Physiological / biochemical explanation

Dracula is usually described as a man with pointed ears, sharp teeth (with blood sometimes), and hair on his palms, who hides somewhere during the daylight and needs blood.

(image source – Public domain, from Wikipedia)

Oxygen is carried in blood by heme which is a component of haemoglobin (Hb).

Heme is synthesized in eight steps (at each step a special enzyme is used) in the mitochondria and cytosol of the liver cells (hepatocytes) and developing red cells in the marrow. This process could be illustrated like this

Oxygen is carried in blood by heme which is a component of haemoglobin (Hb).

Heme is synthesized in eight steps (at each step a special enzyme is used) in the mitochondria and cytosol of the liver cells (hepatocytes) and developing red cells in the marrow. This process could be illustrated like this

(The image above was created by me and goes into Public domain)

(Substrates are denoted by gold stars (and orange rhombuses), enzymes by brown lightnings. At the end of the eighth step heme is produced by combining Protoporphyrin IX with Fe2+ ions. Then it is transported out of the mitochondrion to the cytosol where it’s combined with globin protein chains. Fourth step is catalyzed by Uroporphyrinogen-III Synthase (purple arrow))

What we are interested in is that fourth step catalyzed by the enzyme Uroporphyrinogen-III Synthase (or URO3S), where the substrate hydroxymethylbilane (or HMB) turns into Uroporphyrinogen III (or URO'GEN III; it’s highlighted with the help of blue oval) [1].

(The image above was created by me and goes into Public domain)

This happens in most of the human population, but in some rare cases (less than 1 in 1,000,000) different mutations of the URO3S gene (which is located at 10q25.2–26.3 chromosome) can happen [2]. This leads to a condition called congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP, or Gunthers disease). One study shows, however, that CEP can be also caused by GATA1 mutations (transcription factor) rather than URO3S mutations [3].

That word “Porphyria” originates from the root for “purple” in Greek and was given by German student Schultz in 1874.[4]

The abnormal enzyme is unable to catalyze HMB properly which leads to its spontaneous cyclization that results in Uroporphyrinogen I (URO'GEN I; look at the blue semicircle again) production. This URO'GEN I cannot be converted into heme properly.

(The image above was created by me and goes into Public domain)

As a result uroporphyrin I (URO I) accumulates in erythrocytes. This leads to skin photosensitivity, hence skin wounds in patients. However, the above situation doesn’t mean that the normal URO3S doesn’t exist in those patients at all. But that normal URO3S activity is reduced drastically in most CEP patients [5].

Abnormal toxic substrates accumulation happens in different tissues (skin, teeth, liver, bone marrow), urine, and feces, and leads to a wide range of symptoms which include photosensitivity (porphyrins are fluorescent molecules; so those “vampires” need to hide from the sun and wear protective clothing), skin wounds, red urine, fluorescent teeth, thicker than normal skin, erythrodontia (teeth become reddish), disgust to garlic, wish to drink blood [4].

And there might be loss of eyelashes and eyebrows, hypertrichosis (excess amount of hair) on the limbs, back, and face (aka ”werewolf syndrome”) [7].

(Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay)

(Hypertrichosis. source – [4])

(Hypertrichosis. source – [4])

Also peripheral phalanges of the fingers become shorter, and the skin of the fingers become tighter than normal (aka “werewolf hands”) [6].

(Image by Adryanah from Pixabay)

(Septic wounds over hands. source – [4])

Anemia (deficiency of proper haemoglobin or red blood cells) is characterized by weariness and pallor.

Some patients with CEP might experience most of the symptoms mentioned above while others only a few of the symptoms.

> First time I saw the things under the microscope, what looked smooth looked like hills and valleys.
So, I said, “What’s it really like?” And the guy blew it up again, and it looked like slivers.

So, I said, “Yeah, but what’s it really like?” And he said, “That is a stupid question. Depends on your receptors.”
I thought I was looking for truth.
And he said, “Man can’t see the truth. There’re radio waves you can’t see, millions of bacteria on the table you can’t see…”

(The dialog between Jacque Fresco and Albert Einstein) [1].

We have thermoreceptors. That’s why we can perceive temperature.

We have photoreceptors. That’s one of the reasons why we have vision.

Fish has “lateral line” (a special group of receptors which allows it to detect changes in water pressure and movements). And we don’t have it.

Snakes have Pit Organ which allows them to sense infrared thermal radiation which is invisible to our eyes.

That’s one of the reasons why people invented special tools (microscope, infrared cameras etc.) in order to extend our capabilities / break our limitations.

It’s really hard to figure out what things really are, especially after experiments showing that the very act of observation impacts observed reality [2, 3)].

> Strange as it may sound, interference can only occur when no one is watching. …when under observation, electrons are being “forced” to behave like particles and not like waves. Thus the mere act of observation affects the experimental findings.

(source)

As far as I understand, this is that phenomenon which science can’t clearly explain yet (correct me if I’m wrong). And that experiment may support simulation hypothesis/simulation theory (which postulates that all we see around us is actually just a simulation (like in computer games))

Once we have a lot of anomalies in the context of the current scientific paradigm, it’s time to make a revolution (think of Copernican Revolution for example) and create a new paradigm (paradigm shift, as per Thomas S. Kuhn, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” (1962)).

That’s another reason why it’s hard to understand reality (just because our knowledge is constantly changing).

In this series of posts I’d like to talk about some of the prevalent myths/misconceptions.

myth

a widely held but false belief or idea

[Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd Edition. Oxford University Press, 2010]

I’d like to find the answers to questions like

-–> Is there any scientific explanation for Vampires/Werewolves?

-–> Plastic bags vs. Paper bags. What is more harmful for environment?

etc.

And I’d like to provide scientific explanation for them (you know, those data we can find in some scientific journals).

Are those journals really 100% reliable source of information?

Well, in 2012 the article called “Independent, Negative, Canonically Turing Arrows of Equations and Problems in Applied Formal PDE” by Marcie Rathke was accepted by Advances in Pure Mathematics.

The problem is that it was generated by Mathgen (an online web-tool to generate random mathematics papers)

[4].

So, no. Seems like it’s not a good idea to rely 100% on those articles/papers. But it’s still something which is mostly more objective that just our own opinions (not supported by any experiments).

Now, I’m not an expert of Immanuel Kant works. But as far as I remember and understand, according to the doctrine of Transcendental idealism developed by him, we can’t ultimately perceive the way things are (think of his famous thing-in-itself).

> And we indeed, rightly considering objects of sense as mere appearances, confess thereby that they are based upon a thing in itself, though we know not this thing as it is in itself, but only know its appearances, viz., the way in which our senses are affected by this unknown something.

(Thing-in-itself (Wikipedia))

Do not consider the posts of the series as a source with comprehensive reviews, but rather as a piece of information you can think about and improve (collaboration) (sometimes you’ll see some unanswered questions in the posts; feel free to share your thoughts/answers).

First of all, I’d like to clarify the meaning of “innovation” in its modern sense.

According to “Oxford Dictionary of English” (3rd Edition, 2010) an innovation is simply

a new method, idea, product, etc.

Wikipedia gives us a similar definition

“a new idea, creative thoughts, new imaginations in form of device or method”. Innovation is often also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs

source

So, it’s not about the age. As far as I understand, if an innovation was introduced, let’s say, in 1980, but nothing better has been introduced since that time, it’s still considered as such.

An innovation is something original and more effective and, as a consequence, new, that “breaks into” the market or society

source

SolarReserve

Anyway, let’s talk about SolarReserve [](https://www.solarreserve.com/en/) now.

During your life you, most likely, noticed that some surfaces reflect the sunlight and you, probably, played with a sunlight spot in the childhood. SolarReserve works based on a similar principle. It is an example of the concentrated solar power (also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal, and CSP) system in which solar power tower (aka central tower power plant / heliostat power plant / power tower) technology is used. It consists mostly of a huge amount of mirrors (more than 10,000) and “Receiver” (module partially filled with molten salt) which collects the energy reflected from the mirrors. The latter is placed in the centre of the mirror field on the central tower. The “Receiver” is black (Why?) [17, 18]. Mirrors are oriented automatically towards the target (sun) with the help of solar trackers.

(image (which served as the header image as well) source – video below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0uJxHWaq0k

There’re two liquids used in SolarReserve, namely water and molten salt.

1. Molten salt

Obviously, molten salt is melted salt(s) (also known as Fused Salt(s) (for example, Sodium Nitrite/Nitrate mixture can be used)).

What makes molten salts so special is that it

can attain high temperature (> 700° C);

do not expand when freezes as opposed to water;

has a heat capacity (“The capability of a substance to absorb heat energy” [3]) similar to water (which has the highest heat capacity among liquids),

can conduct electricity (as opposed to salts in solid state) [2]

Table salt (NaCl) belongs to molten salts (you can check that by heating it to > 801° C (or 1474° F) point when it becomes a liquid) (I wouldn’t recommend to do that, though )).

In case of Solar Power Towers molten salt serves not only as an absorber of the sun energy, but also as a good storage for that energy (because of high heat capacity).

2. Water in this case is used to produce steam. The latter is used to drive a traditional steam turbine to generate electricity.

Molten salts “meet” water in a heat exchanger where the steam is generated.

The final process (steam usage) is similar to that happening in systems where coal or gas is used.

The difference is that SolarReserve produces

-–> 0% harmful emissions

-–> and is 100% renewable

The next animation explains the process in detail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfUZofkc0Mw

What about solar panels?

Really, why not just place instead of all that stuff a field of solar panels?

One of the problems is that sun energy is available only during a day (well, I know that in polar regions of the Earth days can be very long; they get lower sun energy intensity compared with those on the equator, though (why?)).

Ok, but we could, probably, try to use instead of molten salts just traditional batteries (either 1 super huge one or a huge amount of little ones) to store the sun energy collected with the solar panels.

I think there’s no need to tell you, what environmental impact all those batteries (electronic waste) could have (with all the toxic (for humans and animals at least) materials used in them (lead, cadmium …)).

Also batteries can explode sometimes [4].

Another problem is that solar panels themselves might contain toxic substances.

There’re several types of solar panels. The majority of them (near 90%) consists of glass, aluminium, silver, and an ethylene-vinyl acetate. Other types might contain chromium (human carcinogen and danger for the environment [6]), lead (carcinogen, teratogen [7]), and cadmium [5].

As for Cadmium, just take a look at those 4 red rhombuses at the top of the page on PubChem to realise how dangerous it is [8].

Solar panels usually can last for 25-30 years because solar cells lose their efficiency. And the waste they become represents a big problem to us and our environment [9].

In November 2016, the Environment Ministry of Japan warned that the country will produce 800,000 tons of solar waste by 2040, and it can’t yet handle those volumes

source

Most parts of the solar panels can be recycled

including up to 95% of certain semiconductor materials or the glass as well as large amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous metals

source

Nonetheless, if the glass breaks (due to rain, hail, hurricanes, accidents), those toxic substances can leak into the soil –> water system (which is bad news for us).

Puerto Rico’s second largest solar farm, located in Humacao, took a direct hit from Maria’s eyewall. The farm currently accounts for nearly 40% of solar-produced electricity on the island and is currently under expansion to produce even more. Unfortunately, a majority of the newly added solar panels were ripped from their foundation and completely destroyed by Maria’s strong winds.

source

What’s more is that the solar cells manufacturing process itself is energy-consuming and quite dangerous for the environment (CO2…).

Wires used in solar panels might contain silver, copper and some other elements [5].

There are no Negro problems, or Polish problems, or Jewish problems, or Greek problems, or women's problems. They are human problems

[Jacque Fresco

](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN6puH9DYnQ)It hurts to see sometimes what’s happening on the Earth in some regions.

In some regions people still go to mines for coal (dying there sometimes and “killing” the Earth's resources) to get energy, people/animals still die of food/water scarcity, people/animals still die of wildfires/fires, people destroy forests and themselves…

Is a human really the highest form of evolution? (as per Jacque Fresco, not Charles Darwin)

(The image (which served as the header image as well) above was taken from Pixabay)

In this series of posts I’m going to share with you the latest innovations which might help us (humanity) to solve aforementioned problems and more.

I’d like to talk in this series not only about some really global problems (like food/water scarcity, energy supply), but also about educational problems, solutions for plastics pollution, alternatives for traditional batteries, city air quality monitoring systems…

I’m not going to care in my posts whether or not it’s an industrial innovation, non-industrial innovation, whether or not it has the prototype. What I do care here is to inform the audience about the latest achievements done in different fields of science (including Computer science (that’s why you’ll also see reviews about some programs which might help us to save time and overcome some individuals’ limitations)). And it’s up to people to decide whether or not they’re going /can afford to use them.

Hello and welcome to the “Guess the melody” contest

(image (which served as the header image as well) source – Pixabay. Thanks to Radfotosonn)

I (an amateur musician) will run “Guess the Melody” contest in collaboration with my sister (professional musician).

I’ll publish a post with audio/video-files of some quite famous musical compositions (classical, jazz etc.) played and recorded by my sister.

Even though this contest is called “Guess the Melody”, I hope it’ll be more about making conscious choice, rather that random guessing.

I hope you will enjoy this contest (just like me) and consider those 5 XRP as a bonus.

Audio (and some text sometimes) is the clue for you to guess a riddle (the name of the composition in this case).

Goals:

1. promote some musical masterpieces;

2. have fun;

3. train brain/memory;

Rules

I’m planning to run this contest every week.

So, you should expect to see the 2nd task/riddle on Sunday, January 12, 2020, 20:00 ± 2 minutes UTC.

-> https://time.is/UTC

(UTC / Universal Time Coordinated / Coordinated Universal Time / Universal Time / Greenwich Mean Time)

This contest lasts for 6 days.

The first audio has been already provided in this post.

Longer audio (20-40 seconds) will be provided in 2 days (on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, 20:00 ± 15 minutes UTC) (I’ll update the post).

And in 2 more days I’ll provide one more audio-file (40-60+ seconds) (on Thursday, January 9, 2020, 20:00 ± 15 minutes UTC) (I’ll update that post).

That’s because some people might need less information to make

conclusions than the others.

The clues will be added at the end of “Riddle” section.

Given that I don't see a comments section on Coil, I set up a Telegram group for this contest, so that you could leave your reply with the guess there.

Leave your guess (1 guess only) in the Telegram group.

Don’t edit your comment/reply and don’t provide any evidence that your answer is correct.

The first user with the right answer is the winner.

The right answer will be provided and the winner will be announced in the Telegram group on the 6th day.

I'll ask to provide me there your XPR-address.

If there's no correct answers provided by the users, then 5 XRP will be distributed equally among all participants with guesses.

I’ll transfer XRP to the winner on that day (Friday, January 11, 2020) (if the winner provides me his/her XRP-address) and add the transaction ID in the Telegram group.

The riddle goes below

This contest is an attempt to promote scientific knowledge among community in a fun and interesting way with the help of molecules.

Some people like to travel around the world and tell others stories about what happens outside of our organisms/cells in other countries.

And with “Identify the molecule” contest you can try to travel inside our own organism/cells and cells of the organisms around us.

For more information about this contest read “Identify the molecule” league. Prize: knowledge + 5/10 XRP + 200/400 TMN post.

Prizes/bonuses:

The prize here is

1. knowledge

facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject [Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2010]

That understanding of our own organism and organisms around us is the real prize in the case of this contest. No matter what happens (whether or not you get 5 XRP), you can win (can acquire the knowledge by investigating different sources of information, remembering and using it to your advantage in the future).

2. 5 XRP

3. 200 TMN

Aside from XRP I’d like to add TMN tokens.

For the uninitiated, TMN is the token of TranslateMe project (it’s about combining blockchain technology (NEO in this case) with translation industry).

The reason I’m going to add this token for the prize pool of this contest is not only because I have them, but because this contest is quite scientific, and TranslateMe project might help to solve the “lost” science problem.

For more on this you can read my post regarding TranslateMe (TranslateMe (or Decentralization meets Translation industry). Part 2. The “missing puzzle piece” of scientific ecosystem. General overview) (and other posts of that series).

For more information on crypto-bonuses for this league, please refer to “Identify the molecule” league. Prize: knowledge + 5/10 XRP + 200/400 TMN post.

Consider these tokens as a bonus.

Images and text are the clues for you to guess a riddle (the name of the molecule in this case).

Note that

a) even though this contest is called “Identify the molecule”,

-> molecule (singular)

sometimes it’s not just a molecule which is responsible for a specific function, but rather a complex of molecules.

Example:

cytochrome c oxidase (Complex IV)

is a large transmembrane protein complex… It is the last enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain of cells located in the membrane.

source

b) some molecules/complexes have different names. For example, other names for cytochrome c oxidase (example above) are

Complex IV (mitochondrial electron transport). Cytochrome a3. Cytochrome aa3. Cytochrome oxidase. Warburg's respiratory enzyme.

source

Any of those names would be a valid entry.

c) Some almost identical molecules are grouped into classes / groups / families.

Example:

Helicases are divided into 6 groups. RecD and Dda molecules belong to helicases group (Superfamily 1 (SF1)). In this case you would need to guess only the name of the group –> Helicase/ Helicases.

d) Some proteins can have different forms – isoforms.

Example:

There’re trypsin 1 and trypsin 2. In this case you would need to guess only the general name – trypsin.

Important

In order to get TMN, you’ll need to have NEO-wallet and provide me your public NEO-address.

If you don’t have it yet, don’t worry, I published a post on how/where to get it (O3 wallet).

Note that NEO-addresses provided by exchanges will not work in this case (+ it's safer NOT to keep your funds on exchanges). It's highly recommended to get O3 wallet.

If there’re no winners on any stage, the prize will be distributed equally among all users who provided any guesses for molecules.

Rules

This contest lasts for 6 days.

Given that I don't see a comments section on Coil, I set up a Telegram group for this league, so that you could leave your reply with the guess there.

Leave your guess (1 guess only) in the Telegram group.

Don’t edit your comment/reply and don’t provide any evidence that your answer is correct.

The first user with the right answer is the winner.

I’ll provide the answer in the Telegram group.

Some of the clues have already been provided in the post.

Additional clues will be given in 2 days (on Monday, January 6, 2020, 20:00 ± 2 minutes UTC) (I’ll update this post).

And the rest of the clues will be provided in 2 more days (on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, 20:00 ± 2 minutes UTC) (I’ll update this post).

The reason is that some people might need less information to make conclusions that the others.

Additional clues will be added at the end of the “Riddle” section before the “Rules” section with “Edited” label.

The winner will be announced in that group (+ I'll publish a detailed review of the riddle after a while) on Friday, January 10, 2020, 20:00 ± 5 minutes UTC, so it's recommended to check that group on the 6th day.

I'll ask to provide me there your XPR-address.

I’ll transfer the tokens (XRP + TMN) (if the winner provides me his/her NEO-address) to the winner on that day (January 10) and add the transaction ID in the Telegram group.

I’m planning to run this contest every week.

So, you should expect to see the 2nd week’s riddle for January on Saturday, January 11, 2019, 20:00 ± 2 minutes UTC.

The riddle goes below.

(header image source (Public domain))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kHm-SjWiWo&feature=emb_logo

(Note that the video is actually 2:27 minutes long.

I don't know what causes the error so that my video doubled)

“Carol of the bells”/ “Shchedryk” evolution

Before 867 (Christianization of Kievan Rus')

There are so-called shchedrivky (щедрівки (ukrainian)) in Ukraine, New Year’s songs.

The purpose is to cheer up the hosts of the house, inform them about the bounteous year they will have and usually get some food in exchange.

The original version of “Carol of the Bells” is called “Shchedryk” (translates from Ukrainian into English as “the generous one”) and was composed by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych.

“Shchedryk” originates from one of those New Year's songs / traditional folk chants.

In pre-Christian Ukraine the New Year was celebrated in April (spring).

So, shchedrivky reflect events and conditions typical to spring.

“Shchedryk” is known in English as “The Little Swallow”.

It tells about a swallow flying into a house and singing about the bountiful year the family will have.

And swallows are migratory birds.

They fly out of Ukraine in winter and come back in April.

So, initially the text of “Shchedryk” was associated with the spring.

After 867 (Christianization of Kievan Rus')

After Christianity and Julian calendar adoption in Kievan Rus' people started to celebrate the New Year in January 1 (January 13–14 in the Gregorian calendar).

So, shchedrivky started to be sung on the eve of that day, but they still focus on the events and conditions typical for the spring (including the swallow).

(the source of the picture on the right (Public domain); the source of the picture on the left (Pixabay). The overall image was created by me)

1901 – 1919

As it was mentioned above, “Shchedryk” was arranged by Mykola Leontovych, who was a teacher and composer at the Music and Drama Institute of Mykola Lysenko in Kiev.

He worked on the “Shchedryk” almost his whole life with the 1st edition coming in 1901—1902 and the 5th edition coming in 1919.

The text and music of “Shchedryk” is based on the Ukrainian traditional folk chant, which in its turn is based on the four-note pattern.

(image source (Public domain))

So, Mykola Leontovych have taken “the seed” of the “Shchedryk” from Ukrainian folklore and grown from it the famous masterpiece.

“Shchedryk” was originally sung on the night of January 13, New Year's Eve in the Julian Calendar (December 31 Old Style), which is Shchedry Vechir.

In Ukraine, the song is currently sung on the eve of the Julian New Year (January 13).

(Shchedryk (song))

“Shchedryk” was first performed by the chorus at Kiev University in 1916 and was very successful.

However, it lost popularity after a while in Ukraine but gain some popularity in America once the Ukrainian National Chorus performed it there in 1921 at Carnegie Hall.

So just like swallows migrate from Ukraine (and other countries) to other continents, “Shchedryk” migrated to USA.

(image source (Unsplash))

1936

Peter Wilhousky, who worked for the NBC (National Broadcasting Company), adapted the melody for orchestra and changed the lyrics.

Instead of using the swallow, Wilhousky reimagined the “Shchedryk” and build the story around the bells binding it to Christmas instead of the New Year.

While “Shchedryk” is qualified as shchedrivka, the English versions is considered as kolyadka (Christmas carol).

That’s how we got “Carol of the Bells” with its “merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas” passage.

After that the composition gradually gains popularity.

To summarize,

(the source for the image with bells (Unsplash) and the source for Peter Wilhousky on the left (the image is used under the doctrine known in USA as “Fair Use” (similar doctrines are used in other countries). For more information visit the US Gov website); the source of the image with the swallows (Public domain) and the source for the image with Mykola Leontovychon the right (Public domain). The overall image was created by me)