bp's science: sleep and cleaning the brain

Why do we need sleep? Scientists at the University of Rochester have found that during sleep the brain flushes itself clean of the toxins it has built up while awake.  This system known as the the glymphatic system, is made up of cerebrospinal fluid and uses the brain's blood vessels to travel amongst the brain cells to clean them up.  What's more, the scientists observed that the brain cells of mice (which have very similar characteristics to human brain ) shrink by 60 percent during sleep, thereby allowing the cerebrospinal fluid to circulate throughout the brain more freely enabling it to clean up more efficiently.

If that doesn't want to make you want to get a good night's rest, I don't know what will.

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.

Apples

About a two years ago, on a phone call with my dad, I learned that he is kind of a connoisseur of apples.  He loves them and knows all kinds and what they taste like, their crispiness, their juiciness, their sweetness.  During this conversation we both came to the conclusion that we aren't the biggest fans of Mcintosh.  But Fuji, now that is an apple we could love. Gala and Jazz are pretty good too.  Plus, I like a good Golden Delcious.  And my dad said, when you get a good Red Delicious it really can be delicious.  I bet that means you've got to get it right off the tree.

about bp's science

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The other night, Jess and I caught a NOVA on PBS that talked about super fluids, the Bose-Einstein condensate, and how utilizing the principles of PV=nRT is keeping the permafrost in Alaska cold.  It was fascinating.  Very fascinating.  I certainly didn't grasp all of it, but it got me excited and then I decided something.

You may recall a time when I did a science post on this blog every once and a while (on Tuesdays) and then stopped. When discussing the whole thing with a few people I found out they were disappointed.  Disappointed that I'd let the internet community stop me from doing something that I liked doing.  Especially when I had never claimed to be the science source.  Others mentioned that they missed bp's science.  That was great to hear.

Still, if most people don't miss the posts, I do. So bp's science is coming back baby.  I call the past posts version 1 (v.1) and the future new posts version 2 (v.2).  There will be some great stuff.  And lest we forget, each post will be accompanied by this lovely disclaimer (crafted by my in-house pro):

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.

Quinoa is good again

Quinoa is an interesting food.  It is only good, to me, when paired with other delicious stuff.  Kind of like tofu I guess.  Put tofu with kimchi for example and and you've got a perfect paring, but it certainly is not delicious on its own.  I used to try to eat quinoa as a single dish with add ins, but it didn't seem to work all that much.  Quinoa needed a paring and thanks to excellent cooks I've found some great recipes.  The other day, my sister gave me a recipe for eggs that I thought would go wonderfully with quinoa.  Take a moment with me and picture this:

Grease a muffin tin with oil and place a teaspoon of extra olive oil in the bottom of each tin.

Dice up one Roma tomato and place the tomato on top of the olive oil (use one tomato per four tins).

Season with salt, pepper, and basil (fresh is best but dried works well too). 

Crack an egg and place on top of the tomatoes in each muffin tin.

Top with prosciutto (but I used deli ham and it was still delicious).

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Now pair this with quinoa that's been cooked with some onions and garlic powder, then mixed (after cooking) with balsamic vinegar.

Add spinach for some iron.

You've got dinner and its tasty. Quinoa is good again.

7:45am around here and other notes

November is whizzing by us.  With these beautiful 60+ degree days, it is just so pleasant.

These brothers are playing together more these days, even at 7:45am.  Very fun and neat to watch.

And in other news, I watched a documentary on JFK last night and I finally, yes finally, get the difference between The Bay of Pigs incident and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Let's just say I am not a history scholar and it is a wonder I passed the AP History exam.  I am learning more about history now more than ever.  I guess high school was not the best environment to learn history, my least favorite subject.  Amidst reading, biology, math, and social dealings; history took a back seat.  I mean, a fifteen passenger van back seat.  But I feel like I am catching up, one history book and program at a time.

And what's on your Thanksgiving recipe list this month?  I am eagerly looking for a good roll recipe.  Of all my time spent baking, rolls have been neglected.  And I am assigned to bring them to the festivities this year!  Of course, we will also be making our (little family's) beloved cranberry sauce.  And I have made a couple of iterations of pumpkin bread already.  Plus, green beans with almonds and butter are another favorite.  But first, rolls.  I need a recipe for rolls.

And has anyone been watching The Paradise on Masterpiece?  We've been taking in each episode week by week and I am always wishing there was more to the story.  But we keep watching and enjoying.  Not the best series, but entertaining all the same.

And with that, I hope your November is going well.

9 months

It's pretty amazing how the human body develops in 9 months.  It's also very amazing what a little baby becomes after 9 months.  The growth!

This boy is just as cute as can be.  He's very much in the discovery stage, picking something up, looking at it, chewing it, carrying it around in his mouth as he moves along.  He'll crawl everywhere, including up the stairs.  He's babbling lots, eating our food, and taking swigs from the water bottle.  This kid is growing and it's fun to watch.

 Ansel (tries to) raid Oliver's candy stash while he's away at preschool

The Week

Like I've mentioned before, I am the opposite of a news junkie.  I hardly ever take in they news.  Too many negative stories overwhelm me and I spend hours thinking or worrying about what I just watched.  But then I become disconnected and when I'm asked my opinion of the shutdown I think to myself, "The shutdown of what?"

All kidding aside, my brother and dad introduced me to the publication, The Week.  It's a succinct summary of everything that has happened in the past seven days.  It gives you the basic stories and what the right and left columnists said about it.  It is thorough but not overly so.  It inserts funny, curious, and uplifting tidbits on other happenings as well as the best cartoons of the week.  This is perfect for a person like myself.  It's short.  It's limited (there are only so many pages). It is unbiased.  It informs me and then I'm done.  I have what I need to know without all the extra.

I know I am old school because I am reading the news in print, but it works for me.  And of course, they've got a website and you can read the edition using your mobile device.

Making sense of it all, part II

The other day Oliver was talking to me about how someday he will become a Dad.  I think he is looking forward to it, but he did have a couple of concerns.

concern no. 1: who will his children be?  

I explained to him that I was not sure who they would be, but I knew they would be awesome. He didn't seem to understand and responded, "Will my children be Ansel?" To which I replied, "No, not Ansel but like Ansel.  In fact, just like you and Ansel were in heaven before you came to our family, your future children are in heaven right now."

Oliver paused, made a confused face and said "You mean my children will be Jesus?" 

concern no. 2: who will go with him when he goes to work?

Oliver made a declaration: "Mom, when I become a Dad, I will go to work."

"That's right, you will go to work." I said.

"But I will miss you Mom.  I'll want you to come with me."

To which I replied, "That sounds fun.  I'll definitely have to come to your work sometime."

And hopefully someday, I will.

But for now, I am good with Oliver being four and making faces with me.

Halloween to the max

This Halloween was the full event.  Our house may have been poorly decorated (what's new?), but what we lacked in house decor we made up with activity.  I can't thank the creative and fun people in our lives who made it so.  I've never been good at planning Halloween costumes, activities, or treats; but I am surrounded by people who are.  I have never seen Halloween celebrated with such gusto!  I like it.

And I determined earlier this month that it's high time we come up with some family traditions over here.  It seems as though family traditions are like magic and we must be better at carrying on the ones we grew up with in our own little family and coming up with some of our own.

[above] Oliver puts "Halloween Spirit" into a witches brew at a Halloween party

[below] posing outside our door for a trick-or-treating photo with Grandpa and Grandma on Halloween night.  Ansel was a monkey (in pjs no less), and Oliver was, well, can you guess (even with his starship badge hidden behind the doorway)?