Responses to discussion question only 150 words

Joseph

The story I read was a study on antibodies in the brain that mistakenly attack the wrong proteins, causing neurological diseases. The science behind the study is this: We have nerve cells in our brains that detect incoming chemical messages. In some of the diseases, an autoantibody (a type of antibody that mistakenly targets a person's own protiens) attack the AMPA receptor, which is a protein that sits on the outside of the brain's nerve cells causing the receptors not be able to sense messages properly. Going a bit deeper, the researchers found that once the autoantibodies attached to the AMPA receptors, it forced them to move INSIDE of the nerve cells, which then rendered them useless to sensing the chemical messages.

The study included test mice, half were injected with the autoantibodies and the other half were not. The mice with the autoantibodies were observed not recognizing new objects placed in their cage and also showed signs of anxiety, preferring to stay in covered areas where the unaffected mice enjoyed staying in the large parts of a maze with the other unaffected mice.

The researchers hope that this discovery could lead them down a path to discovering ways to help the nerve cells maintain communication while being under attack by the autoantibodies.

Bryan

There is a new study performed by New York University’s Math Lab on the science of bubble blowing. It’s not the most mind blowing of scientific discovery’s but having four kids makes it an interesting topic. In truth, it is a probably a study performed for the express purpose of learning how to conduct a study rather than actually trying to determine how bubbles are formed through blowing. So, the emphasis is more on the process rather than the outcome, much like we learned during the week one lab exercise.

This study found that there were two basic ways that bubbles are blown. One way is “by pushing with a steady but strong wind on a soap film through a circular wand, which causes it to grow into a bubble, and two, by pushing with a gentle wind on an already-inflated film in order to drive its further growth” (NYU 2018).

While the information at face value doesn’t seem to have much value, it is interesting to look at the application that this study provides. As noted in the story, this study has provided a production process for the creation of bubbles. The scientists can state exactly how much wind is needed to form the bubble and also what size wand is needed to create bubbles of certain types. This type of information can be used by engineers to develop fun bubble blowing toys for kids. So, while the study didn’t break any new barriers, it certainly can be helpful with bringing enjoyment to a summer afternoon to many children.