Fevers. A Helpful Defense Against the Flu???

 Fever Reducing Medications - Are They Enhancing the Spread of the Flu???

Check out this link (Flu and Fevers) to a spot off Thursday’s CBC “The National” where a mathematician from McMaster University, Dr. David Earn (Vikki's undergraduate research supervisor - How cool is that???), was interviewed.  Dr. Earn specializes in mathematically modeling infectious diseases.  His speaks briefly about the effects that taking fever reducing medications, such as Tylenol and Advil, may have on the spread of influenza.

Japan and Blood Types: Does it Determine Personality??

 As you know your blood type is determined by glycoproteins present on the surface of your RBCs.  Does whether you are A, B, O or AB determine your character?   Many people in Japan believe that it does.  Japanese interview committees, dating sites and  even educators are using blood type information. With Valentine's Day fast approaching you may wish to think about who is your "type"!!
Follow this link to read more....
What your Blood Type Says About You!

Can Dieting Cause Weight Gain?

In this talk Sandra Aamodt (a neuroscientist) discusses the connection between our brain and how our body uses food.  She suggests that ultimately, dieting is not effective and may in fact be harmful. She advises us to 'listen to our bodies" in order to maintain a healthy body weight.  What do you think?

Is Bis-phenol A a Danger????

In Scie150 a stimulating discussion erupted about  “Toxic Water Bottles” and bis-phenol .  This inspired me to search for more information on my own. A quick “Google” search revealed some interesting sources:

http://www.bisphenol-a.org/index.html - This website is put together by bis-phenol A manufacturers. This might present a biased view (as they want to continue to sell their product), but it could contain the most recent studies (as manufacturers want to convince consumers about the safety of their product).

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/sya-bpa/ - This website is from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science in the US. They are a branch of the National Institute for Health, the largest medical research agency in the US. There are links to information from other US agencies as well.

http://chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/fact-fait/bisphenol-a-eng.php – This is the Government of Canada’s fact sheet on bis-phenol A, and is directly aimed at consumers.

In the world of science, it is often best to gather information from multiple sources and studies before coming to any conclusions. If you have any questions about this or any topic you come across, please feel free to send me an email or talk to me about it in office hours. Let’s talk science!

Heather

Creating Life in the Laboratory???

A scientist (Martin Hanczyc)  from Denmark is makes uses chemicals to create "experimental blobs" that act like living cells.  Could this be how life first occurred on Earth? What do you think?  Check it out the "dancing protocells".

WELCOME!

To our second semester students - welcome back!  We hope you enjoyed your break and are ready to continue learning and developing your skills in your second semester.

For new students starting in first semester - welcome to Fleming!  We hope you'll enjoy your time at the college and in the program. 

Take a look at some of the posts on this blog.  There are many interesting links to topics that relate to your program materials.

Make sure you're checking D2L for all of your courses on a regular basis.  .  If you have questions about anything, speak to your instructors.

See you soon!
~ The GHS Teaching Teams