The Common Cold vs. The Flu

Almost all of us have had either the flu or a cold at some point. It feels like we are constantly told "it's flu season" or "get your vaccine, flu season is right around the corner". However, most people confuse one with the other and say they have one virus but really have the other.

This blog is going to outline some differences between the Common Cold and the Flu and how to tell the difference.

According to Simcoe Muskoka Health these are the most common symptoms and how you can differentiate between the common cold and the flu bug:

Symptom	Flu	Cold
Fever	High fever with sudden onset	No
General aches and pains	Common and may be severe	Sometimes but generally mild
Feeling tired/weak	Yes and may last a few weeks	Sometimes but generally mild
Runny nose	Yes	Yes
Sneezing	Sometimes	Yes
Sore Throat	Yes	Yes
Cough	Yes	Yes

So as you can see, the only two symptoms that generally present in both cases are a runny nose and a sore throat. However, that being said, often times these are the symptoms we notice first or we may even go without experiencing symptoms.

(Modified Photo taken from: Nila)

Influenza is a more severe disease than is the cold and often times (as shown above) presents with more severe symptoms. Unlike with a cold, there is a vaccine available for people at high risk of getting the flu as it can often lead to pneumonia. The common cold is the most commonly contracted virus and one is likely to contract it at least once in a year as it is very contagious especially amongst children.

Swimming: Max Vo2 Training

As a swim coach I am expected to design a variety of practices for age group athletes as well as adult (Masters) swimmers. Sometimes these workouts are expected to be designed to allow the athletes to reach target performances within the main set. A common challenging practice is one that target the Max Vo2 system.

What is Max Vo2?:

Max Vo2 (or Vo2 max) is when you are working at your maximum aerobic capacity. This type of work is to evaluate (by the coach and the athlete) the athletes body's maximum capacity to transport and use oxygen during exercise that increases in intensity over time. Benefits of Max Vo2 training when reaching the correct intensity optimizes the body's response, giving the athlete the greatest workout efficiency.

For Example a Vo2 Max set:
16 x 50 Main Stroke (preferably not Freestyle) on 1:00
1-4 @ 200 pace +2 seconds
5-8 @ 200 pace +1 second
9-12@ 200 pace
13-16@ 200 pace -1 second

Factors that effect Max Vo2 
Genetics
Age
Fitness Level
Form of Exercise
Body Mass (Body Composition)
Gender

Vo2 Max is not necessarily an indication of performance. An athletes stroke efficiency in the water has a major impact on work output which effects the body's demand for oxygen. Also even though some athletes may be able to maintain a faster pace throughout a set as laid out above, they may not be able to sustain that effort for a continuous 200m. In my experience this type of set has been beneficial in increasing an athletes confidence if it is performed properly, it also gives them an indication of what technical aspects they may need to improve, it is also a great indication of what their fitness level and conditioning may be like.

Life In the Universe?

The debate of weather there is life on a planet other then Earth's has been argued for centuries. It seems that people either believe there is life out there, or they simply do not. Either opinion can be supported by scientific reason.

Life can be as simple as a single celled microbe to an intelligent humanoid that may resemble mankind. An alternate possibility may be that if we come across life, we may not recognize it by our standards at all. This type of life is refered to as "shadow life"

The argument that life exists:

A very convincing argument that life may exist is provided by NASA. NASA believes that the ingredients for life are simply water, a heat source, and the necessary chemical compounds that allowed for single cell organisms to evolve into complex organisms, as found on Earth.

The necessary conditions to support life are believed to have been found on the moons of Jupiter and possibly on Mars. In particular the moon of Jupiter, Europa, is covered in a layer of ice. Beneath the layer of ice is water, and the core of the planet is believed to be warm enough to support the development of life.

The argument that life cannot exist:

"Paul Davies, physicist and cosmologist at Arizona State University and author of the book The Eerie Silence argues that the vast number of other worlds is actually misleading, that the statistical improbability of organic molecules lining up just as they did to create life as we know it is greater than even so large a sample group could overcome."

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/14/life-in-the-universe-easy-or-hard/?iid=nf-article-mostpop1#ixzz1uxyDw0Xd

This fascinating debate will undoubtedly continue until proof, one way or the other, is discovered.

Why is Sugar Bad For You?

 Why is Sugar Bad For You?

The statistical argument is made in Paul Check's "How to Eat, Move and be Healthy" 

"As recently as 400 years ago, refined or simple sugars, with the exception of small amounts of honey, were not available to man.  We ate only naturally occurring, whole foods that provide complex carbohydrates, which convert to energy relatively slowly when consumed as natural food sources (this is because they get tied up with simultaneously occurring fats, proteins and fibre).  Producing simple or refined sugars such as packaged white or brown sugar from sugar cane or sugar beets required so much work to manufacture that only the rich could afford to buy them,  About100 years ago, the average yearly intake of simple sugars was only about 4 pounds per person.  Today, the average North American consumes 150-170 ponds of sugar per year, and those in the most industrialized nations are not far behind.  It's said that for every American who only eats five pounds of sugar each year, there's one who eats 295 pounds per year.  This statistic is hard to deny wince about 60% of the US population  is now overweight or obese."

These numbers are shocking and disgusting. It was recently reported on CBS's "60 Minutes" that the initial reaction by food producers to the sky rocketing figures of obesity was to begin reducing the amount of fat in their food products. When these "healthy" alternatives became available the overweight and obese population continued to climb. Why? Because removing fat from products effects taste, and the only way to continue to provide a "great tasting alternative" is to add sugar.

How Does Sugar Become Fat?

How does a sugar get stored as a fat? From what I recall from my physiology class the liver processes the glucose molecule and turns it into a triglyceride, or fat molecule.The only real way the sugar may be more readily stored as fat is if it impacts blood sugar or creates some environment that would promote the conversion of glucose to triglycerides. Theoretically, a huge surge in blood sugar due to a rapidly ingested carbohydrate would cause the liver to convert most of that sugar to fat.

Does Sugar Promote Cancer?

In the full news report, CBS News states "And other scientific work shows that sugar could also be helping some cancer tumors to grow because sugar stimulates the production of the hormone insulin. Nearly a third of common cancers such as some breast and colon cancers, contain insulin receptors that eventually signal the tumor to consume glucose. Lewis Cantley, a Harvard professor and head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, says some of those cancers have learned to adapt to an insulin-rich environment. 'They have evolved the ability to hijack that flow of glucose that's going by in the bloodstream into the tumor itself.' "

I believe these facts should be wide spread news and I am happy to see the story is being reported on mainstream media. The impacts that sugar is having on our population's biology is out of control and people need to be made aware. 

To see the full CBS News report click here.

Super Moon

Today, I will be discussing the current event of the recently seen Super Moon! According to NASA, "on May 5 at "11:43pm Eastern Daylight Time" the Moon appeared to be "14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons of 2012," this is called a Super Moon. In scientific terms the Super Moon is called a Perigee Moon. Due to the elliptical orbit of the Moon, it is closer to the Earth at some points in time compared to other points in time. Perigee is the side of the Moon's orbit where the moon is "50,000km closer than" it is at apogee, the other side of the Moon's orbit.

A Super Moon occurs annually but the date changes depending on the phase of the Moon,  and the orbit of the Moon, Earth, and Sun. Last year the Super Moon appeared on March 19 and was considered to be the largest Super Moon in 20 years. In comparison with the Super Moon seen on May 5, 2012, the March 19, 2011 Super Moon "was almost 400km closer than this one."

The May 5th Super Moon was seen all around the world, here is a collection of some photographs within a news article that capture the haunting beauty of the Super Moon. All the science talk aside, the Super Moon is awe-inspiring and breathtaking. I had the opportunity to witness it myself on the evening of May 5th but unfortunately I was without my camera.

In order to fully understand the beauty and the science behind the Super Moon, I urge you to follow the link to an informative video put together by ScienceAtNASA.

Solar Power

With oil and gas being a limited natural resource there is a push for science and technology to find another way to create electricity. Finding a reliable alternative type of energy is a hot topic in science and in business. There is still a lot of speculation over whether or not we will run out of oil and gas but either way people want to find alternative types of energy for a variety of reasons.

One reason people want to use alternative types of energy is to decrease their carbon footprint. Decreasing your carbon footprint is better for the environment and this is often the motive behind using alternative types of energy.

Getting energy for free is also a main reason why people choose to use alternative types of energy. What do I mean by this? Using the sun or wind to create electricity for personal use could be considered the same as getting electricity for free. However, the major costs associated with alternative types of energy is with the initial start-up cost. The type of energy I will be focusing on today is solar power.

Typical start-up cost for small-scale personal use solar power starts at $19.99 for a basic 1W solar panel. The price of solar power start-up is dependant upon the application and the number of solar panels the customer wants to use. For a larger home solar kit, prices start around $350.00 and the homeowner can usually install the panels without the help of a professional. I own a small 1W solar panel and I find it very useful to charge a battery booster for my car, especially since I can charge it on the side of the road, if my car were to need a boost, where other sources of electricity are sparse .

Also, another use for solar panels is for a more decorative purpose. In my own yard, I have several small solar lights used to light my pathways and deck. The oldest lights are approximately 10 years old and I have found that the solar panels on these lights have lost some of their exterior coating and the cells have begun to breakdown but this does not seem to have an effect on the amount of energy it can produce. I have been very pleased with the result of using solar power for lighting my backyard as an alternative to having hard-wired lighting that relies upon my household electricity. It is hard to say if I have made my money back from my electricity bill for the initial cost of the solar lights but the solar lights are also decorative and I would have bought them with or without the solar panels therefore it is a bonus that I do not have to pay for an electric bill to light my pathways.

Right: solar light that is only 2 years old.
Left: Solar light that is 10 years old.
Photo by: Holly Harley

Another benefit of small scale solar power lights, such as the garden lights I spoke of, is that they can be moved around and are not tied down to a wire in the wall. Also, I do not need to carry extra batteries with me, I only need a sunny location to power them. Sometimes, sunny locations are hard to find which can be a disadvantage of using solar power as an alternative source of energy.

For small scale personal applications solar powered energy is a great alternative type of energy that can save money and help decrease your carbon footprint.

The Big Bang Theory: a Review

So I will admit it, I am a HUGE NERD! My two favorite TV Shows are "House" and "The Big Bang Theory". Truthfully, they are really the only TV shows I watch on a regular basis. Here I am going to attempt to provide some background information on the latter of the two TV shows and provide a brief "The Idiot's Guide to the Big Bang Theory" for those of you who may not be as big of a science geek as I am.


(Photo provided by: Juan)

Leonard, Sheldon, Rajesh, and Howard are your stereotypical but pricelessly socially awkward geeky physicists. They crack jokes all the time that are seldomly understood by others on the show with an IQ less than 130. These guys are nerdy as well as geeky what with their physicist backgrounds but constant references to Star Wars and comic books. My boyfriend and I watch this show together and both love it but for very different reasons. I watch it and laugh at the science jokes (and then cry a little inside at the fact that I understand most of them) whereas my boyfriend understands the D&D references and the Star Wars jokes.

Here, I will provide a couple of clips of the show and try to simplify and explain the content for someone who does not have a background in science or perhaps does not have an IQ over 150.

The Friendship Algorithm
An algorithm is simply a step-by-step process for coming up with calculations. It is great for data processing as well as reasoning. In this video clip, Sheldon is attempting to produce an algorithm (almost in the form of a flow chart) to reason out why and how people make friends. Sheldon is a brilliant physicist but definitely lacks people skills. He has to have a concrete explanation for everything and believes nothing comes by fate. If you did not know what an algorithm was or know the personality of Sheldon you may have assumed he was an escaped convict babbling on in a made up language.

The Doppler Effect
In this video clip, Sheldon dresses up as the Doppler Effect for a Halloween Party and gets discouraged when nobody understands his costume. Unlike in the last clip, he does try to explain to Penny what the Doppler effect is here: "the apparent change in the frequency of a wave caused by relative motion between the source of the wave and the observer". Now if you're anything like myself and Penny, this definition doesn't help you any with what he's dressed up as. However, in lamens terms, the Doppler Effect is demonstrated when a motorbike races by you. It is loudest when it is right beside you and the sound trails off as the driver rides into the distance. This change in sound as the distance between you and the motorbike changes is the change in frequency of the sound waves that Sheldon is referring too.

Disappearance of the Honeybees

Since 2006, bee colonies in North America have been on the decline and it is unknown what is causing this phenomenon, known as colony collapse disorder (CCD). Reports of a decline in the Honeybee population have also been reported in many other countries including Taiwan, Germany, Belgium, and France. There have been many theories on why the Honeybee population has been declining so rapidly. Three of these theories include the use of pesticides, the introduction of genetically modified crops, and even cell phone radiation.

 (Photo by: David Nikon)

Pesticide Use
Certain pesticides, neonicotinoids, have long been known to be toxic to Bees. Studies have suggested that when mixed with other chemicals, this pesticide causes bee death in high numbers. These pesticides have been approved for the use in food production but their impact on bees has not been taken into consideration. There is a documentary "The Vanishing of the Bees" that suggests it is indeed the use of pesticides that is causing our bee populations to decline so rapidly. This film suggests that the long term exposure to neonicotinoids is to blame for the reduced population of Honeybees around the world.

Genetically Modified Crops
It is thought that gentically modified crops contain a modified form of pollen and it is this pollen  that is affecting the bees. It is suggested that this modified pollen is causing malnutrition amongst the honeybees and thus they are dieing out rather rapidly. This "new" pollen is indigestable by the bees and thus is killing them by causing both malnutrition and GI tract problems. The gene for bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is being added to crops in order to prevent pests from eating the crops without actually having to spray pesticides. Virtually, the pesticide is now built into the crop. Although specialists confirm that this Bt gene does not affect Honeybees, there is strong evidence that suggests otherwise.

Cell Phone Radiation
Research has shown that the radiation given off by cell phones is actually interfering with the Honeybee's navigational senses. An experiment was carried out in which two beehives were set up, one with cell phones nearby and one without. This particular study found that the hive in which cell phones were nearby to experienced a decrease in the size of the beehive, a reduction in the number of eggs the queen bee laid, and a decrease in the number of bees that would actually return to the hive after pollinating flowers. However, as research goes there are also studies that discredit this and say that cell phones do not interfere with beehive communication.


There is no proof that any of these things or at least any of these things alone are resulting in CCD. However, there is plenty of evidence that suggests it may be a result of a combination of these three things as well as other things. Attached is a brief clip showing the significance of Honeybees in the food chain and their impact on us.

Science behind gardening

Gardening is one of the earliest divisions of science but it is not normally thought of in that light. Ethnography of the People of the Plains is a previous course I have taken where I learnt that for many of our early ancestors, who were not hunters and gatherers, success in sedentary farming was key to survival. I also learnt that the First Nations Peoples of North America consisted of groups that often combined both hunting and gathering with sedentary farming. The most common crops of the sedentary farmers were corn, beans, and squash, which were also referred to as the Three Sisters as they grew better together than separately.  Three Sister planting is still practiced today in small scale vegetable gardening.

If you are asking yourself what a history lesson has to do with Unearthing Science I have your answer. The historical relationship demonstrated by the Three Sisters is an excellent example of the biological concept referred to as mutualism. The Three Sisters act together to enhance the growth rate and survival of each other. Digging deeper into the relationship between the Three Sisters I found that the corn acts as a support structure for the beans, the beans act as a nitrogen fixer in the soil, and the squash acts as mulch for the soil. All three plants help to improve soil fertility, unlike monoculture farming that usually degrades the soil.

Another benefit of planting corn, beans, and squash is that at the end of the growing season or at the beginning of spring the following year the left over plant material can be turned over in the soil providing organic material that acts as compost and mulch for next year's crop.

Also, the Three Sisters were grown together because they supplied a well balanced diet to the farmers and the members of their community. The beans provide protein, the corn provides carbohydrates, and the squash provides vitamins that the corn and beans lack.

Future Corn, Bean, Squash Plot. Photo by: Holly Harley

My plan for this summer is to experiment with growing corn, beans, and squash in my own backyard. Normally Calgary does not have the correct climate to grow corn but science has intervened with the production of a hybrid corn; the hybrid corn I am using is called Canadian Early Supersweet Hybrid F1. This hybrid has a relatively short growing season of only 65-70 days, compared to other types of corn such as Double Standard Organic corn which has a growing season of approximately 80 days. A short growing season is needed for Calgary because our summer is often very short with a limited number of growing degree days.

Gardeners are constantly using artificial selection  to produce plants with the gardener's desired traits. It is unclear how the Canadian Early Supersweet Hybrid F1 was developed but I'm assuming the technique is an industry secret so we may never know. What I do know is that a F1 generation is the first generation of offspring produced by two select parents. In Genetics, F1 generations are often used to determine the genotype of the parents if it is unknown. However, for the McKenzie seed company the F1 generation is not being used to determine parental genotypes but is being used for gardening as it has the desired trait of a shorter growing season.

By the end of the summer I hope to have a lush vegetable garden  consisting of the Three Sisters. Stay tuned for updates on how the Three Sisters are growing!
Happy spring plantings everyone!

Artificial Heart With No Pulse Replaces Human/Animal Hearts

In March of last year (2011), there was a man who's heart could no longer sustain life...

Who dares to cut into people and sow into their hearts? Two leading cardiologist heart surgeons, Billy Cohn & Bud Frazier are burdened with the trust of their patients to perform operations that may save or may end lives.

Somebody has to be trusted to take these life or death chances when people are in need. The truly amazing approach that these men are taking is groundbreaking in terms of heart function and heart replacement.  These men are not only saving lives but also creating new, and effective ways to save lives. They have been able to identify technologies that do not exist but need to exist, and it has led them to uncharted territory in their field.

The human heart is a mechanism which acts as a pump to transport oxygenated blood to the organs, systems, and muscles of the body while pumping deoxygenated from the same organs, systems, and muscles to the lungs where gas exchange may take place. (For a more in-depth description click here)

The surgeons have developed a mechanism that replaces the heart entirely. Instead of acting as a pump it uses two turbines that allow for a continuous flow of blood, like in a hose. Because of the continuous flow there is no heart beat present. the lack of heart beat contradicts how physiology of the heart is defined. By the criteria that has been traditionally used to analyze patients; palpation, auscultation, blood pressure, they would be defined as dead.

The first human surgery performed in March of 2011 was a success. Since then there have been at least two more successful full heat replacements. I believe the fact that these men have shown that human physiology can be supported without a pulse shows tremendous promise of what lays ahead of mankind. This story shows us that mans ability to create new approaches and technologies to heal or cure the sick may be
limitless.

Also see:
Video report of the story
Also related

Abortion: To Be or Not to Be Pro-Choice

I am choosing to write on such a controversial subject because I feel a lot of people have opinions on the subject but aren't neccessarily educated on the subject. Therefore,  it's a great subject to start a conversation (as is the point of blogs) and/or debate on. As with most people I too have an opinion on the subject, however, my goal of this blog is to provide common arguments for both pro-choice and pro-life. Therefore, when people are forming their own opinion on the subject of abortion they can form an educated one.

Background
1969 - Abortions become legal and are publicly-funded for women whose lives are likely to be in danger by continuing the pregnancy.

1988 - Different provinces decide their own regulations regarding abortions.

1989 - Abortion remains a criminal offence but is permitted on some grounds.

1991 - Babies do not have rights unless they are born alive; girls 14 years and older can have an abortion without parental consent.

Pro-Choice
If one is pro-choice it means that they believe a woman has complete autonomy over her reproductive rights. There are many reasons why women chose to abort. Some of these reasons include: inadequate finances, it changes a woman's life, the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, and finally the woman has other underlying health problems. More often than not, people who are pro-choice feel that the fetus does not have rights while still in the mother's womb and therefore it is the mother's right to have an abortion. Many people argue that the main reason for making abortion permissible is that pregnancies occur in many unwanted circumstances. If women can't seek a proper legal abortion they may end up seeking an illegal one anyways under dangerous conditions. If the woman is going to seek an abortion either way she might as well have the right to a legal, safe one.

Pro-Life
The Pro-life argument states that people should preserve life at all costs. There are any arguments supporting the pro-life claim. This stance argues that life begins at conception and therefore abortion is committing murder. This position also supports that women who demand control over their body should take control and use contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies. It is also argued that much of society is against abortion and therefore tax payers dollars should not be used to publicly fund abortions. Lastly, a huge argument that supports the pro-life stance states that many people who seek abortions are young and perhaps uneducated and can't fully understand the consequences of their actions.

Genetically Modified Organisms

GMO is the acronym for Genetically Modified Organisms. GMOs  are organisms that have had their DNA altered artificially. Artificial gene alteration is sometimes referred to as "genetic engineering," "modern biotechnology" or "recombinant DNA technology." During the process of genetic engineering genes from a different organism, either of the same species or different, are embedded into the DNA of the organism that is desired to be altered.
When I think of GMOs, the first example that comes to mind is genetically modified foods such as strawberries. A commercially grown strawberry looks very different from a wild or garden grown strawberry.  The increased size of commercially grown strawberries makes me question if this is a result of genetic modification.

Strawberry from a Calgary Grocery store- Photo by: Holly Harley

Garden grown strawberries- Photo by: SoRMuiJAI

In the agricultural industry high yields are favourable. Larger strawberries and plants that produce a higher number of strawberries are sought after because of their high yields. From personal experience I find the larger store-bought strawberries to be relatively flavourless compared to wild or garden grown strawberries; you may get more strawberry to eat with the store-bought strawberries but only a faction of the flavour.

Another example of genetic modification of strawberries is the addition of genes from fish. So why would scientists add fish genes into strawberries? Well, the fish they have been working with is able to live in below zero water temperatures. The addition of certain genes from the fish into the genome of the strawberries create a frost resistant plant which in turn produces a higher yield due to the extended growing season. There are two downfalls to this with the first being the colour of the strawberry turning from red to blue. The second downfall associated with anti-freeze strawberries is the issue of allerginicity that could be related to inserting fish genes into an otherwise unrelated food.

Some strawberries are being modified with the addition of genes that make it resistant to RoundUp. RoundUp resistance in plants allows farmers to spray their fields with the herbicide killing weeds but not the crop that is intended to grow.  However, Strawberries are not the only foods that are genetically modified for RoundUp resistance.

Monsanto was on of the first companies to develop RoundUp resistant crops including canola and soybean crops.

RoundUp resistant plants are beneficial because they increase yields, increase income, and decrease retail price. The downfall of RoundUp resistant plants is that there is a risk of the weeds developing RoundUp resistance as well, courtesy of mutation in the genes of the weeds and natural selection. RoundUp resistance could cause a genetic disaster creating super weeds that are even harder to kill than the weeds we have currently. Also, I am not so keen to be eating foods that are sprayed with chemical toxins on a regular basis.

Genetic modification of strawberries is just one example of an organism that has had its DNA altered artificially. Genetic modification is a very new field of science  that evokes many questions regarding health and safety. The World Health Organization addresses many of my own questions in their 20 question summary of the most frequently asked questions about genetically modified organisms. There is a lot of scientific research ongoing but due to the early stage of this field it is hard to determine whether or not genetically modified organisms are hazardous to our health.

Personally I believe that there is a time and place for GMOs. An example of a beneficial GMO is the addition of a Hepatitis B vaccine into bananas. The banana vaccine has shown evidence of having benefits over the traditional vaccine.

I find genetically modified organisms to be a fascinating new field in the world of science. What are your thoughts on GMOs?

Science and Technology: Is Technology Worth it?

Technologies such as the World Wide Web are available to us basically anywhere and anytime with just the click of a button. We can now check in with friends and look up answers to our questions without ever having to buy a stamp or step foot into the library. When there is an  advancement with something we think of it as getting better, right? Now, we can make purchases from overseas, we can video chat with co-workers in other provinces, and we can even order dinner without any complications or additional charges. However, are these advancements in technology really beneficial or do they hinder us? Perhaps it causes us to not rely on our own brains and abilities but to be dependent on computers and machines to do the thinking for us.

The English language is a result of words from various other languages being brought together to form one new language. English is one of the hardest languages to learn and rightfully so. Common rules such as "i before e except after c" are true less often than they are false. Now if we factor in technology and its implications on things such as spelling, grammar, and one's memory we realize we may no longer need to learn the rules to the very language we speak everyday.

Things like text messaging and some websites (such as Facebook or Twitter) with limited word counts have allowed the new generation (born after 1980) to come up with a short-handed muchly abbreviated language of their own. Research suggests that these technologies actually hinder us, in terms of things like grammar, instead of helping us. Abbreviating in text messages or in Tweets has actually caused us to become dumber. Words including "their", "until" and "which" are among the 15 most commonly misspelled words in the English language. Might I add these are words we have learned to spell in grade school?

Which brings me to my next point... More and more schools are starting to use laptops in the classroom. More teachers are expecting assignments to be typed up instead of written and time and time again we hear "use spellcheck". Back when I was in Elementary School (which really wasn't THAT long ago), if I didn't know how to spell a word I was told to go take a paper dictionary off the shelf and look the word up or sound it out. Now we are being told to use an electronic dictionary that may or may not give us the correct word we are looking for.

It's not just spelling and grammar being affected but other things as well. How many birthdays do we actually remember without Facebook telling us it is our cousin's birthday? How often do we find out that our best friend is in a relationship BEFORE her relationship status changes online? How many people can actually remember phone numbers or write letters and send pictures to family members abroad? Or have we sacrificed this personal contact in order to take advantage of technologies such as blogging websites and text messaging?

Having the world just a "click away" is not necessarily beneficial. Almost any topic we want information on we can pull up on websites such as Google in seconds. We aren't challenging ourselves and children may not be developing parts of their brains for memory. We can look anything and everything up that we want to due to this technology thing and so there's a lack of need to actually "learn things". So I re-iterate, do the pros outweigh the cons of technology advancements in today's society?