Memory and Magic

I've never really paid much attention to magic tricks, but after considering the mastery it takes to understand and manipulate human psychology, perceptions and assumptions I think it is actually a really valuable art form. Our minds become lazy with assumptions and then our perceptions of the universe and the way things are become limited. It takes all kind of things to shake up our habitual frame of mind and if making something float or disappear cracks someones perspective wide open, then awesome!

To live is to know

I do agree that to live is to know. To believe that cognition is exclusive to systems with a brain seems like a limited perception. Afer all, if cognition involves the bringing forth of a world, aren't we just making judgements on the way things are, based on our own fabricated little world? In that case, there can be no absolute way that things are, because perceptions are always varied. Nonetheless we humans can sometimes tend to think that there is indeed an absolute way and usually it is a very human-centric perspective. If all living systems are a product of nature then it makes sense that they would be connected to their environment and if everything is in a constant state of change, then wouldn't it take cognizance to know how to adapt and evolve according to the varied conditions it experiences?

Spikes Gallery

Psychedelic beauty. I really love how photomicrography can visually illuminate us by showing us things in a way that we do not usually see with the naked eye. Above is a photomicrograph I found of a cancer drug- pretty wild!

Species in my environment

I live in a tiny cottage with a big garden so its more about what's outside than inside. An indoor desert rose plant, some rose bushes, a vine of jasmine, an apple tree, some chickens (belonging to the neigbour but they stick their heads under our fence all the time so I'm counting them), some hanging chillies (I live with a New Mexican) a couple of humans, some redwoods, a weeping cherry blossom tree, a cumquat tree, the occasional racoon, squirrel and opossom, spiders, ants, birds the list goes on..

Nanotech robots deliver gene therapy through blood

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have developed tiny nanoparticle robots that can travel through a patient's blood and into tumors where they deliver a therapy that turns off an important cancer gene.

Health

The finding, reported in the journal Nature on Sunday, offers early proof that a new treatment approach called RNA interference or RNAi might work in people.

RNA stands for ribonucleic acid -- a chemical messenger that is emerging as a key player in the disease process.

Dozens of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including Alnylam, Merck, Pfizer, Novartis and Roche are looking for ways to manipulate RNA to block genes that make disease-causing proteins involved in cancer, blindness or AIDS.

But getting the treatment to the right target in the body has presented a challenge.

A team at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena used nanotechnology -- the science of really small objects -- to create tiny polymer robots covered with a protein called transferrin that seek out a receptor or molecular doorway on many different types of tumors.

"This is the first study to be able to go in there and show it's doing its mechanism of action," said Mark Davis, a professor of chemical engineering, who led the study.

"We're excited about it because there is a lot of skepticism whenever any new technology comes in," said Davis, a consultant to privately held Calando Pharmaceuticals Inc, which is developing the therapy.

Other teams are using fats or lipids to deliver the therapy to the treatment target. Pfizer last week announced a deal with Canadian biotech Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp for this type of delivery vehicle for its RNAi drugs, joining Roche and Alnylam.

In the approach used by Davis and colleagues, once the particles find the cancer cell and get inside, they break down, releasing small interfering RNAs or siRNAs that block a gene that makes a cancer growth protein called ribonucleotide reductase.

"In the particle itself, we've built what we call a chemical sensor," Davis said in a telephone interview. "When it recognizes that it's gone inside the cell, it says OK, now it's time to disassemble and give off the RNA."

In a phase 1 clinical trial in patients with various types of tumors, the team gave doses of the targeted nanoparticles four times over 21 days in a 30-minute intravenous infusion.

Tumor samples taken from three people with melanoma showed the nanoparticles found their way inside tumor cells.

And they found evidence that the therapy had disabled ribonucleotide reductase, suggesting the RNA had done its job.

Davis could not say whether the therapy helped shrink tumors in the patients, but one patient did get a second cycle of treatment, suggesting it might be. Nor could he say if there were any safety concerns.

Davis said that part of the study will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June.

Gene Therapy

My initial reaction to gene therapy is that it seems terribly wrong. Maybe its an old fashioned way of thinking, but it just seems so counterintuitive to be interfering with our make up to such a degree. How do you make sure it goes into the right place and only there? It kind of scares me to think what might happen if mistakes were made in this procedure. Our modern world is developing so many ways to cover up the inevitability of old age, sickness and death as part of the cycle of life. Not to say that one shouldn't seek out ways to help with illness, but the methods seem to be turning extreme in some search for an ultimate perfection. Ashanti's case is a positive example of how gene therapy can be very beneficial, however the fact that it is not a cure and is a process that requires repetition makes me question how sustainable it really is. Plus the fact that at the end of the day, they can't actually pinpoint that it was gene therapy that improved her health really sounds all too vague to say hooray for gene therapy yet.

Biochemistry definiton

Biochemistry is the chemistry of life, a bridge between biology and chemistry that studies how complex chemical reactions give rise to life.
I've noticed many crossovers in our different science classes and the more connections I see between them helps me to build a more useful understanding of how things come to be, how they function and what they look like when broken down to the tiniest level.

Review of Animations

It was interesting to see the various structures of the quicktime animations, but then I checked into some of the categories under "semester 2", such as Nutrition and Energy for life and really liked the way they presented the information. The super simple point form and diagrams broke down all the content very effectively. I would definitely use this for future reference.

Semiconductor of the week- POLONIUM

Polonium (Po) Atomic number 84

-Polonium is a radioactive, extremely rare semi-metal.

-It is reactive, silvery-gray, it dissolves in dilute acids, but it is only slightly soluble in alkalis.

-Polonium was once used in textile mills (to eliminate static charges) and by the manufacturers of photographic plates (in brushes to remove the accumulated dust).

-It is used as a source of alfa-radiation for research and, alloyed with beryllium it can act as a portable source of neutrons, which normally only access to a nuclear reactor can provide.

-Polonium has been found in tobacco smoke from tobacco leaves grown with phosphate fertilizers

-Polonium is the only component of cigarette smoke that has produced cancer by itself in laboratory animals by inhalation - tumors appeared already at a polonium level five times lower than those of a normal heavy smoker.

-Because of its very high toxicity, polonium can be used as a poison such was the case with the poisoning of Alexander Litvineko (former KGB officer)

Balancing Equations tutorial

For some reason, the way this was set up was a bit confusing for me. The way it was explained in class made sense to me and I think I have the hang of balancing these equations but I felt that the online tutorial made it seem a bit more complicated.

Review of Chembalancer

Actually this was pretty fun- my best score was 7 in a row for the Element quiz- not so great, but I got 10/11 in the chembalancer and I really liked the layout because it gives you a chance to see how many atoms you have before committing to the answer.

Update on Chikyu

Since someone has already posted Chikyu's official website with the most up to date info, I thought I would include this link to a video explaining how they are doing the deep sea drilling which is quite helpful for the visual learners.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8064293.stm

What is a Mole?

A mole is unit for measuring large quantities of very small entities like atoms and molecules. A mole is the quantity of anything that has the same number of particles found in 12.000 grams of carbon-12. That number of particles is Avogadro's Number, which is about 6.02x1023.

I could tell that the Mole link did quite a good job at laying out the information, as I did have a few glimmers of comprehension while reading it but I am still not completely confident in my understanding. This is more a matter of my right brain tendencies rather than the link I think.

Week 7 Alkali Earth Metal MAGNESIUM

Magnesium (Mg) atomic number 12

-Magnesium is a silvery-white, light weight metal and is fairly strong.

-Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust although not found in it's elemental form.

-There are massive amounts of magnesium in seawater.

-Magnesium is used in electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops and cameras, for its low weight, good mechanical and electrical properties.

-It is also popularly used for car engine components

-Magnesium is an important element for plant and animal life. It is the metallic ion at the center of Chlorophyll and is commonly used as an additive to fertilizers.

-Magnesium is a highly flammable metal, easy to ignite when powdered or shaved into thin strips, but difficult to ignite in mass or bulk.

-Magnesium metal burns with a very bright light.

-The adult human daily requirement of magnesium is about 0.3 g/ day. Magnesium is a vital component of a healthy human diet. Low levels of magnesium in the body has been associated with the development of a number of human illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

-In 1618, a farmer at Epsom in England attempted to give his cows water from a well. They refused to drink because of the water's bitter taste. However the farmer noticed that the water seemed to heal scratches and rashes. The fame of Epsom salts spread. Eventually they were recognized to be hydrated magnesium sulfate, MgSO4.

Alchemy- science, magic, art- or all three?

Alchemy seems to have many dimensions to it, so I think it could be understood as a science, as magic, art and more. Alchemy explores the nature of substance and its various transformations, but it also was a study of the cosmos and mankind's relationship to the universe. In this sense it took the more scientific aspect of alchemy and applied the ideas to a spiritual context, uncovering an alchemy of one's inner world. Both aspects can be seen as scientific in their experimentation of natural phenomena, but have a creative or artistic element in their act of transformation. I discovered that alchemists would treat the matter they worked with as though it has a consciousness, and would ask it what it was, what kind of life it was, what it was doing, how it felt when melted following the belief that because these materials are within you, you can contact them directly. In this way they had found a method of directly tapping into what we now call the collective unconscious which sounds like a magical process to me.

Halogen of the Week IODINE (I)

Iodine is a bluish-black, lustrous solid. At ambient temperatures it transforms into a blue-violet gas with an irritating odor. It forms compounds with most elements, but is less reactive than the other halogens. Iodine is primarily used in medicine, photography, and dyes. Iodine is rare in the solar system and Earth's crust. Trace amounts of iodine are required by the human body. Iodine is part of thyroxin, a hormone produced by the thyroid gland that controls the body's rate of physical and mental development. A lack of iodine can also cause a goiter, a swelling of the thyroid gland. Iodine is added to salt (iodized salt) to prevent these diseases.

Discovery from the Color of Minerals link

I'd never heard of the mineral Wulfenite (PbMoO4) before. It's colors are red, orange, yellow silver and white and it is found in Morocco, Nambia, Mexico and Arizona and New Mexico. Wulfenite almost always forms in thin tabular crystals. On the large thin plates the prism faces are often irregularly developed so that the crystals are not sharply bounded. What caught my attention is that they mentioned Wulfenite as being a symmetrical enigma. Apparently there are conflicting results in various symmetry tests which is extremely rare. It is either a symmetry of 4 or 4/m.

Colors of foods in my kitchen

Green- Kale, dandelion greens, parsley, celery, apples, pears, avocado, mung beans, seaweed

Orange- Kabocha squash, yams, carrots, apricot jam, lentils

White- Basmati rice, quinoa

Yellow- Split peas, ginger

Black- Black beans

Red- Chili Peppers

Brown- Dates, maple syrup, multi seeded mochi

Inert Gas of the Week HELIUM (He)

-Helium is colorless, odorless and non toxic

-It's boiling points are the lowest among the elements and it exists only as a gas except in extreme conditions

--Next to hydrogen, it is the second most abundant element in universe, and accounts for 24% of the elemental mass of our galaxy.
-Helium is the second lightest element and is the second most abundant in the observable universe, being present in the universe in masses more than 12 times those of all the heavier elements combined. Helium's abundance is also similar to this in our own Sun and Jupiter.
-Helium is commercially recovered from natural gas deposits, mostly from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

-Helium gas is used to inflate blimps, scientific balloons and party balloons. It is used as an inert shield for arc welding, to pressurize the fuel tanks of liquid fueled rockets and in supersonic wind tunnels. Helium is combined with oxygen to create a nitrogen free atmosphere for deep sea divers so that they will not suffer from a condition known as nitrogen narcosis. Liquid helium is an important cryogenic material and is used to study superconductivity and to create superconductive magnets.

Atom Economy

From what I can gather, atom economy is a way to reduce the amount of pollution created in chemical processes by balancing out the amount of reactant atoms with the amount of product generated. The reason this has become part of the 12 principles of green chemistry is the increase in cost of petrochemicals and increased awareness of waste pollution. Industries must have gotten overly excited by the huge profit from consumer demands in the past to only just be considering such a crucial aspect of production now

Just how close are we to a Green Economy?

Well luckily we now have a president who actually considers the environment a priority and is interested in creating a more green economy, so in this sense I think we are getting closer. Obama has put forward various plans with regards to developing wind and solar power, creating more efficiency in homes and government buildings, and more fuel efficient cars and public transport. Although these changes would ultimately be beneficial to the economy, they do require a huge amount of financial input. With all of the damage control that needs to be done, I suspect that even with the President’s best intentions, that this restructuring may not happen as quickly as we might wish. I do see a major cultural change in awareness of the Green movement but I can't decide whether or not the trend of it all is helping or making matters worse. There are so many contradictions behind the green facade. I've read that MacDonalds in Europe is changing its famous golden arches to green to symbolize the efforts they have made to go green but is this just going to make people think, ok I can now eat at Macdonalds and being doing my bit to make a change? And then there are all of these organic supermarket chains that market themselves as being so green but all of the fuel and energy that is wasted to bring the organic food that is not local or seasonal into our supermarkets seems so inconsistent with the image they create. As Michael Pollan points out, there is nothing environmentally friendly or health conscious about Whole Food’s practice of flying asparagus from Argentina in January. I just hope that the trend of it all actually does lead to some real change eventually.

Because Kim Kardashian says so...

Zirconium

Zirconium (Zr) is a greyish-white lustrous metal. Zirconium is used as an alloying agent for material such as surgical appliances, explosive primers, vacuum tube getters and filaments due to its high resistance to corrosion . It is never found as a native metal; it is obtained mainly from the mineral zircon, which can be purified by chlorine. The finely divided metal can ignite spontaneously in air, especially at elevated temperatures. It is industrially processed by the Kroll process developed in 1945, in which zirconium tetrachloride is broken down by magnesium. Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) is used in laboratory crucibles, metallurgical furnaces, and as a refractory material. Zircon (ZrSiO4) is cut into gemstones for use in jewelry.

Review of Vision Learning

This was the site I gravitated towards the most. The format is simple and easy and the highlighted key points were really helpful for someone like me who needs reminding of certain definitions! The pictures and diagrams clearly lay out the various functions and I liked how they had a variety of different styles as well. You need major visual stimulation to wrap your head around science if you have more right brained tendencies.

Covalent Bond Types are like Eating in a Restaurant

I need all the help I can get in understanding chemistry and the analogies were very helpful in figuring out how covalent bonds work. If you are not used thinking in terms of chemical bonds, molecules, atoms and all the rest then it makes it almost impossible to visualize and it seems so abstract. Using examples that we can relate to from our own experience where we can actually comprehend these actions is useful in understanding the nature and behavior of it all.

Tantalum

Tantalum Ta Atomic number 73

-Discovered by Anders Ekeberg in Sweden in 1802

-Tantalum is a shiny, silvery metal which is strong and ducticle. It is almost immune to chemical attack at temperatures below 150 C. It is virtually resistant to corrosion due to an oxide film on its surface

-The main mining areas are Thailand, Australia, Congo, Brazil, Portugal and Canada.

-The demand of tantalum is about 2300 tonnes a year.

-It has a high melting point and is frequently used as a substitute for platinum, which is more expensive.

-Tantalum is used to make components for chemical plants, nuclear power plants, airplanes and missiles.

-Tantalum does not react with bodily fluids or irritate the body and is used to make surgical equipment and surgical sutures as well as implants, such as artificial joints and cranial plates.

-Tantalum is alloyed with steel to increase steel's ductility, strength and melting point.

Review of "Elements, Compounds and Mixtures"

Moving images and bullet point explanations both work well with my brain. Definitely designed for a more visually oriented person and I think the simplicity of their presentation is helpful for people who have a limited understanding of the basics of chemistry.

Palladium

*Palladium (Pd) was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it after the asteroid Pallas which had been discovered 2 years earlier

*Palladium has an atomic number of 46 and an atomic mass of 106.42. It's melting point is 1560 °C and it's boiling point is 2927 °C.

*Palladium is a part of a group of elements known as the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) which also include platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. Of all the PGM's, Palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense.

*It is a naturally white metal that has a luster similar to platinum.

*Palladium does not tarnish in air

*When heated, it becomes soft and ductile. Cold working increases its strength and hardness.

*Palladium is found in many electronics including computers, mobile phones, multi-layer ceramic capacitors, component plating, low voltage electrical contacts, and SED/OLED/LCD televisions. Palladium is also used in dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, and groundwater treatment.

*Palladium plays a key role in the technology used for fuel cells, which combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water.

Ore Deposits of Palladium are rare. The most extensive deposits have been found in
-the norite belt of the Bushveld Igneous Complex in the Transvaal in South Africa,
-the Stillwater Complex in Montana, United States
-the Sudbury District of Ontario, Canada
-the Norilsk Complex in Russia

*In addition to mining, recycling is also a source of palladium, mostly from scrapped catalytic converters (a device used to reduce the toxicity of emissions from an internal combustion engine)

*The numerous applications and limited supply sources of palladium result in palladium drawing considerable investment interest. It is approximately 30 times rarer than gold

*Palladium was used in jewelry when in 1939, platinum was reserved for military use. It was lighter than platinum and being a very malleable metal, stone setting was an easy process. But production of palladium jewelry was largely discontinued after World War II when platinum was was once again permitted to be used as the color can become dull over time, and it doesn't polish as well as platinum.

Week 1 On Pain Medicine

In the article "Pain Medicine Use Has Nearly Doubled" there is a list of reasons why the use of pain medication has increased so dramatically. While they include the issue that there is more need as the population gets older, I found it strange that there was no more discussion on the younger generations and why it is that they are so dependent on this medication in the first place. I recognize that there are certain circumstances where pain medication is incredibly helpful, such as with horrible accidents and intense surgeries, but it seems to me that the scale on which people are suffering and using these pills is very wide. Generally speaking, I think that the influence of tv, internet, video games, fast food and other modern conveniences has caused the U.S. lifestyle to become more lazy and indoor oriented. As a result, our minds and bodies are becoming weaker with not enough physical movement and perhaps too much useless mental input. This can spoil us and make us more susceptible to illness. If we experience even the slightest pain, we don't want to have to make an effort to help ourselves heal, we would rather pop a pill, even if we don't understand what it is really doing to our bodies. Pain and suffering are regarded as inconveniences that we want to cover up, and in our quick fix culture, drugs like Oxycodone seem like an easy solution for making it all go away. Clearly it is not quite doing the trick.