A Trip Down Your Toilet December 10, 2010
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Brain Power, Environment, Human Body, Tough Stuff.Tags: energy, gas, poo, renewable, waste
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Nope, I’m not giving a lesson on plumbing. But I am going to give you the scoop on a secret that starts inside your toilet, all thanks to the crew at Thames Water who are helping people stay warm this winter. What’s this secret? Well, when a toilet takes your daily (or whatever frequency..let’s not go there) offering, all that human gunk can get converted into renewable gas to heat your home.
In fact, my dog Tiko got so excited about this concept, he decided to contribute. Before we see what he got up to though, let’s first find out what’s happening in the bowels of your toilet and then follow it through the twists and turns of the pipes below.
A Good Kind Of Gas
Each time you perch on the toilet, you may soon take heart that you’re not the only one who’s a bit lighter – you’re taking a burden off the environment as well. Approximately 200 homeowners in an English town called Didcot are among the first in the UK to benefit from gas made from their own waste and supplied through the national grid to heat their houses. The future plan is to make this process available throughout the UK.
So why all the fuss to find new sources of energy? Well, the UK has a goal for 2020 to have 15 percent of the energy it produces come from renewable sources. Producing gas in this way is a strong step toward that goal. Oh, and if you’re worried your house will be smelly, fear not! The gas is odorless and your house will remain toasty.
From Flush To Finish
From the time you flush your toilet to the time your house gets heat, it’s around 23 days. Let’s take it step-by-step, based on the procedure and image below that Thames Water has generously shared.
Waste has a bit of a path to travel before making your home warm. But it's worth the trip because it brings the UK closer to its energy goals.
- All the muck from toilets and stuff like sinks and dishwashers gets channeled to the Didcot works. Let me tell you, with 13.8 million customers, it’s a lot of waste!
- Waste gets separated into sludge and water inside settlement tanks
- Water is put through cleaning processes and then back to the environment it goes via a local watercourse
- Sludge goes a different route. It gets heated in massive containers called digesters. All the heat gets anaerobic digestion going, which is where bacteria breaks down biodegradable material. Now, we’re left with biomethane – also called biogas
- The gas gets collected and goes into a gas cleaning machine
- After the biomethane gets cleaned and smells more like normal gas, it goes to the national gas grid
- From here, it’s just like any other gas in the grid. Off it goes to heat up your home and fuel other things like your stove
Tiko Turds
Once Tiko heard about the capabilities of poo, he did what all good and respectable dogs do – he went to relieve himself. But instead of trotting to the door for me to let him outside, he wanted to do his part to help heat up the house. The cheeky mutt raced into the bathroom and plonked himself down on the toilet.
When Tiko found out that human waste from toilets was being used as a renewable source of energy to heat homes, he decided to help out. Now, where's the air freshener?
I appreciate that he’s determined to help the environment but I tried to explain that nobody wants to sit on a toilet seat covered in his fur. He responded by barking at me to close the door because he wanted some privacy.
On second thought, I should be grateful I have such an environmentally conscious dog, even if he is a modest one.
Get Smarter The Dirty Way October 5, 2010
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Brain Power, Human Body, Psychology and Behavior, Tough Stuff.Tags: bacteria, dirt, intelligence, learning, smarter
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Sometimes, intelligence can happen in the dirtiest of places. A new study suggests that exposure to certain kinds of bacteria outside could help improve learning.
Researchers at The Sage Colleges in New York studied Mycobacterium vaccae, which earlier studies showed might have antidepressant properties. In this new study, it seems that M. vaccae could help increase learning behavior. Their work was presented at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.
To learn how the research began, let’s ask some mice.
What Do Mice Say About It?
Why mice? It’s one way to initially test out an idea. If all goes well, then we might see how it affects humans. But to find out what happens when mice get up close and personal to bacteria, we have to take a step back and check out an experiment some other researchers did years ago.
Let’s Start With Dead Bacteria
In an earlier experiment, mice were injected with heat-killed bacteria. It got neurons in their brains growing, which then led to more serotonin – a brain messenger – being released. Serotonin is a member of a chemical crew called neurotransmitters that have all sorts of neat roles.
Can bacteria help learning? Some curious researchers decided to find out.
Time To Try Living Stuff
Since one of serotonin’s roles is to contribute to learning, a different group of researchers wondered if live bacteria could improve learning in mice. They fed the mice some live bacteria and then got the mice to navigate a maze. Another bunch of mice didn’t get the bacteria and still had to do the maze. This way, researchers could compare the two results. So who won?
Fast, Wee Critters
The mice who got live bacteria navigated the maze twice as fast as those who got none. Another cool thing was that those bacteria-guzzling mice showed less anxiety. Imagine if you had to do a maze? You might be nervous too! Researchers think the bacteria helped the mice get less worked up about finding their way out, plus helped them figure it out quicker too.
But do these benefits last? Unfortunately, nope. Three weeks later, researchers tested the mice again, but didn’t give them bacteria. This time, the mice couldn’t do it any faster. We can’t say for sure that this will help humans. But the results tell us that M. vaccae might play a role in learning and anxiety in mammals.
Getting More Out Of Playtime
It could be that when kids spend time outdoors – like during lunchtime – exposure to the bacteria may have some pretty smart benefits. If not, at least you can have fun kicking up some dirt. At my age, I’d probably be considered daft if I do that but maybe the bacteria will balance it all out? Somehow though, I think if my dog Tiko was perched nearby, he’d loudly bark “no.”
Too Young And Too Much June 19, 2010
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Alcohol and Illegal Drugs, Brain Power, Human Body, Nutrition and Health, Think About It.Tags: alcohol, binge drinking, brain, teens
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One drink. Two drinks. Three drinks….seven drinks. Does this sound like you each weekend? It isn’t news that teens can be binge drinkers. Even the wicked hangover the next day isn’t necessarily enough to stop teens – or adults – from going wild on booze. But a new study suggests that binge drinking has some effects on teens that we won’t necessarily see in adults. To understand what researchers discovered, we have to delve into the brain. The monkey brain, that is.
Binge drinkers consume lots of alcohol in a short period of time with the aim of getting drunk. Does this sound like you or someone you know?
Lasting Brain Damage
To find out what binge drinking does to the brain, a group of researchers led by Chitra Mandyam of the Scripps Research Institute in California looked at how the drinking affected normal nerve cell development in the hippocampus, a part of the brain responsible for long-term memory. They used monkeys, an animal with brain development that is very similar to humans. Their work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers gave four adolescent monkeys alcoholic drinks for an hour each day over nearly a year. A couple of months later, the animals were put down so that researchers could compare their brains to monkeys that had not been given alcohol. So, what did they learn?
The binge drinking monkeys had 50 to 90 percent fewer stem cells in their hippocampus compared to the other monkeys. This could leave monkeys struggling with memory and spatial skills, plus loads of other important functions in the brain.
You’re Not Alone
Just how common is binge drinking? In a European study last year, Britain came in as one of the worst offenders. More than half of teens had been binge drinking in the last month. For the United States, around 11 million teens drink and approximately 7 million are binge drinkers. According to MADD, Canadian statistics are very similar.
Getting Support
Binge drinking is harmful at any age and can hurt adults too. But this study suggests that its effects in teens can be especially dangerous because of teens’ brains being quite vulnerable during these years. Fortunately, there are ways to get confidential help, whether it’s through a doctor, substance abuse centre or even a counsellor at school. If you feel like your drinking is a problem or you’re worried about someone you know, talk to a trusted adult.
Humans Bite Harder Than Vampires April 21, 2010
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Book Reviews, Brain Power, Forensic Science, Human Body, Think About It.Tags: forensics, history, vampires
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Tiko is wide-eyed with fright! What is scaring him? Could it be a vampire?
When National Geographic asked me to review their new book called Vampire Forensics, I had to ask myself if I had the guts to do it! As a self-proclaimed scaredy-cat, I wasn’t sure if learning about the origins of vampires would be something my timid self could take. Worse still was what happened when I attempted to grab Tiko for comfort. Once he heard me say “vampire,” he raced into the wardrobe and refused to emerge.
Like many people, I’m fascinated by popular vampire culture, from entertaining television shows to famous books such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The question that remains is – where did it all start and how did it become what it is today? And maybe the second question I had when I started reading Vampire Forensics was whether this book was a bite I could handle. Let’s find out!
Disease, Death And Burial
Researched and edited by Mark Jenkins, Vampire Forensics traces the history of vampire culture. Early on in the book, Jenkins writes about a mysterious, 16th century skull discovered in Venice that was thought to be the remains of a female vampire. The skull was buried with a brick jammed in its mouth, which people thought would stop the vampire from rising up to feed on others. In other areas of the book, diseases such as the plague or tuberculosis are linked to vampire myths, mostly due to signs of the disease such as paleness and the fact victims would waste away. Jenkins also goes on to merge ideas about burial and death with vampire culture.
While I expected a lot on forensics, this part of the book fell short. Instead, I read about all kinds of folklore that were scattered together without the structure a reader needs to make sense of it all. Where historical facts were relayed, these suggested a possible link to vampires, without the real forensic guts to strengthen the connection. It felt a bit like the writer was grasping at straws by choosing many random stories and trying to tie them in with vampire culture.
Poor Tiko is afraid of vampires. Perhaps if I read Vampire Forensics to him, he will learn they are not real. Now, I just have to figure out how to get him out of the wardrobe!
Still, there are heaps of fun tales and facts that kept the book interesting right to the end. I did shudder at some of the gory bits but in a sense, this is part of the appeal when it comes to vampires. People like to be afraid and they like the intrigue of the unknown.
Can You Handle It?
Who will like this book? Well, it’s not a book for my younger readers and even then, will probably only interest a select group of my teen readers. The graphic prose and macabre tales are gruesome at times. But for those who perhaps truly do fear vampires, this book brings that fear to a much less frightening reality. We learn how events that are most definitely of the human kind fueled the myths and fantasy that make up vampire culture today. While the book didn’t give much of a vampire bite, it left some strong human tooth marks. Ironically, I think readers may be left fearing humans far more than vampires.
Science Gets Pretty November 30, 2009
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Brain Power, Easy As Pie, Human Body.Tags: science and beauty, science contest, skin
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Science can be a lot of things – including being pretty as I found out in a recent contest here on the blog. I asked readers to tell me about the weird and wacky science things they had seen or learned about, whether that was at school or on their own.
While I was impressed with all of the entries, the winning one I liked because it was about everyday science. It really represents something simple but still very random and cool. And, as I mentioned, something pretty – a beauty aid, in fact! Maybe best of all, it’s about discovery, one of my favorite aspects of science.
The winning entry goes to Michelle of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her prize is the new Seeing is Believing book by Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Here’s part of what Michelle had to say:
You know the aspirin for headaches? My mum crushes it up with water and puts it on her face. It’s weird but she says it helps her spots. She said if I get spots it will get rid of them. She doesn’t know why it works but says her friends use it too and they told her about it.
The Science Of Aspirin
Hmmm – so what is it in aspirin that would potentially help skin? It’s possibly the ingredient acetylsalicylic acid. Many cosmetic face creams and products today use salicylic acid to exfoliate the face and improve skin tone and clarity. How this has become the trendy skin treatment is beyond me though!
Careful With Your Skin
I wouldn’t personally recommend you use aspirin on your face – mostly because it’s not meant for your skin and could be irritating to people, especially if your skin is sensitive. But it’s still a neat example of how science fits into daily life. Thanks Michelle and enjoy your book!
Don’t Believe Everything You See September 15, 2009
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Brain Power, Easy As Pie, Environment, Human Body, Ocean, Psychology and Behavior, Technology.Tags: Believe It or Not, Ripley's, science books, Seeing is Believing
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Tiko looks like he's immersed in the new Ripley's book. But looks can be deceiving! We all know dogs can't read. Hmmm, perhaps Tiko is captivated by the cheddar cheese carving on page 130 of the book. Tiko loves cheese!
Should you believe everything you see? Well, in the case of the Ripley’s book that I was recently sent to review, you can believe most of it! The new Seeing is Believing book by Ripley’s Believe It or Not is a bright, colorful book with a rather creepy but intriguing eyeball on the cover.
Over the course of the last few weeks, my favorite magazines – BBC Focus, Scientific American and New Scientist – along with various other science books strewn around have been glanced at and quickly dismissed by friends and family who pop over (how cheeky!). Yet when they see the glossy Ripley’s cover, virtually all of them do what I might begin to now coin the Ripley’s Rxn, which involves a lingering look, followed by a gleeful exclamation of “Ooooh cool.”
What does this tell me?
No matter what age, people like weird stuff and they like simplicity. Ripley’s manages to do both and do it creatively in a way that speaks to young and old alike. My excited thirty-one-year-old friend enjoyed the book as did his nine-year-old son.
After all that pretending to read, Tiko awaits a liver treat for his hard work. I'll bet he's thinking that being an actor sure isn't easy!
Just how much of the new Ripley’s book is believable though? While the publishers do put a disclaimer that they aren’t responsible for the accuracy of the book, it’s still reasonably expected that the tidbits of information are true. Not so. I spotted a headline titled Glandular Fever. Of course, my UK readers will likely recognize this as the term for what we call infectious mononucleosis or mono here in North America. It’s caused by the Epstein Barr virus and because it can be transmitted through saliva, it’s often called the kissing disease as well.
Expecting to read about mono, I was surprised to read about a woman who had an imbalance of hormones that caused her to experience excessive hair growth all over her body. My sense is that Glandular Fever was meant to be a catchy title but nobody realized it was the term for another health condition.
Still, a minor inaccuracy or few doesn’t at all break the fantastic impact and enjoyment of this quirky book, but it’s perhaps a reminder to kids and adults that there is a lot more to science than meets the eye.
Find out more at the Ripley’s website.
A Weird Science Contest: Win The New Ripley’s Book!
I like contests. Do you? If so, I want to invite my readers to send an email telling me about the grossest or weirdest thing they’ve ever seen in science. It could be something from science class or maybe just a creepy picture of a bug. If you do send a picture, make sure you include a description of why you think it’s so weird! Anyone aged ten to sixteen can enter. The contest closes on the 15th of October, 2009.
Send your stories and pictures to mina@weirdscience.ca and I’ll share the winning entry in November on the blog here. Plus, I will also mail you the new Seeing is Believing book by Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Please include your:
- Name
- Age
Please also get permission from your parents before entering. Any entries from under 13s must be done through a parent’s email address and must also include a telephone contact number for the parent. If you’re a winner, either you or your parents will be contacted for a mailing address to receive your Ripley’s book.
Good luck!
Science And Art Make A Delicious Cookie August 31, 2009
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Brain Power, Easy As Pie, Human Body.Tags: art, cookies, gingerbread, science cartoons
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At first glance, I was actually a bit creeped out to see a favorite cookie of mine dissected to show the innards of a human! But this super cool image is the creation of an artist, illustrator and self-proclaimed “crazy person” named Jason Freeny.
What I like most of all when I see this kind of stuff is that it comes from an imaginative place. While science is full of theories and information, it takes a vivid, explorative imagination to bring this to visual life in a way that makes us stop and say “wow.” When I asked Jason about his interest in the human body and science, he replied:
The intricacy fascinates me.
Now, I only wish my high school textbooks had pictures like this way back when I was in school. Well, not that way back. I wonder if this particular gingerbread man has a few gray hairs hiding under his sugary, baked crust.
A Clever Condom August 13, 2009
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Brain Power, Diseases, Human Body, Think About It.Tags: birth control, condom, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases
12 comments
Most teens today are probably familiar with how condoms work. If you’re sexually active, you already know that condoms can help to protect you from sexually transmitted diseases and also reduce the likelihood of an unwanted pregnancy.
But, researchers at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, United States, are trying to create a new gel that acts like a condom. Sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it? Yet if all goes well, this new gel could be a surprisingly clever weapon against semen and any bacteria or viruses contained within it! This includes viruses such as HIV.
Creating A Trap
Standard condoms protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. But in developing countries, women need cheaper options that give them control over their sexual health.
When you picture a condom, you likely picture something more solid, while a gel would be softer, wouldn’t it? Not always so. This particular gel is a liquid when it’s in contact with the vagina – a highly acidic environment. Once alkaline semen makes its way in there though, the gel turns solid. In fact, any particles that are bigger than 50 nanometres are trapped. This includes semen, HIV and even viruses such as the herpes virus.
Getting It Right
This research team isn’t the first to try making a gel to combat HIV. Unfortunately, other teams haven’t been successful at creating an effective gel to protect women against HIV. In fact, one study found that the gel actually increased the rate of HIV infection. You can see that it’s a tough task to get it right.
It’s Not For You
Why isn’t this condom for you? It’s not that you shouldn’t be using one, of course. Researchers are working on this new condom mostly for women in countries where HIV is common. They also want this condom to be a low-cost alternative for women to get protection if their partner won’t wear a condom. In this way, women can take control of their sexual health.
Pick and Choose
With most of my readers being in the United States, Canada and Britain, you can pick and choose from a number of birth control options and condoms. For many of you, these will be provided without cost through your school or sexual health clinics. We’re lucky here to have access to all of these choices. We also live in a society where you can say “no” to sex without a condom and generally, our culture is one where your choice is respected.
So, shouldn’t women all around the world have choices too?
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A Disappearing Fingerprint June 10, 2009
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Brain Power, Diseases, Drugs, Easy As Pie, Human Body.Tags: cancer, fingerprint, travel
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Most of us probably don’t give much thought to our fingerprints. Generally, you won’t need to be fingerprinted unless you’ve committed a crime (I hope none of my readers are in that group!) or you’re having it taken for data purposes when you travel into a country such as the United States.
Where Did My Fingerprint Go?
But what happens if you’re all packed up to travel, you get to the border and you simply don’t have a fingerprint. It’s…gone! For people who have certain kinds of cancer, a side effect of a drug they may be taking can mean that they suffer from severe inflammation on their fingers. This leads to peeling, blistering and bleeding. Ouch! The ultimate result is they don’t have fingerprints.
Let Me Enter – I’m Harmless!
If that isn’t troublesome enough, the lack of a fingerprint can make traveling across country borders a tough task when fingerprinting is a requirement. In fact, when one man recently tried to enter the US, he was delayed for four hours because officials were really confused about why he didn’t have any fingerprints. Fortunately, once they figured out that he didn’t pose a threat, he was allowed to pass through.
Prescription Drugs Are Powerful
The drug that triggers this unusual side effect is called capecitabine. It’s a common anti-cancer drug and is used to treat head and neck cancer as well as breast, colorectal and stomach cancers. So, what should these patients do if they need to travel? It’s usually advised that they bring a letter from their doctor, which explains their cancer treatment and the lack of fingerprints.
It just goes to show how powerful side effects can be when it comes to prescription drugs. And, how a medicine can have such an unexpected effect on something like travel. While the case of the missing fingerprint sounds like something out of a forensics novel, we at least know that the culprit here is the drug capecitabine!
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Delaying Death February 8, 2009
Posted by Mrs Weird Scientist in Diseases, Human Body, Science and Politics, Think About It.Tags: death, euthanasia, life, science cartoons
5 comments
Cartoon credit: Nick Kim.
We all want to live a long, healthy life. But, this cartoon left me wondering if perhaps, we sometimes go too far in our quest to preserve life. Are there situations where a person’s life is simply so poor in quality due to their health condition – that keeping them alive represents an unfair fight with death?
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