Impact of Nano-materials on Living Things

As the saying goes, seeing is believing but for some scientists they are testing for something they can't even see: nano-materials. Nano-materials are the tiny, microscopic molecules that are created by everything like from cooking foods, building factories, or driving around. Nano-materials surround us; they are literally everywhere. In the news article from Science Nation titled Investigating the Impact of Natural and Human-made Nano-materials on Living Things it talked about how scientists are testing the effects of different nano-materials in certain environments. In this case, these scientists created their own controlled-wetlands called mesocosms. Each mesocosm tested the effects of different nano-materials on the plants, on the animals, and on the water itself. These experiments each take about a year to complete to understand the full effect of the nano-materials. When they weren't testing in the mesocosms they tested on zebra fish, specifically the effect that plastic nano-material had on the development. The scientists were very surprised when the results showed a lot of string heart defect, and other major defects in the liver and brain. This is just one example of how harmful something so small can really be. Another nano-material they tested on was the effects of a substance called selenium, which is mainly used in semiconductor industries. The results showed that it was more toxic than they thought. However, the lead scientist said that a small amount is actually good for our diet yet too much could be very bad and  very toxic. Overall these scientists are hoping that their research will make more factories and industries come test their nano-materials in the mesocosms to check the safety levels before producing them and releasing them to the public.
This was the first topic that really grabbed my attention. The reason it did was the word "nano" which i new dealt with very small particles and I was curious on what they would discuss. I really like the idea that factories could first test their materials to make sure it is safe for the environment. Also, I think its important to understand those small things that we can't even see. I really enjoyed this article because it showed that there's more to our world than meets the eye. -BP

How Openings in Antarctic Sea Ice Affect Worldwide Climate

We've already learned from class that water plays a huge role in temperature regulation for the earth. Because of its properties associated with hydrogen bonding, ice is able to float to the surface of water allowing for life underneath, and it is able to regulate temperature because the bonding does not allow water to respond to temperature changes very quickly. This study was able to highlight just how important water and ice in our oceans can be when it comes to climate change, especially in the Southern Ocean.

Until recently, experts in oceanography and climate scientists thought that the major contributing factor to ocean and atmospheric conditions was found in the tropics. However, this team composed of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Spain’s Institute of Marine Sciences and Johns Hopkins University was able to see significant findings dealing with the sea ice in the Weddell Sea, which is instead located in the South. 

What they were researching was an observed pocket or hole called a polyna in the normally solid ice structure in the sea. Polynas occur when the warm sub-surface waters mix at a location with cold waters surface present. This leads to the process of open-ocean convection, which means that the heat ends up rising and the cooler temperatures of water drop. The heat ends up melting a hole in the otherwise solid ice. 

The team was able to make models to show how these holes in the ice of the Weddell sea actually impacted the climate. To quote one of the researchers, Irina Marinov, these were some of the findings: “This small, isolated opening in the sea ice in the Southern Ocean can have significant, large-scale climate implications. Climate models suggest that, in years and decades with a large polynya, the entire atmosphere warms globally, and we see changes in the winds in the Southern Hemisphere and a southward shift in the equatorial rain belt. This is attributable to the polynya.”

In addition to these findings, their model also showed that polynas show up around every 75 years. When they do, they release the ocean's heat - which doesn't just end up affecting the local area, it also increases temperatures in the sea-surface and atmosphere of the entire Southern Hemisphere. It also has a smaller impact on the Northern Hemisphere. In essence, the polyna ends up playing a major role in precipitation that leads to agriculture in populated areas and worldwide temperatures. 

The article ends by pointing out that with climate change, these polynas may not be showing up as frequently. Without having a "release valve" for the ocean's temperature that shows up in a predicable timeframe, we don't know how bad the impacts will be. Because it became clear that these pockets lead to a number of environmental changes, I believe that we need to pour more research into the topic and find out how big of an impact we're looking at, and if we can reverse it in any way if it ends up being detrimental to our climate.

-Gabrielle Whiffen

Reference: https://news.upenn.edu/news/penn-how-openings-antarctic-sea-ice-affect-worldwide-climate

Young Human Blood Makes Old Mice Smarter

One thing many people have worried about once in their life or continuously worry about is aging. A majority of people fear aging and all the things that come with aging such as memory loss, deterioration of the cells, no control over bowel movements and so on. It freaks me out when I think about it and its relevant to all of us we are not getting any younger!

Neuroscientist Tony Wyss-Coray from Stanford University has found a protein that is located in young human blood plasma that is improving brain function in aging mice. By infusing young human blood into the veins of older mice they have found that the mice cognitive functions has improved. The mice would have to navigate its way through a maze and learn how to avoid some areas of their cage that would administer electrical shocks.

They found that when youthful blood was infused more connections would happen between neurons and the brain which  affected the hippocampus which is a part of the brain the correlates with learning and memory. Researchers tested 66 different types of protein to see which one was the one altering cognitive performance. They only found one called TIMP2, scientists noticed that it would improve the performance of the mice but did not regenerate the brain cells that are lost through aging.
Wyss-Coray (neuroscientist) also started collecting plasma from umbilical cords of newborn babies to see if younger blood might act differently with the mice but the TIMP2 from umbilical cords had no effect on memory.

Researchers still don't know how TIMP2 works with learning & memory function. Scientists believe that the protein function is involved with growth of cells & blood vessels and that because of this function it is effecting many pathways to the brain and memory all at the same time. A neuroimmunologist, Michal Schwartz believes that TIMP2 is changing the immune system which affects the brain indirectly. Another researcher Lee Rubin, noticed one mouse contained high levels of a protein called GDF11 which was injected into a vessel that leads to the brain but it never reaches the brain, he believes that TIMP2 is acting the same way and indirectly affecting the brain. Scientist still need to pinpoint TIMP2 and how it impacts the brain.

What is exciting about this find is that researchers have opened a door that could lead to potential treatments for Alzheimers disease or other aging diseases. Its still pretty new so it will take a couple of years to get to this stage. After reading this article it reminded me of the scary story of Queen Elizabeth that she would soak in the blood of younger woman which would kept her young, beautiful and even gave her strange abilities. Its an old creepy tale but it seems like it possible that using young blood into older animals improves their health in someway. I am really interested in what they are going to find in the future and the positive impact it will have on peoples lives.

Reference:

  Reardon, Sara. “Young Human Blood Makes Old Mice Smarter.” Nature News, 2017, http://www.nature.com/news/young-human-blood-makes-old-mice-smarter-1.21848. Accessed 19 April 2017.



 

Giraffes more speciose than expected

Scientists from Senckenburgand the Giraffe Conservation Foundation have been studying the genetic relationships of the major populations of wild giraffes.  Before the study, there were only one type of giraffe.  During this sutdy, the genetic makeup of giraffe points toward four different species.  With the knowledge of these four distinct species, the need of protection of these animals gain a great importance to save them.

To me, and many of you, giraffes all look very much the same with body structure, horns, and patterns on their skin.  These are also some of the ways science previously catagorize these animals with others.  After the founding of the different species of giraffe, Professor Axel Janke mentions that these different species don't even mate with each other.  The four types of giraffes are Southern giraffe, Masai giraffe, reticulated giraffe, and the northern giraffe.

This new knowledge of the different giraffes comes a greater urgency to save, not only the less than 100,000 giraffes in Africa, but all of the different species of giraffes.  Two of the four species of giraffes are estimated below 10,000 individual giraffes left.  The Giraffe Conservative Foundation (GCF) estimates that there are mabe as few as 400 West African giraffe remaining in the wild today.  There is now a growing need to help protect the different species of giraffe in Africa.

This is very interesting to me because I would have never guessed that there were different species of giraffe.  It's a bit crazy to think that giraffes have never really been studied in depth before because every zoo that I can think of, has at least one giraffe in it.  I do understand that there is a difference between a giraffe in a zoo and a wild giraffe, but the idea of not studying it is still there.  Now scientists have studied these creatures and have relized that there are fewer now then 30 years ago, there's a push for trying to help these animals.

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2016/09/08/giraffes_more_speciose_than_expected.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+biologynews%2Fheadlines+%28Biology+News+Net%29

Study finds shark fins & meat contain high levels of neurotoxins linked to Alzheimer's disease

A study from Miami shows scientists finding high concentrations  of toxins linked to neurodegenerative diseases in the fins and muscles of sharks. Who would of thought that eating shark meat or fins would cause such a thing? Apparently this is a huge deal! Fins and muscle tissue were collected from 10 shark species found in both the Atlantic and pacific oceans. They found toxins of both mercury and methylamino-L-alanine (AKA BMAA). BMAA has shown to cause these neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer. The reason there is a high concentration of toxins in sharks is because they are the top of their food chain. Their tissues tend to accumulate mercury and BMAA. This can harm the sharks as well as humans.

Shark products are widely consumed in Asia and globally in Asian communities. Currently, shark fin soup is in increasingly high demand, a popular food eaten at weddings and other celebrations. Other shark products, such as shark cartilage, are included in dietary supplements as a source of traditional Chinese medicine, and have gained popularity in Western nations. The people consuming these foods/products don't realize what it could possible cause them.

 Neil Hammerschlag, a research assistant professor at the UM Rosenstiel School and UM Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, and the study’s lead author, said "Since sharks are predators, living higher up in the food web, their tissues tend to accumulate and concentrate toxins, which may not only pose a threat to shark health, but also put human consumers of shark parts at a health risk".

A team collected data from these 10 sharks and found that all shark species have concentrations of mercury and BMAA that could pose a threat to human health. And because they are both at high levels, the researchers believe they could have synergistic negative effects on consumers.

I think limiting the consumption of shark meat and fins, will have positive health benefits for consumers and positive conservation outcomes for sharks, many of which are threatened with extinction due in part to the growing high demand for shark fin soup. I also believe informing and educating people of Asia who mainly consume these products about the neurological damage would be a good idea. These people don't even know what is in their food and how it is affecting them. 

Matthew Trapnell

References 

Study finds shark fins & meat contain high levels of neurotoxins linked to Alzheimer's disease, www.biologynews.net/archives/2016/08/29/study_finds_shark_fins_meat_contain_high_levels_of_neurotoxins_linked_to_alzheimers_disease.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2Bbiologynews%2Fheadlines%2B%28Biology%2BNews%2BNet%29. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Not as "white" as they had hoped to be

In the article titled, “White nationalists are flocking to genetic ancestry tests with surprising results” by Eric Boodman, he tells a story of a white supremacist Craig Cobb, had his DNA testing results read to him and he found out that he was only 86% European and 14% Sub Saharan African. Cobb was booed and laughed at for trying to get the people of North Dakota to become an all-white dominance. Although Cobb was a white supremacist he was expecting to see that he was all-white but he played it off as in that the DNA test was wrong and that he wanted to be re-tested. Codd also mentions that he tried to say that the test was all but “statistical noise”. But little do they know now that they have made their ancestry public they would have to take down their sign of being a complete 100% white supremacist.

Lately people have been finding out that they are not as “white” as they had hoped to be. More and more people recently have been getting their DNA tested to see what they actually are. Some people are not pleased to see what they actually are. A lot of the people that get their tests are surprises to see where their ancestry comes from. Places like ancestry.com can actually be wrong with their data, “the science is often murky in those areas and gives ambiguous information” says J. Scott Roberts. Although ancestry.com can find lots of the peoples ancestors there is nothing like having your actual DNA tested to see where or what you actually come from.

Scientific American. August 16, 2017. Eric Boodman. Biology. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/white-nationalists-are-flocking-to-genetic-ancestry-tests-with-surprising-results/

One Test May Spot Cancer, Infections, Diabetes and More

I read an article I found on the Scientific American website. The article was called, “One Test May Spot Cancer, Infections, Diabetes, and More”. In this article I learned that a man named, Kun Zhang believes that one day by taking one blood sample we will be able to see all the issues that are going on in the body. That patience’s will no longer have to suffer the pains and expensive of intrusive surgeries.  

In 2011 a new blood test was released to test a pregnant women’s fetal bloodstream to determine if their child will have Down’s Syndrome or other genetic conditions. This might someday fully replace ultrasound plus blood analysis.

Another theory called, liquid biopsies have been releases only 3 years ago. This is where the blood is tested to analyze the tumors genetic makeup or look at evidence of cancer reoccurring in the patience. This is done by looking at the spread of the tumor. When the tumor spreads it spills a little DNA into the blood. Making it easier to identify from the normal DNA. This practices have not yet been picked up by all routine care but is well funded and will continue research.

I chose this article because I am very interested in the new sciences. I believe that through research and testing we will be able to achieve a higher understanding of how to use new technology and gain more knowledge in healthcare. By doing this we need to ask the right questions and test the right things. With these test it is just the beginning. One day there will be easier more efficient ways to save lives and prevent infection. I think especially only being an 18 I will be able to see many discovers as I age. The discovers will be life changing and I think it needs to be shared so more people think “what if” and start changing the way we look at things.

Resource: 

McGowan, Kat. “One Test May Spot Cancer, Infections,

Diabetes and More.” Scientific American, 5 Sept.

2017, www.scientificamerican.com/article/one-test-may-spot-cancer-infections-diabetes-and-more/. Accessed 13 Sept. 2017.

Study Reveals How Ionising Radiation Damages DNA and Causes Cancer

Previous studies on cancer have shown that DNA damage often leaves a molecular fingerprint on the genome of a cancer cell. These fingerprints are formally known as mutational signatures. Researchers and their collaborators from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have successfully identified two patterns of mutational signatures of DNA damage in human cancers caused by ionising radiation. Ionising radiation comes from gamma rays, X-rays,  and radioactive particles.

The researchers compared the mutational signatures found in genomes of 12 patients with secondary radiation-associated tumors and 319 patients that had not been exposed to radiation. In the results of their study they found that independent of cancer type, there were two mutational signatures for radiation damage in these cancer victims. Those that had been exposed to ionising radiation and those who had not.

The first of the mutational signatures is a deletion where small numbers of DNA bases are cut out. The second is called a balanced inversion. Balanced inversion does not happen naturally in the body but high-energy radiation could make enough DNA breaks at the sea moment to make this reaction possible. This mutational signature happens when the DNA is cut on two ends and the middle piece flips around and reconnects in the opposite orientation.

I find this article interesting because it is the first time researchers have discovered the damage that ionising radiation does to the body. This article is immensely important for society as well because we can start to discover what types of cancer ionising radiation causes and how to better treat the different types of cancer. Hopefully this will increase the amount of lives that doctors can save, knowing how to treat them more effectively.

Parker Brown

References:
“Study Reveals How Ionising Radiation Damages DNA and Causes Cancer.” Study Reveals How Ionising Radiation Damages DNA and Causes Cancer, Biology News Net, 12 Sept. 2016, www.biologynews.net/archives/2016/09/12/study_reveals_how_ionising_radiation_damages_dna_and_causes_cancer.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2Bbiologynews%2Fheadlines%2B%28Biology%2BNews%2BNet%29. 

Can Plants Hear?

While plants being able to hear sounds like a false science, new studies suggest certain kinds of plants are able to detect the sound of water flowing, and the sound of insects buzzing. At the University of Western Australia, Monica Gagliano conducted an experiment with her colleagues where she placed seeds in pots, that were then hung upside down. The purpose of the experiment was to see if placing one root towards flowing water, and one in a regular environment, would affect which way the root would grow. One arm of the root was placed in a tray of water that had a water flowing tube, the other arm was placed in dry soil. The results ended up showing that the plant always grew towards the tube of flowing water, even if it was more difficult to grow in that direction. When the plants were given the option between the flowing tube of water, and moist soil, the roots went towards the easier route and grew towards the moist soil. Galiano's conclusion was that the plants only used sound waves to detect water when it was at a distance and didn't have another source of water, but would choose whatever was closer when water in the ground was an option. Other studies that suggested plants could detect sound were by Heidi Appel at the University of Toledo, who noticed plants created more chemical toxins after "hearing" a recording of feeding caterpillars. Micheal Schoner at the University of Greifswald in Germany believes that plants could have hairy membrane structures that can perceive noises.

While the idea that plants can detect sound may be pseudoscience, I think the concept of plants being able to hear is interesting and that is why I chose this article. Plants are more complex than most people think, and proving that they can hear would support how complex plants are. Not to mention that there would be a lot of fun experiments that could come from testing plants reactions to sound. It would be interesting to test multiple different sounds and see how the plant reacts. What do you think? Do you think plants can hear buzzing, and water flow? Or do you think it's pseudoscience? And if they can hear, what experiments would you want to conduct?

References:

Zaraska, Marta. "Can Plants Hear? ScientificAmerican. (May 2017)
 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-plants-hear/

What's Next after Creating a Cancer-Prevention Vaccine

Cancer is something that has effected us all. Whether it is us personally or just someone we know, everyone has seen it or heard of it happening to a loved one. You have probably never heard anyone say, "I love cancer!" or, "I want cancer!". That is because no one wants cancer. It is one of the number one killers and ruins thousands of lives every year. Well, what if I told you they found a cure for some cancers? That cancers like cervical cancer, cancer of the mouth, throat, and anus could be prevented or cured? The good new is, they did! The men who created this cure has proved that the vaccine works on animals, and now conducted their first clinical trial of an HPV-16 vaccine in humans. These HPV shots are being given around the world today but for some reason they are not very widely accepted. Many believe that the shots are too new and do not have enough evidence behind them to give them to their own children. They also believe that these shots should not be mandatory. The US Center of Disease Control has suggested that two doses of the vaccine should be administered six months apart from each other from children ages 11 to 12 years of age.

This is all very near and dear to my heart. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a year and a half ago and it has turned our world upside down. Cancer has truly taken over her life and all of her loved ones lives too. If there was any way I can prevent this from happening to my future children I am definitely doing so. The pain and sorrow this awful cancer causes cannot match almost anything else. There is an ample amount of research done on this vaccine that proves that HPV does in fact work. And there have been no negative outcomes. In my opinion, there is no reason not to give your child this vaccine even if you do not believe it works. You could possibly be preventing them from getting cancer!!! In the US only 42% of young adult females and 28% of young adult males have received the full vaccination in 2015. Those are not great numbers. Many people say they do not even know about the vaccine. This is a clear example of why we need to get the word out and talk about the fact that there is a cure for cancer.

Maron, Dina Fine. “What's Next after Creating a Cancer-Prevention Vaccine?” Scientific American, www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-next-after-creating-a-cancer-prevention-vaccine/.

Macy Macchi

Heroin Vaccine

Scientists have developed a vaccine for heroin addiction. Living in Utah especially makes one acutely aware of the opioid epidemic and its devastating effect on families and well-being. Figures reported in the article state that “the number of people who have used heroin in the past 10 years has doubled from 379000 to 828000 in 2015.” Heroin use can often be traced back to prescription opioid abuse, often times prescribed initially for pain management.

Heroin works by binding to the mu-opioid receptors in the brain which leads to euphoria.  Current treatments for heroin addiction include methadone and naloxone. Methadone is a drug that binds to the mu-opioid receptor and does not provide the euphoric high of heroin, but does prevent a heroin addicted person from going through withdrawals. Naloxone binds to the mu-opioid receptors before the biologically active form of heroin can, it is used mainly when a person overdoses.

The new vaccine that has been developed works by attaching a molecule that is similar to heroin to a hapten and a protein. A hapten is a small molecule that will elicit an immune response in the body when attached to a large molecule (protein). The researchers injected this heroin conjugate into monkeys and rats, and injected a control molecule into other monkeys and rats. After three injections, the monkeys who had received the heroin vaccine showed an antibody response to heroin, which lasted several months.  The immunized rats included in an experiment in which they were allowed to give themselves heroin, actually stopped their self-administration of the drug. All groups showed a decrease in the potency of the drug after immunization.

Treatment of people suffering from heroin addiction with mu-opioid receptor blockers has been effective, but this vaccine is different in that it shows potential to be longer acting and with less side effects. The vaccine could also be used in conjunction with other heroin treatments such as methadone because it does not bind at the mu-opioid site, and instead releases antibodies that sequester the biologically active form of heroin. A combination of both drugs could prove to be an extremely effective form of treatment for addiction.

This article interested me because it made me rethink the way I think about vaccines. I had never thought that you could vaccinate against anything but disease. 

Bremer, P.; Schlosburg, J.; Banks, M.; Steele, F.; Zhou, B.; Poklis, J.; Janda, K. Development of a Clinically Viable Heroin Vaccine, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139 (25), 8601-8611

Pig Organs Well-Suited for Human Transplant?

            "22 people die every day awaiting a match [for organ transplant]" claims Karen Weintraub, the author of the article “Gene-Editing Success Brings Pig-to-Human Transplants Closer to Reality” (Weintraub, 2017). The issue of finding suitable organs for transplant is one that has cost many thousands their lives. In her article, however, Weintraub discusses a recent experiment conducted by scientists in Massachusetts that may yield functional pig organs with potential to be used in human organ transplants. The original issue with using pig organs for transplant was the suspected risk of transmitting viruses contained in the pig’s genome to humans. These viruses do not effect pigs but may cause humans to contract disease. The scientists in Massachusetts were able to use the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing system to essentially “delete” all viruses found in the pig’s genome by editing strands of DNA. The experiment yielded healthy piglets from which disease-free organs may in the future be harvested and used for human organ transplant. 

            The next steps in preparing pig organs for human transplant is modifying the pig organs to best perform their roles within a human. Because pig and human organs are very similar in size, scientists in Alabama hope to have pig organs available for the first xenotransplantation patients within the next three years (Weintraub, 2017). There is still plenty of testing before such a transplant may occur, but Weintraub’s article leaves a promise of hope for the success of future “pig-to-human” organ transplants.

            I very much enjoyed reading this article because I am studying biomedical engineering with the hopes of being able to help solve the issue of insufficient organs for transplant. I believe that this is the future of human organ transplantation, and with 22 people dying per day as they await a transplant, these findings have a serious effect on millions of people. Such transplants will save the lives of millions of people in need of functioning organs. The outcome of this experiment not only has an effect on the future of xenotransplantation, but gives hope to the editing of DNA for many other reasons, whether they be to remove disease or mutations, or to enhance desirable traits found in humans. Results such as these bring the promise of hope to the entire world.

Source:

Weintraub, Karen. “Gene-Editing Success Brings Pig-to-Human Transplants Closer to Reality.” Scientific American, www.scientificamerican.com/article/gene-editing-success-brings-pig-to-human-transplants-closer-to-reality/. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
-BH

Echolocation

Why do bats slam into buildings? Have bats been blind for many years people just haven’t taken the time to study their eyes? According to the article, “Bats Slam into Buildings because they can’t ‘see’ them”, written by Bruno Martin the reason bats are running into these buildings is because their echolocation isn’t picking up these smooth surface buildings.

The reason I decided to read this particular article is because you don’t really hear a lot of research on bats, so when I seen this article I was surprised it was even there. Scientist do studies on all types of animals, animals I’ve never heard off, so it’s really cool when they do a research on an animal you know of, but not enough to answer ‘Why bats run into buildings?’

In the article listed above, they explain how bats depend on their echolocation to be able to get around. When they are flying and they send out their echolocation they don’t get signals back that their is a building there until it is too late so bats will try to hurry and dodge the huge building right in front of them but unfortunately they are end up hitting the building anyways. Zoologist Stefan “Greif and his colleagues tested the echolocation of 21 wild-caught greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) in the lab. The researchers placed a featureless metal plate on a side wall at the end of a flight tunnel. The bats interpreted the smooth surface — but not the adjacent, felt-covered walls — as a clear flight path.” (Martin, 2017) Stated in the article. An average of about twenty trials was performed for each bat and nineteen of the bats crashed into the walls at least once. This was to test if a vertical “glass” object had an affect, but later in 2010 Mr. Greif wanted to see if the bats had the same effect to a horizontal facing object and if it would react the same way as the vertical test. When the researches put this horizontal facing glass objects in front of the bats, the bats would go up to it expecting there to be water there for them to drink. The reason for the bats certain behaviour is because bats usually encounter lakes and ponds, which are reflective, or mirror like. So when the horizontal glass was put in front of them the bats thought it was another lake or pond.

I think it's very interesting that the vertical mirror like object and the horizontal mirror like object gave us different results on if the bat would be able to see them or not. I thought that the bat would run into the horizontal glass just the same as the vertical one, but realizing why the bats react to the horizontal mirror they way they did makes total sense.

Zoologist Stefan Greif stated in the article that if these types of building start to become a real big problem to the bats that there are ways we can prevent these bats from hitting these buildings. All humans would have to do is avoid using smooth types of material on buildings and instead replace them with “the use of acoustic deterrents — small bundles of speakers that emit ultrasound near buildings in these ecologically important sites, says Greif. “We have to be realistic.””(Martin, 2017) mentioned in the article.

That's all on the article, “Bats slam into buildings because they can’t ‘see’ them”, written by Bruno Martin. I am glad I chose to read this article because I really did learn something new and interesting about echolocation, bats, and the effect of reflective objects that takes place in the bat's life.

References

Martin, Bruno. "Bats Slam Into Buildings Because They Can't 'See' Them." Naturenews, 2017, http://www.nature.com/news/bats-slam-into-buildings-because-they-can-t-see-them-1.22583.

Brain's Stem Cells Slow Aging

I have recently read an article on the Scientific American called the Brain's Stem Cells Slow Aging in Mice by Sara Reardon published July 26, 2017. On this article, it is discussed a study that advances the hypothesis that the function of the hypothalamus affects aging.

The study performed by Dongsheng Cai, a neuroendocrinologist and other colleagues, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City first observe that cells within the hypothalamus disappeared as mice aged.

As the article further described the scientist involved in this study went on to advance the study by injecting the stem cells (taken from the hypothalamus) of newborn mice into middle age mice, their conclusion was that the treatment with stem cells improved the cognitive and muscular function of the mice in comparison to untreated mice, as well as an addition of a 10% increase to their lifespan.

As a biology student, I love to read articles such as this one that further illustrates how the scientific method is applied in the real world. Also, in my opinion quality of life comes from being able to enjoy everything that comes with it and for that you’ll need cognitive function and your ability to use your body (muscular function) among many other things, especially for generations that are expected to live longer than previous ones, this is data that could very well improve our lives as more research develops from what we have already learn from mice experiments.