Reflections Upon Others' Blogs

First, I visited James’ blog concerning nanotechnology. His blog mentioned that nanotechnology has both positive and negative effects on products and our environment. I found his sunscreen example very interesting. In it, he discussed how the tiny particles in sunscreen protect our skin, but they can also penetrate the skin, harming the user of the sunscreen. Also, his list of nanotechnology vocabulary was very useful in providing me with an intro to nano-tech. It is interesting that “nanoshells,” very small nano-particles, can be given different physical properties by varying their sizes. For example, some nanoshells can absorb harmful light rays, which is useful for medical procedures.

I then entered McLovin Cohen’s Pasteurization blog. His entry began with a definition of ‘pasteurization,’ which I learned is the process of heating an edible product to destroy microorganisms which may cause disease. Evan discussed how without pasteurization, food would spoil much more quickly. He focused some of his entry discussing how the wine industry is dependent upon pasteurization to preserve their products while aging. Without pasteurization, microorganisms would multiply in their respective wines, during aging, contamination the final product. Therefore, pasteurization, like all of chemistry, helps our national economy. Also, although not mentioned in his blog, I thought that milk also underwent pasteurization. I am not positive whether I am confusing ‘pasteurization’ with another long work, but maybe Evan could answer this in a future post for me.

After Evan’s blog, I arrived at Laura’s blog on college’s affect on chemical imbalances, (i.e. stress). Although interesting, her blog was also quite frightening, for it reminded me of the bad side of college. She mentioned that college students were more prone to depression, schizophrenia, and eating disorders due to chemical imbalances. These imbalances are caused by the stress of a new environment and unfamiliarly with the college lifestyle. Her blog also discussed how there is still much that scientists do not know about these chemical imbalances. However, some medicines exist to help remedy this problem.

~Rick