I missed bp's science...

I am busy trying to get things done over here before the holidays begin.  So much so that I forgot to post a science fact.  Did you notice?  Haha.

Now I am off to make dinner.  I hope your Christmas season is going well.

10 month wake up

This little one wakes up so cheery lately.  He especially loves seeing his dad in the morning.  He can hear him from just about anywhere in the house and smiles just at hearing him, then takes off in a crawling sprint in his direction.  I guess its pretty obvious because Oliver commented earlier today that Ansel loves us all but he loves dad a lot.

What you find...

...when you have a four year old who loves to write.

bp's science: multitasking

A while back, Jess and I watched a segment on NOVA describing that no one is really great at multitasking, and when you are multitasking there is no way to have your cake and eat it too.  Or in other words, "Do two or more things simultaneously, and you'll do none at full capacity."

But when we do multitask, it turns out that women are better at it than men.  New research from the UK published in BMC Psychology, put 120 men and 120 women through a series of tasks.  When completing the tasks one at a time, men and women performed equally.  However, when they were asked to do a number of mixed tasks, the men took 77% longer on the mixed tasks than on one task alone while the women took 69% longer.

And with that, I will continue to cook dinner, feed Ansel, and cut out letters for Oliver all at the same time, none of which I do very well, but I do it (see first paragraph).  Still, I am a believer that multitasking should probably be kept to a minimum when you can.  No one likes carrying on a conversation with someone looking at his/her phone, etc., and there is value in focusing on one task very well and truly thriving at it.

To see how you are affected by multitasking, try this series of tests out.  It's fun.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in bp's science are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any individual scientist, scientific association or the scientific community as a whole. The scientific information provided on bp's science is, at best, of a general nature and cannot substitute for the advice of a licensed or trained scientist, i.e., a competent authority with specialized knowledge who can apply it to a particular set of facts and circumstances. Please contact a local scientific society or similar association of scientists in your area if you require a referral for a particular scientific question or experiment.  Neither the author of bp's science nor anyone else connected to this blog can take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information or disinformation presented on this blog.

Frosty

We built a snowman the other day and Oliver named it Frosty.  

bp's science: antibiotics and absorption rates

I recently read an article outlining the fact that if we don't start using antibiotics more responsibly, we could be in real trouble.  Coming off a round of antibiotics myself, I became even more aware of properly using these miracle medicines.  The antibiotic I was prescribed was to be taken without food.  I was kind of shocked at that fact.  I've always taken all medicines with food, but now I was being told otherwise.

It turns out that some antibiotics are better absorbed into your body when you haven't eaten (two hours after you've eaten and at least one hour before you plan to eat).  These antibiotics can bind with the nutrients in certain foods thereby stunting absorption OR nutrients can make it harder for the intestine to metabolize the antibiotic.  Other antibiotics are absorbed easier when accompanied by food.  And then there are some that can be taken at any time and are in no way affected by stomach acid.  Sounds like we need a microbiology class to understand all the interactions, but we get the gist.  And it should be emphasized that if not enough antibiotic is absorbed by the body, the possibility of a continued infection exists.  And, well, no one wants that.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in bp's science are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any individual scientist, scientific association or the scientific community as a whole. The scientific information provided on bp's science is, at best, of a general nature and cannot substitute for the advice of a licensed or trained scientist, i.e., a competent authority with specialized knowledge who can apply it to a particular set of facts and circumstances. Please contact a local scientific society or similar association of scientists in your area if you require a referral for a particular scientific question or experiment.  Neither the author of bp's science nor anyone else connected to this blog can take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information or disinformation presented on this blog.

Post-thanksgiving

Boy, did we have a good Thanksgiving holiday.  In fact, we kind of had two Thanksgivings.  We had the pre-Thanksgiving which was a great get-together of Jess' family. Most of his family was going to be gone on Thanksgiving, so we just decided to do Thanksgiving with them on Sunday after our cute new niece was blessed.  Then on Thursday we got together with my family for another Thanksgiving.  As a result, we had double delicious food, conversation, and good times.

We also packed in some more visiting throughout the weekend, put up Christmas decor, and went to sing in Handel's Messiah. This was a great year for singing.  I actually practiced this year, so I felt like I knew the chorus pieces a bit better, not perfect, but better.  The hall was filled to the gills and the sound of everyone singing was marvelous.  The conductor even had us sing a Hallelujah chorus encore.  Magnificent.

Now I'm eating oatmeal with leftover cranberry sauce, we are listening to Harry Connick Jr. sing Christmas tunes, and we can't believe Christmas is about three weeks away.