Monday Computer Models

I think it is really cool that scientists are using computer models and simulations to learn more about cell part functions. I do not remember learning about integrins in science class, but if most scientists do not understand how they work, that is not really surprising. I doubt teachers like to teach things they do not understand. I am not a teacher though. I think the vast majority of researchers out there are doing some impressive things and most of the world will not ever know about their work. However, there are vast amounts of people out there doing other kinds of important work that no one will ever know about. I think the anonymous nature of humanity is rather unfortunate. We cannot know everyone and yet everyone is worth knowing in some capacity. Part of my problem with philosophical arguments about what we can know and how we can know is that I believe reality needs to include all the other people. I do not think we should argue that our realities only are made up of what we know when I don't believe that is true. I may be confusing things at the moment, but it is a Monday morning. I would so much rather be in bed or doing nothing. However, neither would I want to miss today's classes on Christology, the Future tense of Spanish, and translating part of the book of Esther from Hebrew. So off to school I go...

What is your favorite scientific computer model?

Wait, Men and Women are different...?

Yes!

The answer is yes!

In so many, many, diverse ways!

We have different chemical constructions, we have different neurological tendencies, we have different body structures, we have a tendency to like different things, we even get sick differently.

That was the moral of today's article entitled Men and Women Get Sick In Different Ways. Very straight forward. However, in the medical world, its not very straight forward. The first major disease which I knew affected men and women differently was heart disease because of the differences in signs of a heart attack. It is interesting that most medical studies are done on men. Perhaps studies ought to be done on women as well. I would guess that with different chemical make ups, diseases respond differently in each environment and that the body will respond to disease and treatment differently. That's just my guess. I could be wrong.

And even though men and women seem to love differently, we can all love. And everyone is better off with a little love. Especially when they are sick. Here's a little love.

St. Patrick's Day Chemicals

http://scienceblog.com/61298/video-the-chemistry-of-alcohol-and-hangovers-bytesize-scienceacs/

I really just looked at this article for two reasons.
First, it was the only new one up since yesterday.
Second, because I didn't know that the American Chemical Society has a website for their videos called Byte Sized Science and I think that is an awesome name. Lots of ancient religions thought that names had power, and in the information overload some of us live in, having a good name is essential.

I know first hand two of the powers of alcohol problems, dehydration and being 'allergic' to some of the ingredients. There are witnesses to the only real beer I ever drank, a Bud Light Lime, and it was not pretty. Although if you are into burping the ABCs, I could have bested you that night. Dehydration gets me all the time from other activities, so I can't really say that that is surprising. The video does have some nice pictures though.

Olive Oil Video Wednesday

The article I read today was actually is a video about olive oil. It is really interesting to hear what they are doing to test olive oil and to see the quality of different types of olive oil. The industry does all sorts of things to try and increase sales but keep costs low. That does not always make for the best quality oil. Also, apparently olive oil should have a harvest date on it and that should be the date consumers look at when deciding which bottle of olive oil to purchase. Chemistry abounds in the food world. I think that is one reason I like cooking and baking so much is that it is usually tasty experimentation with different items. I do not have to write out my methods or ingredients, I can experiment and keep going in order to find the combination that I really like. http://thinkingintermsof.scienceblog.com/2013/03/04/avoiding-olive-oil-fraud/

Keeping the Heart of the Matter - Marie Daly

http://www.usasciencefestival.org/schoolprograms/2014-role-models-in-science-engineering.html?pid=366&sid=767:Marie

Today is a history lesson. The first African American woman to get a PhD in the US did so in Chemistry in 1947 from Columbia. Her determination alone is enough to commend her to our eyes. Not many women at the time were able to set out and accomplish that which they wanted to at the time. Even still today, many women do not feel that they are able to accomplish what they want with their lives. For many it is family responsibilities, feeding, clothing, and caring for their loved ones. For others it is the institutions of the world who refuse to allow women to work in certain places or who do not take the words and actions of women seriously. Thankfully, I have grown up in a time and place which has afforded me the ability to be who I want to be and to work for what I want to accomplish. I am very grateful to the women who walked before in me in the world and in my chosen career field. (If you follow Lent Madness, I can tell you I will be voting for Florence Li-Tim Oi.) There are plenty of ways in which the world has worked against these institutions and towards better lives for women. Recently we had the One Billion Rising campaign day, which goes against violence towards women in the world.
I don't know much about Marie Daly, but she obviously followed her heart and I think that is what is great about anybody who makes their own life in this world. Its an especially easy analogy to make considering she studied heart health as related to cigarettes and diet. Marie Daly is not the only woman or man or person who is notable because they followed their heart and made an impact on the world. I am hopeful that in the coming days I will get to think and learn about other new people in science who followed their hearts and made an impact for which we can all be grateful.