A couple of Questions, a couple of Answers

In my signature, you see me asking for scientific topics you’re interested in. I’m not getting many questions but sometimes there are some that I can use. In other cases though, the question sits on my list of topics for weeks and months and is never answered. Today I chose to explore those topics that have been there for a while.

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HIV and Sickle Cell Disease

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@thegoldenphoenix once asked me about the connection between HIV and sickle cell disease (SCD). I knew that SCD is effective to prevent death from malaria, as the person who contracts malaria won’t be overpowered by the disease. But HIV? Sounded like fake news.

A simple google search revealed that no, there seems to be a connection, although studies aren’t quite sure what exactly is happening. Those who have SCD seem to be less frequently infected with HIV. And if they are infected, the progression from HIV to AIDS is a lot slower than for those without SCD. _@suesa

At the same time, cases of hepatitis B and hepatitis C seem to be slightly more frequent for those with SCD.

It seems that sickle cell disease while being an illness that’s generally not desirable, might have the potential for a treatment of HIV and malaria. How exactly that can happen is a different question entirely, but just the knowledge that there is something we can research is great already.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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Black Men and Razor Bumps

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A clean-shaven face is a sign that someone is taking care of themselves, right? Well, many people at least seem to think so. But how awful is it when shortly after achieving that smooth-skin look, tiny bumps that get infected turn up all over your face!

@greenrun asked me if there’s a reason why especially black men seem to suffer this fate.

The condition described above is called pseudofolliculitis barbae and is caused by the fact that especially black hair is really curly. It turns and twists which can cause it to bury itself back into the skin. Shaving the hair also sharpens the tip of it which makes the effect even more severe.

The skin reacts to this ingrown hair like it would to a foreign object, which is already unpleasant in itself. But at the same time, the affected area is prone to bacterial infections which worsens the effects.

According to one of the sources I linked below, about 83% of all black men suffer from this phenomenon. It’s not exclusive to them though, the shaving or waxing of pubic hair can lead to the same problems in people of all skin colors, as pubic hair is usually thicker and curlier.

There are several procedures that promise to help with razor bumps, from creams to lasers, but they are often really expensive, ineffective or lead to other problems.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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Black Holes

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@wiplala87 requested “something about black holes”. For a moment I considered researching some fun facts and then writing about them, until I realized that it would be bullshit. I’m not good with physics. I study biology, so biology and chemistry are what I’m good (or at least okay) at. I’m not really qualified to write about black holes!

Someone who is qualified is @lemouth , who is currently planning to write about black holes at some point during the next week. So, if you’re generally interested in physics, head over to his blog and click “follow”. And even if you’re like me and physics is really not your kind of science, you should still have a look. It’s really interesting.

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Dr. Masaru Emoto and his Water Experiments

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When @rawdawg suggested I should look into Dr. Masaru Emoto, I thought “yeah, why not, never heard of that guy. Maybe I can learn something new!”.

Then I checked him out. And let out a deep sigh.

Dr. Emoto wanted to test the freezing of water and formation of snow crystals under a variety of conditions. So far, so good. Quote:

It was 1994 when the idea to freeze water and observe it with microscope came upon me. With this method, I was convinced that I should be able to see something like snow crystals.
After two months of trial and error, this idea bore fruit. The beautifully shining hexagonal crystals were created from the invisible world…

Sounds not too bad, does it? So, what were the conditions?

1. Observe the crystal of frozen water after showing
2. letters to water
3. Showing pictures to water
4. Playing music to water
5. Praying to water

I’m sure you can understand my amusement. He couldn’t be serious? But apparently, he was.

The result was that we always observed beautiful crystals after giving good words, playing good music, and showing, playing, or offering pure prayer to water. On the other hand, we observed disfigured crystals in the opposite situation

As a scientist, you should generally keep an open mind. I read more and more about the experiment. Several sources stated that his study was flawed and easily manipulated. The conclusion that the human consciousness has an effect on the behavior of water can be discarded, at least if you just base it on his experiments.

A bit later, Dr. Emoto did another experiment, with rice this time. One glass of rice was insulted, the other one praised. Again, many conditions were not factored in and/or easily manipulated.

Don’t believe everything you read, especially if it sounds this magical. Check if the “study” can actually call itself that and isn’t just pseudo-science.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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Pictures were taken from pixabay.com

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Today’s Suesa’s favorite is: @m31

Do you need to tune out the world for a while? Do you want beautiful watercolor art along with some thoughts about art on Steemit? Get into the Christmas mood with Lily the hedgehog or have some poetry with another beautiful painting.

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_{Monster GIF was made for me by @saywha and @atopy}