The BBC has an important story about the illegal pet trade. Please check it out.
Strange endangered primates you may have never heard of
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Friday, November 4, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Seeing the world through railroad maps
Click here to watch a wonderful and short BBC video about how railway maps effect the way we see the world.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Fried Eggs and Cataracts
Scientific Station® - Fried Eggs and Cataracts by Brendan Craughwell
As my father's cataracts got worse the letters I received from him dwindled. He would write a short note and include news clippings he knew I would want to read. On visits, I noticed my father strained to read print that before would not have bothered him. I just accepted it, and understood when he backed out of a planned lens replacement surgery.
Every time I fry an egg I think about cataracts. Yes this is ridiculous. Oddly it does not put me off eating eggs. It actually makes them more interesting. Even though fried eggs and cataracts have nothing to do with each other, one can help us understand the other. Reshaping proteins is behind each phenomenon.
Proteins are molecules so large they fold over themselves. This folding gives each protein a particular structure making it capable of assisting a specific chemical reaction. Function, in regard to protein, is determined by form. For example catalase is the protein that breaks down hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water. When we clean out a wound with hydrogen peroxide, catalase in our tissues bind and then breaks hydrogen peroxide molecules producing oxygen and water. Each catalase protein does this millions of times a second. All this hydrogen peroxide destruction releases enough oxygen that our wound is flushed out with little bubbles. If catalase’s shape changes it stops processing hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen bonds, salt bridges, and hydrophobic interactions stabilize a protein’s architecture. Environmental stresses such as acid concentration, UV exposure and heat disrupt these weak forces causing the protein to lose its useful shape. A protein is denatured when this happens. Albumin, the protein in egg whites, denatures when fried. This causes it to change from a clear fluid to a white solid. Denatured albumin, unlike pristine albumin, does not dissolve in water, is opaque and coagulates producing the familiar egg white of a fried egg.
Cataracts interrupt normal vision by disrupting light passing into the eye. Crystalline proteins, which are similar to albumin, fill the inside of our eyes’ lenses. Some cataracts form as these proteins denature causing them to no longer dissolve in water and become opaque similar to denatured egg albumin. Age enhances these effects, because time allows denatured proteins to accumulate. Cataract filled lenses are replaced surgically, since it is impossible to un-denature cataract causing proteins.
A while back I had a note from my mother telling me my father was going for a rescheduled cataract surgery. I hope this will renew our correspondence.
Send your questions, comments, and concerns to scientificstation@gmail.com
Copyright © 2011 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.
SCIENTIFIC STATION is a registered trademark of Brendan Cruaghwell.
As my father's cataracts got worse the letters I received from him dwindled. He would write a short note and include news clippings he knew I would want to read. On visits, I noticed my father strained to read print that before would not have bothered him. I just accepted it, and understood when he backed out of a planned lens replacement surgery.
Every time I fry an egg I think about cataracts. Yes this is ridiculous. Oddly it does not put me off eating eggs. It actually makes them more interesting. Even though fried eggs and cataracts have nothing to do with each other, one can help us understand the other. Reshaping proteins is behind each phenomenon.
Proteins are molecules so large they fold over themselves. This folding gives each protein a particular structure making it capable of assisting a specific chemical reaction. Function, in regard to protein, is determined by form. For example catalase is the protein that breaks down hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water. When we clean out a wound with hydrogen peroxide, catalase in our tissues bind and then breaks hydrogen peroxide molecules producing oxygen and water. Each catalase protein does this millions of times a second. All this hydrogen peroxide destruction releases enough oxygen that our wound is flushed out with little bubbles. If catalase’s shape changes it stops processing hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen bonds, salt bridges, and hydrophobic interactions stabilize a protein’s architecture. Environmental stresses such as acid concentration, UV exposure and heat disrupt these weak forces causing the protein to lose its useful shape. A protein is denatured when this happens. Albumin, the protein in egg whites, denatures when fried. This causes it to change from a clear fluid to a white solid. Denatured albumin, unlike pristine albumin, does not dissolve in water, is opaque and coagulates producing the familiar egg white of a fried egg.
Cataracts interrupt normal vision by disrupting light passing into the eye. Crystalline proteins, which are similar to albumin, fill the inside of our eyes’ lenses. Some cataracts form as these proteins denature causing them to no longer dissolve in water and become opaque similar to denatured egg albumin. Age enhances these effects, because time allows denatured proteins to accumulate. Cataract filled lenses are replaced surgically, since it is impossible to un-denature cataract causing proteins.
A while back I had a note from my mother telling me my father was going for a rescheduled cataract surgery. I hope this will renew our correspondence.
Send your questions, comments, and concerns to scientificstation@gmail.com
Copyright © 2011 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.
SCIENTIFIC STATION is a registered trademark of Brendan Cruaghwell.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
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