Dec. 02, 2011

Kitchen Chemists: Make Your Own Ice Cream!

by TalkingScience

Click image above to view the video.

Sep. 16, 2011

Kitchen Chemists: Edible Candle

by TalkingScience

Aug. 30, 2011

Kitchen Chemists: Salt Lava Lamp

by TalkingScience

Jul. 29, 2011

Kitchen Chemists: Magic Milk

by TalkingScience

Mar. 15, 2011

My Favorite Scientist: Stanley Falkow

by TalkingScience

Click image above to learn more and view the video.

Apr. 15, 2009

Alex and the Swimming Pepper

by TalkingScience

By Science MomMy five-year old son, Alexander, loves science. So each week, the two of us have pledged to do a science experiment. There are not too many rules – only that the experiment can be easily done in the kitchen of our apartment, and not leave too much of a mess. Last week, Alex tried to make rice bounce by putting it in a glass of carbonated liquid. It took us a few tries to get the experiment right, but eventually it worked.EXPERIMENT 1This week, we had ...

Apr. 15, 2009

Talking Science for Kids

by TalkingScience

By Science MomMy five-year old son, Alexander, has already developed a strong interest in math and science. At his request, we recently enrolled him in an after-school astronomy class, where he draws stars and shoots the galaxy breeze with the other pupils. He has settled on Saturn as his favorite and most interesting planet; he loves the rings.As part of a plan to nurture Alex’ interest in science, I decided that each week, he and I should try some form of scientific experiment. With that in mind, Talking Science ...

Apr. 07, 2009

The Double-Slit Experiment (quantitative) Parts 1 & 2

by TalkingScience

By Hugh LippincottI want to try and explain some of the math behind the double-slit experiment. The goal here is not to explain the weird nature of light mathematically, which is beyond the scope of a blog. I do want to show how the double-slit experiment proves light behaves as a wave quantitatively and give an example of how math can be used to explain the results of an experiment.After a brief discussion with my mom, I realize that I will have to start by explaining what the sine function ...

Apr. 07, 2009

The Bohr Atom

by TalkingScience

By Hugh LippincottI will use the Bohr model (together with the nature of light discussed in the last few posts) to predict the existence of "spectral lines," which will finally bring me back to dark matter by explaining exactly how we measure the speed of those rotating galaxies (see the Dark Matter Intro link if this is not familiar). Historically speaking, I'm presenting this material backwards, as the observation of spectral lines came first and the explanation came later, but I will proceed anyway.Niels Bohr is in many ways the ...

Apr. 07, 2009

ピーナッツアレルギー患者の新しい望み

by TalkingScience

ケイトリン・ミリテロ編集：アロン・ホロウィッツ3月15日にMSNBCがピーナッツアレルギーについて驚きの情報を発表した。デューク大学医療センターとアーカンソー小児病院の新しい治療のおかげで29人の子供がアレルギー反応を起きずにピーナッツを食べることができた。治療は「経口脱感作」（けいこうだっかんさ、oral desensitization）と呼ばれ、食物アレルゲンを少しずつ経口投与することによって免疫寛容を上げる方法である。医療研究がまだ必要だが、その29人の内5人の子供はアレルギーが完全に治ったようだ。アメリカのピーナッツアレルギーの患者の180万人にとっては、人生が変わりうる情報である。毎年アメリカでは、200人はピーナッツアレルギーによって死亡し、後3万人は救急治療室に運ばれる。メドラインプラス医療事典によると、食べ物不耐性の患者は多い(乳製品がうまく消化 できない「乳糖不耐症」は厳密にはアレルギーではない）。しかし、食物アレルギーはもっと珍しく、花粉症と同じように抗ヒスタミンと抗体を発する。重度のピーナッツアレルギーはアナフィラキシーショックを起こす恐れがあり、患者も多いため、ピーナッツは一番危ないアレルゲンの内に入る。色々な統計の内、アメリカのFDAによるとアメリカ人の1.5％、つまり400万人は食物アレルギーにかかっており、国立国会図書館によると日本には1～2％、つまり150万人は患者である。数年前から、普通のアレルギーの患者は抗ヒスタミン薬を飲んだり、アレルギー注射を受ることも出来たが、重度ピーナッツアレルギーの患者は治療法がなかった。この新しい治療でアレルギー注射のように少しだけのアレルゲンが体内に入ることによって、免疫寛容を上げながらピーナッツの量も増やす。これによって、いままでピーナッツが食べられなかった子供が無反応で食べることができるようになる。しかし、この治療はアレルギー注射とはいくつかの違いがある。アレルギー注射は腕に注射することに対し、ピーナッツ経口脱感作治療を受ける人は、最初は、非常に少量の粉末ピーナッツを毎日食べる。しかも、アレルギー注射では免疫寛容を上げることしかあり得ないが、ピーナッツの経口脱感作治療はアレルギー自体を直す可能性がある。しかし、注意点は、この治療は医師から直接受けなければならなくて、ピーナッツアレルギーの患者にとってはまだ危険性がある。もっと安全で全員が使用できる方法を研究すべきだが、それには時間がかかる。だが、デューク大学医療のアレルギー部長は「私達は経口脱感作治療を受けた子供たちはピーナッツアレルギーが完全に直った自信がある」と述べた。つまり、今のところは、ピーナッツアレルギーの患者は、デュークの医者のように希望を持つべきだ。参考：食物アレルギー持つ子供の給食は？

Apr. 07, 2009

A New Hope for Peanut Allergy Sufferers

by TalkingScience

By Caitlin MilitelloOn March 15, MSNBC had some surprising news about peanut allergies. Thanks to a new treatment by Duke University Medical Center and the Arkansas Children's Hospital, 29 children were able to eat peanuts without any allergic reactions. The treatment is called oral desensitization, a method of gradually introducing a food allergen orally in order to build up immune system tolerance.Though further study is still necessary, 5 of those 29 children appear to have had their peanut allergies completely cured. This isn’t just good news for ...

Apr. 02, 2009

The Unexpected Death of the Acclaimed Oscar-Winning Actress, Natasha Richardson and a Review of Postconcussive Injuries

by TalkingScience

By Teshamae Monteith, MDA few hours after a fall on a ski slope in a Canadian resort on March 18th, Natasha Richardson appeared "disoriented... with signs of confusion... a concussion," according to a medic. After a lucid interval, she experienced severe headaches. Within a few hours she was verbal but without orientation. The final moments of Richardson's life illustrate the progressive stages of a fatal brain injury. On March 19, the New York Medical Examiner declared the cause of death was due to a traumatic epidural ...

Mar. 28, 2009

Tea's Great, Just Don't Drink It When It's Too Hot

by TalkingScience

By Nikki Saint BautistaTwo things that you will find in every culture are tea and alcoholic beverages, but drinking plenty of tea has been known to reduce cancer, whereas the opposite is true for alcohol. Water was purified for consumption either by boiling it or fermenting the juice from squeezed fruits. However, the British Medical Journal published a study yesterday, which claims that drinking scalding hot (70° Celsius or 150° Fahrenheit) liquids may lead to a higher risk in esophageal cancer.Epidemiologist  Nick Day, who was one of the first leaders ...

Mar. 24, 2009

Algae in HDTV Format

by TalkingScience

By Ted KinsmanRecently I was asked to photograph a large number of microscopic organisms in the modern HDTV format. It has been at least ten years since I photographed many of these species, so it was nice to return with modern cameras and see what I could do. The Vovlox is a favorite of students,looking like a geodesic dome with replicas of itself in side; it is really a form of algae. When students first look at microscopic algae they think it will just be stationary but the opposite is ...

Mar. 20, 2009

America's Educational Attitude Problem

by TalkingScience

By Caitlin MilitelloIt's no secret that the U.S. has fallen behind other countries when it comes to education. President Obama, speaking about his new plan for educational reform on March 10th, stated that "despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us."  Why has this trend of educational decay continued for so long?  The answer just might be an issue of attitude, and science education is a perfect representative of that.The ...

Mar. 17, 2009

Geeks Just Want to Have Fun (Part II)

by TalkingScience

By Alan S. BrownI met Annals of Improbable Results editor Marc Abrahams at last year's AAAS, and found him very quiet, except for some incisive questions or comments. (He goes to plenty of scientific conferences every year, and is a sharp critic of scientists who claim more than their data warrants.) Until I saw him on stage, I had no idea that a comedic anarchist lurked beneath his placid exterior.Take, for example, sword swallowing. In 2006 Dan Meyer and Brian Witcombe published their study, "Sword swallowing and its side effects” ...

Mar. 17, 2009

Geeks Just Want to Have Fun

by TalkingScience

This blog appears courtesy of Stevens Institute of Technology. You can find additional blogs from Alan S. Brown here.By Alan S. BrownSword swallowers. The world's fastest barbeque lighter. A romantic opera whose resolution hinges on a Bose-Einstein condensate. Coke as a contraceptive-- and not. The first recorded incidence of homosexual necrophilia in the mallards. And a funny, fitting tribute to Darwin on his 200th anniversary.It sounds like a demented version of European street theatre. Or maybe the contents of one of those quaintly kinky Victorian museums.But no, it was actually ...

Mar. 17, 2009

A Shot in the Dark in the Sunshine State

by TalkingScience

I knew the STS 119 Launch scheduled on March 12 at 9:38pm was a shot in the dark both literally and figuratively-speaking, but at 3am I jetted from the John F. Kennedy Airport to the Kennedy Space Center just in case. When Louella, the Astronaut Relations Manager at Virgin Galactic gave me tickets to see the launch at Banana Creek, which is only 3 miles from the launch pad, I was ecstatic. 3 miles may sound a bit far, but anyone who scootches much closer is at risk for death ...