Types of twins

Scientists are very interested in twins because it helps us identify the differences between genetic and environmental factors that influence health and behaviour. As a result, there’s been a lot of research on them, and this has uncovered some unusual types of twinning… such as sesquizygotic twins.

Three Things I Don’t Know (Part III): Eyes

So, I asked myself, what unanswered scientific questions do I have, and are there answers out there for me? I had a think. And I came up with a list of three questions – and did my research. So here is the first of my three “Things I don’t/didn’t know” – let’s find out whether there’s an answer!

Why were my baby’s eyes indigo at birth?

Baby with dark blue eyes. Wiki Commons.

I’ve never heard of purple eyes before, but I know that the colour you’re born with can change. So, you can imagine when I looked into my baby daughter’s face and saw her eyes were a deep, dark purple that I was surprised – but I accepted it would be temporary. And temporary it was. Over the first year of her life, the time scientists say it takes eye colour to settle down, they have lightened to a medium blue, with that reminiscent darker blue round the edges.

I don’t have very clear pictures of the first month or so of her life: she kept her eyes mostly shut, and those I do have simply show their darkness, but me and her father remember that deep indigo colour – a bluish, purplish darkness, which looked indigo both under the artificial lights of the midwife unit, and under natural light from the window at home.

I turned to the internet…

Three Things I Don’t Know (Part II): ‘Flu

So, I asked myself, what unanswered scientific questions do I have, and are there answers out there for me? I had a think. And I came up with a list of three questions – and did my research. So here is the first of my three “Things I don’t/didn’t know” – let’s find out whether there’s an answer!

 

Why do we get colds and ‘flu more in winter?

In places with temperate climates, like the UK, colds and ‘flu are more common in winter. There’s a predictable seasonal pattern. Vaccines come out each year to help tackle new strains. But what drives this? Since we know about the germ theory, it’s clear that we don’t catch colds from chill winds, but instead from microbes that are passed from person to person. Since microbes thrive in the 37 degree environments of our bodies, why, I wonder, do they transmit more when it’s cold?

I turned to the internet…

Three Things I Don’t Know (Part I): Cold

So, I asked myself, what unanswered scientific questions do I have, and are there answers out there for me? I had a think. And I came up with a list of three questions – and did my research. So here is the first of my three “Things I don’t/didn’t know” – let’s find out whether there’s an answer!

 

Why do both children AND fatter people feel the cold less?

People with a higher BMI have more fat on their body; fat acts as an insulator, and keeps them warmer, meaning they feel the cold less than people with a lower BMI. ...So why do children also feel the cold less? Children tend to be smaller, have less fat on their bodies than grown ups, and have a bigger surface area to bulk ratio.

I turned to the internet…

Of quartz – A colourful problem

Where does colour come from? Pigments, we say: the ability of certain materials to absorb and reflect different colours of light as electrons are excited along or within their structure. It’s true: sometimes we have to go as deep down as the chemistry, the connectivity between atoms, to see where colour comes from. Other times we don’t.

Structural colour arises from the nanostructure of materials: the arrangement of atoms in giant structures, or of groups of molecules. As they cluster together, they form planes, angles, surface details, and other interesting geometry with gaps and overlaps the same size as the wavelength of light. Like the colours seen on an oil slick, this structural colour happens when light interacts with the shape of matter.

Going with the flow

Inkanoack (CC0 Public Domain via Pixabay)

Ice is often overlooked. A small fraction of water, hostaged on land – it’s even missed out on the water cycle provided by the national curriculum. However, as the climate changes, so do habitats, including icy ones. When the glaciers melt, less water is locked up as ice and more is available as freshwater for life. Researchers have been fascinated by this process and in particular the kind of new life that springs from glacial melts. Interestingly, however, as more water becomes available and the climate becomes more temperate, what is observed is a loss of biodiversity. Specialist organisms designed for living in harsh, cold, wintry environments die or are out-competed by more common species already found in neighbouring environments. The conclusion is that the unforgiving glaciers provide pockets for more unusual lifeforms to flourish.

A smart race

Nanorobot swarms are the stuff of sci-fi films, but smart dust is being developed now.

Johan Oomen.

An assembly of microelectromechanical systems or “MEMS”, smart dusts consist of a party of tiny robots that detect light, temperature, vibration, magnetism, or chemicals. They talk to each other via wireless network and employ radio-frequency sensors. Smart dust particles are just a few millimetres across – much like intelligent grains of rice. A dependent species, they have to operate together, like bees, ants, or other colony creatures. And they have their weaknesses too: smart dusts are vulnerable to microwaves, which could electromagnetically disable them.

Resistance

In 1929, Alexander Fleming published his first observations of penicillin under a microscope. A sloppy technician, he’d returned from holiday to find a fluffy, white mass growing on his staphylococcus culture – and decided to observe it. Through the microscope, he saw the penicillin inhibiting the staphylococcus, and postulated medical applications in his paper.

 

Public Domain via Nadya_il (Pixabay)