We have all thought about it at one point or another, would some extra money make me happy, or happier? Will buying that new car or that ticket to Hawaii really make me happier? There are a lot of different articles online that talk about his, so after some research, I chose to use the most accredited ones and see what they had to say.

Now we have all at some point heard someone say that money can but friends. This, as we all know is simply ridiculous. We also hear of people who think that by buying cool things, they will be much happier. This also seems to be quite ridiculous.

An article on Huffington Post, with information from a study conducted at the University of British Columbia concluded that after money covers all the basic needs we have, it does not make us any happier. It goes on, however, to say that it can make you less sad. While you may be thinking that the two are the same, the article builds off this and says that they are not. Money, they say, can help with negative situations in life, “like a leak in the house or a tuition hike at your daughter’s school.” So while it does not necessarily make us happier in these kinds of situations, it can make us less sad.

To contrast these findings, a Men’s Health article reports on a study conducted in Spain and found that money makes it harder for us to appreciate the small things, which are often the most important in our lives. It explains that, for example, “the more fine restaurants you’ve dined at, the less you relish your local pizza joint.” It goes on to explain that “the more stuff you accumulate—whether it’s watches, trips, or slices of pie—the less you appreciate each individual item or experience. “ But it’s not all gloom and disappointment, Men’s Health reports. “Try giving up a simple pleasure for a while” it says, “to savor it even more when you come back to it.”

Finally, an article from US News. In the article, a study from the University of Colorado by psychology professor Leaf Van Boven is cited. In his study, Van Boven concludes that money can buy happiness, but not in the way we imagine. Money, he says, should be spent on life experiences, experiences that will not be forgotten. Traveling to a new place or taking the family on an activity they all enjoy will produce much more happiness than a new car or television. He says that the not so good memories will be remembered as good ones, due to what we call nostalgia bias.

From these studies, it seems that a recurring theme appears. Money can make us happier, but not when we simply buy more stuff. Money is a much better investment and will make us happier when used for the necessities and unforeseen circumstances, new experiences in travel and having fun. We just have to appreciate the small things to lead a more fulfilling and overall happier life. So take a break from blogging and take trip to Italy.

According to multiple news sources, scientists claim to have found evidence that a drug-resistant strain of malaria, which is prevalent in South East Asia, could spread to Africa. The team of researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in the US, lead by Dr Rick Fairhurst, have published their results in the National Communications journal.

In a laboratory setting, researchers successfully infected Africa-native malaria-carrying mosquitoes with the new strain of drug-resistant malaria (BBC News). The study reports that this spread is indeed possible and very probable due to the way in which this has happened with past strains of malaria.

This is very concerning, they say, and would have disastrous consequences for Africa. In 2013, 90% of malaria-related deaths worldwide took place in Africa (Daily Nation). With that being said, in the last 15 years, malaria-related deaths worldwide have decreased by 60% (VOANews). Scientists fear that the advances they have been making could be completely undermined by the spread of this new strain.

This particular strain was first discovered in Cambodia in 2008 (BBC News) and is now spreading all across South East Asia, with some reports saying it has been found as far away as at the eastern Indian border (Daily Nation).

The history of malaria has been plagued by drug-resistant strains of the parasite that develop after the introduction of these drugs. In the 50’s, the first drug against malaria, chloroquine, began to lose effectiveness against some strains of malaria. Its replacement, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, fell into the same situation soon thereafter, with resistance against the drug now being widespread (Daily Nation).

Just weeks ago, Dr. Youyou Tu won a Nobel prize for the discovery of the drug Artemisinin, which is now becoming ineffective against this new strain of malaria (VOANews).

However, Dr. Fairhurst believes that his results will stimulate an increase in malaria reduction efforts in South East Asia.

It seems that these new discoveries are a chilling slap in the face. The scientific world needs to accelerate any efforts in place to contain and treat these new strains of malaria that threaten to undo years of work worldwide. Scientists are afraid to see how this spread will continue and develop, and to be honest, so am I.

In part two of my series, I will talk about Stephen Wiltshire, a 41-year-old autistic man who has a great talent for drawing different buildings and city landscapes directly from memory. Stephen often takes very short helicopter rides around a city and then is able to draw everything he sees from memory. Behind his talent for drawing lies a brain that is apt to count everything from the number of windows on a building to how many floors it has. This is how his drawings are able to be so accurate. From this amazing talent, Stephen has become an architect and has even been made a member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. (Wikipedia)

Stephen was born 24 April 1974. His parents soon found out that he was mute. When he was three, he was diagnosed with autism. At the young age of five, his parents enrolled him in the Queensmill School in London. It was there that Stephen, with the help of his instructors, found his passion and talent for drawing. It was also at Queensmill School that his instructors were finally able to make him speak, taking his sketching materials. By the age of nine, Stephen was speaking fluently. (Wikipedia)

In the beginning, he would draw animals and cars. His interest in cars, however, does not stop at drawing them. He also has exhaustive knowledge of American cars, which makes him similar to Derek Paravicini when it comes to retention and recollection of facts and in Derek’s case, music. At the age of seven Derek’s love of drawing took him a new direction – buildings of London. He then evolved his talents and began drawing fictional cities. Stephen has also had many documentaries made about him, many of which are also available on YouTube for viewing. (Wikipedia)

Once again, scientists are unable to come to a conclusion as to why there exist people with these kinds of talents. The complexity of the brain is probably the most restricting factor influencing their lack of information. I am curious to see if an answer will be found at some point as to how these peoples’ brains work and indeed it would be interesting to know exactly how they do work. I think it is safe to say that only time will tell.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wiltshire

In this blog and my next, I will talk about two autistic prodigies who continue to surprise with their immense knowledge and skill. In this blog, I will talk about the amazing talent of a 36-year-old man by the name of Derek Paravicini. Derek was born two and a half months prematurely and weighed only one pound at birth. Due to his premature birth, his lungs were still not completely formed, so he was put on oxygen therapy. While on this oxygen therapy, he received too much oxygen, due to the hospital’s lack of adequate machinery. As a consequence of this, Derek was blinded. His brain development was also affected, causing his learning disabilities and he is also autistic. (Wikipedia)

Derek’s family first discovered Derek’s talent for music at the age of two. He was given a small piano to play on and was quickly able to play well. They soon found out that Derek was able to play, perfectly, songs that he had heard just once. His playing style was erratic and unorganized; he often used his elbows and even his nose to play some of the notes. At the age of four, his parents decided to enroll him in the Linden Lodge School for the Blind. There, he met the man who would become his teacher and mentor, Adam Ockelford. Adam taught him how to properly play the piano and would give him lessons every day. (Wikipedia)

Up to date, Derek has made many public appearances, playing different types of music on the piano. He has absolute pitch, which means he can distinguish between every single note, and is able to recreate any song after hearing it just once. There are many interesting documentaries about Derek’s life that one can watch on YouTube. (Wikipedia)

Scientists are still very confused about how Derek and other autistic savants have their amazing talents. One thing that accompanies savant syndrome is an incredible memory. Many theories exist as to how these people can have such amazing talents but there is no consensus as to how they have them. The most interesting theory to me is that when people have damage in one side of their brain, the other side of the brain compensates for it. (NCBI)

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Paravicini

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677584/

Scientists in the UK, funded by a grant from the Medical Research Council, say they have found the reason why some people who smoke do not or have a much lower chance of developing lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD. COPD is a disease that leads to breathlessness, coughing and repeat chest infections and includes diseases such as bronchitis and emphysema. (BBC News). Smoking is the number one cause of COPD. It affects some three million people in the UK and is the third leading cause of death in the United States (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute).

This study takes an observational approach at the subject by looking at a variety of data points from over 50,000 people, all volunteers from the UKs Biobank project. This project is a nonprofit organization that is following and constantly taking a variety of health-related measurements from over 500,000 people (Biobank).

The study found that certain sections of DNA maintain moderate to high lung-health, even after decades of heavy smoking (Independent). Certain genetic code was found more often in smokers than non-smokers, implying that certain people are more prone to smoking and nicotine addiction (BBC News). The study found that not everyone who has smoked for a long time will develop lung disease and contrasts that some people who have never smoked will inevitable develop such lung diseases.

The scientists looked at over 28 million variants in the participants’ DNA (The Guardian), opening the door to the possibility of the Texas Sharpshooter effect. When looking at so many factors, it is possible that the researchers found something that wasn’t really there.

Nonetheless, scientists believe their discoveries will make way for the development of new drugs and new ways of treating lung diseases will be uncovered. With this genetic data, scientists are hopeful that they will be able to improve existing treatments to help people quit smoking and even find ways to maintain healthy lung function in non-smokers (BBC News). Their findings have been published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, an important journal for medicine.

The researchers conclude that it is much healthier to not smoke in the first place. While lung health and function can be kept at a good level in those with favorable DNA, scientists say that there are still differences between smokers with favorable genes and people who do not smoke at all.

These discoveries, if proven accurate, will allow scientists to further develop medicines and therapies to treat smoking related diseases as well creating more effective methods to help smokers quit. With smoking levels stagnating in recent years, new methods of reducing these levels are needed in order to reduce even more the prevalence of such lung diseases along with other smoking-related diseases. It’s very important that this research is continued and that we can create a smoke-reduced environment for future generations.

So remember guys, don’t smoke, its bad for you! And for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of a pug dressed as Sherlock Holmes.

After two years of construction, a machine that can make the biggest man-made waves in complete. At 300 meters long and holding 9 million liters of water (just under 2.5 million gallons), this immense machine cost 26 million euros to build (almost 30 million dollars). Every second, 1000 liters of water can be pumped into this gigantic tank. (BBC News).

To form these record-breaking waves, a 10-meter-high wall moves back and forth on one edge of the tank, quickly (or slowly) displacing the water. This fluctuation in volume then causes waves to form and move towards the other end of this large tank. This massive machine has already made waves 5m high, but hopes are that it will continue to break this record (BBC News).

This simulator is stationed at the Deltares Research Institute in the Netherlands, a country that has in the past been ravished by storm surges and floods. With 26 percent of land in the Netherlands below sea level and another 29 percent prone to flooding due to overflowing rivers, they have a unique yet pertinent problem to solve (Reuters).

It seems that as we continue mistreat our environment and the sea level rises, this machine, along with others to come, will become ever more important in a world where sea level change is becoming a bigger and bigger threat. With a myriad of high tech solutions already in place in the Netherlands, the idea is that they will continue to make advances in the field and that they will be able to share their findings with other nations as the effects of sea level rise become more evident. While it would be great if we did not have to think about these things, it seems that as a society, we have decided that not taking action is easier than taking action. Therefore, it seems that these solutions will be vital to our continued survival in coastal areas.

Hello everyone,

My name is Renato Buanafina and I’m taking this course because I needed one more science gened credit, so my adviser suggested this class. It comes highly recommended by other students in my major (according to my adviser). I changed majors on Friday from civil engineering to journalism, so I have already taken a chemistry and a physics class here at Penn State. Suffice to say, these two classes were as close to hell as it gets for me. They most definitely put me off science, hence journalism.

In my free time, I like to do car related activities, including going on the MINI Cooper website to customize my future MINI. Click here to do the same!

In case you don’t know what a MINI Cooper looks like, here is a picture.

Thanks for reading!