Spring 2011 End of Trimester Karaoke Potluck!!!!

Who: YOU! and me =)

What: Food + Karaoke = YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!

Where: Room 505

When: Thursday 4/14 @5:30pm-ish

Why: Because the trimester is over and food is yummy and Karaoke is fun and hanging out for a reason other than studying is the funnest ever!

RSVP: Just put what you are planning to bring in the comments section.

Hope to see and hear you all there!

Week 14: living Diversity and Cognition

Diversity of species

Around where I live there are different kinds of trees, and flowers and grasses. Also there are squirrels, possums,raccoons, rats, cats, dogs, birds, fish, ants, butterflies, spiders, bees, skeeter eaters, worms and humans! I'm sure I'm leaving someone out, but those are some of our neighbors.

Cocoa = yummm and woooo!!!!!!....maybe?

It seems like the Cacao plant is the thing that is beneficial. Chocolate has a lot of things added to it that end up negating the benefits. Consumption of refined sugars is very bad for our health as we learned in the "Question of Balance" in the Chemistry class, refined white sugar is found in the extremely acid forming food section with a pH of 5-5.5 and the note says, "poison! Avoid it." I'm assuming that a healthy food becomes less healthy if you add poison to it...I think.

Studies have shown that milk actually blocks the positive effects of antioxidants. The studies have been done on chocolate, berries, teas, and coffee. Also the processing of chocolate where it is heated multiple times causes the nutritional content to be vastly diminished.

I do believe that diet is a major key in avoiding many of the health problems in our society, but I don't think it it should be based on any one food. Like ecosystems, diets are best when they include a diversity of plants, not just one super plant.

Class Discussion: Vegan Diet and Arthritis

I find diet studies to be extremely beneficial in helping individuals know what types of foods that cause them problems. We are what we eat. Literally, our Qi and cells are made out of the raw materials of the food that we put in our mouths. It is not surprising that we can control many illnesses with changes in diet.

Unfortunately the public is kept in the dark about how important diet is. Everyone knows what we eat is important, but I don't know that we know just HOW important. There is no real profit in changing diet, and doctors are no more knowledgeable about diet and its relationship to health than the general public. Most medical schools don't even require diet to be studied, and the few that do require only a 2-3 hour nutrition course.

In my opinion, diet is the cheapest and easiest way to change our healthcare system. If dietitians were more respected for the invaluable contribution they give with their knowledge of diet and how it effects our health, it would go a long way to keeping our medical expenses down. Prevention is so much cheaper, safer, easier and less environmentally destructive than chronic illness maintenance.

Week 13: Free Radicals and Antioxidants

Do we rely too heavily on supplements to provide antioxidants?

In my opinion, yes. Many people would rather pop a pill than eat some plants. Also many of the plants that are eaten are not the most nutritious like iceberg lettuce or white potatoes, or they are grown in a way that depletes their nutrition such as with the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Supplements are generally trying to be as nutritious as a plant but I would argue that it is impossible to do since we still don't know how the thousands of different vitamins, antioxidants and other phytochemicals interact with each other within the plant, not to mention the fiber, plant sugars and naturally distilled water found in plants.

How might we deal differently with the effects of environmental pollutants?

I think the better plan would be to not worry so much about the effects, and try to do something about the source. We don't really know how to deal with toxic chemicals once they are out in the world, but if we could stop making them in the first place, I think that would be a good plan. Of course, it would mean that we would have to stop producing things that create toxic chemicals as a waste product. And that's almost everything, including the computer I am writing this blog on right now...

Class discussion: hands free faucet = gross!

It was in one way insanely shocking to learn about how the hands free faucets harbored more germs than the traditional faucet, and at the same time, I was not surprised at all. It reminds me of all the things we do to try to defeat nature that blow up in our faces. It was brought up in class that we act like we are separate from nature by trying to eliminate germs and dirt and trees. We always seem to find out in the end that all of those things were maintaining a balance necessary for us to thrive. No matter how much we fight it, we are still human-animals that live as a part of our ecosystem just like the trees, squirrels and germs.

Week 12: Cell Biology

Mitosis vs Meiosis

I like this animation a lot. It was a little bit interactive since we had to click through each step. I t was helpful to see the two processes side by side and have the descriptions of what made them similar and different at each step. Very useful learning tool!

Citric Acid Cycle

This animation was also very good. I really liked having the audio as well so I didn't have to read through as much since the citric acid cycle seems pretty complex. It was very long. Also it took a lot of focus and repeating/replaying steps to grasp the process being presented. I still have a difficult time understanding all the steps, but it was a very good tool for learning. I would probably just need to dedicate more time and effort into understanding all the processes going on there.

Class discussion

The article "Ringing the alarm for Earth" reminded me of dangerous trajectory we are on in terms of over population. A friend once likened all of the good we try to do in terms of conservation and being green, reducing our footprints, etc., to throwing a pebble into the vast Grand Canyon that is overpopulation. There are too many humans on the planet right now already and the population is continuing to grow exponentially. This subject is strangely still very taboo in our culture. For some reason population control is seen as a barbaric, anti-American, anti-freedom idea, and yet, if we do not make the choices to control our population now voluntarily, we will run into the limits of our finite world that will control our population without our say and it will most likely be tragic and terrible. It is a major issue that I grapple with in my own life. The question of whether or not to have children, knowing that it further burdens the few remaining resources left on this planet. It is a controversial and essential debate.

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

Week 11: The Chemistry of Life

Animation

I don't know if words with arrows or certain arrangements of words would necessarily qualify as an animation. I thought the "animations" were cool, but would have perhaps enjoyed more of a visual picture instead of flow charts. Although I do know people who really like flow charts. It was also nice to have the expanded information for the periodic table in one place.

Last week's discussions

The nuclear disaster in Japan, though horribly tragic, will hopefully give us pause and allow people to really consider the ramifications of nuclear power and other "as long as it doesn't catastrophically fail we'll be just fine, but if it does we're all totally f*%#ed" technologies. We humans have the ability to use our brains to predict what will happen next, and yet we fail to use that foresight constantly.

I also found it interesting that 98% of radiation exposure comes from drinking milk. Just another reason to not consume dairy! It makes me wonder, how many reasons do we need?

Midterm

I chose Green Chemistry as my topic because I felt I could relate most easily. Being "green" is something I strive to do in my daily life. I feel strongly that we as a species have overstepped our boundaries and have placed ourselves and all other living creatures in a very bad position. the topics of over shoot, global climate change, peak oil and others both fascinate and frighten me. I will continue to do what I can to do the best I can.

Week 8: A Question of Balance

Semiconductor of the Week: Silicon

Silicon by mass is the 8th most abundant element found in the universe! That seems like such an amazing thing to know. I don't know how they figured out all of the contents of the universe, but somehow they know. I also don't know who "they" are, but I'm impressed. On Earth silicon makes up 27.7% of the mass of the Earth's crust making it the second most abundant element in the crust after oxygen. Silicon is a very useful element, able to form everyday things such as glass, cement and ceramics as well as many different kinds of plastics. Silicon has 4 electrons in its outer electron orbital that prefers 8 just like Carbon, giving it the ability to combine with many other elements to make all types of different molecules. We use trace amounts of silicon in our bodies to metabolize plants, which makes me, being solely a plant eater, very appreciative to silicon for helping me consume yummy plants!

Chembalancer

This site was super fun! I really liked doing the balancing games. It was good practice for the math section of my brains that have not been used very often lately.

General Chemistry - Balancing Equations

I didn't like how I had to actually download and save each file on my computer to look at them. That seems somewhat inefficient and generally I would rather just open something in its own website rather than downloading unknown files on to my computer. That being said, I did download the file since I have to do this assignment, and then the darn thing wouldn't open or play or anything. So I didn't get to check out this link even though I tried.

Week 7: Molecular Weight

Alkali metal of the week: Calcium

Calcium is the fifth most abundant metal found in the Earth's crust and dissolved in the oceans. It is also found in abundance in the bodies of animals including us! Calcium is not found naturally in its elemental state and is found mostly in sedimentary rock in the minerals Dolomite, Calcite and Gypsum. Within the human body, Calcium is one of the most important elements because it makes up the structural component of our bones, teeth and soft tissues and is necessary for our metabolic processes as well as simple muscular contraction. Calcium makes up about 1-2% of our body weight. Calcium is a big part of us and this world.

Hypothesis

The link on hypothesis was what I had expected. My understanding of hypothesis was basically what the links said.

What is a Mole?

A mole is the weight of a single atom or molecule expressed in grams.

Week 6: Electrochemistry and Alchemy

Halogen of the Week: Chlorine

Chlorine is found in abundance on Earth and is ubiquitous in our lives. It makes up the table salt we eat everyday and is used in common chemical disinfectants like bleach as well as used to clean our drinking water. Chlorine is able to form compounds with almost all elements. In nature, Chlorine ions are found mostly in naturally occurring salts found in the ground and the oceans making up about 1.9% of the mass of seawater. That's a lot of Chlorine! Although it is so common, Chlorine gas is toxic and has been used as a weapon in the past. Whether used for good or bad, Chlorine is a big part of life on our planet.

Alchemy - science, art, magic - or all three?

Alchemy is certainly a science and by the care and precision it has required to be discovered over the years, alchemy would also qualify as an art. In terms of magic, it is dependent on what magic means I suppose. Arthur C. Clarke said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." But maybe that means that it is magic. The discoveries made in herbal medicinals in the past and the current super atom discoveries being made I think could certainly all qualify as magic in some time or context, and perhaps time and context don't really matter and it is just simply magical.

Week 5: The Chemistry of Color and Nutrition

Inert Gas of the Week: Krypton

Krypton is the fictional home planet of the comic book hero, Superman. The planet was destroyed as a result of a nuclear chain reaction shortly after Superman, then know as Kal-El, was placed as a baby by his father, Jor-El, in an escape rocket and sent to Earth.

Krypton is also an Inert gas found on planet Earth! It was discovered in 1898 by the same chemists who discovered Neon a few weeks later. Like all Inert Gases, Krypton is chemically nonreactive. Its concentration in our atmosphere is about 1 ppm. Ionized Krypton gas discharge appears bright white which makes Krypton great for use in "neon lights", florescent lighting, and lower energy usage for higher light output.

To be honest, the fact that Krypton's name was used as the name for a fictional super hero planet is enough for me to chose it as my Inert Gas of the week. Also the chemical symbol is fun and growely sounding, "Krrrrrr...."

Colors in my kitchen!

Red: tomatoes, frozen raspberries, frozen strawberries, kidney beans, red lentils, adzuki beans, red quinoa, red bell pepper, red curry paste, ketchup, sweet and sour sauce, enchilada sauce, canned tomato sauce.

Orange : oranges, tangerines, carrots.

Yellow: Yellow onion, yellow squash, bananas, nutritional yeast, mustard, apple sauce.

Green: kale, collards, chard, green onion, brussle sprouts, spinach, romaine lettuce, avocado, broccoli, frozen broccoli, frozen green beans, green chillies, seaweed, green curry paste, green enchilada sauce, relish.

Blue: frozen blueberries.

Purple: purple cabbage, purple onion.

Brown: brown rice, tempeh, mushrooms, brown mustard, soy sauce, bread, pinto beans, english muffins.

Black: Black beans, black sesame seeds, canned black olives.

White: White rice, garlic, quinoa, potatoes, tofu, soy milk, aioli.

Luminescence

I thought it was very interesting to discover all of the different ways that light is created. The bioluminescence was particularly intriguing since it is created through naturally occurring chemiluminescence. I find it to be amazing that these chemicals that create a bright light without heat can exist naturally in a bug. So cool!

Week 4: Green Chemistry

Catalyst of the week: Amylase

The enzyme Amylase is found naturally occurring in our human saliva. It helps our bodies break down starches into sugars from which we derive the fuel for our functioning. Amylase was the first enzyme to be discovered and isolated. Many human societies have survived on starch based diets like potatoes and rice and have been able to do so thanks to Amylase. Without this wonderful natural enzyme, we would not be here. Thanks, Amylase!

Just how close are we to a Green Economy?

I think the entire question is focused on the wrong issue. For starters, the word "Green" is very general. Most of the time it means sustainable, which I think of as something that puts in as much as it takes out and can keep going like that in perpetuity. I would argue that we need to look beyond sustainability to regeneration: making things better than when we started, generating even more than we take. Another aspect of this questions is that it is offered up within the boundaries of the status quo, as if to ask, "how close are we to making THIS economy green?". It could be said that this economy, based in capitalism, central distribution and the monetary system among other things, is fundamentally unsustainable and therefore could never be truly green.

That being said, I do think that in recent years there has been a sort of awakening beginning to happen in the main stream. The more people are willing to see that there is a problem with business as usual, the more likely we are to make changes. I just hope we don't spend too much of our precious time and resources trying to patch what may be unfixable. When we collectively realize that " We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them" (Albert Einstein) then perhaps we will actually be on the road to creating a better social and economic interaction between each other and the Earth and all of her non-human inhabitants.

Atom Economy Link

I was not excited about the details of this link but the over all concept is a good one. The Atom economy is another important consideration we must make if we are to continue to utilize chemistry to make our everyday products. It seems obvious that we should try to not produce waste if possible, but we seem to overlook the obvious if it is not declared a priority.

Week 3: Molecular Structure and Bonding

Transition Metal of the week: Copper!

Copper is such a beautiful transition metal, whether seen in its fresh faced copper colored form, or its corroded green patina. Copper is soft and malleable making it easy to form into different shapes. It is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, in fact it is the second most conductive metal behind silver. With its pliable nature and ease of forming into wire, Copper is responsible for many of the technologies we enjoy today. Found in the same column as Gold and Silver, Copper shares many of the same properties as these two metals that are usually considered much more valuable. Records of Copper use span over 10,000 years of human history and my guess is that it will continue to aide us in our future endeavors.

Neptune's Medicine Chest

I have mixed feelings about Neptune's Medicine chest. On the one hand I would encourage scientific research and discovery when it gives us an economic reason to not trash the ocean since we (Western Culture/Civilization) seem to need an economic motivator for everything.

However, the purpose of Neptune's medicine chest makes me hesitate. It perpetuates the endless mouse wheel of creating drugs to "fix" diseases caused by drugs we have already invented. A stronger antibiotic resistant bacteria is caused by the overuse of the antibiotics we already made. Our bodies are amazing ecosystems that can fight infections and cancers on their own. We bombard our bodies constantly with cancer causing agents and then mistreat the immune systems we were born with to fight off the infections we give ourselves. There is a symphony of microbes and bacteria that deal with these foreign invaders, but every time we take and antibiotic, the good is wiped out with the bad with no concern for the consequences.

This is not to say that antibiotic discoveries are not a good thing. They have saved many lives, but perhaps they would not have been needed if we would stop creating the pathogenic environment that attacks us.

Link Review: Water Concepts

I like the interactive visuals found in this link. It helped me to understand hydrogen bonds and the various aspects of a water molecule. I think they could have done a better job with the graphics, but in general they serve their purpose.

Element of the week: Carbon

Carbon is the sixth most abundant element in the universe. Because of Carbon's ability to make long complex chained compounds, all life forms found on our planet are Carbon based, which I think makes this element pretty darn cool. Another interesting thing about Carbon is that when it takes the form of diamond, it is one of the hardest naturally occurring substances on Earth and when it is graphite, it is one of the softest natural substances on Earth.

Its versatility gives it the ability to not only build and foster, but also to be a danger to life. Carbon dioxide being released in to the atmosphere by human activity is the most abundant green house gas that is warming the planet and causing climate shifts.

Carbon is the element the wears many hats. It makes up our fuel and flowers and with out it we would not be here. =)

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures: Review

I found the animation on this page to be very helpful in my understanding of the differences between each combination of gases especially compounds and mixtures. My understanding of the difference between compounds and mixtures of elements is now clarified.

Ozone?

Ozone is an inert gas that is made in the upper atmosphere. It is not harmful, but too much can become harmful. It shields animals from harmful UV rays. It is also sometimes used as a food preservative. Human made chemicals have been eating away at the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere leaving the animals on Earth less protected from harmful UV rays.

Chemistry Quiz: 50% or 70% depending on how we are scoring =)

Thoughts on class discussion

I enjoyed the class discussion a lot. The subject of green technologies and the state of our changing world, climate and culture fascinates me.

The legal highs article reminds me that our culture lacks the community support and human interrelationships that are necessary to make us healthy and happy and unfortunately we find dangerous ways to fill that void. Not to say that there is not a tendency of people to be curious and want to experience a shifting of consciousness by getting high, but it seems the extremes of risk that are taken these days point to a deeper reasoning then just simple curiosity.

The carbon neutral city was inspiring. It's a lot easier to do when there are only a few thousand people to organize, but of course it is very possible to do on a larger scale as well. I would certainly love to live in such a place. The idea of a town working together towards a goal is very attractive to a lot of people who feel a hunger to help others and be a part of something larger than themselves.

As for the pill pushers, that article and discussion was discouraging as it reminds me of how powerful (read: rich) those calling the shots are. They are able to lie, cheat and steal our health to make more money and it seems like there is nothing to stop them. I want to think that it will get better, but my fear is that it will only get worse.

Bio of ME:

I am a carbon based life-form and also a student at ACCHS. This is my second trimester and so far I am enjoying the experience immensely!

Likes: singing songs, giving hugs, cooking and eating plants, laughing, learning TCM, the color purple (the actual color, not the book, but actually I like the book too), animals, children, flowers, natural building, appropriate technology, good conversation, massages, honesty, jumping, skipping, funness and more...

Dislikes: rinsing dishes (I prefer to wash), mean people, negativity, bullies, getting burnt out, being too cold, being punched ( I really don't like being punched), feeling sad...

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please come talk to me. =)