Charged Magazine

Category: today i learned (til)

health, fitness, medicine, environment, ecology, how to learn tricky topics in science and math, new discoveries, news, current events

Are skin care products really useful?

There is a saying that everyone can be a beauty and it seems true more than ever in today’s world. Nowadays, both boys and girls are taking skin care more seriously to make their skin smooth and to look young and pretty. A recent study showed that skin texture plays a significant role in the judgment of female facial beauty. [1] Thus, it is not surprising that a girl can accumulate tons of bottles of skin-care products on her dressing table. Even boys at least have one facial cleanser. In my own experience, I use a various of skin-care products because my face gets oily and grow pimples and acne easily. I need to be extra careful since my skin is so sensitive that if I don’t choose the right products, it turns red and itchy. I do worry about if there are some side-effects and whether these countless skin-care products that come from different regions all over the planet are useful or not.

Let’s look at our skin structure first. There are three layers called the epidermis, the dermis and hypodermics in our skin. The layer skin-care products contact most is the epidermis, which it the outermost layer of skin, providing a waterproof barrier and creating our skin tone. What’s more, there are two layers of epidermis, the living basal layer, which is next to the external stratum corneum, or horny layer, which is composed of dead, keratin-filled cells that have migrated outward from the basal layer. Most of the exfoliators and cleanse products are dealing with the stratum corneum layer.

Thus what skin care products actually can do is basic moisturizing, which is a totally physical function rather than chemical. Looking at the ingredients of moisturizing products, it is not hard to find mineral oils, synthetic oils, plant oils in order to soften and moisten skin. Glycerine and propylene glycol are used for moisture absorption. These ingredients help skin to stay smooth by preventing the loss of water and oxidization.

Another important skin product is sunscreen and cream for isolating the UV and atmosphere pollution or dust. Krysta Biniek, a researcher in Stanford University wrote that “Although the ubiquitous presence of solar UV radiation in human life is essential for vitamin D production, it leads to skin photoaging, damage, and malignancies solar UV radiation poses a double threat to skin by both increasing the biomechanical driving force for damage while simultaneously decreasing the skin’s natural ability to resist, compromising the critical barrier function of the skin”[2] .

Products like skin whiteners have some serious side-effects. There is one study that showed that skin-lightening creams contained higher concentration of the studied metals than the moisturizing creams. Also, people who use skin-lightening creams are potentially exposed to higher concentration of metals. Last but not least, chromium was found at concentrations that can induce allergenic contact dermatitis in pre-sensitized individuals.[3] Based on this finding, the ingredient of skin whitening products become extremely crucial. So next time when you go shopping, remember to take a look at ingredient list. Natural sources are much better than chemicals. There is also a scientific analysis that discusses advantages of natural sources. It says that “Although a number of hypopigmenting products have been developed, those from natural sources are preferred and will predominate in the cosmetics market. More active compounds such as phenols, flavonoids, coumarins and other derivatives have been identified from natural sources. This article summarized natural skin whitening products involving tyrosinase blockers like phenols and polyphenols, and non-tyrosinase blockers like α-MSH, melanosome transferase and cytokine inhibitors.”[4] All in all,don’t forget to take a look at ingredients of skin whitening products when you are shopping.

Generally if you want to have a glowing skin, the easiest way is try to get a nice DNA at the very beginning of your life. Just kidding! Don’t be fooled by flowery words in advertisements and stay away from those products which have impossible crazy functions. You can surely earn a great skin by choosing suitable skin product and clean, moist and put sun cream everyday. So I guess the magic to have a nice skin is your perseverance.

[1]Fink, Bernhard, Karl Grammer, and Randy Thornhill. “Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness in relation to skin texture and color.” Journal of Comparative Psychology 115.1 (2001): 92.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.115.1.92

[2]Biniek, Krysta, Kemal Levi, and Reinhold H. Dauskardt. “Solar UV radiation reduces the barrier function of human skin.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.42 (2012): 17111-17116.

http://www.pnas.org/content/109/42/17111.short

[3]Iwegbue, Chukwujindu MA, et al. “Safety evaluation of metal exposure from commonly used moisturizing and skin-lightening creams in Nigeria.” Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 71.3 (2015): 484-490.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230015000173

[4]Lin, Jen-Wen, et al. “Natural products with skin-whitening effects.” Journal of food and drug analysis 16.2 (2008).

https://search.proquest.com/docview/1282142799?pq-origsite=gscholar

November 10, 2017
Learning Quantum Mechanics

Mastering science concepts for many students can be difficult. Great instructors, learning resources, and even video games can all be ways to help students comprehend difficult information. For college students and some high schoolers, quantum mechanics is a topic that many have a hard time understanding. Researchers Johnston, Crawford and Fletcher at the University of Sydney focus on better approaches to teaching quantum mechanics concepts. Their research is driven by answering two questions: 1) How do we define the most important concepts to learn quantum mechanics and 2) How do students conceptualize the ideas of quantum mechanics (pg 428). Researchers and students at Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a quantum mechanics game for students. I recently had a chance to interview one of the students working on the project, Aditya Anupam a 2nd year PhD student in Digital Media.

Aditya Anupam working on project

How long have you been working on the project? Why did you join?

I started working on the project in 2016. I have a master’s degree in electrical engineering and was frustrated with how science was being taught.

Why teach quantum mechanics through video games? Its immersive and easily accessible to students and teachers in and outside the classroom.

What is the quantum mechanics game about?

The core concept for the game(which is named: Particle in a Box) was to help undergraduate students challenge their preconceptions about quantum mechanics (which are often rooted in classical mechanics). Quantum mechanics is hard because people don’t get the opportunity to engage actively with the quantum phenomena or experiment with quantum systems. The game provides a scientifically accurate, yet fun, environment to do this.

Why is science important?

There are four reasons why I think science is important:

Jobs: most jobs require at least a basic understanding of science.

Personal use: for example, choosing the right food, fixing things in your house

Public discourse: It helps us become more informed so that we can support the right policy that will impact science.

It’s beautiful: It helps us understand the world and our place in it

Is Particle in a Box being used in the classroom? And where can we play it?

We tested the game on undergraduate electrical engineering students at Georgia Institute of Technology and received generally favourable results. Who is the audience for the game? The game is primarily for undergraduate students enrolled in courses involving introductory quantum mechanics, but it may also be of interested to high schoolers. Where can we play game? You can visit: learnqm.gatech.edu and please feel free to share feedback if you have suggestions on how we can improve the game.

What’s the next project you’ll be working on?

I plan to continue working on the field of digital media and science education. We are currently in the process of redesigning the game based on our research results. We are interested in making a multiplayer version of the game to encourage a more collaborative learning atmosphere in the classroom. Other than the game, I am also interested in the public understanding of science and how depictions of science in the media affect that understanding.

If you get a chance, please play the quantum physics game at learnqm.gatech.edu. And let’s work on making sure more students are given the resources to succeed in the field of science!

Notes: What is Particle in a Box?

So you maybe wondering, how does the game work? The game design is very similar to Donkey Kong and Mario in the appearance and layout. Once you begin the game, there is a small textbox on the left bottom corner. The textbox has information on how to play the game and explains principles of quantum mechanics. The user plays a small blue character that has to pick up certain materials when prompted.

Resources:

Crawford K., I.D. Johnston and P.R. Fletcher. “Student difficulties in Learning Quantum Mechanics.” International Journal of Science Education, vol.20, no. 4, 1998, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download doi=10.1.1.1009.2311&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 22 September 2017.

Special thanks to Aditya Anupam for the interview!!!

October 13, 2017
The Black Dot vs The Highlighter

As college student, we have all had that one class that is required for graduation that we aren’t the most interested in. Most of us have a hard time retaining information for that particular subject. So, what would you consider the most effective way to retain the information you need to be successful throughout the course? There have been many research studies conducted on study habits and the effects a study habit has on the student’s ability to retain the information. Perhaps, the worst study habit a student can partake in is highlighting, and the best would be studying information in intervals along with adequate rest. But are these practices beneficial for a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket? I decided to find out.

Many students at GT are seen in class highlighting or using a bullet point method when taking notes, but which is the most beneficial and how do they affect the student’s ability to retain information if they are not interested in the subject matter? I’m sure any student at GT would agree that lectures are 50 to 75 minutes of information overload that result in sleepless nights to complete homework assignments. What if the reason we can’t retain the information is because of the way we organize the important aspects of the information given?

I gave two GT students the same packet of information to learn over the course of two days. One student was instructed to highlight all the important information within the packet, and the other student was instructed to use the bullet point method. Exactly one week later, the two students were given an additional packet with new information to learn using their same methods of organizing the important information. At the end of week 2, the students were asked to provide as many facts as they could from packet one. Both students could recall a great sum of information, but the student who used a highlighter could only summarize. The student who used the bullet point method could recall more detailed information. When asked why he thought this may be the case, he said it was more repetition. He claimed that using the bullet point method allowed him to read, recite, determine what was important to remember, and write the information, and that made the information stick with him. Clearly, my two person study needs to be replicated, but in the meantime my advice to kick the highlighter to the curb and use the bullet point method.

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.

Photos by Rakiya Winton

October 13, 2017
Three Science Haikus

Electrons, protons

Wow, I do really love them

Talk about atoms!

Light years and darkness

Supernovas and black holes

Space is a wonder

The earth is warming

Polar ice caps are melting

Oh- goodbye penguins 🙁

October 13, 2017
Can Aging Be Stopped?

Many people are shocked when they find out that the concept of aging can be explained by genetics through telomeres. Telomeres are 8000-10000 nucleotide protective caps on the ends of strands of DNA. They protect the genome from degradation, repair and unnecessary recombination. In normal cellular processes, telomeres shorten with each cell division, but when the length reaches a critical limit, the cell stops dividing and most likely dies. Therefore, many scientists think that telomere length acts as an “internal clock” to determine the lifespan of a cell and organism.

Does this mean that if you prevent shortening of telomeres, cells won’t die?

In fact, research shows that this is what allows cancer cells to continuously divide and survive. Cancer cells contain human telomerase genes that code for an enzyme called telomerase. Telomerase regulates telomere length. This is a function that normal, non-cancerous cells lack.

Telomere research has been increasing in the past few years, along with research about cancer and aging. People are finding that the life span of cells can be increased experimentally by increasing telomere lengths, but are also connecting lifestyle choices with telomere lengths.

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a way to lengthen telomeres by as much as 1,000 nucleotides by using modified messenger RNA, that contains a coding sequence for the active component of telomerase. The scientists found that cells with lengthened telomeres were able to divide up to 40 times more than untreated cells. A professor of microbiology and immunology even said that this is a way to “[turn] back the internal clock in these cells by the equivalent of many years of human life.”

Outside of these methods to increase telomere length, research has also been done in how lifestyles with obesity, smoking, and stress affect telomere shortening. A researcher, Masood, has shown that obesity is associated with oxidative stress, due to the deregulated production of products by adipose tissue, that can further induce DNA damage and expedite telomere shortening. Another study in the medical journal Preventive Medicine, finds that people who have high levels of physical activity have significantly longer telomeres than those with sedentary lifestyles. Although the exact mechanism of this is unknown, it is predicted to also be tied with inflammation and oxidative stress over time.

Research in this area is ongoing, and it is believed that telomeres will provide significant breakthroughs in the areas of cancer treatments but also preventing aging.

References:

Shammas, Masood A. “Telomeres, Lifestyle, Cancer, and Aging.” Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 14.1 (2011): 28–34. PMC. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Jafri, Mohammad A. et al. “Roles of Telomeres and Telomerase in Cancer, and Advances in Telomerase-Targeted Therapies.” Genome Medicine 8 (2016): 69. PMC. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Brigham Young University. “High levels of exercise linked to nine years of less aging at the cellular level: New research shows a major advantage for those who are highly active.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 May 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170510115211.htm>.

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/01/telomere-extension-turns-back-aging-clock-in-cultured-cells.html

September 29, 2017
Illegal Substances vs. Neurological Disorders: The Showdown

Studies at the forefront of treating an array of neurological disorders are beginning to utilize an interesting choice of drugs as treatments: psychedelics. Researchers use a technique called microdosing with hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin, mescaline, and LSD to achieve desired responses for a variety of different disorders.

In people with depression, anxiety, or a combination of the two, experimental studies have been performed by administering psilocybin in a controlled setting, in effort to help the patient feel more connected to themselves and the world around them. Given that recreational users of psilocybin report having spiritual experiences and feeling connected to a higher power, it would stand to reason that, if the trip was a positive experience for medical users, there would be a greater level of connection to external stimuli and a decreased level of depression and anxiety– which was exactly what happened in a significant number of the trials.

“Your Brain on LSD.” (get it? it’s a pun)

In a different realm, LSD has been used as controversial “treatment” for people with schizophrenia who experience visual or auditory hallucinations. Almost counterintuitive, right? Think of it in comparison to how Adderall or Ritalin works to help people with ADHD. When a person experiences a lack of focus due to intermittent hyperactivity, they are prescribed a stimulant– yes, a stimulant– that raises the dopamine levels in the brain to a consistent level, thereby omitting the ups and downs that cause attention problems. This is similar to the effects of microdosing LSD to a person with schizophrenia: by elevating their dopamine levels to a consistent level so the brain doesn’t “panic” in a sense, and spontaneously leap into hallucinations when it receives a massive influx of dopamine in its synapses. While the credibility of the experiment is limited, it is believed that the leveling of neurotransmitter can help to silence the excess noise in the brain caused by hallucinations.

Perhaps the most controversial trials for using hallucinogenics is in people with autism. Behavioral psychologists have previously taken to viewing autism as a disorder of self: people on the autism spectrum have some degree of difficulty connecting emotions to personal or interpersonal relationships, thus making it harder to comprehend others’ experiences. Because of the properties of psilocybin, LSD and mescaline that allow a person to make connections they traditionally do not make. The drugs simulate the neurological condition called synesthesia (where the brain has “crossed wires,” causing people to, for example, see colored shapes with certain noises, or taste colors associated with different foods) and thus introduces the ability of the brain to make connections that it previously may not have been able to comprehend. Between the development of neural connections and the feeling of oneness with the world, researchers hope to pioneer trials using these hallucinogenics as part of therapy treatments for people with autism.

Brain network. Researchers use maps like these to illustrate connections within a healthy and “normal” human brain.

Obviously all the trials that have been done thus far have been limited in participants and resources, given that psychedelics and hallucinogenics are illegal in the United States and therefore very difficult to obtain clearance to run trials. However, the limited results seem promising. Several studies have had success in patients with depression, opiate addiction, alcoholism, and schizophrenia. Assuming that further testing can be performed in the foreseeable future, it is possible that we will have a new drug therapy option for some of the most challenging and prevalent neurological disorders.

References:

Ananthaswamy, Anil. The Man Who Wasn’t There. Penguin Random House, 2015.

Andrew, Danielle. “Psychedelics Could Be The Cutting-Edge Treatment We’ve Been Ignoring For Half A Century.” IFLScience, IFLScience, 13 Sept. 2017, www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/psychedelics-could-be-the-cuttingedge-treatment-weve-been-ignoring-for-half-a-century/.

Costandi, Moheb. “Psychedelic Drugs Return as Potential Treatments for Mental Illness | Moheb Costandi.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Sept. 2010, www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2010/sep/01/psychedelic-drugs-mental-illness.

Fisher, Gary. “Successful Outcome of a Single LSD Treatment in a Chronically Dysfunctional Man.” Successful Outcome of a Single LSD Treatment in a Chronically Dysfunctional Man, Bulletin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, www.maps.org/news-letters/v09n2/09211fis.html.

Nye, Catrin. “Microdosing: The People Taking LSD with Their Breakfast.” BBC News, BBC, 10 Apr. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/health-39516345.

“Rapid and Sustained Symptom Reduction Following Psilocybin Treatment for Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Life-Threatening Cancer: a Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of Psychopharmacology, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881116675512.

September 19, 2017
Uncanny Valley

Savannah

One month ago, my boyfriend and I went to Savannah for a visit. I’ve always heard there are a lot of nice little stores down pedestrian streets there. As a girl who has no resistance to delicate handicrafts, I couldn’t miss this great opportunity to buy something. Just when I was totally lost in those beautiful pictures and objects, my boyfriend dragged me to the corner of the shop with a mysterious smile. “Look!” He said while pointing to a sculpture. When I glanced at that direction, I couldn’t help exclaiming under my breath. It was a small sculpture of a child’s head. But “he” was so vivid that I almost believed that the two glass beads that made blue eyes on his face were real! Even my boyfriend refused to touch the sculpture because he was so terrified by its similarity to real person.

Savannah Railroad Museum

After learning about this hypothesis, I finally understand my fear of those creepy dolls, which are one of the most popular characters in scary movies. Also, this is why I don’t like mannequins and there are a lot of ghost stories about them, too. As a result, A lot of shops use mannequins that only have body or an abstract oval “head” without face features to make sure that customers will feel comfortable. It may explain why a lot of people have fear for clowns and why toy factories seldom design dolls that are totally the same as real people.

One classic example of avoiding uncanny valley is Disney cartoon movies. Disney has created many lovable cartoon characters like Pinocchio, Cinderella, and Snow White. Looking at these cartoon characters, we donot feel any revulsion, we actually have affinity for them. What’s more, most audiences were crazy about robot characters like Baymax, WALL-E and EVE. Their huge success also proves the importance of applying uncanny valley hypothesis. Because when the appearance of a robot is made more human, obervers’ emotional responses to the robot become increasingly positive and empathetic, until it reaches a point beyond which the response quickly becomes strong revulsion.

However, some people may still have questions. Why do we love those humanlike robots in TV series West World then? This is because the hypothesis also says as the robot’s appearance continues to become less distinguishable from a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once again and approaches human-to-human empathy levels. So the uncanny valley is actually a range between a “barely human” and “fully human” entity.

And according to research, reducing consistency in human realism increases the uncanny valley effect. What’s more, this effect was stronger when realism in the eyes, eyelashes, and mouth was low, just like the example in this picture.[2] people in second column have extreme big eyes, which elicit the strongest eerie and revulsion (or uncanniness) feelings in viewers among three columns.

There are a lot of hypotheses to explain the existence of uncanny valley. Some people believe that uncanny valley is the outcome of long-term evolution and is a typical emotional response of stranger avoidance theory. Avoiding unusual individuals is a way to protect ourselves. Humans sense and avoid those who look not normal because they seem unhealthy or might have a hereditary disease. As a result, when an object makes us feel it is neither human nor a typical robots we instinctively have feelings of aversion and fear.

Park in Savannah

But based on the evidence of other researchers, it seems that realism inconsistency theory is the best way to explain uncanny valley. Because this theory explains cold, eerie feelings elicited by transitions between instances of two different, mutually exclusive categories, given that at least one category is anthropomorphic: Cold, eerie feelings are caused by prediction error from perceiving some features as features of the first category and other features as features of the second category. What’s more, in principle, it can explain not only negative evaluations of transitions between real and computer modeled humans but also between different vertebrate species.[3]

Savannah Local Food

No matter which theory is right, we now understand that our uncomfortable feelings for nonliving things that seem human are a result of the uncanny valley. So if you are frightened by scary creepy doll movies or clown masks in the future, just tell yourself, it is all because of uncanny valley, totally science, no big deal and you will be fine.

Savannah trip

Work Cited

Ho, Chin-Chang, and Karl F. MacDorman. “Measuring the Uncanny Valley Effect.” International Journal of Social Robotics 9.1 (2017): 129-139.

MacDorman, Karl F., and Debaleena Chattopadhyay. “Reducing consistency in human realism increases the uncanny valley effect; increasing category uncertainty does not.” Cognition 146 (2016): 190-205.

MacDorman, Karl F., and Debaleena Chattopadhyay. “Categorization-based stranger avoidance does not explain the uncanny valley effect.” Cognition 161 (2017): 132-135.

Image

p1,p2, p7, p8, p9 credit by Erting Zhu

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wpdms_fh_uncanny_valley_3.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Repliee_Q2.jpg

https://azzai.deviantart.com/art/FRA-LA-LA-LA-LA-494506133

https://www.flickr.com/photos/53554756@N02/6804196816

Edited by professor Jennifer Kraft Leavey

Written by Erting Zhu

September 16, 2017