It only takes one rogue cell to cause cancer. All cells are programmed to kill themselves if they detect a problem within their systems. If they sense a virus or mutation, they destroy themselves completely. But some cells develop a mutation that cancels out that defense mechanism, which is called Apoptosis. Of the 100 billion cells created in the human body each day, at least 100 thousand mutate and perform apoptosis.
At first, a cell that mutates so as not to perform apoptosis will be harmless. Through mitosis it would replicate itself and it's copies would have that same mutation. But eventually, one of those cells would form it's own mutation, and because of the original cell's mutation, it wouldn't kill itself. The new mutation might be something like replicating itself faster than normal. At this point the cells are still harmless. The cell with two mutations would continue to replicate itself. But the odds of mutation in cells are high, and without apoptosis, the mutations wouldn't be dealt with. Soon cells might develop a mutation causing them to secrete acids and waste that kill the cells around them, or maybe it would be a sensory mutation that makes the cell think that other cells are viruses. Mutated cells can even cause marks or rashes on the skin.
Mutated cells are called cancer cells, and you can imagine that they would be very hard to eliminate. It would be difficult for a drug to seek out the mutated cells and not kill the healthy one. For a virus medicines and drugs would simply kill all organisms in that body that match a viruses description. For cancer cells, a cure would need to cleanse the body of mutated cells that don't match any description.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Viruses
To understand viruses you must first have a basic knowledge of what DNA and RNA are. DNA are double-stranded strips of code stored in the cell's nucleus. They split themselves into two single-stranded strips called RNA, then they leave the nucleus. The RNA codes to proteins, which make up the structure of a human being. On the left is a picture of DNA before it splits itself.Viruses are capsules that store their own RNA. They infiltrate cells and replace the organisms RNA with their own. The cell, thinking the RNA is their own, will then use it's resources to code the RAN into more viruses. Then, depending on the type of virus, one of two thins will happen. The virus will either stay and wait for other viruses to form, or leave immediately to infect other cells. If it waits, the cell will eventually host a large amount of viruses. The viruses will then release proteins that will cause the cell to kill itself. This is a process called lysing. If the virus leaves immediately, or buds, it will push against the cell wall until a piece of it breaks off surrounding the cell. This will help the virus infect other cells because the broken cell wall disguises the virus as just another cell.
There are possibly hundreds of unique ways viruses can infect a cell or bacteria, with more being discovered every week. But only three ways are most commonly spoken of. The first is for a virus that has acquired a piece of a cell wall to push itself toward the cell. It's membrane will attach to the cell's, fusing the two together and allowing the virus to plant it's RNA. The second technique is to attach a tube-like extension of the virus' body to the cell wall and inject it's RNA. This works much like a tetanus shot. Only specific types of viruses can perform the third method. Similar to the Greeks Trojan Horse, the virus disguises itself as a nutritious particle that the cell needs to consume. From there it's obvious to see how this method works.
There are possibly hundreds of unique ways viruses can infect a cell or bacteria, with more being discovered every week. But only three ways are most commonly spoken of. The first is for a virus that has acquired a piece of a cell wall to push itself toward the cell. It's membrane will attach to the cell's, fusing the two together and allowing the virus to plant it's RNA. The second technique is to attach a tube-like extension of the virus' body to the cell wall and inject it's RNA. This works much like a tetanus shot. Only specific types of viruses can perform the third method. Similar to the Greeks Trojan Horse, the virus disguises itself as a nutritious particle that the cell needs to consume. From there it's obvious to see how this method works.Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Embryonic Stem Cells
Due to their abilities to become any type of cell the body needs, they can be used to cure virtually any ailment that has befallen humanity. In Japan, tests to cure heart diseases in mice using embryonic stem cells have returned positive results, and researchers are working on using the cells to cure heart diseases in humans. The cells can also cure paralysis in the human spine. Here's How:
If the spine has a crack or tear in it's tissue, as in the image below (please excuse the quality of my drawing), embryonic stem cells could be injected into the patient's back. Once they find their way to the the tear, they could transform themselves into the proper tissue cell needed to patch the tear. Researchers are currently experimenting on ways to guide the cells to the desired area in the body.
Other diseases curable by stem cells include: diabetes, Parkinson's disease, lung diseases, liver failure, arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease.Cloning is also possible using stem cells, as the story of Dolly the sheep proves. Before Dolly, two sheep named Megan and Morag were cloned, but surprisingly, the public wasn't very interested in them. But a year later, Dolly became headline news everywhere when she was cloned using stem cells. Though she died relatively early, she proved that stem cells, with a little perfection, could be used to clone mammals. But, because Dolly was a clone of a six-year-old sheep, her DNA was older than her body, although nobody knew weather or not that contributed to her death.
The recent lift on the ban of funding stem cell research isn't leaving everyone happy. Some pro-life people disapprove of the extraction of embryonic stem cells, as doing so kills the embryo and potentially a human being before it can develop. The other side of the debate is that the life of one can be sacrificed to save many. Many believe that once researchers start killing embryos, it won't be long before they'll be used to killing newborns and young babies, and eventually children.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Technology of the Civil War
The new wave of technology brought forth during the American Civil War has driven historians to call it the First Modern War. The first Photo Cameras, Repeating Rifles, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Railroads were created during the war. Here is a brief description on each:
The Camera
The Civil War was the first war ever to be accurately recorded with images. Before the invention of cameras, battles were often depicted from an artist's insight, and civilians couldn't really know what a battlefield looked like. Images of bodies and blood shocked the friends and families of American soldiers.
Cameramen would need "portable darkrooms," a glass plate, and a camera in order to take pictures. They would first pour a mixture of nitrocellulose and ether onto the glass plate. This would create a film on the glass. Then, they would put it in the a bath full of chemicals to make it light sensitive. Then it would go into the camera. After the picture is taken, the plate would be rushed to the darkroom before the film dried. It would be placed in a developer liquid, which would begin to reveal the picture. Then the plate would be washed in a "fixer" to sharpen the image. It would now be on the glass for hundreds of years.
The Henry and Spencer Rifles
The Henry and Spencer rifles were the most effective combat system since the creation of gunpowder. They were the first rifles ever to be able to fire several rounds without reloading. Earlier attempts at repeating rifles had failed miserably. One idea (the rifle at the top) was to incorporate Samuel Colt's revolver mechanism onto a rifle. But the rifle's flawed design resulted in all the rounds leaving the cylinder at once, and flying straight into the sharpshooter's supporting hand.
The Henry and Spencer were very similar in that both rifles had a firing chamber and a chamber below the barrel to hold the rounds, not unlike modern pump-action shotguns. To fire the Spencer, the firer would first half-cock the hammer. Then he would pull the lever to load the next round into the firing chamber. Then he would return the lever, and fully cock the hammer. He is now ready to fire.
To fire the Henry rifle, the firer could pull the lever and fully-cock the gun it one swift motion. In addition to that, the Henry could chamber fifteen rounds as opposed to the Spencer's seven. A perk for the Spencer, was the superior accuracy and muzzle velocity, meaning a better effective range.
The Telegraph and Telephone
The Telegraph one of the most effective battle implements of the war. It finally allowed generals to transfer orders to their troops across long distances in record time. Telegraphs used a series of tapping sounds transfer Morse Code across telegraph lines. This was the most effective form of long-range communication since the idea of sending messengers.
Alexander Graham Bell further extended the ability to communicate over long distances with his Telephone design. He discovered that electrical currents could duplicate sound waves exactly, and began working on a way to transmit a voice over telegraph lines. At first, nobody bought the Telephone. Bell had offered to sell his patent to the big Telegraph corporations, but they didn't think it would sell. Bell started his own Telephone company, and soon the profits made him rich. When the corporations offered to buy his patent, he respectfully declined the offers.
The Railroad
The Railroad was another excellent battle tool. Soldiers could move from place to place in half the time they could before. Supplies could travel faster, and get to their destinations in better condition. Munitions could be supplied during longer battles, and in large supplies. The Union states had roughly 22,000 miles of railroad tracks during the war, and the Confederates had only about 9,000 miles.
The Camera
Cameramen would need "portable darkrooms," a glass plate, and a camera in order to take pictures. They would first pour a mixture of nitrocellulose and ether onto the glass plate. This would create a film on the glass. Then, they would put it in the a bath full of chemicals to make it light sensitive. Then it would go into the camera. After the picture is taken, the plate would be rushed to the darkroom before the film dried. It would be placed in a developer liquid, which would begin to reveal the picture. Then the plate would be washed in a "fixer" to sharpen the image. It would now be on the glass for hundreds of years.
The Henry and Spencer Rifles
The Henry and Spencer rifles were the most effective combat system since the creation of gunpowder. They were the first rifles ever to be able to fire several rounds without reloading. Earlier attempts at repeating rifles had failed miserably. One idea (the rifle at the top) was to incorporate Samuel Colt's revolver mechanism onto a rifle. But the rifle's flawed design resulted in all the rounds leaving the cylinder at once, and flying straight into the sharpshooter's supporting hand.
The Henry and Spencer were very similar in that both rifles had a firing chamber and a chamber below the barrel to hold the rounds, not unlike modern pump-action shotguns. To fire the Spencer, the firer would first half-cock the hammer. Then he would pull the lever to load the next round into the firing chamber. Then he would return the lever, and fully cock the hammer. He is now ready to fire.
To fire the Henry rifle, the firer could pull the lever and fully-cock the gun it one swift motion. In addition to that, the Henry could chamber fifteen rounds as opposed to the Spencer's seven. A perk for the Spencer, was the superior accuracy and muzzle velocity, meaning a better effective range.
The Telegraph and Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell further extended the ability to communicate over long distances with his Telephone design. He discovered that electrical currents could duplicate sound waves exactly, and began working on a way to transmit a voice over telegraph lines. At first, nobody bought the Telephone. Bell had offered to sell his patent to the big Telegraph corporations, but they didn't think it would sell. Bell started his own Telephone company, and soon the profits made him rich. When the corporations offered to buy his patent, he respectfully declined the offers.
The Railroad
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Library of Congress
Here's a paper I wrote on the Library of Congress:
The Library of Congress was originally founded the year 1800, when president John Adams signed the Act of Congress, thus transfering the seat of government from Philidalphia to Washington. Part of the legislation spent $5,000 on 750 books and 30 maps from london for use of the Congress. The items were originaly stored in the Capitol Building. Most of the books were in legal nature, as the Congress beleived they would only need to refer to the library for books on law.
In 1802, president Thomas Jefferson signed the first law establishing the structure of the library of congress. The law allowed the president and vice president to borrow books from the library, and it gave the presidentially elected Librarian of Congress the power to manage and oversee all items in the library. Jefferson's participation in the formation of the library didn't stop there. In the August of 1814, attacking British troops set fire to the library, burning a majority of the 3,000 items stored there. Withing the next month, former president Jefferson offered his personal collection of books up to the Congress. They accepted, paying him $23,950 for his collection of well over 6,000 books. He had speent over 50 years collecting books of philosophy, science, literature, foreign languages, cookbooks, and a vast selection of other topics. He said that "there is, in fact, no subject to which a Member of Congress may not have occasion to refer."
Another fire occured on December 24th, 1851. This was the largest fire in the library's history. It destroyed 35,000 of the 55,000 books. That included a majority of Jefferson's original donation. Congress quickly spent $168,700 replacing lost items. That was money that could have been spent increasing the library's collection. The library wing in the Capitol building was restored by 1853, now completely fireproof, but by 1865, it became obvious the library's gigantic supply of books needed it's own building. The construction of the Jefferson building began, and the building was made public in 1897.
Around the mid-1800s, the Smithsonian Institution's librarion Charles Jewett was attempting to make it the United States' national library. But the secratary of the institution preferred a focus on scientific study and publication rather than storing books. He saw the Library of Congress as an ideal national library. In 1854, Jewett was relieved of his position by Henry. Henry then transfered the Smithsonian's store of 40,000 volumes to the Library of Congress, almost doubling the library's supply.
The latter half of the 19th century marked the beginning of the growth of the Library of congress from a simple reference area for the members of Congress into the symbol of strength and indipendance it is today. It began it's expansion under Ainsworth Spafford, the Librarian of Congress from 1865 to 1897. He was the man that came up with the idea of the library having it's own seperate building. He was the man that convinced Congress to put all copyright registration management in the hands of the library. By the time the library was moved to the Jefferson building, Spafford had accumulated a total of 840,000 items in the library, 40% of which came from copyroght deposit.
After Spafford, the library only grew. Soon it had a library for the blind and physically disabled. It soon became the first library in the US to hold 1,000,000 volumes. Librarian of Congress Putnam convinced president Roosevelt to tranfer the papers of the Founding Fathers to the library from the State Department. He extended the selection of books in foreign languages. Soon the library became so filled, the Main Building wasn't big enough. An expansion was needed.
From Putnam on, the Library of Congress grew and grew. It is now the world's largest library. It is seconded only by the British library, which holds 62 million items, near half the number of the Library of Congress' 115 million items. The library is now made up of three buildings, grows by 10,000 items a day, and holds a huge selection of paintings, papers, and books, including the original Spider-Man comic, Columbus' Book of Privilages, the Guttenburg bible, the Branch Rickey scouting report, and many other interesting items. The library started as a reading room in the Capitol building with a few hundred books, now it's a gigantic multi-million book legend.
Resources: http://www.loc.gov/loc/legacy/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc79.htm
Justin Cruz
August 2010
The Library of Congress
In 1802, president Thomas Jefferson signed the first law establishing the structure of the library of congress. The law allowed the president and vice president to borrow books from the library, and it gave the presidentially elected Librarian of Congress the power to manage and oversee all items in the library. Jefferson's participation in the formation of the library didn't stop there. In the August of 1814, attacking British troops set fire to the library, burning a majority of the 3,000 items stored there. Withing the next month, former president Jefferson offered his personal collection of books up to the Congress. They accepted, paying him $23,950 for his collection of well over 6,000 books. He had speent over 50 years collecting books of philosophy, science, literature, foreign languages, cookbooks, and a vast selection of other topics. He said that "there is, in fact, no subject to which a Member of Congress may not have occasion to refer."
Another fire occured on December 24th, 1851. This was the largest fire in the library's history. It destroyed 35,000 of the 55,000 books. That included a majority of Jefferson's original donation. Congress quickly spent $168,700 replacing lost items. That was money that could have been spent increasing the library's collection. The library wing in the Capitol building was restored by 1853, now completely fireproof, but by 1865, it became obvious the library's gigantic supply of books needed it's own building. The construction of the Jefferson building began, and the building was made public in 1897.
Around the mid-1800s, the Smithsonian Institution's librarion Charles Jewett was attempting to make it the United States' national library. But the secratary of the institution preferred a focus on scientific study and publication rather than storing books. He saw the Library of Congress as an ideal national library. In 1854, Jewett was relieved of his position by Henry. Henry then transfered the Smithsonian's store of 40,000 volumes to the Library of Congress, almost doubling the library's supply.
The latter half of the 19th century marked the beginning of the growth of the Library of congress from a simple reference area for the members of Congress into the symbol of strength and indipendance it is today. It began it's expansion under Ainsworth Spafford, the Librarian of Congress from 1865 to 1897. He was the man that came up with the idea of the library having it's own seperate building. He was the man that convinced Congress to put all copyright registration management in the hands of the library. By the time the library was moved to the Jefferson building, Spafford had accumulated a total of 840,000 items in the library, 40% of which came from copyroght deposit.
After Spafford, the library only grew. Soon it had a library for the blind and physically disabled. It soon became the first library in the US to hold 1,000,000 volumes. Librarian of Congress Putnam convinced president Roosevelt to tranfer the papers of the Founding Fathers to the library from the State Department. He extended the selection of books in foreign languages. Soon the library became so filled, the Main Building wasn't big enough. An expansion was needed.
From Putnam on, the Library of Congress grew and grew. It is now the world's largest library. It is seconded only by the British library, which holds 62 million items, near half the number of the Library of Congress' 115 million items. The library is now made up of three buildings, grows by 10,000 items a day, and holds a huge selection of paintings, papers, and books, including the original Spider-Man comic, Columbus' Book of Privilages, the Guttenburg bible, the Branch Rickey scouting report, and many other interesting items. The library started as a reading room in the Capitol building with a few hundred books, now it's a gigantic multi-million book legend.
Resources: http://www.loc.gov/loc/legacy/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc79.htm
Saturday, September 11, 2010
How To: Make a Windmill
Resource from: The Colony
Watching The Colony the other day, I was really impressed with the Windmill design. The idea is that in an Apocalyptic setting a windmill would be the perfect solution to the problem of limited energy resources. A windmill attached to an alternator can provide an endless supply of renewable energy. The design in The Colony is used to power the bulbs throughout the house, and I'm guessing it can create enough electricity to power my bedroom.
Step 1: The Rotor
The Colonists built the rotor using a tire, boards from a fence, and copper pipes. They bent the two pipes into semi-circles and welded them together. Then, they attached that to the middle of the boards to hold them in place. The ends of the boards pointing inward were then attached to a tire. In the drawing above, you can see two circles attached to the boards. The outer circle is the pipes and the inner circle is the tire.
Step 2: The Alternator
The Colonists used a car alternator which was from the same car as the batteries they needed the windmill to charge. They got it spinning using two gears and two chains from a pair of bikes they found. In the above image, the big circle would be the gear attached to the tire. The green bike chain connects it to a smaller gear, and another green bike chain connects that gear to the red alternator. The windmill turns anywhere from tens to hundreds of times a minute, but a sufficient amount of energy will only be generated if the alternator is spinning at thousands of times a minute. So, the Colonists "geared up" the windmill by connecting the first gear to a smaller gear. That way, one turn of the larger gear turns the smaller gear several times. That allows one turn of the windmill to be enough to charge the alternator sufficiently.
Step 3: The Fin
In order for the windmill to work, it must be facing the wind at all times. If you look at the comic at the top of this article, you'll notice a little fin behind the rotor. When the wind blows, it moves that fin in the same direction. The fin moves the rotor so that it faces the wind. This ensures that the rotor is always spinning when the wind is blowing. The Colonists used a tail fin from a broken plane, but wood or sturdy cardboard cut into the form of a fin work just as good.
Step 4: Final Setup
Once the fin was done, the Colonist's cut a hole in the second floor of the building they were living in, then another one in the roof. They then put a flagpole through the holes up to the roof. They attached that to the rotor then the rotor to the alternator. Then everyone rejoiced, they had a 100% natural renewable energy source!
Step 1: The Rotor
The Colonists built the rotor using a tire, boards from a fence, and copper pipes. They bent the two pipes into semi-circles and welded them together. Then, they attached that to the middle of the boards to hold them in place. The ends of the boards pointing inward were then attached to a tire. In the drawing above, you can see two circles attached to the boards. The outer circle is the pipes and the inner circle is the tire.
Step 2: The Alternator
Step 3: The Fin
In order for the windmill to work, it must be facing the wind at all times. If you look at the comic at the top of this article, you'll notice a little fin behind the rotor. When the wind blows, it moves that fin in the same direction. The fin moves the rotor so that it faces the wind. This ensures that the rotor is always spinning when the wind is blowing. The Colonists used a tail fin from a broken plane, but wood or sturdy cardboard cut into the form of a fin work just as good.
Step 4: Final Setup
Once the fin was done, the Colonist's cut a hole in the second floor of the building they were living in, then another one in the roof. They then put a flagpole through the holes up to the roof. They attached that to the rotor then the rotor to the alternator. Then everyone rejoiced, they had a 100% natural renewable energy source!
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