Thursday, December 22, 2011

BOW 13 (Blog of the Week)

Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in plants and algae. Chlorophyll is also an important biomolecule that is critical in photosynthesis, which allows plants to obtain energy from light. The function of chlorophyll is to absorb light and transfer that light energy to a specific chlorophyll pair in the reaction center of the two photosystems.









 Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyll

Monday, December 19, 2011

Fermentating BOW 12 (Blog of the Week)

Fermentated Hot Chili Sauce




 

Reference:http://nourishedkitchen.com/fermented-hot-chili-sauce-recipe/


 

Ingredients for Fermented Hot Chili Sauce

  • 1.3 kilograms of fresh chili peppers (Scotch bonnets, Jalapenos, Serranos etc.)
  • 4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 tablespoons unrefined cane sugar, optional
  • 2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt
  • vegetable starter culture (see sources) dissolved in 1/4 cup water, or 1/4 cup fresh whey

Equipment for Fermented Chili Sauce

  • Food processor (see sources) or knife and cutting board
  • Mason jar or vegetable fermenter (see sources)
  • Fine-mesh sieve (see sources)
  • Mixing bowl
  • Wooden spoon
  • Jar or bottle to store the sauce

Method for Fermented Chili Sauce

  1. Snip the stems from the chilies, but leave their green tops intact.
  2. Combine all all ingredients in a food processor, or mince by hand, until chopped to a fine pasty texture.
  3. Spoon the chili paste into a glass mason jar and allow it to fermented, covered, at room temperature for  five to seven days.
  4. After the chili paste has bubbled and brewed for about a week, set a fine-mesh sieve over a mixing bowl and spoon the fermented chili paste into the sieve.  With a wooden spoon, press the chili paste into the sides of the sieve so that the sauce drips from the sieve into the waiting mixing bowl.
  5. Once you’ve pressed and pushed the chili sauce through the sieve, pour the sauce from the bowl into jar or bottle and store in the refrigerator.  The sauce will keep for several months.
YIELD: about 900 milliliters.
TIME: 20 minutes (active time), 5 to 7 days (fermentation)

Saturday, December 10, 2011

BOW 11 (Blog of the Week)

Osmosis Jones Relation to Immune System

Similarities
When our body catches a cold, the immune system swings into action and begins sending out virus-fighting cells and proteins which can cause inflammation.
Most of the cold and flu symptoms we experience are the result of our bodies trying to fight the infection, rather than the infection itself.
One of the common signs of sickness we usually notice is a runny nose, this is caused by our immune system trapping the offending virus.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis_Jones

Differences
Franks's body has a very lazy mayor working at the city of Frank.
Drix (the cold pill) has a cannon that freezes any target.
Frank's body has policemen that hunt bacteria and viruses.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis_Jones

Saturday, December 3, 2011

BOW 10 (Blog of the Week)

The Positive Effects of Fungi
Fungi play an essential role in maintaining equilibrium in nearly every ecosystem, where they recycle nutrients by breaking down the bodies and wastes of other organisms such as the mycelia of mushrooms.

Reference: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/plants-gardening/plants/mushroom/structure-mushroom.php

The discovery of the antibiotic properties of penicillin changed the field of medicine, reducing harmful infections to just a little minor nuisance. Some cancer drugs and the anti-rejection drugs such as cyclosporin, which is used in organ transplant patients, come from fungi.



Reference: http://scienceaid.co.uk/biology/micro/antibiotics.html



Sunday, November 27, 2011

BOW 9 Virtual Epidemic (Blog of the Week)

A combination of high H>C levels , high C>S levels (the contagiousness of the disease) and high S>D levels ( the deadliness of the diseases) will cause the worst deadly epidemic.

My Data: (As you can see after about 15 rounds everyone died after the carrier of the disease gave the disease to someone else.)
Reference: http://starmap.causeway.co.uk/epidemic.asp


Epidemic simulation, by Ian Clark and Adrian SmithUsing this page
About Epidemic
  Healthy   •   0
  Carrier   ¤   0
  Sick   ¶   0
  Dead   †   399
  Immune   §   0

   step(s)
 Auto
Probabilities ...
 H > C:
 C > S:
 S > D:
 S > I:
 I > H:


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Monday, November 14, 2011

BOW 8 Hot Zone (Blog of the Week)

The one thing that fascinated me from reading the Hot Zone is when Monet got infected with the Marburg virus because the Marburg virus is really deadly and has many symptoms such as droopy eyelids, bright red eyelids, black vomit, hemorrhage, and blood clotting up. I was surprised that Monet died from the disease.

Marburg Virus


Reference: http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/filo/2005/photos.html