ScienceBlog.ie

As a freelance web writer, I spend much of my time reading various online media sources from
the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to the Guardian and more. Whenever I’m reading
through news articles, I’m always curious to find out, what, exactly, has grabbed everyone’s
attention. Scrolling down to the “most viewed” section, I’ve found that the most popular reads
tend to be those focused on health.

While this is understandable, considering the developed world’s newfound obsession with
healthy lifestyles, I’m amazed by how all these stories are essentially the same. One common
story tells readers that consuming X will decrease your chances of getting Y deadly disease
by Z%. Or how about the “contrary to findings in previous studies, X isn’t (or is) bad for you
after all” story? Then there’s the common formulation “taking X supplement improves Y bodily
function.” You get the picture.

That’s why I was delighted to hear about the recent American publication of
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, written by science writer and psychiatrist
Ben Goldacre. Goldacre, who has written a weekly column for the Guardian for several years
now, also called Bad Science, knowledgeably demonstrates how we are daily bombarded by
misleading studies that sound convincing simply because they are decorated with “science-y”
language. He also teaches the average reader, who may not be as adept at evaluating scientific
studies, how to decipher which studies and claims stand up to the rigorous logic and proof
required of sound scientific inquiry.

Goldacre writes with unsurpassable wit that makes the book a quick read. You’ll be having so
much fun following the author on his crusades against misleading health claims, that you won’t
even realize you’re learning valuable information. In one example, Goldacre shows how footbath
detox treatments typically offered at salons are completely useless. He also skewers nutritionists
who try to claim ownership (and make money) from common sense advice like eating more
vegetables and exercising. Most importantly, Goldacre demonstrates how misinterpretations and
misleading statements stamped with the seal of scientific rhetoric can be downright dangerous.

In an age when general science literacy is particularly weak, Goldacre’s book is a breath of fresh
air on the popular science writing scene, and is a must-read for anyone looking to become a more
informed consumer. As the Independent noted in its review of the book: “Thousands of books
are enjoyable; many are enlightening; only a very few will ever rate as necessary to social health.
This is one of them.”

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Kitty Holman, who writes on the topics of nursing schools.
She welcomes your comments at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.

Happy Friday Baseball fans. With the opening day of the 2010 baseball season less than a week away (Opening game is a big one – April 4th, Sox v Yankees, 1am Irish time – be there!), this is as good a time as any to do a baseball book review. But it’s also sceintific!

Moneyball is one of the best selling sports books of all time. It is subtitled “The Art of Winning an Unfair Game” and it chronicles the paradigm shift to a then newly touted science technique called “sabermetrics”, which was brought in to the game in 2002, and began the transition of baseball from the historical way of scouting players to the new technique which involved statistics, statistics and you guessed it more statistics. It was the brain child of the newly installed manager of the (at the time) unsuccessful Oakland Athletics (locally known as the A’s – how do they come up with them), which rethought the basis on which a selector scouted for potential players. Traditionally a value was put on traits such as foot speed, defence and strength but this new system identified success based on stats for results  - such as the ability to get on base.

The story revolves around Billy Beane, a former player who has taken over the A’s, a team with little to no money compared to the powerhouses of LA, Boston and New York. It specifically focuses on the 2002 draft, the process of acquiring new players, and examines how Billy and his team are using these new techniques as opposed to the old school baseball scouting methods. For a game steeped so long in tradition, it was a bold and brave move to employ such an outside the box technique, and it is set against the entertain backdrop of Billy and his team (of statistical misfits), it makes for a fascinating page-turner.

I listened to the audio book recently (after having read the book a couple of years ago), and there are some genuinely laugh out loud moments. You will also find yourself Googling Kevin Youkilis, a fat slow third baseman, who earned himself the title of “the Greek God of Walks.” I especially love the part where Scott Hatteberg, a rookie in his first major league match steps up to bat and ended up geting whats known as easy double (essentially walks to 2^nd base). However, his childhood idol Don Mattingly was the first baseman for the Yankees that day and was not long from retirement. So to the shock of everyone in the stadium, Hatty stops on the first base bag instead, just so he can grab a few moments with the great man. You will find yourself trying to find pictures of “The Creature” a guy drafted without ever being seen, just because he seemed like a bargain. You will try to search for the events of Sept 4th, 2002 in Oakland on Youtube. You will try to find pictures of Chad Bradford scraping his knuckles as he pitches. And all your searches will add a little entertainment to your day!

It’s considered one of the best sports books of all time, and is oft cited by business leaders who are searching for alternatives ways around old problems. Highly recommended and you don’t need to be a baseball nut to appreciate. Far from it, although there is a risk you will become one!

To read more on baseball, check out Ireland’s best sports blog, dedicated to American sports.

Also coming soon to a cinema near you in 2011, Moneyball the movie – link.

-Brian (bhc at lifescience.ie)

Battery life decreases during in the cold.
Some studies suggest 20-40% reduction, although in modern batteries this is only temporary. This is due the the atoms (or ions in the case of batteries) randomly moving at a slower pace. We must thus impart them with more energy to make them move. A representation is trying to get something over a hill. We need to impart force to get them is, and after the crest of the hill they can “travel” the rest themselves. Thus the crest represents a threshold which must be crossed be movement is imparted. The cold weather essentially increases the steepness of the slope on the “hill.”

Salt lowers the melting point of water.
Link. Also, seemingly grit has little to no effort on it’s own, it’s simply used to bulk up the salt being spread and it serves as a physical sidekick to help mash the salt into the ice. This is because the rock salt is practically useless if it’s just sitting on top of the ice.

View from the top of the world’s tallest tower (Burj Dubai) – Youtube link

And to finsih: How long is a piece of string?

-Brian (bhc at lifescience dot ie)

This week we’re in Christmas mood and looking at the Science of the carious aspects of Christmas and Santa Claus. We will attempt to answer the following:
-How can Santa get down the chimney?
-How is Rudolf’s nose red?
-The logistics behind the day itself.
-How can reindeer fly?

Right, plenty of work ahead so let’s get cracking!
-How can Santa get down the chimney?
OK, we know he’s not a small man, so let’s focus on his possible flexibility. Scientifically called hypermobility, this is a function which allows people to move the3ir joints in irregular ways. Factors which Santa must therefore possess are shallow ball & socket joints, supple ligaments, toned muscles (maybe underneath the insulating fat?) and ironically enough, a bad sense of joint movement.
Given his girth, we need to examine whether Santa can squeeze his girth down the chimney itself, given his relative girth. An average chimney size seems to be 14″/16″ diameter. We’ll give him some wiggle room and say 16″. Calculating the circumference (2 x pi x radius) give 50.24 inches. Let’s assume Santa is 6’3″ (he looks like a tall guy) and 300lbs (seems about right…). This would bring his waist size to about 44″s. So technically it IS possible for him to fit down a large chimney!

-How is Rudolf’s nose red?
Simple. Flourescent proteins! Red fluorescent proteins have been isolated from coral organisms, we would therefore have to assume that some sort of freak genetic mutation has morphed the epidermal proteins on Rudolf’s nose.

-The logistics behind the day itself.
As Christmas is only celebrated by a number of religions, and in places like Denmark they celebrate Christmas on the 24th Dec, Santa has more than 24hrs to play with. He has at least 31 hours due to the timezones, if we say he can Denmark and some other countries out of the way on the 24th in the evening, let’s say he has 42 hours in total. Figures:
~390m millions children in total
3.5 kids per household = 93.5m houses (assumes >1 good kid in each)
681 houses / second. Pretty unlikely……

-How can reindeer fly?
Given there are 30,000 undiscovered species in our world, it is possible that flying reindeer do exist. The vacuum force theory is also in existence here.
Speed is an issue, the reindeer would have to move so fast they would burn up almost instantaneously. To combat this Santa uses a protective ion-shield created with a very large magnetic field.

Some good links:
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

http://www.chainreactionbicycles.com/santaclaus.htm

http://www.physorg.com/news2487.html

If you have any further questions do let us know – we’ll try our best to discover the truth!

-Brian (bhc at lifescience dot ie)

A couple of favourites from college and friends working in Science (apologies in advance!)

2 Hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. 1 stops and says:
“Oh no, I’ve lost my electron!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m positive.”

A bacterium walks into a bar, and heads towards the barman.
Barman: “Oi, no bacteria allowed in here.”
Bacterium: “It’s OK, I’m Staph!”

A guy walks up to a barman in London.
“Can I have a pint of adenosine triphosphate?”
Barman: “Sure, that’ll be 80p”

Bear walks into a bar and asks for a beer
Barman says “we don’t serve bears, get out”
Bear gets angry, says gimme a beer!
Barman still refuses
Bear says “if you don’t serve me I’m gonna eat that woman in the corner”
Barman still refuses
So the bear eats the woman and returns to the bar
“now gimme a beer!”
Barman says “we don’t serve drug addicts, get out”
Bear goes what are you talking about
That was the bar b1tch you ate

(hattip to xkcd (pic) and @tomlau)

Interesting article coming from a number of sources who say the Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has flown to Serbia to visit a housewife who claims to have magical healing powers by way of utilising fluid from a placenta to massage.

Sources include the Irish Independent, The Daily Mail and other online sources. Funnily enough, Indo states that the fluid is human of origin, whereas the other sources state its horse placental fluid. You’d have to believe it was the latter and that someone in the Indo is “slightly” mistaken.  RvP’s injury has come from a tackle from Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in a recent Holland v Italy match. As the fluid is only used superfluously, you would think that the actual type of fluid (placental vs. say Fastum massage gel) wouldn’t make much of a difference, as the ankle region doesn’t have the most absorbent of skin, and anything absorbed surely wouldn’t get into the ligamental area in any great concentration. Not much is known of the “witchdoctor” in Belgrade, but two of RvP’s former teammates have made miraculous recoveries, with Danko Lazovic making a recover in one week from a hamstrong injury which was expected in five weeks. Orlando Engelaar had a simialr recovery.

With RvP not expected back until Christmas, it will be itnerested to see if we see him pull on the Arsenal shirt sooner than this. Arsenal fans will certainly be hoping so.

-Brian (brian dot c at lifescience dot ie)

Trinity Biotech plc is a public company (NASDAQ: TRIB) with manufacturing facilities in Bray, Ireland, Jamestown, New York and Carlsbad, California.The company specialises in the development, manufacture and marketing of diagnostic products which utilise immunoassay technologies. Trinity markets over 120 products through distributors in 80 countries.

The company was formed in 1992 and attained its first full year of profit in 1997. Trinity Biotech has expanded through a combination of internal and acquisition-led growth.

Through a combination of in-house R & D and acquisitions, the company has assembled an impressive product portfolio and achieved an excellence in developing, manufacturing and marketing quality products that meet market demands. Its product range utilises immunoassay techniques, which have been employed to develop tests in five main formats. One-step rapid tests which utilise the company’s proprietary Uni-Gold™ Technology, multiple tests on Microtitre plates, Western Blot, immunofluorescence and coagulation

In Bray you can find  Trinity Biotech’s central manufacturing site.  342 staff specialise in the production of the Point of Care, RIA, Haemostasis Reagents, Clinical Chemistry and Immunofluorescence ranges.

One of the biggest advantages to being able to use a cell phone as a scientific tool is the ability for underdeveloped nations to have fairly easy access to the same means as those more advanced. Here are 5 applications already available for use in tandem with a cell phone.

1 – Temperature Sensor Tags

Using either RFDC (Radio Frequency Identification Based Sensor
Networks) or battery operated sensors; the temperature of an object can be detected within 1 degree of accuracy. Having this technology available using cell phones could serve to be a great asset to the military, geologist, or just someone wanting to know if their child is too sick to go to school. Because Sensor tags can withstand extreme temperatures ranging from -80 degrees C to 200 degrees C, a mobile devise might provide data for a condition that is too dangerous for a human to physically endure, provided the phone itself can withstand these conditions as well.

2 – Weight Management

With the technology to manage your weight on your cell phone by linking it to a scale, pedometer and the doctor’s office, it might be possible to get a handle on the nation’s obesity problem. By combining some of the more popular applications such as grocery shopping and learning reminders with SMS messages sent to your phone, this would create a fully customizable weight management system accessible 24 hours a day. One advantage when linked directly to your doctor’s office, this gives you a virtual telemedical experience.

3 – Ultrasound Machine.

The future of determining the sex of your unborn child might be in the palm of your hand. Ultrasound probes for cell phones are already available to the public, but it likely will still be some time before you can walk into your local pharmacy and purchase one for personal use. Washington University research engineers have developed an application that allows for a cellular telephone to act as an Ultrasound Machine. This is done by using a USB ultrasound probe.
The possibilities for the future with this development are exciting and could give underdeveloped nations a great opportunity for better care.

4 – Microscope

The cell phone finally can live up to its name, the “Cell” phone. Now it has the ability to do exactly what it claims. An advance in cell screening technology was born at University of California, Berkeley
and has landed a new home within this household mobile device. What
started out as a challenge from a professor to his students has turned into a device called “CellScope” and has the capability to diagnose and research worldwide diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and Sickle Cell Anemia in places this formerly was not a reality.

5 – Heart Monitor

Microsoft has partnered with a team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh to develop a heart monitor that is powered by your cell phone. This application will have the ability to monitor a patient’s cardiac activity and send information to the individual’s medical records and health care providers. It even has the capability to call
911 and alert emergency medical technicians in the event of a dangerous drop in activity.

Most cell phones now hold more computing power than desktop computers did just a couple decades ago, a new revolution has begun to surface.
With the ability to enhance rather than limit Scientific Research, cell phones use will surely grow and become a necessity for the field of research.

This post was submitted by Elise Degrass, who writes about free cell phones for Cell Phones.org.

Propofol is very short acting hypnotic agent used to induce general anesthesia and to maintain patients who are mechanically ventilated. For those of you who have undergone general anesthesia, the milky white liquid is probably the last thing you see prior to being knocked out – as once injected propofol will induce unconsciousness in around 10 seconds. Due to its ability to impair memory while under its influence and its appearance as a white liquid, propofol is jokingly called “milk of amnesia” by medical professionals. Interestingly, Michael called propofol his “milk”.

It has several mechanisms of action, both through potentiation of GABA-A receptor activity, thereby slowing the channel closing time, and also acting as a sodium channel blocker. Recent research has also suggested the endocannabinoid system may contribute significantly to propofol’s anesthetic action and to its unique properties.

So What Went Wrong?

As with most cases of this kind, although propofol was the actual coup de grace, it was the combination of multiple drug interactions which ultimately led to Michael’s death. In a report released today, Michael was actually dosed with a 10-milligram tab of Valium (diazepam, a long-acting benzodiazepine) at 1.30am, followed by injections including two milligrams of lorazepam (a medium-acting benzodiazepine) around 2 a.m., two milligrams of midazolam (an ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine) around 3 a.m., and repeats of each at 5 a.m. and 7.30 a.m. respectively. That’s a lot of benzodiazepines!

Finally, at 10.40am, 25 milligrams of propofol was administered and Michael was dead within 10 minutes, most likely from respiratory depression caused by the interaction of high doses of benzodiazepines and propofol.

Alas, a totally avoidable death due to medical negligence on the part of a physician giving in to the demands of a patient.

- Eamonn

Ahhhh drink!

Hangovers International: (Country Term Cure)

Germany: katzenjammer, (“a wailing of cats.”) Sour herring

France: la gueule de bois,   Onion soup

Mexico: Cruda (“raw”) Menudo – Tripe soup with chilli

Sicilian: Sbronzo Espresso (and lots of it)

Polish Kac, Sour Pickle

Endeavours to cure ‘an poit’ exist all over the world. Whether it’s Ancient Romans deep fried canaries, Ancient Greeks owl eggs (and sheep lungs) or Haitian-Voodoo’s method of finding the last bottle you drank from and sticking black pins into the cork… many others may have scientific merit.

Water of course is needed to replace the amount excreted, bananas are good source to replace the potassium lost, and fruit juice to bring blood sugar levels back up and also other nutrients that were lost. Eggs are also a good one as they contain cysteine which helps to break down the toxins into the less harmful acetic acid that is lurking around in your liver. Other constitutes of a traditional fry do not help unfortunately and particularly won’t help the sensitive stomach. Trying to replace vital nutrients will help speed up the process but will not cure them.

A ’curer’ or ‘hair of the dog’ does alleviate the symptoms for a short while but does not get rid of them. When you consume another unit of alcohol the next day your body ceases breaking down the toxins from the night before and begins to work on the toxins that just entered your liver. So the relief will last for the amount of time it takes your liver takes to breakdown them down (an hour per unit of alcohol). The hangover will eventually come back to haunt you.

So if it’s Bloody Mary’s, Black Velvets or rabbit-poo tea (a favourite amongst the cowboys of the Wild West apparently), or turning around 3 times chanting “REVOGNAH” with a cabbage on your head; there is no irrefutable cure. But any suggestions are very much welcome.

One of the main suspects of a hangover and a recurring cause of the symptoms is dehydration. As a preventative it is recommended to drink water after each alcoholic drink; one to replace the water lost in urination (it’s slightly important to do this…) and two to give you a break for a moment to break down the toxins.

A nice way (if you like Maths) to work out what you’re doing to yourself if you over indulge (and a possible way to make you order a glass of water while waiting for your real drink to come) is to work out your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) on an average night of drinking:

1 unit of alcohol is a drink that contains approximately 10grams of alcohol.
500ml can of average beer is = 2 units
12 % A bottle of wine = 9 units
Small glass of wine = 1 unit
Short of spirit = 1 unit
(To calculate the units in a particular drink just multiply the percentage alcohol by the amount being consumed and divide by 1000 e.g. 500ml can of Tuborg is 4% so 500 X 4 = 2000 / 1000 = 2 units)
Calculation 1
Work out the number of (standard) drinks you have consumed and multiply by 10. This tells you how many grams of alcohol you have consumed.
Example: Brian goes out on a Saturday night and drinks a silly 30units X 10 = 300
Niamh goes out too but is a lady and drinks only 15 units X 10 = 150

Calculation 2
Multiply the number of hours you have been drinking by 7.5 grams (the average rate of elimination of alcohol from the body).
Brian and Niamh both drink over 5.5 hours X 7.5g = 41.25g per hour

Step 3
Subtract Step 2 from Step 1.
Brian: 300 – 41.25 = 258.75
Niamh: 150 – 41.25g = 108.75

Calculation 4
Multiply your weight in kilograms by 6.8 if you are male, or 5.5 if you, are female.
Brian: 6.8 x 80kg = 544
Niamh: 6.8 x 54kg = 367.2

Calculation 5
Divide Step 3 by Step 4 to give your approximate BAC.

Brian BAC: 258.75 / 544 = 0.48
Niamh BAC: 108.75 / 367.2 = 0.3

0.02 – 0.03 Legal definition of intoxication in R.I. for people under 21 years of age. Few obvious effects; slight intensification of mood.
0.05 – 0.06 Feeling of warmth, relaxation, mild sedation; exaggeration of emotion and behavior; slight decrease in reaction time and in fine-muscle coordination; impaired judgment about continued drinking.
0.07 – 0.09 More noticeable speech impairment and disturbance of balance; impaired motor coordination, hearing and vision; feeling of elation or depression; increased confidence; may not recognize impairment.
0.08 Legal definition of intoxication in R.I. for people 21 years and older.
0.11 – 0.12 Coordination and balance becoming difficult; distinct impairment of mental faculties and judgment.
0.14 – 0.15 Major impairment of mental and physical control; slurred speech, blurred vision and lack of motor skills; needs medical evaluation.
0.20 Loss of motor control; must have assistance moving about; mental confusion; needs medical assistance.
0.30 Severe intoxication; minimum conscious control of mind and body; needs hospitalization.
0.30 – 0.60 This level of alcohol has been measured in people who have died of alcohol intoxication.
0.40 Unconsciousness; coma; needs hospitalization.

The body reduces its BAC level at the rate of about .0 15 each hour after drinking has stopped.

To calculate how many hours it will take for your body to remove the alcohol and bring you back to zero BAC after you have stopped drinking, divide BAC by 0.015.
Brian: 0.48 / 0.015 = 32 hours (dear god)
Niamh 0.3 / 0.015 = 20 hours (no longer a lady)

This is only an approximation, the rate at which your body breaksdown alcohol is different for everyone and the rate of 0.015 only applies to one unit per hour.

-niamhyb