Need a cure for your Xmas indigestion?

Dear Sexy Readers,

I bet right now you're feeling stuffed!!!! key word here being STUFFED!!!! Ah ah, me too!!! As I know many of you Love natural organic remedies, here is a quick home made recipe I found in this amazing book by James Wong

It's called Seaweed Stomach Soother:

For this you will need:

Sexy Reads on SSS... A retrospective

Dear Sexy Readers,
As the year 2012 is coming to an end, and we survived the end of the world on the 21st, it's time for a few tips on how to prepare that beautiful skin and hair of yours.
Far from being a beauty blog - there are so many incredible ones out there - let me draw your attention to a few things, if I may....

Starting with a bit of cookery information! After all some of you will be in full cooking/baking zone this holiday season, so why not have a look at "What is the difference between Yeast and Baking Powder" if you run out of one and you wonder if you could replace one for the other...

Also, if you suddenly cry a river while chopping onions, by checking out this one out, you'll know why.

Then once you have finished in the kitchen and it's time to prepare that pretty face of yours, you might be interested to know exactly what you put on your face. Don't be alarmed by the amount of chemicals in there but at least you'll be informed. All this information is contained in the Mini-Serie Chemicals in your make up.
And what about your shampoos? How does it work? Yours contains Parabens and SLS? Read the Mini-Serie What's in your shampoo, and you'll find out why it's all talk and no worries (except for some of you who suffer from Eczema - a topic covered elsewhere on SSS).

And then, when all the festivities are a thing of the past and you promise yourself that next year, you won't help yourself a second time to that succulent stuffed turkey or that Xmas pudding, you'll probably make a list of all the things that you HAVE to start doing in the 2013, like reading more, watching less TV, going to the gym and starting that new detox programme that your favorite chemist is raging about. But before spending all that money on a "detox treatment" (note that all the others resolutions are excellent ;) ), you might wanna read why it's all crap and only money-making scam!!

I wish you all my sexy readers, a fantastic Xmas and already a Happy New Year 2013! Let me know how your holidays went and if you found any of the info interesting,

So Sexy Sciencey Things on Pinterest #1

Dear Sexy Readers,

As many of you know, you can find yourself pinning and repinning for hours on Pinterest, right? I actually registered a while ago but kind of forgot about it until my Kindle Fire asked me where I wanted to share my pictures, Pinterest being one of the options... So here I am again, checking out all those beautiful pins and boards... For 3 hours!!!
So I decided to do a Science So Sexy board!

 
Though, I thought it was a shame that you can't then share your boards as a mosaique of your pins, I decided I would just PrntScrn and share with you my first SSS screen snap shot...

Pinterest SSS #1

For those of you who are on Pinterest and wanna follow SSS board, Join me On Esmeraldav

Science So Sexy Pinterest collection: 
SSS #1
SSS #2
SSS #3
SSS #4

What are DNA, genes, amino acids and Proteins?

My Dear Sexy Readers,

This was going to be the subject of one of my future posts but! I stumbled upon the perfect post on another science blog called Science Stuff so I thought I would share it with you and promote some bloggers at the same time ;)

Stated Clearly is a blog that makes fun videos on science subjects so we can understand the stuff that never understood at school or forgot...

What is DNA and how does it work Video explains in simple terms what it is about, what's the connection between DNA and proteins and they are so important in our body.

From HERE

It is free to view on Youtube, so here it is... Please feel free to go see the aforementioned blogs and leave them comments on how sexy they are :)

New SSS logo

Dear readers,

As you've probably noticed here above, I finally got round to creating my very own Science So Sexy logo!!! I hope you like it, feel free to let me know how good or rubbish or else it is, I always like feedback from the community...
I also made a shorter version of it for signature or thumbnail...

See you soon...

My first Post on SSS

Thanks to Esmeralda for the warm welcome! 

As you know, I am the latest blogger on Science is Soooo Sexy! 

Let me introduce myself... During my studies in Biology in Ireland, I have focused on the immune system, human genetics, and microbiology, learning about how the body responds to infectious diseases.

For my PhD, I worked on a project that investigates the biology of a bad fungus that causes disease in individuals who are already sick eg. those on long term chemotherapy, AIDS patients, or patients receiving organ transplant therapy. 

In simple terms, my work was to try to find a way to kill that fungus that complicated this person's life and treatment. 

Now, I'm in Denmark working on improving anti-cancer drugs. This is a very exciting new project but as I love to share information and communicating with others, I've joined the SSS team. 

Here, I am hoping to have some very exciting discussions and posts, and hopefully I won't need to convince you that... Science is Soooo Sexy!!!!

Big Huge Warm Welcome to Karen

Dear Readers,

As you've probably noticed, I have neglected you... Booo to me but ...
Hey, I'm happy to welcome Karen as a co-author for Science So Sexy! Yeahhhhh

Karen is a molecular biologist originally from Ireland who is now working in Denmark. But I'll let her introduce herself in a soon to come first post!

Big thank you to her for believing in the statement Science is So Sexy :) and am looking forward to learning new facts that she will dig up for us, sexy readers!

A bit of a break...

Hi my dear readers,
I'm sorry I have neglected you for a while but I have a good excuse!!!
My son was born on the 24th September 2012 and I've been a tiny little bit busy with him ;)
I hope you'll all forgive me by seeing a cute pix of him:

Happy Birthday SSS!!!

Wahou!!! One year!!!! I can't believe it's been a year since I started this adventure!!

In one year, I replied to 10 of your requests, 2 of which have created 4-part mini series, 2 entirely seasonal posts, a guestpost from a fellow blogger, a guestpost from myself on someone else's blog and 2 press articles reviewed!!!

We've had 10 000 hits, and welcomed 64 followers on Twitter, 141 on Facebook, 120 on Google+ and 107 on Google Friend Connect, as well as 8 on Networked blogs and 9 on Linky.
So in total 449 fans of Science is So Sexy ;)

And we also received 3 awards from fellow bloggers!!!

All in all, I think a pretty successful first year considering that this started as a hobby, I'm now thinking this could be more!!!

THANK YOU to all of you for your participation and am looking forward to a second blooming sexy year ;)

Where does the ink go when you recycle paper?

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Another request from one of my best SSS fans will be the subject of this post:

Where does the ink go when you recycle paper?
A very seasonal post as well since we are in September and most children have started a new school term!

So to explore this, I will look at what's paper, how it is made, recycled and of course what happens to the ink?

Recycled Paper Recipe

No need to define what's paper, but let's not forget that the name paper is not only used for the stuff we write on but also the thicker material for drawing, packaging, also the paper for magazine, the thinner scrap brown paper, and of course our bank notes, cheques, tickets, toilet paper, etc...

It is basically made from wood by pressing firmly together the cellulose fibers that are extracted from mushy wood. This process has many steps:

Pulping

From Wood: Chemical or Mechanical pulping can occur. During chemical pulping, the lignin can be separated from the cellulose fibers because it can deteriorate with time and make the paper go yellow and brittle. During mechanical pulping, wood logs are fed into a massive grinder and made into fibers still containing the lignin.
From Recycled paper: Pulper chops paper into small pieces and water and chemicals are added.

Screening
The slurry pulp is then passed through screens with different holes of different size in order to eliminate small contaminants such as  bits of plastic or glue.

Cleaning
After a bit of centrifugation, bigger contaminants like staples are eliminated.

Deinking

There are two main protocols to deink paper: washing and floatation!
These were invented by German jurist Justus Claproth in 1774 along with paper producer Johann Engelhard Schmid.
Small particles of ink (or water-based ink) are washed away from the pulp by washing whereas larger particles are treated by floatation.
During floatation, air and chemicals are introduced into the pulp, this makes the ink and other stickies loosen and stick to the bubbles instead. The "inky bubbles" are then easy to remove because they float on top of the main pulp.
When the ink/stickies/plastics recovered are collected, not only its water is removed and reused in the whole process, but this sludge itself can be burnt to create energy for the recycling machines.

Coloring
If the paper was colored, chemical products are added to remove the dyes. If the end product wanted should be white, some bleacher are added such as hydrogen peroxide. Otherwise, it stays brown.
Other additives can be added to improve the characteristics of the paper for writing or printing.

Papermaking
The recycled pulp can be used as such or mixed with new wood fibers (called appropriately virgin fibers) to give extra strength and smoothness. Note: Fibers are degraded with each cycle and can become too weak after 4 to 6 cycles.
Water is removed from the paper and pressed to form sheet where the recycled fibers will bond together. It can also be heated to dry it.

Coating
Depending on the use of the paper, it can be coated to make it smooth and glossy for example by adding calcium carbonate or china clay.

So here you go, my sexy readers, now we know ;)


See you soon,

Olive oil - better than butter?

Dear readers,

This post is about ingredients that we are consuming probably everyday: Oils and butters. I was eating at a restaurant with friends when the question about the difference between sunflower and olive oils came up. I thought that would be good material for a SSS post!

Between margarine and butter, olive and sunflower oil, it is sometimes difficult to understand the difference and lots of contradictory health information over the years  has had us all confused!
So let's try to make it clearer, for myself, and for everyone out there:

Fats are essential for a healthy body, providing a source of energy and carrying vital nutrients. We need fats in our diet to provide us with essential fatty acids for growth, healthy skin and metabolism but as a lot of advertising is telling us, it is necessary to pay attention to both the total amount and the type of fats that we ingest. 

So first of all, let's talk names! When we say fats, we really mean triglycerides of fatty acids but imagine people dropping triglycerides in a conversation, that would sound way too nerdy!! To put it simply fats are made of fatty acids, these will be released after ingestion:

Fatty acids?

What's in your Shampoo? Part 3 - SLS

Dear readers,

Let's resume our journey through our new mini-Series "What's in your Shampoo" with this 3rd instalment focusing on Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) and a note on Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS).

You can catch up on the first two parts:

Part 1 - Shampoo Recipe Making

Part 2 - Parabens

Throughout my research, I have found countless "serious" websites that tell a very convincing story but most are completely confused between SLS and SLES! Sometimes coming from "sciency" websites, it is absolutely shocking, no wonder non scientists can't make head from tail of SLS business!!! I hope this article will clear any confusion. Personnally, I don't suffer from dermatitis or allergies, so my skin agrees with detergents very well, I don't worry about them anymore!

SLS, SLES, ALS

Structures

* Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, SLS, is an organic compound with the formula CH3(CH2)11OSO3Na, it is a.k.a. Stepanol wac, Stepanol waq, Natriumlaurylsulfat,Richonol af, Duponol qx, Perlandrol L, Perlankrol L.

* Sodium Laureth Sulfate, a.k.a. SLES, Sodium LaurylEther, Tergentol, Sodiumlaurylglycolether sulfate, HSDB 6143,Sodium lauryloxyethoxyethyl sulfate, Sodium lauryl di(oxyethyl) sulfate, EINECS221-416-0, Sodium polyoxyethylene lauryl sulfate, Sodium dioxyethylenedodecylether sulfate, 2-(2-Dodecyloxyethoxy)ethyl sodium sulfate, Lauristyl diglycolether sulfate sodium salt, Sodium 2-(2-dodecyloxyethoxy)ethyl sulphate, Sodiumlauryl alcohol diglycol ether sulfate, Sodium diethylene glycol dodecyl ethersulfate, Lauryl diethylene glycol ether sulfonate sodium, PEG-(1-4) Laurylether sulfate, sodium salt, LS-195344, Diethylene glycol monododecyl ethersodium sulfate, sodium 2-[2-(dodecyloxy)ethoxy]ethyl sulphate

* Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, a.k.a. ALS, sinopon, presulin, neoponlam, siponla30, siprol422, siproll22, Texapon A, maprofixnh, richonolam, sterlingam

What's in your shampoo? Part 2 - Parabens

Dear Readers,

Let's resume our journey through Shampoo making by looking at one ingredient that has lead manufacturers to misery and consumers to awareness: Parabens.
Note that this ingredient is present in most cosmetics, not only shampoos.
Scientific literature is R.I.C.H. with articles about Parabens and throughout my reading, I probably had doubts a few times as to their safe use. In the end, I compiled a lot of information here below and if you are concerned about them and want to really know what is it about, then - although I know it's long! - it is really worth to read it all!!! I am not your doctor nor your GP, and will not tell you if it's good or bad, if you should ban Parabens from your life or not, I think it is important that you should formulate your personal opinion. I laid out all the latest research for you to do so. I hope you find this informative. Personally, after reading it all, I know I don't need to worry anymore!

You can catch up with the first instalment of this mini-series here: Shampoo making recipe

Parabens

Structure

Parabens are a group of esters of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid only differing from one another in the ester part of the molecule (fig.1: here represented by R).

Figure 1. Paraben structure. From Soni et al, 2005

What's in your Shampoo? Part 1 - Recipe

Hello and Welcome back on Science Is So Sexy. For you, my faithful readers, I have changed the layout to a more sexy one, and you might have noticed I purchased the domain name www.sciencesosexy.com, so it's easier to share the address with your friends!!! Exciting times, indeed!!

For our next post, I will concentrate on a request from Caffeinated OC Mommy.

Here it is:

I'm in the process of looking for healthy alternatives for shampoos, conditioners, body/face moisturizers. I'm learning that the cosmetic industry has no standards and are allowed to package their products with the words, "natural" or good for you type words that are not necessarily true. But because they monitor themselves, they can put what they want. 

Soooooooo Darling, I'm constantly spending money on products hoping to find my match in natural, green, and just all around better for me and my family. I look for products that say stuff like... 

No:Parabens, Phthalates, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Methyl Sulfate. 

I have NO idea how to pronounce these words let alone know what these even mean. 

And I'm also learning about petro in these products as well? 

What's a girl to do? Am I on the right track by avoiding these words I can't pronounce? 

Dear Darling,

Following your request, and similar ones from many of my readers, I decided to concentrate my research on shampoos. Please note that many of the ingredients are similar for body/face moisturizers and conditioners so you can still find lots of information here.

I, myself,went to a Natural Food shop and purchased a natural shampoo (from Avalon Organics). And true to your words, the mention NO parabens, phtalates, SLS, SMS were written on the bottle!!

So of course I wondered, as so many of you do, why are they putting these ingredients in shampoos in the first place if we can avoid them?

Are they replaced by expensive/cheap alternatives, how does it influence the efficiency of a product and ultimately its commercial price?

I had a lot of thought on how to present to you what I found out about it all. It turned out that there is so much information, I might have to do a new mini-series, simply for the sake of keeping post length reasonable - and therefore interest alive!!!

So, the first thing I looked at is the "normal" composition of a shampoo:

Shampoo Making Recipe

From HERE 

Chemicals in our make up - Part 4: Lipstick

Dear Readers,

Here is the 4th instalment of our mini-series Chemicals in our make up focusing on Lipstick!!! 

The request was originally from Bibil, and inspired by an earlier posts about Eczema and cosmetics products: What are the Chemicals in our Make up?

You can catch up the first three instalments here Part 1: Foundation, Part 2: Eye shadow and Part 3: Mascara

Lipstick

Why are flowers so colourful?

A very seasonal request for you, although if you live in London like me, there is nothing colourful and springy at the moment, thank you Mr Rain... Maybe I should do a post on the rain...

But for now, back to our beautiful subject: Flower colours...

A painter's palette

From HERE

Your mind is amazing!

Dear Readers,

I just found this on FB and thought I would share it with you. I think it's pretty exciting how our brain works...

The Mystery behind the colour of your eyes

Dear readers,

This sexy new post was a request from a fellow blogger: She wanted to know more about eye colours and genetics.

Let's start with a schematic of the eye so we know the different terms. I'm mainly going to write about the iris:

From MediciNet.com

Chemicals in our Make up - Part 3: Mascara

Dear SSS readers,

Just a quick word on my growing readers list: Thank you so much for you support, your comments are greatly appreciated!!

I've enjoyed my blogger journey so far and although it takes a while to prepare all the posts, it is worth it when I get loads of views!!! It is so exciting, for example, the Double post, in collaboration with Sugarpuffish, on Eczema has reached almost 400 views so far, so a BIG thank you for your interest!!!

Today, we will resume our saga Chemicals in our Make up with Part 3 focusing on Mascara.
The request was originally from Bibil, and inspired by one of the earlier posts about Eczema and cosmetics products: What are the Chemicals in our Make up?

You can catch up the first two instalments here Part 1: Foundation and Part 2: Eye shadow.

Mascara

From HERE

Why do we spread salt on snowy roads?

A very seasonal post as London is presently experiencing some nice freezing cold days and nights and the occasional snow!! Hope you like it :)

As we say, a picture is worth a thousands words, so for you I adapted a figure that I found here:

Let's go through it and you'll see it's not that complicated:

January detox Intox or how to waste your cash

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Ladies and Gentlemen, this year again, after our multiple binge eating and drinking and probably lack of sleep (for those who still don't know that Santa Claus only comes when you're asleep), we are going to be bombarded by those so-called Detox treatments!!!

These, over the years, have varied from creams, brushes to special vitamin pills, food supplements, etc etc...

They all have one common point, according to companies that sell them, they exist because your body is full of toxins accumulated over the holiday season and you need to get rid of them as soon as possible so you body will be able to function to its absolute best!!

If you have a tendency to believe adverts and trust companies when they say that it's absolutely necessary to go through a body detox, please do keep on reading, you might find some useful information that will save you hundreds of pounds!

Yes, hundred of pounds because this detox market is a lucrative one. Unfortunately, that is all it is: A business, because no information provided with those detox products was based on scientific evidence, purily because none of them provide any miracle cure!

The common selling point is Getting rid of toxins

To achieve this, we have two choices: externally or internally.

Externally

Pollution particles accumulate on your skin and hair and those gels/creams/pads help get rid of those impurities.

Companies sell you products that are specially made, with special ingredients, to detoxify your skin/hair. But if you look at the composition of those detox shower gels and special shampoos, you will see that the main active ingredients will always be the same as a normal shampoo, so it will always be a combination of detergent/foaming agent such as Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulphate with some derived glycerol compound for the texture, some fragrance, and preservatives such as paraben. Nothing special except the name Detox!

In 2010, the Voice of Young Science Network compiled a report analysing 15 products found on shelves of our major UK supermarkets and pharmacies. They called company sales representatives or advisors and asked them on what basis these specific products were efficient in detoxifying our body, needless to say their replies were those of confused people who in the end admitted that the simple answer was NONE.

If you would like to have a look at those specific products and the company's funny replies, I invite you to have a look at their work HERE

In a word, our body is well equipped to deal with our environment and its so-called toxins:

Our Skin

Skin structure

Our skin is a fantastically well made barrier:

The skin consists of three main layers, each with own unique function and purpose. The subcutaneous layer is the innermost layer. It is made up of fat, which is used as a fuel reserve and for insulating the body. Next, the dermis contains tiny blood vessels, hair follicles and nerve endings that detect pain and pressure. The dermis is very flexible and can detect changes in temperature.The outermost layer, the epidermis, is the key to the skin barrier. Made up of overlapping layers of dry cells, the epidermis helps keep moisture in the body and vital nutrients in and damaging substances and elements out.

Think about all the elements and substances you are exposed to every day, such as chemicals, pathogens and sunlight. The human skin does a good job of blocking out all these undesirable substances and forces. And all this happens around the clock, on a level so small you can't even see it.

Internally

The selling point of many products is that we absorb damaging toxins through food and drink. Those detoxifying pills target the build up of toxins inside our organs and help them flushing them out. Or according to representatives from companies that were interrogated by VYSN, toxins are stored in fatty acids and our body has difficulty breaking down those deposits.

Of course with all those detox pills, it will always be recommended to have a healthy low sugar low salt diet and drink plenty of water!!

Now, I'll hear you say, well of course you'll feel better if you stop binge drinking and eat healthy food!

Exactly, that's the point! Our body is prefectly capable of behaving by itself without the need for magic pills. Four organs are responsible for the detoxification of our body: the liver, the kidneys, the intestinal tract and the skin (see above)

Our liver - This chapter has now been extensively written HERE and HERE

Photo from HERE

Among others, our liver is

• processing digested food from the intestine
• controlling levels of fats, amino acids and glucose in the blood 
• combating infections in the body 
• clearing the blood of particles and infections including bacteria 
• neutralising and destroying drugs and toxins 
• manufacturing bile 
• storing iron, vitamins and other essential chemicals 
• breaking down food and turning it into energy 
• manufacturing, breaking down and regulating numerous hormones including sex hormones 
• making enzymes and proteins which are responsible for most chemical reactions in the body, for example those involved in blood clotting and repair of damaged tissues.

So the liver roles in detoxification are to filter the blood from toxins and to convert fat soluble toxins into water soluble toxins that will be excreted via the kidneys (and then urine) or via the bile (which also works as a bacteria killing detergent).

And those roles don't need no help from pills!!!

Now, these past few years, we have been witnesses of a very disturbing fashion, namely colon cleansing!!!

Colonic Therapy

This colonic irrigation is intended to remove feces and non specific toxins lining the walls of our intestinal tract that are responsible for general ill-health.

But if our body was accumulating toxins on its gut walls, it wouldn't be able to absorb essential nutrients, we'd all be starving to death!

So one of the claims of the beneficial effects of colon therapy being a help to losing weight is self contradictory!

Unfortunately, as well as being complete BS (and I don't mean to insist on the S), irrigating your colon is more damaging that anything else:

Colon cleansing may disturb the delicate but essential balance between bacteria and natural chemicals in the bowell and therefore may interfere with the colon functions. It also disrupts fluid and the balance in electrolytes leading to dehydration and cardiac problems.

Less unintended effect is also the inability to defecate without assistance!!!

Also, on rare occasions, gastrointestinal perforation for incorrect insertion and amoebic infections from poorly sterilized equipment have been reported.

If you really want to "cleanse" your colon , simple fact is eating a healthy diet high in fibers does the trick!!

Conclusion:

From HERE

Healthy low sugar, low salt, high fibers diet, and drinking lots of water is and will always be the best and cheapest Detox plan you'll find on the market!!!

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

My first guest post - On Loves 2 read

When Susan from Loves 2 read approached me a few days ago to guest post on her blog, I was so excited!!!

So it is with very great joy that I am presenting you with my first guest post, you can view it HERE

That just shows how great a blog community is and I thank everyone from Blogaholic Social Network for their visits and comments, I really appreciate your help!! 

And don't forget, stay tuned for Detox January unfold coming up soon :)

Science Is So Sexy

When Susan from Love 2 Read  asked me to promote SSS on her blog, I was absolutely delighted!! Here is what I wrote for her:

What? Is usually the first response when I tell my friends about my blog.

Why and How are probably the next ones! I say Why not? Did you know that Science means Knowledge?

Isn't it kind of cool to know stuff your (male) friends don't? I think it's dead sexy for a girl :) And I'm not saying this because I am a scientist... ;)

I started Science So Sexy because I wanted to show this to people, share all sorts of information, create a place where they could come, ask their questions and leave with more knowledge and therefore be sexier...

I love reading, I love science, I am a researcher and I love explaining stuff to non scientists, so it seemed a natural step to write a blog.

I am not pretending to know everything (far far far from it) but I will research whatever subject you want me to and write an easily understandable post on it.

For this, I don't have any special writing skills, English is no even my first language, I am only driven by the will to make you read my posts and go "Woah I never knew this!!!" or "Brilliant, I have to tell that to my friends".

Maybe I've already written posts that might trigger this effect in you, such as Why do we cry when we chop onions? or What it means to be a Blood Secretor?. Or you might be interested in reading more seasonal posts like Vitamin D and the Winter Blues or after lots of baking and cooking over the Xmas period What is the difference between Yeast and Baking powder?

Or maybe I haven't already posted what you are interested in, in which case I am warmly inviting you to come over and leave your requests either on my Facebook page or on the blog itself.

Last but not least I would like to thank a million times Susan from Love 2 Read for giving me this opportunity of promotion on her blog!!! As a Blogger, what would we do without a solid blogger community??

See you very soon,