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

                                                                   Interactive Science Series

Q: Why are activists against GM foods?

MR: Fear, misconceptions, misunderstanding, ignorance, politics, biases and cultural, social, societal,  psychological roots that influence them.

It is important to make people realize that many of these issues have nothing to do with science. Science says there is no evidence to think that GM foods are harmful. 20 years of non-eventful use of GM products proves this. They are good for the environment too because of reduced use of pesticides.

Science and only solid  - not pseudo - science should direct the policy decisions.  Then only people can benefit from GM crops and food. 

Read more about the topic here: relative-truth-about-gm-crops-and-foods

Q: It seems we are yet to find/identify major part of the living world.  Is this true?

MR: Yes! I will give just one example from my field ... Microbiology

According to some scientists, a staggering 99 percent of all microbial species on Earth have yet to be discovered, remaining in the shadows. They’re known as “microbial dark matter,” a reference to astronomers’ description of the vast invisible matter in space that makes up most of the mass in the cosmos.

Scientists have developed new tools for growing bacteria and collecting genetic data, allowing faster and better identifications of microbes without dislodging them from natural conditions. A device called the iChip, for instance, encourages bacteria to grow in their familiar surroundings. Recent genetic explorations of land, water and the human body have raised the prospect of finding hundreds of thousands of new bacterial species.

The detection of these newfound organisms is challenging what scientists thought they knew about the chemical processes of biology, the tree of life and the manner in which microbes live and grow. The secrets of microbial dark matter may redefine how life evolved and exists, and even improve the understanding of, and treatments, for many diseases.

An unimaginably large number of species await in every corner of the globe — soil, rocks, air, water, plants and animals. The human microbiome alone is probably teeming with unfamiliar microbial swarms. As a collection of organisms that live on and in the body, the human microbiome affects health in ways that science is just beginning to comprehend. 

One of the greatest hopes for microbial dark matter exploration is that newly found microbes might provide desperately needed antibiotics.

We have still lots of work to do!

Q: Why are scientists so curious? Apart from your field what other areas are you interested in?

MR: Tell me this, when you are still a child, aren't you curious to know about  many things that happened around you? Each and every healthy child asks several questions his or her parents feel uncomfortable to answer, mainly because of lack of knowledge. I have seen and heard with my own eyes and ears parents and grand parents telling silly stories that are very far away from truth as replies to the questions posed by their children/grandchildren. Look how many questions people - mainly students - are asking me. I didn't count till now but they are in thousands! That shows their curiosity. So let us understand that curiosity is a part of human nature.

Scientists are a strange bunch of people who sustain this curiosity about our Natural World and Universe well into their adulthood and old age. Without asking the questions, and trying to find the right answers to them, we wouldn't have progressed so much. So it is the curiosity that drives the scientific world! It is the curiosity that is responsible for the progress of our societies. 

                        CURIOSITY - ONE OF THE DRIVING FORCES OF SCIENCE

      Art work by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa from http://www.kkartfromscience.com )

Q: Apart from your field, what other areas of science are you interested in?

Krishna: All science fascinates me. But like any child I am more fascinated by our Universe, existence, life and things that drive them. One thing everybody should understand is all arenas of science are inter-linked. Knowledge in one field enlightens another one, makes problems easy to solve. It is the capacity to creatively connecting them that dictates the success in science for any scientist.

In my childhood I used to dread Physics because of the maths and difficult equations involved with the subject. But now  Quantum Mechanics, Theoretical Physics, Astro-Physics are some of my favourite fields apart from Life Sciences!

Q: Why aren't tigers able to adjust to the new environment and   getting extinct?

MR: Tigers are getting extinct because people are poaching them and destructing their habitat.

saving-tigers-from-extinction-is-still-a-travail

Unfortunately people think aforestation means only planting some trees and forget about wild life that inhabit the forests and form the forest eco-systems.  Aforestation programs overwhelmingly plant monoculture forests . I have seen only Eucalyptus trees being planted everywhere sometime back in our area mainly promoted for their fast growth but people failed to recognize that they are not native to Indian subcontinent and therefore falls dramatically short of restoring the biodiversity of native forests, which contain many tree species. In its current form, the program fails to benefit, protect and promote biodiversity.

Some researchers who investigated the problem concluded that restoring the full complement of native trees that once grew on the land would provide the best outcome for biodiversity (1). If native forests are unachievable within the scope of the programs, the researchers recommended mixed forests -- which contain multiple tree species and more closely resemble natural forests -- as a second option. Mixed forests better protect wildlife than monoculture forests, and would not financially burden farmers participating in the program. Both native and mixed forests also help to mitigate climate change.

If you just plant a few trees in a few places and introduce tigers into them thinking that they are forests, they won't be able to survive because they need other animals to hunt and feed on. Tigers need large areas (territories), one or two acres of plants/trees cannot sustain them.

Q: Is it true that people with high IQ, who are geniuses and intellectuals cannot have peace of mind and suffer from depression?

MR: Most of the geniuses don't suffer from depression. Only a few of them do.

But people with High IQ’s and intellectuals tend to experience more loneliness than the average people. Why? Because their superior analytical intelligence makes them think differently from the majority, creating a sort of barrier between others and themselves. Interests and hobbies tend to be different and more elevated than the majority, adding marginality and loneliness. As a child and adolescent, he/she may be a bit of the ‘loner’ and is at a higher risk for bullying and harassment. Superiorly intelligent individuals also tend to encounter some friction with less smart people, having different opinions, beliefs, tastes, etc..than the vast majority mainly because the latter type don't understand things in the way they should be understood i.e., correctly. They also tend to think everything very deeply,  and are prone to excessive scepticism.

The major drawback of high intelligence (and therefore presumably high IQ) is that it’s easier to get bored with a certain low level of conversation. This is only really a problem if you’re not able to get out and find people who are your equals.

This is why intellectuals usually prefer solitude. And they enjoy it very much!

Q: We in this part of the world don't eat anything when a solar/lunar eclipse is in progress. Some of us consume food only after taking a bath, once the eclipse is over. Are there any scientific reasons behind this? What is the origin of such beliefs?

Citations:

1. http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160906/ncomms12717/full/ncomms127...