Some Qs. people asked me on science and my replies to them - Part 75

                                                             Interactive Science Series

Q: How can science be a pseudo one? 

Krishna: Science is what it is because of the time-tested scientific methodology.

When some people forget all about it and claim everything they deal with is based on science, it becomes pseudo-science.

When people first assume something and then  try to  provide logic that support that idea without solid evidence, that becomes pseudo-science. 

For more clarity read these articles ...

be-alert-pseudo-science-and-anti-science-are-on-the-prowl

how-pseudo-science-is-born

hlove-science-not-its-impostors

how-to-trust-science-stories-a-guide-for-common-man

Q: How can anybody become insulin resistant? 

Krishna: Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that regulates the concentration of glucose in the blood. Following a meal, insulin secretion increases glucose uptake in muscle and fat, and reduces the production of glucose by the liver, enabling blood glucose levels to be maintained within a precise range. However, in cases of chronic over nutrition, the body can become less responsive to insulin, leading to a state known as insulin resistance. Initially, the pancreas responds by secreting more insulin, but when this can no longer compensate for the impaired insulin response of the liver and other organs, type 2 diabetes develops.

Q: Why do the obese develop diabetes?

Krishna: Sometimes, the insulin produced by your pancreas will not be sufficient for the entire body if you are fat. In such cases, increased weight leads to diabetes. That is why doctors will ask you to reduce your weight.

Q: There is no clear proof that climate is changing because of human activity. Why should anyone believe scientists' predictions on climate change?

Krishna: An intelligent person makes an educated guesswork about future based on present data and some information available and would take measures that would minimize the disastrous consequences that 're shown by his informed imagination. If you wait for the disaster to happen to take action, what is the use of human intelligence?

Now decide for yourself whether you want to be a fool and suffer or be an intelligent person and avoid suffering. The choice is definitely yours!

Q: My brother has been advised to go for a bone marrow transplant. Can you give us the risks involved?

Krishna: The doctors must have analysed the condition of your brother thoroughly before advising him. There will be risks in any medical procedure. The Medical practitioners  will definitely weigh pros and cons and  will ask you to go for it only if the benefits outweigh the risks. 

Yes, it would have been better had they discussed the things in detail with you. Patients will have to take informed decisions to avoid controversies in the future. 

Bone marrow transplant is not a surgery. It involves transfusing the donor bone marrow cells via a vein in the patients arm like a simple blood transfusion.

Anyway, the risks involved would be ... graft-versus-host disease (allogeneic transplant only), stem cell (graft) failure, organ damage, infections, cataracts, infertility, new cancers, and death.

Graft-versus-host disease: A potential risk when stem cells come from donors.-

If you receive a transplant that uses stem cells from a donor (allogeneic transplant), you may be at risk of developing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This condition occurs when the donor stem cells that make up your new immune system see your body's tissues and organs as something foreign and attack them.Many people who have an allogeneic transplant get GVHD at some point. The risk of GVHD is a bit greater if the stem cells come from an unrelated donor, but it can happen to anyone who gets a bone marrow transplant from a donor.

GVHD may happen at any time after your transplant. However, it's more common after your bone marrow has started to make healthy cells.

There are two kinds of GVHD: acute and chronic. Acute GVHD usually happens earlier, during the first months after your transplant. It typically affects your skin, digestive tract or liver. Chronic GVHD typically develops later and can affect many organs.

Chronic GVHD signs and symptoms include: Joint or muscle pain, shortness of breath, persistent cough, vision changes, such as dry eyes, skin changes, including scarring under the skin or skin stiffness, rash, yellow tint to your skin or the whites of your eyes (jaundice), dry mouth, mouth sores, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.

Multi-drug resistant bacterial infections is one of the worst risks involved and can kill a normal patient after transplant in few hours, when nothing works.

Q: Technology makes our lives comfortable. What similar benefits do we get with science?

Krishna: Science makes you lead a quality life.

One of my cousins, who is an engineer, uses lots of complicated and costly gadgets and teases me for not using them. Then I tease him by saying, ''You don't make use of science knowledge ( he has a very irregular life style, works in the night and sleeps till 12 am disrupting his body rhythms, follows several baseless beliefs his uneducated mother and sister  make him pursue, eats very unhealthy food to name a few). Just using modern gadgets doesn't make you science-friendly. I am only losing comforts, you are losing health, peace of mind, harmony and  a part of your life. Realize that!"

That is science for you. Science knowledge makes you lead a fruitful, healthy, peaceful an fulfilled longer life.

Technology is useful, I have no doubt about it but not everybody can use highly complicated gadgets - you need more knowledge to handle them and not everybody can afford them.  But you can learn things scientific when they are simplified for you and make use of that knowledge to lead a quality life and prolong it as much as science allows you to! Think about that. 

Q: Why do Indians pour milk on shivalinga during the Hindu month of Sawan? Is there any scientific explanation for this?

Krishna : There is no science behind this ritual. It is culture and tradition based and let it remain in that domain. If we try to bring it into the arena of science, it becomes a pseudo-one.  

Q: Why can't science explain about Bhim Kund? Even Discovery Channel couldn't do much about it.
Krishna: Anecdotal stories don’t count in science. Discovery channel might not have used the right people and equipment because it didn’t know the true nature of this kund. If we try sincerely, we can definitely find out the truth. But scientists have more pressing and important things to do than disprove silly stories. But one day, when science has time for this, the mystery will be solved. Until then you can have the highest TRPs, eye balls and upvotes. Enjoy until then! Anybody can write anything on wikipedia and net. Scientists don’t give a damn about these stories.

Q: What's the reason why human minds cannot think both positive and negative things at the same time?

Krishna: Who says so? The immediate thing that came to my mind when I read this question is research paper review. If you don’t cover all the aspects of a research topic, the reviewers will question you and roast you alive and recommend refusal. 
Yes, critical thinkers can cover all the aspects of a topic or idea at the same time and therefore think about both positive and negative things at the same time.

Q: In what way does magnetic water help us?

Krishna: Warning: This is a controversial subject and evidence is scarce and not reliable.

Magnetic water treatment (also known as anti-scale magnetic treatment or AMT) is a controversial method of supposedly reducing the effects of hard water by passing it through a magnetic field, as a non-chemical alternative to water softening.
There is a lack of peer-reviewed laboratory data, mechanistic explanations and documented field studies and erroneous conclusions about their efficacy are based on applications with uncontrolled variables. Magnetic water treatment is regarded as unproven.

When water was subjected to magnetism, no change in properties of pure water distilled from ultrapure water in vacuum was observed by magnetic treatment. (1)

8-week intake of magnetized water in this study not only decreased the blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels but also reduced blood and liver DNA damages in STZ-induced diabetic rats. But the studies are still at preliminary stages (2).

Magnetic water use in industrial area has been studied and it was found that Water can be magnetized under an applied magnetic field, and some important properties of magnetized water have become useful in industries associated with its surface tension, pH, viscosity, electrical conductivity, and scale formation inhibition. The surface tension of water decreases upon the application of a magnetic field, while its pH increases. In addition, the shear viscosity of magnetized water increases and the magnetic field inhibits scale formation. This paper reviews the unique properties of magnetized water as well as its potential applications as a smart and more environmentally friendly fluid in the oil industry, e.g., as an injection fluid in enhanced oil recovery areas for producing oil (3).

"Does magnetization of the water do anything to change its basic physical properties?" The answer is yes. The changes are very small but measurable. Magnetised water exhibits a change in the strength with which water molecules are able to bind with one another. Magnet researchers Davis and Rawls found that south-pole magnetic force appeared to make water molecules bind to each other more weakly than normal, thus giving it a lower surface tension than normal.* Surface tension is the membrane-like layer on top of water that water-strider bugs are able to walk upon. It is this same phenomenon of surface tension that is responsible for the ability of plants to suck water up through their roots from the surrounding soil.

While the ability to alter the surface tension of water may not seem like much, a magnet's ability to change the way water molecules interact with each other within the body could theoretically produce major changes in enzyme activity. The shape an enzyme takes (and thus the shape and efficiency of the active enzyme site where it does its catalytic work) is strongly influenced by how the enzyme's protein backbone interacts with surrounding water molecules (a process that can be affected by magnetism). The fact that magnetised water possesses altered binding forces between water molecules and various proteins, salts, and mineral substances appears to endow it with the ability to dissolve buildups of various types of salts and minerals (4). This phenomenon turns out to have industrial as well as biological applications. Magnetised water has been shown to be effective in breaking down and dissolving mineral and salt buildup within pipes and boiler systems.

Magnetic water therapy is highly controversial and there is no clear cut evidence to show it works although several people who practice  this claim it works (5). 

Q: You write on controversial topics. Do you face difficulties with people who are anti-science? How do you deal with it?

Krishna: Although I write on controversial topics, I strictly stick to science.

I face criticism from some people ( about  1% try to cause trouble and stop me). They need not always be anti-science. Some are very much into the field of science but didn't get a proper training and therefore don't know how to differentiate between various things.  What is deplorable is when 'scientific officers' ( who are actually techies working in government  agencies, not real people of science), who also practice pseudo-scientific maladies like astrology and alternative therapies fight with you because they don't know the difference between real science and pseudo-science.  A few days back one such  scientific officer harassed me like hell because he practices vedic astrology and read my article  Why Astrology is pseudo-science

and asked me to apologize for writing it! When I refused to do so, he trolled me on a social media site using very abusive language, calling me names,  and telling me he would fight with me till the end! I hit the 'ignore button' and moved on. There is no use in talking to people who lost all decency. When there 's no response from me, he couldn't talk to himself and therefore disappeared and before leaving he made a final attempt to degrade me.

Out of thousands who read my article and benefited by it, just one person got annoyed because he 's afraid he would lose the money he 's getting by cheating the innocent people. No worries. I think about those thousands who got help from me, not the one who 's about to lose his 'fake job' and therefore attacked me to stop me (I can understand).

When you are helping innumerable people, you can put up with a few trouble makers. I am game for it. :)

Q: After reading the above reply, a professor sent me this message : Dr. Krishna, This is really deplorable! People from the field of science and technology harassing you. Are we going backward? My mind started thinking about earlier century scientists who got harassed by religious heads. We didn't change much. 

I admire your spirit, attitude, courage and determination to carry on despite these threats and attacks. We need people like you to progress. You are our only hope. Keep moving forward.

Krishna: Thank you so much. There is no need to fear or apologize for telling the truth and exposing the fraud. I faced these situations several times before and wrote on them too and I am going to face them in the future too. Read these write-ups to know more

science-communicators-get-thick-skinned-to-communicate-science

baseless-beliefs-vs-informed-imagination-or-educated-guessing

I have heard similar scintillating stories from other people of science around the world who courageously speak truth, mention facts and fight frauds despite grave threats to their lives. They are my inspiration. 

I am ready to take these risks. I am prepared for the fights. When you choose a path, you shouldn't be afraid to walk on it.  Like I said on the home page of this group ... this is a war zone where science fights with non-sense and wins.  And I am fighting a ferocious war to win - for the welfare of wo/mankind!

Q: We are not interested in your data and facts. We are interested in human beings and their emotions.  How can you connect them and help us?

Krishna: Data and facts make you understand the world in a realistic and right way. This in turn makes you strong to deal with the world with a correct  outlook. What is the use of living in an illusionary -world even if it gives a temporary solace? Face the truth, take on reality if you are really courageous. Don't try to escape into  pseudo-situations that lead to misery. 

Knowledge helps you deal with your life more securely. Groping in the dark doesn't make you move forward quickly. Emotions don't help you when you need strength from inside. Critical analysis will give you the power to carry on during trying times. Qualitative human insights can be obtained only through understanding reality rightly.

Who says data and facts don't deal with human beings and their welfare? They can be used in almost all the fields now. If you are not interested in them, you will become a loser.

Now decide for yourself what you want.

Q: My father-in law died of cancer recently. I am worried. Will my husband and children get cancer too?

Krishna: Inherited cancers account for only 5–10% of all cancers. If it runs in families, then only it is heritable. Breast and lung cancers belong to this category. 

An increased chance of developing some cancers can be inherited, not cancer itself. Cancer is a genetic disease but most cancer-causing mutations are acquired, not inherited (6,7).

Q: As a scientist, do you find yourself having to defend even basic scientific premises from attack by cranks?
Krishna : Yes, very often. But defending needs ‘equal levels’ and becomes useless when people don’t know the difference between ‘evidence’ and ‘opinion’ and treat the evidence you provided as ‘your opinion’ and reject it outright! You cannot argue with an illiterate and stubborn- ill-informed person who refuses to learn things.
You also cannot defend your science when people don’t know how to understand and critically analyse the information you provided.
Several times people who are religiously attached to their ideals, opinions, who are earning money through un-scientific practices defend their territory with all their might, lose all decency and attack you using dirty words. Then ‘ignoring’ them becomes necessary if you refuse to stoop to their level.

How do you deal with a person who doesn't even know what a scientific evidence is? What a peer-reviewed paper is? And treat it as an 'opinion' of a person?
How do you deal with a person who cannot distinguish between an expert and a lay man on the street?
How do you deal with a person who doesn't understand what you say?
How do you deal with a person who refuses to even consider your evidence? How do you deal with a completely closed mind? How do you deal with a person who is blinded by baseless beliefs?
How do you deal with a person who is highly emotional and hits you, trolls you and uses abusive words while dealing with you?
How do you deal with a person who refuses to see reason no matter how much you tried?
How do you deal with a person who uses unscientific methods to convince you that s/he is right?
How do you deal with a person whose mind is still lodged in ancient times?
How do you deal with a person who tries to undermine, undo and make your efforts, mission and good intentions ineffective?
How do you deal with wrong circuits formed in a human brain?

You try to correct them or replace them.
Well, fight back calmly and softly to protect your work and defend it with all your might. Still if people don't backtrack, just hit ignore button and move on. Mere 1% of people are not worth wasting your time on. You have rest of the 99% to deal with. When this majority wave hits them, that 1% minority has to fall down.

Like Plato said ... We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light!
Despite all these obstacles our work must go on...

Q: What are the experts like you scared of?

Krishna: Nothing. But some things and people bother us. 

I want to point out the weird psychological effect that occurs when a smart person becomes ‘trapped in conversation’ with somebody less-smart who suffers from the Dunning-Kruger effect  (Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is). 

It is a kind of mismatch  — from which it is only possible to escape. But there is no graceful exit. 

This is of course a ‘lifeboat scenario.’

Many of my colleagues  too say , it is challenging for smart people to know that they are being misunderstood , and when you try to make things clear, it gets into more knots as the other person is not in a position to perceive things as his ... mental capabilities  are not up to the 'mark' ( sorry, we don't intend to insult anybody we only sympathize with them as they never got a chance like we got to improve them or never tried to improve them because of the delusion he is in).

 Q: Science can't explain several things. Then why is science important than other things people believe in?

Krishna: According to scientists, there are many, many phenomena that science can’t currently explain for purely practical reasons: they’re too difficult or dangerous or expensive or time-consuming to investigate. But there is no genuine phenomenon we know of which can’t be explained in principle by science.
When these obstacles are removed, science can slowly move forward and explain the things you think is beyond science now. Just have patience.
Science is important because the fundamental principles this universe is based on are science-dependent and the universe cannot survive without science. We have to use only science to unravel these mysteries. There is no other way to find facts.

Q: What is a lab-grown meat?

Krishna: It is meat grown in a lab and is obtained without killing animals in large scale like we are doing now.

This is how it is produced: People take a miniscule biopsy of skeletal muscle (the kind of meat we eat today), isolate some satellite cells—precursors to such skeletal muscle—and start culturing them. Under conditions that approximate what happens inside the animal’s body, the cells begin dividing, and with the power of exponential growth, pretty soon you’ve got actual muscle, grown from the very same cells that would grow muscle in the animal (the process of growing certain liquid animal products like milk and egg whites is much different, and much easier). Meat produced in this way is also called clean meat as there is no blood shed and humane. It is also mostly pathogen-free and require less resources to produce.

People who ate it told me this meat is very tasty too.

Q: My cousin posted on his Facebook that we shouldn't trust science because the majority of science has been proven wrong in the past. What is a good response to this statement?  

Krishna: Scientists can go wrong while understanding the language of science this universe is written in. Science cannot go wrong. If it goes wrong, the principles that run this universe can too go wrong and it collapses. The fact that the universe is working wonderfully shows science is the ultimate truth this universe is based on.

If anybody is getting closer to truth about this universe and the fundamental principles it is based on it is the scientists although they are very much aware of the fact that the truth they identified is the truth of the moment and can be provisional and can be falsified at any moment by their own colleagues who find better answers to the same questions they are working on. When falsifiability scientists embrace gets you more closer to truth, yes, why not?

When somebody proves you that you went wrong while tackling a problem in science, it means he or she has a better understanding or solution to it and it is considered as ‘progress’ in science. If you don’t trust this wonderful scientific methodology, go ahead and consider these alternatives which are more shaky and completely untrustworthy: Consider these other sources of 'truth and advice' that place themselves as alternatives to science ... religious practices and stories that cannot show any evidence, future predictions like horoscopes/tarot/palm reading, fortune telling, witch and quack doctors who practice dubiously and use untested things to treat people, latest fad crazes, ill-informed relatives, neighbours, friends and groups, the village elders, ignorant advice columnists, cults (e.g. scientology). Now pick what you want.

Standing Up For Science : Showing Reasons Why Science Should Be Tru...

Citations:

1. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp056198x

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3572224/

3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652617311186

4. Davis, R.D. and Rawls, W.C., Jr. (1996) Magnetism and Its Effects on the Living System. Metairie, LA: Acres, U.S.A.

5. https://www.waterforlife.net.au/your-health/research-paper