How Humans Rust Oxidation and How to Offset Oxidative Stresses When we think of rust, we picture a reddish-brown, worn-out strip of metal that’s been left out in the rain for too long. However, we don’t usually think of our own cells rusting inside us. Admittedly, that statement may seem a little misleading, but both iron and our cells break down in a process called oxidation. After that process, iron turns into rust so it's not too much of a stretch to conclude that our…
Unmeltable Ice Cream? Fun fact: Ice Cream in commercials is usually colored potatoes so they don't melt under the harsh and hot lights used to film. But we'll talk about real, sweet (potentially unmeltable) ice cream here. Back in 2017, Japanese scientists found that polyphenol, an antioxidant found in berries, could make ice cream last longer in the heat. Without over complicating it, basically, the polyphenol got the cream and fats of the ice cream to form a film over the…
An Example of AI's Positive Role Over the past century, AI has risen to stardom after its numerous appearances in big-budget films and best-selling books. However, movies focus on evil uses of AI when, in reality, AI has been a very beneficial tool. Take the recent Covid-19 outbreak as an example. Ai has been employed to model, track, diagnose, and help prevent the spread of the virus. One potential use of AI being explored is using AI to quickly generate a list of medical…
5 (real) Reasons Why the Chicken Crossed the Road We've all heard the classic answer to this anti-humorous "joke" where the most common answer is simply, "to get to the other side." Perhaps you've even heard a few more funny versions of it where there's actually a punchline. But in reality, do chickens actually cross the road, or is that just reserved for those pesky squirrels scurrying across the street at the last second? Well here are 5 scientific explanations for why a…
Rant about Numbers Numbers. As a self-proclaimed math enthusiastic and a superstitious athlete, numbers play a huge role in my life. On the sports side, I'll only play in jerseys with an odd number. That means for standard sports that only offer number 1-100 where number 1 is reserved for goalies and no one actually wants to be caught in a number greater than 30, that left me with the number 4, 9, 16, and 25 to choose from. Oddly enough, I have a special connection with 3 of…
Revolutionary Spinach Heart In 2017, a team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) grew a heart on the leaf of spinach. No, you didn't read that wrong. Here's how and why. Firstly, why. Organ transplants have become much more common nowadays but with the influx of people needing them comes the problem of supply. If you need an organ that people cannot live without, such as a heart, you'll have an even harder time finding a donor than someone in need of a kidney. All and…
Golden in the City It was a bleak March day. While snow does not always look bland and ugly, on this particular day it did. No amount of Robert Frost’s poetic finesse could spice it up. Days had passed since the snowstorm and what all that remained was a sloshy, grey-brown mess. Icicles had already melted away but the temperature still forced most folks to hustle around in light winter jackets. The winter holidays were months ago and the festive lights had been taken down.…
Who's Got The Best Nuggets? Simple question. You read the title. Which burger or fast food place has the best nuggets? How about with sauce? In this article, I'll be comparing Burger King, McDonald's, Wendys, and Chick-fil-A's nuggets. If I missed your favorites, drop it down below and I make a part two :). Test 1: The nuggets (no sauce) BK First for the stats of a 10 piece order: $5.79 for a total of about 482 calories and 19.8g protein. But let's be honest, if you've shown…
What If We Didn't Have to Eat? Humans NEED 4 things to survive: food, water, shelter, and air. But what if we could survive without the first of those things: food. Here we'll discuss the financial, social, and global effects of not having to eat as well as the alternatives to ingesting food. Money, Money, Money According to the ERS (Economical Research Service) of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), the food industry in 2019 racked in a whopping 1.77…
H0W R 40U R34D1N9 7H15? Our brains can recognize and convert numbers to letters pretty quickly automatically for the same reason that we can decipher messy handwriting. When we read, we process words and letters in a few steps; firstly, when reading a longer phrase, certain areas of our brain, namely the occipitotemporal cortex and superior-temporal cortex, work to predict what word comes next. Just by reading and talking to people regularly, you can predict how simple…
How to Cop The Best Discount TV It's that time again, the week of Black Friday when everyone and their grandma are falling head over tails for some new discounted TVs as if everyone's current television has suddenly collapsed, malfunctioned or otherwise in need of repairing. This year, those deep discounts are running for a longer stretch of time allowing you to, for the first time, realize that you don't actually know how to shop for televisions. Like at all. LCD, QLED,…
I just saw a notification informing me that my articles have accumulated more than 100 views! I'm super grateful for all of you guys and, though 100 may not seem like a lot, it means a lot to me and really motivated me to keep going! Thank you once again and have a great day!
Mouthwash and Covid-19 Last week, research from Cardiff University indicated that, in a lab, mouthwash could kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Coivd-19 in 30 seconds. The team tested various over the counter brands of mouthwash, including Dentyl and Listerine, because they contained cetypyridinium chloride (CPC). Of course, this is not a viable way to cure or prevent getting sick, since the virus is more likely to enter your lungs directly rather than linger in your…
Most Addictive Foods (and why they taste so darn good) The 1800s and 1900s saw the influx of fast food, junk food, and other types of processed food. With drinks like diet coke practically having a cult surrounding it and foods like McDonald's being commonplace in every major city in the world (and scattered through both the US, Europe, and China), it should come as no surprise that these foods are addictive. Indeed, up to 20% of the population suffer from this phenomenon…
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