News

“The Nitrogen Problem”

Speaker: Dr. David Burton, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University

“Biological Nano-motors”

Speaker:  Dr. James P. Fawcett, Departments of Pharmacology and Surgery, Dalhousie University

Monday, November 4th, 2013
7:30pm
Museum of Natural History Auditorium, 1747 Summer St., Halifax.

http://nsis.chebucto.org/meetings/previous-meetings/meeting-summaries-2012-2013-2/

All are welcome to attend!
Note:  Limited seating - first come, first served.

Abstracts:

“The Nitrogen Problem”

Speaker: Dr. David Burton, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University.

At the turn of the last century we discovered how to convert nitrogen contained in the air to a chemical form that could be used in the production of explosives and to fertilize plants. Both uses have had significant impacts on humanity. The production and use of nitrogen fertilizer has dramatically increased since the 1950's and now equals in magnitude all natural sources of nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen from industrial fixation now feeds one half of our population.

This dramatic increase in the amount of reactive nitrogen has had tremendous impacts on all ecosystems on earth. Nitrogen impacts on air, water and terrestrial ecosystems are increasingly severe but are seldom discussed in the media.

The challenge for agriculture in the last century was the production of sufficient food to feed a growing population. The current challenge for agriculture is to not only continued increases in the quantity of food produced, but perhaps more importantly reduce impacts on the environment so that we may sustain the current levels of production.

The presentation will discuss the “nitrogen problem” and current research designed to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use in agriculture and reduce impacts on air and water in Atlantic Canada.

“Biological Nano-motors”

Speaker:  Dr. James P. Fawcett, Canada Research Chair in Molecular Biology of Brain Repair

Departments of Pharmacology and Surgery, Dalhousie University.

Biological nano-motors function in all living organisms, and are important for a wide range of functions including intracellular transport, cell division and cellular movement. Molecular nano-motors convert chemical energy, ATP, into mechanical work through enzymatic reactions. Many intracellular nano-motors have directionality to them enabling the transport of large organelles within a cell to the cell surface for example. There are a wide number of biological outcomes attributed to these molecular motors including determining how, for example, our hearts end up on the left side of our chest. Dr. Fawcett will discuss a number of different types of biological nano-motors, and how different motors allow cells and tissues to function. He will also discuss how defects in some of these motors leads to various disease states.

To learn more about the Institute’s events, please take a look at the NSIS brochure:

 http://nsis.chebucto.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/NSIS_brochure_2013_14.pdf

The Nova Scotian Institute of Science: Promoting Science in Nova Scotia since 1862.
http://nsis.chebucto.org/

For further information, please contact NSIS President Tom Rand at: nsis@chebucto.ns.ca