by Kathleen Castner
The Helix’s science column features brief summaries about new and exciting findings in different fields of science.
Health & Medicine: Neurology and COVID-19
A study published on April 6th, 2021 in The Lancet found that six months after a person was diagnosed with COVID-19, 1 in 3 patients showed psychiatric and neurological symptoms. This included depression, strokes, and mood swings.
However, another study published in the journal Brain reported that COVID-19 patients had very low traces of the virus in their brains. Neuropathologists debunked the theory that the virus may enter the brain after it penetrates the olfactory mucosa that causes loss of smell and taste.
So, how does COVID-19 affect the brain? There are medical conditions associated with COVID-19 that causes a decrease of oxygen supply to the brain. This includes stroke, blood clots, and hypoxia. In addition, micrologia, immune cells in the brain, can be activated by the COVID-19 spike protein. Furthermore, micrologia can attack neurons and cause permanent damage.
Many COVID-19 “long-haulers'' report “brain fog” for months after other symptoms clear up. They report confusion and difficulty focusing. Doctors are now looking into prescribing the EndeavorRX video game to cure this. EndeavorRX was the first-ever video game to be approved by the FDA as a mental health treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the game, players steer an aircraft through obstacle courses. Faith Gunning, a neuropsychologist at Cornell, thinks that this can have implications for treating COVID-19 survivors experiencing “brain fog.”
Life Sciences: Malnutrition
Physician-scientists at Tufts University discovered an approach to “cure” malnutrition in children: feeding gut bacteria. Previously, 15 gut bacterias have been identified which are imperative for normal growth and development in children. Researchers compiled a mixture of foods that would encourage the growth of these healthy bacterias. They called this combination MDCF-2 and fed it to toddlers in Bangladesh for three months. Periodically, they collected blood samples and feces from this group and a control group.
MDCF-2 boosted blood components that regulate growth. Additionally, the supplement contributed to a growth rate of two times that of the control group that didn’t receive the supplement. Follow up studies are needed, however. Still, this is a crucial finding in the quest to improve the lives of 30,000 malnourished children.
Physical Sciences: Raindrops
How large can raindrops be? A study published on March 15 in the journal JGR Planets compiled equations for measuring shape, size, velocity, and evaporation rate of a raindrop on any planetary body. There are some extraterrestrial destinations whose raindrops are different substances than Earth’s water raindrops. For instance, the exoplanet WASP-76b’s raindrops are made up of iron. The most surprising find was that worlds with a stronger gravitational pull had smaller maximum-size raindrops than those with weaker gravity. Earth’s raindrops can be up to 0.4 inches wide, Jupiter’s raindrops can be up to 0.25 inches wide, and Titan’s methane-drops can be over one inch wide.
Science in Pictures:
The Hubble Space Telescope produced this beautiful image of a galaxy named NGC 2336. NGC 2336 is located 100 million light-years away from Earth. With its picturesque young blue stars twinkling around its star-dense center, no wonder it is dubbed the “quintessential” galaxy.
Lightning in the Arctic is rare, but a new study shows that lightning is striking the Arctic at a much quicker rate than it did a decade ago. This is because the Arctic is warming up. Lightning occurs when ice crystals in convecting storm clouds collide and transfer electrical charge. The charge separation builds up and a lightning bolt is released. Global warming is leading to more convective storms which explain the strikes in the Arctic.
Human activity is destroying seagrass. Seagrass plays an important role in regulating the ocean environment and acidity since it is a storage factory for carbon dioxide. In fact, it stores twice as much carbon as forests do on land. Seagrass meadows are believed to be retreating around 7% per year globally. Though countries realize how helpful seagrass can be in curbing climate change, they are beginning to assess their seagrass carbon stock.
Sources
1. Taquet, M., Geddes, J. R., Husain, M., Luciano, S. (2021). 6-month neurological and psychiatric outcomes in 236 379 survivors of COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records. The Lancet, 8(5), 416-427. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(21)00084-5/fulltext#seccestitle170
2. Thakur, K. (2021). COVID-19 neuropathology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital. Brain. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awab148
3. Wetsman, M. (2021, April 19). Doctors are testing a prescription video game for COVID-19 ‘brain fog’. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/19/22391587/long-covid-brain-cognitive-treatment-video-game-akili
4. Pennissi, E. (2021, April 7). Food supplements that alter gut bacteria could ‘cure’ malnutrition. Science Magazine. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/food-supplements-alter-gut-bacteria-could-cure-malnutrition
5. Loftus, K., Wordsworth, R. (2021). The Physics of Falling Raindrops in Diverse Planetary Atmospheres. JGR Planets. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JE006653
6. Brabaw, K. (2021, March 22). Stunning Hubble image shows a big galaxy full of blue stars. Space.com. https://www.space.com/hubble-photo-blue-spiral-galaxy-ngc-2336
7. Witze, A. (2020, December 17). Is lightning striking the Arctic more than ever before?. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03561-1
8. Perre, C. & Prentice, A. (2021, April 8). Shrinking sea meadows store more carbon than forests. Scientists are racing to track what’s left. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/shrinking-sea-meadows-store-more-carbon-than-forests-scientists-are-racing-track-2021-04-08/