[MEDICINE] Don’t take too much Calpol: drugs and the body 💊

For this medicine scoop, we're going to embark on an exhilarating journey into the world of pharmacokinetics – the intricate dance of drugs within our bodies. Imagine this process as a GPS guiding drugs through a complex maze of biological pathways. Each time you take a medication, you set in motion a series of events that determine how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and ultimately eliminated.

Absorption marks the drug's entrance into your body, whether through swallowing a pill or receiving an injection. From there, it hitches a ride in your bloodstream, embarking on a distribution adventure akin to a superhero saving the day. But the story doesn't end there; pharmacokinetics is a dynamic cycle. Next comes metabolism, where enzymes in your body transform the drug into different compounds, influencing its potency. Lastly, elimination clears out the drug and its transformed forms, restoring your body's equilibrium.

💡 Things to consider

• Bioavailability and Absorption: Imagine you're hosting a party, but not all your friends can make it. Similarly, not all of a drug dose reaches your bloodstream – that's bioavailability. How does the route of administration (oral, injection, etc.) affect how much of a drug gets into your system? What if a drug has low bioavailability – how can scientists overcome this challenge?

• Drug Half-Life - Time Travel for Molecules: Think of a drug's half-life as a timer for its effects. What does it mean when a drug has a short half-life versus a long one? How does the half-life influence dosing frequency and maintaining steady drug levels in your body? It might be tempting to drink a whole bottle of Calpol (because it just tastes so good!), but this might be why there are guidelines on how much you can take!

• CYP Enzymes - Molecular Transformers: Envision your body's enzymes as tiny transformers, altering drugs into new forms. Some drugs can speed up or slow down these transformations. How do genetics and other drugs affect these enzyme superheroes? What happens if a drug inhibits an enzyme?

[LANGUAGES] Translation - so easy that Google can do it for us? ✍️

Let’s admit it, we’ve all been there. Despite all of our German teachers telling us that we shouldn’t use Google translate, it is always so tempting. But what is it exactly about translation that makes it so hard? Even if we know all the words, there is something about putting a perfectly natural sounding text into another language that is so inexplicably difficult. Of course, there is no 1:1 mapping between two languages, even two very similar ones. By this, I mean that translation is never a case of simply exchanging a word in one language for the equivalent in another. Different factors such as grammar, culture, sounds, sarcasm, and more make it difficult for both humans and machines to translate accurately. So, what are the main reasons translation can be so difficult?

💡 Things to Consider

• Are some words simply “untranslatable”? In terms of lexis (words), some languages have words that have no direct translation in other languages. Take the Danish word “hygge”, which broadly translates to the cosy, intimate, peaceful feeling you get around a warm fire. Similarly, there is the Hawaiian “pana po’o”, referring to the act of scratching your head to help you with something you have forgotten. Both are concepts we can grasp as English speakers, but also ones our language struggles to represent concisely. As a translator, would you leave them untranslated and add an explanation as a footnote? Or would you try and translate it, even at a risk of sounding clunky?

• Localisation: Localisation is a process of making a text more “relatable” or specific to a different audience or region. In terms of translation, this could mean anything from changing the currency or other units of measurement, or explaining or substituting entirely different culturally significant references. For example, if an English text used the expression “it’s like Piccadilly Circus”, we know from the extralinguistic context that this is describing a very busy place with lots of hustle and bustle. But what if you are translating the text into another language, for an audience who are less likely to know what or where Piccadilly Circus even is? To what extent do you think we should localise translations? Do you think there are also arguments for keeping some cultural-specific elements?

• Text type: Beyond lexical and grammatical choices, we also need to consider how the specific elements of a certain text type can often compete with the need to convey a certain meaning. Take a poem, for example. If it has a rhyme scheme, imagine the likelihood of finding words that translate the original meaning accurately, and rhyme with other words in subsequent lines; the chances are low. Now think about the overall rhythm and stress patterns. Different languages divide stress differently, and when accounting for the potential need to keep the number of syllables consistent (such as in limericks), it seems impossible to achieve this with keeping meaning consistent! And what about sounds? Some poems rely on alliteration, sibilance, or other literary devices to convey meaning … who knew translating a simple sentence could be so difficult? To put another spanner in the works (sorry!), if you are dubbing a film, there is also the visual aspect to consider; speaker needs to look as though they are producing the same sounds using the same articulators in their mouth. What factors do you think are most important? Is meaning a priority over all other factors? Or should a compromise be made?

🔎 Find out more

1. 23 Fascinating Words with no direct English Translations

2. How to translate poetry

[CHEMISTRY] Carbon Capture Technology ⚛️

Carbon capture technology is an innovative method of tackling climate change by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and safely storing it in a condensed form or utilising it in another form. Direct air capture absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into a sold sorbent at low temperatures. This stored form can then be released from the solvent at high temperatures for storage or utilisation. Stored carbon is buried underground at a sufficient depth to prevent release back into the atmosphere. Utilised carbon has a wide range of uses: for example, transformation into synthetic fuels, manufacturing of building materials, and use in enhanced oil recovery.

💡 Things to Consider

• Properties of gases: The chemical properties of gases vary according to their structure and intermolecular interactions. Explain how the different intermolecular interactions in a gas affect its reactivity. Consider the change in intermolecular interactions of carbon dioxide upon direct air capture and how the strength of these interactions is influenced by temperature.

• Catalysis: Catalysis in these processes has huge industrial applications to improve yield and energy efficiency at each stage. Research the different catalysts currently being developed for direct air capture. Evaluate the key uses of homogenous and heterogenous catalysts. Reflect on how catalysis of direct air capture helps reduce the net emissions of the overall process.

• Carbon utilisation: Transformation of the captured carbon dioxide is a useful way to produce ‘clean’ fuels because the carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere compensates for the production of carbon dioxide on combustion of the new fuel- this makes the emissions net zero. What are the stages to convert captured carbon dioxide into a new fuel? Analyse the Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis process. What limitations does carbon capture and utilisation face to wide-scale use?

🔎 Find out more

1. Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Process

🗳️ Poll

👀 Keep your eyes peeled for…

• Cambridge for Beginners Webinar

• Preparing for 6th form webinar

• MAT Past Papers livestream: 2011 and 2012