This is my eighth blogpost. I don't know how. I don't remember skipping that many weeks, but here we go.
Rose colored glasses let you see more. That is, people actually notice more when they are in a good mood than when they are in a bad mood. A recent study performed at the University of Toronto enforces these findings. Subjects were shown a series of images which are supposed to entice either a good, bad, or neutral mood. They were then shown an image and asked to remember one specific detail about that image, the gender of some person. People who were supposed to be in a bad mood tended to remember less about the other details of the picture than people who were supposed to be in a good mood.
This may seem good because then people in good moods can take in more of life, but this may not be good. It could actually distract people in good moods from whatever task they should be doing, like driving. So being in a bad mood might actually serve some purpose sometimes.
Reading this article, I thought this is actually kind of true; thinking specifically of when I'm driving. I'm normally pretty annoyed whenever I drive for the wide variety of reasons that I'm sure everyone else gets mad at driving for also. Normally I'm also very focused when driving, not aware of what I'm passing exactly but very aware of the road and drivers immediately ahead, beside, and behind me. I guess that's not a good study though because I don't have a good mood driving experience to compare it to.
article can be found here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090603103807.htm
- Osvaldo Enriquez
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
A Brief History of Time
nerdy math joke I heard on the internet somewhere:
There was a mathematician and an engineer at a coffee shop when the coffee machine caught on fire. The engineer got a bucket of water and poured it on the machine and everything was fine. The next day the same mathematician and engineer went to the same coffee shop and the coffee machine caught fire again. This time, the mathematician got a bucket of water and handed it to the engineer and exclaimed, "There! It's been reduced to a problem we know how to handle!"
hee hee
my post:
I've been reading "A Brief History of Time," by Stephen Hawking lately and I'm almost done. I have to say it is one damned good read. For the most part Dr. Hawking manages to explain very complicated physics concepts in ways that I could understand. He uses wit, analogies and anecdotes to give a very clear picture of what he is trying to say. Of course this book won't make you an astrophysicist, but it will elaborate some topics enough so you can look smart in front of your friends.
Such topics as blackholes, expansion of the universe, moving galaxies, relativity, and quantum mechanics are covered and explained in ways that anyone with just an interest in physics would be able to understand. Personally, I've taken Physics 40A and 40B and am in 40C right now, and I have to admit that those classes did help understand some of his stuff. But I believe that they aren't necessary to get a general idea of the topics that he tries to elaborate on.
To be fair there were some topics that Dr. Hawking covers which went completely over my head. Stuff like the "spin" of sub-atomic particles makes no sense to me, but that's why I'm not a particle physicist.
I did, however, understand enough to have a fun little conversation with some friends about how blackholes are not a "hole," but rather an actual physical object that looks like a hole. Or how redshift and blueshift of galaxies work, and why there are more redshifted galaxies than blueshifted galaxies. I'm on the chapter about string theory right now, and Dr. Hawking has been able to explain it better than in any other book that I've read covering string theory so far.
I'll end with another nerdy math joke:
black holes are where god divided by zero
hee hee
-Osvaldo Enriquez
There was a mathematician and an engineer at a coffee shop when the coffee machine caught on fire. The engineer got a bucket of water and poured it on the machine and everything was fine. The next day the same mathematician and engineer went to the same coffee shop and the coffee machine caught fire again. This time, the mathematician got a bucket of water and handed it to the engineer and exclaimed, "There! It's been reduced to a problem we know how to handle!"
hee hee
my post:
I've been reading "A Brief History of Time," by Stephen Hawking lately and I'm almost done. I have to say it is one damned good read. For the most part Dr. Hawking manages to explain very complicated physics concepts in ways that I could understand. He uses wit, analogies and anecdotes to give a very clear picture of what he is trying to say. Of course this book won't make you an astrophysicist, but it will elaborate some topics enough so you can look smart in front of your friends.
Such topics as blackholes, expansion of the universe, moving galaxies, relativity, and quantum mechanics are covered and explained in ways that anyone with just an interest in physics would be able to understand. Personally, I've taken Physics 40A and 40B and am in 40C right now, and I have to admit that those classes did help understand some of his stuff. But I believe that they aren't necessary to get a general idea of the topics that he tries to elaborate on.
To be fair there were some topics that Dr. Hawking covers which went completely over my head. Stuff like the "spin" of sub-atomic particles makes no sense to me, but that's why I'm not a particle physicist.
I did, however, understand enough to have a fun little conversation with some friends about how blackholes are not a "hole," but rather an actual physical object that looks like a hole. Or how redshift and blueshift of galaxies work, and why there are more redshifted galaxies than blueshifted galaxies. I'm on the chapter about string theory right now, and Dr. Hawking has been able to explain it better than in any other book that I've read covering string theory so far.
I'll end with another nerdy math joke:
black holes are where god divided by zero
hee hee
-Osvaldo Enriquez
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Let There Be Light: The First Billion Years
Last Thursday, I went to a scientific colloquium. It was the last of the lecture series, The Science of Evolution: Life, Earth, Universe. The lecture was titled Let There Be Light: The First Billion Years. The speaker was Dr. Bahram Mobasher, a professor of physics and astronomy. He received his doctorate in 1988, from the University of Durham, United Kingdom.
In general, the lecture was a summary of the life of the universe, from the Big Bang to today. He began his lecture with concepts that are well-known to those who are educated; the Ptolemaic geocentric model of the solar system and the Copernican Revolution. From there, he went on to notions that are lesser known, such as the problem physicists have encountered with the time period after the Big Bang. Physicists (and/or astrophysicists) have figured out what exactly happened after the Big Bang to mere slivers of a second. The problem that physicists have with the Big Bang is that they have no idea what happened from time zero to 10^-43 seconds. To size up their problem in simpler terms, these scientists don't know what went on when the Big Bang was only a "little Bang". Ten to the power of negative forty-three seconds is a very short amount of time; it's 0.0000001 seconds with 37 more zeroes in front of the one.
The descriptions of the later time periods became more and more like today as Dr. Mobasher went through his lecture. From the time period of 3 minutes to 300,000 years, the first Hydrogen atom formed and the temperature of the universe was about 3000 Kelvins. In Fahrenheit, that's 4940.33 degrees (or really really really hot).
He also described the size of the universe in terms that made everyone in the lecture hall feel very small and insignificant. He said that we live on a planet that is in a solar system (out of many) that is on the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy that is a part of local group of galaxies that is a part of a local supercluster of galaxies. Each galaxy is made up of 10^11 stars and the universe is made up of about 10^11 galaxies.
I found the lecture somewhat boring because of the information that I was already aware of, but it was interesting to learn about dark matter, dark energy and that the forces of nature were all one at a very short moment of time. The doctor spoke with a slightly heavy European accent, but he was understandable. He spoke with confidence and was bit of a comedian.
In conclusion of the lecture, Dr. Mobasher ended with a question that is similar to that of the chicken and the egg. Which came first? The universe or the laws of physics?
-George Wong
In general, the lecture was a summary of the life of the universe, from the Big Bang to today. He began his lecture with concepts that are well-known to those who are educated; the Ptolemaic geocentric model of the solar system and the Copernican Revolution. From there, he went on to notions that are lesser known, such as the problem physicists have encountered with the time period after the Big Bang. Physicists (and/or astrophysicists) have figured out what exactly happened after the Big Bang to mere slivers of a second. The problem that physicists have with the Big Bang is that they have no idea what happened from time zero to 10^-43 seconds. To size up their problem in simpler terms, these scientists don't know what went on when the Big Bang was only a "little Bang". Ten to the power of negative forty-three seconds is a very short amount of time; it's 0.0000001 seconds with 37 more zeroes in front of the one.
The descriptions of the later time periods became more and more like today as Dr. Mobasher went through his lecture. From the time period of 3 minutes to 300,000 years, the first Hydrogen atom formed and the temperature of the universe was about 3000 Kelvins. In Fahrenheit, that's 4940.33 degrees (or really really really hot).
He also described the size of the universe in terms that made everyone in the lecture hall feel very small and insignificant. He said that we live on a planet that is in a solar system (out of many) that is on the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy that is a part of local group of galaxies that is a part of a local supercluster of galaxies. Each galaxy is made up of 10^11 stars and the universe is made up of about 10^11 galaxies.
I found the lecture somewhat boring because of the information that I was already aware of, but it was interesting to learn about dark matter, dark energy and that the forces of nature were all one at a very short moment of time. The doctor spoke with a slightly heavy European accent, but he was understandable. He spoke with confidence and was bit of a comedian.
In conclusion of the lecture, Dr. Mobasher ended with a question that is similar to that of the chicken and the egg. Which came first? The universe or the laws of physics?
-George Wong
Monday, May 25, 2009
Virus vs. Cancer
Viruses. Cancer. Two evils of the world that have been pestering the human race for as long as we can remember. Now, we've advanced to the point where we can manipulate one to destroy the other. Viruses have been used in cancer therapy, but with drawbacks.
The virus that is commonly used for cancer treatment is the adenovirus. The adenovirus is a DNA virus that is effective in treating cancer, but it causes hepatic disease (AKA liver disease) in mice. Scientists from Oxford University have been working with these cancer cell killing viruses, and have figured a way how to prevent the viruses from destroying healthy cells as well. How is this done? Scientists now understand that cellular microRNA molecules regulate the stability of mRNA in different cell types. These cellular microRNA molecules can be used as target markers for the adenoviruses, preventing the viruses from killing healthy cells. This would solve the problem of adenoviruses unintentionally causing liver disease in mice.
This technology is still only being tested on mice, and it may take at least two years to enable the viruses to combat cancer in humans.
I could write further, but do not wish to retype the article. If you're interested in reading the full article, go here.
-George Wong
The virus that is commonly used for cancer treatment is the adenovirus. The adenovirus is a DNA virus that is effective in treating cancer, but it causes hepatic disease (AKA liver disease) in mice. Scientists from Oxford University have been working with these cancer cell killing viruses, and have figured a way how to prevent the viruses from destroying healthy cells as well. How is this done? Scientists now understand that cellular microRNA molecules regulate the stability of mRNA in different cell types. These cellular microRNA molecules can be used as target markers for the adenoviruses, preventing the viruses from killing healthy cells. This would solve the problem of adenoviruses unintentionally causing liver disease in mice.
This technology is still only being tested on mice, and it may take at least two years to enable the viruses to combat cancer in humans.
I could write further, but do not wish to retype the article. If you're interested in reading the full article, go here.
-George Wong
Monday, May 18, 2009
Cigarette Smoke Can Prevent Allergies
It's common knowledge that cigarette smoke is bad for your health. Smoking is a leading cause in lung cancer, pulmonary disease and can affect one's immune system. Despite the habit's bad reputation for being a trouble maker in health, it does have one point for the positive side. According to researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, cigarette smoke can protect smokers from some types of allergies.
Allergies are the body's natural response to allergens. These responses include the most irritable feelings a person can experience; inflammation, watery eyes, sneezing, headaches, and etc. Mast cells, or mastocytes, are the culprits responsible for allergic reactions. Mast cells play a major part in the human immune system's response to allergens by releasing histamines into the blood stream, which in turn cause the allergic reactions. To prevent allergic reactions, one would take an antihistamine, a medicine which counteracts the effects of histamine.
Likewise, cigarette smoke prevents allergic reactions from some types of allergens. Cigarette smoke differs in its remedy by stopping the source of the histamines, inhibiting the activity of the mast cells.
Although the above mentioned benefit of cigarette smoke can be an effective solution to some allergies, the health risks far outweigh it. If you do experience allergies, continue with your normal mode of prevention and take antihistamines.
If you wish to read the article, click here.
-George Wong
Allergies are the body's natural response to allergens. These responses include the most irritable feelings a person can experience; inflammation, watery eyes, sneezing, headaches, and etc. Mast cells, or mastocytes, are the culprits responsible for allergic reactions. Mast cells play a major part in the human immune system's response to allergens by releasing histamines into the blood stream, which in turn cause the allergic reactions. To prevent allergic reactions, one would take an antihistamine, a medicine which counteracts the effects of histamine.
Likewise, cigarette smoke prevents allergic reactions from some types of allergens. Cigarette smoke differs in its remedy by stopping the source of the histamines, inhibiting the activity of the mast cells.
Although the above mentioned benefit of cigarette smoke can be an effective solution to some allergies, the health risks far outweigh it. If you do experience allergies, continue with your normal mode of prevention and take antihistamines.
If you wish to read the article, click here.
-George Wong
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Something Extraordinary
Everyone's heard of it. Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV for short, is one of the most worst viruses a person can contract, and so far, it is impossible to cure. As most people know, it is a sexually transmitted disease, and its only form of transmission, at least so far, is through bodily fluids. Because of this, the virus is unfortunately passed on to a child from its mother and has no control over it. HIV has, at a biological standpoint, an ingenious design that makes it so difficult to develop a counter for it. It works by infecting the immune system, or to be more specific, it attacks the white blood cells and by doing so, it reduces a person's white blood cell count and creates more copies of the virus. Due to this fact, the immune system of humans is not able to overcome this virus, the harder that the white blood cells in a person's body tries to fight it, the weaker it becomes. This leads to another illness known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Usually, AIDS itself is rarely the cause of death of a person, rather, it is other infections and diseases that the immune system would have fought off otherwise that tend to be the cause of death.
Anyways, as to the purpose of this post. A study has been done that provides a glimmer of hope for everyone who either has had HIV, known someone who has HIV, or has the possibility of getting it. In this study, specifically designed artificial antibodies were created to combat the virus. Different strains of these new antibodies were then injected into nine different monkeys. While not all the strains were effective against HIV, only three of the nine monkeys had HIV after the test, none of the monkeys developed AIDS. So while this might be some years away, it proves that HIV can be beaten if enough time were to be put into it.
By the way, in case you were interested, the article is here.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Doing DaVinci
a nerdy math joke:
An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician are all staying in the same motel. One night there's a fire in the hallway, the engineer wakes up, sees a bucket of water in the hallway and pours it on the fire to put it out. The next night there's another fire in the hallway, the physicist goes out and grabs a fire extinguisher and after a few calculations aims the extinguisher at the optimal position and puts the fire out. The third night there is another fire in the hallway, the mathematician goes out, sees the bucket of water, the fire extinguisher, and the fire and says, "Ah! A solution exists!" then goes back to bed.
my entry:
There's this new show on the discovery channel called Doing DaVinci. It's about a group of craftsmen and engineers who build some machines that Leonardo DaVinci designed, which he may or may not have ever built. The machines they build are all tailored to the design and specifications in DaVinci's drawings'. They are also really, really cool. These machines that they build, that DaVinci designed, are insanely ingenious, especially for what was available in DaVinci's day.
Last week they built a "machine gun" type device. It was three rows of eleven cannons aranged in a triangle and put on wheels, so it can be hauled into battle. One row of cannons would fire then the machine would rotate forward and another row of cannons would be ready to fire again. The simplicity and practicallity of this machine makes it complete genius! I'm sure that it would have been a terrifying sight on any battlefield in the 1400's.
This week they built a self-propelling cart, which was basically a life-sized wind up car. Just thinking that DaVinci wrote the plans for something this engenious 600 years ago, before any type of modern physics, is astounding. Honestly, it's contraptions like this, and the hope that I can someday design and build something this clever, is what makes me want to be a mechanical engineer. Gears and springs and explosions, all that stuff fascinates me to no end. I would love to be on this show, just to get a chance to build some of these fascinating machines. I'm adding DaVinci to my list of engineer heroes, currently containing Archimedes and Howard Hughes (The Aviator).
It's on discovery channel on Mondays at 10 pm. Watch it it's very entertaining.
-Osvaldo Enriquez
An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician are all staying in the same motel. One night there's a fire in the hallway, the engineer wakes up, sees a bucket of water in the hallway and pours it on the fire to put it out. The next night there's another fire in the hallway, the physicist goes out and grabs a fire extinguisher and after a few calculations aims the extinguisher at the optimal position and puts the fire out. The third night there is another fire in the hallway, the mathematician goes out, sees the bucket of water, the fire extinguisher, and the fire and says, "Ah! A solution exists!" then goes back to bed.
my entry:
There's this new show on the discovery channel called Doing DaVinci. It's about a group of craftsmen and engineers who build some machines that Leonardo DaVinci designed, which he may or may not have ever built. The machines they build are all tailored to the design and specifications in DaVinci's drawings'. They are also really, really cool. These machines that they build, that DaVinci designed, are insanely ingenious, especially for what was available in DaVinci's day.
Last week they built a "machine gun" type device. It was three rows of eleven cannons aranged in a triangle and put on wheels, so it can be hauled into battle. One row of cannons would fire then the machine would rotate forward and another row of cannons would be ready to fire again. The simplicity and practicallity of this machine makes it complete genius! I'm sure that it would have been a terrifying sight on any battlefield in the 1400's.
This week they built a self-propelling cart, which was basically a life-sized wind up car. Just thinking that DaVinci wrote the plans for something this engenious 600 years ago, before any type of modern physics, is astounding. Honestly, it's contraptions like this, and the hope that I can someday design and build something this clever, is what makes me want to be a mechanical engineer. Gears and springs and explosions, all that stuff fascinates me to no end. I would love to be on this show, just to get a chance to build some of these fascinating machines. I'm adding DaVinci to my list of engineer heroes, currently containing Archimedes and Howard Hughes (The Aviator).
It's on discovery channel on Mondays at 10 pm. Watch it it's very entertaining.
-Osvaldo Enriquez
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