The world we live in today is crazy, to be frank. Between social media insanity and higher standards in academics and the professional world, our society is constantly on the move. What doesn’t help is the habit of abusing caffeine, which Americans tend to do very frequently. Coffee is considered healthy within one or two cups, yet how many can stop at just there? One or two cups turns into three or four, and the caffeine intake becomes unnecessary. Similar to coffee, high energy drinks such as Red Bull, Rock Star, and Monster have been integrated into our society like any other drink. These drinks have high concentrations of caffeine and vitamins as well as other stimulants that are simply not healthy for the body.

The most famous energy drink is Red Bull. Besides the expected 27 grams of sugar and 80 mg of caffeine, other ingredients include Taurine, Glucuronolactone, and a mixture of specific vitamins like vitamin B-5. Taurine, as stated by the Organic Authority website, can be considered a stimulant with similar effects as caffeine; Red Bull contains about 1000 mg of it, on top of the 80 mg of caffeine. Glucuronolactone is another stimulant that yields “mild anti-depressant effects.” Meanwhile, the mix of vitamins in Red Bull is not entirely bad for you, yet in the concentrations that the drink has them in may affect your body negatively (i.e. crash). Lastly, the vitamin B-5, also referred to as D-Panthothenol, has been connected to positive and negative results on the body. Some of the positive effects include improved mood and increased metabolism while the negative effects are possible acne, fatigue, and muscle cramps.

Rock Star and Monster both have similar ingredients, but with more unnecessary stimulants. Carnitine, guarana, and panax ginseng are three ingredients specific to Rock Star and Monster that may cause the body to have adverse affects, according to a publication by the University of California-Davis. Carnitine is advertised to improve endurance and fight against cardiovascular disease, yet scientific studies have been unable to prove these statements true. Guarana is boasted to increase energy and physical performance; guarana (which is mostly caffeine) yields caffeine’s positives yet the public has no idea what its true negatives are. Lastly, panax ginseng is supposed to speed up recovery from sickness and improve mental and physical aspects of the body. These claims are bold, and scientific studies again disprove them.

These ingredients are hyped up in the advertisements, yet they simply do not do for the body what they are claimed to do. The worst part, moreover, is that our society has yet to see the long term affects of these energy drinks. Products like Red Bull and Rock Star have only been in the market for maybe two decades, meaning the permanent effects to the body have yet to be revealed. Another scary factor about these drinks are the linked deaths and illnesses. WebMD discusses a FDA report in 2012 where forty cases of sickness and five deaths were correlated with Monster energy drink, while thirteen cases and “two lasting disabilities” are connected to Rockstar. These figures are intimidating, because in the end, is death or a long-term disability worth the five dollars one spent on an energy drink?

Sources:

http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/alcohol,_tobacco,_&_other_drugs/energy_drinks.php

http://www.organicauthority.com/health/energy-drink-breakdown-whats-in-a-red-bull-anyway.html

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8265.pdf

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20121116/more-deaths-illness-energy-drinks

As a young kid, we all aspired to one day have super powers. At that young age we would do just about anything to have super powers. Some of us wanted to have super strength. Some of us wanted to have super speed. Some of us wanted to have the power of invisibility. But there is one power that we all wished we had, the power to fly. With the new development in technology that may be possible. People have found a way to create a fully functioning hover board.

If you don’t know exactly what a hover board is, it is a long board similar to a skateboard that floats over the surface of the ground and is capable of carrying a person. Right now it is still in its developing phase so it can only hover a couple of inches off of the ground. Even so who would’ve thought that this device seen only in movies would actually be a part of our reality some day? With the rapidly developing technology that we have today, the sky is the limit for this product.

The way the board itself works is that it is equipped with big magnets on its underside. “Along with the use of the hover magnetic electromagnets underneath the hover board, it enables the board to propel and stay propelled above the ground indefinitely. Because of the conflict between the magnets and the magnetic energy within our plant, it forces the hover board to resist the surface of the earth and maintain airborne.” Because it is currently relying on the power of the magnetic fields created under the board, it is only able to hover over metallic surfaces.

These hover boards look like they were taken directly out of a scene from the movie Back To The Future 2. Unfortunately because it is only a prototype there are still a lot of bugs that need to be fixed. One of its downsides is its weight, which is almost a whopping 100 pounds. Another negative is that it currently can only hover mere inches off the ground. On a better note this product has a lot of upside. In its future models it is sure to see some outstanding developments such as a lighter, more controllable board. Over time it should even be able to hover at a higher distance off of the ground. Although it is still not available to us, the hover board is visible in our near future.

Sources:

http://draco.its.csufresno.edu/~chelz/howitworks.html

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/hoverboard-touted-can-it-go-distance

We all know that one person who always has to blast their music. They say it’s not because they can’t hear but because they just like to listen to loud music. We always tell these people they’re going to go deaf. But is this really true? We have discovered that listening to music at high volumes is detrimental to our hearing. This is especially true when we listen to music at high volumes using headphones.

The human ear is delicate. We know that ears are sensitive to loud sounds and over time our ear drums grow weaker leaving us less susceptible to sounds we would hear before. Over time they just can’t pick up the sounds they use to. Even though this is inevitable over time, the use of headphones, which play music directly into the ears, makes it worse. The way the human ear works is that sound is carried through the ear canal causing our ear drums to vibrate. At higher decibels, more damage is done to the ear drum. This is what aids in the process of the loss in hearing.

The actual hearing loss itself is directly caused by sounds being loud enough to destroy hair cells inside our ears. It does not take effect immediately so listening to loud music over long periods of time is what does the trick. Earbuds are typically identified as worse than just regular headphones that rest over the whole ear.”Compared to traditional-style headphones that rest over the ear, earbuds can have a higher output level of sound by about 7-9 decibels.” Studies show that teenagers listen to music at a high level of 110-120 decibels. Music at this high level is shown to cause permanent hearing loss. To put it into context, this has been proven to be just as bad as attending a rock concert.

Due to the current frequency and volumes of which we listen to music, one out of five teenagers are estimated to have some form of hearing loss. The only proven way to reduce this risk is by listening to music at lower volumes and canceling out other outside noises. Here is a cool trick to remember how to lower your risks, “The easiest way to reduce your risk of hearing loss from personal listening devices is to follow what hearing experts call the 60/60 rule: listen at no more than 60 percent of the maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes a day.”

Sources:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2014/02/are-headphones-and-earbuds-bad-for-your-hearing/index.htm

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

Sprites are a great source of energy. No not the sprite that you drink, the sprites that are found in the sky. After discussing these sprites briefly in class I was unaware of what they were and I was intrigued into doing some research. What I found is that a sprite is an electromagnetic charge that can be found in the atmosphere above a lightning storm. They occur in different magnitudes, meaning some can be brighter than others. Another interesting fact is that they occur in different colors. Some can be bright white like regular lightning and some can be bright red.

The first sighting of sprites occurred slightly over one hundred years ago. Believe it or not sprites were discovered accidentally. Although we have known about them for over a hundred years, due to lack of technology it is not until recently that people have begun conducting some research on this interesting phenomenon.

To be exact, sprites occur directly above the cumulonimbus cloud of an ongoing lightning storm. Because sprites occur so quickly, they are hard to be detected and are almost invisible to the naked eye. To put into context just how fast these sprites are, a lightning bolt during a regular thunderstorm is visible for just about .5 (Half) seconds. When a sprite occurs, it is only visible for .001 (one one-thousandth) seconds. They occur in different shapes, some of which ironically have been compared to the shape of a jellyfish

Because they take place so rapidly, special cameras capable of slowing down speeds must be used to document them. Even with these cameras, you must be in the perfect storm condition and at a high enough altitude to get any results. Even a large size ranging  from 30-40 Kilometers long, witnessing one of these is a tough task to complete.

Sources:

http://www.crystalinks.com/lightning.html

A common slogan we’re used to hearing all the time… skittles, taste the rainbow.  Unfortunately this blog isn’t actually about skittles but it is still extremely beneficial for you to know. Studies suggest that the foods we eat should be in a variety of colors. This is beneficial to our health. Once you think about it, it seems pretty obvious.

The nasty junk foods we eat all lack those rich hues of color that many healthy foods seem to have. I myself am no health freak but this certainly gets you thinking about your diet. It has been proven that “the key to a healthy plate is color.” It’s actually an easy and fun way to diversify your menu while being healthy at the same time. Although a nice big burger and fries may seem appealing to the eye it is much better to base your diet on the wide color spectrum. Whether that be a red apple, orange carrots, green spinach, yellow corn, purple eggplant, or any other foods that fall under the wide variety of colors in the rainbow.

“The foods that do the most damage to our cells and long-term health—sugar, flour, and processed carbohydrates—are devoid of vivid color” It is recommended to try to hit each of the colors of the rainbow every day for a well balanced healthy diet. This will not only lead to a more lean, better looking body but also a stronger immune system, lower risk of certain cancers, healthier heart, better memory, and will help build stronger bones and teeth.

When you take in to consideration how well you want your body to function as you age you need to keep your health as your top priority. To do that you need to start with your diet. If not for the nutrients you receive from your intake of fruits and vegetables your body will begin to function less and less effectively at a younger age. As they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. So to keep it simple just remember this.. when in doubt, eat the rainbow. I hope this information turned out to be beneficial to you. Here is more information about foods you can eat to broaden your color spectrum of foods.

Sources

https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/the-rainbow-connection-96564763826.html

http://www.uhc.com/source4women/health_wellness_tools_resources/nutrition/rainbow_of_fruits_vegetables.htm

What are these mysterious sliding rocks you ask? Well just as the title implies, a phenomenon that was discovered in Death Valley National Park in California in which large boulders weighing up to 700 pounds move along an ancient lake bed without being touched by anyone or anything.

Although it varies for each boulder, trails that mark their journey across the lake bed are clearly left behind. It is hard not to notice these trails left behind that range from mere inches, to several thousands of feet in distance. On an area of land that is seemingly flat for miles, how is it possible for these immense rocks to just slide across without a someone physically forcing them to? Over a century’s worth of scientific investigations and research has been done and scientists have been left without answer… until now that is.

During late August, Scientists finally answered the long standing question. Death valley’s distinct shape allows water to be trapped after a large amount of rainfall strikes the area. This water engulfs the large boulders and erodes the land at their base. The movement occurs when the water around the stones freezes and forms sheets of ice. After the water is frozen, the ice begins chipping away and slamming into other large sheets of ice. The slamming of solid blocks of ice into each other is what causes the movements. The rocks were reported to move slowly at a rate of 2-5 meters per minute. These rates were recored by placing artificial rocks of the same weight on the lakebed with an imbedded gps. The boulders were left for two years until the results were finally received.

So after decades of tireless research by many scientists we now know the answer to the mystery behind Death Valley’s sliding rocks. To learn more about the process that took place to find what was causing this phenomenon watch this video.

 Citation

Oskin, Becky. “Scientists Unravel Mystery of Death Valley’s Moving Rocks.” NBC News. NBC, 27 Aug. 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/last-scientists-unravel-mystery-death-valleys-moving-rocks-n190441

Hello everyone,

The reason I am taking SC200 is because  I was told it was a class for people who don’t like the rigorous science courses such as chemistry or biology. This class was recommended to me by my adviser. Science is an important part of our every day lives but it is not all about the numbers and molecules.

I am currently enrolled in the Smeal College of Business. The reason I am not planning to be a science major is because in my experiences with biology and chemistry I have found that it is not my strong suit. I would much rather be doing calculus work as opposed to labs. A class like this allows me to still be engaged in the science world. I believe that SC200 will cover topics that can grab my attention and things that I am more interested in as opposed to the boring classes I took in high school