1. A YouTube Science Education
helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2015/03/youtube-science-education
By:
Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
Mar 23, 2015
The way we acquire information has changed drastically since I was young student. At the risk of dating
myself, I remember needing to go to the library to take out books to write school reports. Sometimes I even
needed to stay at the library for hours in the reference section to use the encyclopedia. Some time in high
school, my family finally got a personal computer and I was able to search the web from the comfort of my
own home. Even then most of my information came from an online encyclopedia.
Fast forward (not too) many years and I am now in a time where I can access information in many different
forms ranging from encyclopedias to online courses to educational blogs. Simply typing the question, “Why
is the sky blue?” into my search engine yields a staggering 295 million results. As a natural philomath
(lover of learning), being able to learn from such a wide variety of sources makes me feel like a kid in a
candy store.
In recent years, YouTube has become an invaluable educational resource for all variety of skills and topics.
This is especially true for science and technology, with YouTube now hosting over 900,000 channels
devoted to these topics. In my household, which boasts one biologist and one engineer both of whom just
never seem to get tired of learning, watching these YouTube science channels has become a bit of a
Saturday morning tradition. Here are the top science YouTube channels on my list to watch.
1. SciShow: "Why Are We Ticklish?" "Do Fish Drink Water?" "Can You Really Be Scared To Death?"
"When You Burn Fat, Where Does It Go?" These are just some of the episodes you’ll find on this YouTube
channel. Whether you are looking for a quick dose of science or more in-depth discussion, SciShow has

2. something for everyone, covering the latest scientific news, great minds in science, visiting places with
weird fascinating science, and answering some of the most popular science questions searched on
Google.
2. MinutePhysics: Following Einstein’s ideology of, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it
well enough,” MinutePhysics explores complex physics phenomena in short and simple bite-sized videos.
My favorite part about this channel is that each video features animations and white board drawings to go
along with the narrations helping to illustrate the concepts being discussed. Check out “Astronomically
Correct Twinkle Twinkle,” “Why is the Solar System Flat?” and “Why is it Dark at Night?”
3. Veritasium: Veritasium covers a wide range of scientific concepts using demos, experimentation, and
interviews with scientific experts. A great element of this channel is the “Test Yourself” segment that allows
you test your knowledge and reasoning. For these segments, a scientific experiment is proposed and you
are asked to predict the outcome. A week after this first video, the results of the experiment are revealed
and an explanation for the phenomenon is provided. Veritasium also seeks to address common
misconceptions that arise in science.
4. Periodic Videos: This YouTube channel is a one stop shop for chemistry knowledge. Periodic Videos is
the brain child of BBC video journalist Brady Haran, who was inspired to make a periodic table of videos
covering each of the 118 elements. Videos feature chemists explaining the properties of the featured
element and blend in the type of fun chemistry experiments we all wish we would be allowed to do in
chemistry labs. Although all the elements have been covered, the channel is still going strong adding new
sections covering fascinating molecules, updating information on various elements, and observing various
chemical phenomena in slow motion.
5. Numberphile: Numberphile is yet another Brady Haran project but as the title suggests this channel is
focused on numbers. I have to admit I do not have the strongest background in mathematics so when my
husband, a trained mathematician, put this channel on I was scared. However, the videos are very
entertaining and really help to tie mathematical concepts to everyday life. There are videos devoted to
“The Scientific Way to Cut a Cake,” “How to Win at Dots and Boxes,” “Calculating Pi with Real Pie,” and
more.
Topic:

3. Fibromyalgia Awareness
helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/09/fibromyalgia-awareness
By:
Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
Sep 30, 2014
Photo credit: ra2 studio – Fotolia.com and Ars Electronic/FLICKR Creative Commons (image has been
cropped)
You know that music you often here playing in an elevator, or in the waiting room at the doctor’s office?
Usually it’s played at a low level to provide a soothing background noise. However, let’s say that the
volume control on the radio playing this music starts to malfunction and the volume turns itself up. The
once barely noticeable tunes now boom uncontrollably and uncomfortably.
Now picture for a second that instead of a malfunctioning radio it was actually your nerves that had gone
haywire. This is in part what fibromyalgia sufferers experience, leading to widespread, chronic pain.
Despite increased advertising for treatments, there is very little understanding about the causes of this
invisible, but extremely painful, condition. Additionally, there are no tests available to aid in the diagnosis.
In 2001, September was declared Chronic Pain Awareness Month so I would like to devote my September
post to raising awareness about fibromyalgia, a condition that affects an estimated 2-4 percent of
Americans (that is as many as 12 million people).
Scientifically speaking, the ability to sense harmful stimuli is referred to as nociception, or nociperception.
The processing of pain involves both components of our nervous system: both the peripheral and central
nervous systems. Normally, there is a balance between the transmission of pain signals from the body to
the brain and subsequently signals from the brain back to the site of injury that either enhance or decrease
the pain signals, in essence acting as a type of volume control. In a patient with fibromyalgia, for reasons

4. not yet understood, this process gets disrupted - it is turned up, resulting in higher amounts of pain. This
abnormal pain processing can actually be seen in brain scans, which show increased brain activity in the
pain processing centers of the brain of fibromyalgia patients compared to that of healthy subjects.
In recent years, many research groups have made important discoveries about physiological changes that
occur in the bodies of fibromyalgia suffers. Changes have been observed in both the peripheral and
central nervous systems. One study found that patients have a higher concentration of sensory nerve
cells, nociceptors, in their hands, a region commonly found to be sensitive in the patients. Another study
suggests that regions in the brain that help prepare the body for pain and reward it following the relief of
pain do not properly activate in subjects with fibromyalgia. There is also evidence that pain increasing
neurotransmitters are present in higher levels, while neurotransmitters that reduce pain transmission are
present in lower levels in cerebrospinal fluid of patients.
Unfortunately, the triggers that lead to the development in fibromyalgia have yet to be discovered. There is
some evidence that there may be a genetic component, with relatives of patients being eight times more
likely to develop fibromyalgia. However, there may also be some environmental factors such as a
traumatic injury or infection.
Great strides have been made to help us understand this complex condition. However, there is still a long
way to go which is why funding for basic science and clinical research is so important.
Topic:
Medicine/Health
Neuroscience

5. Why I Decided To Learn To Code
helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/08/why-i-decided-learn-code
By:
Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
Aug 18, 2014
Although I am an avid user of modern technology in all its forms, I have never really considered myself
tech savvy. If I could go back and change anything from my undergraduate education, it would be to have
taken a computer programming class or two. I actually tried to teach myself how to code Java some time
ago but it did not go very well. To say it was a frustrating experience would be a massive understatement.
In hindsight, as would be explained to me by many of my programming-competent friends, Java was too
complicated a language to try as my introduction into coding. Live and learn, I suppose.
Following that terrible first experience, I didn’t give much thought to retrying programming. However, that
all changed last week. I was out to dinner with my husband (who happens to have a Ph.D. in computer
science), and was complaining about the tedious day of data analysis I had in the lab. It had taken me an
entire day to analysis the data from an experiment that had only taken two hours. He asked me why, so I
explained the long process involved in computing all of my data. Without hesitation he looked and me and
said, “You know I can write you some code that can do all of that work for you, right?”
Later that weekend, my husband got to work on writing me the code. Two hours later he had written a
simple but functional code. I was absolutely floored by how simple it was for me to actually use. Now I can
do the analysis that took me a day or two in about an hour.
A few days of using his code and I thought to myself, “I wonder what other tasks I could make easier for
myself if I knew how to code?” Somehow I remembered watching an interview on Comedy Central’s The
Colbert Report with Zach Simms discussing his website, which provides free interactive coding lessons.

6. For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name of the site so I simply searched “learn to code”. The very
first result was Codecademy, the website I heard about in the interview.
I signed up for Codecademy and began taking my first course right away. This time, I started with the
Python tutorial, which many of my programmer friends suggested would be the best language to start off
with. To my surprise, 3 hours later I was still happily typing away on my computer and had finished about
20% of the lesson. I had even written my first bit of code to calculate how much a restaurant bill would be
with tax and tip included. The great thing about this website is that it breaks up the lessons into really small
sections usually based on one fundamental coding concept. With each lesson you also have an interactive
exercise where you experience firsthand how to put it to use. Even more recently, I was able to create a
very simple code to translate words into Pig Latin! Not only does Codecademy make learning to code
simple, but it also makes it fun.
So, did I need to learn to code? Not really. I could have kept doing things the old way. It would have taken
a bit longer but it would have still gotten done. Was it a good decision to learn to code? Absolutely! I
recently learned that Steve Jobs had this to say about programming, “Everybody in this country should
learn to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think.” Before I took up the challenge to learn
to code, I wouldn’t have been able to understand or appreciate what this statement means. I think this
TEDX talk by Mitch Resnick from MIT’s Media Lab does a really good job at explaining how learning to
code can be beneficial.
More info: Learn to Code for Free With These 10 Online Resources
Topic:
Technology

7. This Is Your Brain on Capsaicin
helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/07/your-brain-capsaicin
By:
Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
Jul 16, 2014
When it comes to food, there are two types of people in this world: those who EAT TO LIVE and those who
LIVE TO EAT. I, unapologetically, belong to the second group. I am a foodie through and through! If I
hadn’t become a scientist, I would have become a chef or a baker. Whenever I’m having a bad day, food
has the ability to cheer me up. When I’m having a great day, food is how I celebrate. My favorite foods
have generally included anything that is fried, but recently I’ve acquired a craving for all things spicy,
especially peppers.
A few years ago, I swore up and down that spicy food was not for me! “I would have to be insane to want to
eat something so spicy it brings me to tears,” I would tell my now hubby, who has always had an affinity for
spicy foods. Inevitably, he got me to try a spicy dish that he ordered and my life changed. I’m not going to
lie, that first taste was rough. My mouth and lips were on FIRE!! I probably downed a whole glass of cold
water to get any kind of relief from the burn. However, with each new bite of spicy food I started to get used
to the sensation and almost even craved it. Soon I was eating entire dishes of spicy food on my own and
slowly but surely I started seeking out things that were hotter and hotter. You could almost say I’ve
developed an “addiction” to spicy food, but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. Although you can come to
crave spicy foods, your body will not develop a dependence on them like you would to truly addicting
molecules like caffeine or nicotine. However, there is some very real chemistry and neuroscience involved
in that craving for spicy food.
So let’s talk some food science! That painful burning associated with the consumption of a chili pepper
comes from compounds known as capsaicinoids, the most well-known of which is capsaicin. (FUN FACT:

8. Capsaicinoids are derived from the compound vanillin, which gives vanilla its delicious taste and smell.)
Surprisingly, their “hotness” or “spiciness” is not a taste but rather a sensation. There are no taste buds
associated with capsaicinoids.
When they reach the tongue,
capsaicinoids interact with a
special type of protein located on
the surface of nerve cells. This
protein, called TRPV1, acts a
sensor for the cell giving it
information about the outside
world. Normally, TRPV1 gets
turned on by physical heat, like a
fire, above 109˚F (43˚C). This
signal will turn the nerve cell on
to allow it to trigger other nerve
cells that will carry the message
to the brain that it has to respond
to this dangerous temperature
(think of it as your neurons
playing telephone). When
capsaicinoids interact with
TRPV1 they also turn the protein
on and cause the same signal to be transmitted to the brain into thinking it is being burned even though
there is no real heat present. Note: TRPV1 is actually present on nerve cells in many locations on the body
so this burning sensation can be experienced elsewhere, which is why you should always wash your
hands after dealing with chili peppers, especially before touching your eyes!
Now that we know why peppers are hot, you might be asking yourself, “Why exactly would anyone seek
out this burning sensation?” The answer to this question can be found in the way our brains are wired.
Capsaicinoids trick the brain into thinking it is being burned, which is a painful experience, through the
transmission of neurotransmitters. Remember, earlier when I said your neurons play telephone. Well, when
your body senses pain somewhere like the tongue that message has to make it to the brain. The message
is sent from the location it is initially generated to the brain through a network of neurons by talking to each
other via neurotransmitters, which are essentially chemical messages. One such message produced by
capsaicinoids is substance P, which transmits pain signals. The brain responds by releasing another type
of neurotransmitter known as endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s natural way of relieving pain by
blocking the nerve’s ability to transmit pain signals. Additionally, the neurotransmitter dopamine,
responsible for a sense of reward and pleasure, is also released. In essence, for some people eating large
amounts of spicy food triggers a sense of euphoria similar to a “runner’s high”.
So next time you need a little pick-me-up consider giving into the power of the chili pepper and discover
why chiliphiles have come to love the burn!
To learn more about chilies visit: http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/
Topic:
Chemistry
Neuroscience

10. The Science of Curls
helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/05/science-curls
By:
Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
May 20, 2014
I
have a love-hate relationship with my hair. It’s been that way ever since I can remember because I was
born with curly hair. I know what you must be thinking: curly hair is beautiful and interesting! That may be
so but it can also be incredibly temperamental, frizzy and unpredictable. Really, it is simultaneously a
blessing and a curse. For the longest time, I blamed (or thanked depending on how well my hair was
behaved that day) my genes for my hair. However, now that I’m making a conscious effort to embrace my
curls, I’ve started to learn more about the factors that give my hair its curl.
All hair, whether curly or straight, has two major components: the shaft and the follicle. The shafts are the
visible, flowing strands that we see on our heads. The follicle is the part of our hair that resides within the
skin, or dermis, of our scalp. Each of these structures plays a role in determining our overall hair shape.

11. Let’s start at the root of the issue (pun 100 percent
intended): the follicle. It turns out that the shape of our
follicles is a major determinant of our hair texture. If you
were to look at the follicle of straight hair, you would find it
is perfectly round. The follicle of curly hair adopts an oval
shape. The flatter the oval is, the curlier the hair will be.
Another contributing factor to a hair’s curl is the way the
follicle tunnels into the scalp. Follicles of straight hair
tunnel vertically down from the skin’s surface into the
dermis. If the follicle angles into the dermis then the hair
will curve as it grows causing it curl. Although, this curving
of the follicle can lead to gorgeous curls it causes one
major drawback that all curly-haired persons can attest to,
dryness. Within the dermis, special glands line the follicle
to secrete oil, called sebum, to lubricate the hair. Unfortunately, when follicles curve sebum isn’t able to
travel the length of the hair as well leading to dryness of hair that doesn’t get lubricated.
What role does the hair shaft play in its overall texture? In short, protein bonding. The strands of hair that
you see are comprised largely of dead cells packed full of the fibrous protein known as keratin. This
protein contains many copies of the amino acid cysteine, which is special because it has a sulfur-
containing chemical group that allows it to form strong bonds with other sulfur containing molecules. In the
case of hair, which is largely keratin, these cysteine amino acids can bond with other cysteines further
down the hair shaft contributing to curling of the hair between the bonds. Curly hair has more of these
bonds, referred to as disulfide bonds, than straight hair because the follicle shape and angle allows
different regions of the hair to come closer together making these bonds easier to form.
Ultimately, our follicles are the biggest determinant of our hair shape. Although we can’t control this part of
our hair, understanding the science of curly hair has allowed us to overcome the features genetics gave us.
Perms and relaxing treatments take advantage of keratin’s ability to disulfide bond to change the structure
of our hair to the state we want. If you have curly hair but want straight hair, then you just need to use
chemicals that can break up, or “relax”, these bonds. If you want to go from straight to curly, then all you
need is a chemical to allow these bonds to form.
Now that you know why your hair is the way it is, I’d like to leave you with some final thoughts. My research
into this topic has completely changed the way I view my hair. Before I started, I had all but given up on
ever thinking I could control my hair. I believed that my hair would always be an unmanageable mess. Now
that I know what makes hair so unique from person to person, I have realized there isn’t a one-size fits all
solution to managing hair. I’ve had to embrace the individuality of my curls and figure out how to treat them
so that they are the healthiest curls they can be. It may take some trial and error but I highly encourage you
to do the same and embrace what nature gave you!
For more information about hair science visit: http://www.hair-science.com/_int/_en/index.aspx
For tips on managing curly hair visit: http://www.naturallycurly.com/
Topic:
Biology
Evolution/Ecology

13. Sweet Science, Chocolate Style
helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/02/sweet-science-chocolate-style
By:
Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
Feb 21, 2014
Congvang999/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Hi, my name is Leida and I’m a chocoholic. Author Judith Viorst once said, “Strength is the capacity to
break a Hershey bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces.” I applaud
anyone that has the self-control to stop with just one piece. For me, that is not even remotely a possibility.
When it comes to chocolate, I just can’t help myself! I’m not saying I’d steal candy from a baby but, well, if
the baby wasn’t looking… There is nothing quite as exquisite as biting into a rich, decadent piece of
chocolatey goodness.
Unsurprisingly, Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. This was a particularly magnificent one,
thanks to my husband’s present: a box of chocolates made out of chocolate! Can you imagine my reaction
to opening the present? First, I was so ecstatic I was speechless. Then, I was on cloud nine as I began to
sample some of the extraordinary Belgian chocolates. Lastly, I was in awe of the incredible skill it must
have taken to craft.
If you’ve ever tried to make chocolate candies yourself, then you know how temperamental chocolate can
be. Often you’ll hear people say that there is an art to creating these tasty confections, but did you know
that it is actually a science too? The key to perfect chocolate candies involves a process known as
tempering and proper tempering is what sets apart divine chocolates from the (still pretty delicious)
mediocre ones. Tempering is just the process of heating then cooling a substance in a controlled manner
to improve its quality. You may be familiar with tempered glass, in which the tempering serves to

14. strengthen the glass so that shatters into small chunks rather than jagged pieces. In the case of chocolate
confectionery, this means achieving that irresistible silky gloss and the right amount of snap to satisfy the
taster. The best thing about tempered chocolate is that heavenly “melts in your mouth” quality.
So, why must chocolate be tempered? When making candies, couverture chocolate is often required. This
is a higher quality chocolate product that has more cocoa butter, a type of vegetable fat, than normal
varieties of chocolate. This higher proportion of cocoa butter is what makes tempering necessary. The
problem with cocoa butter is that it can exist in many different crystal forms not unlike another material you
hear about often: carbon (think diamonds and graphite, both equally excellent gifts). Similarly, the various
types of cocoa butter crystals, six in all (referred to as Types I-VI), have different properties. This lack of
uniformity leads to poorly behaved chocolate. Improperly tempered chocolate is actually quite easy to spot
(see figure below). Ever noticed chocolate that has a grayish, streaky or spotty appearance? If the answer
is yes, then you’ve encountered poorly tempered chocolate.
The goal of tempering is to heat up the chocolate to melt all the crystals and then cool it such that only the
desired crystals can reform. Types I-IV are the unstable crystals and undesired, since they all melt easily at
room temperature or below and won’t form rigid structures, making the chocolate soft. Type VI crystals
can’t form at the temperatures at which chocolate is worked, so essentially good quality chocolate requires
Type V crystals. Think of Type V crystals as the diamonds of the chocolate world. When these crystals are
formed they give the chocolate a nice shine, the proper firmness, and the all-important proper melting
temperature of 37˚C: body temperature, which is why great chocolate melts in your mouth.
For more information about chocolate visit:
www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/exploring_chocolate/index.html
For information on how to temper chocolate visit: www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Temper-
Chocolate/ and www.sugarhero.com/how-to-temper-chocolate-an-illustrated-tutorial/
Topic:

15. Chemistry

16. Hollywood Science: Structural Biology in 'Contagion'
helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/01/hollywood-science-structural-biology-contagion
By:
Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
Jan 13, 2014
Earlier this summer, well-known astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson posted a series of tweets titled
"Mysteries of #Gravity," which illuminated some of the scientific errors in Alfonso Cuarón’s blockbuster
"Gravity." Dr. Tyson, of course, also gave credit where it was due and praised the film’s overall quality, as
well as the many scientifically precise scenarios it depicts.
As a scientist, I too have found myself noting both scientific accuracies and inaccuracies in films and TV
shows. In fact, I ran a movie club, "This Film is Rated PhD," where graduate students discussed and
debated portrayals of science by Hollywood. One film whose scientific depictions recently caught my eye is
the 2011 medical thriller "Contagion."
The creators of "Contagion" greatly emphasized accurately depicting a viral outbreak and the scientific
response to such a pandemic. As a structural biologist, I was initially very excited to see the mention of an
x-ray crystal structure (something I’ve worked towards as part of my PhD thesis work); however, this
excitement quickly dissipated when I realized the context of its presentation. What was the problem you
ask? Although, they show a beautiful structure of a viral protein that helps them understand the origins of
the virus, the likelihood that they would have obtained that structure in the given timeline (about a week) is
virtually non-existent.
To understand why, let me first explain a little about structural biology. Just as a building’s design greatly
dictates its uses, so too does a protein’s structure influence its functionality. Solving protein structures is
therefore a highly attractive endeavor for advancing our understanding of diseases related to protein

17. malfunctions, and for development of novel therapeutics. It has been said that “nothing worth having
comes easily” and protein structure determination is a great example of this.
For one, proteins are tiny. Even the largest proteins measure only several nanometers (x10-9 m, this
means that roughly 10,000 proteins can span the width of a human hair). Therefore really powerful tools
must be used to "see" a protein structure. X-ray crystallography is just one such tool for the determination
of protein structures, but since its initial use in the 1950s it has been one of the most prevalent methods.
So how long does it take to solve a protein structure? Unfortunately there is no definite timeline, which
most structural biologist graduate students can attest. There are many steps on the way to a protein
structure (see diagram below).
First, we must be able to obtain the protein of interest. Once that is possible (easier said than done), the
protein must be isolated so that it specifically can be crystallized. To obtain protein crystals requires the
testing of several hundred conditions that can allow for protein crystals to form. Next, the protein crystals
are subjected to an x-ray beam. Since x-rays are electromagnetic waves like visible light, when then x-ray
beam hits the protein in the crystal the x-rays will scatter. The scattered x-rays are captured by a detector
to obtain the diffraction pattern, which consists of a series of spots that contain information about the
location of electrons in the protein (really they are much like GPS coordinates). These spots help the
scientists create a map of what the protein looks like. Although the steps seem rather straight forward,
each of the aforementioned steps can take months or YEARS! The process is also not linear and there is
often a lot of backtracking to optimize, or revise, the process to obtain the best data for the final structure.
Knowing all the work that goes into a structure, I just can’t help but cringe at the reported timeline in the
movie "Contagion." Believe me, I would love for it to be that fast so that I could have graduated years ago
but, alas, that is not how things truly go. However, when all is said and done, I owe the film "Contagion" a
great deal of gratitude for giving me a point of reference when it comes to explaining what my thesis
involves. It was actually great to see a nod to the importance of structural biology and maybe it will actually
help inspire a new generation of structural biologists!