Obligatory Leftorium photo in any post about left-handedness.
So why are there so few lefties? One study suggests that the reason lefties are in the minority is that humans cooperate more than we compete. But the question still stands, Why Does Handedness Even Exist? The most common answer is that handedness is determined by the structure of our brains, specifically brain lateralization, referring to the fact that the two halves of our brain are not exactly alike, each with its own functional specialization. Joe Hanson of It’s OK to Be Smart made a great video explaining why some people are left handed.
Despite all of the numerous drawbacks, I am happy to be a lefty, just like these powerful lefties, and if you are lucky enough to have a partner who is a lefty, you might be pretty happy too.
First up some background information, mainly, what is gluten? Jimmy Kimmel recently asked a bunch of fitness enthusiasts, many of whom practice gluten free diets, that very question.
ASAPScience took a bit more of a scientific approach in answering that question.
Both of these videos rightfully note that there is a significant portion of the population (~ 2 million, or 1 in every 141 Americans) that has celiac disease, for which eating gluten has very serious and unpleasant effects. The latter video also notes that there is a portion of the population that has non-celiac gluten intolerance. This discovery stemmed from a 2011 paper which, based on a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial (pretty much a gold standard), concluded that a non-celiac gluten intolerance may exist, but they weren’t able to determine a mechanism by which to support this conclusion. This paper helped usher in an era of awareness about gluten intolerance as well as a boom in the availability of gluten-free products.
However, the authors weren’t quite satisfied with their results and wanted to explore the issue further. They designed a more rigorous study, aiming to control some of the factors they weren’t able to in their 2011 study, involving 37 non-celiac subjects who self reported as feeling better on a gluten-free diet. In this new study (published in August 2013 to little fanfare until Real Clear Science brought it to light on May 14th), subjects were provided with all of their meals which allowed the researchers to removed any other dietary triggers which might confound their results, such as lactose, benzoates, propionate, sulfites, nitrites, and what would turn out to be most import, fermentable, poorly absorbed short-chain carbohydrates or FODMAPs (the short hand coming from fermentable, oligo-, di-, mono–saccharides and polyols). In the study the subjects were fed a diet low in FODMAPs for two weeks to establish a baseline, then they were randomly and blindly assigned to one of three diets (low gluten, high gluten, or placebo, which was whey protein) for a week. Over the course of the study each subject was exposed to each diet, allowing them to act as their own control. The results are a bit confusing, but in each treatment, whether it included gluten or not, subjects reported a worsening of gastrointestinal symptoms. A secondary experiment, where the placebo was the exact same as the baseline diet, still saw subjects reporting a worsening of symptoms! The short of it was, that subjects were reporting gastrointestinal distress without any apparent physical cause, this is not a placebo, but rather a nocebo effect, which New York Magazine writes about quite nicely. This suggests that gluten’s horrible image, which is perpetuated by some best selling books and questionable TV personalities, is enough to set off a very real negative physical response (e.g., bloating, general gastro discomfort) in some people after they have eaten it.
In addition to somewhat exonerating gluten in its role in gastro distress, this paper casts light onto a new food villain, FODMAPs. The results demonstrate that a reduction of FODMAPs in the subjects diets uniformly reduced gastrointestinal symptoms and fatigue. Some of the largest dietary sources of FODMAPs are bread products, so by going gluten-free, you also reduce your FODMAPs intake (and possibly even increase your calorie and fat content as many gluten-free foods, such as gluten-free pizza crust, need to add extra calories and fat to make a crust that tastes good and holds itself together, but that is another issue). While this study does have some very interesting conclusions, it is just one study, with a very small and unique population, and as always, more research is needed.
So for the millions of people who have felt better after going gluten free, consider that it might not have been the gluten that was the culprit, but FODMAPs, or a nocebo. Eating food should be fun, and should only ever be complicated or restrictive when there are valid scientific and medical reasons, and not because of a fad or TV personality claims.
A local Guelph barbershop was quick to jump on the gluten free bandwagon. I think I will hold out for the FODMAPs free cuts.
Wolves are awesome animals. They can been seen on our clothes, our money, and throughout our popular culture.They can come in many colors like red, white, grey, and maybe green. Red wolves (Canis rufus) are critically endangered with about 100 currently living in the wild, the wild being the Albemarle Peninsula of North Carolina, which is the only place where Red wolves exist, and sadly their future doesn’t look that great. White wolves (Canis lupus arctos) are a actually a subspecies of the grey wolf (Canis lupus), and are remarkable creatures. To celebrate the coolness of the wolf, here are a sampling of wolf related links and goodness.
832F was one of many wolves that had been outfitted with a GPS tracking collar that allowed scientists and the public to track wolf packs, which is pretty cool.
The wolves of Yellowstone were re-introduced in 1995, and the amazing impact that their re-introduction had on the ecosystem is wonderfully described in this video.
Part of the reason wolves get hunted is for conservation and intensive management efforts, and this article does a great job of describing the role wolves play in ecology, and why we sometimes hate and fear the wolf.
This article discuses wolf ecology on Isle Royale, where things are a bit more tricky because of the dynamics of island life. The three conservation options discussed are to conserve Isle Royale’s wolf population by taking new wolves to the island to mitigate inbreeding, an action known as genetic rescue; to reintroduce wolves to the island, if and when they go extinct; or to do nothing, essentially the conservation equivalent of Star Trek’s Prime Directive. The debate is ongoing, but things are not looking good for these wolves.
The howl of the wolf is unmistakable and can be equal parts terrifying and awe-inspiring. Interestingly, wolves use their howl for more than just terrifying us, but also to communicate to friends.
Wolves are all over television, between True Blood, Teen Wolf, Bitten, DoctorWho, Being Human (UK and US), wolves, or rather werewolves, are very hot right now.
The reason I list Save the Date as a wolf movie, is because the band featured in the movie is called Wolf Bird, and one of the characters has a past time of following wolf-named bands, some of which are listed in this excellent graphic (section of which is seen on the left) by CBC music of the Taxonomy of a Band Name.
My recent “all quiet on the cyberfront” has been due to commitments to getting ready for a trip to San Francisco for a conference on flame retardants (more on that later). In the mean time, here is a quick summary of some of the highlights of my time in San Francisco, as experienced through a sensory overload and guided by my second cousin Mary, who is celebrating a birthday today, Happy Birthday Mary!
A lemon tree grows on the grounds on Jacuzzi Winery
The freshness of all the food really stands out, be it the backyard meyer lemons, the asparagus, caught that day sushi, Yuubi Japanese Restaurant, the amazing local beer Lagunitas Beer, and the wines of Sonoma valley, specifically the Jacuzzi Winery, with its knowledgeable and friendly staff.
The Feels
The photoscopes, or original moving picture show booths, with colorful content at the Musee Mecanique
It is always good advice to be careful about what you touch, but at the Musée Mécanique touching and playing with all the coin operated fortune telling booths, games, and photoscopes is encouraged and awesome. The California Academy of Sciences has a stricter touching policy, but is still very cool and definitely worth a visit, particularly for the planetarium.
The Sounds
The sounds of the city, like the roar from The Giants Game, are quiet once you enter Grace Cathedral, although it is difficult appreciate the quietness when all you can hear in your head is The Decemberists Grace Cathedral Hill.
Looking on tree rings to find when I started this blog, just one ring in.
I started this blog one year ago, and have been posting on and off throughout that time, so to mark the occasion, I wanted to pull back the curtain and breakdown the traffic to On a Quasi-Related Note this past year.
When I started this blog I was in the process of writing up my PhD thesis, since then I have successfully defended, and been through convocation (jump to 41:46 to see me get hooded!). During this time I got a chance to write about subjects that interest me (e.g., Olympics, space, robots, birds, food, science, and toxicology), and as I am looking forward to getting on with the post-PhD life, I hope to keep blogging about interesting stories whenever I can. Cheers.
Here is a round up of some of the food stories that were causing a bit of a controversy this week.
Starter: Quinoa
A Guardian article by Joanna Blythman titled “Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa?” set off a firestorm in the foodie community by drawing attention to some ethical concerns about eating the pseudocereal. In the article she states that “the appetite of countries such as ours for this grain has pushed up prices to such an extent that poorer people in Peru and Bolivia, for whom it was once a nourishing staple food, can no longer afford to eat it. Imported junk food is cheaper. In Lima, quinoa now costs more than chicken.”
Dinner tonight, and lunch this week, beef vegetable quinoa soup
Main: Salmon
In December 2012 the FDA concluded that the AquAdvantage salmon, would have no significant impact on the environment. This was one of the last hurdles in getting this fish (which is already approved for human consumption), onto dinner plates, a process that has been ongoing for 17 years. For an excellent backgrounder on the issue, check out this post on BioFortified, and this piece by Slate.
The AquAdvantage salmon (AAS) is in most respects identical to an Atlantic salmon, except it has been genetically modified to include a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and a gene from an Ocean pout to keep that hormone turned on. This allows the AAS to produce their growth hormone (the Chinook and Atlantic growth hormones are the same, but the Chinook hormone is expressed differently), all year long, and in turn grow twice as fast as conventional salmon.
Many people are concerned that the AAS would escape into the natural habitat and breed with wild salmon, introducing the fast-growing gene into the population and perturbing the natural ecosystem, and debate the issue fiercely. However, the AAS would only be sold as females, have three sets of chromosomes (making them sterile and thus preventing new families of mutant fish or interbreeding with native populations), and would only be reared at inland facilities, either in outdoor ponds or in large tanks, making the likelihood of them mixing with wild populations very rare.
As discussed above, food labels can be confusing, and sometimes even shocking. Such was the case when consumers took a look at the ingredients on the new batch of Girl Scout cookies called Mango Crèmes with NutriFusion™. The surprise comes from the mix of ingredients in NutriFusion™, which are listed as nutrients from natural whole food concentrate of (cranberry, pomegranate, orange, grape, strawberry, shitake mushrooms), and also from the lack of any mango in these Mango Crèmes.
The Lunch Tray has a nice article on some of the recent criticisms launched towards Girl Scout cookies, and the trend of healthwashing and nutritionism, in foods.
Brominated vegetable oil is used as an emulsifier and stabilizer for flavoring oils used in fruit-flavored (mainly citrus) beverages, such as Mountain Dew, Squirt, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple, Powerade Strawberry Lemonade and Fresca Original Citrus. Much of the concern comes from the fact that it was originally patented as a flame retardant, and a harsh article in Scientific American.
However, Just Like Cooking offers an excellent critical review of the misinformation and misuse of terms used in the coverage of this story, and touches on the chemophobia that is becoming increasingly pervasive (future post about this coming soon).
And on a quasi-related note to that last link, in 2008 Haiti was struck by a series of hurricanes and storms in a very short time. As a result of the torrential rain, and years of deforestation, there were severe mudslides in much of the country. I had the opportunity to volunteer with Hands On Disaster Relief(now All Hands Volunteers), and help dig mud out of peoples homes and try and restore a sense of normalcy by getting a school cleared out and repainted. It was a humbling and inspiring experience, that I often feel guilty about having enjoyed so much. Leading up to my trip I was frequently asked, why wouldn’t I just write a cheque in the amount of my airfare to the organization, rather than going to Haiti myself. It was a fair question, one that I had grappled with for some time. While there is no doubt that monetary donations are crucial, the volunteer experience and the ‘global village’ it creates is a unique and important aspect. While on the ground in Haiti I was frequently asked by kids where I came from, and they were amazed to learn that I would travel from Canada to Haiti just to help them out and shovel mud. The feelings that both the locals and myself got from those interactions is not something that could have been captured with a cheque. On the next page are a few photos from my time in Haiti.
Every year around this time, “Best of” and “Year in Review” lists are complied, and they are awesome. Google summarized the highlights of 2012 quite nicely in a short video
Below is a Round Up of some of the “Best of” the “Best of the Year in Review Lists”.
Movies and Television
The top 5 films and tv shows that the World was searching for on Google
If you didn’t have a chance to see many movies this year, this supercut has you covered with all 182 movies released in 2012 mashed together in 6 minutes and 45 seconds
Pop (and K-pop; Best of K-Pop) music was big in 2012, and the mashup below demonstrates the state of pop music today, for better or worse.
Music videos were very popular in 2012, and despite not getting much airplay on television the power of the internet showed that they are still relevant. Buzzfeed (which has a great collection of Best of 2012 everything) lists the 23 Best Music Videos, and if that is too much, So Bad So Good has a list of 10 of The Greatest Music Videos of 2012. But no video, music or otherwise, was bigger this year than Psy’s Gangnam Style. It inspired countless parody/tribute videos, the 24 “best” are presented by Buzzfeed.
The Internet
My vote for meme of 2012, The stylish Ikea Monkey.
One of the most ambitious, and beautiful phylogenetic trees, the above figure chronicles avian evolution beginning in the time of dinosaurs and ending with the 9,993 living bird species.
On a Quasi-Related Note 