New ideas, a sense of impact, and unanswered questions are the things that keep all scientists awake at night (Discovery: The spark for science, n.d.). Every discovery comes with a lot of tedious work and effort. Everybody can remember when, as children, they did various experiments. For example, my earliest experience with setting hypotheses was when I was about 10 and tried to understand the nature of mold. I conducted a mini-research and put different foods in the dark, such as bread and fruit, to understand which one would grow mold faster.
According to Bill Nye, education in the field of science is empowering (Big Think, 2015). When one has a chance to learn something new about their surroundings,or nature, they try new things. This way, now, people have an opportunity to enjoy such things as the Internet. Bill Nye also mentions how creative play and disciplined learning can lead to big results (Big Think, 2015). In this case, Haiti’s seismometers can serve as a perfect example. A community effort to create a DIY seismometer began after a big earthquake in this location. As a result, such devices helped reveal information on Haiti’s earthquake activity and detact 600 aftershocks (Witze, 2021).
The discovery I want to talk about has to do with gut microbes. Some gut bacteria, such as colibactin, have a strange ability: they can regenerate inactive viruses found within other microorganisms (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2022). This process causes comprehensive infections, which kill virus-carrying cells. Assessing the effect of colibactin on the microbial population and how its generation is regulated might be the secret to avoiding cancer (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2022). This topic is extremely important to me since I am a cancer survivor. As a result, knowing that advancements in this research can lead to fewer incidents of cancer makes me excited.
Hence, the biggest role in conducting various scientific experiments is played by passion, a sense of impact that can be made, and questions that need to be answered. As seen from the example, most of the experiments come from pain and a desire to find solutions to problems. In Haiti, after a big earthquake, thousands of people died and numerous buildings were leveled to the ground. This started a major community project that helped create seismometers. In my case, due to personal pain, I wish that advancements in research could help minimize or even eliminate the spread of cancer.
References
Big Think. (2015). Bill Nye: Scientific curiosity kept our ancestors alive. YouTube. Web.
Discovery: The spark for science. (n.d.). Understanding Science. Web.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (2022). How some gut microbes awaken “zombie” viruses in their neighbors. ScienceDaily. Web.
Witze, A. (2021). Home seismometers provide crucial data on Haiti’s quake. Nature. Web.