturned the Italian inventor’s patent due to evidence that Nikola built a functioning radio years before Marconi. In fact, it was Tesla’s research that definitively demonstrated radio signals as being just another form of frequency, requiring a transmitter and antenna reception. This technology was presented by Tesla to the National Electric Light Association during a conference, after which he applied for two radiofrequency technology patents in 1897. However, not long after Tesla’s patents were rejected, in 1904 Marconi was awarded a patent for inventing the radio. For the longest time, this led many people to believe that Tesla never invented the radio.
Tesla’s first triumph occurred with this discovery as he presented it in 1893 during the World’s Exposition in Chicago. The discovery and use of alternating current is actually what initiated an ideological dispute between Nikola and his contemporary, Thomas Edison, who felt his direct current applications were now threatened. Edison was surely relentless in his pursuits to discredit his newfound competitor and highlighted the “dangers” of using alternating current through public electrocution of animals, for example. The reason why alternating current still provides power generation and distribution to the world today is because direct current was costly over long distances and produced dangerous sparking from converters. Furthermore, Tesla himself demonstrated the safety of alternating current by directing the current through his own body, producing light.
X-Rays
This contribution of Tesla’s stemmed from his belief that the universe is omnipresent and that one has to create devices in order to observe things outside our range of perception. Although electromagnetic and ionizing radiation were already under study by the end of the 19th Century, Tesla made sure to research everything that was known, focusing on areas such as pre-Kirlian photography and eventually leading up to modern medical diagnostic technology. Despite the discovery of X-rays being widely credited to German physicist Willhelm Röntgen in 1895, the experiments with X-rays performed by Tesla 8 years prior helped bring to light the inherent dangers of using radiation on human flesh.
23 Electric Motor
Though many people have heard of the automobile manufacturer Tesla Motors, they often overlook the fact that that same man designed the electric induction motor, one of his greatest achievements. This invention involves rotating magnetic fields to power items, something that changed the landscape for technology to follow. However, his ideas regarding the electric motor fell victim to the economic crisis of the 1930s and after that, WWII. His electric motor has inspired inventions we use every day such as: power tools, electric wristwatches, industrial fans, water pumps, disk drives, and household appliances. His work on electromagnetism is honoured by the official unit of magnetic force, the Tesla.
Robotics The use of sensors and autonomous systems, as designed by Tesla, derived from an internal drive to understand how living things function as organic machines driven by external impulses. It was this idea that led to future ideas of robotic and cybernetic technology. Tesla has even stated, “I have by every thought and act of mine, demonstrated, and do so daily, to my absolute satisfaction that I am an automaton endowed with power of movement, which merely responds to external stimuli.” He imagined a future where there were intelligent cars, robotic human companions and asserted that this artificial intelligence would undoubtedly have limitations that life forms do not possess. In 1898, he demonstrated a radio-controlled boat he’d invented, which many credit as “being the birth of robotics.” Tesla’s ultimate goal for robotics applications in the future was to “perform labour safely and effectively,” sparing human workers the risks.
Laser The famous 1930s report of Tesla building a particle beam has long been held as the most mysterious and often sinister brainchild of the Serbian scientist. Usually referred as the “Death ray,” this machine could theoretically take down entire air fleets and foreign armies by generating an intense column of energy. Tesla’s ideas were intended as a “peace beam” where the weapon could halt conflicts before they even start, preventing the millions of lives that would be lost in global wars otherwise. Although this laser was never seen to completion and the plans never recovered after his death, Tesla did in fact present his ideas to various military divisions, in the hopes some would be interested. Since then, today’s surgical applications and digital media would not be possible without the advent of lasers. There have also been many government initiatives, one in particular from the Reagan Administration, to weaponize space.
Remote Control With his success experimenting with radiofrequency technology and knowledge regarding robotics design, remote control of machines was a natural consequence. He received a patent for his invention in 1898, that being the very first remote-controlled model boat. It ran on batteries and used radio signals to remotely control switches that activated the propeller, rudder and even running lights. There was tremendous interest from military organizations in this technology for its unique warfare applications: the ability to not risk human lives in the control of planes, tanks, artillery, etc. But more familiar results of Tesla’s work would be something like not having to leave the couch to change the television channel.
Wireless Communication Perhaps the most controversial of all Tesla’s inventions, this one shocked the 1893 World’s Fair and to this day, remains remarkably ahead of its generation. The idea that one could wirelessly transmit electricity through electrodynamic induction, a process involving activation of phosphorous light bulbs, was the product of Tesla’s genius. He dreamed of using this non-radiative energy transfer for supplying free, abundant energy to distant parts of the world so everyone could live comfortably without worry. Electronics companies are currently studying this form of wireless communications so customers could charge their laptops and smart phones without clunky cords and chargers. Perhaps one day, we’ll realize the simplicity and genius of Tesla’s plea for safe, renewable, wireless, effective, clean energy globally.
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Synesthesia: a collision of senses A Case Of Seeing Smells & Tasting Feelings
By: Mathura Thiyagarajah Imagine that every time you felt embarrassed you would see a flush of pink and every time you heard a classical piano piece you tasted strawberries. For a very small percentage of the population, this incredible phenomenon is not a figment of imagination, but rather their reality. Synesthesia, meaning “joined perception� in Greek, is exactly that: an interaction between two senses. These interactions occur when a stimulus in one sensory system is inherently associated with a sensation in another sensory system. A common manifestation of this phenomenon is grapheme-colour synesthesia, which involves seeing numbers and letters as certain colours. For instance, one individual with synesthesia may see the letter B coloured red every single time while another individual with synesthesia may see all B’s as green.
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Any two sensory systems may interact and an individual can have several paired senses. One of the most intriguing forms of synesthesia is called mirror-touch, which occurs when one feels a sensation that they visually see another person experience. Some scientists believe that this particular form is related to mirror neurons found in the motor cortex of the brain that fire when a person performs an action and when a person observes someone else performing that same action. There are many proposed mechanisms for the biological basis of synesthesia. One explanation arises from the various neural connections in the brain. The wiring in the brain is extremely complex and has evolved in each individual from birth. It is possible that while certain connections were lost throughout an individual’s development, these connections still exist in individuals with synesthesia.
While synesthesia does not hinder brain functioning and thus, is not considered a disorder, it may present social difficulties in affected individuals. Since the ability is so rare, the general public is often unaware of its existence, which can prove challenging for those who have synesthesia. Young children who experience these sensations and try to vocalize them are often dismissed as imagining things or being confused. Furthermore, these sensations may not always be as pleasant as smelling strawberries or seeing pastel colours. Negative associations with otherwise neutral or positive stimuli can be frustrating. Nevertheless, synesthesia continues to be one of the most fascinating occurrences in the field of neuroscience that leaves much room for future developments. This surreal ability is further proof that what is different cannot be carelessly labelled as a hindrance, a conclusion that our society is often too eager to claim.
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Beer Makes It Better!
By: Simona Miljanić
Barbequing meat is a favorite throughout the summer months. There’s nothing like the charcoal taste on meat giving it the signature BBQ flavour. One concern that has recently become prevalent is the danger associated with grilling meat. The problem caused by grilling is the creation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These PAHs have been found to damage DNA and increase the chances of developing colorectal cancer. PAHs are present in many foods, but most prevalent in charcoal-grilled meat. Many different things can affect the amount of PAHs in grilled meat, but the main contributors to production of PAH concentrations are how close meat is to the heat, cooking time, and the amount of fat in the meat. Now this may all sound a bit scary and turn you off of this summer favorite, but researchers at the University of Portugal may have found a solution…Beer! PAHs are formed from free radicals, which are formed from fat and protein during the heat of cooking. Therefore this group hypothesized a way to prevent the formation of PAHs by using antioxidants to react with the free radicals. Beer contains melanoidins, which are formed when barley is roasted during the beer-making process. These are antioxidants that have the capability of scavenging free radicals thereby theoretically lowering the concentration of PAHs. Dr. Ferreira and her team in Portugal found that marinating meat with both alcoholic and nonalcoholic Pilsner beer and Black beer could affect the concentration of PAHs on grilled meat as compared to controls without beer marinade. Black beer was found to have the highest anti-radical activity followed by nonalcoholic Pilsner beer and finally alcoholic pilsner, having anti-radical activity (and decreasing PAH concentrations) of up to 68%. The melanoidins present in beer also give it its colour, which explains why the darker the beer the more anti-radical activity present as hypothesized. Take this knowledge and run! Enjoy your barbequing from now on knowing that marinating with beer is both a healthy and tasty choice!
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{AWARENESS IS BLISS}
Converging Light & Sound:
Clinical applications of photoacoustic imaging
By: Madeleine Van de Kleut Photoacoustic Imaging is an imaging technique combining both pulse laser (near-infrared) light and ultrasonic emission. Let’s take a step back into the wonderful days of first year science… Light is a form of energy. Different components of biological tissue have the capacity to absorb different wavelengths of light, and in turn, this absorbed light is converted into thermal energy. As we know, when things heat up they tend to expand, and this expansion and consequent retraction (due to cooling) is a source of ultrasonic waves (or pressure waves, with a frequency in the range of megaHertz). The waves generated due to the thermoelastic expansion of the tissue need a medium to propagate through, and so generally either water or a saline solution is used. The waves are then detected by transducers which convert the ultrasonic waves into an image via data acquisition and transformation.
These images can be used as a visual representation of the different optical absorptions of different molecules such as oxygenated hemoglobin, deoxygenated hemoglobin, and melanin – in the case of tumour detection, one could look for areas of angiogenesis. A practical, possible clinical application of Photoacoustic Imaging is its use in breast conservation surgery (the recommended surgical standard for women diagnosed with early breast cancer). Once excised from the breast, the tumour and surrounding tissue mass can be imaged ex-vivo in the operating room to determine whether the margins of the tissue contain any cancerous cells – if they do, the surgeon now has the knowledge to remove more of the surrounding tissue, as opposed to only removing one section, sending it to Pathology, and waiting a number of days if not weeks for the results. The speed, safety, and accessibility with which Photoacoustic Imaging can be used are what make it an attractive option when compared to other imaging techniques.
Though not a substitute for pathological examination, this process may eliminate the need for a second surgery to ensure clear margins, and reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence – a benefit to both the patient and the hospital.
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Shedding Light On Atropine By: Tanner Joseph Scidmore The inspiration for this piece came about after having my eyes dilated for an eye examination. A primary purpose of pupil dilation is to allow more light to pass through your eye in situations of dim lighting. However when there exists ample enough light, and the drops the eye doctor put in your eye inhibit the constriction of your pupils, the excessive brightness of the world is somewhat uncomfortable if not annoying. Fortuitously the experience did bring to mind a certain fascinating compound that I had been taught about that also causes prolonged pupil dilation – atropine. Its classification as a neurological agent is a competitive muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist. The meaning of that mouthful is that atropine has an effective and specific way of interfering with the communication of information within the nervous system, and not just to the eye, but also throughout the body. As a result, the plant Atropa belladona (from which atropine is derived) is extremely toxic when ingested.
Atropine and other compounds in the plant disrupt the parasympathetic nervous system, which is charged with maintaining various involuntary processes including breathing and heart rate. The effective disruption of these vital processes is why the plant is also sometimes called deadly nightshade. Belladonna was also used historically as a cosmetic to dilate the pupils for the purposes of appearing more seductive. Indeed the name “bella donna” comes from the Italian for beautiful woman. The drops that I had received were not atropine - its slow degradation can result in dilations longer than a week, making it a poor choice for eye exams; but the compound used likely had similar selective effects on my eyes’ parasympathetic functioning. Today the effects of atropine are utilized medically in certain eye diseases, for resuscitation of certain conditions like an extremely low heart rate, and as treatment for organophosphate poisoning.
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JOURNEYS WITH PERSPECTIVE
It is undeniable that something is seriously wrong with our world. In every direction, the polarity of war reveals its presence. We war with each other, we are at war with the planet, and we even war with ourselves. It is hard to believe such animosity could derive from such a creative, resilient and resourceful species as Man, but this is the issue we are faced with. What I find most discomforting and in fact, sickening, is the amount of people that idly sit by and do nothing, while the world around them burns from injustice. It is that fear, that shadow if you will, that prevents us from confronting reality.
We are not as ignorant as we once were, but rather feigning blindness by assuming a state of denial. Our mental programming has us looking to the future with worry or anxiety, remembering the past with guilt or embarrassment, but not once adequately addressing the present situation. The truth is, now is all we have (all we will ever have), and our suffering lies dependent on our participation (or lack thereof). It is not in meditation or savior scenarios (or even technology for that matter) that hides the solution, but in self-responsibility, unity, and action. It is ultimately about respecting others with compassion.
Igor Angelovski
And true respect for others comes only with respecting one’s Self. This Self-respect, honouring your very essence unconditionally and with full integrity, is the direct result of understanding your place in the Universe. In fact, the knowledge that everything interacts and is connected by an all-pervasive field of energy, that an atom is only a 10,000th of 1 percent physical, that you are Consciousness itself and your body only an intelligent vessel; all of it is enough to cause a greater appreciation for all of Existence and help you recognize the immense inner power you (and every other person) hold. The power to create whatever experience you desire, be it prison or paradise. So on what kind of planet do we want the next generation to grow? What we have now before us? Or something more worthy of our unlimited potential? If you are reading this and truly comprehend what it means to live without the fear that divides each and every one of us, you are the resistance. You are the ones who will cast off old paradigms that perpetuate our destructive ways and shift into a frequency of empowerment. It is now at this point in history that we discover who we truly are, what we are meant to achieve, and how deeply wrong we’ve been all this time. Mitakuye Oyasin.
Primer - a film review Shane Shane Carruth haseasily easily been oneone of the underdogunderdog science fiction directors of the 21st century.of He’s directed only two films: Carruth has been ofintelligent, the intelligent, science fiction directors the 21st centuone being Primer (2004) and other recently released (2013), whichrecently have wonreleased numerous awards. Before becoming ry. He’s directed onlythetwo films: one beingUpstream Primer Color (2004) and both the of other Upstream Color a film director, Carruth majored in mathematics, a field which definitely lends to the incredible complexity of this film. In one word, this film is (2013), both of which have won numerous awards. Before becoming a film director, Carruth was majored DEEP. If you thought Inception, Looper, or, Memento were complex and more layered than your mother’s lasagna, then you’d be severely misinPrimer mathematics, fieldinwhich lends to theany incredible complexity of this taken. is a film thata takes the ideadefinitely of time travel far beyond physical restrictions, exhibiting thefilm. main characters’ self-destructive, perfection-aspiring theirthought newly found discovery. Looper, or, Memento were complex and more In one word,attributes, this filmasismirrored DEEP. Ifinyou Inception, layered than your mother’s lasagna, then you’d be severely mistaken. Primer is a film that takes in the idea Why is this film so incredible? Firstly, this is a rare film that exhibits time travelling with such gravitas. During the film, the two main of time travel far beyond any physical restrictions, exhibiting the main characters’ self-destructive, perfeccharacters Abe and Aaron use their machine, being extremely wary of any causality effects. This simply means taking precautions while time tion-aspiring attributes, as as mirrored in double their newly found discovery. travelling to avoid such consequences seeing their and allowing others to see them twice. Interestingly enough, every time the two enter the machine they create body doubles, increasing the number of timelines in this movie. So in other words, while the events are happening on screen, there least so 10 timelines occurring simultaneously thatfilm are all relevant to the time plot. The second major this film is its realism. Why is are thisatfilm incredible? Firstly, this is a rare that exhibits travelling withfeature suchofgravitas. This During film isn’t set in a high-tech research facility, it’s set in everyman Aaron’s humble garage. Another aspect of the film is its technical jargon. The the film, the two main characters Abe and Aaron use their machine, being extremely wary of any idea of time travel is inspired by Feynman Diagrams to which the movie masterfully makes use of some hard physics dialogue. Remarkably, Primer was created on a $7000 budget. It’s even written, directed, and produced by Shane Carruth (a feat in itself). The “Indie” quality of this film becomes especially apparent with the fact that the actors were Carruth’s friends and family. Did you know that Carruth composed and edited the movie soundtrack as well? In an interview he stated that he’d almost given up on Primer due to the surmounting amount of work that was involved. Thankfully, he did complete this film which went on to win the Grand Jury Prize in the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
30 Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrators
Currently, there is a lot of interest in the potential applications of such an invention since, as lead researcher Richard Lunt puts it, “It opens a lot of area to deploy solar energy in a non-intrusive way. It can be used on tall buildings with lots of windows or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality. Ultimately we want to make solar harvesting surfaces that you do not even know are there.” The project team is now working to increase the solar conversion efficiency of the transparent LSC in order to match the conventional solar panels, which absorb a wider range of wavelengths.
Material engineers from Michigan State University have produced window-like electrical generators, also referred to as luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), which are solar-powered and do not diminish visibility, while still possessing an aesthetically pleasing form. The researchers were able to achieve this design by having the LSC absorb ultraviolet and near infrared wavelengths of light and transmitting them as infrared light, which directs the photovoltaic cell to produce electricity. The LSC remains transparent only because these light wavelengths are far beyond our powers of perception.
Water Tractor Beam
It sounds like something from science fiction, but scientists of the Australian National University in Canberra have created a wave generator intended for maneuvering objects that are less dense than water. Their experiment involved a floating table tennis ball that was effectively directed by the frequency of the generator’s wave patterns, producing a “tractor beam” phenomenon. Their research was published in Nature magazine, where they stated the technology as having potential in certain situations such as controlling manmade marine pollution, namely oil spills and floating debris.
Another application could lie in helping people safely evacuate sinking or stranded ships by manipulating rescue boats. One of the researchers, professor Michael Shats stated, “We have figured out a way of creating waves that can force a floating object to move against the direction of the wave.” However, even more fascinating is the statement made by lead scientist Dr. Horst Punzmann that no mathematical model exists to explain this phenomenon. “We realized that particle motion on the surface, determined by waves, is far too complex to handle by any existing theory,” added professor Shats.
Acoustic Cell Sorter
Researchers from MIT, Pennsylvania State University, and Carnegie Mellon University have now made it possible to arrange cells flowing in a channel through their exposure to sound waves. The sorting device is only the size of a dime, but it offers a much more practical method of organizing cells than tagging them with chemicals or applying strong mechanical force on them. The sorter is currently pending for a patent as it has demonstrated an ability to separate cancer cells
(and therefore detect extremely rare tumour cells) from white blood cells, hopefully one day helping doctors predict whether or not a tumour will become malignant. Subra Suresh (senior author of the study) says, “This method is a step forward for detection of circulating tumor cells in the body. It has the potential to offer a safe and effective new tool for cancer researchers, clinicians and patients.”
Toyota FV2 This is a concept car from the Japanese automaker that is supposed to enhance the driving experience, not from a safety and performance standpoint, but from an emotional one. That’s right! This car may look out-of-this-world on the surface, however during operation it has a remarkable capability to distinguish the mental states of the driver. It accomplishes this by it
being laden with software analysis, voice-recognition technology and advanced monitoring systems. Another fascinating aspect of the vehicle is how it changes colour depending on your mood. It’s kind of like being in a 4-wheeled Iron Man suit every day you need to get from point A to point B.
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The Optical Cleanse
By: Johnny Zhang
Today, we have come a long way from Gregor Mendel’s pea plant experiments, dawning a new era of knowledge in genetic inheritance. I’m sure crossing lines for our Punnett squares in high school biology class made us all masters of Mendelian Inheritance, but in the world of humans, genetics rarely play by simple rules. The genetics of eye colour determination has long been debated amongst scientists until the 21st century when it was discovered to be influenced by multiple genes – that is to say, eye colour is polygenic. Multiple genes determine the amount of melanin that is present in the stroma of the iris. Eyes are brown or black when it is present and are blue or green when it isn’t. Current methods of changing eye colour include wearing coloured contacts, undergoing surgery, and in rare circumstances, transplantation. Dr. Gregg Homer, founder of Stroma Medical Corporation, has developed a new way to permanently change the colour of your iris. The procedure permanently alters the amount of melanin covering the iris to effectively destroy the brown pigment (melanin) and reveals the underlying colour which can be blue, green, or grey. Drawing from laser technology used for correcting vision, he breaks this delicate pigment into pieces allowing it to freely float around the front of the eye. Macrophages, the body’s iconic white blood cells, sweep across this area to engulf the pigment as part of its cleaning routine. Over a period of two weeks, the iris becomes lighter and lighter until all of the pigment clears, leaving the resultant colour. Although the procedure is still currently going through clinical trials to ensure no adverse effects take place, Dr. Homer has already set the price at $5,000 for both eyes. He highlighted many reasons people would want lighter coloured eyes including the fact that people often show their attraction to another with an enlarged pupil, which is easier to see with clearer eyes. Dr. Macdonald, professor of ophthalmology, also noted the exotic appeal of lighter eyes in many places around the world. When it comes to cosmetic procedures, the Stroma Procedure would be one of the least invasive once it enters commercialization. In a society where we deem millions of years of genetic inheritance as inadequate in terms of beauty, we have created the technology to alter our perceived defects. Whether for apparent sexual selection advantage or just for pure aesthetics, you can bet that there are customers lining up for it. Would you change your eye colour?
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