Nerdy Science Blog

“Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” (2006) directed by Tom Tykwer was a really nice movie.  The story was about a man born with superior olfactory sense tried to preserve the finest smell as perfume, and ultimately he turned to the dark side to achieve his goal.

In the movie, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille the perfumer source of finest perfume was young females.  Scientists also found a way to create perfume, however it is not from women, but tropical Vetiver grass.  The root bacteria of the tropical grass were found having the ability to promote the production of essential oils in the oil-producing cells.  The bacteria are also able to change the molecular structure of the oil, hence changing oil’s flavours and properties (termicidal, insecticidal, antimicrobial and antioxidant).  The researchers involved in this study were the microbiologists Pietro Alifano and Luigi Del Giudice, the plant biologist Massimo Maffei and their colleagues.

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This is not science fiction, and the orange-suited men in the photo above are not hobbits.  They were climbing around an underground crystal forest found 1,000 ft below the Chihuahua Desert in Mexico.  When two brothers were drilling in the Naica lead and silver mine, they accidentally discovered the cave of crystal.  There are up to 170 crystal pillars and the biggest one is around 37.4 ft.

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If you are a vegetarian, the following news might be useless to you.

Scientists from University of Adelaide discovered a bacterium cause disease among meat lovers.  The discovery led by microbiologists Dr Adrienne Paton and Professor James Paton was published in Nature on 30 October.

E. coli bacteria will release Subtilase cytotoxin, a potent bacterial toxin, to target Neu5Gc sugar on cell surface.  This will cause bloody diarrhoea and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in humans.  However human does no make Neu5Gc naturally, and we the toxin release by the bateria should do us no harm.  The secret to the triumph of the bacterium is because we eat too much meat and fairy products.  While we are creating more carbon emmission by eating the food we love, we also uptake Neu5Gc sugar which is rich in these food into our body.  Scientist emphasized that it is important to eat well-cooked meat and pasteurised dairy products as the bacteria are killed in these food products.

Other researchers involved in this study included scientists from Monash University, the University of California and Emory University.

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Sauna is a ‘sweat bathing’ facility that has been widely used today. Stones are often used to exert high temperature in a room by pouring water over hot stone to produce steam. The heat accumulates in the room making it humid or hot. This promotes sweating, hence relax a person. There are many psychological and physical benefits for using sauna.

The sauna session can improve a person’s social affair. People can talk to each other disrobing themselves in the sauna, and this definitely gives them a special bonding between each other.

Relaxation can also be achieved through sweating cause by the heat in the sauna. This further leads to mind cleansing of a person. Studies (Kukkonen-Harjula & Kauppinen, 2006) showed that sauna is suitable for people of all age, and it does not post any health risks to pregnant women, and patients with high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and congestive heart failure (provided they are medicated). It was also found that sauna can help musculoskeletal disorders patient to relieve pain.

It should be reminded that people suffering from toxaemia might not be suitable to use sauna. For those who are taking antihypertensive medication may cause hypotension after bathing.

The earliest sauna known was a pit dug in a slope in the ground as bathroom in winter, and it is not Finnish invention. There are many types of sauna available these days, such as using a metal woodstove, or kiuas with a chimney instead of using hot stones.

Reference:
Kukkonen-Harjula, K. and Kauppinen, K. (2006), Health Effects and Risks of Sauna Bathing, Int J Circumpolar Health, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 195 - 205.

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It is exam period, and I love a MSN personal message of a friend, “undergoing brain cells apoptosis”.

Just in case some of you don’t know what an apoptosis is, simple explanation is that apoptosis is an act of cell suicide.

There are a lot of diet pills, weight loss programs, books and devices in the market to help people to lose weight, but how do you know which one is the best to try?

It is always good to see what others say about the product before you start using one. This can prevent you from suffering placebo products, or even worse, the products that have severe side effects. DietBlogTalk.com is a site that gathers the diet reviews from the consumers. This website is open for consumers to give comment to the diet products by writing posts. Consumers can classify each posting as positive, negative, or undecided. In order to ensure that all comments and reviews give the correct information to other consumers, they are being reviewed by site editors before they are available for public viewing. The popular products will be put together by the editors with summary provided for easier viewing.

Although it is recommended to buy any products or services which has more than 75% customer satisfactory, I personally think that you should always go for those with at least 85% satisfactory. Choosing a product to help you is a shortcut to control your weight, but please do not over-relying on these dietary products as exercise and proper diet are the most important in weight control.

Juicy and soft.  You can easily smash it.  It is your brain!

Scoochmaroo made an artificial brain with a melon.  Click here to see how she made it, and please use a seedless watermelon.

I’m supposed preparing for my finals, but I am playing this flash game, Microbe Kombat.  Currently I’m at level 6.  Flash game is much more addictive than those fancy 3D games.

This short clip from James May’s Big Ideas show solar powered bbq grill.  The solar furnace is able to melt steel as well.  Is it real?

Antimicrobial Socks

Dilbert tried to impress the ladies with his antimicrobial socks!