Happy New Year! | 2015 Review

Welcome back to my blog! I hope you all had a great Christmas and an  amazing new year!

So much in science happened last year. Until last year, Pluto was a place we knew pretty much nothing about but in 2015, we finally made it to Pluto, the images came back and the results where simply stunning. Scientists formulated a computer generated face of our past - shaking up the history of our origin. There was also a record breaking effort to travel around the world in a solar plane -  a journey however which was not difficulty free. Scientists also put in place some radical plans to protect endangered animals and to put poachers off of them. This involved things like marking shells of tortoises so they'd no longer be sell-able by poachers. Paris also held a major climate summit to formulate a deal to finally attempt to combat the growing issue of global warming. Finally, in December the UK had its first official British Astronaut, Major Tim Peake, who took off from Kazakhstan to spend 5 1/2 months on board the ISS. This event brought to a close a momentous year in science, although one which can hopefully be bettered this year!

My most viewed post of the year!

Happy New Years Eve! As it's the last day of the year, I thought its only right to take a look back at my most viewed most of the year - Enjoy the new years celebration!









Most pets liked being stroked, I do know a cat who hates it and runs a million miles every time I come near him but most cats like it!

Stroking a cat or dog releases a hormone called oxytocin. This hormone is actually released in both the owner and the animal, lowering blood pressure and reducing anxiety. Scientists assume that because these feelings are obviously pleasurable to both the owner and pet over time we've 'learnt' to continue. But why have we learnt? Scientists say that it's kind of like natural selection. This is because it's pretty much a huge survival advantage for many animals to be domesticated because not only we benefit from them but our pets get a free home, food and so on. It's this scientists believe is the reason why animals love us stroking them - a feeling which is gotten stronger over time mirroring a much smaller scale of evolution. Now, we've reached a stage where they (well most of them :) ) enjoy our company and vice versa. 

How are new species formed?

Speciation is pretty much evolution in action, two species emerge from a single one. Because they share gene pools they have similar genes.


This pretty much works from the fact that new species can only form from pre-existing species. The idea is that a group of organisms from the space species can become separated geographically so they can't reproduce, this is called geographical isolation. When the two groups are completely separated, the two areas can have different environments. Like in every habitat there are some individuals which are better adapted to compete. These are more likely to survive and reproduce, this means the alleles (genes they have) are more likely to be passed onto their offspring. This means that over many generations the allele frequency increases so the individuals are better adapted to live in that environment. Eventually, the alleles present in one group 'evolve' and can become completely different to how they were initially. Because they might be completely different they won't be able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring, so they're now no longer the same species. 


Definitions


Species: A group of organisms which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring, they also share a gene pool.

Organ's don't grow on trees.... #SciSparksAdvent Day 3

Well they don’t grow on trees but in the near future you may well be seeing stem cells grow a whole range of organs. Perhaps stem cells are known mostly for their ability to grow into any type of cell. This development although it’s comparatively new is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible; we’ve even managed to grow a new heart entirely from stem cells.

Between April 2013 and March 2014 nearly 5,000 people had organ transplants. Although one major problem we have is that sometimes the person’s own immune system detects that the organ is a foreign object and rejects it. The hope is that if the organ is made from your own cells the success rate will be much higher.

Currently around 120,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant - stem cell organs could mean organs would be available in days rather than potentially years. To grow a new heart (or any other organ), it all starts off with a donor organ that doesn’t necessarily have to come from a human. They then remove all the cells, this leaves the scientists with a protein scaffolding which is then repopulated with the patient’s own stem cells.

This image shows a new heart being grown in a lab