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I have quite a lot to explain. For one thing I haven't posted anything in months, that is largely because I have not really had the time to. Not a great an excuse, but that's all I have. Well, that and also, as you all know, I am in the midst of writing my second book. No small feat. Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that I need to remodel my blog. Again. But this time I am looking at a layout and a content reconstruction.

The current theme is alright but I am looking into acquiring a different one. Content-wise I am looking at quite a large turning point. The other day I was looking for a website that looked at everyday questions and tried to answer them with science. More specifically the science behind fiction. The science behind the things that come from our imagination. Hence the new title, Explaining Dragons. I want to dedicate this blog to all things science, with a particular focus on the scientific possibilities shown in movies, film, books, and everything in-between. I will still sometimes just do a straight up review, and I will continue to check in with our friends Wake and Nemo, as well as the other characters that have appeared on this blog since its inception.

I'm afraid I cannot yet promise any regular postings, but you can look forward to a new blog theme coming within the next few weeks. Hopefully...

Sorry for the hastily written post.

Oh, one more thing. All my past posts will remain on this blog, so don't worry about that.

Since acquiring a Pinterest account I've come across an insane multitude of recipe ideas. It's a tad overwhelming to be honest. It also means I have no idea what the original source for any of these ideas is. So I apologize in advance for whoever came up with this idea originally. I didn't follow anyone's recipe, I just saw a picture and tried it. And this was the result.

This really is complicated and I wouldn't even go so far to call it a recipe.


First step: obtain a zucchini.
Second step: slice said zucchini into slices.
Third step: lay slices on baking sheet, stick into oven at 200 degrees celsius.
Fourth step: if you have tomato sauce, great! Use that. If not you can do what I did... I was too lazy to make tomato sauce so I took one (rather large) tomato cut it up into tiny little pieces added salt, pepper and garlic. Viola.
Fifth step: cut up tiny, itty-bitty pieces of mozzarella.
Sixth step: take zucchini out of oven, place spoonful of tomato sauce onto each slice followed by a piece of mozzarella.
Seventh step: put it back into the oven for some indeterminate amount of time (it's really not a lot of time- just keep an eye on it)

There you have it.

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So I watched In Time, yesterday... So some of the details may have become partially muddled. Sorry. So as per usual, I would like to start off by saying I really enjoyed this movie. The concept behind it as a pretty fascinating one. Although, I must say I didn't like that they didn't really explain how this might be scientifically possible. As far as I'm aware they just glazed over that detail. And being me, it bothered me for the duration of the movie. Besides that I found it pretty riveting to watch.

It wasn't particularly thought provoking, but I feel like if they had made some effort to explain how any of this would be scientifically possible, it might have been. But because of the absence of the science I just found it to be a very interesting movie, that was fun to watch, and I would consider watching again. I feel like it struck a few similar cords with the Adjustment Bureau, another movie that I also quite enjoyed.

So just in case you haven't watched this movie, and my ramble is not making any sense as a result I'll quickly outline the premise of the movie. It takes place in the future, I don't believe they provide an exact date. In this future everyone stops aging at the ripe old age of 24 (I think it was 24, could be another number somewhat close to that). The issue is, they only have one year after that and then they die. However, if you have money, or rather time, you could theoretically live forever. I'm not going into the plot details here, I'm just going to keep it at this basic concept. The first issue I have is how does the person die? Each of them has a clock and when the last second disappears that person gets shocked and dies. Who is controlling that? What are they dying of? Is it a heart attack? Are these programs that can be shut down? Like in The Matrix. Second, how did (whoever is responsible for this) get the watches onto every person in the population. Is it implanted at birth? Once again, are they programs? Finally, how is it that time can be transferred? How can they live forever? Just getting more time doesn't necessarily mean everlasting life. The older you get the more likely it is that your cells have mutated thus causing cancer, eventually killing you. What about all the other diseases? If someone is 200+ years old, shouldn't they have developed Alzheimer's? Question after question after question.

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I've come to realize that this movie can be looked at in two ways. Depending on the way I look at it, I either hate it or quite enjoy it. I'm choosing the latter option, mostly because when I was watching this movie it was around midnight, so my brain wasn't up for much thought. The first way to look at it is as a plausible future. In that case their has to be some explanation as to how this was possible. If you look at it like that the movie will probably annoy you for the entire run-period. However, if you watch it for what it is, an action movie, it's actually a great time. It's a very interesting concept and it's interesting to see a story unfold within it.

In conclusion if you can shut off the scientist within you watch this movie. Or if your logical brain has already gone to sleep, also watch this movie. If you want to be satisfied by something backed with at least theoretical science, don't.  

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For any of you familiar with the tale of Middle Earth, you will probably be familiar with lembas. The Elvenbread, created by its namesake, for sustenance on long journeys. This rustic bread is given to the Fellowship as it is easily carried, and rich in energy. There have been a number of interpretations as to what these biscuits could be made of, and here is the first attempt of mine. Lembas, are traditionally wrapped in Mallorn leaves, so if you want a truly authentic replication, I wish thee good speed.

Tolkien mentioned in his book, that they are crispy on the outside, and golden on the edges. The inside is paler and softer. They are thin, and contain honey. The rest of the ingredients, have to be implied.

Ingredients

1-3 tbsp. of honey
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
A pinch of salt
4 tbsp. chilled butter
1/6 cup brown sugar (or white if you prefer)
Juice of a mandarin
1/4 cup (almond) milk (you may need to add more, but start off with this)
The rind of that mandarin
A swig of lemon juice
A handful of raisins
Dried cherries or other berries (optional)
1 tsp. cinnamon
Vanilla extract
1 1/4 flour (white or a half mix of whole-wheat)

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1. Preheat your oven to 220-200 degrees celsius
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and the pinch of salt
3. Knead the appropriate amount of butter in to the mixture, the result should be similar to scones (should be crumbly, a little bit like fine bread-crumbs)
4. Thoroughly mix in the milk
5. Followed by the sugar 
6. Add the mandarin juice and lemon juice (try not to mix too much)
7. Now add all the remaining ingredients, folding them in (again don't over mix) 
8. Roll the batter out, making square shapes. 
9. Bake in the oven for approx. 10 min. 
10. Go on an epic journey and eat your lembas
1. or just have a LOTR marathon 

Credit goes here for the original recipe that I looked at. However, I've made some changes.

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Recently I've been seeing a number of recipes for "Overnight Oats", it is apparently a new discovery. Well, I'm here to tell you, it's not. The Swiss have been eating what has now been dubbed "Overnight oats" for a long time (I'm not sure of the exact amount of time)... Except, they call it "Bircher Muesli". Which is essentially the same thing, just thought I'd point out, it's been invented before.

Ingredients
Yogurt (greek or skyr if you want to be healthy)
Oats (or ready made buechermuesli mix)

The yogurt 
The sky is the limit on this one, you can essentially use any type of yogurt: however, I do advise trying to match flavours.
Some flavours to consider:
Coconut
Strawberry (probably the most traditional)
Au Natural
Honey (Greek yogurt)
Peach
Chocolate... (I've never tried it)
Stracciatella
Passion Fruit

Optional ingredients
Raisins
Cranberries
Coconut flakes
Apple chunks
Banana
Strawberry
Blueberry
Chia seeds
Almonds (sliced usually)
Flax seeds
Sunflower seeds
Pear
Cherries

Instructions
Really, Bircher Muesli, must be one of the simplest things to make. Chuck everything in to a bowl (I usually use a jar, so I can eat it on the run), mix it together, and leave it in the fridge. Come morning, the oats will have soaked up some of the liquid, and you have yourself "overnight oats". Which I will always call, Bircher Muesli. Enjoy this rather healthy mealtime option (most eat this for breakfast).
Personally, as I'm a raging geek, I like to think I'd bring this on a quest. For the first day at least, as there is dairy, it isn't really advisable to keep it in the sun- unless of course your quest is to get food poisoning.

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Shhhhh. Calm yourself. Breathe. Yes I have only just watched this movie.

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No! Not that one. I don't plan on ever watching that. I'd sooner watch a documentary about a museum. Oh wait. I just did. It was actually really good. It's the one with David Attenborough, where he explores the British Natural History Museum. Check it out sometime. But I digress, as per usual. So today and yesterday I watched the 2011 and 2014 reboot of the Planet of the Apes. Full disclosure, I have not seen any of the other originals, or the other reboot. Which I've heard is absolutely terrible. So I'm staying away from that one. This one on the other hand is absolutely amazing. I was planning on watching only the first and saving the second for another day. Nope. That didn't happen.

First things first, I really- oh wait. Spoilers. Throughout the whole thing. Although, I imagine you've probably already seen it. Most of the population probably has. Well at least the people who want to. Probably even some who didn't. Anyway... Rise of the Planet of the Apes, as the name implies, gives us the backstory as to how the Planet of the Apes arose. Short story short, it's pretty awesome. They take a science route as to explain the comings of these apes, and personally, I feel it worked out swimmingly. The first hour or so of the movie sort of reminded me of the Spider Man origin story: you have a lab experiment that goes wrong, the people involved in whatever happened don't tell anyone else, they then spend the next part of the movie figuring out their powers. So in this case it's a medicine that's being trialed for Alzheimer treatment, the scientist who is working on it is very passionate about it, because his father suffers from the illness. However, something goes wrong and all the apes who were being tested with the drug are put down. Except- there's always and excep -one of the apes was pregnant and her infant son's life now rests on the shoulders of said scientist. He decides to take him home and names him Caesar. And so our story begins.

I'm not going to go through the whole story line here, because, well, that's just a tad boring. Also there are plenty of other places you could go to find that information. Or, and this is a novel thought, you could watch the movie.

I need to acknowledge that Andy Serkis is absolutely fantastic in this movie, the story essentially rests on the shoulders of an ape. And he carries it like the newest Louis Vuitton clutch. Although, to be honest were we expecting anything less? He is after all gollum. My precious. The CGI on this movie is also exceptional, with the apes actually looking like apes. Shocker. But when you look at the 2001 version they don't really resemble real apes. Which is annoying. But in these movies they do. Which is great.

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I've got to say this movie is quite a tearjerker. Actually thinking about it, arguably how his character snaps is very similar to Gollum/Smeagol's transformation. Now forgive me, I'm about to go off on another tangent. But I promise, it will make sense when I'm done. I've always sympathized with the Gollum character, mostly because I can see him change. At some point along the journey with Frodo and Sam Gollum is pushed down and he becomes Smeagol. He genuinely wants to help Master. He does not revert to Gollum because of evil, but because he feels betrayed. I believe his downfall could have been prevented by Frodo. Do you remember the part when Frodo and Sam get captured by Faramir? A little later Faramir calls Frodo to him and shows him Smeagol playing in the sacred pond, or river or something. He then asks if Frodo knows him. They go through their whole Spiel, and at the end of the matter Frodo tells Smeagol to trust master. Which he does, and then Smeagol is rough-handled and captured. That is the point where he reverts to Gollum. Smeagol is once more overpowered by Gollum. He feels betrayed by the only person/Hobbit he can trust. I see a very similar thing carried out in Planet of the Apes. We see as Caesar is captured because he assaulted one of Will's neighbours. Throughout Caesar's stay in this holding place Will comes and visits him I believe two times. Both times he is there Caesar is ecstatic to see him. Both times he asks if they're going home. Both times Will has to tell him no. When Will finally figures out a way to take him home Caesar no longer wants to. Do you see the similarity? Caesar to some extent felt betrayed by Will, he didn't fully understand why Will wouldn't take him home. One of the few people in the world that Caesar trusted. That Caesar loved betrayed him. And that is when his character snaps.

I think that is the most interesting thing in the whole movie, for me at least. Caesar's reaction is so human, so familiar, it makes you feel so much more for his character. So much so that at the end of the movie I was rooting for an ape. No, not the human race of which I am a part of, but a da** dirty ape. So kudos Serkis. Another point, I actually really don't like apes. I love animals, but I've never really held much of an affinity for apes, but in this movie I quite liked them.

I believe that is all I'm going to say about the first movie. A truly excellent movie. Loved it, want to buy it on DVD now. On to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

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I certainly did enjoy the sequel, but I must admit I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. For obvious reasons the sciencey bit of the first movie was absent from the second. Largely because most of the human race and their civilization is no longer in existence. Fun stuff. We still see the character of Caesar who is now the head of a primitive clan of apes, however, Will and all the other human characters from the last film are presumably dead. I didn't all too much mind about most of the characters being missing, but I did like the relationship between Will and Caesar, but I see why he wasn't in it. Their story arc already played out. I really liked the throw-in though of his past when Caesar brings them (some of the humans) to his old house, and looks at an old picture.

One of the things I liked the best about this movie was I kept on thinking I knew where it was going, and then I didn't... When the first humans arrived and then wanted to start up the dam again, I thought it would unfold as Avatar did. And then it didn't. It took a completely different turn on it. I can't say how much I like it when a movie does something I didn't expect of it. I don't really have all too much else to say, other than I also really enjoyed this movie. I would certainly watch it again.

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"Secrets are lies. Sharing is caring. Privacy is theft."

Well being the procrastinator that I am, sort of, I read this book about a month ago. Unfortunately for you, that means I don't really remember all too much about it. I've come to realize with the sheer number of books I cram into my head I tend to forget most of them. Only the really, and I mean really, good ones stay. I should clarify, by really good I mean like Lord of the Rings good. Come to think of it that's one of the few books that my memory has kept largely intact. As for the rest of them, they tend to fade over time... Some more so than others... Excuse me for my tangent, I only recorded it so as to explain to you why this review is likely going to be quite vague. But I imagine, by this point. you're rather used to my vagueness. Also excuse me for this rather shallow review, I realize if I really sat down and thought about it, I would have an awful lot to say: and frankly, this book deserves it. However, as I read this quite some time ago, and only did so for recreation, this is really just a surface review.

So, on with the review! I would like to start off by saying this book is amazing. I absolutely loved it, and for that reason whizzed through it in naught days. Apologies if I don't go into the details, mostly because I don't really remember them... This has got to be one of the most harrowing dystopian novels I have ever read. It makes zombies, kids with burning light shooting out of their hands, The Hunger Games seem like a piece of cake. The reason? The Circle gives us a future that is already unfolding. Of course I'm not saying our society could never have a radioactive spill causing an inescapable dome to encase one town of mutating children, but it's not as real. However, this book uses today as the starting point and looks down maybe five, ten, maybe even twenty years down the line. The point is, the reality we are presented with has already potentially begun. And it is because I can see this happening within my lifetime that makes this book so scary. I'm not going to spoil anything in this review, mostly because I can't, but also because I feel you should read it. Eggars' comments on our society are startling. It really forces you to take a look at your own life and decide where it is heading.

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Probably the only bone I have to pick with it is in the future. I sense one of the reasons why I liked this book as much as I did was because I could see this future as reality. We are mere footsteps away from The Circle. However, if I read this fifty, a hundred, five hundred years from now I'm not sure how pertinent it would be. I certainly don't think it would have the same allure it does today. It's because this reality is so close to where we are today that it scares us, it forces us to examine ourselves and the society we live in. Today. But that is just an observation, there certainly isn't anything that Eggars could have done to change this, nor would I have wished him to.

Finally, the ending really surprised me. Perhaps it won't surprise you, but I certainly wasn't expecting it. To be brutally honest, the ending was tragic. Made all the more tragic by the reality of it.

I guess that wasn't an accurate use of the word finally, because I do have one more thing to say. They're making a movie out of it! So read it before it comes out. I believe it is starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. So that's kind of cool.


Drinking: Jasmine Green Tea

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First off, I was only really half watching this movie: I was cleaning at the same time. So keep that in consideration. Also because I wasn't really paying attention I don't have an awful lot to say about this movie.
The second movie is very similar to the first. I'm kind of surprised they made a second one, but I actually did enjoy it. Again I don't have all too much feedback. If you want a few laughs, and a good time you might want to give this a try. If you're looking for a mind bending, universe creating epic, this is perhaps not the way to go. But if I have to tell you that then you're probably not going to understand any more thought provoking movies. No offense. Actually, it really annoys me when people say no offense, so I take that back. Maybe I'll write about my disdain for the "no offense" some other time. But for now, if you have some lazy time, I wouldn't say no to a viewing of the Second Best Marigold Hotel.

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Before I get into this, I need to say that I really enjoyed this movie. I'm just going to point out some of the flaws that I had with it. Which is not a lot, but there are a few.

Now going into this movie I knew very little about it. I knew it has something or other to do about Matthew McConaughey going into space. And that's about it. Also, I did not know how to spell his last name, luckily my browser seems to have his last name stored into its dictionary. For some extraordinary reason.

Anyway, first I need to give this movie kudos because of the lack of romance. Let me elaborate, when I saw McConaughey's character and Hathway I thought, yup they're going to be the love interests. Oh, I should probably mention that there are spoilers in this review. Although, I'd be kind of surprised is there was someone who got around to watching this movie later than me. So back on track, the story chooses instead not to go there, at least for the majority of the movie. At the end it is implied, however, it is literally in the last minute of the movie. Instead this movie focuses on a different kind of love. The love between a father and a daughter .

And here comes my first bone to pick: the son. The father and daughter relationship is so strong that their love is "quantifiable", and what of the son? It seems like the dad doesn't care in the slightest for the son, he's just sort of there. Which begs the question, why is he there in the first place? It just makes McConaughey's character seem uncharacteristically cold, which clashes uncomfortably with his undying love for his daughter. Also, if I'm not mistaken, we never do find out what happens to the son. I presume he dies, but it is never verified, nor does the father seem particularly distraught about the news.

Well that was the first issue I had with the movie, the second was the inconsistency with the ending of the movie. Throughout much of the movie the story was based in scientific fact, or at least theory. Then all of sudden we find out that there is a fifth dimension run by aliens that we never see. Which throws the whole scientific aspect of this movie to the wind.

Finally, as others have pointed out, the ending is a little anti-climatic. McConaughey's character beats all odds to see his daughter again, then he does. For about 30 seconds. Whereupon she promptly kicks him out of her room, in order to die with her family. Not including him. So yeah.

All that said, it was still a pretty amazing movie, and the cinematography is breathtaking. If you haven't seen it (which is unlikely) do give it a shot.


Featured image: I believe it is just using the video as an image. I can't really be bothered to go find a different image. So this is the video background. What can I say.


Spelling/grammar errors courtesy of this being a blogpost and thus not really edited.

Drinking: Oolong tea (chilled that is)

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Wise, wise words. I've been running through this quote quite a bit recently. Someday they may come in handy for you too. I should clarify. The quote I'm referring to is the title of this post. Sorry I got a little overzealous with quotes. Once you get me started I tend not to stop.

"Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about."

If you do, you'll never forgive yourself. And you'll be an old man filled with regret. Did you get the reference? If not. Well. I can't talk to you right now. And seriously? You don't get it? That's just shameful. Simply shameful. Also I'm not sure if I should put quotations around that... It seems like I should, but you never really know. Also I'm not entirely certain I quoted completely correctly. Oh well.

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1. I've had a number of sciency posts recently. I apologize if that's not your cup of tea. Haha. See what I did there?
2. I haven't really posted anything substantial for the last couple of weeks. Yeah... I'll try and get on that.
3. I might continue to be busy.... I'm kinda working on a project right now... Hopefully I can write about the project someday. But for now. Apologies.

I will hopefully be able to post some foody posts in the next couple of days. Don't we all love food?


Drinking: Cold Japanese Oolong Tea. Yum. I think I'm gonna go get another cup now.

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Well this is frustrating. Out of the countless TV shows I watch, every single one of them is on either mid-season pause or end of season pause. I guess that is a tad of a hyperbole. Just a tad. I mean I still have shark tank and bones. But I don't really like bones. And shark tank is good, but it isn't really a series, it's actually real-life. So yeah. I guess I have more time to read.... Sigh.

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Last post we talked about transpiration, which involved the movement of water around the plant.
Now it's time to talk about the movement of other things in plants. By things I mean minerals and ions, such as glucose and other sugars.

So to start off we need to understand what sources and sinks are. A source is any part of the plant that produces more "food" (glucose usually) than it uses. Sources tend to be leaves and the stems of plants. It can also be roots and/or tubers if they are releasing their storage. A sink is any part of a plant that uses more glucose than it makes. This can be any growing part of the plant including the stem, leaves, roots, and/or tubers.

The process of translocation takes place in the phloem of a plant. This is made up of sieve tube members (elements) and companion cells. The sieve tube member is the structure that actually "does" the translocation. And beside each of these members resides a companion cell. These companion cells serve as, well, servants for these members. Sieve tube members lack a nucleus, and have very little cytoplasm. The companion cells support the sieve tubes, as they have a nucleus and have dense cytoplasm. The sieve tube members are all connected, and attach to each other "end-to-end". In-between each sieve tube is a sieve plate which is perforated (has holes, like Swiss cheese).

Alright now let us begin. We start off at a source. There a process called phloem loading occurs. This is essentially the process of dumping all the glucose from the source into the phloem. This requires active transport mechanisms, especially at the end when the concentration of glucose is much greater in the phloem than in the source. I should probably mention that the phloem and the xylem are very close to each other, only separated by the cambium. The increased concentration of solute in the phloem results in osmosis of water from the xylem to the phloem. The combination of the high concentration of glucose and water at the source area of the phloem creates high turgor pressure at the sink, and lower turgor pressure at the sink. As things move from an area of high pressure to low pressure we see a movement of the sap to the sink.

Once at the sink the carbohydrates are removed from the phloem, this could be partially passive, however, at least part of it will require active transportation. Now our phloem is back to having a low concentration of carbohydrates. The water remaining in the phloem will now diffuse (via osmosis) back to the xylem. Because now the ion concentration in the xylem is higher than the concentration of carbohydrates in the phloem.

And there we have it. You should all now be experts on the topic of transpiration and translocation.

Tea: Have yet to make one. I might have some lipton camomile later.

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Plants. Yup plants. I actually just heard that a scientist hooked up a plant to a lying machine, and supposedly showed that they can faint from pain. Think about that next time you eat a salad. Just a bowl full of passed out lettuce. Bon Appetit.

But that is not what we are here to learn about. As usual I digress. So transpiration. The process starts off in the roots of plants. So extend your mind beneath the soil. You there yet? Alrighty. As you probably know soil is rich in minerals. If you didn't you know now. So, in the roots of the plant these minerals are actively transported into the roots. It is active transport because there are more minerals in the roots than there is in the soil. If you've forgotten, active transport is the movement of substances against the concentration gradient. So now that we have a high concentration of ions in the roots we can get water to come into them via osmosis. Remember, osmosis is the movement of water molecules, across a semipermeable membrane, from an area of low solute concentration, to an area of high solute concentration. So now the picture comes together. The active transport of minerals into the root allow for the passive movement of water molecules into it.

Step one complete. Now that the water is in the root of the plants it will enter the xylem. Xylem is tube like structure that brings water and minerals up to the leaves of the plant. It can only go up, not down. The xylem is made up of dead cells called parenchyma and sclerenchyma. The structures themselves are known as tracheids and vessel elements. Now the water enters the xylem. Following the law of gravity the water would just remain there, it would fall. Like the apple on Newton's head. But due to two concepts called adhesion and cohesion, water is kept in a line going up the xylem. Cohesion is an attractive force between two or more like molecules. Whereas, adhesion is an attractive force between two unlike molecules. So we see adhesion between two water molecules, between a negatively polarized oxygen atom of one water molecule and a positively polarized hydrogen of another water molecule. This keep them in a straight line. Adhesion, occurs between water molecules and the walls of the xylem. This also keeps them in a line. Like good school children.

This still doesn't explain why water moves against gravity! You cry in frustration. Never fear, your answer is near. Not rhyme intended. It just sort of happened. Well in the leaves of a plant we have small pores called stomata. These stomata open in order to let carbon dioxide in (to conduct photosynthesis) and to let oxygen out (waste product of photosynthesis). However, these open pores also result in the evaporation of water (called transpiration/evapotranspiration). This force of transpiration pulls on the stream of water molecules, as they evaporate out of the plant.

And there you have it. That is how plants defy gravity. You can't say the same I'm afraid.

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I'm actually serious. We are done. After this post, you will know the process of photosynthesis in its basics. Although, I might still write another couple, to sum it up a little more cohesively. Also if you can't learn in paragraph form, I sincerely apologize... On with the show! I should probably mention that the goal of photosynthesis is to make glucose... Yeah sorry about that.

We now move from the grana to the stroma of the chloroplast. Fun stuff. There we meet the Calvin Cycle. Not the Krebs Cycle. Don't get the two mixed up. I know I do. CALVIN CYCLE. Wonderful. Now we can move on. As we established with cellular respiration a cycle means it is continuous. This time, however, it is not oxaloacetate that we start off with, but a molecule called Ribulose Bisphosphate (RuBP). Unless unlike oxaloacetate it is a 5 carbon compound. Then in a process called carbon fixation, a CO2 molecule binds with RuBP. This reaction is catalyzed by enzyme RuBP carboxylase (Rubisco for short).

This creates a highly unstable 6 carbon molecule, which immediately splits into two 3 carbon molecules called glycerate-3 phosphate, GP (not G3P, which is glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate and what we made during glycolysis). GP is then reduced by NADPH and ATP (old friends from the light dependent reaction), which ultimately gives us a different 3 carbon molecule called TP (triose phosphate). TP now faces the most important decision of its life. To leave home (the cycle) and become a sugar phosphate (such as glucose), or follow in his father's footsteps and convert back to a RuBP molecule. Most TP molecules don't have the guts to leave the comfort of home and are thus converted back into TP with the help of ATP. And thus the cycle begins again.

Ta for now.

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As the name implies, in this stage of photosynthesis, light is needed. Duh.

Alrighty, well this process takes place in the chloroplasts of cells. You don't have chloroplasts, just a little by the way. Unless you're a plant... In which case, I guess I was under a rock when we figured out how to communicate with plants. Welcome fellow living things.

So this process takes places in the grana of the chloroplasts, which are stacks of thylakoids. These thylakoids have electron transport chains embedded into their membranes. The system gets kicked off in photosystem II of the electron transport chain. Yes. Photosystem II. Not one. It's not a typo. Photosystem II has two chlorophyll a molecules, which are a type of pigment. They also have a primary electron acceptor. Here's where the sun comes into play. A photon of light from the sun is captured by one of the pigment molecules inside Photosystem II, it is then passed along (like a hot potato) from one pigment molecule to the next, until it reaches one of the chlorophyll a molecules. The photon then proceeds to excite the electron of chlorophyll a to a higher energy level.

Backstep. The chlorophyll molecule's electron comes from a process called photolysis. Whereby water is split (using light), this results in two hydrogen ions and one oxygen atom. The two electrons on the hydrogen ions are handed over to two chlorophyll a molecules in photosystem II. The oxygen atom waits until this process happens one more time, bonds with the resulting oxygen, and leaves as a waste product.

Back to our negative friend the electron. This excited electron is captured by what is called the primary acceptor. From there it moves down the electron transport chain, first to a plastoquinone (PQ), then a cytochrome complex, and then another PQ. As the electron moves down the chain it loses energy, this energy is then used to undergo chemiosmosis. i.e. hydrogen ions are pumped into the thylakoid space, building up a high concentration of hydrogen ions in the thylakoid. These hydrogen ions then want to get out of the thylakoid to the lower concentration, they can only do this through the ATP synthase channel. Where they pass through and the energy released by them going through there is used to phosphorylate (photophosphorylate) ADP into ATP.

The electron then enters photosystem I, and is once again excited. It is once again captured by a primary electron acceptor. This electron is once again passed along another electron transport chain, and there ferrodoxin is used as the energy carrier. The energy created by passing along this electron is now used to reduce NADP+ to NADPH. An enzyme called NADP reductase catalyzes the movement of the electron from ferrodoxin to NADP.

Essentially, the whole point of this yet another lengthy process was to end up with ATP molecules and NADPH to be used in the light independent reaction.

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Just one more stretch. You can do it. Take a big breath. Open your mind. And grab a cup of tea (I had Lipton camomile).

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We've finally arrived. Well technically we were already in the matrix during the link reaction. But anyway. We're back!

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Excuse the dramatic and nonsensical title.

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Hello again. Back to the world of biology. Whether or not that pleases you, I don't know. Anywho. My last post introduced you to the fine-art of glycolysis. If you still don't understand it, well, reread the blogpost? Otherwise Khan Academy is pretty darn amazing.

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Homeostasis. Here we go again. So another aspect of our blood also needs to be kept in a narrow range of conditions. Blood glucose levels. Like many things, blood glucose is regulated by your hypothalamus. Good on you hypothalamus.

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Cellular Respiration. First things first, breathing is not cellular respiration. Drill that into your head. Please. If you start talking about lungs when referring to cellular respiration, you are wrong on so many different levels. Never ever ever think cellular respiration as breathing. If you do, mentally slap yourself in the face with a biology textbook. I hope I've made myself clear. I do believe I have.

I should probably give you a brief overview of the entire process of cellular respiration. Here you go: starts off with glycolysis, followed by the link reaction, then the Krebs Cycle, and finally the electron transport chain. Oh, please keep in mind only glycolysis will occur in a case of no oxygen.

Glycolysis reactants
1 glucose molecule
2 ATP molecules
4 ADP molecules

Glycolysis products
2 pyruvate molecules (pyruvic acid)
2 NADH (reduced NAD+ molecules)
Total ATP = 4
Net gain ATP = 2

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Yes. Indeed this is another post about science. Human anatomy to be specific. If you don't find it interesting, well there's an easy solution. I'm sure you can work it out. In any case, if you don't want to read this, I hope to see you soon!

So I was watching Gotham the other night, and the entire time I was staring at the ogre. The actor seemed very familiar to me. I will mention now quick, that his character is despicable. And not in the cute despicable me type of despicable. The type that makes you gag a little. Or a lot.

Well. That was unexpected. And more than a little disturbing.

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I'm sure many of you have heard of the royal disease. Well this disease is the very absence of what I'll be talking (writing) about. When they bleed, they bleed out.

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An article about a 1.5 ton Sunfish, was recently published on the Dailymail. Some Indonesian fishermen found the animal stranded on the shore, and promptly tried to rescue it, by returning it to the see. It soon swept back in with the tide, dead.

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Well. It happened. It finally happened. All I have to say is, no. Just no. I won't spoil anything here, but you can probably guess what happened. Sigh.

Recently, GreenPeace has released a video criticizing the purse-seining industry (for tuna). Apparently, purse-seinning companies aren't happy about it. They claim that it is highly biased. Well of course they will! What else would they do?

Sit back and, be oh, right, we have a whole bunch of bycatch, whatevs. NO! Of course not! They will obviously counter GreenPeace's claims. Is this not human nature?

Whether or not either argument has significant value, I am currently unsure. However, what I will agree with, is bycatch must at all costs, be limited. Even if the purse-seining community contributes little to this issue (which is highly unlikely) it contributes! You know what happens when dozens, hundreds, or thousands of industries do the same thing? We end up with a problem. Common sense no? It seems not. When will people understand that if you do something, it is likely thousands, or millions of others do the same thing? And just as 1+1=2, 1+1,000,000 others = 1,000,001. If that makes any sense.

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