Good morning everyone,

I'm passing along here a reminder of the dangers of hypothermia and frostbite, which includes description of some of the physiological challenges extremely cold temperatures place on the body.  Seems appropriate this week!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/health/frostbite-hypothermia-cold-weather.html

Just remember, Spring is only about 7 weeks away ;-)
Dr. Nealen

Good morning,

As you have heard by now, our lab (like all classes at IUP main campus) is canceled for today.  Please stay safe while this cold front passes.

We'll resume our schedule next week, and pick-up our meiosis exercise then.  In the meantime, I'll pass along a recent news article about axolotl salamanders, and efforts to decode their DNA.  Axolotls are of great interest in medicine because they are the only vertebrate animal that is able to regenerate nearly any of its body parts if they are lost.

Imagine if humans had the ability to re-grow lost fingers or limbs?  Perhaps learning about how axolotls achieve this kind of regrowth will someday get us there.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/science/axolotl-dna-genome-sequence.html

See you next week -
Dr. Nealen

Good morning all,

I'm passing along here a link to a recent news article about advanced technology for the analysis of DNA, and its use in fighting crime.  This type of instrument is made possible through the application of advanced electronics and engineering to human biology, a trend that is only going to increase over time.  While these devices are exciting and interesting, remember also that there is risk associated with their use, in the collection/banking of personal data, and the need to safeguard one's privacy.

I will occasionally pass along articles of this type during the semester.  My purpose in doing so is to help you to become more aware of topics at the interface of biology and society, and also to help you assess how you obtain your science and health news.

Those of us working in science obtain our scientific news, quite often, directly from the original sources: the people conducting the studies and reporting the results.  They publish their findings in science journals, or present them at conferences. 

Most people do not obtain their news directly, but hear news via secondary sources, such as news releases from scientific organizations, or news stories from the major news outlets.  These secondary reports often are then carried by tertiary outlets (smaller/other reporting sources).

Along the way from source to audience, science news is normally distilled (a lot) - much of the detail is excluded or simplified, and the reports often are boiled-down to singular take-home messages, which may (or may not) be good representations of the original work.

When you browse the links that I will forward, or when you access science and health news on your own, I'd encourage you to delve a little bit deeper into them, to read more than just the summaries, and to follow links back to original sources when possible.  I'd also encourage you to think a little about the translation of news from source to consumer, and the reputability of the news outlets that you use. 

You will not be formally tested on any of the material in the news stories that I will send you, but I do hope that the material in them makes its way into our classroom conversations. 

This first link is from the New York Times, which provides one of the best (e.g., best funded and most reliable) secondary sources of science and health news.  They do limit access to only a handful of free articles each month, so I will use them sparingly.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/science/dna-crime-gene-technology.html



Have a great weekend -
Dr. Nealen

Good morning all,

I'm passing along here a link to a recent news article about a a new, wearable device for assessing physiological condition.  This type of instrument is only made possible through the application of advanced electronics and engineering to health issues, a trend that is only going to increase over time.  While these devices are exciting and interesting, remember also that there is risk associated with their use, in the collection/banking of your personal health data, and the need to safeguard one's privacy.

I will occasionally pass along articles of this type during the semester.  My purpose in doing so is to help you to become more aware of current physiology and health topics, and also to help you assess how you obtain your science and health news.

Those of us working in science obtain our scientific news, quite often, directly form the original sources: the people conducting the studies and reporting the results.  They publish their findings in science journals, or present them at conferences. 

Most people do not obtain their news directly, but hear news via secondary sources, such as news releases from scientific organizations, or news stories from the major news outlets.  These secondary reports often are then carried by tertiary outlets (smaller/other reporting sources).

Along the way from source to audience, science news is normally distilled (a lot) - much of the detail is excluded or simplified, and the reports often are boiled-down to singular take-home messages, which may (or may not) be good representations of the original work.

When you browse the links that I will forward, or when you access science and health news on your own, I'd encourage you to delve a little bit deeper into them, to read more than just the summaries, and to follow links back to original sources when possible.  I'd also encourage you to think a little about the translation of news from source to consumer, and the reputability of the news outlets that you use. 

None of these news links that I send you will be represented on our course exams, but I do hope that the material in them makes its way into our physiology conversations.  I'm sending this link to both my BIOL 240 lecture and lab sections, so my apologies if you receive this message twice.

This first link is from the New York Times, which provides one of the best (e.g., best funded and most reliable) secondary sources of science and health news.  They do limit access to only a handful of free articles each month, so I will use them sparingly.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/health/wearable-tech-sweat.html


Have a great weekend -
Dr. Nealen