Week 16 - Science Toys: What Will You Make?

 

As winter break is rounding the corner, it is time to figure out and discuss what homemade scientific toy you will be making over the break.  For some ideas, visit the following website: http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/.  Also, check out YouTube videos for step-by-step directions of how to make your homemade scientific toy.
 
The toy I decided to make this year is a giant water prism.  Not only will these be exciting to build, but it will be beautiful and hysterical to look through in the end too!!!  I can hang these prisms outside on my porch and watch the different way in which light passes through/reflects, and I can also use these to look at the ways in which it changes people's faces in funny ways! 

So, this week I want you to conduct some research about what science toy you plan on making over winter break.  Discuss why you made this decision, what function the toy serves, and where you found the directions.  Try to include pictures, as well!
In addition to this initial post, respond to your classmates' posts, as well.  Provide feedback, elaborate on ideas, and share experiences if you have made something similar in the past.  I look forward to hearing about all of your ideas and can't wait until you bring them into class after the break!

Week 15 - Touch Senses: Can it be Artificial?

The next unit we will move on to involves our senses.  While we focus on the signals being sent to and from the brain, the pathways they take, and the senses involved, this week's blog is going to go in depth about a new scientific study that can have a tremendous impact on the future of humans.  This week's reading discusses a new experiment that proves electrodes implanted in the brain can send signals that make a monkey think its finger has been touched.  As a result, this experiment suggests ways to build artificial hands or arms for humans that restore a feeling of touch to users.

"In this study, the scientists implanted electrodes — small devices that can detect or relay an electrical signal — into the animals’ brains.  Then they trained the monkeys to look in a certain direction whenever a particular finger was touched.  The electrodes took notes of the animals’ brain activity during that touch.  The scientists used the electrode data to identify which brain cells, called neurons, had become active.  Then the scientists used the implanted electrodes to zap those same neurons, which caused the monkeys to react as though their finger had been, when it really wasn't.  Overall, this experiment is trying to mimic natural signals in the brain" (Ornes, 2013).

Okay, with this being one of the most interesting articles discussed in a blog throughout this year, I am especially expecting the posts this week to be exceptional!  There is no doubt that the sense of touch is crucial to every day tasks.  People without it may have difficulty cracking an egg, lifting a cup or even turning a doorknob.  That’s why restoring this sense is a major goal for designers of artificial limbs.  Knowing this, you are required to post two substantive posts this week and respond to your classmates.  Answer the following in two separate posts:

1) Finish reading the article and conduct some research on this topic.  After doing so, discuss whether you believe this experiment will eventually be successful.  Do you think it will ever work?  Or do you think working in monkeys is the closest this idea will get to humans?

 

2) Imagine that these findings become successful in working for humans missing limbs or senses.  Describe/predict the impact this will have on humans if so.  Do you think it would be affordable?  Would this discovery lead to similar devices for other senses?

I look forward to reading all of your responses and will definitely be a part of the discussion even more this week as this topic has spiked my interest!!!

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Week 14 - The Smell of Fear: Is it Inherited?

Hi everyone, as we progress in our cell unit, we will touch upon genetics and how specific traits are inherited, etc.  In this week's blog, we are going to elaborate on this topic by discussing a new genetic discovery.  Scientists have just published findings of a recent study that provides evidence of a new genetic trait.  This specific study shows scents associated with terror may be passed on for two male generations.  "Scientists have shown for the first time that fear can be transmitted from a father to his offspring through his sperm alone in a ground-breaking study into a new kind of genetic inheritance" (Connor, 2013).

 

This specific study experimented on mice and demonstrated that they can be trained to associate a particular kind of smell to a fearful memory.  It also discovered that this fear can be passed down through subsequent generations via chemical changes to a father’s sperm cells.  Therefore, these new findings raise questions over whether a similar kind of inheritance occurs in humans.  Connor (2013) provides an example of "whether men exposed to the psychological trauma of a foreign war zone can pass on this fearful behavioural experience in their sperm to their children and grandchildren conceived at home."

 

As the article progresses, different scientists and researchers agree that while these results are encouraging, more careful mechanistic studies of animals is needed before associating such finding with humans.  Therefore, you have two main tasks for this week's blog.  First, read the article and respond with your thoughts in a blog post.  Second, create a possible experiment that can be the next step in testing these findings.  This experiment should be outlined in a discussion post, as well as mention how the results would impact human genetics.

 

Click Here to Read the Article