Brainstorm on GMOs

Hi readers!

Today I’m going to talk a little bit about GMOs, which stands for Genetically Modified Organisms, and I’m also going to explain my opinion on this subject. Before I start, I want to make clear that I’m going to focus on organisms meant for human feeding (mostly vegetables), mainly because covering the whole subject of GMOs would take massive explanation on topics I don’t even begin to comprehend. Having said this, let’s start.

First of all we have to know what GMOs are in the first place; according to wikipedia, "A genetically modified organism​  (​ GMO​ ) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques’’. And how can this be useful for us?

• They have given plants resistance to droughts, pests and diseases since 1996, and also increasing massively the average yields and its sustainability, decreasing the cost of production, and therefore, the general cost of products on this sector without decreasing its income to their producers.
• It can provide us with cheaper ways of obtaining bio chemicals, and hormones, like insulin, which can be now easily produced by genetically modified bacteria, instead of having to use full grown mammals, like pigs and cows, to extract the hormones from their livers.

There are thousands of uses more, but for the sake shortness of this post, you’ll have to research them by yourself.

Then, Why don’t we use this technology more often? The answer is ignorance. A great percentage of people think that GMOs are bad, mostly because people tend to smack gibberish about what they fear. There are rumours that say that GMOs can generate from economic crisis to cancer, but all of them are just nonsense, which may be originated from the misunderstanding of research articles to the association of nuclear power (which is the origin of cancer misconception) with any kind of genetic alteration. There are too many ‘’fiction tales’’ out there for me to explain them all, but I’ll try to give some basic ideas on this technology.

First of all, I have to say this, or I swear my head will explode: THERE IS NO NUCLEAR ACTIVITY INVOLVED. Having that out of the way, you can sit down, there’s a long path ahead:

• Opposite to popular belief, GMOs are exhaustively tested, and go through lots of laboratories and standards before it even reaches the soil (FDA,EPA,USDA,etc…), which means that you probably won’t have your ‘’tomaco’’ soon.
• Pesticides GMOs produce are much worse than ‘’old’’pesticides. Although it would be good news for farmers who unconsciously mix all the pesticides available like it was some kind of shampoo mix laboratory scientist we all played to be in the shower when we were kids, it’s not like that. Recent studies have shown how their pesticides only affect their targets, and don’t kill the bees or your children.

In conclusion, GMOs are too demonized, but if you research a little bit, you’ll discover they aren’t bad at all, and definitely not responsible of any dementors, wingardium leviosa or Illuminatis, just some ol’ regular veggies, that won’t kill people.

Hydrogen as fuel?

There is little hydrogen in the Earth. Most of it is in water mixed with oxigen, there is plenty of it there. However, there is a huge amount of hydrogen in other parts of our solar system, like the Sun or Jupiter, but there is a problem, we can´t reach it!

The only way we can reach it is by the electrolysis of water. It consists of separating hydrogen from oxygen using electricity. The problem of using electricity is that to make electricity we pollute. That’s why some scientists are trying to provoke this separation by using sunlight.

To make hydrogen efficient, we use fuel cells. There are machines developed by the NASA which combine hydrogen and oxygen to make heat, electricity and water. For instance, astronauts use fuel cells to obtain water and energy in the space. The technology is developing, but in the future fuel cells will be able to provide energy to whole cities.

Nowadays, there are already cars that use hydrogen as a fuel, it is fantastic! They don´t pollute! Cars manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Lexus are working in the development of FCVs (fuel cell vehicles). These are hybrid vehicles which have an hydrogen fuel cell, which works with a battery to power an electric motor.

The only problem of having a FCV is that there are very few places where you can refill your car. However, if more people buy FCVs more fuel stations will have hydrogen to fuel our cars.

Contagious Yawning

Hello, what’s up guys? Today I'm going to talk you about something very curious and that probably most of you don’t know why it happens.

Yesterday, my father told me that on his way to Madrid by train he was talking with one friend when he started yawning; suddenly his friend started yawning too. Seconds later, one of the passengers from the seat in front of them, and another that was sitting next to my father, started yawning too. It was a contagious yawing!!! Does this situation ring a bell with you? Has that never happened to you? For example when you’re in a conversation with another person and he casually yawns. As you wonder whether he's bored with the discussion, you will find that you're yawning too. Also when a man;walking by, sees you yawning, and pretty soon he yawns; and it's carried on and on, passing from one person to another in a domino effect. It is pretty funny, but do you know why this happens?

Scientists are still investigating what makes us yawn, but there is a well-known fact: yawning is contagious. Scientists say that much of the yawning is due to suggestibility. You don't need to see a person yawn to involuntarily yawn yourself; hearing someone yawn or even reading about yawning can cause the same reaction.

Previous studies about yawing suggested that there is a connection between contagious yawning and empathy. However, then they discovered that contagious yawning decreases as people age and may not be associated with empathy. Now, a new study supports that it isn’t related to facts as empathy, tiredness or energy levels.

And that’s all folks! I hope that with this you have learned a little more about yawing and that you have enjoyed it.