The global personal care ingredients market is worth approximately $12.85 billion, with over 16,000 chemicals registered for use in the personal care and beauty industry. Yet pre-20th century, for most people personal care was limited to a bar of soap and nothing more. So how did this industry boom from bar soap to billion-dollar business? Let’s take a look at the chemistry, history and trends of personal care.
The background to the bubbles
Soap is made by reacting triglycerides (natural fats) with alkali hydroxides (usually sodium) to produce salts of fatty acids. These molecules are made up of both water-soluble and oil-soluble groups, making them surfactants (more on that later), and perfect for cleaning.
The first recorded soap was created by the Babylonians from fats boiled with ashes around 2800 BC. From then on, soap making developed concurrently around the globe using locally available ingredients. Plant ashes and animal fats were most commonly used, but olive oil was also popular to produce a softer soap, and aromatic plants could be added to provide scent – introducing the importance of sensory properties in personal care.
Production remained small scale until the mid- to late 19th century, when the industrial revolution meant bar soap could be mass-produced. Paired with the advent of universal indoor plumbing, the doors were opened to the development of more sophisticated personal care products. In 1900, the first “water-in-oil” emulsion was patented (hello moisturizer!); the 1920s saw the introduction of liquid shampoo, and the 70s and 80s welcomed cationic surfactants into conditioner formulations (perfect timing for those perms!). So, what goes into the bottles in our bathrooms today?
Key chemistries
The ingredients in personal care products such as shampoo, shower gel or hair conditioner are labelled according to the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI). They’re also listed in order of concentration (main ingredient first), that’s why water goes by “Aqua” and is usually number one. There are over 16,000 INCI registered chemicals, but don’t let that scare you – most of them can be grouped into key categories. Here are four examples with interesting chemistries:
1. Surfactants
Surfactants are the workhorse of the personal care formulator, thanks to their unique structure. Part water soluble (hydrophilic), part water insoluble (hydrophobic) − see figure 1 −these “surface active agents” can decrease surface tension, the cohesive forces between the molecules in a liquid. This leads to a wide scope of functionality, including the magic trick of mixing oil and water!
Figure 1: Example of a surfactant molecule, stearic acid: the original soap.
Surfactants are also the masters of self-assembly, spontaneously forming micelles in solution. Their oily tails congregate together to reduce the unfavourable oil-water surface interactions, resulting in a spherical structure. Why does this matter? Micelle formation enables surfactants to solubilise dirt as well as emulsify oil and water (see figure 2) – essential in many personal care products.
Figure 2: Micelle solubilising dirt/oil
Foaming is another talent of surfactants. The attraction between the water molecules is weakened in the presence of surfactants, so the surface tension between air and water is lowered, allowing bubbles to form. Finally, some surfactants can act as conditioning agents. By adsorbing on to the surface of a hair cuticle via electrostatic attraction, they coat and smooth the hair, and making it easier to comb.
Surfactants are grouped according to their charge, which is key in determining their primary function in a personal care formulation − table 1 shows examples found in everyday products.
Cocamide Monoethanolamine
Fatty alclohol ethoxylates e.g. Laureth-3
2. Oils, fats and waxes
Oils, fats and waxes are the original moisturisers, helping to keep the skin or hair moist by providing a barrier that prevents water loss. Their physical properties can also help to thicken and structure a formulation, enhancing sensory properties for the consumer.
Natural oils are made up of fatty acids that have medium to long (6+ carbon atoms) hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains, see figure 3 for an example. It’s these chains that help coat the skin and lock in moisture. They also affect the “thickness” or viscosity of the solution – the longer the hydrocarbon chain, the higher the viscosity, or “thicker” the oil feels.
Commonly used natural oils include jojoba, avocado, olive, sunflower, soybean and coconut oil, which has even been shown to repair and protect damaged hair.
Figure 3: Lauric acid, a fatty acid with a chain length of 12 carbon atoms. Lauric acid makes up approximately half of the composition of coconut oil.
3. Polymers
Polymers are macromolecules – large molecules made up of repeating units, or monomers. They’re multifunctional, but their most common application in personal care is as thickening agents. Like oils, polymers can also act to increase the viscosity of a formulation. This not only enhances the “feel” of the product, but also improves spreadability and helps to ensure an optimum flow rate when you pour it from the bottle – rather than dripping straight from your hand to the shower floor!
Unlike oils, polymers don’t just rely on high molecular weight in thickening applications. Polyacrylates (polymers of acrylic acid) are commonly used in personal care formulations. They’re hydrophilic, and able to absorb as much as 100 to 1000 times their mass in water, to form a gel. The viscosity can be fine-tuned by varying the concentration and pH, making polyacrylates a really useful tool for formulators.
Polymers can also condition and moisturise. A common example used in hair conditioner is Dimethicone, a versatile hydrophobic silicon-based polymer that coats the hair to form a barrier against moisture loss, smoothing the hair’s surface and leaving a “shine”.
4. Chelates
Metal ions found naturally in water such as Magnesium (Mg2+) and Calcium (Ca2+) can catalyse the degradation of oils and fatty acids in personal care formulations, reducing shelf life. They can also make a product less effective, by reacting with surfactant molecules and reducing functionality.
Ever noticed a chalky build-up in your shower or kettle? You probably live in a hard water area. The “harder” the water is, the more metal ions are present, and the more product you’ll need to use to get the same level of detergency. That’s why you might find yourself getting through more shampoo in London (a hard water area) than in Manchester (a soft water area)!
The word chelate is derived from the Greek chela meaning crab claw. Adding chelating agents to a formulation sequesters the metal ions, binding them (like in a crab’s pincer) so they can no longer react with the ingredients. A common chelate is disodium EDTA. This molecule uses negative charges to bind the positively charged metal ions – see figure 4.
Figure 4. Disodium EDTA has negatively charged carboxylates and amine groups that can bind positively charged metal ions from solution.
Top trends and future focus
Despite all the chemistry behind it, personal care is very much a consumer led market influenced by wider global trends.During the pandemic, the industry saw an unprecedented increase in demand. With spa treatments, beauty salons and holidays off-menu, consumers chose to spend more on DIY self-care at home.
Today, there remains an increased focus on health and well-being, with more people setting aside time to take care of themselves. Products like face masks and luxury bath and skin care remain popular, using ingredients such as essential oils, argan oil and aloe vera. Premium active ingredients are also in demand, such as retinol for collagen building and hyaluronic acid for natural skin plumping.
The growing consumer awareness of climate change and demand for sustainability is leading to the development of plant-based ingredients such a bio-surfactants derived from sugar, as well as more transparency on how materials are sourced, and innovative packaging solutions like solid shampoo bars and refill options.
However, whether commodity or premium, synthetic or bio-based, the fundamental chemistries of personal care remain the same.
And next time you pick up a bottle of shower gel, you can appreciate the myriad interactions and functionalities of the molecules inside.
With our ever-evolving understanding, it’s clear that genetics is a fascinating topic affecting many parts of our lives. These three genetic mysteries will make you wonder where humanity is heading.
From health to food to sport, the world of genetics stretches into our day-to-day life in ways we probably never realise. You might have noticed that it’s popular in the news to present sensationalist articles about genetic advancements alongside ominous warnings about how it will affect the future. As someone who has worked in a genetics lab, these often don’t tell the full story and can obscure the genuine, exciting research being done to uncover long-standing genetic mysteries. Read on to discover three genetic mysteries that are changing the way we look at our DNA and the future of humanity.
Reduce the spread of malaria with gene edited mosquitos
Engineer crops to withstand extreme weather
Treat a range of human diseases
CRISPR is revolutionising experimental therapies for genetic disorders ranging from sickle cell disease to blindness. In cancer biology, CRISPR has been identified as a potentially robust treatment tool due to its simplicity and efficiency. However, since gene editing is still in its infancy, there is growing concern around where society should draw the line. Removing or editing inherited disease-causing genes could risk introducing undesirable changes to future generations.
In 2018, a Chinese biophysicist announced that he had created the first genetically altered babies. He had used CRISPR to edit embryos to make them less susceptible to HIV, resulting in the birth of the CRISPR twins, Lulu and Nana. The announcement was met with outrage from scientists and ethicists; the biophysicist was later arrested for medical malpractice. It has since been reported that the alterations made to the twins’ DNA is not expected to make them immune to HIV. However, it is believed that the edits could improve neuroplasticity, which may result in improved brain recovery and greater academic success. How this may affect future generations is something we will not truly understand for centuries to come.
In March 2023, the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing is expected to take place. Scientists, ethicists, and stakeholders from around the world will discuss the current state of the technology and the development of regulations, among other topics. So, expect to hear more about how CRISPR might change the world.
The gender spectrum
Biological gender is often thought to be black and white. However, there are many naturally occurring genetic variations that can result in slightly different development, possibly effecting outward looking gender and fertility. These are often referred to as differences in sexual development (DSD).
DSDs usually occur when there is an alteration to an individual’s X or Y chromosomes – the ones that determine biological gender. One study suggests that up to 1.7% of the population has an alteration to these chromosomes and that approximately 0.5% of people have clinically identifiable variations. (For comparison, around 2% of the population have green eyes!)
DSD came into the public eye when the gender of double Olympic gold medallist, Caster Semenya, came under scrutiny. Media reports claimed she had both male and female characteristics including a higher-than-normal level of testosterone. A World Athletics rule around DSD led to Semenya and others being banned from the Olympics due to a ‘significant competitive advantage’. A phrase that has since been changed to ‘higher athletic performance.’ In 2021, World Athletics acknowledged potentially misleading claims around DSD and called for more studies on the subject.
While gender is a particularly controversial subject in sport and athletics, it’s important that we allow our definitions of gender to be broad and flexible. This way we can appreciate the reality of biological and genetic diversity in our population, and work towards a fairer and more equal society.
Mixing it up with mosaicism
In 2002, an American woman, Lydia Fairchild, was pregnant with her third child. When she separated from her partner, she applied for child support. However, DNA testing suggested she was not the mother of her two children and Lydia was taken to court for suspected fraud.
During the birth of her third child, a judge ordered an observer to be present. However, two weeks later, DNA tests indicated that Lydia was not the mother of that child either.
Following further tests, it was discovered that Lydia had two separate cell lines or DNA profiles. The DNA in her skin, hair and blood didn’t match those of her children, but DNA from a cervical smear eventually did, and Lydia became known nationwide as her own twin.
Domestic cat chimera with turtle color sits in a pond in the garden
This phenomenon, where an organism has two different DNA profiles as opposed to one, is called mosaicism. These individuals may also be called chimeras. Chimeras are relatively common in marine environments, where colonial animals, like corals, regularly form fusion individuals. Interestingly, chimeras are not rare among household cats either. In fact, most male tortoiseshell cats are chimeras and can be identified by their distinctive coat patterns.
In medical research, biologists have been creating chimeras for decades. This has included creating mice with human immune systems or growing human organs in pigs for transplants. While the aim of this work is to develop new treatments, the creation of these animal-human chimeras is controversial.
In terms of human genetic analysis, it’s now common for scientists to bear in mind the possibility of a naturally occurring mosaic genomic profile and the implications this can have on the development of disease. However, further research is needed before mosaicism can be effectively used as a biomarker for early disease detection.
Conclusion
Genetics is a fascinating world of science, ethics, and family. Understanding it can open our eyes to the diversity of humanity today and our involvement is likely to have a huge impact on who we are tomorrow.
At Notch our team is made up of scientists and marketeers, specialising in life science, biotech and chemistry marketing. To learn more about how Notch’s creative B2B marketing communication solutions can help you in the science and technology space, click here to get in touch: https://notchcommunications.co.uk/get-in-touch/
Meet Madi
Following her undergraduate degree in Biology with Biomedicine, Madi worked at Manchester’s Genomic Laboratory Hub as a Senior Genetic Technologist. There, she managed multiple NGS cancer workflows, with a team that provided life-saving diagnostic and prognostic information. A writer at heart, Madi left the lab and joined Notch, in order to communicate scientific developments and innovations. Out of work, Madi is an animal lover and creative writer.
As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is becoming apparent that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of the impact the pandemic has had on our health. For example, a recent study has suggested that up to 740,000 potential cancer cases have gone undiagnosed as a result of the pandemic and the British Medical Journal’s has published findings that show COVID-19 has significantly worsened the obesity epidemic in the UK
But what about our mental health? It will come as a surprise to none that the pandemic caused widespread anxiety and isolation in the UK, with young people being hit the hardest. The mental health charity Mind reports that 9 in 10 young people reported worse mental health as a result of the pandemic. Further studies of mental health have also shown a 20% increase in under 18s seeking emergency mental health care.
It seems that the UK mental health crisis is reaching an unprecedented level.
In this blog, we will be delving into the brain to better understand the surprising chemistry of your mental health.
The common disorders
Some of the most common mental health disorders, and those most often referred to by the term ‘mental health’, are anxiety and depression. Symptoms vary between individuals but are generally categorised in the following way:
Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid – particularly about things that are about to happen, or which we think could happen in the future.
Depression is a low mood that lasts for a long time and affects your everyday life.
In most individuals, the root cause of either condition is generally unknown. Nevertheless, environmental and situational factors such as loneliness, money worries and bereavement can often act as a trigger for these conditions. Humans are not built equal, however: researchers and medical professionals have recently identified certain brain structures that leave individuals more susceptible to developing mental health conditions.
What are neurotransmitters?
Before we talk about the chemistry, we need to understand what neurotransmitters are and why they are so important in our brain. Every human body contains a nervous system, a vast network of 7 trillion nerves stretching from your brain to your toes, controlling your movement and balance. Inside each of these nerves, we have a collection of neurons, sometimes called nerve cells. Neurons can be thought of as our body’s communication network, passing messages to each other across your entire body. The messages that neurons carry are actually chemicals called neurotransmitters.
The messages your neurons send can be broken into three categories: excitatory, inhibitory and modulatory.
Excitatory neurotransmitters generate a signal in the next neuron and can be thought of as a fire spreading through the chain of neurons. A great example of these neurotransmitters is adrenaline. Adrenaline is an electrical signal that triggers your flight or fight response, causing your body to be on high alert.
Inhibitory neurotransmitters block signals in the next neuron and, to use the fire analogy, cause all neurons in the chain to put up firewalls, blocking the fire from spreading. You can see this in action after a long run when neurotransmitters called endorphins are generated. These neurotransmitters cause your neurons to block pain signals giving you a ‘runner’s high’.
Modulatory neurotransmitters are a little different and don’t just affect the chain of neurons, but rather all neurons. By regulating the messages neurons are receiving, these neurotransmitters allow us to relax or can cause us to feel stress. Serotonin is a good example of a modulatory neurotransmitter. It helps us feel happier and aids restful sleep.
Do they have chemistry?
In recent years, researchers have begun to observe that too little or too much of certain neurotransmitters can cause depression and anxiety in individuals. A lack of serotonin and dopamine, the ‘feel good’ and ‘reward’’ hormones, has long been attributed to depression, but recently, has also been linked to anxiety. When we lack these regulatory hormones, we feel higher levels of stress and anxiety, as these impulses are not being regulated by those neurotransmitters.
Sometimes it is not quite as simple as lacking neurotransmitters; adrenaline, for example, is actually far more complicated. Too much adrenaline causes our fight or flight to be overstimulated, leaving us in a permanently anxious state, while too little is thought to cause depression.
Researchers still have a long way to go in understanding neurotransmitters and are continually surprised by new findings. We know very little about some of the most intriguing neurotransmitters; a good example of this is GABA, which is another neurotransmitter linked to both depression and anxiety. Scientists are still very unsure about the precise mechanism and how this affects brain function.
How is my mind made up?
So, what causes differing levels of neurotransmitters, and why do some people seem more susceptible to mental health disorders? Current research suggests that the leading cause of neurotransmitter disparity is individual biology. Some scientists have theorised that this could be a reason for familial mental health disorders, with the irregular neurotransmitter levels being inherited between generations. Fluctuating hormones, for example during the menstrual cycle or menopause, and high stress, like the kind experienced in a pandemic, can also be triggers for anxiety and depression.
It is important to reinforce that in many cases, depression and anxiety have no distinguishable root and instead may be an accumulation of things, including but not limited to neurotransmitter levels.
Head in the clouds, eyes on the future
Thankfully, even for those suffering from neurotransmitter imbalances, there are a range of ways to conquer your mental health.
One of the most tried and tested methods of relieving mental health symptoms is talk therapy and other conventional therapies. Other steps you can take to overcome neurotransmitter imbalances include exercise, which naturally increases the level of endorphins to help stabilise your mood. These methods have been shown to increase the natural flow of serotonin, helping to regulate mood and anxiety. Stress management can also be used to increase the level of some neurotransmitters and reduce adrenaline production.
The future is looking bright for improving mental health care. As researchers learn more about the role neurotransmitters play in our mental health, they continue to pave the way toward more effective treatments and therapies for people with these conditions.
While this detailed look at neurotransmitters might feel a little alien, the important takeaway message is that feelings of depression and anxiety are never your fault. Although talking about your problems may not seem helpful at the time, the chemistry of neurotransmitters proves that talking is a scientific way to feel better.
Meet Flo
Flo Sinkinson is a scientific writer at Notch Communications, with previous experience in scientific publishing. Flo holds a first degree in Chemistry from the University of Southampton, where she concentrated her studies on quantum and biological chemistry.
In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The day aims to promote full and equal access to participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through the empowerment of women and girls globally. Tomorrow marks the seventh International Day of Women and Girls in Science, with 2022’s theme being “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”. This year, the UN is focussing on the role of women in accelerating progress towards their sixth Sustainable Development Goal – ensuring access to water and sanitation for all.
Globally, three in ten people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and six in ten to safely managed sanitation facilities. This issue disproportionately affects women and girls for a number of reasons. Safe and clean water is vital for women to attend to their personal hygiene needs, such as menstruation and pregnancy. Furthermore, due to their typical role as primary care givers, women and girls often bear most responsibility for the water and sanitation needs of their families. In 80% of households without access to water on premises, women are tasked with water collection, a strenuous chore that can consume a huge proportion of their day. A woman may rise early in the morning, travel long distances by foot across difficult or even dangerous terrain, wait for hours in a line and return home bearing the huge weight of the water required for that day. Additionally, when travelling to and from and using sanitation facilities women and girls are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Overall, when water needs are not met, women and girls, at best, cannot attend school or work and, at worst, can suffer from serious health issues. Lack of access to clean water and suitable sanitation, therefore, constitutes a major obstacle to socio-economic progress for women and girls.
As women are most impacted by the issue, it’s vital that their voices are heard as the world looks to find the right solutions. A growing body of evidence emphasizes that women’s engagement in water management leads to more effective services and enhanced environmental and economic benefits for their communities. A United Nations Development Program study of 44 water projects across Africa and Asia, found that when women were involved in decision-making, water facilities were sustained for longer, used more and, overall, were more successful. Yet only 23% of licensed engineers working in water utilities are female and one in three water and sanitation services have no women in technical or managerial positions at all.
The gender disparity in the water industry merely reflects the gender gap in the STEM sector as a whole. One in three researchers are women, yet they represent less than one in six members of national science academies. Female researchers also tend to be underrepresented in scientific journals, have fewer promotions and, lower paid careers than their male counterparts. With this in mind, what better time to shine a light on some of the trailblazing women and girls already helping to make clean water and sanitation for all a reality.
Gitanjali Rao – Inventor
Watching the news in 2014, Gitanjali, age ten, learnt of the Flint water crisis, a public health emergency caused by a cost cutting measure to change the city’s water source. As a result, 100,000 residents of Flint, Michigan were exposed to lead, and possibly Legionella bacteria, in their drinking water for five years. Residents experienced several health issues including rashes and hair loss. Further, longer term exposure to lead is linked to fertility issues and complications in child development caused by damage to the brain and nervous system.
Following this exposure, families across America tested the content of their own water. Observing the complex, expensive and time-consuming process of having her own home’s water tested, Gitanjali saw an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. She had learnt about the use of carbon nanotubes to detect hazardous gases and wondered if it could be applied to testing for lead in water. On a tour of Denver’s municipal water facility, Gitanjali met Selene Hernandez Ruiz, a lab manager. The two began working on bringing Gitanjali’s idea to life, in the form of Tethys, a hand-held water testing device, named after the Greek goddess of freshwater. The patent pending tool aims to enable quick, cheap and easy testing of water contamination in the home, empowering residents with real-time information on their water content. The two continue to work together testing detection methods for other metals including mercury, arsenic and cadmium. At just 16, Gitanjali has also worked on technology to counter issues including cyberbullying and opioid addiction and she continues to use her platform to inspire other young girls to engage in STEM
Márcia Barbosa – Physicist
Márcia Barbosa is a Professor of Physics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and a director of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses on explaining the abnormal properties of water and using this to develop practical solutions for real world problems. One of her current projects is researching the ways that specialised nanotubes could transform salty water and water vapour into freshwater as a means to tackle shortages of safe drinking water.
Beyond physics, Márcia is a champion of improving the conditions of women working in STEM. As a physics undergraduate in 1978, she was one of eight women in a cohort of 80. As the course progressed, her female classmates began to drop out, leaving her as the only woman to graduate from the course. When running for a student leadership position at the University, she faced sexist opposition from her fellow students. The barriers Márcia has experienced throughout her career spurred her to study the gender gap in science and advocate for change within the sector. She stated her dream as a scientist is “to make science better, fairer and more diverse” so that “the next generation of women researchers don’t need to be outspoken or a man to evolve their careers”.
Wika Maulay Fatimah – Engineer
Wika Maulay Fatimah is both a researcher at Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia and Chief Engineer at Lota+, an international social enterprise that offers off-grid sanitation solutions for communities lacking proper facilities. Within the Water and Wastewater Engineering Research Group, she explores how sanitation methods can be implemented across informal settlements. At Lota+, she helps make these ideas a reality, bringing their affordable toilets to villages, schools and places of work in her country and globally. In Indonesia alone, there are nearly 25 million people still practising open defecation, leading to pollution, disease and leaving women and children, in particular, vulnerable to harassment. Wika’s work is vital to tackling poverty, cultivating happy and healthy communities and removing yet another barrier to education and work for women and girls.
To read more about these inspirational women and their work check out the further reading. For more information about International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022, you can visit the UN’s dedicated webpage.
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Over the past 18 month, breadmaking has experienced a surge of popularity as people look for new hobbies to explore within the home. This increase in popularity was so intense that there was actually a flour shortage across UK supermarkets in April 2020.
Whilst the lockdown-driven excitement surrounding it was short-lived, the skill behind breadmaking as existed for thousands of years. It likely became a staple of our cuisine when early humans began transitioning from a nomadic lifestyle to farming-based community. Today, it is undoubtedly one of the most important foodstuffs on the planet, with the British sandwich market alone valued at around £8bn.
For your average white loaf of bread, the four basic ingredients are flour, water, salt and yeast. Here, we’ll take a look at these ingredients and what function they serve.
Flour power
Flour makes up the foundation of any loaf of bread. White flour is made by first separating the different components of wheat and extracting the flour from the grain through a series of sieves. To make wholemeal flour, other parts of the wheat grain are added back into the processed flour.
The flour found in wheat contains two key proteins called glutenin and gliadin (known together as gluten proteins). When exposed to water, these proteins interact with each other to create a large, webbed gluten network held together by disulphide and hydrogen bonds. The network is what gives bread its texture and structure. When you visit the shop, you’ll likely be surrounded by a wide variety of flours, for example ‘Plain white flour’, or ‘Strong white bread flour’. The main difference between these flours are their respective protein contents, i.e., how much gluten they contain. Strong white bread flour has a uniquely high protein content (10-13%) – this means that it has enough gluten to form the strong networks required for bread. Comparatively, plain white flour has around 8% protein content, too little to form the kind of gluten networks demanded by bread, but perfect when making light and fluffy cakes.
Flour and water alone lay the foundations of a loaf of bread, but to perfect it, salt is added both for flavour and to introduce toughness. Gluten strands have a net positive charge, so they repel each other. The salt ions can shield this charge and let strands interact more intimately – tightening the network and resulting in a more controlled loaf.
The need to knead
After the ingredients are mixed together, you then knead the bread – transforming it from a wet and rough texture to a smooth and silky one. As your work the dough, the gluten molecules untangled and straightened out, aligning them into a more evenly structured web. After tightening the dough into a ball, most bakers will leave for an hour or two – to let the yeast do its job – until it’s doubled in size. And what does the yeast do during this time, I hear you ask?
Last but not yeast…
Yeast are a single-celled fungi that feed on the natural sugars found in flour to produce carbon dioxide gas. The gas is caught by the webbed gluten network and inflates the bread dough, stretching out the interwoven molecules to form the hole-filled structure when you cut into a fresh, crusty loaf of bread. After the first rise, the bread is ‘knocked back’ and deflated before letting it rise once more. This removes any large air bubbles and redistributes the nutrients in bread, giving the final product a more consistent texture.
Bready or not, here it comes
After being shaped, the dough is then ready to be put in the oven. When subjected to the intense, high temperatures found within, the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast expands rapidly outwards, pushing against the gluten network and inflating the structure to give the porous crumb found on the inside of any good-quality loaf. In the oven, the Malliard reaction also occurs, transforming the bread from a pale yellow to a warm golden-brown. The Malliard reaction is a complex series of reactions that occur when certain amino acids and sugars interact in the presence of enough heat. As well as changing the colour of the dough, the Maillard reaction helps create the toasty flavours you experience in a freshly baked loaf of bread.
So next time you tuck into some ciabatta or naan with some friends, you can be that person and remind everyone about all the intricate chemical reactions that have gone into creating the loaf.
After a long five years, the Olympic Games are here! We are nearing the end now, but the last few weeks have given the sporting world some great moments to cheer over. From Adam Peaty’s second gold to Tom Daley and Matty Lee’s first, it has been a welcome break.
One of my favourite parts of Tokyo 2020 (or the 2021Olympics) was that it gave a lot of sports that may typically ‘avoid the limelight’ the chance to shine. While swimming may not usually be on TV every weeknight, it’s front and centre at the Olympics with some big names dominating the pool. Records seem to be constantly broken, and the field seems to be filled with swimmers who are “the fastest in the world”. Adam Peaty – Team GB’s prized breaststroker – holds the 20 fastest 100m breaststroke times, which means that he’s consistently beating himself. And with newer, faster swimmers entering the pool, now-retired Michael Phelps’ records are already disappearing, only four of his previous 39 world records still stand in 2021.
But how are swimmers still getting faster and faster? Are we eventually going to reach a plateau of what is humanly possible, and will that be soon?
An introduction to speed swimming
Speed swimming is, as it sounds, all about going fast. There are four swim strokes to choose from: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, as well as IM – or individual medley – which is a combination of all four. Races in the pool can either be ‘short-course’ or ‘long-course’ with one lap, or length, of the pool being 25 m or 50 m, respectively. At the Olympics, a long-course competition, the shortest race in the pool is the 50m, where you swim from one end of the pool to the other as fast as humanly possible, and the longest is the 1500m, a gruelling 30 laps of the pool.
The rules are simple – start when the whistle blows and touch the wall at every turn. Breaststroke and butterfly turns can carry a bit more risk – you have to make sure two hands touch the wall. But in general, the rules are straightforward, with the overall goal of each race being to finish first.
How do you go fast? The physics of swimming
To improve speed and overall performance, swimmers need to maximise propulsion and minimise hydrodynamic drag.
Maximising propulsion in water is relatively intuitive. It can be achieved by kicking harder, pulling more effectively and increasing the number of strokes made before taking a breath.
However, minimising hydrodynamic drag in water – which is approximately 800 times denser than air – requires a bit more strategy. Hydrodynamic drag is a combination of friction, pressure and wave drag, with all three playing an important role in drag management.
Wave drag – associated with turbulence at the water’s surface – occurs when kinetic energy from the swimmer is lost as it is converted into potential energy in the form of waves (Marinho et al., 2011). To lessen this type of drag, swimmers aim to keep their bodies under the surface as much as possible, reducing the formation of these waves.
Frictional resistance can result from a swimmer’s bathing costume or even their hair or skin. In contrast to runners, who can wear jewellery, loose clothing and let their hair down, swimmers aim to make their bodies as smooth and streamlined as possible to reduce frictional drag in the water. Strategies to reduce frictional drag include wearing racing costumes made from innovative materials, tucking their hair and goggle straps into bathing caps, and even shaving their entire bodies. In fact, some swimmers will even go as far as shaving their eyebrows to reduce frictional drag.
Pressure drag – also known as ‘form’ drag – is due to the distortion of flow around the swimmer. The flow of water around a swimmer’s body depends on the swimmer’s shape, size and velocity. As a result, swimmers often aim for ‘streamlined’ positions, where the body is as long and straight as possible to move through the water with the smallest amount of resistance. Less streamlined bodies create eddies, swirls of water that lead to a pressure differential between a swimmer’s front and rear, adding drag and slowing the swimmer down.
Ultimately, it’s a combination of strength and several strategies to reduce drag that is helping swimmers swim fast, but just how fast have we got?
How fast are we?
The world record progression of the 100m men’s freestyle is a good illustration of just how fast swimmers have become over the last 100 years or so. From Hungarian swimmer Zoltán Halmay’s time of 1 minute and 6 seconds in 1905 to Brazil’s César Cielo’s 46.91 seconds in 2008, swimmers have shed almost 20 seconds in this race.
This reduction in time certainly relates to the fitness of the swimmers. However, improved costumes and a better understanding of drag management play an essential role as well. Halmay, the first swimmer to break this record in 1905, swam in open water, without a swim cap or goggles, in a swimming costume that was likely made of wool, cotton or terrycloth. Several decades later, Mark Spitz – the 1970’s version of Michael Phelps – didn’t wear a swim cap and would compete with a prominent moustache that inevitably added to his frictional drag. Records continued to tick down slowly until seven records were broken in 2008 and 2009 during a time now referred to as the ‘super suit era’ of revolutionary swimming costumes.
Supported by NASA, Speedo designed an innovative swimming costume in 2004 to ‘reduce drag’. The LZR Racer was a full body swimsuit with ultrasonically welded seams that helped to reduce drag by 6%. Additionally, its ultrasonically bonded zip reduced drag by 8%. Within a month of its release, swimmers wearing the suit broke 13 world records. But by 2010, two years later, the suit was banned in competitions by FINA – the international water sports committee. This new ruling prohibited any swimming costumes that might aid speed, buoyancy and performance in order to create a more equal playing field for swimmers, as this technology could offer a clear advantage to swimmers who could afford these revolutionary suits. Thanks to the LZR Racer, swimmers can now only wear swimming costumes that go as far as their knees, the fabric must be permeable, and they cannot have a fastening device – such as a zip.
The future of swimming
Advanced technology, understanding of hydrodynamic drag, increased athleticism and improved training have all enabled drastic improvements in swimming speed over the last hundred years. With athletes better equipped than ever before, the margin of improvement is now in the fractions of seconds, but we are still seeing improvement, nonetheless. While the men’s 100m freestyle world record has stood since 2008, the women’s 100m was more recently broken in 2017 by Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjöström, beating Australian Cate Campbell’s 2016 record by 0.35 seconds.
So, while it’s unlikely that the next great swimmer is going to suddenly smash the previous world record by a margin of 5 seconds, these times will continue to tick down. From unique bodies – for instance Michael Phelps’ 2 m wingspan – to dedicated training regimes faster times are inevitable, and I don’t think we’ve met the fastest 100m swimmer of all time just yet.
References:
Marinho, D. A., Barbosa, T. M., Rouboa, A. I., & Silva, A. J. (2011). The Hydrodynamic Study of the Swimming Gliding: a Two-Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Analysis. Journal of human kinetics, 29, 49–57. DOI: 10.2478/v10078-011-0039-4
Emojis are everywhere. That’s an undeniable fact. Currently, 3,521 emojis are out in the wild, with the latest update in September 2020 bringing us 217 new ways to emote. There’s a lot we can learn from our use of emojis, such as how our use of positive emoji faces declined by 5.63% in the last year. Depressing yet interesting statistics aside, there’s whole branches of science looking into how emojis are changing us, which – besides being pretty neat in general – has some interesting implications for B2B marketing.
Emojis are creating brand new brain patterns
Humans are generally pretty good at subconsciously mimicking each other’s’ emotional states. It’s called ‘emotional contagion’, and we’ve recorded it in other primates, dogs, and even chickens. There are a number of suggestions as to why it evolved in the wild, but one common theory is that it helped animals that live in groups to avoid predators, as they would respond to each other’s reactions upon sensing a threat.
Rewind back fast forward back to the 21st century and emotional contagion is the basis of human empathy and a big factor in how we build relationships. It’s easy to read the intention and emotion behind someone’s words when you can see their face during a conversation, or even the tone of voice on the phone. But strip that all back to basic text on a screen and emotional contagion becomes a bit more difficult.
This is where the original emojis come into play. In 2014, scientists showed 20 participants a number of images of a human face, as well as the text-based emoticon: :-). They discovered that the same parts of our brain that fire up when we look at a human face also activate when looking at emojis. And as you might have guessed, similar effects ensue. Not only might our mood alter to reflect which emojis have just passed our glance, but we might also alter our own facial expressions to match them.
What’s even more interesting however, is that when scientists inverted the text-based emoji to be upside down compared to its traditional format, the brain failed to recognise the emoji as a face. This reinforces the idea that an innate neural response to emoticons does not exist. That is to say, a baby wouldn’t recognise the text-based emoji as a face regardless of which way up it was presented. The fact that we’ve learnt to recognise the punctuation, and emojis as a whole, as a face shows a culturally-created neural response.
Emojis are changing the way we speak
There is significant evidence that emojis are also impacting our vocabulary as well. In an in-depth study into emoji use on the platform, Instagram monitored the text habits of four groups of new users chosen between late 2012 and early 2014. In these groups, Instagram observed the percentage of text posts using emojis and the number of posts using internet slang such as: “xoxo”, “omg”, “lol”, “haha” etc.
All four groups showed similar patterns. Initially, the number of posts containing slang or emojis were relatively close to each other. As the years went on however, a strong negative correlation was observed. As users started using emojis more, reaching around the 40% mark of all their posts by the end of the study in 2015, slang dropped dramatically, to as low as 5%. And while we know correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation, it certainly gives us quite striking food for thought.
Should we use emojis in B2B marketing?
So, after all this the question remains: should you use emojis in science marketing? Luckily for us, there have been ample studies, both small and large, and the evidence is pretty overwhelmingly in one direction.
One simple A/B study ran two ads with exactly the same content side-by-side on Twitter with one ad including emojis and one without. The results were pretty telling. The emoji-containing ad saw 25.4% higher engagement and 22.2% lower cost per engagement.
Another study looked at including emojis in email subject lines and found some interesting cultural differences. While some mainland European countries, such as Spain or France, did not particularly alter their open rates with the inclusion of emojis, with France actually taking a small dip, the UK and the US were a totally different story. The study found that, on average, Americans were 43% more likely to open emails with emojis in the subject line, growing their open rates to 27-29%, depending on the emoji used, compared to a 19.5% control.
There’s one more study that is of particular interest to science industry marketing, however. After analysing four billion push notifications for emoji use, a 2020 study found that industries that one would consider more conservative actually benefited the most from emoji use. While B2C-focused industries such as Food and Delivery saw a net increase of 45% in their click-through-rates, B2B industries like Business and Finance saw a net increase of 128% to their click-through-rates, rising from 5.46% to 12.45% and proving once and for all that emojis are not just for consumer-focused businesses.
It’s always worth running some A/B tests to see if content featuring emoji use will work for you and your unique audience, but hopefully the above studies have at least given you some drive to try it out. Pharmaceutical marketing, similar to the financial industries in the study above, has been slow to adopt these new trends, yet a lot of potential awaits early adopters.
So yes, use emojis in your B2B scientific marketing until your heart’s content.
Scientific advancement is dependent on communication between many different groups of people, including when presenting new findings to the wider world. Good communication is therefore crucial to the success of science, and in a time of fake news and sensationalist journalism, it’s perhaps more important than ever to effectively and meaningfully engage with the audience.
In this quest for inspiring diverse audiences with the latest scientific innovations, there is great potential for exploring methods outside of the conventional means of science communication, such as writing or presentations. Studies have shown that drawing on narratives and evoking emotion is an effective means of communicating science and promoting retention of knowledge. Science documentaries such as the BBC’s hugely popular Planet Earth and Blue Planet series use this approach to bring awareness to pressing topics, including climate change. Moving away from literal representations of science, sci-art is a growing discipline. This involves fusing science with visual art to produce an aesthetically engaging depiction of a topic, promoting interest and learning. And it doesn’t end there. In honour of International Dance Day, we are exploring the use of dance as a creative means of science communication. Read on to learn more.
Dance and narrative: a classical combination
Dance is an art form with a huge potential for visually portraying narrative and emotion. It has always been a medium for not only entertainment, but also for telling stories. It is intrinsically emotional, both for the dancer and the audience. Some studies suggest that audiences attribute characterisation and emotion even to abstract dances. Considering the appeal of visually representing science and the impact that narrative can have on emotional engagement and knowledge retention, does dance offer untapped potential for communicating scientific ideas?
In the spirit of scientific investigation, the combination of science and dance has begun to be explored.
Research suggests that dance can be an educational tool in the classroom. It can help students to understand complex concepts in a kinaesthetic way, or even be used in a research context, as an initial alternative to computer modelling. Beyond this, there are also some exciting examples of how dance performance can be used to enhance spoken information and entertain, engage and inform audiences about scientific topics.
Whilst dance background and training differ between entrants – and some entries seem more like an exercise in film-making or song-writing than in choreography – there is something very engaging about watching people physically represent their own research. And if audience engagement is the main goal of science communication, maybe they’re onto something. The creator of the contest, John Bohannon, explores this potential in his TED talk, ‘Dance vs. PowerPoint’. Part way into the talk, several dancers from the Black Label Movement dance company join Bohannon on stage and enact the concepts he describes, including his description of the physics of superfluids. The talk – or rather, performance – effectively makes the point that dancers can help to convey ideas to an audience in a captivating and compelling way, even when those ideas are as complex as lasers and particles.
The art of balance
In most of the explorations into dance performance for science communication, the dance is supported by words, either written, spoken or sung. This is inevitable in a discipline as complex as science, so it may be a challenge for dance to stand alone as a science communication tool. However, it clearly has the power to enhance the communication of otherwise complex and un-memorable information, embodying the narrative and eliciting emotion.
Whilst science will continue to rely on the careful and descriptive use of words to communicate findings, it is exciting to consider the possibilities of art forms such as dance in engaging with a wider audience.
If this blog made you feel like dancing, waltz on over to Twitter and get in touch with @GabyAtNotch, and follow @NotchCom for more content.
Further reading
Dhanapal, S., Kanapathy, R. and Mastan, J. (2014). A study to understand the role of visual arts in the teaching and learning of science. Asia – Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 15(2), pp.1–25.
Ellison, A., LeRoy, C., Landsbergen, K., Bosanquet, E., Borden, D., CaraDonna, P., Cheney, K., Crystal-Ornelas, R., DeFreece, A., Goralnik, L., Irons, E., Merkle, B., O’Connell, K., Penick, C., Rustad, L., Schulze, M., Waser, N. and Wysong, L. (2018). Art/Science Collaborations: New Explorations of Ecological Systems, Values, and their Feedbacks. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 99(2), pp.180-191.
Georgieva, E. (2013). Science Choreography: Dance and Science in Education, Research, and Performance. Faseb Journal, 27, pp.Faseb Journal, 2013 Apr, Vol.27.
Gervasio, A.H. (2012). Toward a Psychology of Responses to Dance Performance. Research in Dance Education, 13(3), pp.257–278.
Jamieson, K.H.H., Kahan, D.A. and Scheufele, D.A. (2017). The Oxford Handbook Of The Science Of Science Communication, Oxford University Press.
Negrete, A. and Lartigue, C. (2019). The science of telling stories: Evaluating science communication via narratives (RIRC method). Journal Media and Communication Studies, 2(4), pp.98-110.
Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. and Malik, A. S. (2017). The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory. Frontiers in psychology, 8, p.1454.
Are dogs truly man’s best friend?
With working from home now a common occurrence for many across the UK, every day has been Bring-Your-Pet-To-Work day. The cost of a puppy doubled over the course of 2020 and the nation has gone pet-mad, revelling in the increased opportunities to play with their beloved furry friend throughout the working week. But amongst all the gravy bones and fluffy toys it’s got us here at Notch wondering – why DO we love our pets so much?
As stated by the researcher John Bradshaw, dogs don’t provide the human race with any services that are essential to our survival. Unlike babies, pets don’t harbour the opportunity to continue our genes, and unlike other animals they don’t offer us food or clothing materials. They are merely an expense that builds year on year as more products and pet safety procedures are introduced. So, what is it about dogs that makes us tolerate the £500 cheques for chipping and furry wake-up calls? There have been many theories to explore this, each one presenting a new angle to explain the timeless wonder.
Hormonal Response: The ‘Gooey Warm Feeling’
One theory to explain why we love pets is hormonal response. A review of Meg Daley’s book, ‘Made For Each Other’, states that animals appear to have cells directly under their skin that activate the hormone oxytocin in the brain and the top of the spinal cord. Levels of oxytocin in the body, also known as the ‘love hormone’, tend to rise significantly when stroking animals – a response similar to that experienced when kissing, touching or breastfeeding. According to Daley, the optimum number of strokes to achieve this response is 40 per minute, and the oxytocin produced drives us to nurture and form an attachment with our pets that is similar to that of mother and child.
Whilst touch plays a big part in the release of this hormone, it’s not the only sense. There is also a correlation between time spent looking into the eyes of dogs and the gazer’s oxytocin levels. Therefore, between stroking and eye contact, this is how the bond is said to be formed that keeps pets under our roofs and in our hearts.
Communication is Key
In a report written by Estep and Hetts, the development and similarity of communication systems is another explanation for why certain animals, such as dogs, are man’s best friend. Humans are social creatures by nature, and the highly developed systems of communication that these animals present make humans more likely to interact and form attachments. Estep and Hetts list dogs and horses as two animals with highly sophisticated systems, whilst cats and guinea pigs tend to have less structured systems – explaining the occurrence of familiar human conditions such as separation anxiety in dogs, but not in other common household pets.
Genetics
Alternatively, a recent study published in Science suggests that the untimely bond between man and dog is more biological than behavioural. Through the analysis of 27 ancient dog genomes, a link between ancient humanity and dogs can be established, leading us to believe that such a friendship has existed for more than 11,000 years. The study shows that this historic connection runs deeper than just time however, with many similarities apparent between the two ancient genetic profiles.
Culture
Harold Herzog of Western Carolina University reduces our love of pets to mere trends and norms. He states that pet-keeping is purely cultural, with some cultures keeping pets because their cuteness is established and domestication approved. In these cultures, he suggests pet-keeping to be a ‘socially contagious’ trend that is continuously reinstated by its own popularity. This is whilst other cultures, such as the Kenyan Kiembu tribe and South Korean civilians, only know dogs as a means for protection or even just a late-night snack! But what do you think?
Get in touch with @EveAtNotch and @NotchCom on Twitter to let us know where you stand!
Following her undergraduate degree in Biology with Biomedicine, Madi worked at Manchester’s Genomic Laboratory Hub as a Senior Genetic Technologist. There, she managed multiple NGS cancer workflows, with a team that provided life-saving diagnostic and prognostic information. A writer at heart, Madi left the lab and joined Notch, in order to communicate scientific developments and innovations. Out of work, Madi is an animal lover and creative writer.
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Over the past 18 month, breadmaking has experienced a surge of popularity as people look for new hobbies to explore within the home. This increase in popularity was so intense that there was actually a flour shortage across UK supermarkets in April 2020.
Flour makes up the foundation of any loaf of bread. White flour is made by first separating the different components of wheat and extracting the flour from the grain through a series of sieves. To make wholemeal flour, other parts of the wheat grain are added back into the processed flour.
After the ingredients are mixed together, you then knead the bread – transforming it from a wet and rough texture to a smooth and silky one. As your work the dough, the gluten molecules untangled and straightened out, aligning them into a more evenly structured web. After tightening the dough into a ball, most bakers will leave for an hour or two – to let the yeast do its job – until it’s doubled in size. And what does the yeast do during this time, I hear you ask?
Yeast are a single-celled fungi that feed on the natural sugars found in flour to produce carbon dioxide gas. The gas is caught by the webbed gluten network and inflates the bread dough, stretching out the interwoven molecules to form the hole-filled structure when you cut into a fresh, crusty loaf of bread. After the first rise, the bread is ‘knocked back’ and deflated before letting it rise once more. This removes any large air bubbles and redistributes the nutrients in bread, giving the final product a more consistent texture.
After being shaped, the dough is then ready to be put in the oven. When subjected to the intense, high temperatures found within, the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast expands rapidly outwards, pushing against the gluten network and inflating the structure to give the porous crumb found on the inside of any good-quality loaf. In the oven, the Malliard reaction also occurs, transforming the bread from a pale yellow to a warm golden-brown. The Malliard reaction is a complex series of reactions that occur when certain amino acids and sugars interact in the presence of enough heat. As well as changing the colour of the dough, the Maillard reaction helps create the toasty flavours you experience in a freshly baked loaf of bread.
This reduction in time certainly relates to the fitness of the swimmers. However, improved costumes and a better understanding of drag management play an essential role as well. Halmay, the first swimmer to break this record in 1905, swam in open water, without a swim cap or goggles, in a swimming costume that was likely made of wool, cotton or terrycloth. Several decades later, Mark Spitz – the 1970’s version of Michael Phelps – didn’t wear a swim cap and would compete with a prominent moustache that inevitably added to his frictional drag. Records continued to tick down slowly until seven records were broken in 2008 and 2009 during a time now referred to as the ‘super suit era’ of revolutionary swimming costumes.
Research suggests that dance can be an educational tool in the classroom. It can help students to understand complex concepts in a kinaesthetic way, or even be used in a research context, as an initial alternative to computer modelling. Beyond this, there are also some exciting examples of how dance performance can be used to enhance spoken information and entertain, engage and inform audiences about scientific topics.
If this blog made you feel like dancing, waltz on over to Twitter and get in touch with 