Author Archives: Xingchen Zhou

How can we over come jet lag

Jet lag” is a unavoidable phenomenon that can have a profound effect on our body, in either sleep or internal clock. No matter one is a frequent filer or a strong body traveler who is planning to have a long distance vacation, the jet lag is a common problem for long time flies that cross different time zones. The sleep disorders are troubling millions of travelers, and the studies shows that the jet lag can be alleviate by imposing the right treatments.

“the condition of jet lag is actually resulting from an imbalance in our body’s natural “biological clock” caused by traveling to different time zones. Basically, our bodies work on a 24-hour cycle called “circadian rhythms.” These rhythms are measured by the distinct rise and fall of body temperature, plasma levels of certain hormones and other biological conditions. All of these are influenced by our exposure to sunlight and help determine when we sleep and when we wake.”

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Our circadian rhythms are likely to remain on their original biological schedule in days and slowly adjust to the new internal clock when we travel to a new time zone.

By doing the research of the internal clock in our body. The scientist found that there are several treatment that can alleviate the jet lag, and faster the process of adjusting the time zone for our body. Firstly, we can anticipate the time change by getting up and going to bed for prepared the trip. Secondly, change the watch to the destination time zone can always remind one to fit in the right time. Thirdly, no heavy meals on the final destination, and get more sunlight as possible.

The noise, light, temperature or climate, and altitude are all key elements that will affect the quality of the sleep. A good travel should not be troubled too much by jet lag, and our body will give a good response when we are releasing the stress on travel.

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https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/jet-lag-and-sleep

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/jet-lag/basics/definition/con-20032662

http://www.medicinenet.com/jet_lag/article.htm

 

 

The power of body languages

“Most people have no idea that the majority of our communication is nonverbal“, and our expression of words is not more importance than the mood or the body language in talking. In other words, it’s not what words that you say but how you say the words. A good and effective talking can show one’s power, charisma and the intelligence.

“If you go into a pitch, interview or date and only focus on the words you use, your leaving your most powerful tool behind.”PIC-1

“Happiness Experiment No 1: Smile more” is a article that done by Leo Widrich who noticed the importance of body language in daily life and how it will alter one’s mood. In the article, it show that the more smiling will lead to more happiness instead of happiness leads to more smiling. In scientific views, the body language is more innate and basic for us as humans than any of other forms of expression, even language or facial expressions. Therefore, a baby born blind can perform the similar body languages or facial expressions as adults. It is the case of pre-programmed body language in our mind before we even born.

The experiment of the body language is observational because it’s visual. The scientist found that the body movements will pass the signals to our brain, and based on the past experiences or the sense, one can determine the impression to the other person.

“Our nonverbals govern how other people think and feel about us.” – Amy Cuddy

This quote shows the fascinated of the body language and how it can help us to build the good impressions and  to achieve our goals in life.

In the views of experts of body language, they can tell one’s impression without hearing what they say, and everyone can do that. Our body just naturally posses that action without telling us. And, that’s why some people are having very good virtues but not in favor in other people’s eyes. Or, some people have high education degrees but still have hard time to be a good leader.

the great TED talk by Amy Cuddy on body language is a strong and interesting speech that express the importance and the power of the body language.

http://thehappinessexperiment.co.uk/the-secrets-of-body-language-why-you-should-never-cross-your-arms-again/

http://thehappinessexperiment.co.uk/the-secrets-of-body-language-why-you-should-never-cross-your-arms-again/

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/Body_Language.htm

The dangers of cell phone radiation

The world of electromagnetic radiation is overwhelming to our everyday life. The (EMR) produced by electrical devices, the Wi-Fi, the cables in offices, and a stack of other technologies that are part of our modern life. However, it leads to a huge health crisis in public that the radiations from the cell phone have linked to the development of “brain tumors, genetic damage, and other exposure-related conditions.” However, the cell phone industry are misleading the public in unwary and dangerous way. The null hypothesis is that the cell phone radiation is not harmful.

aug2007_report_radiation_01“George Carlo, PhD, JD, is an epidemiologist and medical scientist who, from 1993 to 1999, headed the first telecommunications industry-backed studies into the dangers of cell phone use.”

There was a experiment that designed by five ninth-grader students. Their science experiment on testing the cell phone radiation effects on plants surprised the society and earned them rewards, which caused a stir in science.

They were from Denmark, and the experiment was started by the poor sleeping quality. They noticed that if they slept near their cell phone at night, then they will have a hard time to focus on class and concentrate on school in next day. Then, they started the test of “cellphone’s radiation on humans.”

They designed an experiment that test the radiation effect on a plant because the school did not have the equipment to this kind of experiment. They “placed six trays filled with Lepidium sativum, a type of garden cress into a room without radiation, and six trays of the seeds into another room next to two routers that according to the girls calculations, emitted about the same type of radiation as an ordinary cellphone.”

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Then, the cress seeds placed with the router had not grown, however, the cress seeds planted in the other room thrived in next 12 days. The results were obvious and visible. By observing and measuring the differences of two seeds, they can make a firm conclusion that the radiation, indeed, has harm to the growth of the planet as well as the human’s body. This experiment surprised by the scientist, and brings the girl the top honors of regional science competition.

In this article, we find out that the dangers of the cell phone radiation by knowing the
experiments that done by students. Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis, and the
experiment is more observational than experimental. For further studies, the precise machine
can be used to detect the radiation that emitted by the cell phone. So the result can be more
convincing and reliable.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/student-science-experiment-finds-plants-wont-grow-near-wi-fi-router/5336877
http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2007/8/report_cellphone_radiation/Page-01
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/CompSci_p047.shtml

What water should we drink the best?

Water is a term that no one would live without. There is around 70 percent of our body are made of water, and in other words, the quality of water plays the big role if determine our health. However, many of us do not really know how to choose the water to drink, and what kind of water is best for our health.

“Best” is a subject term that varied by the people from different lifestyles, finances background, or living environment. However, every company would like to say their water is the best. And, based on the common senses and scientific agreements, the good water has to have a good taste and safe to drink. If it can contribute our body in micro-mineral, then it will be better. “Drinking clean, healthy, chemical-free water is the foundation to health.” The cumulative effects of unhealthy water is dangerous, and those chemicals will gradually harm to our body in unnoticeable way. Therefore, what are the standards that the healthy water should have?

The Healthiest Water Is Mineral Rich

There is a common agreement by water experts, that “the healthiest water is produced by home water filters”, because the water filtration systems has selectively  kept the natural minerals and removed the contaminants. And, the reverse osmosis and distilled waters is also supported by the benefits of pure. “De-mineralized water is not found in nature. Nor does is promote growth or health of living organisms.” The conclusive argument among the experts are the healthiest water is the mineral rich water. In the matters of fact, the de-mineralized water are considered  as “dead” water, and in the opposite the mineral-rich water is labeled as “living” water.

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“Dr. Mu Shik Jhon, considered by the scientific community to be the top water expert in the world, writes that the best drinking water contains a balance of essential minerals. In his book The Water Puzzle and the Hexagonal Key, Jhon says that from a biological and medical point of view, de-mineralized water is simply not healthy to drink.”

The scientific research shows that if a person is drinking distilled water for a long period of time, the body will show uncomforted and potentially dangerous to early death. The distilled water has special property of being able to actively absorb “electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and trace minerals like magnesium, deficiencies of which can cause heart beat irregularities and high blood pressure. ” In experimental conclusion, the distilled water is only fit for temporary drinking but not long period drinking. For further studies, the water can be discussed by brands, by price and by nutrition. The water can be cartelized by its brands and taste, and discuss what consumers always buy and why they like to buy those specific brands of water.

Lastly, If one’s priority is to be healthy and to maintain wellness. One’s drinking water should satisfied these requirements to be the finest one. “1. Contaminant free.  2.Mineral rich. 3.Alkaline pH.  4.Micro-clustered. 5.Anti-oxidant. 6. Good taste.” We should take serious to the water we drink just as we do to or body. As the trend of healthy life, the importance of the quality of the water will be emphasized again and again.

 

http://beatcancer.org/2012/02/whats-the-best-water-to-drink/

http://www.mercola.com/article/water/distilled_water.htm

http://bodyecology.com/articles/best_water_to_drink.php

http://www.webmd.com/diet/best-sources-drinking-water

Does Cold-Pressed juice really worth its price?

In the trend of healthy lifestyle, the cold-pressed juice is advertised as the name of healthy drink. The cold-pressed juice squeezed a decent a mount of fruits and vegetables in the bottle, and it costs three to five times price higher than the regular juice.  The question is, “Does cold-pressed juice really worth its price or it has been over advertised?” In the studies, there are several researches and news are commenting about the values about the cold pressed-juice, and why it worth the price.

The null hypothesis is that the cold-pressed juice does not worth its price and is not as good as what had been advertised.

Firstly, what the cold-pressed juice is? in more scientific explanation. “HPP” works by providing high cold pressure (not heat) to a bottle, squeezing juice in fresh way and containing the neutral nutrition, and the processes are known as “cold pressed” for those juice. The raw juice are placed into a bottle and sealed once it is squeezed by high pressure. The valid date for cold-pressed juices are not as long as the regular one, and it must be refrigerated in cool.

Why does it cost so much than the regular juice?  The one reason is that the amount of fruits that actually squeezed in the bottle is way more than regular juice. For instance, the BluePrint’s Green juice, in every 16-ounce bottle they squeezed around six pounds of fruits. There are around  one to two pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables are contained in Starbucks’ Evolution juice, in their 15.2-ounce bottles. And  three to six pounds per 16-ounce bottle are squeezed in LA-based Neighborhood Press contains. The amount of produce is decent and a lot.

There is a more specific example about how much fruits in the bottle. “Tropicana orange juice contains juice with 16 oranges in a 59-ounce container, which comes out to about four oranges per 16 ounces. If an average orange weighs around seven ounces, that’s roughly 1.75 pounds of oranges in a 16-ounce serving of Tropicana orange juice.” The point of the fact is that the cold-pressed juice contains a lot more fruits than the regular juice. And in this case, the advertisement of cold-pressed juice is more focused on how many pounds of “real” fruits are in each bottle, and the regular juice has not even a competitive advantage on that, because its not their selling point.

However, the cold-pressed juices can replace the traditional fruits and vegetables in daily. Because once the fruit is juices, then the much of its fiber will be destroyed. “In addition, the calories and sugar of cold-pressed fruit juices can quickly skyrocket if too much is consumed.” By pay the higher price than the regular juice, the cold-pressed juice still can not replace the whole fruits and the vegetables in diet.

It’s more like a observational experiment, to compare the actual fruits in every ounce of the bottle. The further study can be more experimental, like analyze the actual fiber or actual vitamins in cold-pressed juice and regular juice. Or even the experiment of randomly select 100 people for drinking different types of juice, and compare their status of health in body can be conducted, to give more convincing evidences.

There are pros and cons about the cold-pressed juice, and based on the ratio of the fruits squeezed in the bottle and the price-tag, the cold-pressed juice is not over-priced. We reject the null hypothesis, because its price is still in reasonable range comparing to its produce. However, whoever wants to live in a “green” life has to afford the higher price for that. In general, next time when one is asking you  why your cold-pressed juice costs so much than the regular juice, remember to tell him how what went into your bottle — “up to six pounds of produce and thousands of pounds of pressure.”

 

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http://dailyburn.com/life/health/the-truth-about-hpp-juice-labels/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/07/cold-pressed-juice_n_4911492.html

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/08/08/cold-pressed-juice-is-it-worth-the-hype

Sleep well? Choose a right pillow!

A good night’s sleep can start our day off with a positive temper and energized body, and nothing could be better than that. For achieving this goal, many factors are playing important roles to contribute to our sleep quality. The right pillow is the one factor that helps us sleep better. Based on the research, sleep with a bad pillow is not only not helping to get rest but also making one even tired. So, did you choose a right pillow?

“Pillows can not only impact the quality of our sleep, but also how healthfully we rest and recharge,” says sleep expert Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist. A wrong pillow can be the “toxicant” that worsen the problems like “headaches, neck pain, shoulder and arm numbness, discomfort, sneezing, and wheezing“, notes orthopaedic surgeon Andrew Hecht, MD. The null hypothesis in this case can be that the pillow has no associations with sleep quality.

Based on the studies conducted by Kammi Bernard, “The goal of using a pillow is to help keep your head in what is called a ‘neutral alignment,’ meaning your head is sitting squarely on your shoulders without bending back too far or reaching too far forward.” He then mentions that it is firmly related to the sleeping position. If one is sleeping on the back, one needs a thinner pillow to not over support the head forward, then a thin pillow with a strong and tough support on the neck will be a perfect choice.  When sleeping on one’s back, one should put a pillow right under the knees. “This will help put your spine in a better alignment and decrease compression on the joints of your spine.” A foaming pillow can be a good option in this case. It will vary its shape with the back of one’s head and still providing support on the neck and shoulders. Besides that,  for those who likes to sleep in upper back (hunchback) or a thicker pillow can help one to get the more smooth blood circulation and get the shoulder muscle relaxed.

If one likes to sleep on the side, one needs a firmer and tougher pillow to not give too much space between the ear and the shoulder. “When sleeping on your side, it is best to have both knees bent up toward your chest in the fetal position. Use a pillow between your knees and try to keep your knees together, not letting the top leg fall over top of the bottom leg.”  A firm pillow can make sure that one’s head is in neutral and comfortable position. Bent upward can be caused by a thick pillow, and it is likely to lead neck pain over night. Without getting muscle relaxed in proper position, sleep can only be a burden to our body. Moreover, a small pillow or having no pillow will also not give enough support to side sleeping. A horizontal sleeping position may result to edema by not getting blood circulation in fluent way.  A Latex pillow can be a good choice for side sleepers. “This is the firmest type of pillow, and it resists mold and dust mites“, Breus says. The neck alignment and the back will get the most support by having Latex pillow.

“A bad pillow won’t be the cause of any of these problems, but using the incorrect pillow can certainly exacerbate many of the underlying problems linked to these symptoms, and it certainly can keep you from getting a good night’s rest,” says Hecht, the co-chief of spine surgery at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York.

In this research, the pillow does related to our sleep quality and our sleep positions. Other wise, it will cause the severe physical damage to our body. We reject the null hypothesis, and shows the associations between the pillows and the sleep. Choosing pillow should be serious and cautious. If the situation allow, one can feel the pillows really quick by putting head onto it. Or, one can do the scientific research based on the sleep positions to choose the right one. For the further studies, pillow can be cartelized by its functions, and people can rate the pillows in market by sleeping. By developing this topic deeper, a large sample of  random people (like 100 to 300) can do the experiment by trying different pillows and do a survey after the sleep. The experiment data will make the result more convincing and analytical.

sleeping

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/snuggle-up-with-the-perfect-pillow?page=3

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-525149/Could-pillow-making-tired.html

https://www.oxfordphysicaltherapy.com/blog/how-your-pillow-can-effect-back-pain-while-you-sleep

Sleep, should we value it?

Get at least six hours of sleep a night is probably the most common advice that we have heard since we were kids. But as the time pass by, the sleep is a thing that we don’t value so much. A difficult assignment can easily block our plan of six hours sleep time, or a late night party can destroy the healthy biological clock that we develop. As growing to adults, we value less and less to the sleep, and should we really value the certain amount of sleep time, or just waste of time?

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Sleep is really a issue that we should not only value but put strong attention on it. Not getting enough sleep can cause the distortion of one’s mind, like can’t remember the things that should be remembered, or can’t concentrate or focus on certain tasks. The studies shows the results that “Lack of sleep can hinder you from thinking clearly and keeping your emotions at an even keel. ” The sleepy can reduce the efficiency of the work performance, and it will easily cause one to get negative emotions like depression or anxious.

However, there are another group of people said that sleep is needed but not that much, and as long as the body feels comfortable and enough, the rest of the sleep time is wasting. It reminds me the theory of Da Vinci sleep, which is separate the whole amount of sleep time into difference pieces, like “taking a 20-minute nap roughly every four hours”. Based on the many research on its theory, the results are so varied. Some of people only need 3 or 4 hours sleep time to maintain the energy they need, but some of people are like sticking on the bed to have over 10 hours sleep time. There can only be explained that, it is a coincident that smart people like Thomas Edison or Da Vinci sleep less than others. To be honest, if we follow the rules of Da Vinci sleep, we can’t even sure that we can really fall asleep during the middle 20 minutes. At least, if i were the case, my body will feel exhausted.

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In the conclusion, there will always be exceptions on any research subjects. We can only say that the sleep is a important factor than should be valued for most of people. People do not need to “act” smarter to eliminate their sleep time, or people can be more effective on work to finish the task on time and get enough sleep time. As a student in college, we can only try our best to earn more sleep time from the tons of assignments.

Citation:

http://www.bustle.com/articles/62730-how-much-did-leonardo-da-vinci-sleep-not-a-whole-lot-according-to-this-infographic

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss?page=2

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/emotions-cognitive

 

Does music reduce stress?

As the use of MP3 player and use of iPhone in the world, people, in average, listen 2 hours of music per day intentionally and unintentionally. The power of the music is a common sense in people’s head, like playing Mozart to make kids smarter. The soothing and relieving functions of music have been mentioned again and again, and have been well-established in many people’s mind. However, most people does not know how effective the musics can reduce stress and how it can link to our emotions or refresh our logical mind.

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Listening to music is an extremely effective tool to relieve stress and manage our emotions. By playing the music quietly and peacefully, it wind down  our mind and “refreshing” our bodies, especially for those classical music in slow and peaceful rhythm, like piano songs. Based on the research of music, “This type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones.”

In other ways, music can be treated as a unique way of meditation. It blocks the “outside world” and put one totally into rhythm and melody, and in these melodies, one can explore the true soul inside the body and get rid of the distractions around. In this function, it’s another form of meditation, or so called “music meditation.”

According to the experiment of the music research, the participants were asked to fill out the survey of how do they think the music related to their emotions. Most of the people chose “Arousal and mood regulation.” Compare to the other two terms, the music has more personal functions in arousal and regulation, than other factors like social relatedness or self awareness. It reflects the function that has been mentioned in the paragraph on the above. The music helps to block the noisy world and arose one’s soul innately.

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Perhaps, many people would feels that listening to the music is a waste of time, not really contributes to achieve anything. However, it does help to reduce the stress and clear one’s mind, which can increase one’s productivity to do better job in the future. Just by putting CDs or audios in the car while one is driving, it can play its function to benefit one in mental. Instead of sticking on the sofa and watching TV, listening more musics and giving a little relax for our body are a way better ways of living.

Citations:

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2012/06/29816.html

http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-power-of-music-to-reduce-stress/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3741536/

http://art.yodelout.com/the-meaning-and-function-of-music/

Why there are more and more people wearing glasses?

The invention of the glasses by Benjamen Franklin in 1780s had given a solution  to myopic eyes, and it has become the most common accessories in our life. The Impaired vision had affected 4.2 billion people in the world, and according to the research in America, the 3 out of 4 people in the States will have vision problems, and 71% of them are wearing glasses and 22% of them are wearing contacts. The enormous surge in diagnoses had happened in past decades, and from 25% to 41.6% of the American population are getting the nearsightedness. And the number is keep rising year by year, and in public places, more and more people are wearing or have a pair of glasses in prepared, and why?

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The first reason is the booming of displays and the technologies. People are getting around with different kinds of display, like cell phones, Laptop, television, etc. They were causing the tiredness of the eyes by staring at the display for a certain amount of time. The eye will have been shaped in physically too long. The eye focuses light will be affected by tiredness and in turn pass the high possibilities to nearsightedness. For instance, reading a book in incorrect distance between book and eyes or in not efficient lights can also lead to the nearsightedness. Besides that, the genetic predisposition is also a factor to cause the myopia in children. If one’s parents are myopia, and there will be a greater chance of their kids to get myopia. In addition, the infection, caused by hand-touch or other not proper touch, can also result to the myopia. In the search, “Other forms of myopia can occur after surgery, or exposure to various harmful chemicals.”

For the other group of people, instead of preventing their vision, they wear glasses just for fashion, nothing but. They believe that wearing glasses can make one look more intelligent and brainy. It can cause the good first impression of being stylish, and friendly.  Besides, that due to the research of the scientist, glasses have the function of balancing out one’s face to be more symmetrical. There is another interesting function of the glasses, that has been developed recently, it helps one to cover up one’s emotion and anxiety, “Glasses cover not just the eyes themselves, but the surrounding tissues, the cheekbones, the frown lines,” Handley says. “These are all indicators of what you mean and are trying to say.”

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Citations:

http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/more-than-just-four-eyes-the-hidden-psychology-of-wearing-glasses

http://aplus.com/a/people-with-glasses-hotter-and-more-successful

http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/myopia.htm

http://www.rebuildyourvision.com/blog/vision-conditions/nearsightedness/digital-devices-cause-nearsightedness/

 

 

What happen to our bodies after we die?

Death, the last and one of the most important stage in our lives, is normal and inevitable, but it is also the most mysterious event in the world. It is frequently debated that what will happen afterlife, but the answer is endless since nobody has the ability to communicate to the dead about what he or she experiences. However, it is reasonable to describe how human’s body changes after death because it can be observed or measured. From the scientific perspective, death is the permanent end of the life of a biological organism. Besides the stops of respiration and heart beats which are commonly known, there are several changes in the body.

The skin dries out. For a long time, people thought that hair and nails continue to grow after someone dies. But the actually reason is the shrinking of body. Skins lose moisture after the blood flow stops, therefore the skins dries out and the hair and nails appear longer.

Wrinkles disappear. This happens because the muscle lose all tension after people die with the collapse of body. The wrinkles disappear at least on the forehead. It is known that if someone gets really old, the saggy skin will be reserved, but the forehead won’t be scrunched. (K. ALEISHA FETTERS)

The body turns purple. When the circulation stops, heavy red blood cells concentrate on the parts of your body that are closest to the ground because of the effect of gravity. There are purple splotches over the lower part of body which are known as livor mortis. A good coroner can tell exactly what time a person died by studying the shades of livor mortis.

Organs will digest themselves. The process, known as putrefaction, happens when enzymes in the pancreas make the organ begin to digest itself. Microbes will then help to turn the body green from the belly onwards. Bacteria which spent their in human guts breaks the bodies down after people die, releases putrescine and cadaverine. (Katherine Butler)

At the end of state of decomposition, we all turn to dust and ash — and in some cases, wax. This is the end of life, biologically and physically. In the view of the physical and biological changes, it is what it  is. The research of death can be way more complicated and deep than the current research, and it’s one of the most mysterious questions that no one would have exact and accurate answer. All we can do, as exist human beings, is to do what we desire to do and to find our interests in the lifetime. In my point of view, the death is the next stage of our life, and we should not leave any regrets on this stage when we look back from the “next stage”.

web-nhs-splash-getty2-v2

 

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/what-happens-when-you-die

http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/5-weird-things-that-happen-after-you-die

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/magazine/the-death-of-adulthood-in-american-culture.html?_r=0

http://www.mnn.com/users/kbutler

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/author/k-aleisha-fetters

Can jogging really help one to lose weight?

In the rising of the awareness of the healthy issues, keeping the body in shape and in condition has been drawn attentions. Jogging is a typical way to lose weight in most of people’s mind. However, the feedback and results of the jogging are questionable. Many people can lose a certain amount of the weight through jogging at the first time, then it is not as effective as what it was. The question is raised in here, can jogging really help one to lose weight? or is jogging a effective exercise to lose weight?fat-heart

“My body just can’t lose weight”, this is the words from a trainer, Sarah, she continued, “If you knew how hard I’ve been working, you’d understand. You’d know I wasn’t making excuses.” She is one of the victims of putting so much efforts on losing weight but failed to get what she deserved. Then, once she contact the specialist of the training, and adjusted the way she works out. She starts to get some good feedback, and the weights are coming off, based on the research “seven pounds in one month”. She understood the cardio was the reason to hold her back in previous time, and she is just a single case of misunderstood the concept of jogging and losing weight.

Based on the research on WEIGHT-LOSS STRATEGIES, there are some reasons that why running can’t be an effective method to lose weight in long term. One of those is that, the body is capable of adjusting the intensity of the training, so doing the same amount of working out can only be less and less effective. The body will act more and more effortless to the training which one is doing again and again. For instance, if one is running 30 minutes per day and keeps it for a month. The body will burn so much fat at the beginning, and then the body will adjust the intensity of this training and “the metabolism literally learns and reacts so that fewer calories are burned with the same exercise output.” However, one can vary the exercise by trying different things instead of just running. For instance, the weight lifting can break the muscle cell tissues and “cause mini-micro tears to be repaired.” The process of repairing requires the calories that from the food and from the fat. In other words, a intense and specialized muscle training can cause more fats to be burned, and it has better results than just do jogging alone. coach-jogging-410

The  Journal of the American Medical Association had a study of the exercise habits of more than 34,000 women. They found the result of doing moderate exercise (walking at 3mph) at least an hour a day to maintain weight, for these women. And it’s even not lose the weight, but maintain the weight. It means the efforts they put on jogging will not directly cause the weight loss, which is not satisfying their goal.

However, jogging is a exercise that can’t be totally denied. It still benefits a lot to our health and strengthen our body. No doubts the jogging has many benefits, and even though it’s not the most effective exercise for losing weight, it’s still the most popular physical activity. Here are some benefits that have been found on the research.

  • help to build strong bones, as it is a weight bearing exercise
  • strengthen muscles
  • improve cardiovascular fitness
  • burn plenty of kilojoules
  • help maintain a healthy weight.

In conclusion, the jogging is a good exercise to do in the gym, but not the most effective exercise to lose the weight and burn the fat. Only to do the exercise in various ways, and combine the aerobics with anaerobic, so we can have the most effective training to lose the weight. A good advice to those who wants to get in shape but only stays on treadmill, “please try something else, and you will be surprised about the changes of your weight.”

Citation:

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/5-reasons-running-may-not-help-you-lose-weight

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20501331,00.html

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/running_and_jogging

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss

Why the Turbochargers are replacing the Natural Aspiration Chargers?

In the 21st century, the car is, no doubts, the most common and the most frequently-used vehicle in the world. As the invention of the car by  Carl Benz in 1885, it opened up a brand new chapter for human’s vehicles, had profound meanings for human’s lifestyles and changed the future. At the time we, college students, are becoming adults and living far away from the families. The car is really a issue for us, and how to choose a car wisely is quite necessary and related to us. As I go over the models online, I surprisingly found that the movement of replacing the natural aspiration chargers by Turbochargers in all auto brands. The natural aspiration has been developed as a proven technique with stabilization in the autos over the past decades. The giving up of natural aspiration will lead to a revolution of auto’s engine and the abandon of the achievements in Natural aspiration chargers. Why do the brands are willing to make the change?

The one and the most direct reason of the changes is that the fuel-efficiency concerns. In other words, the environmental issues are the barriers of the future of the natural aspiration engines. The governments and legislation of all nations force the vehicles to reduce their  emissions, and the turbocharger is their best solution to meet the requirements of the government, as well as produce high performance car to satisfy the consumers. Indeed, the technologies of turbocharger are not as developed as natural aspiration, and their are a lot of advantages from previous cars need to be abandoned. Comparing the best performing vehicles to the future of our environment, no one would ever have doubt to choose the second one, and the question is, is it possible to achieve both?

mclaren-p1-xegsl

The BMW, the leader of the natural aspiration engines in the past, is the first one to make the change. They were had tons of V8 or V10 models in the past, and those models had modified by reduced two cylinders in common, and changed the forms into turbo or twin-turbo. And, Audi is an another responder of the revolution. They only keep the natural aspiration on their flagship model (R8), and have modified the rest of the models, pretty much as the same way as BMW does. However, the responds of the consumers are so polarized. The car enthusiasts are so furious and regret about the natural aspiration engines. In their mind, it is the classic engine that what a car should obtain. The exhaust sounds and the acceleration are the two main advantages that the turbochargers can never catch up with, and that’s why the turbochargers is hard to be favored by these enthusiasts.

In the opposite voice of consumers, the turbochargers can provide more powers in the same time to be more fuel efficient. Based on the research of pickuptrucks.com, they compare two identical vehicles but in different types of engines on the road. They are Ford F-150s. The one is obtaining the V6 twin-turbo charger, and the other one is with a V8, natural aspiration engine. And, “the turbo one got better fuel economy with the larger engine, 9.4 mpg for the V8, compared with 7.2 for the V6 turbo.” In its later research, it shows that the longer time they travel, the better advantages of the fuel-efficient will occur, and the better torque and power will also be delivered. It’s absolutely right to switch to the turbocharge in the view of the long time development. In the daily life, 1 Liter of gas saving per week in every city car, can make significant changes for our climate. And, to be honest, the faster acceleration of natural aspiration engine does not have so many places to drive it. A well performance Ferrari on the highway, is really likely to be pulled of by police.

However, there are some exceptions. The Ferrari was not willing to replace their natural aspiration. In the article of the Ferrari’s opinions of the car engine revolution, “We don’t like the turbo, said the man with the Italian accent. Before I could stand up and cheer, he continued, but it’s the right way to reduce emissions without sacrificing performance.” Due to the forced of the government, they replaced their legendary model 458 by 488 GTB, which is the one in turbochargers. They are tring so hard to make the new turbo into “non-turbo” feeling. It’s so absurd. What also interesting is that the price of the new model is lower than before, due to the fuel tax; even though its power and torque have gotten straighten. However, it lost its significant “Ferrari Sound”. In my view, the turbocharger is more like a strong gentleman who acts very gentle but delivers a lot of power later on. The natural aspiration engine is more like a beast, who starts in aggressive condition and shout so loud all along. Therefore, as a controversial model, 488, will be tested by market to see if people can accept a traditional super car to be in the shape of fuel-efficient form.150033_car

In long term views, there will be a balance between the emission issues and the driving experience. I really appreciate and surprised by the solution of the Porsche. They produced 918, in half electric engine and in half turbo engine. It brings the fast acceleration at the start off, because the electric power can be delivered much faster than any of engines. Then, the turbocharger can keep delivering horsepower as a normal car. It’s probably a example of the balance and creativity that I mentioned at the beginning. The electric car is the mainstream in the future, and most of the brands have its “hybrid” model already. I believe, as the development of the technology and the raising of our environmental awareness, the car can be in a better performance engine and be in less emission.

Citation:

http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-grim-future-of-the-naturally-aspirated-engine-or-the-turbos-are-winning/

http://my.teslamotors.com/roadster/technology/motor

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a24691/ferrari-engineers-dont-like-turbocharging/

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/news/a24915/ferrari-488-gtb-first-look-and-details/

 

Initial Blog Post

Hello, everyone!

My name is Xingchen Zhou, or you guys can call me Michael. I’m from China, southern city, Guangzhou, a modern city that welcomes everyone comes to visit. I’m currently in DUS with interests in either school of business or school of communication. As a freshmen in the brand new school, I’m still working on getting more college experiences and making more friends in the community. I’m doing this course because of the interests of thinking daily science questions in life, like why people need to sleep or how deep is the ocean? Those interesting questions are consistent with the main ideas of this class. Thus, going through the course description, I realize that this is the one I want to take and can fully involve in.  I’m not planning to be a Science major because I’m not really interested in. From my past high school experience, I am more suited in business, communication, philosophy or other kinds of majors with more flexibility instead of calculations. However, one of my interests is to collect incredible images either for fun or for wallpapers. Besides that, there are, indeed, some incredible science images that I want to share with classmates.

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http://pop.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/06/54d10a6d1f588_-_wallpaper-09-1114-lgn.jpg