Toddlers harmed from too much exposure to TV

According to a study published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the more television a toddler watches, the higher the likelihood that the toddler will do poorly in school and have poorer health.

The study consisted of 1,300 children and found that the negative effects of watching television are seen by the age of 10. Every hour a child watched television increased the negative effects in that child later on.

School performances suffered and the consumption of junk foods increased with watching television. Researchers also found a decrease in general physical activity and a higher body mass index in children.

Children are recommended to watch a maximum of two hours of television per day. However, more than 11 percent of two-year-olds and 23 percent of four-year-olds exceed this recommendation.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

‘Green’ exercise has beneficial effects on mental health

Walking in a park may lead to better mental health, says a study published in Environmental Science and Technology.

United Kingdom researchers completed a meta analysis of 1,250 people in 10 studies and found that people had fast improvements in mood and self-esteem by exercising in a green space, such as a park.

The research looked at many different outdoor activities from walking to boating to gardening. The biggest improvement on mental health was seen within the first five minutes. Exercising for longer periods of time in nature saw the same positive effects but of a smaller amount.

The principal researcher, Jules Pretty of the University of Essex, said that those who were usually inactive, stressed or with mental illness would benefit the most from this green exercising.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Possible environmental explanation for multiple sclerosis, study says

A new DNA comparison study on identical twins gave no genetic explanations for one twin developing multiple sclerosis (MS) while the other did not. This leaves open the possibility of an environmental reason for MS.

Researchers looked at the complete genetic blueprints for a pair of identical twins, hoping to find the reason behind the development of MS. However, no discrepancies were found between the blueprints.

However, this recent study is small. It only examined three pairs of twins and only one immune cell. This means that there are still many other places to look in the genetic blueprint.

MS is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath of neurons in the brain. This myelin sheath allows for quicker electrical communication that is necessary in the brain. Damaging it results in pain and the loss of function, especially with coordination and vision.

Source: sciencenews.org

Hubble pictures show possible different theory for galaxy formation

A preliminary analysis of new pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope cameras suggest that the Milky Way may have formed differently than how scientists previously thought.

The analysis of elderly stars in the galaxy suggests that large chunks of the Milky Way formed when a single blob of gas and dust collapsed.

This contrasts completely with the leading theory about galaxy formation, which states that galaxies started small and grew by gravitationally acquiring intergalactic gas and dust.

The pictures come from a globular cluster of more than a million stars known as 47 Tucanae.

Source: sciencenews.org

Last week marked the final round of the eighth annual U.S. Imagine Cup. The competition for high school, undergraduate and graduate students combined their passion and creativity in business and technology to tackle global issues.

Among the finalists was graduate student Wilson To, the only student to compete from UC Davis in the final round of the competition.

It was To’s idea to create an application – called Mobilife – through Microsoft software that would potentially help diagnosis and treatment around the world.

“Using Microsoft software, we can detect vascular diseases like diabetes and hypertension, using a cell phone,” To said. “There would be an extra lens on top of the camera to give high resolution images and video of the blood vessels in an individual’s eye.”

To said they used technology to address UN millennium goals and to help reduce child mortality rates.

One of To’s teammates, Kayvon Ghaffari, a junior computer science major from UC San Diego, said that the application did not need to be used by professionals in order to achieve its goal. During their last presentation to a panel of judges and the media in Washington, D.C., Ghaffari showed just how that was possible.

“I actually presented the demo of the application and actually invited New York Times correspondent David Sanger up and walked him through it step by step,” Ghaffari said. “It’s so easy that anyone can be trained within minutes and it could save lives.”

In addition to having the technological aspect planned out, the teams had to have a functional business model that would launch their new project.

“Children in third-world countries don’t have access to hospitals or clinics,” To said. “We worked with the UN and Doctors Without Borders in placing doctors firsthand in third-world countries that would then partner with pharmaceuticals to get medications out.”

Ghaffari said the potential impact could be relatable to the average person.

“A lot of people know at least one person that has diabetes,” Ghaffari said. “In terms of global impact, it’s going to reduce child mortality rates everywhere.”

The experience of making this application has aided Ghaffari in practically applying his knowledge.

“It’s one thing to do projects in school and another to apply it to something useful; we could potentially save millions of children’s lives,” Ghaffari said.

The grand prize given to To’s team included a trophy, free phones, national acknowledgment and $8000, said Helena Xu, senior communications and management science double major from UCSD.

This July, the U.S. team will go to the international Imagine Cup competition in Poland where To, Ghaffari and Xu will compete against teams from 120 countries for $25,000 and “bragging rights,” Ghaffari said.

“We don’t care much about the prizes though,” Xu said. “I’m really excited to compete with people from different countries and see how they differ.”

Xu is excited to represent the U.S. and the UC system.

“It’s just such an honor,” Xu said. “The project will be able to connect to everyone globally and resolve a UN millennium goal.”

With the international competition several months away, the team is expecting nothing but the best from themselves and the other teams.

“We’re just going to do the same thing as last time; go in prepared and have fun,” Ghaffari said.

DINA MORCOS can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

This past weekend, limnology students partook on an adventure-filled annual excursion to Castle Lake.

Castle Lake, located in northern California near the city of Mount Shasta, has presented students with the opportunity of gaining crucial information for UC Davis for the past 52 years due to Professor Charles Goldman’s planned annual trips.

Students were able to collect valuable data on the lake while gaining hands-on experience. The trip featured many activities for students beyond research.

“It’s one thing to learn something in a class, it’s another to experience it,” said Jenise Snyder, teaching assistant for Goldman’s Environmental Science and Policy 151 class.

Snyder said the trip was a great chance for students to get to know one another and the lake.

Students collected benthic samples from the lake that will allow the university to have samples on record. Synder described the weekend having started with an early morning trek through the snow to the lake, followed by the students having to dig holes in the ice for the research.

“The trip was an absolute blast,” said Adam Borchard, a junior environmental science and management major.

He said that they had to clear up to two feet of snow, and drill through 10 feet of ice to reach the surface of the lake. Borchard said the trip was very helpful in terms of data collection for the UC Davis limnology department.

“Castle Lake is probably one of the most intensely studied and observed lakes in the western United States,” Borchard said.

Nicole Elen, a senior genetics major said the trip was “absolutely amazing” considering the hands-on experience that they got to reach.

Elen thinks that the sampling data collected at the lake will be very important for the department.

“They have been doing this spring sampling for over 50 years. Long term data sets like this are rare, so with Castle Lake being so consistently sampled, it makes this trip very scientifically important,” Elen said.

Upon testing for water clarity, collecting benthic samples, testing for water chemistry, sampling zooplankton and many other gatherings of data, the students ended the day with Goldman’s cooking and stories.

“Professor Goldman is an absolutely amazing professor, and he has been around long enough to have plenty of great stories to go along the scientific aspects,” Elen said.

This past trip was Professor Goldman’s last trip with a class to Castle Lake, ending a 52-year span. However, students feel his influence will continue on.

“While probably the most senior professor on campus, Dr. Goldman truly cares about the interests and concerns of his students. I really enjoyed the opportunity to apply the concepts that I have learned in the classroom into a practical setting,” Borchard said.

Snyder said she hoped the trip instilled in students how lake research is done. She believes that this trip acts as a valuable recruiting tool, and that it promotes students working together in a community setting.

This may have officially been Goldman’s last sanctioned trip to Castle Lake, but others believe that the experience of the trip will be too much of a temptation for him not to return.

“I doubt that it is Dr. Goldman’s last; the lake has been such an integral part of his life, and I think that he won’t be able to resist the urge to visit.” Borchard said.

ERIC C. LIPSKY can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

I would be a terrible astronaut.

The trip to outer space would be hard for me. Astronauts leaving Earth go from feeling gravity to zero-gravity in less than a second. I don’t even like Six Flags roller coasters. I would miss life on Earth too much. I love hiking and kayaking and tabby cats and there’s none of that in space.

A short trip to the space station could be fun, but now NASA is planning a multiple-year mission to Mars. A Mars trip means about three years in a cramped ship with only a couple other astronauts. Unless I get to share a private cabin with Captain Kirk, no thanks.

“By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth,” said President Obama during a press conference in April. “A landing on Mars will follow.”

While NASA engineers build new spacecrafts and solve the problem of transporting heavy fuel, I wonder about the personal lives of astronauts during the mission. What happens when your co-workers are your only human companions?

Dr. Al Harrison, professor emeritus of psychology at UC Davis, has studied how humans react to isolated environments like Antarctica or outer space. He said NASA uses conditions on Earth – like underwater research vessels – to prepare astronauts for separation from loved ones. Still, long missions are tough on morale.

“There can be a sense of hopelessness when a family emergency arises and there is nothing you can do about it,” Harrison said. “No accompanying the ambulance to the hospital, no sitting by a death bed and no sweet talking the principal into letting your kids back into school,”

Life in space, much like military deployment, could be rough on marriages.

“When the astronaut gets back, it may be difficult to re-establish pre-departure patterns,” Harrison said. “If the wife is away and the husband makes all the decisions regarding child care, menus, etc., it may be difficult for the husband to give this up.”

While these astronauts would be well-trained, mature adults, there is another problem: these would be mature adults. Celibacy may be difficult. When Obama revealed his plans for a Mars trip, some speculated that astronauts traveling to Mars could have sex to relieve sexual frustration.

Dr. Jason Kring, a professor from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told The Telegraph, “The potential round-trip mission to Mars could take three years. It doesn’t make sense to assume that these men and women are going to have no thoughts of it [sex!] for three years.”

Sex in space could be more than recreational. Space research allows for the study of human anatomy in a unique environment, and sex in space could lead to advances in medicine. Harrison said the topic has always been controversial.

“Sex in space has always been a hot topic and one that is nightmare for NASA’s public relations experts and lawyers,” Harrison said. “NASA is dependent on Congress for funding and ‘sex in space’ is something that could get people writing their congresspersons angry letters.”

As far as we know, no human has had sex in space. Back in 1991, NASA sent a married couple to the space station, but they probably didn’t get it on; close-quarters with other astronauts (and heart-rate monitoring by NASA) would have been a mood-killer.

The physical effects of zero-gravity could also crush libido.

Before astronauts adapt to zero-g, they usually barf. “Space sickness” is jokingly measured on the Garn scale (named after up-chucking astronaut Jake Garn. One “Garn” means severe vomiting.). Zero-g wreaks havoc on bodily functions, which means excessive flatulence and a puffy face from the redistribution of fluids. Weightlessness also means lower blood pressure (bad news for men-folk).

Sex in space, like sex on land, could result in more tension than it solves.

“The real problem here is not sex but relationships,” Harrison said. “What happens if halfway out, a person decides he or she wants a divorce, or one astronaut’s husband has an affair with another astronaut’s wife, or someone gets jilted?”

At that point, NASA could start its own reality show. You know, for science.

MADELINE McCURRY-SCHMIDT thinks we shouldn’t be too concerned about sexual tension in space. After all, Spock only mated every seven years and he managed. E-mail her your column ideas at memschmidt@ucdavis.edu.