Andrada Fiscutean

Katie, peptidien ympäristössä on paljon järjestelmää, mutta mitkä ovat ihmisten vaikutukset käyttämään niitä? Suurin kysymys on tuotantopuolisuus. Esimerkiksi bakteerit voivat olla olemassa, jotka voivat vaikuttaa septiikkiin.

Andrada, where would you like to take us next? Bomani, we talked a little bit about people trying to enhance themselves, right? But what happens when wildlife becomes part of this experiment? Because in recent years, scientists have detected various substances, including cocaine, in rivers and lakes around the world, and even in the muscles and organs of fish. So in Sweden, scientists have

Well, the experiment happened in Lake Vettern, the second largest in the country. It was carried out by a team led by Jack Brand and Michael Bertram at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. And they used young Atlantic salmon in the experiment. They implanted the fish with tiny devices that slowly released chemical over time. Then they split the salmon into three groups.

Yksi ryhmä saati kokainia. Toinen saati benzoylekaninia. Se on yksi suunnitelma, jota kokaini rikkii sisällä ihmisestä. Toinen ryhmä saati rikkiä implanteja ja toimitti kontrolliryhmästä. Sitten tutkijat käsitteleivät haastattelun 8 viikkoa, kun huomioivat, kuinka he liikkuivat järjestelmään.

So I'd expect the cocaine to change salmon behavior somehow. What happened? Well, Mani, the biggest surprise was that the strongest effects did not come from cocaine itself, but its metabolite, benzoyl-ekganin. By the end of the study, some of the fish exposed to cocaine's metabolite were swimming almost twice as far each week as those in the control group. And they also spread much farther through the lake.

And to answer your question, someone exposed to cocaine showed hints of a similar pattern, but the facts were weaker and scientists were less certain about them. Every time you say salmon on cocaine, I kind of...

Se on iso ongelma, ja yksi globaali tutkimus löysi pieniä, mutta määrittömyyttisiä kokainia ja sen by-productia rikkojen ja lakien ympäri maailmaa, sekä liiketoimintaa. Jotkut osat, kuten Antwerp Belgiassa, olivat yllättävän suuret. Ja luulen, että tämä voisi aloittaa seriesi knock-on-effektejä, eikö?

Kyllä, siksi on tärkeää tutkia, miten kalat liittyvät kokainiin ja muihin suhteisiin, koska vaikka pienet muutokset liikunnan voi olla paljon suurempia. Jos kalat muuttavat eri tavalla tai vastaavat vaikeuksiin yllättäen, se voi muuttaa, miten eläimet liittyvät, ja tietysti vaikuttaa koko ekosysteemiin.

And for animals like the Atlantic salmon, that matters because they are already dealing with things like pollution, shrinking habitats and warming waters. So small changes in their behavior could make survival more difficult. So this salmon on cocaine study is part of a much bigger story of chemicals flowing to ecosystems where they can affect wildlife in ways we're just beginning to understand.

David, a lot of my friends are wearing smart devices to track their sleep and count their steps. And I was wondering what health metrics do you think people are obsessing over unnecessarily?

And this week it's going to be brought to us by Andrada. And Andrada, there are completely arbitrary non-useful points up for grabs. If you can tie it to the theme. So speaking of enhanced games, Marni, I think I have something and I definitely claim those meaningless bonus points. My sense of smell is not that developed. So I've always wondered what it would be like to be a super smeller, if there's such a word.

It turns out my dream might actually be possible. What if I told you that scientists have found a way to enhance our sense of smell at least for a while? No injections, no surgery, just by pointing something at our forehead for five minutes.

I'd say I find that disconcerting. Pointing something at your forehead can increase your sense of smell. What was the thing? Well, the thing pointed was an antenna. And researchers in South Korea used radio frequency antennas the size of a palm. These antennas were placed 10 centimeters from someone's forehead.

They were used for just five minutes. The frequency chosen was 2.45 gigahertz. Using this method, the researchers aimed to stimulate the olfactory system of those who took part in the study. The stimulation itself was not directly perceived by the volunteers, according to the researchers, but their sense of smell improved. The scientists found that participants still performed better on smell tests a week after the radio wave session.

So the researchers took multiple measurements for this. So first they did a version of the standard sniffing sticks test. So participants were asked to smell pens that had different concentrations of a chemical called N-butanol, which apparently has a strong sweet alcohol odor. Some say it is banana-like. So hopefully...

Not too unpleasant to be sniffing. On average, participants became more sensitive to the smell after the stimulation. But there was also a second test. Researchers checked electrical activity linked to the olfactory system, which is the system in our body responsible for our sense of smell. They placed electrodes around the eyebrows of the participants to pick up signals, and those signals were measurably stronger after stimulation.

Okei, joten on jotain fysiologista evidenssiä, että jotain on muuttunut. Ja se ei ole vain ihmisiä, jotka sanovat, että he voisivat kuulla asioita paremmin. Kyllä. Minun täytyy kertoa, että tutkimus oli pieni. Siinä oli vain 28 ihmistä, kaikki nuorten ja terveiden. Mutta ideana on mielenkiintoista. Olfaktori-järjestelmä on vaikea saada, koska paljon siitä on sydämeniä. Joten radiaavioiden käyttö stimuloidaan on melko hyvää.

That's an interesting question, Katie. The 2.45 GHz frequency is quite common in this sort of work, so it's a typical frequency to use. And it might also enhance our taste, which is interesting because smell and taste are connected, but more work needs to be done in that area.

And of course, many of us experienced diminished sense of smell because of COVID-19. And even more than just impacting our quality of life, there can be situations where it's dangerous to lose your sense of smell. Like if there was a gas leak in your home, for instance. So is this why you picked this tale? You're looking for kind of enhancements? Yeah, maybe...

I can target a job like a wine taster in the future, although my sense of smell is not working perfectly at the moment. Or a chocolate maker. Florist. I mean, I can think of a whole load of jobs where it would be really useful that your sense of smell doesn't work.