This last week in science was fascinating. As I was reading through all my science newsletters, I decided to compile some of my favourite ones and put them in a weekly blog. Buckle up for some science fun!
Bees used for mental health therapy?
The first article that made me go "yay!" was an article about bees. I have a soft spot for them. A big soft spot. I don't think there is even a word for how unique and necessary bees are, and yes, I am talking about all bees, not just the honey ones!
There is an apiary in Philadelphia called Half Mad Honey that uses apiary therapy to help people struggling with their mental state. They practice mindfulness and stress tolerance in 90-minute sessions. Like any other animal therapy, they are helping people to reach a better state of mind and have a better life quality.
They put the participant in a situation that can be stressful and teach them how to recognize their emotions, cope with them, control them, and how they can apply that to their daily lives. The therapist asks them to relax while in session (using their beekeeping suits, of course). They use breathing, talking calmly, and self-awareness of their bodies to see if they have any tension or any pain. Their goal is to bring down that alarming feeling triggered by a stressful situation (in this case, the bees). They have to sit still, breathe, relax, and be mindful of their surroundings to have control of their behaviors. During this process, they will watch the bees work, try to identify the queen, and sometimes even eat some honey straight from the comb.
I think that is amazing, and it is not the first time that bees have been used for therapy. Maybe I will get back to that one another day cause we have more to talk about!
New eco-friendly way of separate rare earth elements.
There is a group of elements called Rare Earth Elements (REE's) that are essential to our everyday lives. They are used for electronics such as smartphones, DVD players, laptops, hybrid cars, and national defense. The problem with those elements is that the current extraction methods rely on strong chemicals, are laborious, produce a large amount of waste, and have an extremely high cost, which is not good for the environment and can also elevate the final price product.
But this new method can change all of that. First, it will change the source of these materials. Typically, these materials are not extracted from sources called "low grade," which means that they could not be extracted from industrial waste or electronic waste because it was too mixed with other materials. The new method will use a bacteria called Lanmodulin when they will isolate a protein from it, and this protein can do a better job at separating the REE's. This protein can be used in many cycles, and it can be an excellent alternative to the harsh extraction methods used today.
How are exercise, your gut, and Parkinson's disease, related?
Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the nervous system that affects an individual's motor skills. Some scientists were exploring the relationship between the brain and the guts of an affected person because, other than the already known symptoms, patients can also suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms. The study shows that the patient can experience these gastrointestinal symptoms because the gut microbiome is not working as it should, so the scientists wondered: Can exercise also help with the other symptoms?
Scientists still have a long way to go since they don't have enough data yet, and they have many questions to answer. But for now, it is fascinating thinking that you can exercise to help your guts to help your brain!
Birds are learning how to recognize plants where dangerous insects live in.
Birds are fascinating and brilliant creatures. When they learned that insects with a specific vibrant coloration could be toxic and harmful to them, they started to avoid other animals with the same coloration. But a study from the University of Bristol has shown that they not only learned that, but they also were capable of recognizing the plants that these dangerous insects live on and started to avoid those plants too.
The scientists made artificial cinnabar caterpillars with this unique warning pigmentation and fake caterpillars that don't have the pigmentation (meaning they were not harmful). They placed them in two types of plants; a toxic (ragwort) and a non-toxic (bramble). Both "fake-caterpillars" survived better on the ragwort, which means that the birds were targeting the insects in the bramble plant and leaving the toxic plant alone.
The cinnabar caterpillars live on the ragwort plant, and this plant already has some unique yellow flowers, so the birds learned not only to avoid the harmful insects, but also to avoid the plant because it will probably contain the toxic caterpillars. The study also showed that the camouflaged caterpillars on those plants would also benefit, even if they were OK to eat because the birds would just avoid the whole plant.
That is so amazing. Nature always finds a way to make me go "wow." It's incredible to see how the birds just learned this feature for their survival.
That's is it for this week. See you next week!
Jessika Lisboa
