Sunday, November 28, 2010

Telomerase Reverses Aging Process


By Ewen Callaway
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/04/medical-experiments-on-mice

   "Premature aging can be reversed by reactivating an enzyme that protects the tips of chromosomes, a study in mice suggests."
   "Mice engineered to lack the enzyme, called telomerase, become prematurely decrepit. But they bounced back to health when the enzyme was replaced. The finding, published online November 28 in Nature, hints that some disorders characterized by early aging could be treated by boosting telomerase activity. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)"
   "It also offers the possibility that normal human aging could be slowed by reawakening the enzyme in cells where it has stopped working, says Ronald DePinho, a cancer geneticist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, who led the new study. "This has implications for thinking about telomerase as a serious anti-aging intervention."
  "Other scientists, however, point out that mice lacking telomerase are a poor stand-in for the normal aging process. Moreover, ramping up telomerase in humans could potentially encourage the growth of tumors."

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Why do wintergreen mint lifesavers spark in your mouth?

Have you ever eaten a wintergreen lifesaver in the dark when someone else was watching? If so, they saw a green spark while you were chewing it. this is why you see it:


http://www.candyfavorites.com/blog/tag/spark/


"Triboluminescence

  • Wintergreen mints of all types emit light when the candy is bitten into. The light may be very faint, but it can occasionally be spectacular. The effect, called triboluminescence, is due to the electrical charge that builds up within the crystalline structure of the sugar within the candy. The triboluminescence occurs when the electrical charge is violently released as the structure of the crystals is broken. Of course, it isn't just sugary candies that produce this light; when anything is torn or broken, the same thing can occur. When atoms are forced violently apart, they lose a larger portion of their electrons far more quickly than normal. As the electrons search for balance, they bounce around until they find somewhere to rest.

  • Wintergreen Oil

  • When the atoms are crushed, the electrons are forced out of their atomic orbits. These electrons collide with air molecules and the electrons transfer a portion of their energy in the collision. Because there is an excess of energy, a portion of that energy is emitted as visible light. With wintergreen mints, this visible light is bright blue, and while there isn't very much of it, it is extremely bright. The more pieces of candy that are crushed at one time, the greater the amount of atomic damage, and the more spectacular the light show. Wintergreen mints will emit a greater than normal amount of visible light because the wintergreen oil is fluorescent. The oil within the candy emits the light that is of a longer wavelength, and more easily seen by the human eye. The interesting thing about the wintergreen oil is that it absorbs the shorter wavelength light that is typically emitted and emits the longer wavelengths in its place. That's why the wintergreen candies will emit a much stronger "spark" than other candies."



  • Read more: Why Do Wintergreen Mints Spark in Your Mouth? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5164047_do-wintergreen-mints-spark-mouth.html#ixzz15gXk9ZV9




    http://myweb.lmu.edu/jphillips/201_F02/week1/fri1.html

    Tuesday, November 16, 2010

    "What do you see" experiment results

    None of the answers were the same! everyone who participated in the experiment saw different things for each photo. Do you see what they saw? Thanks to all the people who participated!




    RESULTS:

    #1: cracked metal

    Petrified wood
    Part of a car, or a prosthetic leg
    a picture of a sunken ship in water upside down
    a turtles head


    #2: ivy leaves

    Ivy leaves
    Ivy leaves
    underwater planty stuff


    #3: Bacteria art

    ferns
    plant roots
    an old button with feathers coming off
    something too small to see without a microscope


    #4: sunspot

    sea urchin
    part of a flower, or a UFO
    a bunch of seeds
    the inside of a flower


    #5: bacteria

    worms
    scary aliens
    oil stuff in water
    some sort of very small worm

    Monday, November 8, 2010

    The science behind brushing 2-3 times a day

    Have you ever wondered why your parents tell you to brush every day, twice a day? I mean, apart from the obviou. I found some sights in which I took a few quotes from to help explain why doctors and parents tell you to brush 2-3 times a day.

    "The study published Friday in the British Medical Journal found that individuals with poor oral hygiene have a 70 percent increased risk of heart disease compared with people who brush twice
    daily." http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/28/brush-your-teeth-save-your-heart/?hpt=Sbin

    "7 Reasons to Brush Your Teeth Twice a Day

    1.Fluoride
    2.Bacteria
    3.Saliva production
    4.prevent tartar build up
    5.protect gums
    6.fresh breath
    7.improved overal health
    "When you brush before going to bed it’s a first line of defense against the formation of cavities while you sleep."

    Read more: http://www.sanedentist.com/7-reasons-to-brush-your-teeth-twice-a-day.html#ixzz14kC6dt5t

    "Failure to brush your teeth twice a day increases risk of heart disease"

    What do you see?

    I'm not looking for a certain answer, just tell me what you see in these photos.
    Please don't look at the links until you have finished guessing.
    post what you see in the comments section below! thx
    example answer:
    COMMENTS PAGE


    1. a cracker
    2. a clown
    3. an apple
    4. a soda bottle
    5. someone doing CPR on an old guy
    (but put what you really think, not jokes)

    1.
    link is here

    2.
    link is here

    3.
    link is here

    4.
    link is here

    5.
    link is here