Chemistry Related Learning Journal
SCH4U
Erin Fletcher
September 18, 2020:
“Covid-19 is transmitted through aerosols. We Have Enough Evidence Now It Is Time To Act.” https://time.com/5883081/covid-19-transmitted-aerosols/
Fomite transmission accounts for very little of infected cases and does not survive for long on human hands due to its lipid bilayer. On the other hand droplets are really only present when a person coughs or sneezes. Droplets also fall to the ground after 3-6 feet and do not linger in the air. Aerosols are very likely the main cause of transmission as they can linger in the air for hours. Aerosols are 50 microns wide and Covid-19 is only 0.1 microns in diameter. Contact tracking has shown that being outdoors is 20 times safer than being indoors. Scientists that completed this study say that the best ways to avoid transmission are to avoid: being indoors, low ventilation, crowding, being unmasked and talking especially yelling, long duration with others. They stress the importance of having good ventilation and wearing a thick tight-fitting mask to prevent aerosols.
September 21, 2020:
“What will happen when COVID-19 and the flu collide this fall”
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid19-coronavirus-flu-season-fall
Although there may be people who get COVID-19 and the flu it is less likely to happen because once the immune system comes into contact with one virus it will use interferons to fight off any other viruses that try to enter. One study found that only 3 percent of people in China that had the virus also had seasonal influenza.
September 22, 2020:
“Early life may have had genes made from urine chemical” New Scientist Magazine, October 19, 2019.
Urea, the chemical found in urine can behave a lot like nucleotides in RNA and DNA. Heating a molecule of urea can cause it to link up into pairs, like RNA and DNA. They also found that urea could be inserted (and used as a substitute) to RNA.
September 23, 2020:
“We looked at every confirmed COVID-19 case in Canada, here’s what we found.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/public-health-agency-of-canada-covid-19-statistics 1.5733069
Amongst cases that were fatal cough and a fever were the most common symptoms whereas a headache and sore throat were not symptoms. Among all the people that died 70% were people 80 or older. The average recovery time ranged from 1.9 weeks for 0-19 y/o to 2.9 week for people 80+ years. There are more people infected under 20-29 years compared to any other age group.
September 24, 2020:
“Memory code cracked” New Scientist, 14 April, 2018
The memories and how we remember them have a lot to do with the genes we have. When we make memories they are between neurons. In order to make them genes need to be accessed to create proteins for the connection to happen.
September 28, 2020:
“Air quality in the city of Ottawa” September 2020 https://noznoc.github.io/breathe easy/#13.7/45.4302/-75.69168
Volunteers measured the air quality, (amount of particulate matter PM2.5, PM10, ozone and nitrogen) following the Ontario Air Quality Health Index, at different sites across Ottawa. They measured the air quality in roughly the same place at two sites: Site A beside the road and Site B away from the road. They noticed that the air quality was better (often low risk) at sites away from the road and worse at the sites next to the road (often ‘Moderate risk’). The air quality also improved at both sites in the suburbs (ie: the Glebe had Site A as moderate risk and Site B as low risk whereas Kanata had both Site A and B at low risk).
September 29, 2020:
“Crabs found with stomachs full of discarded plastic” October 2019
In a UK study they looked at 55 shore crabs and 57 Chinese mitten crabs. Almost every crab had at least one piece of plastic in the gut or in their gills. Each crab had almost 100 fibers of plastic (they were all highly contaminated). This is bad as the crabs will have a harder time digesting food. Larger animals, such as large sharks who eat many of the crabs will cause bioaccumulation of the plastic in the larger animals and may cause them to die.
September 30, 2020:
“Two fifths of plants at risk of extinction, says report” September 2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54344309
This is a published study done by 200 scientists in 42 countries. These plants at risk for extinction put things like food security, making medicines and biofuels in danger, as only a small portion of the seeds we use are used for these things. I found that the extinction risk had gone up from 21% to 39% (140 000) vascular plants at risk of extinction. They found the main problems to be over harvesting and climate change.
October 1, 2020:
“Antarctica could melt ‘irreversibly’ due to climate change, study warns” September 2020 https://www.livescience.com/antarctica-ice-free-climate-change.html
Parts of Antarticia could melt if climate change is not addressed quickly and held to 1.5 or below 2 degrees Celsius. If part of the continent melt it won’t come back until the planet is back at its preindustrial temperatures which would take a millennia or millennium. The study highlighted different scenarios in which the planet could heat up and the amount of ice that would be permanently gone. For example if the planet’s global average temperature increased by 4 degrees C (the course that humans are currently on track for), then much of West Antarctica would melt into the ocean and cause a sea level rise of 6.5 meters inundating big cities like New York, London and Tokyo.
October 5, 2020:
“Lego like assembly of zeolitic membranes improves carbon capture” October 2020 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201005112139.htm
Scientists in France have developed a new way to make zeolitic membranes which are used as pre combustion carbon capture in vehicles. They built Nano sheets rather than long crystals and bound each sheet together using silanol condensation chemistry which uses molecules with Si O-H atoms.
October 6, 2020:
“How urban grime affects chemical reactions in cities” October 2020
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200930144428.htm
Urban grime is formed when species (like: soot, pollutants, organic compounds etc.) in the atmosphere decompose, since it is unable to sink into the ground due to inorganic things like concrete it creates a film on urban surfaces. This has an effect on the quality of the water and air. The researchers found that sunlight can be absorbed by the grime and can either speed up or slow down chemical reactions affecting the water and air quality. Other researchers in Canada and Europe noticed some differences in the ions found in the grime. In Canadian and North American cities there was more Cl⁻ ions due to them using road salts in the winter. In Europe more sulfur was found in the grime in cities due to coal combustion.
October 7, 2020:
“’Digital chemistry’ breakthrough turns words into molecules” October 2020 https://phys.org/news/2020-10-digital-chemistry-breakthrough-words-molecules.html
The scientists developed a robot called “chemical processing unit” that does work to create molecules. The robots are able to scan a paper and pull out the necessary information about the molecules. Although there have been other robots developed for chemistry, these robots require very little help from humans. These robots are so useful because they could read hundreds of years of reading worth for humans in a very short period of time by pulling out the most important information.
October 8, 2020:
“Nobel chemistry prize awarded to 2 scientists for developing CRISPR gene editing tool” October 2020 https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/nobel-prize-chemistry-2020-1.5753279
Two scientists developed a way to edit genes. The tool CRISPR-Cas9 can edit the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision. This new technique can help rid genetic diseases from humans like sickle cell. Despite the fact that it was only developed in 2012 the method is already widely used by scientists who are developing new plants and drugs for humans.
October 9, 2020:
“Plastic eating enzyme ‘cocktail’ heralds new hope for plastic waste” September 2020 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200928152913.htm
The combination of enzymes MHETase-PETase return plastic in their monomer form, where it can be recycled. The PETase enzyme attacks the surface of the plastic while MHETase chops things up into finer pieces. This process mimics what would happen in nature over hundreds or thousands of years. Because MHETase-PETase return plastic to its original monomers it makes it easier for it to be recycled. This new discovery will help lower plastic waste a lot more quickly as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more recycled plastic being used in replacement of more plastic being produced.
October 13, 2020:
“Chemists create new crystal form of insecticide, boosting its ability to fight mosquitoes and malaria” October 2020 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201012152049.htm
Malaria currently infects 200 million people every year and kills 400 000. People spray insecticides such as deltamethrin in the air and on bed nets to kill the mosquitos and stop the spread. Researchers heated up the deltamethrin to 110 °C and cooled them down, which caused the substance to form long chains that are 12 times faster at killing mosquitoes than deltamethrin that’s not been crystalized. This new discovery is especially important as there is a projection of higher malaria cases due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
October 14, 2020:
“You can get reinfected with Covid-19 but may still have immunity. Let’s explain.” October 2020 https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/8/24/21399041/covid-19-reinfection-nevada hong-kong-case-immunity
It is possible to get reinfected with Covid-19 and this reinfection may cause more severe symptoms than the first time. However people who have already had the virus will have memory-B cells that save the instructions for producing a particular antibody (kills the virus in fluids in the body). These cells may prevent but not guarantee that a person becomes reinfected. It’s possible that when reinfection occurs it is because antibodies that are the initial immune response are in short supply from fighting the coronavirus or something like the flu.
October 15, 2020:
“Coronavirus is in the air. Here’s how to get it out.” September 2020
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/8/19/21364031/coronavirus-air-purifiers filter-hepa-merv-ventilation
The amount of people infected by Covid from touching something is very low. This virus is airborne and can spread to people further than 6 feet away, this is especially common in indoor spaces where no new air is moving into the area. The main way to decrease the spread is to limit the number of people allowed in an indoor space. The next most effective thing to do is to ventilate (increase the amount of outdoor space going into an indoor space); this helps remove any of the virus that was in the air and replace it with noninfected air. For buildings the size of a home the air is exchanged once every 1 to 2 hours, for areas of this size where groups of people are gathering the exchange rate should be six exchanges per hour. Furthermore air filters with MEVR-13 design or higher may get rid of particles 0.3-10 microns and will be effective in removing the virus if the building cannot get better ventilation or windows can’t be opened due to it being too cold outside. The safest option is always to gather outside.
October 19, 2020:
“Octopus-inspired sucker transfers thin, delicate tissue grafts and biosensors” October 2020 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201016164312.htm
Doctors and researchers are inspired by octopuses for tissue transplant. They used the same hydrogel as the animals. This new method helps reduce the risk of contamination as it can be transplanted more quickly.
October 28, 2020:
“Prebiotic chemistry: in the beginning there was sugar” October 2020
Researchers discovered the presence of organic molecules when they simulated the conditions found on Earth 4 billion years ago. When the researchers passed an electric current (to simulate lightning) through the water they found there were amino acids and organic compounds. The researchers discovered formic acid which can be reduced to formaldehyde to form sugars. These sugars were the base of genetic compounds like DNA or RNA.
November 18, 2020:
“Bipolar doping” https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1168671/bipolar-doping.html November 2020
The researchers found that the semiconductor gallium oxide is thought to be a good use for power electrons. The researchers found that the molecule has a large valence electron band, meaning that it is a good conductor. The researchers discovered that hydrogen can be stored in the gallium oxide lattice and it can be doped to have a positive or negative end, making it a bipolar doping.