Bi-Monthly Newsletter February 2011| Volume 2, Issue 3

Bi-Monthly Newsletter

February 2011| Volume 2, Issue 3

Most Toxic Things on Earth " From smog to caffeine, we live in a world where everything has hazardous potential, but what are some of

the most toxic things on Earth?" ...continued on page 2

Up Close and Personal With... Professor Roberta Fulthorpe: " I have been studying the origins, genetics and diversity of bacteria that degrade toxic organic compounds in wastewaters and soils. "

...continued on page 3

The Big Bang Theory

As the semester goes on we all need a break from school, one way that I like to unwind after a long day of labs, test, and assignments is watch my favourite show, The Big Bang Theory. The show, which has been an instant hit among many people, first premiered on CBS on September 24 2007 is now up to 4 seasons and 78 episodes. We thought after watching 78 episodes of the show, you might want to know a few interesting, behind the scenes facts.

It might be hard to imagine but the characters Leonard and Sheldon in the show are actors and not physicists. All the physics content in the show has been provided by technical consultant, Dr. David Saltzberg, who is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In addition to providing content for the show he was also hired to check the scientific accuracy of the scripts and consult with both the cast and the crew. He runs a very interesting blog about the physics principles used in each episode which can be found here: .

Another fun fact is that the theme song that is played during the opening title of each show is called The History of Everything which was written and record Canadian alternative rock band, Barenaked Ladies. The entire song is about 3 minutes long, is only partially played in the opening title, so we thought it would be nice to actually know the lyrics to the song.

...continued on page 4

CONTENTS

1 The Big Bang Theory 2 Most Toxic Things 3 Professor Interviews 4 The Big Bang cont...

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Most Toxic Things on Earth

We wanted to explore some of Mother Nature's most dangerous and most of the time fatal toxins. It was once stated by Paracelsus that anything can become toxic to the body, it all depends on the dosage. Just look up the MSDS (Medical Safety Data Sheet) of sodium chloride (table salt) which at very high concentrations can cause a range of symptoms from the harmless irritation of tissues to the more serious, dehydration or prostration (severe fatigue). From smog to caffeine, we live in a world where everything has hazardous potential. In this article we reveal a few of the real "nasties", they definitely do more damage to the human body than table salt.

Most Toxic Plant: Oleander

It's hard to believe but this pretty, unassuming plant is extremely toxic from root to shoot. Ingestion of 10-20 leaves can cause some serious adverse reactions in adults including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, irregular heart rate, seizures, coma, even death. It is however interesting to note that despite being one of the most poisonous plants on earth, the oleander is often grown in gardens as ornamental plants.

Most Toxic Animal: Chironex fleckeri or Sea Wasp

If you ask anyone what the most venomous animal on earth was, most would say that it would be a snake or an insect. In actual fact it is the Chironex fleckeri or Sea Wasp, a species of box jellyfish, which contains enough venom to kill 60 full grown humans in under three minutes. The sixty tentacles of these creatures of the sea sting with a noxious venom that attacks the nervous system, heart and skin causing cardiac arrest that ultimately kills the target.

Most Toxic Chemical Warfare Agent: VX Nerve Agent

VX, a V-series nerve agent, which is also known as Deadly Mist, was classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations in 1991. Less than a milligram of the substance through the contact with the skin or through inhalation can cause death in humans. VX is especially dangerous due to its long persistence in the environment after its release.

Most Toxic Pollutants in the Environment: The Dirty Dozen

The twelve persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were identified by the Stockholm convention in 2001 as being chemicals that persist in the environment after their release. The characteristics of these POPs include long range transport potential, can bioaccumulate in organisms, and at certain doses are toxic. Long term exposure can cause damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, cancers, reproductive disorders, and disruption of the immune and endocrine systems. The discussion of the negative effect of POPs started with the discovery of the negative impacts of DDT, one of the dirty dozen, by Rachael Carson who wrote about the issue in her infamous book, Silent Spring. This book sparked public interest in chemicals that affect human health and so began the wave of environmental science.

Most Toxic "Recreational" Chemical: Heroin

"Heroin, be the death of me/ Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life/ Because a mainer to my vein/ Leads to a center in my head/ And then I'm better off and dead" (The Velvet Underground). As sung by the American rock band, The Velvet Underground, images of addiction, lives spinning out of control, even death come to mind at the thought of heroin. Aside from the social destruction that it causes, heroin is one of the most dangerous recreational drugs simply because unlike other drugs, its lethal dose is less than its effective dose (the dose that produces the desired effect of the drug) making it incredibly easy to fatally overdose on.

-Nisha Nithyanathan

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COPYRIGHT ? 2011 | E.P.S.A. | ENVIRONMENTAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH...

Professor Roberta Fulthorpe

Q: What is currently the focus of areas. I like canoeing, camping,

your research?

mushroom hunting, and travelling. If

A: I have been studying the origins, I am stuck in the city I am happiest genetics and diversity of bacteria reading or shopping for tools.

that degrade toxic organic com- Q: What is your best memory of pounds in wastewaters and soils. I your university experience? am currently concentrating more on

natural forests and boreal forest sys- A: During my undergraduate degree,

tems, and on application of next I took a snow ecology course that

generation sequencing methods to involved us roaming around a

the exploration of the diversity of nearby forest at -10 C. During this

phylogenetic, functional and reasso- course we were told about all the

Q: What courses are you teaching ciation genes. I have a particular different organisms that were active

this semester?

interest in the capabilities of plant at that temperature. We set out live

endophytes.

traps and went back the next day

A: I am teaching two undergraduate

that proved to us that mice, shrews

courses this semester; one is " Field Courses are great! and other rodents are active in trails

EESC30, Microbial Biogeochemis- ... There is no substitute for beneath the snow all winter long. It

try, which is a survey of microor- students actually seeing was eye openings that proved winter

ganisms and their role in biogeo- things for themselves " is not just a dormant time the crea-

chemical cycles. The other course is

- R. Fulthorpe

tures of the woods. My best memory

EESB16, Feeding Humans, which

from my PhD was when I obtained

talks about the changes in agriculture from ancient times through con-

Q: What courses do you think should be added to the course list?

the proof that the bacterial genes I had introduced to microcosms in

ventional agriculture of the last cen- A: I feel that we should offer a order to break down pollutants had

tury and the incorporation of biotechnology into those processes and what it means for ecosystem sustainability.

course in multivariate statistics because it is really important to research in the environmental science field, where you receive large data

transferred ria.

to

new,

different bacte-

-Tiffany Kwok & Danny Tat

sets that have many different vari-

Q: Which universities did you at- ables. You need to be able manipu-

tend for your undergraduate and late the data and be able to use the

graduate degrees?

complicated statistical methods to

My "FAVS"

Favourite Drink:

sort out what is real and what isn't. A: I went to Carleton University in Ottawa and then went on to do a I also think that field courses are masters degree at the University of great; we need a biodiversity field Toronto in the Zoology department course. There is no substitute for jointly with their Institute of Envi- students actually seeing things for ronmental Studies Program in Envi- themselves. ronmental Management. I then did

Soda Water Favourite Sport:

Swimming Favourite Subject:

Biology Favourite Animal:

Zebras

my PhD starting in the Botany de- Q: What are your interests outside

partment of University of Toronto, of school?

when my supervisor transferred to Carleton University, in their Biology

A: Building on my lake property. I enjoy spending time outdoors ex-

department; I followed him back to ploring the biodiversity of different

that university to complete my PhD.

Favourite Vacation Spot: Belize

Favourite Movie: Avatar

PAGE 3 | FEB 2011 | The SPECTRUM NEWSLETTER

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Big Bang continued...

One final interesting fact would be that the two main characters of the

show, Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, are named after the producer,

director, actor and writer, Sheldon Leonard who had a career in television from

1934-1996. Also Leonard's last name, Hofstadter, refers to Robert Hofstadler

and his son Douglas Hofstadter. Robert Hofstadler was a physicist, who won the

Nobel Prize in Physics in 1961 for his work in discovering the structure of nucle-

ons. His son, Douglas, who researches consciousness and cognition and has

written the bestselling book about philosophy and mathematics that revolves

around the works of Kurt G?del (mathematician who studied logic and set the-

ory), M.C. Escher (artist of mathematically inspired images), and Johann Sebas-

tian Bach (famous musician/composer) called G?del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal

Golden Braid.

-Danny Tat

Lyrics for The History of Everything by the Barenaked Ladies Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,

Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started, wait... The Earth began to cool,

The autotrophs began to drool, Neanderthals developed tools, We built a wall (we built the pyramids), Math, science, history, unravelling the mysteries, That all started with the big bang!

"Since the dawn of man" is really not that long, As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song.

A fraction of a second and the elements were made. The bipeds stood up straight,

The dinosaurs all met their fate, They tried to leap but they were late And they all died (they froze their asses off)

The oceans and pangea See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya Set in motion by the same big bang!

It all started with the big BANG!

It's expanding ever outward but one day It will cause the stars to go the other way, Collapsing ever inward, we won't be here, it won't be heard Our best and brightest figure that it'll make an even bigger bang!

Australopithecus would really have been sick of us Debating how we're here, they're catching deer (we're catching viruses) Religion or astronomy, Encarta, Deuteronomy It all started with the big bang!

Music and mythology, Einstein and astrology It all started with the big bang! It all started with the big BANG!

Comic

If you have any questions or comments about this publication please feel free to contact our editorial

team at:

thespectrum@myepsa.ca

Chief Editor - Tiffany Kwok Content Manager - Anthony Leung Creative Editor - Piranavi Jeyagaran

Design Editor - Derrick Lim

Environmental and Physical sciences Students' Association

University of Toronto Scarborough

1265 Military Trail, Office SW520A

Toronto, Ontario

M1C 1A4

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