The Top of the Food Chain

The food chain - life’s way of telling you just where you are on the totem pole. Up near the top are us, the humans, evolved to be the perfect predator. At the bottom are the krill and insects, as befits their rank.
Our utter perfection is shown in how we have conquered the mighty lion, tiger and puma. Sure, they make occasional strikes, but overall, we’ve won and we’ve kept it that way.
So. Now that we’ve determined our rank on the food chain, guess who’s on the very top?
Not the lion, obviously, nor the tiger, nor the puma. And in case you were wondering, it’s not the elephant either.
No, it’s the mushroom.




Actually, to be precise, it’s worms, mushrooms and bacteria. When you die, they eat you - always have, and hopefully always will. Without them, we’d have a pile-up of dead bodies and just a whole lot of death in general, as the nutrients in the soil would be depleted and then nothing would grow, leading to mass death. The only safeties would be in a completely ocean-supported lifestyle, although if all bacteria died, not just composers, we’d really be messed up. The ocean food chain/circle mirrors our own; energy travels up until the “top” of the chain dies, at which point it’s eaten by bacteria, to begin the cycle anew.
In other words, you should be grateful to these bacteria. Even though they’re the reason you’ll never be the top of the food chain, there wouldn’t even be a food chain without them.

To see the original blog post with the mushroom, click on the image OR click here!

Thanks for reading my kinda-not-really-educational rant!
-[Asian X]

Mister Pip's Corner: Weekly Blog Post

Dear Mister Pip,

What are your thoughts on the way that science is presented in the classroom? Do you feel that by teaching biology, chemistry, and physics we are showing a fair representation of the field of science? If there are other type(s) of sciences that could be added to the curriculum, what would it/they be?

Sincerely,

Margaret P.

Dear Margaret,

This is an interesting question and one that I have actually thought of quite a bit. I'm going to express my feeling and then explain. I do not think that the science curriculum in the school is giving a fair view of the field of science. According to an article I read on mnn.com a few weeks ago, 49% of adults in the USA do not know how long it takes for the earth to orbit the sun (~365 days for all of you out there), and the USA ranks 48th in science education for our children. These are scary numbers, but unfortunately I cannot say that I am surprised. Children are science illiterate in this country. It's a shame. We teach our students (in most schools, there are a few exceptions) only basic knowledge and sometimes not ev

en that. As long as the child get an 'A' everyones happy. That is until the real world comes into play. Our country cannot support itself and it's economy on workers that do not understand basic science skills. China has now surpassed the US in being the leading technology exporter, and it's all due to a lack of science education. Now I could get into an argument about how all aspects of most public schools need readjusting, but as this is a science blog, I regress. To answer your other question, I do believe we should add some sciences into the education field: Social & Behavioral Science, Basic Engineering Skills, Microbiology, and Genetics. These are the ones that I think would greatly help students although I feel that while adding Botany might not directly help students, it would be rather interesting.

Most Sincerely,

Your Mister Pip

Dear Mister Pip,

Hi, for my outdoors badge (we're in the 4H) we have to be able to identify trees by their leaves. We have this book called Leaf Key for Tree Identification. Could you explain how to use it?

Sincerely,

Dormo S. & Merganta W.

Dear Dormo & Merganta,

I assume your talking about a book where you have several choices and by answering questions about the leaf, you can identify what type of plant this is. I used to have to do this all the time while studying botany. There's a special name for the book, but my mind is blank. Anyways you must firstly understand how the book works. The book will ask you a question (eg. Nodes?) and then there will be three choices or so. Depen

ding on which traits the leaf has (eg. no node) then the book will say to go to another question. This is the process you do until eventually it will say what type of tree the leaf came from. Most books will then direct you to a page where you can learn more about the tree or bush, and if there's a picture (which there usually

is) you can compare the leaf to the picture. They should be rather similar. If they're not you most likely made a mistake, or it is possible that the leaf is not in the book. Go through the process several times if not sure.

Most books are designated for certain areas (eg. Coastal Plains of Texas) so that there are not too many questions and leaf options. Botanist (people who major in Botany) do this sort of stuff all the time unless they have memorized some of the more common leaves. Best of luck on earning your outdoors badge.

Sincerely,

Mister Pip

War of the Worlds

In the famous book by H.G. Wells, Martians come and attack the earth, and the world as the humans know it ends forever. Now, the humans are trying to find the Martians before they find us. In 2007, The Odyssey spacecraft discovered several large holes in the planet's surface. Unfortunately, the craft was too big to explore the caves. Now, NASA scientists are contemplating sending swarms of smaller robots to explore the caves in search of extraterrestrial life. These robots (called Jallbots) would be sent in groups of 40-60. Jallbots would sense caves by the sharp decline in temperature caused by the change in elevation.

I think this is a good idea. Science, and space in particular, is an amazing area of study that we have yet to explore fully. There's no telling what would happen if we did discover life on Mars. It could be a dangerous mission, but that's the benefit of using robots instead of humans - robots' lives are dispensable. While they cost a lot of money, they don't cost nearly as much as a larger spaceship, a rover, or a human life. We have amazing technology, and we should use it to learn of and explore the greatest parts of our universe.

For more information, see the Wired article on the subject.

How It Really Gets To You - Anthrax

In 2001, terrorists attacked. Their weapon of choice? Anthrax. Almost a decade later, the anthrax mail attack is still foremost in people’s minds when they think of bioterrorism. But what is anthrax, really?

Anthrax is a rod-shaped (bacillus) bacterium formally known as Bacillus anthracis [See figure 1]. It is a part of the cellular organisms domain, specified into the bacteria kingdom, part of the fermicutes phylum, of the bacilli class, subdivided into the bacillales order, further specified into the bacillaceae family, then divided into the bacillus genus and finally identified in the bacillus cereus species.

Bacillus anthracis is endemic (native) to Asia, southern Europe, sub-Sahelian Africa and parts of Australia. It is found in soil, where its spores can last for generations. It mainly affects cattle, sheep, goats, camels, horses, and pigs in addition to the humans who care for them.

Anthrax is a lethal disease. Even though it doesn't cause your brain to explode, it's just as deadly. After being introduced into the body, the bacteria produces three compounds known as lethal factor, endema factor and protective antigen. Alone, lethal factor and edema factor are harmless, but with the addition of protective antigen they become deadly. Protective antigen binds to cell receptors, which then cut the protein in half. The halves bind separately to each of the factors, transforming them into lethal toxin and edema toxin. The two toxins each stop cell regulation via the signaling pathways, which results in cell death due to either necrosis (premature cell death) or apoptosis (cell suicide). Anthrax especially targets the immune system and blood vessel linings most likely because they require either downstream ERK activity or Mek1/2 pathway in order to reproduce. This mass cell death eventually results in either death by infection (the immune system's down) or death by lack of functioning (the cells are dead and therefore cannot perform any more).

Evidently, anthrax is nothing to be taken lightly. In 2001 this was shoved home as twenty-two people were infected. Although only five died, it was still a shell shock to the American society. Anthrax was the unanimous super-villain. Now, as people everywhere learn more about anthrax, they are able to fully appreciate the risks-whether they be large or small.



Figure 1 (Bacillus anthracis: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia Image)

Read More

Wikipedia's article. Read this first, then the rest of the stuff...it'll make a LOT more sense, I promise

Click here for the effects, in all their pseudo-gory detail, of lethal toxin and edema toxin.

More lethal toxin and edema toxin effects here. It's a lot simpler and there's a link to the rest of the article for free!

Oh, wait. They're all like that.

And now, on to the World Health Organization. Here they are.

Last but not least, our lovely Centers for Disease Control. They had to work hard after that mailing...and here's the evidence.



Anyway, that was this week's episode of How It Gets To You. Stay tuned throughout the year to (maybe) hear about more!

(Unless, of course, this is offensive. In that case I apologize and sincerely hope that you spell your criticizing comments right)

-[Asian X]

The Discovery's Final Hour

Photo credit Wired

At about noon on Wednesday, March 9th, the space shuttle Discovery touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. The shuttle has carried many unique people, such as the oldest person and the first member of Congress in space. Discovery had a twenty-seven year career.

While I think it is wise of the space program to discontinue the shuttle - otherwise flights may become dangerous for astronauts- it is certainly sad that this shuttle will no longer carry the important explorers of a new age into a vast, dark frontier. However, the Discovery served many purposes. This shuttle helped the space program achieve many things. The final landing of the Discovery signifies the end of an era. The people who have traveled on this ship have seen and traveled places you and I won't ever see. With the final landing, the sun sets on a period of exploration. However, the shuttle will be displayed in the Smithsonian as an emblem of "discovery" for everyone, even people from different nations to see. Space travel binds the world together, and while this final landing is sad, we will eventually push space travel even further, and expand the limits of our minds and imaginations.

To read more about the Discovery's journeys, refer to this article on Wired.

Mister Pip's Corner

Welcome to Mister Pip's corner. Here I will answer questions from some of my biggest fans. It was so hard to pick the question, but here we go.

Dear Mister Pip,

I'm an avid reader and thought to ask you one question that I have had for a long time. Why was Pluto excommunicated from the planetary family system? I know it has something to do with Pluto not fitting all of the requirements, but can you explain the exact reasons why it is no longer considered a planet?

Thanks,

Hermione G.

Dear Hermione G.,

This is a common question I get. In order for an object to be a planet it must follow three requirements. The first requirement is that the object must orbit the sun. Pluto obviously orbits the sun, so in this sense it could be considered a planet. The second rule is that an object must have a great enough mass so that it is able to pull itself into a spherical shape. Pluto's mass is large enough, so this category is not a problem. The final rule to be a planet is that it must have cleared things out of its "orbital neighborhood". Pluto is relatively small compared to other objects in its orbital neighborhood, so in this sense Pluto cannot be a planet. Pluto was degraded to a dwarf planet on August 24, 2006 at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union.

Sincerely, Mister Pip

Dear Mister Pip,

I love your blog posts and look forward each week to reading them. My question for you today is kind of stupid, but I have always wondered. Why does wood float? I have heard that it has to do with weight, but that can't be true because even large trees like Redwoods float in water. What's up? Any help would be much appreciated.

Your Secret Sweetheart,

Cho C.

Dear Cho C.,This question is one that is commonly overlooked. Wood floating in water does have to deal with weight, but not directly. The whole reason wood floats is that wood is less dense than water. Let me explain. Density is how much mass something has in comparison to its volume (d=m/v). Wood on average has a density of about 650 kg/cu.m. Bamboo is one of the lightest woods with 300 kg/cu.m while Lignum Vitae has a much higher density of about 1300 kg/cu.m. If you would like to see a full list of wood densities you can click here. Anyways, objects that have a lower density than water float. Hence, wood has a lower density than water, so it floats.

Sincerely, Mister Pip.

Dear Mister Pip,

I work in an office building in Edinburgh and they are testing the office building for asbestos. What is this? If there is asbestos, how could this substance get into the building? Thanks for all your help.

Joanne R.

Dear Joanne R.,

I'm so flattered I have international reader. Actually I'm not that surprised; I am pretty spectacular. As we all know. Anyways, asbestos is pretty serious if you breathe it in. Asbestos is one of six silicate minerals (natural). If it is inhaled, it has the potential to cause tumors. Asbestos is a very dangerous substance. It can also cause mesothelioma and lung cancer. Asbestos used to be used in construction, before they realized the dangers of it, just like how they used to lead paint. Unlike lead paint, however, many older buildings still have asbestos. I hope this helps. I would try avoiding asbestos, because of its health problems, at all costs.

Sincerely, Mister Pip

Damaged Life...Or Death?

The Nipah virus.

Sound unfamiliar? That's because it is. In 1999, the virus was officially recognized during an outbreak among Malayian pig farmers. Although rare elsewhere, in Bangladesh the fatality rate is approximately 75%. The survivors aren't much better; 20% suffer neurological damage in return for their lives. A fair trade?
The survivors can suffer from convulsions and personality changes as well as recurrent brain swelling.

So. The real question here. Would you rather live a damaged life or die?

It's not a certainty that you'll suffer seizures. It's not a certainty that you'll suffer personality changes. It's not a certainty that you'll be affected. But this isn't all about you. Unless you’re living in India near pigs or bats, you’re pretty safe, unlike the people of Bangladesh. They have to live with this everyday.

And now we’ve gotten to the best part. So you know how I said India’s not the place to be?

I lied.

Well, not exactly. Viruses change extremely fast; take HIV for example. It changes from person to person (so if person A gives it to person B, person A and B do not have the exact same virus. Similar enough to be classified as the same, yes, but not the same). Nipah virus presumably has a fairly low transmission rate (Otherwise, a LOT more people would be dead), but that is subject to change at any time. In other words, this virus could spread across the globe.

The Spanish flu did the same. In 25 weeks, it’d killed 25 million people. Nipah virus would be much, much worse. The mortality rate for the Spanish flu was, at worst, 25%. The mortality rate for Nipah virus is 40-75%, easily twice that of the Spanish flu.

As of yet, there is no vaccine. We’ll just have to watch and wait...and hope our immune systems learn fast.



Read More

Click on the image for the World Health Organization factsheet and here for Wikipedia's henipavirus page (The link'll take you to the Nipah virus section).


Anyway, that was this week's episode of How It Gets To You. Stay tuned throughout the year to (maybe) hear about more!


(Unless, of course, this is offensive. In that case I apologize and sincerely hope that you spell your criticizing comments right)


-[Asian X]