The Sun Bear | #WeirdestAnimals

This amazing bear is the smallest member of the bear family and lives in the dense forests of Southeast Asia.

They take their name from the bib-shaped golden patch on their chest which legend says, represents the rising sun. They're also nicknamed the dog bear as they have the same kind of build a short muzzle nose. To stop them overheating, they have a sleek, black coat which is also thick and coarse to provide protection from things like twigs and branches - but also to keep dry!

Ironically Sun bears are nocturnal, lumbering through the forests by night, snacking on berries and so on- everything even up to small rodents. They also have a huge tongue which is perfect for extracting honey from bees nests - giving them their other nickname, the 'honey bear'.  We don't actually know a lot about honey bears, we don't even have enough data to know how many there are in the wild. Having said that, because of the high deforestation and poaching levels scientists aren't hopeful - they might actually be in danger of extinction.

The Bee Problem

Although summer may be over, we've still got a bee problem. This is the story of why they're struggling.

Their numbers are declining rapidly. It's not just that we might end up with fewer bees buzzing around our garden during the summer - we might actually loose our flowers because of it. Bees play a vital role in the life of our flowers, they help pollinate our flowers- without them we would be left to pollinating flowers ourselves with paintbrushes, because if flowers aren't pollinated, then they don't bloom. If the bee problem continues, it's not just are gardens which will feel the affect - crops will too. Our food supplies are at huge risk, think about all the plants which flower then fruit appears, our breakfasts might look very different in a few years time.

Our 21st Century World

We now see the world through different eyes. Whether it's global warming and the Europe-wide thunderstorms or the middle-eastern crisis. Whatever it is... we can't help but look at our world through different eyes. So today, I thought as part of the Summer of Science I'd put a collection of my favorite pictures of Earth together. 

And no, this picture hasn't been photoshopped!! 

Just for good measure - one of the coolest astronaut selfies!


Follow the rest of my #SummerofScience and me on Twitter @Sci_Sparks. Don’t forget to download my charity eBook, Science Bites: A Short Tour of the Universe HERE. 

Does the Sun's cycle influence our weather?

The Sun's magnetic field constantly changes - the Sun's polarity reverses every 11 years. This activity changes the number of sunspots on the Sun's surface - this then peaks at the 'solar maximum'. The Sun's activity cools areas on the Sun meaning they appear darker. The solar cycle can also cause small changes in the Sun's heat and light output. Some studies have shown some link between few sunspots and cold winters in Europe. Although it's unclear the Sun's cycle could influence our weather.

The Andromeda Galaxy

This  is the Andromeda Galaxy, which I was lucky enough

 to take as part of the GCSE Astronomy that I do every

Wednesday evening at school

This is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) which lies around 2.5 million light years away from Earth and it our closest spiral galaxy. Observations taken in 2006 by the Spitzer Space Telescope suggests that the Andromeda Galaxy contains around 1 trillion stars. The Andromeda Galaxy is estimated to be 7.1×10¹¹  solar masses. This means that the mass of the Andromeda Galaxy is 7.1×10¹¹ times heavier than the Sun. The mass of the Sun being approximately two nonillion kilograms. The value of this constant was found by Henry Cavendish in 1798 at the University of Cambridge. He did this with a torsion balance which is designed to measure very weak forces. The invention of the torsion balance is usually credited to Charles - Augustin de Coulomb who invented it in 1777.
 

If the Sun's gravity was reduced what would happen to us?

A sudden reduction in the Sun's gravity would trigger massive earthquakes on earth as we were shifted along with Earth's altered orbit. However finding something that would cause this would be very difficult! A slow reduction in gravity would mean that the earths orbit would slowly be altered. In fact what happens is the Sun's mass decreases very slightly converting it into heat and light. To put this into context the mass that the sun looses each year is about 0.25% of the sun's mass since it first was formed. Also as the Sun grows older the Sun also gets brighter which means the Earth stays warm.

How does the sun "burn" if there is no oxygen in space?

At first glance, an image of the sun may resemble a roaring fire. However when astronomers talk about the sun "burning" they are actually talking about a process called nuclear fusion. This process involves the forcing together of tiny hydrogen nuclei in the core. Nuclear fusion takes place in the core as nuclear fusion need high pressure and high temperatures, both of which are present in the sun's core. 

How does sunscreen work?

Sunscreen is made up of a mixture of organic and inorganic particles to protect your body from potentially harmful UV radiation. The sunlight is made up of various different types of UV radiation; these include UVA, UVB and UVC radiation. Each of these types of UV radiation is of different wavelength which makes the sunscreen easier or harder to protect your skin from burning. For example UVC radiation has a wavelength of 280 -100mm, this very short wavelength radiation are blocked by the earth’s atmosphere even before it reaches you. But not all sunscreens protect against UVA radiation and over exposure to this type of radiation can, over time cause skin cancer.

The organic particles within the sunscreen (often a chemical called octyl methoxycinnamate or oxybenzone) absorb the rays; these are then dissipated within the body as heat which therefore prevents your skin burning. The inorganic particles (often zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) reflect and scatter the radiation which forms a physical barrier and therefore also helps prevent the skin from burning. It is these inorganic particles in the sunscreen which makes it appear white; however nowadays the particles are so small the sunscreen is clear so you can’t see it.

Clearly labelled on every sunscreen bottle is the “SPF” which stands for the sun protection factor. This only measures the amount of UVB radiation protection which that particular sunscreen provides. This SPF works on the basis that you would burn if you were in direct sunlight for one hour and therefore with an SPF 15 you could stay in the sun for fifteen hours. However this should only be treated as a basis given that there is a higher level of UV radiation at midday since the sun is lower in the sky. So the amount of time that you can spend safely out in the sun depends on the time of day as well as the level of sunscreen that you have applied and how well the sunscreen has been absorbed.

Is the sun actually good for you?

Thunderstorms earlier today across the south east of the UK marked the climax of the heat wave that brought the hottest temperatures in seven years. The temperature even reached 33^oC in Heathrow, London yesterday. But is the sun actually good for you?

Sure the sun has some health benefits as is widely known, for example it can decrease your chances of getting diseases like Rickets, which is a painful bone softening condition caused by a vitamin D deficiency. As little as

half an hour of sunshine can provide you with more vitamin D than in six tablespoons of cod liver oil or 200 eggs.  Recently the British Medical Journal reported a rise in the number of cases of rickets, which has been blamed due to children staying indoors playing on video games, however much like any disease or illness there are a lot more causes of rickets. For example if you have darker skin you are more susceptible to rickets, so a growing number of cultural backgrounds in the UK could possibly also be partly to blame.

Are you one of the 250,000,000 nut allergy sufferers in the UK? If so then you may well be surprised to find out that if you were to live in Australia, or anywhere in the less sunny south then you would be more prone to develop or to have an allergy to eggs or peanuts than children who live in the north almost 4,800km closer to the equator and which would therefore have a hotter climate. Those are also twice as likely to develop eczema. Researchers at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry now want to go on to look at if this is down to a Vitamin D deficiency or other factors such as temperature.

Some would quite understandably stay indoors in the tropical conditions and may not like the sun surprisingly you have good reasons to do so, for example some believe that the sun can bring on a tanning addiction. For example some regular beachgoers of the Glaveston Island beach in Texas were showing signs of substance abuse and no not alcohol or narcotics such as heroin or cocaine! The substance was actually UV radiation. The sensation of the UV radiation on the skin creates a feeling of wellbeing, this feeling can actually lead to a physical dependence and lead to obsessive tanning, both indoors and outdoors.

Amongst other effects such as skin cancer or going blind, the “Tortoise face” is one that all of us are presumably keen to avoid, a combination of UVA and UVB radiation (different types of UV radiation) can cause the skin to thicken and loose its natural elasticity. This could well lead to premature aging, wrinkles and bags under your eyes!