Biocomplexity Still A Mystery

After every seat in the NCSA auditorium filled up on November 3rd, 2011, students and TAs began lining the walls, seated and standing, to hear Professor Ray Goldstein speak on the evolution of biocomplexity. Goldstein, a professor of Complex Physical Systems at Cambridge University, looked young, determined, and focused as he took the remote clicker from Professor Saintillan of UIUC, the host of the event.

His presentation started off with the big question, the question that had brought all these students and professors to this small auditorium on the edge of campus: Why did single-cell organisms evolve into multicellular organisms? And how did these cells become differentiated?

The idea is that as the total number of cells in an organism rises, so do the number of cell types. So as organisms grow larger, they grow more complex. But why?

As it turns out, they didn't have an answer yet. What Goldstein did present, however, with a significant amount of poise, expertise, and enthusiasm, was his experiments with a eukaryotic species called Volvox Carteri, which evolved from the single-cell Chlamydomas Reinhardtii to become an organized sphere of Chlamydomas Reinhardtii that can move through fluid much faster with so many more flagella paddling. "Think of a slave galley," Goldstein said. "Think of all those rowers. Now Volvox can move that much faster."

They can also turn the organism, moving their flagella in synchrony or asynchrony. However...Volvox has no central nervous system. "Volvox Carteri is like a rowing crew with no cocksun," Goldstein said. The answer turned out to be light; each cell has a photoreceptor. But it still doesn't explain how they stay together, or why.

"The project is in motion," Goldstein said, showing the names of the researchers in his group. "We're getting somewhere. It just might take a while to get there."

Improved Performance after Dreaming

Click to play podcast.


(Cue yawn.)
Want to ace that final? Forget pulling the all-nighter and try taking a nap instead.

According to a research project led by an assistant professor in psychiatry at the University of California in San Diego, a nap with dreams may improve academic performance. REM, or rapid eye movement, is a period of sleep when dreams can occur.

Professor Sara C. Mednick’s 2009 study tested 77 volunteers with IQ tests. Participants spent a day without sleep, with REM sleep, and without REM sleep. The tests revealed that there was a 40% improvement in performance with REM sleep overall.

But what actually happens during REM sleep? What makes it a magical performance booster?

As Mednick puts it, dreams create alternate worlds in which we put polar ideas together—something we would not do if we were awake. In REM sleep, it is more likely that we put odd ideas together and create a solution.

And what if you are not a dreamer or don’t have REM sleep?

Further investigation revealed that sleep without REM still resulted in better performance than no sleep at all. In other words, a nap-REM or none might help you ace the final. It is a win-win situation.

This is Lyanne Alfaro and Becky Savitt for Science in the Media-good luck and good night!


Produced by Lyanne, Becky, Olivia, and Madison.

 Works Cited

Bakalar, Nicholas. “Behavior: Better Performance After a Dreaming Nap.” The New York Times. 22 June 2009. Web. 3 Nov 2011.

“Stages of Sleep: REM and Non-REM Sleep.” WebMD. 2011. Web. 3 Nov 2011.

Trip to WCIA

Most of the field trips for my discovery class have incorporated science and media together. Our last field trip leaned more toward the media aspect of the class. I did not think a lot about where I was heading as I followed the given directions. I am not as interested in science as I am in the media; as a journalism major in the College of Media, I am very interested in the media. I was amazed that we were allowed to see what goes on at an actual news station.

Due to our large class, our tour guide split the class into two groups. I was part of the group who was in the director’s room to start off. Each person in that room seemed to have a very important job. There were many people in the room, but the most important man was the director. The director told us that he always directs when they film live because he has the most experience. He made every decision as to what would be shown on television in viewers’ living rooms; he chose which camera would be on television, and he gave orders to the people being filmed. I tried to hold in my excitement as he gave all of the orders, because we were told to be very quiet.

My group then switched to the studio. They filmed a segment called “CI Living." First we saw Andy Dallas from Dallas and Co. show some of his new Halloween products. We saw a smoke bubble machine and an assortment of masks. As we watched, I could not help noticing that the interviewer was very good at making lines up as the show went on. Another segment we saw was about interior design. Again, the interviewer was able to keep conversation going whether it was because she had a prompter or she just knew what to say. At ciLiving.tv, you can watch some of their episodes, including the one with Andy Dallas which I was present for.

A Trip to WCIA 3's TV Show: ciLiving.tv

On October 25, 2011, a college journalism 199 class joined WCIA 3 behind the scenes of the shooting of ciLiving's latest topic: Spooky Make-Up Tricks with Dallas & Co.

The students were astonished to learn that it took three camera men to shoot different angles of the same scene and that there was a control room filled with five people accompanied by countless computer screens.They also learned that commercial breaks are not intended to allow them to run to the kitchen for a break snack, but serve as rehearsal time for the talk show host.

Wait a second. Did she just pull out a small piece of paper and quickly memorize her TV script during a commercial break? Oh,yes, she did. The camera man yelled out "1 minute" and the talk show host gazed into the camera, showed her luminous, white teeth, and began to quietly rehearse her lines from a piece of paper. 45 seconds remained and the camera man tells her to move forward. "I can't anymore. I will fall out," she said. 15 seconds remained and she looked to the screen on her right. She smiled and her time was up.

In the control room, the director had a head piece on and yelled out "Cam 1. Cam 2. Back to Cam 1" indicating which camera should displayed at different intervals.

While being on AIR, not only did the camera man on the right suck on a lollipop, but he also snapped his fingers furiously in order to get the attention of another camera man.The talk show host maintained her position and ignored anything that went on behind the scenes.

This seems to be a typical work day for Heather Roberts, a WCIA 3 talk show host for ciLiving.tv.

By Sara Rosario

Reaction from the Channel 3 Newsroom

Going to visit the Channel 3 news station for WCIA in Champaign was an extremely unique experience--one that I won't soon forget. Being able to go behind the scenes in all phases of the TV broadcast was intriguing to watch and see how each person worked together to put on the show. In the "control room," (the name brings up images of NASA guiding a spaceship) a five person crew handled the entire production.

I was suprised to see such a small crew; even with a small TV production like "CI Living," I figured there had to be a small army of workers pressing buttons and pulling levers to make the show work. However, the process was much less chaotic than I anticipated. The director calmly commanded orders to the producer to flip the camera view back and forth at lightning speed ("1, back to the hands, back to 1, zoom out!"). Off to his right, another man was putting together digital images that would appear on the screen to transition back and forth from commercials. Behind the three of them, one man worked the sound board, while a woman had a direct microphone into the host's ear to relay quick messages such as "1 minute left" or "Hold that up toward the camera!"

When we switched over to being on the live floor of the show, the people in charge all seemed very composed under the stressful conditions of live entertainment. I kept thinking of how strange it must be for the host to basically be talking to herself, but must look completely normal to the audience of people in front of their TV's. Also, with our experience from the control room, I now knew the juggling act the host must preform, with one ear listening to the director's commentary for where to look, while still keeping the show rolling.

By: Steve Bourbon

What Goes on Behind the Camera at WCIA

I don’t have a TV in my room, so unless I’m watching in a friend’s room or going home I rarely see any kind of programming produced in the Champaign area. I’d be lying if I said I’d heard anything about the WCIA station before I actually opened the email that said we would be visiting the station. Thanks to Anchorman and 30 Rock I had a really vague idea about what goes on behind the scenes at a TV station, but I’d never been to a station myself to see any of it happen. When we first walked into the building it felt more like a waiting room at a doctor’s office, not what I’d thought a TV station would look like. But as soon as news director Andy Miller took us back into the actual studio, it definitely fit what I was expecting. The mood in the control room was downright intense; all of the different directors yelling back and forth with the camera men back in the studio, a dozen different monitors showing a dozen different images being controlled by a dozen different controls, and the constant pressure of meeting the time limitation for each segment. Being able to go in the studio and see each segment being broadcast live was really interesting, I had always thought that lifestyle shows like that were pre-recorded and shown later. The host’s ability to improvise questions to ask guest Andy Dallas and play off of his responses was really impressive. The conversation didn’t seem too staged nor unprofessional. Even with all of the people running around doing different jobs, the atmosphere in the studio was extremely friendly. The staff was happy to answer any questions we had and, in the case of the weather team, encourage us to major in just about anything but communications.

Podcast: Science of coin flipping

CLICK TO PLAY PODCAST

Enrique, Mubarak, David, Stephen

Mubarak: Most of us can say that we’ve flipped coins in order to come to a decision between 2 things. Tossing 2 coins is supposed to be a 50/50 chance. However, it may not be as objective as you thought. (Tone rises scary music)

Enrique: The two outcomes of a typical coin are not equally likely. The proposition isn’t 50-50 but 51-49. The coin contains a 1% bias at minimum if not more. There is actually physics in coin flipping. According to the Dynamical Bias in the Coin Toss written by Persi Diaconis and Susan Holmes from Standford and Richard Montgomery from University of California Santa Cruz, coin flipping is more than just random chances.

David: What the researchers found was astonishing. If a coin is thrown in the air and caught, there is a 51 percent probability that it will land on the same side it was originally thrown from the hand. Although the small difference in percentage seems trivial, it creates complexity in coin flipping, allowing people to build strategy.

Stephen: The findings of the research suggest that one should always try to be the tosser and the chooser in order to have a higher possibility of winning. Another interesting fact is that a coin is 80% likely to land on the heavier side if it is spun rather than tossed. With these premises, people can now build strategy in order to win this seemingly fair game.

Sources:

http://www-stat.stanford.edu/~susan/papers/headswithJ.pdf

http://www.codingthewheel.com/archives/the-coin-flip-a-fundamentally-unfair-proposition

Bilingual Babies

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jefollis/Podcasts/Final2Podcast.mp3?ticket=t_ra0TmH4V

It was once believed that children would grow up with "language confusion" if raised in bilingual homes, but recent research conducted at the University of Washington shows that infants can actually differentiate between languages. In addition to these findings, there are benefits to this childhood environment. Because of this exposure, bilingual children grow up with highly developed mental skills, and even have "more cognitive flexibility" than monolingual children.

This podcast is based on Hearing Bilingual: How Babies Sort Out Language by Perri Klass M.D. Published on October 11, 2011 in the New York Times, both in print and online.

Produced by Colleen Buss, Amanda Adreani, Sara Rosario and Sneha Shukla.

At the University of Washington, researchers compared the brain scan results from a group of bilingual infants to a group of monolingual infants to understand their reaction to hearing multiple languages.

Before the study, scientists were able to analyze how infants respond to stimulants such as familiar noise or movement.

On researching, It was observed that before 10 months, both groups of infants could identify different spoken sounds when exposed to different languages.

Whereas, bilingual infants followed a different developmental path— after 10 months they still recognize multiple languages.

As times goes by, these children have higher levels of mental processing which gives them better skills in problem solving and multitasking.

So watch what you're saying around your babies. They can probably understand better than you think!

News Broadcast Station Experience

When walking into the news broadcast station, I felt as if I had been there before. Although that was my first time there, it was very easy for me to connect this experience with my trip to North Carolina two years ago. During my junior year of high school, my family and I won an auction at the CURED fundraiser for my good friend, Jori. We received the opportunity of flying out to Wilmington, North Carolina to be extras in the popular television show, One Tree Hill. We had the chance to meet the whole cast and watch how an episode was put together and eventually shown on television to be seen around the world. During our class field trip, the atmosphere felt extremely familiar, and all of the noises and voices brought me a sense of nostalgia.

After our class watched the woman film her section of the news report, we observed the process from behind the scenes. The task of incorporating different cameras and lighting seems extremely arduous, but at the same time, very exciting. Although this was a news report and not a television show, the behind the scenes work is very similar to each other. It is very important to incorporate everyone on camera and make sure everyone is seen. Having the opportunity to watch both of these processes from a different perspective was beyond entertaining. I felt as if I was a part of the crew. After my trip to North Carolina, and after this field trip, I have an extreme interest in media and working behind the scenes. I am so glad our class was able to experience this, because there is nothing like it.

A Day At WCIA

My eyes follow the director's hands in awe as he sits before the plethora of monitors in the control room. His fingers move up and down, to and fro -- swaying as if he were conducting a grandiose orchestral piece.

"Switch to Camera Two...to Paige...now to Camera One," he instructs through his headset. "I need a visual, people!"

Heather Roberts' face appears in the last seconds of the clip and costume shop owner Andy Dallas presses the button on the bubble maker. The video fades out to commercials and the director announces, "beautiful!" As he makes this remark of approval, the graphic designer removes his hand off the computer mouse for the first time since the segment began. The teleprompter operator leans back in his chair and gives himself a pat in the back.

On set, Heather continues to converse with Dallas in her unwavering bubbly personality. Within a matter of minutes she will be interviewing Dallas on-air again as she hosts the Living section on WCIA's channel.

Journalism 199's trip to the WCIA station showed that it takes a large team  to put forth a production -- let it be a “Living” segment or the five o’clock news. The class learned that unlike any other job with 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shifts, a job never ends at a broadcast station. There are people occupying the offices at all hours during the day. Viewers need news and in order for there to be coverage delivered at all times, a staff must be present at all times as well.

The broadcast station is a tightly-knit network in which all parts are important. The Science in the Media’s trip to WCIA demonstrated that although broadcast is demanding, in the end there are satisfying results.

Lyanne Alfaro

Illinois alumnus smashes myths in China

The China Daily reports:

Meet "Miss Myth Smasher," Yuan Xinting. The woman with a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois has become an Internet sensation in China for her work refuting or verifying widely held - but usually untrue - beliefs about scientific affairs.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/life/2011-10/31/content_14006604.htm

Behind the Scenes with WCIA TV

Located in Champaign Urbana, WCIA Channel 3 TV continues to serve the ever-changing public and diverse community of the University of Illinois and its surrounding cities. WCIA is a CBS- affiliated television station for the Central Illinois region of the United States. It broadcasts a high-definition digital signal and is owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group. It is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate WCIZ. The two share studios on South Neil Street in Champaign.

On October 25, 2011, students in Mrs. Follis’ Science in the Media class, including myself, were able to explore and discover our local television station, WCIA TV. To help guide us through our new environment, News Director Andy Miller transferred us from a world of consumers, into a world of producers and advertisers. Not only did we get to experience the fast-paced but rewarding job of back-room producers, we had the honor to review and analyze a live broadcast of WCIA’s newest show, C.I. Living. This show not only includes guest speakers and public officials, but touches on topics such as home décor and holidays. During our visit, entrepreneur Andy Dallas, who owns the local Halloween and magic store, Dallas and Company, was interviewed about his company's perks, along with ways in which we can “vamp” up our Halloween holiday.

Not only on this visit did we get to experience the ways in which news influences our daily lives on and off camera, but we were also able to experience what it truly takes to become a good media specialist.

News Broadcast Station

When walking into the news broadcast station, I felt as if I had been there before. Although that was my first time there, it was very easy for me to connect this experience with my trip to North Carolina two years ago. During my junior year of high school, my family and I won an auction at the CURED fundraiser for my good friend, Jori. We received the opportunity of flying out to Wilmington, North Carolina, to be extras in the popular television show, One Tree Hill. We had the chance to meet the whole cast and watch how an episode was put together and eventually shown on television to be seen around the world. As I entered the WCIA News Broadcast Station in Champaign on October 25, 2011, the atmosphere felt extremely familiar. All of the noises and voices brought me a sense of nostalgia.

After our class watched the woman film her section of the news report, we observed the process from behind the scenes. The task of incorporating different cameras and lighting seems extremely arduous, but at the same time, very exciting. Although this was community news and not a hit television series, the taping and behind the scenes work was very similar. It is very important to incorporate everyone on camera and make sure everyone is seen. Having the opportunity to watch both of these processes from a different perspective was beyond entertaining. I felt as if I was a part of the crew. After my trip to North Carolina, and after this field trip, I have an extreme interest in media and working behind the scenes. I am so glad our class was able to experience this, because there is nothing like it.

Trip to WCIA Station

Hearing about the trip to the WCIA Television Station in Champaign, I was already very excited to be going. As a Broadcast Journalism major working hands on and visiting news rooms interests me a great amount and is exactly what I was looking for. What I got to see was amazing and now I see what it takes to be behind the camera as well as being the one filmed. Upon entering the studio I inhaled all that the studio had to offer, the green screen that the weatherman had to stand in front of as well as all the cameras that surrounded the studio.

We then split up into two groups to see how everything works in front of the camera and behind the cameras. The topic that was getting filmed was already interesting; it consisted of simple things that could be used for Halloween. For example, a fake cut that you can put on your face that gave the same appearance as a real cut. Also a wide variety of masks as well as smoke machines. At first we went into the Control Room where a man would give orders to the camera man. I thought this was fascinating due to the fact the man would give orders to film close up to his hand (where he had a fake severe cut) and then the man would tell him to get both of them on camera. The camera man not only records the broadcast but also has the earpiece where he takes orders from the control room to further fix the angle of the camera. I was amazed how how simple it could be to mess up the broadcast.

What was perhaps my favorite consisted of the second part of our trip, when we got to see the broadcast live. The host of the show could see all of us watching her as well as the guests. It astonished me how it could be so simple as to drop something or trip or perhaps say the wrong thing live on the air and humiliate yourself in front of thousands of people. However, I felt the excitement that one could get from having to think of questions during interviews or what to say on the spot. There was a great amount of difference between the control room as well as the live broadcast and it was astounding on how they both worked together to deliver it to the public. I could only imagine how the FOX and CNN studios are. How much bigger and hectic they are. I'm excited to see where my major in Broadcast Journalism will take me because from this tour I like the looks of the direction I'm heading in.

Behind the scenes of 3D contents

Along with the development of science and technology, there have been made vast improvement in the way we access multimedia. Today, it is not rare to see movies come out in 3D, and there are even TVs made specifically for 3D entertainment. However, nobody seems to understand and appreciate the process of making these 3D contents and the groups of people that put in strenuous effort in order to provide us with what we take for granted.

At the recent field trip to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications building, the Journalism 199 class watched 3D contents produced by the power of supercomputers. Although we did not eye-witness the process of making the videos, the guide demonstrate the extent to which scientists and engineers work hard in order to make these videos. It might take up to several months just to make a 10-minute video. The students were given 3D glasses and watched simulations. The video on traveling space that was a part of an I-MAX movie was also shown. Even though the video lasted only about 10 minutes, the guide told the students that it took many months in order to complete just that small part of the movie.

These videos that contain simulations of natural phenomena all have copyrights and therefore cannot be shown freely to the public. However, these contents can be viewed when a field trip or a showcase is scheduled. People do not understand that there are a countless number of people and many days, months, or sometimes even years of effort that is put into making 3D contents.

I believe that if there were regulations that allow educational videos accessible to the public at will or at least make viewing these videos more convenient, people would be more aware of who created the contents, where they were made, and how these contents were able to make it to the viewers eventually.

Live from the Studio.

"We're live in 10" said the cameraman to the cheery talk show host. Standing in the well-lit studio, I was suddenly hit by the idea that there are no retakes and that in 10 seconds this show would broadcast. Magical, ain't it?

Last Tuesday, our class took a fieldtrip to the WCIA 3 news station to understand the various aspects of televised news broadcasting. As a broadcast journalism major, I was keen on understanding the different mechanics of a final televised news piece because, after all, the photogenic news anchor wasn't imagining the content of her speech. OH Dear, that would only result in chaos.

My experience at the news room was given a step-by-step approch by Andy Miller, the News Director. He showed our group the WCIA studio and the control room where we tried our best to not interrupt the hectic schedule everyone else was on. Most people would probably find the atmosphere too hurried and rushed, but I felt excited and motivated to work harder and prove myself in the future.

My favorite moment on the field trip to the WCIA channel would be understanding the mechanics of being a tv show producer and a competent intern. TV producers are required to use their creativity while directing the teleprompter, overlooking the different camera angles used, shifting workload all in a crunch period of time. As a potential intern, I hope to learn the different production aspects of newscast and who knows...soon enough, I will be producing my own show.

So in the least, it was quite a hectic day.

WCIA Studios-Behind the Scenes

My journalism class -- Science in the Media -- had the privilege of going on a studio tour of the local CBS affiliate station, Channel WCIA 3, on October 25. Andy Miller, the station news director, and a fellow Illini, first took us to the meeting room, where he explained to us that he and his team of 34 news members strategize two times a day their goals and issues they wish to cover. My favorite part of the trip came next when we got to witness a live airing of CIA's lifestyle segment ciLiving. The class was divided into two groups; one (mine) went into the control room, while the other watched the taping on the sidelines of the set. I never would have imagined that airing a live show could be so hectic, especially for a smaller, local affiliate station! To my surprise though, I got to see all the hustle and bustle that goes on behind the scenes of a newscast. The biggest surprise of the day was that while we sit at home on the couch waiting for commercials to end, that's the busiest time for the producers, editors, directors, and other behind the scenes crew. The groups than switched and I was equally enthralled watching the live airing directly before my eyes. Needless to say, I have a new-found respect for WCIA, as well as all TV stations. I never knew how much work truly goes into creating a TV program! Andy told us that there are three shifts at the station, a day 10-6, a night 2:30-10, and an overnight 12-the early hours of the morning. Of course, those hours always go over, too. As glamorous as the TV industry may seem for the outside, on the inside, you learn just how much goes into it.

Calling the Shots

"Coming to you live...” Does this phrase ring a bell to you? My guess is that it does. Live shows air all the time, and I'm sure you’ve seen one more than once in your life. But, have you ever wondered how these “one-chance” performances run so smoothly? Fortunately, I got the opportunity to see first hand what goes into a live TV show.

On my recent tour of WCIA 3's news studio, my Science and the Media classmates and I were invited into the world of live TV. After making a few pit stops to a conference room and the weather studio, we were led to the set of ciLiving.tv by WCIA’s director, Andy Miller. After splitting into two groups, my group headed into the tiny control room to see what takes place off camera. My initial thought was, “These four people get to sit here watching this show on multiple screens all day, hitting a few buttons along the way”. Upon leaving, however, my new impression had drastically changed to, “I can’t imagine the pressure these people must feel, having this whole performance sitting in their hands.” These individuals weren’t there to just watch and critique; they were the very heart and soul of the performance. They did everything from controlling which graphics were put on screen to shouting out which camera angle to use and when. Not a second went by that they weren’t constantly analyzing each aspect of the show, making it better along the way. There was something about the control room’s unnerving atmosphere that changed the way I view live TV. Now, every time I see the word “live” in the corner of my TV screen, I can’t help but think of those few important people, sitting in a small room, calling the shots.

By: Madison Webb