The SSC’s Official Science Newspaper
e rrent October 2013
thecurrent@westernssc.ca
Volume 4 Issue 3
NUTRITION
Never eat again — it’s good for you
IN THIS ISSUE...
The million-dollar idea that could change how we survive Jacek Orzylowski Contributor
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Countless university students are familiar with dietary compromise. For many, this compromise takes the form of the classic and cheap bowl of ramen noodles. Finding the time, motivation, money and skill to cook proper meals eludes most students as they flit between classes, workouts and an altogether different biochemical reaction downtown. Is there a way for students to consume a well-rounded, nutritious meal on a small budget of time and money? The answer is yes, but only for the adventurous. Rob Rhinehart, a 25 year-old electrical engineer living in San Francisco with nary a dime to his name, has not eaten a solid meal since mid-January, yet reports that his new diet has bestowed him with heightened energy, clearer skin and a general improvement in his health. His new diet consists of a single chemical cocktail which fulfills every biochemical need of the human body. Dubbed Soylent by Rhinehart, this cocktail is the epitome of eating to live. Rhinehart orders his ingredients directly from laboratory suppliers and regularly sits down to a meal of maltodextrin for carbohydrates, whey isolate for protein and even copper for collagen formation. These chemicals, in addition to several more, are blended into the drink, which takes a minute to prepare, consume and clean. As for the cost, while Rhinehart estimates that he spent upwards of $500 a month on groceries, his chemical shopping list costs no more than $154.82 a month while netting him a healthy daily intake of 2,692 calories. Rhinehart’s formula is a result of self-taught biochemistry and extensive
self-experimentation (which did land him in the hospital with heart palpitations due to potassium poisoning). His experiments — which consist of his breakfast, lunch and dinner — are ongoing, and Rhinehart frequently updates his formula and tracks his health on his blog, Mostly Harmless. Naturally, skeptics abound.
being happier and healthier, mimicking Rhinehart’s own case study. A recent crowdfunding campaign raised over $600,000 US for the large-scale manufacture of Soylent, which might be used in the military or to fight famine. However, the original vision of Rhinehart — not starving and not going bankrupt — is a
Image Courtesy of www.vice.com
Rob Rhinehart, 25, is the electrical engineer that invented the revolutionary liquid Soylent diet. Joy Dubost, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Diatetics, takes issue with Rhinehart’s “one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition”, while also adding that Soylent “tastes terrible”. Putting taste aside (since it will certainly go down better than your fifth straight night of Hot Pockets), a National Institutes of Health study of an all liquid diet for Californian inmates over 19 weeks in 1965 resulted in the prisoners
beautiful ideal to aspire to for the average university student not lucky enough to still have mom’s cooking. So, if you need to provide for yourself and still make money and are not afraid to ‘cook’ with chemicals, it might be better to forego the example of Walter White and follow the lead of Rob Rhinehart, instead.
SPACE
Earliest galaxies discovered by Hubble Blank space in the sky not so blank
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Connor Prince Contributor
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The idea of space is overwhelming to consider. If you thought the bus ride home after class was long, consider this; for a photon to travel from a distant galaxy to Earth, it takes 13 billion years. Also ponder that these photons can move a little bit faster than our LTC buses, at least 13.5 million times faster!
In 1996, we had no idea of what was outside our galaxy. A little faith and a lot of technology changed that. The Hubble telescope was pointed out toward an inky field thought to be full of empty black space.
Although it took 10 days, light photons reached the telescope, each one representing another galaxy. This discovery lead to a repeat experiment in 2004, revealing what is known as the deep field, and that our Milky Way is a small part of a
huge system, likely comprised of 100 billion galaxies. The photons left the galaxy in which they originated when the universe was still 500 million years young; and 13 billion years later they showed up on the Hubble. Recently, astronomers have put together a 3D representation of the deep field based on this discovery in 2004, allowing for a better perspective of exactly how expansive the universe is. So, if you thought being a single student in NS-145 was overwhelming, consider now that you are one student, at one university, in one province, in one country, on one continent, on one planet, in one of the 100 billion galaxies.
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.