Are We Reaching the End of World Records?

Will there be no more Michael Jordans, Michael Phelps or Muhammad Alis? The article “Are We Reaching the End of World Records?” argues whether humans have reached the peak of performance abilities and will no longer be able to break world records.

I learned from this article that world records have been hindered by illegal doping, social changes, and rule changes. But also progressed with a better understanding of fitness, health, and exercise science. A great example is the Fosbury flop jump technique in high jump. This technique is when a person turns their back to the bar when jumping, what is typically preformed nowadays. Although this jump when first preformed didn’t break the world record, over time and with more practice it dramatically increased a jumper’s average by .5 meters.

            To me this article is interesting because it seems every year you hear people say things like “Kobe will never be as good as Jordan.” It makes me question if a sport like men’s basketball has reached its peak and if it has progressed as much as it can. Also relating to women’s athletics in the article it addressed how females weren’t allowing to play completive until recently. So my question is if females, for example will use basketball, will every reach the intensity and high performance that males have. In fifty years will they be able to get up and down the court as fast as males and be able to dunk? 
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-reaching-the-end-of-world-records/

Brain circuit that drives sleep-wake states, sleep-preparation behavior is identified-Tanner Findlay

Scientists at Stanford University have recently discovered a brain circuit that is indispensable to the sleep-wake cycle. This is part of the same circuit that is a "reward system" the brain uses that is necessary for animals, including humans, to survive and reproduce. The article goes on to talk about the reward system being responsible for goal directed behaviors. Behaviors like running from predators or seeking food. How then can the sleep wake circuit be connected to such activities if you cannot perform them while sleeping.

The article continues to talk about how diseases like Insomnia have only been treated with drugs that shut down the entire brain. Recent findings of this sleep-wake circuit have lead scientist to think that there is a possibility for therapies that will target this new found circuit directly and as a result, will induce a higher quality of sleep. A chemical called dopamine plays a crucial part in stimulating this circuit.  Activity in dopamine-secreting nerve cells rise upon waking and stay elevated while awake. As we transition into sleep, activity in these nerve cells decrease and stay low while we sleep.

Scientists noticed this while observing mice. One cage of mice was kept completely normal. The mice were allowed to live under normal conditions. The other cage had the mice whose sleep schedules were completely jacked up. Instead of letting them sleep when they normally would, these mice were kept up and active. The mice then started to sleep through many things that would cause the "reward system" of the brain to start up. Things like the presence of  food, a female, or even fear induced by fox urine. The mice were then placed in the opposite cage. In the normal cage, the mice had built nests. Mice in the abnormal cage had no such time to build nests because they were constantly active. When mice are placed in an unfamiliar environment they typically spend time exploring energetically. While this did occur for about 45 minutes, the rest of the time was spent building nests and once the mice were satisfied with what they had built, they proceeded to fall asleep.  Scientists concluded that this predatory state before bed was crucial to a deep sleep.

Mice have a sleep-starter site in the brain. The recent findings of this sleep-wake circuit has lead to the conclusion that humans have one too! We disrupt this preparation by doing things like watching TV, reading emails, or playing video games. Things that not only give off light, but also charge our emotions , then it is easy to see why most people have a hard time falling asleep.

There are plenty of drugs that counter dopamine. But perhaps if a person is given the right dose at the right time, the effects will wear off at the right time as well and would work a lot better than just knocking out the brain entirely. This could also be a solution to sleep-wake characterized disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Perhaps another solution to sleep trouble is to take advantage of the predatory time before bed. Instead of watching videos or movies or looking at social media we should be focusing on sleeping and hopefully fall into that deep sleep that everybody loves.

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2016/09/05/brain_circuit_that_drives_sleepwake_states_sleeppreparation_behavior_is_identified.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+biologynews%2Fheadlines+%28Biology+News+Net%29

Yale team discovers how Zika virus causes fetal brain damage

I choose the article “Yale team discovers how Zika virus causes fetal brain damage” that was published in Biology net news. I became interested in this virus when I first heard about it in the 2016 Rio de janeiro Olympics. I didn't pay to much attention to it at first until I researched the symptoms and why it was threatening. although the article I choose didn't explain the virus in detail I would like to go over acouple details first. The Zika virus is passed by a mosquito by day or night, its name originated from the Zika forrest in Uganda, where it was first isolated, and is know to be popular in South America but has spread sense. Many have reported to not have symptoms while others expierence fever, eye redness and headaches. The virus is not airborne or can it be transmitted by person to person contact,it is most dangerous to pregnant women, because it affects the brain growth in the fetas. The article was about how the virus that diverts a key protein in the fetas affects developing of the brain causing a birth defeat where the brain is abnormally small called microcephaly.The virus kills brain cells in the body and interrupts the process of make new ones,the protein TBK1 who's primary job is to organize cell division in the mitochondria, is affected causing the protein to lack and cells begin to die instead of forming new brain cells. There is already an FDA approved medication called Sofosbuvir that has been very successful in preventing Zika virus infection in the neural stem cells.However, there is no cure or nothing that can be done once the patient is infected, this research is very helpful in hopes to minimize brain damage already caused by the virus and help children born with microcephaly. By Ruth Guerra

The Emotions of Insects-Katelynn Illum

            “I’ll Bee there for you: Do Insects Feel Emotions?” was a very interesting article that explored the idea that insects may have emotions and feelings. The article used experiments and quotes all from experts to explain reactions in insects not uncommon to reactions mammals would experience. The article explains how most people see insects as unthinking machines but if it could be proved that they had feelings people could see them in a whole new light. I already have started to think about them differently and wonder how their minds work.

            The article describes an experiment by biologist Clint Perry at Queen Mary University of London that attempts to find how much bees feel. In the experiment the bees were conditioned to think certain blue flowers would hold a tasty treat for them. They then gave half the bees a sixty percent sugar solution and let them loose in a location with the blue flowers. The bees that had been given the sugar flew faster to the flowers than the ones that were not given any. The sugar amped them up and made them more optimistic that there would be a treat for them in the blue flowers. The article described this as optimism bias, like how an infant will cry less when offered a sweet treat, or an adults mood will improve with a bit of candy.

            To make sure it was their emotional states and not a sugar high the researchers preformed the experiment again this time with a variety of different colored flowers. The optimistic effect only continued with the blue flowers, if they didn’t hope for a treat they would fly just as slow as the ones without the sugar solution. In the next experiment the researchers simulated a predator attack, the same optimism prevailed. The ones that had been given sugar resumed foraging fairly quickly while the others where more cautious for longer. In the final experiment the researches gave the bees a drug that disrupted receptors for dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to motivation and reward. The optimism bias disappeared, the same thing that would occur in a mammal.    

            The article quotes Katy Prudic, an entomologist from University of Arizona, to better explain how insects are viewed by people “because they’re built so differently we tend to downplay their emotional state, probably because we don’t see it in the same way we would with a dog or a cat or a cow.” The article then states that there is actually no intrinsic reason that insects wouldn’t experience emotions the real question is whether they have feelings, which are the subjective experiences of emotions. When something happens to you your body has an emotional response you breath harder or your pupils dilate, if you feel sad or scared because of what’s happened then it is a feeling and not just emotion. Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist at University of Southern California explains that “feeling implies the presence of a mind and a mental experience, or consciousness. I have every reason to believe that invertebrates not only have emotions but also the possibility of feeling those emotions.”

            It’s interesting to think about how much more insects might feel than what we think. Its interesting too to think about how people might react if it could be proven that they really do think. Would people’s views change? Would they still just be pests? Would people try to protect them the same way that some people try to protect animals? Would it then be inhumane to kill them? However people might react, it’s amazing to think about how complex the minds of insects may really be.

To find the full article visit:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/i-ll-bee-there-for-you-do-insects-feel-emotions/