Author Archives: Jacob Alexander Loffredo

Effects of Adderall on non-prescribed user

Growing up with a brother who has ADHD, adderall was always in the medicine cabinet. Until college I have always heard that adderall really helps you focus and get a ton of work done but have never gave it a try. Also I heard that there were many effects of adderall towards people who were especially not prescribed such as headaches and heart contusions since it speeds up the heart. College is exactly what I expected; a ton of work and a lot of late nights of studying. So, one night I knew I had a 5 page paper to write and 2 exams the following day and I was already exhausted so I gave adderall a chance and let me just say WOW, I was never so into writing an essay and studying till 6 in the morning with having no intentions on stopping.

Image result for adderall

Adderall and what it does?

Adderall is a central nervous system stimulant that usually is prescribed to people who have ADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). The main use of adderall is to increase concentration and decrease impulsiveness. I have tried adderall like I said and I am not prescribed it sure does increase concentration but does entail a few hazardous side affects. According to Dr. Pino (toxicologist at a medical school in NYC) adderall increases the dopamine by blocking out the absorption of the neurotransmitter, mainly stimulating the nervous system. Also according to Drugs.com and Livestrong.com since adderall contains amphetamines; to people who are not prescribed it is highly addictive with serious side affects, Dr. Ogbru claims some side effects include seizure, and irregular heart beats. While using adderall there are instant changes to your body as soon as you swallow the pill like increase in heart rate and very high blood pressure.

Image result for test scores with adderall vs without

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Above is a bar graph that hold data of a young girl taking adderall, if you look closely there was 3 different tests done on her the first was without an dose, the second was with 10mg, and the last was done with 20mg, the higher dosage of adderall take by this girl has a direct correlation with the better results.

Adderall Epidemic

Unprescribed use of adderall is becoming a very big problem across the united state with adults and with college students, it continues to increase on an annual rate. Doctors are working to find better alternative for the drug but haven’t had a breakthrough yet, hopefully in the near future we will see this innovation come to fruition.

To go along with what I was saying about this highly addictive drug here is a video of Dr. Fruitman explaining what adderall does to our brain.

Conclusion

A rational Penn State student, after reading this blog and recognizing all of the health scares and side affects would very likely not take adderall. The question “Does adderall have any negative affect on someone who is not prescribed” the null hypothesis would be rejected. Adderall is a very dangerous as well as very addictive drug that I would say people should stay away from unless advised by a doctor or physician.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/234805-what-does-adderall-do-for-people-that-do-not-have-adhd/

http://www.livescience.com/41013-adderall.html

http://www.recovery.org/topics/adderall-facts/

http://www.rxlist.com/adderall-side-effects-drug-center.htm

Do cell phones cause cancer?

I sleep with my phone right next to me and keep my cell phone in my pocket at all times of the day. I have always heard people say that the radiation from cell phones causes cancer but never really took any initiative into being that rational teenager and changing the way I go about my everyday life with my cell phone. It was my freshman year biology teacher that always kept his cell phone in his back pocket specifically because he believed that the phone does has some affect on the body; this was the first time I really recognized that this could be an issue and gave me the idea to someday look into this topic.

A look inside the cellular device …

As we know pretty much everyone has a cell phones and the question that many of those cell phone owners are curious about is whether or not they are safe. According to the Cancer Research Institute they believe there are a few reasons we should be concerned about cell phones causing cancer; phones do emit a radiation referred to as radio-frequency energy which is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Radio-frequency energy is high frequency and high energy. Another crucial part of cell phones is that the type of radiation it gives off, it is an ionized radiation which is the same category of radiation that x-rays are in.

Here is a YouTube video about the risk of cell phones and interview with Dr. Leonard Coldwell explaining his views on the major concern of cell phones causing cancer.

Image result for meme about phones causing cancer

Experiments

According to Scientific America‘s cell phone radiation study there seems to be significant evidence once again. This 25 million dollar animal testing study revealed that rodents that were affected with a life long of radiation developed rare types of heart and brain cancer. Another thing founds from this stud was that the more and more exposure of RF radiation to the rats had a direct correlation with the amount that got the cancer, not to mention all of the control rats apart of the study did not get cancer.

Conclusion

As we always talk about in class; what would a rational Penn State student do after knowing about this?? I would say that A rational student would definitely make some changes to there everyday life because a lot of the evidence stated in my blog is accurate and consistent with one another. Not sleeping next to you phone at night, not keeping your phone in your pocket, and just not using the device so much would all be simple changes people can make in order to be safer. Cell phones are still a new technology advancement, they have only been around for about 10 years and already 90% of adults in our country have them. In 20 years from not we could see a crazy breakout of cancer that would catch many by surprise because we are the first generation to ever use cell phones; so we need to take precaution while we still can.

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/major-cell-phone-radiation-study-reignites-cancer-questions/

 

 

Creatine Vs Protein

At a young age I began to lift weights and develop a love for lifting. I never took any type of supplements or even protein for that matter. As my body began to develop and mature I felt like I could use something to help me recover and even help me get stronger; other than food alone. When people first start taking workout supplements they usually look toward two very common and much disputed products in the eyes of doctors and health physicians; Creatine and protein powder. Both Products are very different, protein does not have a bad connotation behind it as does creatine which is more of a controversial product with some health scares.

Health facts and lifting benefits of Creatine and Protein 

Creatine is most common for increasing athletic performance as well as increasing muscle mass. Well first off, creatine is found in foods an within the body; our bodies produce creatine. After a workout a molecule called ATP is depleted and is also your main source of energy so what the creatine does is regenerates the ATP which is actuality is helping you recover faster from soreness and rebuild the muscle fibers. Also a benefit many people like about creatine is that when ingested it gets to your muscles an absorbs water thus making them looks fuller.  From reading off of websites and reviews you can see people swear by this stuff and mostly rate all creatine products very well but there is more to is than just results. According to Dr. Murtaza Ahmed in this article he says that he isn’t against creatine but people should know that there is very little knowledge about the long term affects of creatine. In the same studies done by Dr. Murtaza sometimes creatine doesn’t work with certain people but when it does what it is doing is increasing the short term supply of energy in muscles. With that being said, According to WebMD some possible side affects include dehydration (when taking creatine drinking a gallon of water daily is suggested), kidney stones, and nausea.

Protein powder is considered to be a safer and more studied product than creatine. It contains high levels of branch chain amino acids and combined with exercise will help build muscle and assist in recovery. Protein, as many people already know its main function is to build and repair the body, according to Professor Uhlen from Stockholm, all major organs such as the liver, hair,skin, etc. are made of protein so protein powder doesn’t only need to be used as a workout supplement it is good for you in general to add a shake into your diet here and there. Like I said, protein isn’t much of a risk I would say common protein powder is low risk low reward to be honest; it is not going to get you huge.

Image result for creatine vs protein meme

CONCLUSION

Doctor Mike Roussell says in this article that protein shakes are good all around for the reasons mentions earlier throughout my blog. Creatine like we have learned is more a a complex workout supplement, absorbing water in the muscles to make you look bigger as well as to help with recovery and energy. I would say that both supplements have their benefits If I was to recommend one I would say creatine because many foods have protein but few have creatine so the protein you can get through the intake of many types of foods but the creatine would be more convenient to take as a powder. The null hypothesis of whether creatine and protein produce results would be denied because both products are beneficial to the body and aid muscle growth.

http://www.muscleandfitness.com/supplements/build-muscle/everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-creatine

Creatine : The Science Behind The Supplement

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-873-creatine.aspx?activeingredientid=873

http://www.livescience.com/49533-human-protein-atlas.html

 

How safe is water fountain water?

As early as I could remember I can recall my father saying “Don’t drink that shit”. I am from Toms River New Jersey which is only a few miles from Ciba-Geigy chemical company who was caught storing over 100,00 barrels of chemical waste in the ground and polluted much of the drinking water in my town. Many people living in my area still say we have some of the worst drinking water in the country even though the chemical spill was in the 1980’s. Now that I am living in a different state I thought this would be an interesting topic to look into, looking at the water fountain water all around the country to see what we are really drinking.

Recently I received an email from Penn State Office of Physical Plant about unsafe amounts of lead in the drinking water here at Penn State. This gave me the idea for writing about this topic in order to inform myself as well as readers on whether fountain water is safe to drink.

Water fountains are more dangerous than many people believe. An associated press investigation found that schools throughout all 50 US states have water fountains that contain contaminants. Scientists and engineer at Virginia Tech made a very interesting statement about the water drinking industry in this article/study what he said changed the way I looked at drinking water. He said, ” If a landlord doesn’t tell his tenant about lead paint on the walls he could go to jail but schools have dangerous amounts of lead in their water and the kids drink it with no problems”. Some side affects of high levels of lead in drinking water are possible flu like symptoms and gastrointestinal disease.

According to an NBC article a physician and EPA advisory board member stated that 1 out of every 5 schools meaning k-12 in the United States violate the safe drinking water act. To me this seems like a very big issue that our government is giving absolutely no time or respect towards. Fountains were once considered a technological development now they seem to be considered more of a fault.

Conclusion…

For these aforementioned reasons I would say that a rational student who goes to Penn State would definitely stop drinking fountain water and turn to a cleaner closer advised water source like water bottles or purified water filters. According to this article the EPA oversees all of the water being used in the bottled water industry and the FDA oversees all of the plastic bottles being used, therefor anyone who tries to make the argument that the plastic and water used in bottled water is not monitored and that its the same thing as fountain water is very incorrect. The healthier as well as safer way to consume your water is to stay away from fountains and tap water and drink bottled and purified H20.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-dont-trust-drinking-fountains-anymore-and-thats-bad-for-our-health/2015/07/02/24eca9bc-15f0-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html?utm_term=.8f54d3dc91fe

Bottled Water Vs. Tap Water: Rethink What You Drink

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33008932/ns/health-childrens_health/t/drinking-water-unsafe-thousands-schools/#.WDNoP9UrLIV

 

Does height affect performance in basketball?

When I was younger I used to play a lot of basketball with my friends and I realized one day that whoever was the smallest kid playing seemed to always get picked last regardless of his ability. This brings me to the question whether height impacts performance in basketball. Across the NBA there are obviously more tall players than short guys so that gives many of us the illusion that tall basketball players are better and more dominant but that might not actually be all that true. In the history of the National Basketball Association there has been a player as tall as 7 foot 7 and a player as short as 5 foot 3 so maybe its not about height as much as we all think……..

Being Tall

In basketball according to Dr. Steven Halls, “Male basketball players tend to be 9 inches taller than the average male” this just shows how size in this sport really is a trend. There are many obvious reasons why being tall in a sport like basketball helps, for example the rim is set at 10 feet tall and the closer you are to it the easier it is to get the ball in the basket. A common phrase you hear in basketball is “You cant teach size” meaning that a player who may not be that great he already has size which in itself some people see as a benefit and a way to make the player better easier. Stuart Kim who is a professor and scientist of genetics at the University of Stanford agrees with many sports analysts and physicians that height has a direct correlation with more injuries and being more injury prone which is a disadvantage in basketball especially when paying these athletes so much money.

Being Short

Many people who watch basketball always think that being short is always a disadvantage, believe it or not being smaller in a big mans game may also have many benefits. Scientist David Robson, in sports especially basketball the shorter player has the upper hand; he has the quicker first step and is faster because it takes less time for nerve impulses to travel from the limbs to the brain. Players like Allen Iverson and Nate Robinson both being under 6 foot tall have silenced all doubters and have given shorter athletes so much confidence, Robinson at 5 foot 9 has won 3 slam dunk contests and Iverson who is arguably one of the best NBA players of all time at 5 foot 11. The speed and quickness as well as the ability to to shoot better than big men is all advantages mixed in there are the obvious disadvantages of  being a shorter player such as further from the basket shorter arm span and cant play “Above the rim”.

graph above

Height in the NBA from the image above is on a steady incline which means 1 thing for sure; height does seem to be a superior factor and strategy for teams in the league.

The top 10 scoring leaders in the most recent NBA season had 7 players above the height of 6 foot 7 and 3 below that and for rebounds all 10 were above 6 foot 8. These simple stats show that the null hypothesis for the most recent season would be rejected and that height does affect performance in basketball. These are just examples of how in basketball especially the NBA, height is a necessity, numbers do not lie and for many consecutive seasons for statistics the gifted taller players dominate in major categories.

http://stats.nba.com/leaders/#!?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&StatCategory=REB

http://www.si.com/nba/photos/2014/10/08/nbas-tallest-and-shortest-together

http://www.livestrong.com/article/555710-how-to-use-shortness-to-your-advantage-in-basketball/

Animal Testing

A very controversial  topic in the world of science is animal testing. I believe that animal testing is crucial for the day in age that we live in. Animal testing is the use of non-human animals in order to research and develop pretty much anything from food and drugs to experiments on certain parts of the body. The most common animals used in animal testing are rats and rabbits I would assume because they are very fast at reproducing. Animal experimentation is looked upon by some as a perfect way to explore studies and test drugs; unfortunately others see it as animal cruelty.

Animal testing has been practiced for over 2000 years, and over 26 million animals are tested in the United States every year. According to the California Biomedical Research Association, ” Every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted from some sort of animal testing” if true that is very critical in the argument that animal testing is indeed a huge benefit. A perfect example of Animal testing being a success is with the polio vaccine, according to Animal-testing.org in 1988 there were 350,000 cases of polio, the vaccine was tested first with animals to see if it would work, in 2012 there was 233 cases in the United States. For the people who are against animal testing, there needs to be an alternate to testing on animals, there currently is no alternative. Even if we were to test humans there is a chance we wouldn’t be as good of a test component because we live so long; the shorter life cycles of animals is better to deal with in an experiment.

Image result for animal testing

Then there is people who are against Animal testing for various reasons most people could understand. Animals being forced into chemical testing doesn’t sound like something that is very appealing to us. Even though there are many great discoveries that have come from Animal testing there is still some factors that people need to know about. Stated on this website it mentions something along the lines of the body make up of animals is so different than humans that many things that work very good in animals actually fails more than 80% of the time once it is tested in humans. Obviously animal rights activists are not big fans about animals being apart of prolonged lab tests but I would say that all in all Animal testing need to continue on considering all of the breakthroughs that have come from it.

In conclusion, Animal testing is good, here is a video on how the polio vaccine had such an impact on society. The pros absolutely out weighs the cons, they are aiding research for sickness at rapid rates that the science world has not ever seen before. Countless people have been cured through medication founded through animal testing and through our lives many more huge breakthroughs are on the way.

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Correct Way For Athletes To Hydrate

During sporting events growing up the 2 drinks that everyone would drink was either Gatorade or water. There has always been the curiosity whether Gatorade or water actually does the better job at getting you hydrated and ready to get back on the field.

According to Forbes.com, “Gatorade controls 46% of the worlds sports drink market” this is obviously a statistic that jumps out to us, but is it really the best drink for our bodies? Gatorade contains carbohydrates which is a dietary component who’s duty is to give your body energy which is much needed when competing in sports. Carbs in a very large amount such that Gatorade offers is not always the best, large intake of carbs can cause bloating and weight gain and that is absolutely not what us athletes need. Gatorade also is known for having electrolytes which is crucial for replenishing potassium and sodium. Potassium and sodium are depleted when sweating and working out for periods of time so having a large amount of electrolytes in an athletic drink is definitely an advantage for Gatorade over water. Gatorade has many pros for athletes but also has some cons, which spark the question on why not just drink water?

Image result for gatorade

Water, one of the necessities of life. There are many reasons for athletes to drink water while preforming. Water contains 0 sodium which helps the body hold onto the water in your body a lot better, Gatorade contains a lot of sodium and what your body will do with that is sweat is out a lot faster which will actually dehydrate yourself a lot quicker. Water is also a lot less filling and will not lead to as much of a bloated or full feeling in your stomach after drinking.

Image result for water bottle

The battle of Gatorade and water might not be as easy as just saying one is better for athletes than the other. According to David K. Spierer playing a sport or lifting for a shorter period of time water is the go to drink but after an extended long game or match the body starts to become depleted in sodium, potassium, and magnesium and what can help to replenish them is the Gatorade since it has more electrolytes and carbohydrates.

In conclusion, both water an Gatorade have their benefits in specific categories when it comes the the athletic world. Water is the better way to hydrate in a shorter period of time and Gatorade over a very long extended period of time playing a sport will be the better choice for your body. The shorter time period it would be a waste to have all the excess sugar and carbs sitting in your body when your body actually does not need them yet. Everyone’s body is different and everyone has their preferences when it comes to hydrating themselves during athletic events but clearly their is a smarter way to go about choosing Water or the Gatorade as your drink.

http://www.forbes.com/companies/gatorade/

http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-drink/sports-drinks-vs-water

http://www.livestrong.com/article/75369-gatorade-vs.-water/

Climate affecting life expectancy

I have always been curious if there is a relationship between climate and life expectancy. When I was younger what brought the thought upon me was that all my older relatives would move down to Florida right after they turned 70; I never really understood why so I just put the idea in my head that the warmer weather was better for the human body and would in the future help them live longer.

According to Josh Mitteldorf, in animals when exposed to cold temperatures their metabolism is slowed and they live longer. This sounds very interesting, the bodies of animals are very different than a human body so I can’t see this study or hypothesis holding up on any length for the human species. Another study preformed on a type of animal was done at the University of Michigan  with worms, exposing the worm to colder temperatures actually triggered a genetic change with in the worm which made them live longer. A recent study done at the University of California  proved that lowering the body temperature in mice extends their life up to “20%”.

Something that scientists may be looking passed in these studies are that humans life expectancy may have to do with something of a more industrialized topic such as wealth. In this article it talks about how neither cold or warm weather affect life expectancy and that other variables affect our lives way more.

Image result for weather around the world

Even though I just stood against the topic on whether climate has an affect on life expectancy I was not able to find a specific study done with humans. An experiment that could  conducted that could possibly bring an answer forward would be very complicated. The best way to be able to begin on figuring out if there is a correlation between climate and longevity would be to look at average ages of death in cold weather compared to warmer weather. A big factor in how long someone lives is there genes and relatives so the study would have to be done with a very large group of people in order to clearly make out results.

In conclusion, climate may have a clear affect on certain animals in which cold weather helps them live longer but for humans its not clear at all. Humans are way more complex organisms that adapt and grow with and around certain changes which makes it tough to be able to put a finger on the correct answers behind hypotheses and the many unanswered questions we have.

https://www.quora.com/Does-climate-affect-health-and-life-expectancyhttp://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/2013/02/25/cold-temperature-and-life-span-its-not-about-the-rate-of-living/http://www.eumetrain.org/events/www_briefing_2013.html

 

Powerlifting or CrossFit ?

I have always had a love for lifting weights and have always been curious what type of weight lifting is the best for your body as well as makes you strongest. The two types of lifting that I will be comparing are Powerlifting and CrossFit. According to CrossFit.com, crossfit is a competitive sport. Including high intensity interval training which incorporates power lifts, gymnastics, and plyometrics.  Powerlifting is a a strength based sport that includes 3 main lifts; squat, bench press and dead-lift. Many people ask the question whether the fast time interval and short break time movements in crossfit is better for your body and makes you stronger than powerlifting.

CrossFit has many pros and cons. Some Pros of crossfit are the fact that crossfit is very affordable, most of the exercises are all done with the same equipment. All you really need to train for crossfit is a pull-up bar and a barbell. Another advantage of crossfit is that is is very transportable, with very little equipment it is easy to train anywhere at anytime. Even though crossfit is cheap and transportable it is very hard training and to be honest I think powerlifting gets you stronger in the long term.

Powerlifting is based on heavy weights with extended break periods. What I get out of powerlifting verses crossfit is that powerlifting allows you to put more strength and power into each set of lifting as well as putting less stress on your body with longer break periods. According to this article life long athlete Erin Simmons speaks about the many reasons that powerlifting is better in all aspects than crossfit. The article says “how Olympic lifts life cleans and dead-lifts should not ever be preformed at a rep range of 20-30 reps” which is what crossfit preaches, it is not only terrible for your body but also could make you weaker in the long run.

Many people don’t really care about the long term affects that either type of training will have on their body, they care about which will get them stronger. Here is a video where a professional powerlifter competes against a pro crossfitter in a race of who can do the same exact weight for a certain amount of reps in 2 crossfit workouts and 2 powerlifting workouts.

In the video the powerlifter wins by a huge margin beating the crossfit competitor in the strength workouts and the cardio vascular workouts. This was a experiment where the obvious variables being tested were the different sports being put to test against each other where the controls in this experiment were the athletes having the same number of reps and workouts to complete.

All in all, powerlifting shows more strength advantages and less of a risk to your body, for me these 2 factors make it an easy choice to shade away from crossfit and towards powerlifting.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-simmons/why-i-dont-do-crossfit_b_5411771.html

http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/crossfit-vs-powerlifting-14397.html#

Wood VS. Aluminum

Growing up baseball was a huge part of my life. For me there was nothing better than going to the batting cage or out to the field and taking batting practice. I was always curious about whether a wood bat or an aluminum bat hit a baseball better. I always hit better with a wood bat, I was never really sure why because everyone else in little league liked to use metal but I am sure there is some science behind this question on which bat choice produces a better output of success.

According to George Manning the big switch with baseball bats occurred in the 1970’s when companies began producing metal and aluminum bats. “The thin walls on a metal bat allow the bat to deform as it makes contact with the baseball and almost cause a trampoline affect.” Wood baseball bats are not hollow at all they are solid as can be, so they don’t receive the the same reaction as the metal at does at contact point. Another point that supports the metal bat is back in 1970 when aluminum bats were first approved in the NCAA the very “first year batting average went up 20 points on average, and home runs nearly doubled.”

An article written by Phoenix Bats is back and forth on the topic of which bat is better in terms of output and numbers produced the one very big point made by them was that wood bats might not hit the ball as far but in multiple areas make the hitter a better baseball player. A wood bat is usually heavier and has a way smaller sweet spot. When practicing with a bat that is heavier and has a smaller sweet spot it makes you a stronger hitter and trains your eyes to have better hand eye coordination.

A good way to test this question would to have a double blind experiment coordinated using a wood and a metal bat hitting against a pitching machine. The control variable would be the machine throwing every pitch at the same speed. The obvious variable being used in this experiment would be the metal bat and the wooden bat. For this experiment having many people would be ideal to get an accurate response. The average distances hit for the metal bat and wooden bat would be the answer that would hopefully show what bat hits the ball further.

 

Image result for wood bats vs aluminum bats

In conclusion, even though I enjoy using a wood baseball bat I think metal bats through all the technology advances do on average hit the ball further. In this graph above it shows that aluminum produce a way higher batting average and amount of home runs in game situations than wooden bats. This still doesn’t directly infer which hits the ball further but since it shows a higher rate of home runs that says something.

https://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/tools_4.html

http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/bats/NCAA-stats.html

Can Headphones/Earbuds Damage Your Hearing?

Your whole life you have been listening to music through headphones or earbuds, not really knowing the actual consequences or harms they cause towards your ears. I like to listen to my music very loud, whether I am at the gym or even just walking from class to class with my earbuds in. Recently my ears have been very sensitive to the level of noise I have been listening to my music at. Which brings me to the reason why I chose this topic, to see if there is a possible correlation here.

According to”The Huffington Post headphones are not nearly as damaging to the ears as earbuds.”Everyone who can hear has eardrums and by putting this loud music directly into your ears it vibrates the eardrum which ends up damaging areas of the ear that transfer the sound to your brain. Loss of hearing commonly happens when the hair cells in our ears are severely harmed.(Huffington,2013)

Simplified View of Ear Structure

This diagram of the ear above shows exactly how sound enters and travels through the ear. Also back on what I said before about the hair cells, as displayed in the picture, the most delicate and most inner part of the ear lays the hair cells.

Headphones compared to earbuds I would think are not as bad for your ears. Since headphones cancel out all outside sounds I would feel that that is beneficial to your ears since they will not have to put up with the outside sounds going on around you and the music that you are currently blasting. In comparison to the earbuds they are totally opposite of that, they are deeper in your ear and are not noise canceling.

In conclusion, listening to music at a loud volume can cause severe hearing damage. According to “The Huffington Post you should not listen music for more then 60 minutes at a time.” In other words I think that its all in moderation, if you are careful with the amount of loud music you listen to you should never come across obstacles such as hearing loss later down the line.

http://health.stackexchange.com/questions/312/when-does-the-use-of-headphones-become-harmful/490

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/headphones-bad-for-hearing_n_4100874.html

Animals Getting Back At Us

What if I told you that animals all around the world are killing Humans at a rapid pace. Right now, directly and indirectly all types of animals from mosquitoes to camels are causing a disturbing amount of death, sickness, and disease.

The number one killer of humans has been the mosquito, estimated 214 million cases per year world wide for malaria have been reported according to the World Health Organization. Where I live, a mosquito is just an annoying little bug that comes around in the summer. To people living in the region of Africa the mosquito is a deadly assassin. It is insane how something in the United states which is so well controlled can be such a issue on the other side of the globe. Right now malaria is one of the biggest epidemics in the world, with the lack of research and technology in Africa this problem seems as if it will never be solved, it seems as if the mosquitoes might never give up.

Another recent study shows that one of the four strands of the common cold was actually originated in the camel, yes this camel.

Image result for a camel

Another disease also linked to the camel is the middle-east respiratory syndrome which is known to be fatal to humans. Lastly, according to Live Science live stock animals also cause a extraordinary amount of deaths yearly.

These are just a few examples of animals causing issues for us humans…but maybe its only right after all the problems us humans cause for these animals. Some may think that, that is a awful thing to say but it is all perspective, we have moved into their homes causing disruption and disturbances. Maybe its the Animals Getting Back at us, I guess we will never know.

Do Steroids Make You A Better Athlete ???

In Sports there is a big question that will always be debated over, Do steroids make you a better athlete? There is no answer to this question but both sides will be weighed against each other in this blog.

In professional sports when you hear one of the athletes have tested positive for Performance enhancing drugs(PED’s) a lot of the time they are using an anabolic steroid which is a synthetic drug that makes you produce muscle way faster than your average athlete. Many people say this does make you a better athlete, others take it with a grain of salt.

The people that say yes..                                                                                                                               “According Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor of exercise and sports science, he feels, Anabolic steroids allow the player to almost hit a second puberty”. A lot of people say that the strength gained from taking steroids is cheating, especially in sports like baseball, UFC, and football, the power and strength used in all of these sports adds another level to them which does in certain cases give the athlete who is taking the PED’s the advantage. In professional sports everyone should be on an even level of play until talent(something that cant be hindered) is what gives an advantage to the competitor.

The people who say no..                                                                                                                                  “According to professor Norman Fost of University of Wisconsin, if taking PED’s were unfair, then having certain coaches and trainers that are not available to everyone is also unfair.” This is a unique way to looks at it. What Fost said does hold significant truth to it, maybe the steroids are not really a advantage compared to great coaches and trainers.

Many argue whether or not steroids aid you in athletics but one thing that can not be argued is that steroids are terrible for your body. Some side affects of steroids include high risk or heart attacks, shrinking of organs, and many more check out what steroids really do to your body HERE.

Image result for graph of steroids in baseball advantage(Evangelista 2010)

 

Above is a graph showing how many players per team had 40 home runs, the biggest spike on the graph is from 1994-2000, this is a time in baseball many like to call the “Steroid Era” many see this as a obvious point to show that steroids do affect the athletic ability.

I personally say that steroids give an unfair advantage in all sports. In baseball and football strength is a huge part of the game its the difference in a fly out or a home run, a tackle or a missed tackle. In mixed martial-arts and UFC fighting using PED’s in a sport like that is inexcusable, because someone else is putting their life on the line and you are cheating to make yourself stronger and faster. Steroid use is cowardly an athlete should be talented and pure, PED’s make him or her a cheater.

 

Steroids and Sports? Yes! An Interview with Norm Fost, MD

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2013/8/6/4582488/steroid-expert-peds-anabolic-hgh-charles-yesalis

SCIENCE IS THE ENEMY

Hello everyone, my name is Jake Loffredo and I am from Toms River, New Jersey. I am a freshman who is currently undecided but have no intentions at all in being a science major.

Why am I not planning to e a science major? Well after taking all of the boring and much necessary(lol) science classes in high school such as biology and physics I was able to come up with one very simple conclusion…Science is not your friend it is your ENEMY, all of the memorization of formulas to calculate nonsense and in bio all of the repetitiveness of cells and more cells I finally decided science was not going to be the path I chose in life.

KEEP CALM AND Hate Science

The reason I took this course is honestly because I needed a science. After only going to one single class of SC200 I shortly realized that I will be able to enjoy this type of science class. Believe it or not there are some things in science I do enjoy such as learning about nature and the the world around us, kind of weird but particularly the Amazon rain forest is just amazing on how it has so many species and plants that are not found anywhere other than there. Here is a link just to show how amazing the forest is.  Another aspect of science I enjoy which is a reason for taking this class is being about to think and reason about different types of problems and issues we run into everyday.