Volume 2 — Issue 1
The SSC’s Science Newspaper
uwoscience.ca/thecurrent
CANCER
A facial tumour disease, just for devils.
The high mortality of Tasmanian Devils attributed to transmitting cancer through rough play. Cecilia Kwok
Current Editor-in-Chief The Tasmanian Devil is an Australian native marsupial that once prominently roamed the lands over 3000 years ago. Although of a small size (about the size of a poodle), it has a muscular build, jet black fur (though we often think of them as brown, thanks to Looney Toons) and mates competitively and aggressively. It ferociously rips its victims apart with its gnarly teeth, sputtering snot and curses as it flings its helpless prey around like a puppy with a rag doll. It also has the strongest bite per unit body mass of any living mammal, and has a thing for eating household cleaning products. Due to these facts alone, it is no wonder that boomerangs were invented at around the same time. However, it took more than humans and their creative weapon that pushed this species to the brink of extinction, as less than 20,000 of them remain today. During the late 1990s, Devils were
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ANIMALS
Raining cats and dogs... for real. If only the weather in London permitted the falling of fuzzy animals... Kevin Chen
Current contributor Now we’ve all heard the old saying “It’s raining cats and dogs!” which usually refers to copious amounts of rainfall, but would you really expect random animals to fall from the sky? The rational side of you might argue that it is near impossible, but natural phenomena are rarely so intuitive. Areas around the world from England to India have reported the rain of animals such as frogs or toads, and the most commonly reported raining animals are fish and birds. Their state of health and wellbeing can range
from being healthy (but startled) to being completely frozen. Regardless, it must be quite a shock to see random animals suddenly fall from the sky. What could possibly cause this series of events? The explanation for falling birds is rather simplistic as birds are often killed or stunned in flight, causing them to plummet to the earth. They are also easily disoriented and can frequently collide with objects, especially glass buildings in a city, and fall to their deaths. However for species such as blackbirds, the “mass deaths” are just a small fraction of the local population and has little effects on the ecological
INSIDE THE ISSUE, YOU’RE GOING TO FIND... Feeling the stress already? Having trouble sleeping? Check out what the folks at askmen.com have to say about your stress hormones... Page 3 Some suggestions for your Youtube browsing pleasure. Get ready for some hearty good fun during your Taylor LG times. Page 4 Feeling a bit unsure of your future? Looking to changing your degree? Look no further. Try the study of imaginery monsters from old fables. Page 4 An entirely sustainable and eco-friendly city. Or so they claim. Page 5 A mental illness that turns your world 90 degrees everytime you turn a sharp corner. Talk about getting lost. Page 7
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The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. Its contents do not reflect the opinion of the University Students’ Council of the University of Western Ontario (“USC”). The USC assumes no responsibility or liability for any error, inaccuracy, omission or comment contained in this publication or for any use that may be made of such information by the reader.
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The Current—September 2011
LIFE NOT AS WE KNOW IT
Our planet is home to many awe-inspiring organisms. If you’re fascinated with life on Earth, but don’t want to get out of your chair to explore the world, here is a glimpse of a few bizarre, exotic, or unconventional creatures your lazy eyes might have otherwise never seen.
HERCULES BEETLE
DOLL’S EYE PLANT
The largest of the rhinoceros beetles, is deservingly named the Hercules Beetle, Dynastes hercules. This gentle giant is native to South America, where the largest of the males reach to a length of nearly seven inches, and the larva can be as big as the palm of a grown man’s hand! Most notably, the male beetle has horns that can sometimes grow to a size longer than its body, which are used to fight other males for mates (the females lack the horns entirely). One of its signature moves is to
If you have a deep-seated fear of dolls due to their blank glassy stares, this plant might not be what you want to find in your garden. The aptly named Dolls Eye Plant, or White Baneberry, is native to eastern North America and resembles red stalks that grow to 50cm or more with dozens of white eye-shaped fruit. The entire plant is deemed toxic to humans, but the berries have the highest concentration of toxins. Interestingly enough, the berries are completely harmless to birds as they
pick up the other beetle with its horns and slam it on the ground head first, killing him and classically wins the girl. The horns are also quite a handy tool to move impeding objects out of the way, and proves to be a great display to attract mates (intuitively, the longer the horn, the more desirable). Also recognized for its incredible strength, the Hercules Beetle is known to be the strongest creature on earth, as it can carry 850 times its own weight! -Cecilia Kwok
are the primary seed dispersers. To humans, the deceivingly sweet-tasting berries have claimed the lives of many unsuspecting children as they have toxic effects on muscle tissue and can lead to immediate cardiac arrest and death. Yummy. —Nadine Abdulkarim
OCEAN SUNFISH
ETERNAL LIGHT MUSHROOM
No, this is not a Pokémon that evolved horribly wrong; the Ocean Sunfish is the world’s largest and heaviest bony fish. Weighing a whopping 1200lbs and measuring a length of 1.8m on average, this fish has an odd body shape as well as an odd scientific name; Mola mola. It mostly resembles a flattened circular fish head with no tail, and uses two fins to propel itself. Their teeth fuse into a beak-like structure and they are unable to fully close their mouths.
The marvellous mycena luxaeterna looks more like a product of science than a strain of mushroom, but rest assured, it is 100% natural. The mushroom can be found in the lush rainforests of Brazil, and scientists are keen on understanding its mysteries. It was first discovered in 2009 by a team from San Francisco State University led by Dennis Desjardin. One of an increasing number of bioluminescent species of mushrooms, the luxaeterna emits its glow 24 hours a day which already proves
Despite its massive weight and height, the Ocean Sunfish will leap from the surface up to 3 meters in the air and crash back in the water in an attempt to dismantle skin parasites. The Ocean Sunfish is harmless, subsisting on a diet of jellyfish and other small sea creatures, and can be found in tropical and temperate oceans near the surface of the water basking in the sunlight or curiously approaching divers. —Nadine Abdulkarim
Current Editors Cecilia Kwok — Editor-in-Chief Want your name in this box? thecurrent@uwoscience.ca
to be better than the glow in the dark stars in your room. The bright light is actually emitted by the thin stems as opposed to the larger floppy caps. Desjardin hypothesized that the glow attracts nocturnal animals which spread the mushroom’s spores. However, what truly sets the luxaeterna apart is that it was named after Mozart’s famous “Requiem”. Now what other fungus can boast that? —Lakshman Vasanthamohan
Current Contributors Nadine Abdulkarim, Kevin Chen, Lakshman Vasanthamohan , Aniruddho Chokroborty Hoque
Do what Einstein failed to do—contribute to the Current. thecurrent@uwoscience.ca
The Current—September 2011
RAGING HORMONES
Calibrating the human body Researchers find the link between stress hormones and waking up at anticipated times
Lakshman Vasanthamohan Current contributor
Have you ever woken up in the morning and looked over at your alarm clock, just to see that you’ve woken up just before it was set to ring? If not, I feel sorry for you because it is one of the best feelings in the world! But how does it happen? Is it routine, luck, or do we really have an inner clock? Now before I lose all credibility in your eyes, yes, I am aware that that there are systems within the body that operate on a time-based schedule. Many of the homeostatic mechanisms of the body, from temperature regulation to hormone release, depend on the maintenance of circadian rhythms. But even though many of these systems run on a diurnal nearly 24-hour cycle, they are not absolutely controlled by the time of day as we keep it. So for the select few in the population who claim to wake up at 7am every day without the use of an alarm, they must have somehow coupled their natural body rhythms to an understanding of the time. A simple Google search of “internal clock” brought up a 4-step method of calibrating your inner clock. The good folks at www.askmen.com suggest getting a good night’s sleep and ensuring a dark environment while asleep and quickly moving to a light one upon waking. The most interesting of their sug-
gestions however follows my initial idea; that on some level, an understanding of the time and the time one wants to wake up can influence the time you get up. The authors of the article also pointed me to the holy grail of any scientific inquiry; peer-reviewed research. A German research team lead by Jan Born of the University of Lubeck published an article in 1999 entitled “Timing the end of nocturnal sleep”. The study examined the hormones that help signal to awaken the body, and whether their release could be triggered to occur at given times. The experiment involved recruiting people for a 3-day sleep trial. People were told that they would be woken at 6 one day and 9 on the other two days. However, on one of the 9 am days, they were surprised by being woken up at 6. The results indicated that the subjects showed a spike in their stress hormone levels; ACTH and cortisol in the hour before they were scheduled to wake up. This effect however disappeared when the subjects were woken before they expected to be, as a part of the “surprise” treatment. So there you are, a scientific basis for the phenomenon of waking up exactly when you wanted to. Although there is no proven way to train your body to be more effective at this, the www.askmen. com method looks to be a good start. Until then, just be happy when this wonderful natural response goes your way.
FROM PAGE 1
Talk about blusterous weather. standpoint, except for that it easily captures the imagination of the media. More exuberant explanations are required for animals that are incapable of flight, such as the use of tornadic waterspouts. These waterspouts, (also referred to as ‘tornado over water’) can produce such a strong hydrostatic pressure that it can be used to lift animals and carrying them off in the direction you desire. Should one of these waterspouts lift the contents of a water body, aquatic animals such as fish and frogs can easily be transported and deposited over a concentrated urban area, pro-
ducing the effect of raining animals. Although modern science has done a fair job of categorizing these events and forming a logical model of explanation to satisfy the public, there still exist many unanswered questions despite ongoing scientific studies. In fact, even with the current existing models, it is still hard to construct a solid explanation of the raining of terrestrial animals. However regardless of their causes, rains of animals are a recorded (if rare) event, so the next time you’re walking home during a storm, be sure to look out for a frog or fish flopping along the side of the road.
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FROM PAGE 1
And you thought cancer was non-transmittable found dead in the wild groups at a time. Upon post-mortem examinations, many were found to have large growths on their faces, later identified to be a type of cancer that suddenly dominated the Devil population. This cance was responsible for the steep decline of the population (photos left out due to its extremely graphic nature). Upon isolating the cell samples of the facial growths of 25 different Devils, researchers quickly threw on their lab coats and goggles to identify this new epidemic. Each cell culture from the faces of 12 different Devils had revealed them to all have 13 chromosomes that were all genetically similar (while normal Devil cells have 14 chromosomes). That is, the cancerous cell had not descended from the Devil’s own chromosomes. Every cancer cell that existed in these growths on the Tasmanian Devils’ faces was exactly genetically similar..say
what?! Cancer is characterized as a group of diseases originating from the uncontrollable growth of a mass of cells usually due to gene mutations of the original host cell. This aggressively replicating mass invades and kills surrounding tissues. The way we have understood cancer is that it is not a transmissible disease (except for a few exceptions including pregnancies and organ donors). Hence, if a person affected with lung cancer sneezed, you wouldn’t be able to catch the cancer from breathing in the same room. This definitely would not
be the case if it were two Devils in the same room... The cancer growths on the Devils were more prevalent on their faces and mouths, which later spread to the rest of the body. They usually die of starvation due to the inability to feed after infection. From what the researchers gathered from the studied Tasmanian Devils, it was concluded that this particular facial cancer cell was somehow jumping from the face of one Devil to the next. As it turns out, besides exercising their jaws of steel in gang fights, these aggressive little creatures bite each other in the face during mating (talk about rough sex). Thus was the most prominent method of transmission: biting the infected face of your mate. This cancer cell is then deposited into the oral cavity or eye sockets of the biter, and WHAM, a new host, more tumours, more dead bodies. It didn’t help that Tasmanian Devils of both sexes carried scandalous sex lives, where they enjoy multiple partners every mating season. In fact, due to their mating practices, their population growth could actually double every year, preventing high mortality. Ironically, nature has selected for just the exact opposite, where their frequent infidelity results in high amounts of transmission of the cancer, and ultimately, their mangled, lumpy death. What we should all learn from this is not to bite in bed. Play nice, because... well, you just never know.
WANTED Calling all comic drawers and diary writers: looking for amazingly motivated people to help put together this insanely awesome paper. We don’t care if your mother is the only one who will laugh at your knock-knock jokes, or that the only drawing you ever do is doodling phallic symbols on the tables at Taylor; nor do we care if you are 14 or 40, frosh or back for your 9th year. If you chuckle to yourself amidst your twisted, geeky thoughts while you walk to the bus stop– we want you! Join the most extraordinary editorial team in the world. Seriously, we are the best thing since sliced bread.
www.uwoscience.ca/thecurrent like The Current on facebook
Page 4 CRYPTOZOOLOGY
The Current—September 2011
Studying the study of Cryptozoology
HAIR-GROWTH
Confessions Luring us all to give up our honours double majors. of the swordKevin Chen wielding GradCurrent contributor student: Introducing the Art of Science... the Moustache. With so many fields of science these days it’s easy to find elaborate communities of scientists studying almost anything in the world. However it doesn’t take a respected discipline of science to produce credible results. Cryptozoology, the pursuit of animals of unproven existence, is one such endeavor. Cryptozoology involves a variety of missions including the ultimate searching for already-extinct animals, such as dinosaurs. Or the search can include creatures that are found in long-forgotten nursery tales and classic stories, such as the Loch Ness monster. The ultimate search also includes animals that shouldn’t exist in a particular geographic region. These elusive animals are often termed “cryptids” by cryptozoologists and usually remain in the fantastical regions of our imaginations. As a field that relies primarily on stories and alleged sightings, it’s no wonder that it isn’t recognized as a legitimate branch of science. However, in multiple cases throughout history, animals that are often thought of to be mythical are in actuality quite real. In 1901 was the declaration of the first modern confirmation of the Okapi. The Okapi was well known in antiquity, being recorded in many art and stories. Nevertheless, modern scholars had declared it mere confusion with the zebra with which it shares many characteristics. Through the rescue of Congo pygmies, Sir Harry Johnston was able to gain physical evidence of this living fossil.
Aniruddho Chokroborty Hoque Current contributor
In another instance, sailors have propagated the tales of giant squids for years until they have been firmly rooted in human imagination. Stories of the Kraken are well known and the books Moby Dick and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea refer to giant squids. Even ancient writers such as Aristotle and Pliny spoke of squids that were far larger than normal. For a long time these stories were taken as just mere exaggerations, but with the advent of the modern era increased sightings and recovery of corpses built up evidence until the first photographs of living specimens were produced in 2002. Eventually photographs
of Giant Squids in their natural environment and even videos would be available to the scientific community. Although Cryptozoology is often met with skepticism, it can produce astonishing and novel discoveries. With the discoveries of Homo floresiensis in 2003 the editor of Nature, Henry Gee, has noted that the study of such fabulous animals can sometimes produce actual results and that stores of cryptids such as the yeti were founded on grains of truth. Although UWO doesn’t offer a cryptozoology major, you can always try to pursue this unusual stream of science, or you can settle to be a normal zoologist instead.
science on Out of the endless media content on the internet, the Current has handpicked three interesting youtube videos that pays tribute to science and technology for your lonely Taylor nights. Recommended to be enjoyed with a cup of coffee and plenty of muffled laughter.
Fun Science: Light (charlieissocoollike)
Charlie McDonnell explains the mechanisms of light waves and the Doppler Effect. Sure, the concept has been taught in Physics, but this British guy can video edit hilariously, guaranteeing that you’ll never forget why something coming towards you emits blue light, and something travelling away from you emits red light.
Years of drawn-out confrontations had left the both of us exhausted, searching for newer, less costlier strategies. I grudgingly admired its tenacity, the utter dedication to its craft of follicular ambush. The initial forays were just that; small surgical strikes deep into the recesses of my mind, laden with images of sweat, muscle and swagger. I fought back with the irrational timidity of a youngster: my impenetrable wall of ‘yuck, disgusting!’ With a sword in one hand and shaving-cream in another, I would wage daytime battles, long and dangerous, escaping most times within a hair’s breadth of the bus’s arrival. Unexpected allies from ‘my sweet little baby boy’ to ‘my house, my rules’ joined in. Oedipus was supposed to be complex, not hairy. Like any intelligent keratin of thought though, it adapted. Now, the blunt–edged weaponry of adrenaline overload and machismo has been replaced with the Machiavellian thrust of reason and logic. It has steadily broken down my NeoDarwinian metachemical constructs and all but vapourized essential socioevolutionary ultrasynpatic connexions. I watch in fascinated horror, as its strands weave a tapestry of creeping foliage across my sovereign territory. Machismo beckons me with the tug of kinetic growth, churning out layer upon layer of straightbacked, barrel-chested stiff upper lip. I’m a wish-come-true, floating on my magic carpet of Man, trampling hordes of lesser men, standing on their hair’s end of smooth and sensitive. The poetic surge of hormones carves out my masculinity, sculpting an imposing marble of natural selection. Behold a new art of science, the Moustache.
8-BIT WORLD featuring Hoodie Allen (Yourfavouritemartian)
Reminiscing those days when you had to blow the dust out of your Nintendo game tapes when they wouldn’t load in the system? 8-Bit World is a clever and entertaining animation that compiles the games and their features together before the age of Playstations and Nintento Wiis took over! Quite a catchy tune too, with a free mp3 download link.
Meet the Elements (boing boing video)
This song strings the elements of the periodic table into a catchy song accompanied by flashy and colourful graphics. It serves as a great introductory video for chemistry to a grade 9 class, but hey, this song is so catchy I wouldn’t be surprised if you sung it in the shower. Check out ‘King Weed’ from the same channel for a musical discussion about evolution and survival of the fittest. Disclaimer: Neither the author, USC or SSC were bribed into the mentioning of the above videos. The videos remain as the propertiy of their creators and are not affiliated with the author, USC or SSC.
Comments? Concerns? WRITE US LETTERS.
thecurrent@uwoscience.ca
The Current—September 2011
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SUSTAINABILITY IS FOREVER GREEN
Nadine Abdulkarim Current contributor
In today’s swiftly growing world, sustainability is on everyone’s minds. ‘Going green’ is a hot topic and so far, participation for the average person includes household recycling, avoiding plastic shopping bags and on the rather extreme end of the spectrum– Freeganism. The Mubadala Development Company in the United Arab Emirates decided in 2006, to take matters into their own hands; but not by digging through trash bins like our freegan friends, but by creating the subsidiary Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company to initiate the $18 billion dollar project, that is Masdar City. Located 17 km southeast of Abu Dhabi on the edge of the Arabian Desert, Masdar City is aimed to be the first completely sustainable, zero-waste city. The master plan for Phase 1 includes the Masdar Institute, 6 main buildings, 101 small apartments and an electronic library. Phase 2, which is to be completed this year, will add 222 apartments, and more retail space. By 2015, Masdar City is expected to have 7,000 residents with most of its workforce commuting from Abu Dhabi. The innovative city boasts state-ofthe-art driverless electric cars that are navigated by embedded magnets underground, argon gas insulation, geothermal heating and solar-powered airconditioning. The design of the perimeter walls and its narrow streets allow for more shading and cool breezes that are funneled from the hot desert winds by a wind tower, creating a radiant temperature difference of up to 20°C between a typical street in Abu Dhabi and Masdar City up. Even biological waste will be re-used as fertilizer (at least they can justify those cheap late night take-out meals as they dry-heave into the toilet).
The Masdar Institute, which is partnered with MIT, is a leading research school specializing in environmental and sustainable science. The architectural design of the city comes from the Foster + Partners firm, who have also designed iconic structures like the Hearst Tower and the future Two World Trade Center in New York City. As if this all doesn’t sound like a city set in the next James Cameron movie, there is also a Big Brother element to it; all of the apartments have a specialized intelligent digital grid, which monitors and records every human and mechanical action requiring electricity. The amount of water used is logged as is the amount of watt-hours per apartment, and the computer can pinpoint who consumes the most and changes the apartment settings accordingly to conserve resources. All air conditioners are set to 24°C and as a result, each residential building uses half the energy of any other building of its size normally uses. Though Masdar City sounds like the ultimate environmental Mecca, it is not without controversy and downsides; skeptics have deemed it to be nothing more than an overpriced gated community, exploiting the global phenomenon of climate change for profit. Economic crises have forced the cancellation of a second Masdar City and of a hydrogen power plant that was to be the world’s largest. The photovoltaic solar panels were also targeted by critics as they can be up to 30% less efficient due to dust storms and haze and must be cleaned by hand. Nevertheless, while this city is a new concept and has its advantages as well as its disadvantages, it’s a great working point for the advancement of sustainable living, environmental science and engineering. Giving Masdar City the room to fail and to grow is imperative if we as a society wish to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle for generations to come.
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The Current—September 2011
Who should you see? Which office to visit? A quick guide to get you to the right staff for your needs.
In an effort to expose the secret lives of the staff at the Faculty of Science, the editors of the Current are presenting the exclusive ‘must read’ about two of the science academic counselling staff.
Kate Baker
Assistant Academic Counsellor Depending on the time of the year and how desperate you are to get your undergraduate degree sorted out by an Academic Counsellor, she could seem like the Uncle Vernon between you and your letter from Hogwarts. However, Kate’s vast knowledge in many areas of the Western campus proves useful and is a convenient quick stop for those general inquiries you might have regarding your academic life at Western. Kate is extremely bright-eyed, friendly and enthusiastic, with her hands forever positioned ready to type in your student number on her keyboard (and pull up your entire academic record from the day you started screaming O-Week cheers). Equipped with numerous directories, post-it notes, websites and resources that surround her desk, she is able to answer many of the questions you bring in through the door or direct you to the right person to give you the answers. She basically ‘diagnoses’ you and determines if you require further information and help from the academic counsellors hidden in their offices. A London native, she started her Bachelors of Sociology at York University and finished it at UWO, continuing to work with diverse areas on campus after graduation. A fan of the “Western bubble”, Kate enjoys the “tight knitted [community], that was not too large”, fostering the sense of university life and involvements that “really stands out” amongst other schools. Although Kate sits behind the desk tucked just inside the office, she embodies and fosters the Western atmosphere very well. One of her duties is to tirelessly reach out to communicate with the student body through the Facebook page, Science & BMSc Academic Counselling, and the Youtube channel she created and maintains. She actively encourages all students to take advantage of their website that is regularly updated with important due dates, reminders and useful forms. The busiest times at the office are during Intent-to-register, midterms and Course Selection times, and Kate urges everyone to utilize the available and excellent resources online, with her door opened to offer any help further required by students.
John DeHeus
Academic Counsellor
When John is not operating the scoreboards at TD Waterhouse Stadium for all Western Mustang football games, he is a GPS– to help students of BSc and BMSc to get to their academic goal in the shortest route possible. Sporting a lopsided grin and a handsome tie, he is a knowledgeable and approachable academic counsellor who enjoys his morning coffee from Einstein’s while listening to Coldplay and Adele. He enjoys raspberries (due to its low maintenance) and admits to have shot baskets on the Raptor’s practice court. Upon entering his office, one cannot miss the much decorated room with the colours blue and orange, a clear expression of his loyalty to the Duke Blue Devil men’s basketball team (don’t dare bring any North Carolina in there). John is the guy to see if you are looking to defer a midterm or final, looking for academic accommodation due to religious, medical or personal reasons, discuss any late or missing assignments, or up for a chat about your degree and module requirements including overlap and pre-requisite courses. Completing his own Double Major in Political Science and BMOS at none other than UWO itself (and hesitantly admits that he should’ve spent more time at Taylor), he generously offers his insights and resources for help based on his expertise. If students are in any way confused about their education at Western, he pointedly offers a variety of resources and guides for students to explore other choices in professional programs, industry, or government. Career counselling, aptitude testing and workshops are just a few tools to help students identify their strengths, as well as getting used to the multiple choice exams and essays in a university education. John encourages students to seek for help early on. With claims as your GPS – he emphasizes that he will provide guidance to get you to your goal, but you, as the student, must do the work. Chat with the guy long enough, he might even offer you his idea of an amazing burger– plain potato chips on the burger straight of the grill.
Questions about your
academic career?
Your Academic Counselling Team on Facebook
We’re Here For You!
Office of the Ombudsperson http://www.uwo.ca/ombuds/
- offers assistance and advice on the resolution of conflicts - clarify univerisity policy or regulation - provide resources for any aspect of University life - offers assisstance to students when they think they have been treated unfairly
Dean’s Office Counselling
http://www.uwo.ca/sci/counselling/ - interpretation and clarification on academic procedures and policies - request for permission for increased or irregular course loads - international student exchange and scholarship inquiries - requests for a Letter of Permission to take courses at other universities - statuses in regards to withdrawal from university and faculty transfers - disscussion and advice for personal, religious or medical accomodations that affect academic performance - advice on the impacts of course selections for module requirements
Science Academic Counselling http://www.uwo.ca/sci/counselling/
- provides information and special permission for not taking course prerequisites - information for course substitutions - course overlaps within modules - course registration - advice on course selection - graduation requirements - course equivalencies - academic acccomodations for sports, religious or personal reasons - information on Science Internship
Office of the Registrar
http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/index.cfm - general information for Western students (How-to guides) - access to student records (transcripts, diplomas, grades, official Western letters) - information on student financial assistance (scholarships, bursaries, OSAP) - exam schedules - web registration, course timetables, student academic calendars - information on application to undergraduate and graduate programs - other links to student development centre services, student services support group
find us. Don’t forget to like us! Search “Science BMSc”
The Current—September 2011
Did you know...
Office of Global Health, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry Supported by: McConnell Foundation
Global Health Discussion Forum
that houseflies survive from 20 - 30 days, which is contrary to the common belief of 24 hours? However, in 24 hours, housefly maggots will hatch... so better kill those bastards before they lay eggs in your pungent-smelling garbage.
Nowadays, the term ‘Global Health’ seems ubiquitous and everyone seems to be using it, including health professionals, students, NGOs, political leaders and even Bill Gates. But what exactly IS Global Health? How is it relevant to you as a student, academic or professional? Are you searching for some introductory exposure to global health issues? If you have ever found yourself asking any of these questions, then consider attending the Global Health Discussion Forum Series. Hosted by the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, the forum was conceptualized in order to encourage UWO medical and dental students, members of the healthcare and educational communities, as well as students from other disciplines (e.g. undergraduate social studies, law, business, etc.), to become more involved in discussions about global health and more informed about pressing global health issues, both locally and abroad. The forum will involve two spheres of discussion– biweekly presentations and/or reflections by students who have travelled to different communities for medical electives, as well as presentations and discussions hosted by one or two ‘experts’ in an area of Global Health. Through this forum, we hope to engage participants and encourage innovative thought, an enhanced understanding of global health issues, a commitment towards service and ethical practice in global health, as well as an appreciation for diversity and culture within this field. We hope to provide an enriched opportunity for students to interact with experts who can offer insights to a wide variety of local and international Global Health topics. It is not just the talk but the transdisciplinary and interprofessional interaction that will enrich us all. We want you all to attend the series, enjoy the talks, and participate in the discussions. We hope to see you out to the discussions. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Alex at yng49@uwo.ca for more details about the forum. The schedule of speakers will be posted in the next issue of the Current, so keep your eyes peeled for us! Also, don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter (#GHDF1), and visit our website at http://www.schulich.uwo.ca/GLOBALHEALTH/ Thank you! Yours in partnership, The Global Health Discussion Forum Team
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MENTAL ILLNESS
A world that constantly changes…90 degrees at a time.
Cecilia Kwok
Current Editor-in-Chief Look very closely at the newspaper you are holding. Focus on my every word…Every. Single. Word. Now take 3 seconds to look up from this paper and take notice of your surroundings. You are sitting somewhere familiar, aren’t you? You’ve been through it many times, eaten here, studied here, chatted with your friends. Notice the chairs, and the orientation of the room, and where the doors are. You know your way in, and you know how to get out. Now, as you return your focus to my every word, your surroundings, will turn 90 degrees. What was east becomes north, what was west becomes south. What was on your left before is now behind you. You look up again, and the whole world has been turned a quarter turn, and while everybody around you continues on with their mundane tasks without the slightest bewilderment of what you are experiencing betrayed on their faces. What the heck is going on?! Developmental Topographical Disorientation. A disorder identified in recent years (so recent that even Wikipedia has very little answers), it describes people who have their surroundings make a 90 degree turn around them, as they encounter difficulties tying together neurological recognition of landmarks and their sense of orientation. It is usually triggered during sharp turns or curves, and it basically messes up your internal compass. Such a shift gives the sufferer a difficult time forming a mental map of their surroundings, leading to anxiety and de-
creased self-esteem. Hence, it is easy to get ‘lost’, even in familiar surroundings such as the patient`s own home. For Sharon Roseman, her DTD secret has been kept ever since she discovered it while playing pin the tail on the donkey when she was just five years old. After she was spun around and around again, she opened her eyes to find that her orientation had suddenly made a quarter turn. Upon confiding in her mother, she had two very solid, comforting words for her daughter: “You witch.” That was what compelled Sharon to keep her suffering a secret for another two decades, often feeling overwhelming sadness and loneliness. In an attempt to fix her confused disorientation, Sharon would spin herself around again until she opened her eyes in hopes that everything would restore to normal. Sometimes the spinning would fix it, but sometimes it wouldn’t. As if the situation wasn`t bad enough, utter strangers have called her a freak when she had attempted any spinning in public. This fostered her habit of locking herself in the nearest bathroom stall before making any attempts. Finally, Dr. Guiseppe Iaria identified her and 700 others with the same condition and coined it as DTD. Through the ordeal, she has found friends who share her same experiences, and had since became the web administrator on the website launched by Dr. Iaria. The website receives daily emails from people around the globe who identify themselves to have the same symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no cure, but Sharon and many others take comfort in knowing that everytime she finds herself in her disoriented world…there must be another person in the world at that moment living in the same confusing orientation as her.
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The Current—September 2011
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Volume 1—Issue 1
September 2010
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Welcome back to school! A message from your �0 Science Students’ Council �� president
Alcohol, magnified See what your drink looks like under the microscope
Calculus used in real life it’s possible, we swear!
Science comics Featuring humour only a true nerd can appreciate
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ON NEWSSTANDS NOW; GET YOUR COPY TODAY! �2
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The chemistry behind your caffeine addiction ��
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Kevin Chen
wonder about the scientific facets of coffee? Coffee is produced from the seeds of trees and shrubs of the genus Coffea. Since these seeds bear a striking resemblance to beans, they are known as “coffee beans.” These beans easily make up one of the most valuable commodity crops in the world. Originating in tropical Africa and Southern Asia, coffee plants of various species are now found growing around the world, the majority of which is produced in South American countries like Brazil and Columbia. Facing relatively few regulations and laws—and often grown with other crops that
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A name with several different scientific meanings: you can draw It could mean the movement of electric If charge. anything that It could mean the flow of water or air. remotely resembles It also sounds like those little black raisin fruityou're things, which – something, qualified. depending on how you use them – could also be pretty scientific.
We’re devoted to delivering you as much science-related stuff as Contiued on page 4 you can handle, and delivering it in the most interesting way possible. Draw for the Current. And Hoffman yes, that'stook a dinosaur. his day-long acid trip
A pharmaceutical researcher’s historic bicycle trip
as an indicator of the drug’s potential clinical effectiveness. He was convinced that nobody would want to use it for recreational purposes, but that psychologists would be very interested to use it as a treatment. As you might have guessed, these predictions have yet to be realized and mainstream psychological treatment using LSD is still