JUNIOR SCHOOL SCIENCE MAGAZINE ISSUE 03
Diabetes What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which insulin production is poor in the body or the cells in the body do not respond properly to insulin or both.
What is Insulin?
Insulin is a hormone (a chemical substance produced in one part of the body to react on another) in our body. Insulin is importae human body because it lowers the glucose concentration in the bloodstream.
How does it work inside our body?
When we eat, our body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose in the small intestine (From this procedure, our body obtains energy). Glucose then travels through our bloodstream, looking for individual cells that need energy. For glucose to get into the cells, it requires insulin. Insulin helps to unlock cells for glucose to enter and deliver energy. When insulin is transferred, it signals the cells to activate glucose transporters. These transporters pull glucose through cell membranes so when glucose moves into the cell, energy is delivered from the food we ate.
What is Pancreas?
Pancreas is an organ in our body which is reaavsponsible for controlling blood glucose concentration. As part of the digestive system, the pancreas is located in the abdomen, behind the stomach next to duodenum.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetics are children and young adults. In type 1 diabetics, the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys beta cells (any of the insulin-producing cells) in the pancreas. That is why a patient who has a type 1 diabetes loses the ability to produce insulin.
Type 2 Diabetes
For type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to meet the body’s needs. Over time, the amount of insulin typically decreases. In some type 2 diabetics, cells build up a resistance to insulin. Even though there may be some insulin in the bloodstream, it is not enough to unlock cells to allow glucose to enter. As a result, it takes more insulin to find the right key to unlock the cell for glucose. This makes it more difficult for cells to get the energy they need. 90%
TYPE2
DIABE T E S
10%
TYPE1
Effects
When glucose can’t get into cells, either because there isn’t enough insulin or because the body is resisting it, glucose begins to build up in the bloodstream. As a result, all the energy is wasted. It doesn’t get to the needed cells. Lack of energy means our body doesn't function properly.
Diabetes and Injected Insulin
Because type 1 diabetics can’t produce their own insulin, they must inject or receive insulin in whatever methods. Many people with type 2 diabetes take insulin injection too. The injected insulin acts on glucose just like a normal naturally produced insulin.
What Are The Symptoms of Diabetes?
The most common symptoms that occur when you have diabetes are frequent urination, disproportionate thirst, and intense hunger. Frequent urination (going to the toilet more often than when you didn’t have diabetes) happens because you have too much glucose in your body. Disproportionate thirst (drinking more than usual) is because your body needs to replace the lost bodily fluid from urinating. Lastly, intense hunger (becoming hungrier than normal) happens because insulin in your body is not working properly, or there might not be an insulin. (On top of these symptoms, there are much more)
How do we prevent getting diabetes?
There are two great tips for diabetes prevention: 1. Exercise regularly If you exercise regularly, you not only lose weight but also boost your sensitivity to insulin, which helps you to keep your glucose within a normal range. 2. Consume plenty of fiber (plant material that cannot be broken down but helps you to digest other food) If you take in a plenty of fiber, it reduces your risk of diabetes by improving your blood sugar control. Furthermore, it lowers your risk of obtaining a heart disease and promotes weight loss. High fiber containing food are fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Use these super tips and make your body healthier and prevent diabetes.
The Terrible LizardDinosaurs Dinosaurs are known to be fearsome creatures. Even their name means ‘terrible lizard.’ However, the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex and other carnivorous dinosaurs only covered 3% of the population of the dinosaurs for each period. Then what were dinosaurs like and why are they extinct?
Dinosaur summary
The first dinosaurs appeared at the Triassic period, 231.4 million years ago. Dinosaurs were first starting to evolve. During the period, the world a single continent called Pangaea. The world back then was mostly deserts and was quite hard to find food. The climate in the summer was unpleasantly dry, and extremely cold in the winters. The difficulty in finding food made the dinosaurs’ size relatively smaller than dinosaurs in other eras. Small dinosaurs like Coelophysis roamed the areas, mostly scavenging or hunting smaller mammals. With such food loss, Coelophysis is also known for cannibalism. Not just the same species, but the juveniles. The Triassic was a tough era to live for the dinosaurs, so many of them turned to cannibalism and such. Then there was an extinction called the Triassic - Jurassic extinction, which marked the boundary between the Triassic era and the Jurassic era. The Jurassic era was a period with more of a life-sustainable environment. There was a larger range of dinosaurs than the Triassic. There was also more greenery such as trees and plants. More food meant that the herbivores could reproduce more, and that could provide more food for the carnivores.
The herbivores then had to defend against the carnivores, and animals such as Stegosaurus are known as the Jurassic most well-protected giants. The animals grew to a bigger size, such as the 75 tonne Argentinosaurus, or the 35 tonne Paralititan. Also, there were more fierce carnivores like the Allosaurus, which had perfect teeth for killing. Stegosaurus was armed with four fatal spikes on the end of it’s tail that kill if the bussized dinosaur wanted to. Big and ferocious dinosaurs also appeared in the Jurassic oceans. 12 metre long predators called Predator X ruled the oceans in the Jurassic. Through these advantages of food, the Jurassic era is also called the ‘Golden Age of Dinosaurs’. The last era of dinosaurs was the cretaceous era. The most famous dinosaurs lived in that period, such as T - Rex, or the human-sized Velociraptor. Also, the biggest land- living predator Spinosaurus roamed the earth at that period. In the cretaceous era, the continents were near the current positions. India was drifting off from Africa, North and South America were moving away from Asia, and Australia was travelling across to its position. The climate was probably warmer than today, because of frequent volcanic activity. There were better-adapted dinosaurs, like Ankylosaurus. They were like a heavily armoured tank. They had a shell covering their back and a club at the end of their tail to fatally wound their enemies. Carnivores also adapted a lot, like the raptors introduced a new hunting style by latching onto their prey and then slicing them with a claw on their foot. That claw was at least 30 cm long. Big predators like Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, would be able to create huge blood loss from their prey.
What would happen if the dinosaurs were alive today?
Some scientists predict that dinosaurs would have grown intelligent, such as intelligent dinosaurs like troodon, and would have evolved into some type of lizard-human called ‘Troodon Sapiens’.
This evolution process might have blocked humans from appearing. Also, if humans were alive as well, we might have dinosaur pets, maybe a ‘Jurassic Park’ and also accidents like being eaten by dinosaurs. Weird and Wonderful dinosaurs many people didn’t know existed Shuvuuia: This dinosaur was discovered in Mongolia, and probably lived around 75 million years ago. It was quite small, measuring about 90 cm in length. It is a carnivore and very bird-like. The weird part of this dinosaur was that it had only one finger on its short arms! Dracorex: Dracorex has a unique appearance with a dragon-like skull. It is associated with the Pachycephalus group. Through its mean appearance, it was named after ‘Draco Malfoy’ a villain in ‘Harry Potter’ and draco also means dragon. Epidexipteryx: Epidexipteryx was a pigeon-sized dinosaur. It was thought that Epidexipteryx lived during 152 to 168 million years ago. It was the late Jurassic period. It had 4 long display feathers, and 3 elongated fingers on each hand. It had big eyes, and generally a weird appearance. Helicoprion: This is a shark that lived a bit before the time of the dinosaurs. These shark’s weird feature is that they have a circular saw like jaw. The jaw had teeth going all around. The jaw bones and a few other bones are all that is found of this shark so it is still left in mystery. Sinornithosaurus: This is a predator which was adapted to live in trees. But also it could walk efficiently on the jungle floor. It was bigger than 1 metre of length. This dinosaur is particularly spectacular because Sinornithosaurus had poison glands. Also, scientists found out the colour of this dinosaur by relating its fossilized pigment cell to those of modern birds. It was a colour mixture of black, red and yellow.
Dinosaur extinction theory
The dinosaurs died mysteriously. We can’t be sure, but there are 4 different theories that might have resulted in dinosaurs becoming extinct. 1. Basically, the first theory is a meteorite crash. Scientists have found a crater in the gulf of Mexico, where is most likely the meteorite would have fallen. Scientists estimate that the meteorite would have been up to 10 km in diameter and when the meteorite crashed into the gulf, the speed would have 4 times of that of a speeding bullet. After the crash, an enormous amount of heat was produced and spread wildfires all across the globe. After several amounts of months, the globe was covered in dark clouds, blocking out a lot of the sunlight. Soon, the food chains were broken and resulted in the death of dinosaurs. 2. The second theory is thought to be global volcanic activity. The volcanoes at 65 million years ago started erupting a lot. And when lava covers a large area of grassland, plants get burnt off. Also, the ash could have covered the atmosphere like the meteorite crash. Even more, acid rain could be caused, and the surface temperature eventually rose. Some scientists predict that the meteorite crash and volcanic eruption could have happened at the same time. 3. The third theory is that climate change took place on Earth. Scientists predict that the Earth got colder and colder which soon became the Ice Age. So scientists think that creatures like woolly mammoths took place of dinosaurs. This meant that dinosaurs weren’t suited to the cold environment and might have frozen to death. 4. The last main theory is diseases. In the dinosaur period, there were lots of diseases. But scientists think at about 65 million years ago, there could have been a period called the Rise of Germs. This period was when germs grew stronger and started killing dinosaurs. Scientists have actually found remains of malaria in a dinosaur, and there apparently were other medical issues like pathogens and intestinal parasites.
5. A fifth recent theory is that mammals in the cretaceous period got more and more intelligent and developed a way to eat the eggs of the dinosaurs. And gradually, dinosaur population grew less and less, at last wiping out all of the dinosaurs being unable to reproduce. Although this killed the majority of all living things at that time, most creatures under 25 kilogrammes were known to survive. These dinosaurs probably evolved to modern day birds.
MARS Have you ever dreamed of going to Mars? Well, I have and I do! Before we move on, I would like to tell you about planet Mars. Firstly, the formation of Mars. One theory suggests that it started from a solar nebula. It is known to be made from lumpy clouds and dust. Secondly, the meaning of Mars. Mars is a god of war from the Ancient Greek Mythology. Because the planet is red, which looks like a blood, it was named after him. Thirdly, the size of Mars. After Earth, Mars is the 4th closest planet from the sun, receiving bout 43% of the sun's light. It is the 2nd smallest planet in our galaxy. Therefore, it has low gravity. Why? It is because the gravitational force depends on the size of the planet. This means that you feel lighter on Mars. Fourthly, Mars has 2 moons. First one is called “Phobos” which means "fear" and the second one is called “Deimos” which means "panic".
A little bit more about its physical features. Mars is very rocky and dry. Sometimes, the wind causes a dust storm by blowing red dust. Mars doesn’t have any water on its crust, however, scientists predict that water might be flowing under the ground in the mantle.(They recently discovered a dry river) In winter, the temperatures can be degrees C near the poles. However, be as hot as 20 degrees C near the night, the temperature can plummet
as low as -125 in summer it may equator. But at to about -73 C.
Human Investigations about Mars: Mars Rovers Created by NASA in 2003, “Mars Rover”, explored Mars. It was able to charge using solar energy and transmitted the data to Earth. It is very useful because astronauts haven't been so successful in trying to land on Mars. It’s amazing that it doesn’t freeze or break despite the harsh weather conditions. Recent Issues about Mars: Backed up by the discovery of moisture particles in the atmosphere, scientists say that Mars Mounds, which are now dry, were once liquid filled craters. This has encouraged scientists to study Mars more extensively - NASA sent a rover called “Curiosity” (regarded the most ambitious Mars mission). 9ft and 10 inches long, it weighs 900 kg. Despite a damage on its wheel, it was successful in climbing a mountain.
Mars is potentially an alternative planet for humans to live. It is possible that you might go to Mars. Hope that when you do go, you remember the aforementioned facts about Mars.
THE HUMAN BRAIN INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wondered about the brain? In this article, you will learn all about the brain and how it works. You will also learn some intriguing human brain facts!
WHAT IS THE BRAIN?
Your brain and nervous system control everything you do, see, smell, hear and feel. The brain is a large, heavy organ in your head made of about 100 billion of tightly packed neurones. The brain sends messages to other parts of your body, telling you what to do. So if your brain gets damaged, it can really change who you are.
There are six main sensory functions of the brain:
1.Personality- The brain can cause mood swings and cognitive changes. 2.Movement- If you damage your brain, you can find it hard to move your body parts. 3.Touch- The brain makes what your fingertips touch feel bigger. 4.Hearing- It helps you hear and remember everything that has just been said. 5.Sight-Most of the boxers suffer from brain damage because they often fall backwards; hence, many of them have trouble seeing. 6.Moving - The brain helps you move and catch a ball.
PARTS OF THE BRAIN THE CEREBRUM
The Cerebrum, the boss of your body, is a big, wrinkled, and folded part of your brain. It takes about 85% of the brain and it controls your conscious thought and even your subconsciousness. When you’re taking an exam and thinking really hard, you’re using your Cerebrum. Your Cerebrum does everything; without it, you wouldn’t be able to swim or even walk! As you can see, you would not be able to do anything without your Cerebrum!
THE SPINAL CORD
The Spinal Cord is the connection from your brain to the rest of your body. It also commands the rest of your body what to do. For example, when you lift your leg, your brain is actually telling you to do it through using your spinal cord.
THE BRAINSTEM
The brainstem has the most basic controls over your body. It controls your heart rate, sleeping, eating and breathing. This part of the human brain connects to the spinal cord; therefore, it can send messages to all the body parts.
THE MIDBRAIN
The midbrain is placed slightly near the brain. This is because the midbrain ensures that you don’t go unconscious or faint.
FUN FACTS
1. Did you know that your brain takes about 2% of your body weight? 2. Your brain keeps developing until late 40. 3. Your brain uses 20% of your blood and oxygen in your body. 4. When you are awake, your brain creates enough power to light a small light bulb. 5. 60% of your brain is made up of fat. 6. "Sphenopalatine ganglion neuralgia" is what some scientists call ‘brain freeze’. 7. It only takes 6 minutes for your brain to react to alcohol. 8. When you learn something new, your brain structure changes. 9. You have approximately 70,000 thoughts a day. 10. Researchers found out that recovering from a break-up is like a kicking an addiction to a drug. They looked at the brain scans of the broken-hearted.
Science in Football INTRODUCTION
There is a sport that many people enjoy playing. You mostly use your feet to score goals. But goals can be scored by different body parts as well: Head, chest, knee, back… all except your hands & arms. Can you guess what this fun activity is? It is football! But did you know that there is a great deal of science in football?
SPIN KICK
The main theory behind curve-ball involves spinning, more fancily put, “Magnus Effect”. Think of baseball. When a pitcher tries to pitch a ball that curves to the left, he/she puts a spin on the right. To curve it towards the right, the opposite. This is basically, the same effect in football. Kicking a certain part of a ball creates a high pressure at that specific point. As a result of this high pressure, wind blows in the opposite direction. The ball then follows the flow of the wind, curving in the corresponding direction.
Right of center kick
Left of center kick
Magnus Force
Magnus Force
KNUCKLE BALLS
Knuckleballs are the balls that have no spin at all. This is one of the shots that goalkeepers find hard to defend. The french research team had researched about knuckleballs. One of them said, "When a sphere is in a flow, there is a critical velocity at which the wake behind the sphere and the drag force acting on the ball sharply decrease." This means that when a ball(sphere) flies through the air at a high speed, the unpredictable airflow gets pushed to the back of the ball so it makes the tram-road very unpredictable.
Magnus force + Wake deflection force
Delayed separation
Rotating Ball Deflected flow + Deflected wake Earlier separation
Overhead kick
Overhead kick, also called the bicycle kick, is a kick in which you spin your body 360 degrees in mid-air and kick the ball over your head. To do an overhead kick, your head should not be in the way of the ball or else you’ll get hit in the head. To avoid it from happening, you need to jump with power and spin your body backwards in the air as hard as you can. Then make sure your foot hits the ball. We’ve looked at three cool football techniques, involving a great deal of science. Go out on the field and try them out. It won’t be easy but eventually, you’ll make it. Good luck!
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BE GENIUS.