Ah, the famous truffle, valued by gourmets across the world for its delectable taste. But, how much do we know about this rather odd looking food? Where does it come from other than from inside some French kitchen?
Well, for starters-it’s a fungus, not unlike the mushrooms you have on your burger. This special fungus instead of living above ground actually lives underground. Underground you say-why would you want to live underground? First off, in an underground environment you are least susceptible to the elements such heat, wind and frost.
What is more, scientists have discovered this fungus is both depended on and depends on plants and animals in its ecosystem. First off, almost all truffles form a symbiotic relationship with the plants in its ecosystem. A network of microfibers called hyphae grow into the plants root system to form a shared organ called an ectomycorrhiza-(remember this word; it might come up in a spelling test down the road).
This shared organ enables the 2 participants to share resources. The truffle provides nutrients that the plant cannot otherwise get on its own and water, while the truffle gets a variety of sugars-a result of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is very difficult to do when you are underground for almost all of your life cycle.
However, it doesn’t stop there. When you are underground, you have one problem that the mushrooms above ground don’t have which is propagating your seeds. You see, mushrooms can just release spores into the air and let the wind spread it.
In contrast, a truffle does not have the wind available underground. So, the truffle does something rather unique. To spread its spores, it’s reliant on animals to transport its seeds. The truffle produces a rather aromatic smell to attract various animals to dig it up and consume its yummy fruit which is embedded with many thousands of spores.
These spores are resistant to digestion and gets carried with the animal to be eventually deposited in a location elsewhere, such as in a toilet in a L. A. Eatery. So, the next time you are chowing down on some truffles, think about how you are part of the truffle’s ecosystem. Bon appetit.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-hidden-life-of-truffles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle_(fungus)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Dark Energy of Your Brain
Do you ever wonder what is going on inside your brain when you are at rest? Consciously, you are not aware of anything. Up until a few years ago, it was generally accepted that your brain in rest is actually doing nothing. However, this may not be the case. As far back as 1929, Hans Berger the inventor of the electroencephalogram noticed background electrical activity in the subject's brain while at rest. He hypothesized the human brain was constantly working even in a state of rest.
With today's non-invasive technology of fMRI(don't ask how fMRI works, I'll leave that to another post) and PET scans, scientists are starting to look into the inner workings of your BRAIN. In fact, for the past 20 years since these technologies have been available, scientists have largely ignored this background noise. Recently, neuroscientists started investigating this noise in the brain and have discovered the brain is doing a lot more than initially was expected.
When scientists looked a little closer at subjects at rest, they discovered the brain isn't really shut off. In fact, energy consumption in the brain only decreased by around 5% when at rest. So what exactly is the brain doing while at rest? Apparently, quite a lot. When you think of the information streaming into your brain, there's quite a bit of filtering, directing, retrieving, and reacting to inside and outside stimuli. To see, your eye receives about 10 billion bits per second, six million leave the retina, and 10,000 bits make it to your visual cortex and 100 bits are actually perceived.
Scientists have indentified neural networks in the brain that are constantly sifting through a massive amounts of data every second, prioritizing what data requires our conscious attention from both internal and external activities, and determining whether a reaction is warranted. Not much is known on these neural networks, but they make up a large part of energy expended within the brain, comparable to the dark energy that makes up a large part on the universe' mass.
For example, think of a time when you are sitting in a long boring meeting not really engaged in anything specific. Then, a mosquito quickly approaches your audible range. Depending on how far it is, you are probably not aware of it. However, your ear is picking up the sound, relaying it to your brain. Your brain is constantly monitoring the whining of the mosquito wings. For the initial part, it wouldn't really register in your consciousness, because there are other stimuli that have garnered your attention, such as the new intern whose oozing sex pheromones. The gentle waft of pheromones is picked up the olfactory part of your brain. Because pro-creation is a priority, your brain gives it priority, suppressing all other outside stimuli. Consciously, what do you do with this information, probably nothing, because copulation during a work meeting is culturally not acceptable. Priority of copulation is downgraded.
However, the mosquito approaches. Your brain has determined that mosquito should be given priority over the oozing intern. So, now you become aware of the whining noise of an approaching mosquito. These neural networks are constantly shuttling information back and forth between the different areas of the brain constantly monitoring the approaching mosquito. Finally, the skin in the ear sense a slight change in air pressure from the beating wings of the mosquito, on top of the loud buzzing being picked up by our ears. The brain immediately sends a message to your arms to swat the bugger. It is interesting to note on brain scans, that specific areas of the brain light up to initiate the swatting of a mosquito before you become conscious of taking such an action.
The implication of these findings is that these default mode neural networks may be our consciousness. The benefits of more research in this area are new treatments for Alzheimer, schizophrenia, and depression. A darker implication for this research, is the ability to program people, by hardwiring the brain to react to very specific stimuli above all else. Could we end up genetically altering human consciousness or even removing free will? An even more fundamental question that this research raises is -Does free will even exist?
As with all things science, the possibilities and questions are endless. What we end up doing with such discoveries and technologies will shape future societies for better or worse. Below is a link to the article.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-brains-dark-energy
With today's non-invasive technology of fMRI(don't ask how fMRI works, I'll leave that to another post) and PET scans, scientists are starting to look into the inner workings of your BRAIN. In fact, for the past 20 years since these technologies have been available, scientists have largely ignored this background noise. Recently, neuroscientists started investigating this noise in the brain and have discovered the brain is doing a lot more than initially was expected.
When scientists looked a little closer at subjects at rest, they discovered the brain isn't really shut off. In fact, energy consumption in the brain only decreased by around 5% when at rest. So what exactly is the brain doing while at rest? Apparently, quite a lot. When you think of the information streaming into your brain, there's quite a bit of filtering, directing, retrieving, and reacting to inside and outside stimuli. To see, your eye receives about 10 billion bits per second, six million leave the retina, and 10,000 bits make it to your visual cortex and 100 bits are actually perceived.
Scientists have indentified neural networks in the brain that are constantly sifting through a massive amounts of data every second, prioritizing what data requires our conscious attention from both internal and external activities, and determining whether a reaction is warranted. Not much is known on these neural networks, but they make up a large part of energy expended within the brain, comparable to the dark energy that makes up a large part on the universe' mass.
For example, think of a time when you are sitting in a long boring meeting not really engaged in anything specific. Then, a mosquito quickly approaches your audible range. Depending on how far it is, you are probably not aware of it. However, your ear is picking up the sound, relaying it to your brain. Your brain is constantly monitoring the whining of the mosquito wings. For the initial part, it wouldn't really register in your consciousness, because there are other stimuli that have garnered your attention, such as the new intern whose oozing sex pheromones. The gentle waft of pheromones is picked up the olfactory part of your brain. Because pro-creation is a priority, your brain gives it priority, suppressing all other outside stimuli. Consciously, what do you do with this information, probably nothing, because copulation during a work meeting is culturally not acceptable. Priority of copulation is downgraded.
However, the mosquito approaches. Your brain has determined that mosquito should be given priority over the oozing intern. So, now you become aware of the whining noise of an approaching mosquito. These neural networks are constantly shuttling information back and forth between the different areas of the brain constantly monitoring the approaching mosquito. Finally, the skin in the ear sense a slight change in air pressure from the beating wings of the mosquito, on top of the loud buzzing being picked up by our ears. The brain immediately sends a message to your arms to swat the bugger. It is interesting to note on brain scans, that specific areas of the brain light up to initiate the swatting of a mosquito before you become conscious of taking such an action.
The implication of these findings is that these default mode neural networks may be our consciousness. The benefits of more research in this area are new treatments for Alzheimer, schizophrenia, and depression. A darker implication for this research, is the ability to program people, by hardwiring the brain to react to very specific stimuli above all else. Could we end up genetically altering human consciousness or even removing free will? An even more fundamental question that this research raises is -Does free will even exist?
As with all things science, the possibilities and questions are endless. What we end up doing with such discoveries and technologies will shape future societies for better or worse. Below is a link to the article.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-brains-dark-energy
Monday, February 15, 2010
Top 10 Traits Unique to Humans
What really distinguishes us from every other animal on the planet? How is it that no other animal on this planet or the planet's history has ever had the capability of exploring space or of nuking ourselves into oblivion? I found a listing of the 10 traits unique to humans.
Let's face it, opposable thumbs are pretty cool. Without that ability to have your thumb reach every finger, it would make screwing on the lid of a tooth paste tube very difficult. Even more unusual is our long life span beyond reproductive our years-yes there is life after kids. Most animal species come to a quick demise via being eaten by lion or strangled and eaten whole by a very large Boa Constrictor. Instead, our post-reproductive phase extends out for years and years, mostly consisting of loud Hawaiian shirts and constant complaining about high taxes.
On the other end of the spectrum, we also have long childhoods. Most animal species are kicked out of the house within the first few months of life, while we humans linger on well into our twenties. Suffice it to say, our long childhoods are result of our bigger brains. With evolution, there are always trade offs. The female human body isn't really designed for babies with large heads-just ask any women who has given birth. As a result, brain development continues after birth delaying maturation by more than a decade. Of course, there is no evolutionary explanation of why there are 25 years olds still living at home. Brain development at that point is pretty much on a downward trend of neural death via drunken nights at the pub.
Apparently, blushing is a unique human trait. The only other animal that comes close are female baboons, and it's not their face that turns red. Although we are mostly hairless, we still have as many hair follicles as other primates such as chimps and gorillas. (However, if you ever hang out in the men's shower at the Y, hairlessness is not necessarily the case.)
There are many more charactestics I could mention here. You can see that evolution doesn't necessarily breed perfection, instead it results in what works. What we do as a human race to use those unique characterstics is entirely our choice. After all, we are more than apes with car keys. Click link below for the top 10 human traits.
Top 10 Human Traits
Let's face it, opposable thumbs are pretty cool. Without that ability to have your thumb reach every finger, it would make screwing on the lid of a tooth paste tube very difficult. Even more unusual is our long life span beyond reproductive our years-yes there is life after kids. Most animal species come to a quick demise via being eaten by lion or strangled and eaten whole by a very large Boa Constrictor. Instead, our post-reproductive phase extends out for years and years, mostly consisting of loud Hawaiian shirts and constant complaining about high taxes.
On the other end of the spectrum, we also have long childhoods. Most animal species are kicked out of the house within the first few months of life, while we humans linger on well into our twenties. Suffice it to say, our long childhoods are result of our bigger brains. With evolution, there are always trade offs. The female human body isn't really designed for babies with large heads-just ask any women who has given birth. As a result, brain development continues after birth delaying maturation by more than a decade. Of course, there is no evolutionary explanation of why there are 25 years olds still living at home. Brain development at that point is pretty much on a downward trend of neural death via drunken nights at the pub.
Apparently, blushing is a unique human trait. The only other animal that comes close are female baboons, and it's not their face that turns red. Although we are mostly hairless, we still have as many hair follicles as other primates such as chimps and gorillas. (However, if you ever hang out in the men's shower at the Y, hairlessness is not necessarily the case.)
There are many more charactestics I could mention here. You can see that evolution doesn't necessarily breed perfection, instead it results in what works. What we do as a human race to use those unique characterstics is entirely our choice. After all, we are more than apes with car keys. Click link below for the top 10 human traits.
Top 10 Human Traits
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Top 10 Scientific Letdowns
On the eve of the New Year, I could not resist the temptation of doing some sort of top ten list. So, here it goes. I found a top ten list of Science let downs or disappointments. As much as I like to be a cheerleader for all things science, I decided this year to reign in expectations.
Let’s face it we still don’t hav...e flying cars, and we still haven’t colonized the moon yet. Of course, I shutter at the thought of giving everyone flying cars, people have a hard enough time with 2 dimensional space let alone 3.
Of the top ten let downs of this year or decade for me would be the climate change issue. There’s undeniable evidence from different disciplines within science that corroborate our impact on the earth’s climate. Yet, we still continue to increase our carbon footprint, largely due to the world’s 2 big emitters still remain unconvinced there is a problem. Not to mention the millions upon millions of dollars being exhausted in marketing and propaganda to cloud the issue of climate change in the average world citizen’s mind.
Convincing people seems to be a daunting task. Just think of the controversy over evolution. Even after 150 years after its publication, 61% of the American population still expresses a negative or neutral opinion on evolution. We certainly don’t have 150 years to argue over climate change, and it’s looking like this is the only planet we have (we still haven’t found any earth like planets within a stone's throw away from our solar system).
For the New Year and years to come, I hope we all will take better care of our little blue marble in the sky. Below is a link to the Scientific Americans top ten disappointments, enjoy the read!
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=science-letdowns-decade
Let’s face it we still don’t hav...e flying cars, and we still haven’t colonized the moon yet. Of course, I shutter at the thought of giving everyone flying cars, people have a hard enough time with 2 dimensional space let alone 3.
Of the top ten let downs of this year or decade for me would be the climate change issue. There’s undeniable evidence from different disciplines within science that corroborate our impact on the earth’s climate. Yet, we still continue to increase our carbon footprint, largely due to the world’s 2 big emitters still remain unconvinced there is a problem. Not to mention the millions upon millions of dollars being exhausted in marketing and propaganda to cloud the issue of climate change in the average world citizen’s mind.
Convincing people seems to be a daunting task. Just think of the controversy over evolution. Even after 150 years after its publication, 61% of the American population still expresses a negative or neutral opinion on evolution. We certainly don’t have 150 years to argue over climate change, and it’s looking like this is the only planet we have (we still haven’t found any earth like planets within a stone's throw away from our solar system).
For the New Year and years to come, I hope we all will take better care of our little blue marble in the sky. Below is a link to the Scientific Americans top ten disappointments, enjoy the read!
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=science-letdowns-decade
Brain Clutter Bytes Eats Your Brain
Eating human brains can be hazardous to your health, at least for most of us. A remote tribe in Papua New Guinea, practiced human cannibalism as part of a funeral rite. Yes, dead relatives would be eaten at funerals, something to do with absorbing the spirit of dearly departed loved one.
Unfortunately for this tribe, its population began to decline dramatically due to a strange disease that would afflict most of its population. The symptoms were similar to what is now known today as Creutzfeld-Jacob disease or what is commonly known as Mad Cow disease.
Upon further investigation, it was the consumption of human brains that would result in this very deadly disease known as Kuru. Scientists have recently discovered that not all of the people in this tribe succumbed to this disease. In fact, some had evolved an immunity to this disease. It is this immunity that scientist are looking into, to hopefully understand Mad Cow and will someday lead to a cure for both Creutzfeld-Jacob disease and Kuru. Although, if Kuru becomes a common disease, you will have other more pressing matters to worry about- Chianti anyone. Go to the podcast below for more on this research.
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/09-10/qq-2010-01-23.html
Unfortunately for this tribe, its population began to decline dramatically due to a strange disease that would afflict most of its population. The symptoms were similar to what is now known today as Creutzfeld-Jacob disease or what is commonly known as Mad Cow disease.
Upon further investigation, it was the consumption of human brains that would result in this very deadly disease known as Kuru. Scientists have recently discovered that not all of the people in this tribe succumbed to this disease. In fact, some had evolved an immunity to this disease. It is this immunity that scientist are looking into, to hopefully understand Mad Cow and will someday lead to a cure for both Creutzfeld-Jacob disease and Kuru. Although, if Kuru becomes a common disease, you will have other more pressing matters to worry about- Chianti anyone. Go to the podcast below for more on this research.
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/09-10/qq-2010-01-23.html
Are Marine Algae smarter than us??
Until now, there wasn't much to the lowly marine algae, just a simple ubiquitous marine plant existing passively, serving to feed other marine organisms higher up on the food chain. To the suprise of University of Toronto scientists, these algae have managed to leverage processes in quantum mechanics to efficiently convert light into biological energy to be stored and later used.
How long have they've been doing this you say- for around 2 billion years. To even further bend your brain, they do it in such a way that light has to traverse a multitude of paths at once. It's like going to work from home-you just don't take one path, you take all paths. Talk about being at 2 places at once. In the quantum world, light travels much more efficiently if it travels along a multitude of paths simultaneously.
How these organisms figured this out early on is a scientific wonder. It’s only in the latter half of the 20th century that the human race has even begun to understand these processes. Even great thinkers such as Albert Einstein doubted whether such processes existed. He referred to it as “Spooky action at a distance”.
Yet, here’s a simple marine algae doing it. Maybe, they are smarter than us. They’ve certainly been successful at it for 2 billion years. Do you think the human race will be as successful and prolific in 2 billion years??
See web site below for the article and podcast.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100203131356.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/09-10/qq-2010-02-06.html
How long have they've been doing this you say- for around 2 billion years. To even further bend your brain, they do it in such a way that light has to traverse a multitude of paths at once. It's like going to work from home-you just don't take one path, you take all paths. Talk about being at 2 places at once. In the quantum world, light travels much more efficiently if it travels along a multitude of paths simultaneously.
How these organisms figured this out early on is a scientific wonder. It’s only in the latter half of the 20th century that the human race has even begun to understand these processes. Even great thinkers such as Albert Einstein doubted whether such processes existed. He referred to it as “Spooky action at a distance”.
Yet, here’s a simple marine algae doing it. Maybe, they are smarter than us. They’ve certainly been successful at it for 2 billion years. Do you think the human race will be as successful and prolific in 2 billion years??
See web site below for the article and podcast.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100203131356.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/09-10/qq-2010-02-06.html
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