Vegans have 5 percent lower bone mass density than non-vegans, research finds.
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Discovery News Top Stories
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Vegans Have Lower Bone Density
2 Jul 2009 | 9:14 am -
Mystery of Salamander Limb Regrowth Solved
2 Jul 2009 | 8:20 amScientists have uncovered how salamanders are able to regenerate their limbs. -
BLOG: Return to the Moon? Yea or Nay?
2 Jul 2009 | 8:05 amShould NASA return to the moon or aim straight for Mars? Vote here. -
Solved: Why Blind Faults Make Big Quakes
2 Jul 2009 | 7:45 amWhy do blind faults shake harder when they break? Scientists find the answer. -
Inflatable Tower Promises Easy Access to Space
2 Jul 2009 | 5:55 amA nine-mile-high inflatable tower could offer cheap access to outer space.
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New Scientist
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Brain scanner for astronauts passes 'vomit comet' test
2 Jul 2009 | 11:30 amA device designed to study astronauts' brain activity has been tested in zero gravity for the first time – one day it could be used to monitor mission-compromising depression -
Incredible shrinking sheep blamed on climate change
2 Jul 2009 | 11:00 amThe mysterious size reduction of Scottish sheep over the last 20 years can be explained by shorter winters, researchers say -
Computer reveals stone tablet 'handwriting' in a flash
2 Jul 2009 | 10:00 amIdentifying individual carving styles on ancient tablets takes years of training – and even then can be up for debate – but now a computer can do it in seconds -
Money flows into green transport despite recession
2 Jul 2009 | 9:49 amInvestment in green transport rose in the second quarter of 2009 – bucking a six-month-long downward trend -
Most inspirational woman scientist revealed
2 Jul 2009 | 7:57 amFind out who New Scientist readers voted the most inspirational woman scientist of all time
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Scientific Blogging
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A Science Of Human Language - Part #9
2 Jul 2009 | 11:03 amA Science Of Human Language - Part #9 This series, which commenced here, is about quistic grammar, a semantic grammar. It is called quistic grammar because it is based on the notion that all ideas can be reduced to simple questions, or the equivalent: simple statements which answer simple questions. It is a grammar in which semantics - the meaning conveyed - is given primacy over syntax - the rules of word and sentence modification. The semantic component of language is, I suggest, coded in mental models: neural structures which we manipulate and which we compare to external realities… -
Bar Bets You Can Win (Installment II)
2 Jul 2009 | 4:05 amTrue Math GeniusThis trick will bring a smile to the face of even the most hardened math geek. First, lay matches on a table to form the equation I + II + III = IIII (crossed matches make the plus signs and parallel matches make the equals sign). Challenge your opponent to make this statement true by moving only one match and without messing with the sum after the equals sign. The trick is to pick up one match from the II, and lay it across the middle match in the III, making the full equation read: I + I + I + I =IIII. Two Glasses II read more -
'Green' Fireworks For 4th Of July - Can You Get The Same Boom With Less Pollution?
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amIf you're like us, you are eagerly awaiting those July 4 fireworks displays because you get to blow stuff up using science (not just the US, Canada too, though they picked the wrong day by using July 1 for Canada Day celebrations) - if only we could have awesome fireworks yet not ruin the planet. Maybe we can. A new generation of "green" fireworks is trying to take off. Hint: that's "green" as in environmentally friendly. And take off as in ... oh, never mind. read more -
Marie Curie Tops 10 Most Inspirational Female Scientists Poll
1 Jul 2009 | 11:00 pmL'Oréal and New Scientist today announced the results of a poll revealing the most inspirational female scientists of all time. Nuclear physicist and chemist Marie Curie topped the poll which was created to celebrate 10 years of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science program, with around a quarter (25.1%) of the vote. Voted for by more than 800 members of the scientific community and visitors to http://www.NewScientist.com, the poll highlights the absence of modern role models on the list; Astrophysicist Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (4.7%), responsible for the discovery of… -
New Battery Is Thinner Than A Piece Of Paper - And Can Be Printed Too
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmA new printable battery that can be produced cost-effectively on a large scale has been developed by a research team led by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Baumann of the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS in Chemnitz together with colleagues from TU Chemnitz and Menippos GmbH. Like your t-shirt, the batteries are printed using a silk-screen method. They are also different from conventional batteries in that these printable versions weigh less than one gram, are less than a millimeter thick and can even be integrated into bank cards. read more
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Sciencebase Science Blog
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Giant Sperm, Ultrasonic Brain Surgery, and Oil
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 amGiant sperm – Some animals supersize their sperm. Microscopic freshwater ostracods, such as Eucypris virens, for instance have filamentous, spiralling sperm cells that can be up to ten times the body length of the organism itself. The longest known ostracod sperm cell is 10 mm long. How big would a human sperm have to be to compete in size with that of the ostracods? 17 metres long, that’s how long. But, why? Synchrotron X-ray holotomography has revealed why size really does matter to the sex lives of some creatures. The researchers provide evidence of ancient giant fossil sperm… -
Metal, Aerosols, and Biggy Smalls
29 Jun 2009 | 9:00 amWorld Conference of Science Journalists in London this week, so here’s a sneak preview of the July 1 issue of SpectroscopyNOW from the David Bradley segments in celebration. Wish me luck in defending my corner against those who would smite the science writers from our midst… Iron proteins cast in surprising role – Iron is the most abundant transition metal in the human body. Its intriguing reduction-oxidation properties endow it with the active role as an essential cofactor in countless proteins. Some of these are involved in oxygen transport (haemoglobin in the blood),… -
Cats, The Matrix, and Acid Drops
26 Jun 2009 | 7:00 amThe Alchemist learns of a scalable cat this week as well as how the matrix is all important when it comes to identifying metabolites in a single drop of blood. A small follow-up trial for prostate drug abiraterone demonstrates quality of life improvements in patients with the aggressive form of the disease, the same drug might also be used in treating breast cancer. German researchers “working at close to absolute zero” have formulated the smallest drop of hydrochloric acid, showing that four water molecules and one HCl are all that is needed. In physical science the giant… -
Village Archaeology
24 Jun 2009 | 5:00 amArchaeologists were out in force in our village once again, this past weekend. This time their mini dig was part of our four-day Fen Edge Family Festival, for which I was one of the team of official photographers. A metre-square hole was dug on the edge of Cottenham Village Green and it was quickly discovered just what a near-history find this site is. Apparently, in the 1920s when one of the village ponds had become nothing more than a stinking, muddy pit harbouring disease, the Parish decided to fill it in and villagers were invited to carry out a mass spring clean and dump all their sold… -
Life (and Death) on the Ocean Wave
22 Jun 2009 | 5:00 amTo predict the height of crests and the depths of troughs of ocean waves, scientists can turn to the well-known work of German mathematician and scientist Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss. The so-called Gaussian function provides a mathematical formula from which one can determine the normal distribution of wave heights based on probability theory and statistics. Gauss works very well in theory. But, don’t mention wave theory and normal distributions to workers on a platform in the depth of night in a raging North Sea facing an extreme storm threatening to tear the artificial patch of dry…
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New England Journal of Medicine
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CME: Rhabdomyolysis and Acute Kidney Injury
1 Jul 2009 | 2:03 pm(No abstract is available for this citation) -
CORRECTIONS: Emergence of a Novel Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1) Virus in Humans
1 Jul 2009 | 2:03 pm<p>Emergence of a Novel Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1) Virus in Humans (10.1056/NEJMoa0903810; published on May 7, 2009, at NEJM.org). In the second paragraph of the Demographic and Clinical Features subsection ... -
CME: A Fragile Balance
1 Jul 2009 | 2:03 pm(No abstract is available for this citation) -
CME: Epidemiologic Study of In-Hospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the Elderly
1 Jul 2009 | 2:03 pm(No abstract is available for this citation) -
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Preoperative Staging of Lung Cancer with Combined PET-CT
1 Jul 2009 | 2:03 pmCombined positron-emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) plus conventional staging was compared with conventional staging alone for preoperative staging of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The end point was the number of futile thoracotomies in each group (with futility defined as a result other than potentially curable NSCLC). Preoperative staging of NSCLC with PET-CT was found to reduce the total number of thoracotomies and the number of futile thoracotomies. <P>
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Livescience.com
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The Strange Ingredients in Fireworks
2 Jul 2009 | 1:41 pmInside, there are some odd ingredients, from aluminum to Vaseline. -
Foot-in-Mouth: Why We Do It
2 Jul 2009 | 11:06 amThe very act of trying to avoid a faux-pas can cause it to happen. -
Tiny New Battery Is Printable
2 Jul 2009 | 10:00 amA new battery, small and thin, weighs almost nothing and can be printed in a process similar to silk-screening shirts. -
Polymer Scientist Says Creativity is Key
2 Jul 2009 | 9:14 amRyan Hayward studies nanomaterials and how they self-assemble. -
The Truth Behind Secret Recipes in Coke, KFC, Etc.
2 Jul 2009 | 8:48 amThe commercial appeal of a good mystery (real or manufactured) has not been lost on advertisers.
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The Pop!Tech Blog
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Hibaku Trees: Planting seeds from Hiroshima
2 Jul 2009 | 8:47 amCollecting seeds in Hiroshima 2008 from Hiroshi Sunairi on Vimeo. Scientists will tell you that Mother Nature abhors a vacuum. Artist Hiroshi Sunairi has learned that she also has little tolerance for war. On August 6th, 1945 an atomic bomb called Little Boy was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. With a force equivalent to 13 kilotons [...] -
‘White Flight’ Online? danah boyd asks at PDF
1 Jul 2009 | 8:12 amFor years, many people have been saying the Internet will be a “great social equalizer.” Give everyone access to technology, and differences in race, class, and income will give way to a stronger democracy, right? Not necessarily, says Net researcher danah boyd. Speaking at this week’s Personal Democracy Forum in New York, boyd said that even [...] -
Hello from your new PopTech Blogger-In-Chief
29 Jun 2009 | 11:34 amI am delighted to join PopTech today as Digital Content and Community Manager; as part of my job, I have the privilege of being your Blogger-In-Chief, continuing the great work (and PopTech dictionary evangelism!) of Michelle Riggen-Ransom in past months. We will be adding new writers to those you already enjoy, and you can join us [...] -
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation
29 Jun 2009 | 6:34 amThe Garden of Cosmic Speculation, a thirty acre private garden in the Borders area of Scotland created by architect and architectural critic Charles Jencks. It is a joining of terrestrial nature with fundamental concepts of modern physics (quantum mechanics, super-string theory, complexity theory, etc.), and the literal and physical manifestation of the craftsman as philosopher, re-uniting the "head and hand divided" (Richard Sennett). -
The Prince & the Frog: Prince Charles’ Rainforest Project
25 Jun 2009 | 10:47 pmWant to get closer to Daniel Craig, Prince William or the Dalai Lama? How about a big green warty frog? The Prince Charles Rainforest Project is working to draw attention to the issue of deforestation of the planet’s rainforests and they’ve called in some Very Famous Friends to help them. With their new “frog message” [...]
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Newswise
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New Type of El Nino Could Mean More Hurricanes Make Landfall
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 pmA new study, in the journal Science, suggests that the form of El Nino may be changing potentially causing not only a greater number of hurricanes than in average years, but also a greater chance of hurricanes making landfall. -
Researchers Find New Actions of Neurochemicals
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 pmAlthough the tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans has only 302 neurons in its entire nervous system, studies of this simple animal have significantly advanced our understanding of human brain function because it shares many genes and neurochemical signaling molecules with humans. Now MIT researchers have found novel C. elegans neurochemical receptors, the discovery of which could lead to new therapeutic targets for psychiatric disorders if similar receptors are found in humans. -
NIST Develops Novel Ion Trap for Sensing Force and Light
2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amA novel ion trap demonstrated at NIST could usher in a new generation of applications, because the device holds promise as a stylus for sensing very small forces or for an interface for efficient transfer of individual light particles for quantum communications. -
Unexpectedly Long-Range Effects in Advanced Magnetic Devices
2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amA tiny grid pattern has led materials scientists at NIST and the Institute of Solid State Physics in Russia to an unexpected finding - the surprisingly strong and long-range effects of certain electromagnetic nanostructures used in data storage. -
Scientists Find Differences in Embryonic Stem Cells and Reprogrammed Skin Cells
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmUCLA researchers have found that embryonic stem cells and skin cells reprogrammed into embryonic-like cells have inherent molecular differences, demonstrating for the first time that the two cell types are clearly distinguishable from one another.
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SciGuy
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A new hurricane/climate study gets deluxe promotion. Why?
2 Jul 2009 | 1:20 pmThere's a new study in the journal Science that caught my attention... The basic gist of the research paper is that there are more warming events in the Central Pacific Ocean (CPW) these days, a phenomenon known as a an... -
What scientific idea will be most revered in 150 years?
1 Jul 2009 | 12:29 pmAs we approach the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (Nov. 24) it's fairly clear this book is the most influential scientific book of the last century and a half. Setting aside the... -
The hidden benefit of exercising when trying to lose weight
1 Jul 2009 | 8:14 amEveryone knows why exercise helps you lose weight, right? It's because the calories burned increase your total caloric expenditure, and the greater the difference between the calories burned and the calories you consume the more weight you lose. Or is... -
Getting a (much) better view of Mars
30 Jun 2009 | 3:22 pmThree years after the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached orbit around Mars there's one thing we can definitively say about the second-most habitable planet in our solar system: It's glorious. That's because the orbiter carries the most powerful camera ever used... -
A preliminary survey of ... booger picking
30 Jun 2009 | 9:55 amMust scientists study everything? Even nose picking (scientific name: Rhinotillexomania)? FOX"The doctor said I wouldn't have so many nose bleeds if I kept my finger outta there. " Apparently some Indian scientists thought so. They went into four urban schools...
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digg.com: Stories / General Sciences / Popular
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New Kind Of Undersea Eruption Defined: 'Neptunian'
2 Jul 2009 | 10:11 amTwo Australian researchers have defined a newly recognized kind of explosive eruption, termed "neptunian," that is restricted to seafloor volcanoes. -
Alzheimer's Symptoms Reversed With Stem Cells
2 Jul 2009 | 9:31 amA group of mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease was injected with a human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells in the marrow. The mice showed significant reversal in memory loss. If this works with humans, it could eliminate the need for neurosurgery to put stem cells directly in the brain. -
‘Solar Ivy’ Photovoltaic Leaves Climb to New Heights
2 Jul 2009 | 7:50 amSolar Ivy (or SMIT Grow) is a spectacular system of thin, fluttering solar panels that generate energy by sparkling in the sunlight. The wind and solar power generating photovoltaic leaves can be easily integrated on the side of a building to produce energy. -
U.S. Society Ignoring Serious Boy Problems
1 Jul 2009 | 7:10 pmBoys' issues are serious and less addressed than those of girls, While both boys and girls face issues — in school and out — the problems affecting boys are serious and have not been properly addressed by policy makers, according to a new review article by psychologist Judith Kleinfeld. -
Salamander Discovery Could Lead to Human Limb Regeneration
1 Jul 2009 | 4:10 pmBy tracking individual cells in genetically modified salamanders, researchers have found an unexpected explanation for their seemingly magical ability to regrow lost limbs.
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Wired: Wired Science
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Penguin Parents Won’t Chip In to Help Handicapped Spouse
2 Jul 2009 | 1:30 pmTired of your partner not helping out with the kids after you’ve had a tough day at work? At least you’re not a handicapped penguin parent trying to fish with a Plexiglas box strapped to your back. Penguin pairs are known for their elaborate collaboration in raising chicks under harsh Antarctic conditions. But it turns out penguins will take teamwork only so far. When French scientists handicapped one bird from each of 46 pairs of Adélie penguins, partners of the unlucky birds didn’t step up to help out their mates, or to provide extra food for their chicks. “In… -
Lunar Probe Sends First High-Res Images
2 Jul 2009 | 11:22 amNASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter sent its first images back to Earth after activating its cameras June 30. The LRO has both a low-resolution wide-angle camera and a high-resolution camera. These shots were taken at the boundary between night and day, capturing shadows that exaggerate the terrain. Though the surface appears very rough, it is actually similar to the highland area where Apollo 16 landed and explored with a rover. One of the goals of the LRO mission is to scout potential landing sites for future missions. It will also look for resources and characterize the lunar… -
Why You Can’t Keep Your Foot Out of Your Mouth
2 Jul 2009 | 11:00 amIt’s one of the more frustrating aspects of human nature: The harder we try not to say or do or think something, the more likely we are to slip — and often at the worst possible time. But maybe science can help. More than a decade after the inability of a Dostoevsky protagonist to stop thinking about a white bear inspired his first experiments, Harvard University psychologist Daniel Wegner has become one of the world’s foremost experts on what are now known as ironic processes. Using ingenious experiments to reveal the brain’s hidden machinations, Wegner and others have… -
New Class of Black Holes Discovered
1 Jul 2009 | 2:32 pmOnly two sizes of black holes have ever been spotted: small and super-massive. Scientists have long speculated that an intermediate version must exist, but they’ve never been able to find one until now. Astrophysicists identified what appears to be the first-ever medium-sized black hole, pictured in an artist’s rendition above, with a mass at least 500 times that of our Sun. Researchers from the Centre d’Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in France detected the middling hole in a galaxy about 290 million light-years from Earth. The discovery may shed some light on the origins… -
Will Obama Save America’s Giant, Smelly Earthworm?
1 Jul 2009 | 1:02 pmEnvironmentalists have asked the Obama administration to declare the three-foot-long, highly aromatic Palouse earthworm an endangered species, reversing the Bush administration’s mystifying refusal to protect them. Scientifically known as Driloleirus americanus, or “lily-smelling American worm,” the Palouse earthworm was once abundant in the prairies of eastern Washington and northern Idaho. But sightings became less common as accidentally-imported European earthworms tunneled under their grassland habitat, which now covers just two percent of its historic range. By 2005,…
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Eye on DNA
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Michael Jackson May Have Had Genetic Lung Disease Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
29 Jun 2009 | 7:39 amDid Michael Jackson have alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency? In December 2008, rumors surfaced from a biography by Ian Halperin that Jackson needed a lung transplant because he had alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD). Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) is a protein produced by the liver that acts to protect various organs including the lungs. When a person inherits A1AD, their body produces proteins that are deformed which can also lead to liver disease. An estimated 1 in every 1,600 people to 1 in every 5,000 people have A1AD. DNA tests for A1AD are available that look at alleles of the SERPINA1 gene… -
Twin DNA Foil Investigators Again
21 Mar 2009 | 3:30 amTwo years ago, identical twin brothers Raymon and Richard Miller both had sex with the same woman who became pregnant. The court decided Raymon was the legal father although the DNA paternity test couldn’t provide definitive proof. In February, millions of dollars worth of jewelry was stolen in Berlin. Two of the suspects are identical (monozygotic) twins, Hassan and Abbas O. DNA analysis showed that one or both of them were probably at the scene of the crime but it’s impossible to tell. If only one of the brothers is guilty, investigators can’t tell for sure which one it… -
Regulatin’ Genes Video
18 Mar 2009 | 4:36 amWith a cameo from my favorite Stanford professor, Robert Siegel. -
Yay or Nay for Genetic Testing?
27 Feb 2009 | 8:03 amToday, CNN featured Dr. Robert Superko at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia who is recommending genetic testing to patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Superko: If you have heart disease and you have one of these heart disease genes, then the likelihood that is contributing to your problem is very high. If [the testing] gives you a therapeutic direction, a diet or drug to take, then it becomes valuable. But he is not making a rare endorsement of direct-to-consumer testing: It is easy to get confused about test results, especially those received through the mail. You… -
American Clinical Laboratory Association Tips for Consumers of Genetic Tests
25 Feb 2009 | 7:56 amThinking about purchasing a genetic test? The American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) recommends that consumers ask the following six questions: 1. Is the test done in a medical lab certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)? 2. Is a genetic counselor, physician or other knowledgeable health professional available to assist you in selecting tests and interpreting results? 3. Do the claims seem hard to believe? 4. Are other products, such as nutritional supplements, being sold along with the test? 5. Are you willing to be “an informed” consumer…
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Neuromarketing
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Video Games Make You Smarter… Really!
2 Jul 2009 | 6:08 amCan video games make you a better air traffic controller? How about a better surgeon? And, for the huge demographic bubble of baby boomers, can video games keep you cognitively sharp into old age? Continuing our focus on brain fitness this week (see also Nap for Success), here’s another surprising research finding: video games make you [...] -
Nap for Success
29 Jun 2009 | 6:53 amNot long ago we learned that daydreaming is the key to creativity, and now I’ve got even better news: napping makes you smarter! Or, according to Richard Restak’s new book, Think Smart: A Neuroscientist’s Prescription for Improving Your Brain’s Performance, at least it helps you learn much more quickly: In an experiment testing finger dexterity, [Matthew [...] -
Doggie Bags & Sunk Costs
22 Jun 2009 | 5:09 amDid you ever get a meal at a restaurant that you didn’t like, but have them wrap up the leftovers anyway? Even though the food’s flavor is unlikely to improve with age, there may be an explanation for the seemingly irrational behavior. (For non-US Neuromarketing readers, restaurant leftovers are often packaged in a [...] -
A Sense of Place
20 Jun 2009 | 12:48 pmYears ago, I recall a devout Christian describing her experience in the Holy Land, where she touched the stone on which the body of Jesus reputedly had been placed. She described getting dizzy and weak in the knees from the contact. I don’t doubt that she was indeed deeply affected by touching the relic, [...] -
Study: Why Golfers Choke
19 Jun 2009 | 5:18 amThe game of golf is more mental than most sports. Incredible size, strength, and speed aren’t required, although obviously considerable athletic skill is needed to succeed. What’s also necessary is the ability to control fine, precise movements when putting. Some golfers seem unaffected by pressure, and calmly sink putts even when a [...]
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SCIENCEFRIDAY
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SciFri Radio:A New Type Of Black Hole
2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmResearchers may have discovered a new type of black hole, a finding that would mean the massive gravity sinks can exist in a 'medium' size. -
SciFri Radio:A Conversation with Ocean Explorer Bob Ballard
2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmIn this segment, Ira talks with undersea explorer Robert Ballard about his life and work, both in exploration and education. -
SciFri Radio:Some Projects to Try on Your Summer Vacation (Or Perhaps Not)
2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmWe'll give you some ideas for safe -- and not so safe -- science experiments that you may be tempted to try at home. -
SciFri Radio:The Disappearing Mississippi Delta
2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmRising sea levels and not enough sediment replenishment may make much of the Mississippi Delta 'drown' by the year 2100, according to a new study. -
SciFri Blog:Long Live the Queen
1 Jul 2009 | 7:03 pmThe observation hive's queen emerged, today.
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Cognition and Language Lab
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All Italians Smoke
25 Jun 2009 | 5:40 amAlthough most behavior experiments are conducted in the lab, it's nice to be reminded occasionally that it's possible to conduct experiments in the human's natural environment...such as a nightclub. Italian scientists studied responses to requests for a cigarette at three nightclubs in central Italy.That scientists would study Italian's smoking behaviors comes as no surprise to anyone who has been reading semantics recently. It seems that half the example sentences in the papers I read involve some variation on "all Italians smoke."Read the blog: http://coglanglab.blogspot.com Do the… -
Calling all 12 year olds
24 Jun 2009 | 8:54 amI've been analyzing data from the Memory Test. The response to that experiment has been fantastic, so I'm able to look at performance based on age, from about 14 years old to about 84 years old. Interestingly, by 14 years old, people are performing at adult levels. I have a few kids in the 10-13 range, but not quite enough. It would be nice to know at what age people hit adult competency.So...if you or someone you know is in that age range, I'd like a few more participants in the near future. I should actually be able to put up a description of the results relatively quickly in this case,… -
The Value of Experiments
2 Jun 2009 | 12:55 pmI have been reading Heim & Kratzer's Semantics in Generative Grammar, which is an excellent introduction to formal semantics. On the whole, I've really liked the book, until I got to an example sentence in the 8th chapter:(1) Every man placed a screen in front of him.The authors claimed that this sentence was synonymous with(2) Every man placed a screen in front of himself.I though this was absurd, because to me the first sentence must mean that there is some man (let's call him 'Jim,') and all the other men put a screen in front of Jim. It just can't have the meaning of (2). I have a… -
A Counter-Productive Pet Peeve of Mine
19 May 2009 | 9:44 pmRead the blog: http://coglanglab.blogspot.com Do the research: http://coglanglab.org -
Ant Navigation SNL-style
12 May 2009 | 9:46 amIf you appreciated Saturday Night Live's Mother Lover, then this ode to ant navigation should be right up your alley, produced by student in Dave Barner's Developmental Psychology course at UCSD.OK, the videos have nothing to do with each other, but both are worth watching.Read the blog: http://coglanglab.blogspot.com Do the research: http://coglanglab.org
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Of Two Minds
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Color after image demonstration - Seeing color when there is none.
1 Jul 2009 | 9:29 amI'm teaching about opponent processes in color vision today and thought I'd share one of my favorite examples. This is how you use the human visual system to turn a black and white photo into color. Try it out: Read the comments on this post... -
The difference between objects and scenes... random thoughts
16 Jun 2009 | 2:34 pmI'm in the middle of my qualification exams and ran across this interesting paper: Liu, Z Kersten, D Knill, DC Dissociating stimulus information from internal representation--a case study in object recognition. Vision research. 1999; 39(3): 603-12. However, I'm very confused about them calling the figure on the left an object. This is a collection of objects in 3D space - making it a scene. I'm not sure that this nullifies their model - but this is not object recognition. People should really start using ideal observer analysis with scene perception... Read the comments on this post... -
Is it me or is the Swine Flu waaay overrated? A case of the Availability Heuristic.
30 Apr 2009 | 12:42 pmI think it's a bit like terrorism. It scares the shit out of you but there's next to zero chance it will actually happen to you. Seriously... you have a much much higher chance of choking on a twinky (even if you've never eaten one) than catching the swine flu and dying or being or even seeing a terrorist attack. Talk about a great case of the Availability Heuristic... Here's a demo for you to try out (I use this to teach Psych 100). The correct answers are below the fold. Which is the more common cause of death in the USA? 1. A) Asthma B) Meningitis 2. A) Breast Cancer B) Stomach Cancer 3. -
How to tell if you have swine flu
30 Apr 2009 | 12:34 pmGo here to tell with 100% accuracy. Read the comments on this post... -
More thoughts on student blogging in class
1 Apr 2009 | 10:51 amJason, a graduate student at USC, shot me an email asking for more information about my blogging experiment and I thought I'd post some of the things I sent back to him. Totally unpolished and stream of consciousness but here it is... Hi Jason, This is really the first time around that I've tried the blogging thing. I've been thinking about doing it for a while but having 2 classes with 50 people in each meant a blog would be a bit unwieldy. If there are that many people in the class a discussion board is a much better choice (like on blackboard or something). If you have under 20 people or…
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New Scientist - The Human Brain
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Brain's response muted when we see other races in pain
1 Jul 2009 | 6:20 amThe response of the brain is less pronounced when we see strangers in pain who are a different race to our own -
Disorderly genius: How chaos drives the brain
29 Jun 2009 | 8:09 amYour brain is like a pile of sand, but don't worry: that's why it has such remarkable powers -
US grandparents 'smarter' than UK counterparts
25 Jun 2009 | 4:16 amAmericans seem to retain better cognitive abilities into old age than their British counterparts – lifestyle and self-esteem may make the difference -
Language may be key to theory of mind
23 Jun 2009 | 7:55 amHow blind and deaf people approach a cognitive test regarded as a milestone in human development is shedding light on how we deduce what others are thinking -
Brain could adapt well to cyborg enhancements
22 Jun 2009 | 9:00 amPerceptions of arm length change after people handle a mechanical tool, according to a study that has implications for amputees, as well as prospective cyborgs
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neurodudes
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Transcriptomics of the fetal human brain
1 Jul 2009 | 9:59 pmA cutting-edge application of the Affy total human exome GeneChip (4X coverage per exon, 40X coverage per gene): Functional and Evolutionary Insights into Human Brain Development through Global Transcriptome Analysis. From the News and Views, I was intrigued to learn that previous transcriptome analyses of adult human brains found very little difference in gene expression between brain areas: [...] this suggests that it is the gene expression during development that largely determines higher brain functions by specifying the complexity of neural connections. Numerically, the most important… -
Putative (unpleasant) psychedelic effects of anti-smoking drug Varenicline
1 Jul 2009 | 2:45 pmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varenicline “Varenicline is a partial agonist of the α4β2 subtype of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.” — this is apparently the subtype that nicotine acts on in the CNS. Varenicline is also a partial or full agonist of some other nicotinic receptor subtypes. The following article describes various disturbing psychedelic effects of long-term varenicline use. Excerpts after the break: http://nymag.com/news/features/43892/ Note: from anecdotal evidence in other parts of the article, it seems like these sorts of effects don’t happen to… -
Visualizing synaptic tagging and capture
28 Jun 2009 | 1:47 pmA set of two articles recently came out in Science that directly visualize two different (and likely complementary) approaches to synapse specific delivery of gene products. Plasticity at specific synapses (input specificity — we’re restricting the discussion to the dendrites of the post-synaptic neuron) requires proteins (eg. new AMPA receptors) to get to those post-synaptic compartments and membranes. But the intructions for these new proteins are contained in the nucleus with the rest of the genome. Clearly, new proteins synthesized in the soma can’t just be sent… -
How to prepare for a PhD in neuroscience
21 Jun 2009 | 4:01 pmYesterday, I received this email from a freshman preparing for a future in neuroscience: Dear Neville My name is [...]. I’m a freshman in Biomedical Engineering at the [university in] Mexico City. After graduation, I am very interested in pursuing the Brain and Cognitive Sciences graduate program. Given your experience, I would like to ask you for some advice. Over the last few months, I have been thinking about pursuing a major in Electrical Engineering instead. My goal would be to have more engineering tools for my further studies in Neuroscience. Based on your courses, which focus do… -
Willow Garage
8 Jun 2009 | 10:42 pmNYtimes article about a robot startup. The article contains some kind words by various A.I. profs (Andrew Ng, William L. Whittaker, Nils Nilsson, and Sebastian Thrun — Thrun is on the board). The robot can apparently repeatedly and reliably open doors, navigate normal rooms, and plug itself in. The company has an open-source (BSD licensed) project to create a robotics framework, including a low-level messaging framework called ROS (Robotic Operating System), and a set of “ROS-enabled” packages (some of which were created by various other research teams). The project also…
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Mind Hacks
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Eight way distortion
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pmPetra's written up her barnstorming talk she gave last night at the Troublemaker's Fringe where she discussed 'eight problems with science/health journalism and what we can do about it' from her perspective as a social psychologist specialising in sex and relationships. It's a fantastic guide to how health stories get badly spun and why sexual health material is most likely to be misrepresented as it is considered 'light' and so not worthy of serious attention. One of the main culprits seem to be the reliance on PR surveys which are intuitively easy to understand but are specifically designed… -
A touch from a phantom third arm
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 pmA 64 year old woman developed a phantom third arm after a stroke, but unusually, the patient was able to see and feel the illusory limb. A study just published online in the journal Annals of Neurology used brain scans to examine the patient. They established that the phantom sensations were accompanied by similar sorts of brain activity as you'd get from a real arm. Unlike a classic 'phantom limb', where a patient feels sensations as if they're coming from the previously amputated body part, a 'supernumerary phantom limb' is where a phantom seems to appear additional to the already existing… -
Sign O' The Neuro Times
2 Jul 2009 | 5:00 amThe Neuro Times is a fantastic new blog about the history of neurology written by a historian with a passion for the development of brain science. The author is Stephen T Casper, whose own work has focused on how the US-UK collaborations and rivalries during the 20th century shaped our understanding of the brain. Although the blog has a similar 20th slant it also casts its net a little wider making it a wonderful historical resource. It has book reviews, profiles of influential neuroscientists from times past, and discussions of key moments and debates. Excellent stuff. Link to The Neuro… -
Fringe benefits
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amThanks to everyone who came along to the Troublemaker's Fringe last night and I hope you all enjoyed the evening as much as I did. The slides for my talk "Don't touch that dial! Technology Scare and the Media" are online as a PowerPoint file and everything was captured as audio recordings so you should be able check out the evening's events, including Ben and Petra's excellent talks, as they appear online. Apparently, they'll be a discussion kicking off on badscience.net about some of the issues raised by the speakers, so I'll keep you posted as the links appear. -
Troublemaker's Fringe, tomorrow, after the day job
30 Jun 2009 | 1:00 pmIf you're in London Town Wednesday evening, don't forget to come along to the Troublemaker's Fringe, where we'll be tackling the problems of science journalism and discussing how misleading, dangerous and inaccurate stories keep making the headlines. Hilariously, we've already been slagged off by Steve Connor of The Independent who deals out some scorching criticism, calls us arrogant, and defends the accuracy of the mainstream media by saying: The medics met in a pub in London last night to explain why the "mainstream media's science coverage is broken, misleading, dangerous, lazy, venal and…
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Developing Intelligence
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Pavlov's Dogs: Proving the Null With Bayesianism
30 Jun 2009 | 9:00 amHow many times did Pavlov ring the bell before his dogs' meals until the dogs began to salivate? Surely, the number of experiences must make a difference, as anyone who's trained a dog would attest. As described in a brilliant article by C.R. Gallistel (in Psych. Review; preprint here), this has been thought so self-evident "as to not require experimental demonstration" - yet information theoretic analysis suggest the idea is incorrect, at least when the time from the bell to the food is constant. More problematic is the fact that the whole issue is ill-formed for experimental verification:… -
Inhibitory decline with age: The influence of failed strategy.
29 Jun 2009 | 10:35 amDon't think of a white bear. Doesn't work so well, does it? Yet under some circumstances, people appear to be able to do precisely this: as described last week, young adults are thought (by some) to actually suppress the neural activity related to to-be-ignored stimuli, and even delay the peak of this neural activity, relative to a situation in which stimuli are to be just passively-viewed. In a follow-up paper at Nature Neuroscience, Gazzaley et al report that cognitively-intact older adults (60-77 years of age) show an impairment in this ability, without concomitant impairments in the… -
Mind Wars: Jonathan Moreno, Neuroscience and the Military
26 Jun 2009 | 10:52 amAn interesting video interview with the author of (the excellent) Mind Wars. Here are direct links to the videos. Read the comments on this post... -
Gamma: Insight and Consciousness... Or just Microsaccades?
26 Jun 2009 | 9:28 amThe cognitive neurosciences have had high frequency oscillations on the brain: so called "gamma-waves", as recorded on the scalp, have been linked to working memory processes (via their interaction with slower "theta waves"), to cognitive insight, and even to consciousness. (I think there's an unwritten rule that whenever someone mentions consciousness, they'll be made to look foolish by a subsequent paper). In the midst of these "inflationary accounts" of the role of gamma oscillations, a debate has emerged: could these oscillations (at least, as recorded on the scalp) reflect simply the… -
Enhancing The Magnitude and Speed of Neural Activity - And Suppressing It?
25 Jun 2009 | 9:18 amBy many current theories, we accomplish control over behavior by using the prefrontal cortex to "bias" the competitive dynamics playing out in the rest of the brain. By some models, this bias is positive - it helps the goal-relevant representations win the competition. By other models, the bias is also negative - it can help the goal-irrelevant representations lose the competition. Regardless, this "prefrontal biasing" is usually considered in terms of the amount of activity in a particular area (higher when that area is under a positive bias, and lower when under a negative bias). But…
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NPR Topics: Health & Science
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Pain Management And Prescription Painkillers
2 Jul 2009 | 11:32 amThe deaths of Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith focused attention on prescription pain killers. Michael Jackson, too, may have been taking pain medication. Doctors walk a fine line in treating patients who are seeking relief from chronic pain.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Politicians Reconsider Drilling Off Florida Coast
1 Jul 2009 | 9:01 pmFor years, oil production has been largely banned in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. In large part, that's because of concerns that a spill could devastate the state's tourism industry. But now, some elected officials seem willing to take another look at offshore drilling after years of opposition.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
More Care Means Better Health, But Not Always
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmA new study finds that when Medicare expanded its prescription drug coverage, people did spend more on drugs. However, those who had little to no drug coverage beforehand reduced what they spent on going to doctors and hospitals.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Schizophrenia May Be Linked To Immune System
1 Jul 2009 | 1:00 pmThree new genetic studies are providing some tantalizing hints about what causes schizophrenia.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Are You Over The Acetaminophen Limit?
1 Jul 2009 | 12:09 pmA Food and Drug Administration advisory panel wants to reduce the public's exposure to the potent painkiller.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
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Not Exactly Rocket Science
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Ferreting out swine flu - virus causes slightly more severe disease than seasonal flu
2 Jul 2009 | 2:00 pmThe swine flu pandemic is well under way. With the WHO citing almost 60,000 laboratory-confirmed cases at the time of writing, the race is truly on to understand more about the virus. Now, two new studies have painted a fresh but partly contradictory picture about two of the virus's most important aspects - its infectivity (its ability to spread from host to host) and its virulence (its ability to cause disease in a host). These two traits will largely determine the threat that the virus poses, especially in relation to more familiar garden varieties of seasonal flu. Both groups, one based in… -
Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 pmThe island of Hirta, on the western coast of Scotland, is home to a special breed of sheep. Soay sheep, named after a neighbouring island, are the most primitive breed of domestic sheep and have lived on the isles of St Kilda for at least a millennium. They're generally smaller than the average domesticated sheep, and that difference is getting larger and larger. Over the last 20 years, the Soay sheep have started to shrink. They are becoming gradually lighter at all ages such that today's lambs and adults weigh around 3kg less than those from 1986. Their hind legs have also shortened to a… -
I just won the Association of British Science Writers' Best Newcomer award!
1 Jul 2009 | 5:17 pmWhat a night. Tonight, during the gala dinner of the World Conference of Science Journalists, I won the Association of British Science Writers' award for Best Newcomer 2009, collecting a certificate, an award and prize money in the Natural History Museum's central hall. In front of me: hundreds of international science journalists and Dippy the Diplodocus. Behind me: a statue of Charles Darwin. If that isn't reward for efforts in writing about science, I don't know what is. Anyway, the award was a result of popular vote from members of the ABSW, so my heartiest thanks to anyone and… -
Spider mimics ant to eat spiders and avoid being eaten by spiders
1 Jul 2009 | 9:30 amIt's been just three weeks since I last wrote about thedark-footed ant-spider Myrmarachne melanotarsa, but this is one species that just keeps getting more and more interesting. To quickly recap, M.melanotarsa is a jumping spider that protects itself from predators (like other jumping spiders) by resembling an ant. Earlier this month, Ximena Nelson and Robert Jackson showed that they bolster this illusion by living in silken apartment complexes and travelling in groups, mimicking not just the bodies of ants but their social lives too. Now Nelson and Robert are back with another side to the… -
WCSJ: Flat Earth News with Nick Davies - a discussion on the breaking of journalism
1 Jul 2009 | 5:30 amNick Davies is one of the most interesting figures in UK journalism, not least because of the publication of his excellent book Flat Earth News. On his website, he describes the book as "[taking] the lid off newspapers and broadcasters, exposing the mechanics of falsehood, distortion and propaganda; naming names and telling the stories behind stories." In a superb session, Davies (ably interviewed by Jeremy Webb of New Scientist) set out his thesis about the broken state of science journalism, littered with pithy turns of phrase and good-natured storytelling. Davies's key assertion is that…
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NYT > Science
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The Wild Side: 'Operator? Can You Put Me Through to Ant Nest 251?'
2 Jul 2009 | 12:03 pmHow do ants communicate, and can it involve telephones? -
Television Review | 'Nova: Musical Minds': Our Brains on Music: The Science
2 Jul 2009 | 7:34 am“Musical Minds,” the season premiere of “Nova” on PBS, is based on the neurologist Oliver Sacks’s most recent book, “Musicophilia.” -
National Briefing | Washington: Animal Research Facilities Must Disclose More
1 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pmThe facilities will be required to disclose more information online about their experiments under a court settlement signed by the Humane Society and the Agriculture Department. -
Scientist at Work: Steve Lekson: Scientist Tries to Connect Migration Dots of Ancient Southwest
1 Jul 2009 | 11:01 amSteve Lekson’s new book offers a kind of unified theory of the Native American population movements that have puzzled Southwest archaeologists for many years. -
With Something for Everyone, Climate Bill Passed
1 Jul 2009 | 7:12 amThe energy bill that passed in the House was loaded with hundreds of special-interest favors, as environmentalists lamented that its aims had been diminished.
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IEEE Spectrum
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Test Post 2
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Test Post
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RFID Chips Gain Computing Skills
One way to do long computations with short bursts of power -
Don't Smile When You Get Your New Driver's Licence
Facial Recognition Software Places Limits in Virginia -
Music Vest
A New Way to Listen to Music!
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National Geographic News
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Rare Albino Whale Spotted
1 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pmMigaloo, a twentysomething rare white humpback whale was seen this week along Australia's east coast, where he's migrating northward with other humpbacks. Video. -
July 4th Facts: Fireworks, Founding Fathers, and More
1 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pmFrom artillery shows to hot dog eating, learn how Americans have celebrated the Fourth of July over the centuries. -
STATUE OF LIBERTY PICTURES: Rare Views, Inside and Out
1 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pmBefore it reopens on the Fourth of July, get an insider's eye on the Statue of Liberty—the inside of her face, the little-known ladder to the torch, and more. -
Statue of Liberty Facts: July 4th Reopening and More
1 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pmAs the Statue of Liberty's crown is readied for reopening this Fourth of July, stock up on intriguing Lady Liberty facts for this weekend's barbecue banter. -
PHOTOS: Giant Rays' "Feeding Frenzy" Spots Protected
30 Jun 2009 | 5:00 pmAn Indian Ocean island nation has created three new ocean sanctuaries, including a tropical bay where hundreds of 12-foot manta rays and 40-foot whale sharks feast on swarms of plankton and krill.
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PLoS Biology
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Parks and Tourism
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amTo protect biodiversity, parks agencies need political and financial support. Recreational visitors can bring both, but commercial tourism carries risks. -
Attention Enhances the Retrieval and Stability of Visuospatial and Olfactory Representations in the Dorsal Hippocampus
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAttention enhances the encoding and retrieval of olfactory and visuospatial representations by modulating place field stability, firing rate, and neuronal synchronization of pyramidal cells in the hippocampus. -
Bad Taste Protects Fruit Flies from Eating a Toxic Amino Acid in Plants
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAn orphan G-protein-coupled gustatory receptor mediates detection of the plant poison L-canavanine in fruit flies. -
RIN4 Functions with Plasma Membrane H+-ATPases to Regulate Stomatal Apertures during Pathogen Attack
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amIn plants, the protein Rin4 acts with the plasma membrane H-ATPase to regulate pathogen entry and the innate immune response, in part, through the regulation of stomatal closure. -
Eps8 Regulates Axonal Filopodia in Hippocampal Neurons in Response to Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amA novel signaling cascade controlling actin polymerization in response to extracellular signals regulates filopodia formation and likely also neuronal synapse formation.
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PLoS Computational Biology
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Managing and Analyzing Next-Generation Sequence Data
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
Ten Simple Rules for Choosing between Industry and Academia
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
Establishing a Successful Bioinformatics Core Facility Team
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
The Need for Centralization of Computational Biology Resources
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
Exploring the Free Energy Landscape: From Dynamics to Networks and Back
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary A complete description of complex polymers, such as proteins, includes information about their structure and their dynamics. In particular it is of utmost importance to answer the following questions: What are the structural conformations possible? Is there any relevant hierarchy among these conformers? What are the transition paths between them? These and other questions can be addressed by analyzing in an efficient way the Free Energy Landscape of the system. With this knowledge, several problems about biomolecular reactions (such as enzymatic activity, protein folding,…
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PLoS Genetics
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Evolution of Mutational Robustness in the Yeast Genome: A Link to Essential Genes and Meiotic Recombination Hotspots
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Sexual life cycles constitute a costly alternative to vegetative modes of reproduction. Two categories of hypotheses seek to explain why sexual life cycles exist: those investigating the selective advantages that have driven the evolution of individual parts of this life cycle and those rationalizing the advantages sexual life cycles may offer as a whole, e.g., in extant species. Sex and recombination can be understood as efficient ways to interact with mutations and their consequences. Mutations occur at random and are mostly either deleterious or neutral. A prominent… -
An Integrated Strategy to Study Muscle Development and Myofilament Structure in Caenorhabditis elegans
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Muscular diseases affect many people worldwide. While we have learned much about the sarcomere, the basic building block of muscle cells, there are still numerous questions that remain to be answered. We must learn more about proteins expressed in muscle and how they interact so that better treatments for myopathies can be developed. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a valuable model organism for the study of muscle due to similarities between worm body wall muscle and vertebrate muscle, along with its semi-transparent cuticle that allows for visualization of muscle… -
The Mysteries of Chromosome Evolution in Gibbons: Methylation Is a Prime Suspect
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
Telomere Recombination Accelerates Cellular Aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Telomeres are the specialized structures at the ends of eukaryotic linear chromosomes. The simple guanine-rich DNA repeats at telomeres and their associated proteins are important for chromosome stability. Most eukaryotic species have evolved an enzyme named telomerase to replicate their telomeric DNA. Telomerase usually contains a protein catalytic subunit and a RNA template subunit. A few eukaryotic species can use either telomere recombination or retrotransposon-mediated transposition to accomplish telomere elongation. Interestingly, the baker's yeast Saccharomyces… -
Genome-Wide Association Scan Meta-Analysis Identifies Three Loci Influencing Adiposity and Fat Distribution
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Here, we describe a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data from 38,580 individuals, followed by large-scale replication (in up to 70,689 individuals) designed to uncover variants influencing anthropometric measures of central obesity and fat distribution, namely waist circumference (WC) and waist–hip ratio (WHR). This work complements parallel efforts that have been successful in defining variants impacting overall adiposity and focuses on the visceral fat accumulation which has particularly strong relationships to metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Our analyses…
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PLoS Pathogens
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Epstein-Barr Virus Latency in B Cells Leads to Epigenetic Repression and CpG Methylation of the Tumour Suppressor Gene Bim
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Bim is a cellular inducer of programmed cell death (pcd), so the level of Bim is a critical regulator of lymphocyte survival and reduced expression enhances lymphomagenesis in mice and humans. Regulation of Bim is uniquely important in the pathogenesis of Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), since in this human childhood cancer the Myc gene is deregulated by chromosomal translocation and Myc can induce pcd via Bim. Latent EBV represses Bim expression, and here we have discovered that this involves mechanisms that reprogramme B cells and their progeny. EBV does not significantly alter Bim… -
Virus and Host Determinants of West Nile Virus Pathogenesis
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
Stage-Specific Inhibition of MHC Class I Presentation by the Epstein-Barr Virus BNLF2a Protein during Virus Lytic Cycle
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is carried by approximately 90% of the world's population, where it persists and is chronically shed despite a vigorous specific immune response, a key component of which are CD8 T cells that recognize and kill infected cells. The mechanisms the virus uses to evade these responses are not clear. Recently we identified a gene encoded by EBV, BNLF2a, that when expressed ectopically in cells inhibited their recognition by CD8 T cells. To determine the contribution of BNLF2a to evasion of EBV-specific CD8 T cell recognition and whether EBV encoded… -
Pandemic Vaccine Preparedness—Have We Left Something Behind?
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
The Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase and the Small GTPase Rab 2 Are Crucial for Brucella Replication
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary A key determinant for intracellular pathogenic bacteria to ensure their virulence within host cells is their ability to bypass the endocytic pathway and to reach a safe replication niche. Brucella bacteria reach the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to create their replicating niche called the Brucella-containing vacuole (BCV). The ER is a suitable strategic place for pathogenic Brucella. Bacteria can be hidden from host cell defences to persist within the host, and can take advantage of the membrane reservoir delivered by the ER to replicate. Interactions between BCV and the ER lead…
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PLoS ONE Alerts
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Germ Cell Transplantation Using Sexually Competent Fish: An Approach for Rapid Propagation of Endangered and Valuable Germlines
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amThe transplantation of germ cells into adult recipient gonads is a tool with wide applications in animal breeding and conservation of valuable and/or endangered species; it also provides a means for basic studies involving germ cell (GC) proliferation and differentiation. Here we describe the establishment of a working model for xenogeneic germ cell transplantation (GCT) in sexually competent fish. Spermatogonial cells isolated from juveniles of one species, the pejerrey Odontesthes bonariensis (Atherinopsidae), were surgically transplanted into the gonads of sexually mature Patagonian… -
Bili Inhibits Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling by Regulating the Recruitment of Axin to LRP6
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amBackground Insights into how the Frizzled/LRP6 receptor complex receives, transduces and terminates Wnt signals will enhance our understanding of the control of the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. Methodology/Principal Findings In pursuit of such insights, we performed a genome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila cells expressing an activated form of LRP6 and a β-catenin-responsive reporter. This screen resulted in the identification of Bili, a Band4.1-domain containing protein, as a negative regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. We found that the expression of Bili in Drosophila embryos and larval… -
dRecQ4 Is Required for DNA Synthesis and Essential for Cell Proliferation in Drosophila
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amBackground The family of RecQ DNA helicases plays an important role in the maintenance of genomic integrity. Mutations in three of the five known RecQ family members in humans, BLM, WRN and RecQ4, lead to disorders that are characterized by predisposition to cancer and premature aging. Methodology/Principal Findings To address the in vivo functions of Drosophila RecQ4 (dRecQ4), we generated mutant alleles of dRecQ4 using the targeted gene knock-out technique. Our data show that dRecQ4 mutants are homozygous lethal with defects in DNA replication, cell cycle progression and cell proliferation. -
Models of Emergency Departments for Reducing Patient Waiting Times
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amIn this paper, we apply both agent-based models and queuing models to investigate patient access and patient flow through emergency departments. The objective of this work is to gain insights into the comparative contributions and limitations of these complementary techniques, in their ability to contribute empirical input into healthcare policy and practice guidelines. The models were developed independently, with a view to compare their suitability to emergency department simulation. The current models implement relatively simple general scenarios, and rely on a combination of simulated and… -
Mental Rotation of Faces in Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Disease
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amBackground Previous research has shown that individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) develop visuospatial difficulties that affect their ability to mentally rotate objects. Surprisingly, the existing literature has generally ignored the impact of this mental rotation deficit on the ability of AD patients to recognize faces from different angles. Instead, the devastating loss of the ability to recognize friends and family members in AD has primarily been attributed to memory loss and agnosia in later stages of the disorder. The impact of AD on areas of the brain important for mental rotation…
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
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Tissue Specific Profiling of Females of Schistosoma japonicum by Integrated Laser Microdissection Microscopy and Microarray Analysis
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Schistosomes are parasitic worms responsible for important human diseases in tropical and developing nations. There is urgent need to develop new drugs and vaccines to augment current treatments for this disease. In recent years, concerted efforts by many laboratories have led to extensive genetic sequencing of the parasites, and the publication of genome sequence for two agents of schistosomiasis appears imminent. This genetic information has revealed many molecules expressed by the schistosome parasites for which no functional information is available. This lack of… -
The Neovolcanic Axis Is a Barrier to Gene Flow among Aedes aegypti Populations in Mexico That Differ in Vector Competence for Dengue 2 Virus
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary The Neovolcanic axis (NVA) traverses Mexico at the 19th parallel and is considered to be a geographic barrier to many species. We have demonstrated that the intersection of the NVA with the coast in Veracruz state is a barrier to gene flow in Ae. aegypti. This was unexpected because the intersection of the NVA with the Pacific Coast is not a barrier to gene flow. Further studies to identify the actual mechanism(s) that is(are) contributing to the lack of gene flow will provide important information on the trafficking potential of Ae. aegypti, which will be of great value to Ae. -
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis in Panama: Fatal Endemic Disease and Genetic Diversity of Etiologic Viral Strains
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has caused major epidemics in many parts of Latin America and has even spread into Texas on one occasion. These epidemics result from spillover to humans of a horse-mosquito-horse amplification cycle that has occurred periodically since the 1920s. However, between these equine-mediated epidemics, little attempt is typically made to detect VEE in humans. Here, we show that VEE virus strains that typically circulate in a mosquito-rodent cycle, termed enzootic strains, also produce many cases of severe and… -
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Issue Image | Vol. 3(6) June 2009
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amTwo-headed flatworms (Dugesia japonica) that regenerated from a trunk fragment exposed to the antischistosomal drug praziquantel. Praziquantel is the major drug used to treat people infected with parasitic worms that cause schistosomiasis. However, the mechanism of action of praziquantel remains unclear. Nogi et al. (doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000464) identify a new biological activity of this drug to subvert regenerative polarity in a planarian to produce two-headed flatworms. By using this striking phenotype as a screen for molecules regulating in vivo praziquantel efficacy, the authors… -
Risk Factors for Helminth, Malaria, and HIV Infection in Pregnancy in Entebbe, Uganda
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amAuthor Summary Infections in pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, maternal mortality, and low birth weight and have other long-term complications for mother and baby, although the full impact of many infections, particularly worm infections, is not yet fully understood. There is a high burden of infectious disease in many developing countries. In this analysis, we identified which factors put pregnant women in Entebbe, Uganda, at particular risk for worm infections, malaria, HIV, and, where possible, rarer infections including syphilis. The women in this study, and their children,…
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PLoS Hubs for Clinical Trials
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Pralidoxime in Acute Organophosphorus Insecticide Poisoning—A Randomised Controlled Trial
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amIn a randomized controlled trial of individuals who had taken organophosphorus insecticides, Michael Eddleston and colleagues find that there is no evidence that the addition of the antidote pralidoxime offers benefit over atropine and supportive care. -
Differential Effects of Early Weaning for HIV-Free Survival of Children Born to HIV-Infected Mothers by Severity of Maternal Disease
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amBackground We previously reported no benefit of early weaning for HIV-free survival of children born to HIV-infected mothers in intent-to-treat analyses. Since early weaning was poorly accepted, we conducted a secondary analysis to investigate whether beneficial effects may have been hidden. Methods 958 HIV-infected women in Lusaka, Zambia, were randomized to abrupt weaning at 4 months (intervention) or to continued breastfeeding (control). Children were followed to 24 months with regular HIV PCR tests and examinations to determine HIV infection or death. Detailed behavioral data were… -
Safety and Immunogenicity of Boosting BCG Vaccinated Subjects with BCG: Comparison with Boosting with a New TB Vaccine, MVA85A
16 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amObjectives To investigate the safety and immunogenicity of a booster BCG vaccination delivered intradermally in healthy, BCG vaccinated subjects and to compare with a previous clinical trial where BCG vaccinated subjects were boosted with a new TB vaccine, MVA85A. Design Phase I open label observational trial, in the UK. Healthy, HIV-negative, BCG vaccinated adults were recruited and vaccinated with BCG. The primary outcome was safety; the secondary outcome was cellular immune responses to antigen 85, overlapping peptides of antigen 85A and tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD)… -
A Cluster-Randomised Intervention Trial against Schistosoma japonicum in the Peoples' Republic of China: Bovine and Human Transmission
12 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amBackground Zoonotic schistosomiasis japonica is a major public health problem in China. Bovines, particularly water buffaloes, are thought to play a major role in the transmission of schistosomiasis to humans in China. Preliminary results (1998–2003) of a praziquantel (PZQ)-based pilot intervention study we undertook provided proof of principle that water buffaloes are major reservoir hosts for S. japonicum in the Poyang Lake region, Jiangxi Province. Methods and Findings Here we present the results of a cluster-randomised intervention trial (2004–2007) undertaken in Hunan and Jiangxi… -
In Global Health Research, Is It Legitimate To Stop Clinical Trials Early on Account of Their Opportunity Costs?
9 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amThis debate examines the ethics of reallocating resources invested in existing trials of older products into new trials of more scientifically advanced products.
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PLoS Medicine
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Clean Water Should Be Recognized as a Human Right
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
Pralidoxime in Acute Organophosphorus Insecticide Poisoning—A Randomised Controlled Trial
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amIn a randomized controlled trial of individuals who had taken organophosphorus insecticides, Michael Eddleston and colleagues find that there is no evidence that the addition of the antidote pralidoxime offers benefit over atropine and supportive care. -
Seasonal Hunger: A Neglected Problem with Proven Solutions
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am -
PLoS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 6(6) June 2009
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amClean water should be recognized as a human right. At the March 2009 United Nations meetings coinciding with the World Water Forum, a declaration that would recognize water as a basic human right was defeated. In this month's Editorial, the PLoS Medicine Editors argue that access to clean water should be declared a basic human right for three reasons. First, access to clean water can substantially reduce the global burden of disease caused by water-borne infections. Second, the privatization of water—as witnessed in Bolivia, Ghana, and other countries—has not effectively served the poor,… -
Can We “Hedge” against the Development of Antiviral Resistance among Pandemic Influenza Viruses?
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amDavid K. Shay and Benjamin Ridenhour discuss a modeling study predicting that stockpiling a secondary antiviral for use early in a flu pandemic can forestall resistance to the primary stockpiled drug.
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ABC News: Technology & Science
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Facebook Modifies Privacy Tools
2 Jul 2009 | 1:38 pmFor first time, users can choose to share info with the entire Internet. -
Google and Bing: How Do They Compare?
2 Jul 2009 | 1:38 pmGoogle has an impressive competitor in Microsoft's Bing. -
HEAR: Emotional 911 Call in Deadly Python Attack
2 Jul 2009 | 12:52 pmDistraught snake owner calls 911 to report strangled Florida toddler. -
PHOTO: What's Behind This Fighter Jet?
2 Jul 2009 | 12:03 pmWhat is that strange plume around this plane? -
Hardcore Green: When Waste Isn't Waste
2 Jul 2009 | 7:31 amEnvironmentalists talk of composting toilets, power from poop.
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Smartbrief: American Chemistry Council
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Kerry: Climate bill may pass in Senate, international accord may not
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmU.S. Sen. -More- -
Improving manufacturing indexes bode well for petrochemical demand
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmEconomies around the world continue to struggle, but China, the U.S. -More- -
Dow Chemical adds more plant closures to restructuring plan
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmDow Chemical has announced plans to close three chemical plants in Louisiana as part of its continued restructuring. -More- -
Registration Open for the Polyurethanes 2009 Technical Conference, Oct. 5 to 7
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmScientists, engineers, manufacturers and business leaders from around the world will discuss future growth and opportunities -More- -
UAE firm's $500M buyout of Nova Chemical is delayed a week
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmThe acquisition of Canadian chemical giant Nova Chemical by International Petroleum Investment is being pushed back a week wh -More-
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Smartbrief: American Institute of Chemical Engineers
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Nanotechnology ventures produce mixed results in Minnesota
29 Jun 2009 | 10:00 pmAs the University of Minnesota pushes for nanotechnology research, the school has licensed three such ventures with uneven re -More- -
Valero plans to use windmills to power Texas refinery
29 Jun 2009 | 10:00 pmValero is installing 33 windmills in Texas to supply its refinery with electricity needed to produce gasoline and diesel fuel -More- -
Early registration is open for ammonia safety conference
29 Jun 2009 | 10:00 pmAIChE's annual symposium on Safety in Ammonia Plants & Related Facilities is scheduled for Sept. -More- -
Creditors: Warnings of risk in Lyondell-Basell merger went unheeded
29 Jun 2009 | 10:00 pmThe chief executives behind Dutch chemical giant Basell's $12.7 billion buyout of Houston's Lyondell Chemical in 2007 ignored -More- -
How -- and how not -- to motivate
29 Jun 2009 | 10:00 pmManagers often have misconceptions about what motivates their workers, writes David Javitch. -More-
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Reuters: Science News
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Loss of world's seagrass beds seen accelerating
2 Jul 2009 | 1:24 pmMIAMI (Reuters) - The world's seagrass meadows, a critical habitat for marine life and profit-maker for the fishing industry, are in decline due to coastal development and the losses are accelerating, according to a new study. -
Vatican should learn from Galileo mess, prelate says
2 Jul 2009 | 9:11 amVATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Catholic Church should not fear scientific progress and possibly repeat the mistake it made when it condemned astronomer Galileo in the 17th century, a Vatican official said on Thursday in a rare self-criticism. -
More than 800 wildlife species now extinct
1 Jul 2009 | 5:05 pmWASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 800 animal and plant species have gone extinct in the past five centuries with nearly 17,000 now threatened with extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported on Thursday. -
Regenerated legs no big trick for salamanders
1 Jul 2009 | 4:39 pmWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexican salamanders who can re-grow amputated legs are not pulling off quite as big a biological trick as scientists had first thought, which may help doctors trying to regenerate human limbs. -
Gene variations hinder mental illness tests: study
1 Jul 2009 | 11:19 amLONDON (Reuters) - As many as 30,000 different gene variations may underlie schizophrenia and bipolar disease, meaning any kind of quick test to predict either disease is a long way off, scientists said on Wednesday.
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ScienceNOW
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Scientists Find Heart Stem Cells
Cells could eventually be used to regrow heart parts -
Secret of Scotland's Shrinking Sheep Solved
Climate change cited as credible culprit -
New Fossil Primate Challenges "Missing Link" Ida
Researchers propose that it was Asian, not European or African, primates that gave rise to monkeys, apes, and humans -
Finally, an Average Black Hole
Astronomers may have discovered a black hole that's neither small nor gigantic -
CIRM Takes a Hit, NASA Gets a Boost
Plus more from Science's policy blog, ScienceInsider
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Sciencetext Tips and Tricks
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Tidy Favorites
2 Jul 2009 | 5:00 amIf you like how Greasemonkey lets you manipulate, skin and mod web pages, then you’ll love what Tidy Favorites does. Not only is it a novel thumbnail-based approach to managing bookmarks, or favorites, it lets you snip pieces from websites and place them into a persistent frame in your browser so that you can mash together several different bits of different websites. It’s like an uber Google Bookmarks and iGoogle working together for any and all your favorite websites and no need to muck around with add-ons. But, enough from me, watch the video and see Tidy Favorites in action. -
What is rundll32.exe
30 Jun 2009 | 5:00 amIf you use a Windows machine, no doubt you’re familiar with the three-finger shuffle – control-alt-delete, invented funnily enough by another David Bradley. This no longer reboots your PC, but brings up Windows Task Manager (you can also use Ctrl-Shift-Esc to do the same). You’ve probably seen all kinds of entries in the processes list in Task Manager such as “svchost.exe”, “jusched.exe”, and “ctfmon.exe” and a few more familiar entries pertaining to the software you’re running and I’ve explained them elsewhere on this blog. -
Spring Clean Your PC
25 Jun 2009 | 5:00 amI’ve mentioned cleaning tools for Windows before, among them Crap Cleaner, more delicately known as CCleaner, which almost every time I run it (probably once a month) seems to find several hundred megabytes of rubbish and errant Windows Registry entries, which it cleans up automatically. SysCleanPro is another useful tool for getting rid of cobwebs and there are others that will empty your recycle bin, delete files in your temporary folders and clear out your browser cache. All worth running periodically to keep your PC in tip-top condition. Another cleaning tool I heard about years… -
Summer Successes
23 Jun 2009 | 5:00 amOccasionally…words fail me…it’s only very, very occasionally as anyone who invites me to dinner parties, the pub, meetings, any social event knows all too well to the detriment of their aural cavities. But, today, is one of those days, so instead of an essay here’s a list of the top ten summer successes as measured by visitors reaching the site from Sciencetext short URLs, which are used on social media sites, such as Twitter: Riding the Google Wave Shorten Your URLs Publish Your Blog on Kindle China Blocks Twitter Geek Chart Google Wave Singularity University… -
New in Firefox 3.5
19 Jun 2009 | 9:00 amMozilla Firefox version 3.5 will be a major new release (it’s due out at the end of June) with a stack of new features. I’ve just started beta testing the latest release candidate (3.5b4) and already noticing improved performance compared with version 3.1, although it’s still not as fast as Google Chrome according to independent reports. The trade-off there is that Chrome doesn’t yet support the various tools and addons I use, such as NoScript and various Greasemonkey scripts. Firefox 3.5 does seem to perform better than previous versions and didn’t take long to…
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FlowingData
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Who’s Going to Win Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest?
2 Jul 2009 | 12:22 amIt's July 4 this weekend. You know what that means, right? It's Independence Day, and really, there's no better way to celebrate than to stuff down as many hot dogs down your throat as you can in ten minutes. Or if that doesn't sound appetizing, you can just enjoy watching the annual Nathan's hot dog eating contest on Coney Island. Joey Chestnut won the hot dog crown for a second time last year. Will he win again or will Takeru Kobayashi take back the crown? Punch your ticket in the poll below. Take a look at the full version of the graphic above to make a fully educated decision. Who will… -
X-Men Universe Relationship Map
1 Jul 2009 | 12:15 amContrary to what a lot people might think they know from the movies, the X-Men universe stretches out quite a ways with lots of characters and lots of relationships. This super detailed relationship map for all X-Men characters from UncannyXmen shows just that. Connections are color-coded to show the type of relationship between a pair of characters. For example, green is a one-sided infatuation, pink is a flirtation by both parties, and a dashed line signifies one of the characters is from an alternative reality. Wolverine sure gets around. [via VizWorld] -
Infographic Provides a Twitter History Lesson
30 Jun 2009 | 12:14 amManolith, in collaboration with InfoShots, tells the story of Twitter. The graphic starts at Twitter's humble beginnings and ends at present day where you pretty much can't go a day without hearing about that little bird. I wonder what this Twitter tree will look like next year. [via Techcrunch] -
Workshop: Visualization on the Web – Join Me at VisWeek
29 Jun 2009 | 7:13 pmVisualization on the Web is growing, but a lot of the really good stuff is just sitting around on someone's computer. So to get a discussion going about how we can get more visualization out there - theory and application - Robert Kosara of Eager Eyes, Andrew Vande Moere from information aesthetics, and myself are heading up a workshop at VisWeek in October. It's in Atlantic City. We'll share some of our experiences, but mainly we want to know what's on your mind. Submit your one-page position statement and tell us about your experiences, propose discussion topics, or ask questions that… -
Review: RoamBi, Seeing Your Data on the iPhone
29 Jun 2009 | 12:37 amThis is a guest review by Peter Robinet of Bubble Foundry, a web design company that specializes in building websites for Web startups. What It Is RoamBi is a free data visualization application for the iPhone by MeLLmo. You download datasets to the app and it creates visualizations so you can drill down into the data. The app is pitched as a mobile business tool for viewing sales reports and the like, but the sample visualizations included with the app suggest another possibility: RoamBi could easily be a killer app for statistics-minded sports fans, such as sabermetrics devotees!
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ScienceDaily
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CPAP Treatment Linked To Lower Mortality In Stroke Patients With OSA
2 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pmStroke patients with obstructive sleep apnea who undergo treatment with continuous positive airway pressure following their stroke may substantially reduce their risk of death. -
Acid-reducing Medicines May Lead To Dependency
2 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pmTreatment with proton pump inhibitors for eight weeks induces acid-related symptoms like heartburn, acid regurgitation and dyspepsia once treatment is withdrawn in healthy individuals. Data suggests proton pump inhibitors can induce acid-related symptoms in healthy adults. -
Giant Moa Rebuilt Using Ancient DNA From Prehistoric Feathers
2 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pmScientists have performed the first DNA-based reconstruction of the giant extinct moa bird, using prehistoric feathers recovered from caves and rock shelters in New Zealand. -
QuikScat Finds Tempests Brewing In 'Ordinary' Storms
2 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pm"June is busting out all over," as the song says, and with it, U.S. residents along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts begin to gaze warily toward the ocean, aware that the hurricane season is revving up. In the decade since NASA's QuikScat satellite and its SeaWinds scatterometer launched in June 1999, the satellite has measured the wind speed and wind direction of these powerful storms, providing data that are increasingly used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Hurricane Center and other world forecasting agencies. The data help scientists detect these… -
Magmatic Plumbing Of A Large Permian Caldera Exposed To A Depth Of 25 Kilometers
2 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pmLarge volcanic calderas, aka supervolcanoes, are enormous craters tens of kilometers in diameter produced by giant, explosive eruptions that rank among the most violent geologic events. Geophysical studies of recently active calderas and investigations of their eruption products suggest that their magmatic systems are driven by intrusion of mantle-derived basalt in the deep crust, a process commonly referred to as magmatic underplating.
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Science News And Research
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Daily sex boosts male fertility
Fertility experts say that although frequent ejaculation decreases semen volume and sperm concentrations, it significantly increases sperm motility and reduces DNA damage... -
Laser-lens promises attosecond shutter-speeds
A virtual lens created by two counterpropagating laser beams could theoretically deliver incredibly fast shutter speeds, making the real-time observation of matter at the molecular level a real possibility... -
BPA exposure during pregnancy alters offspring's DNA
In animal studies, exposure to BPA (a common chemical found in many plastic household items) during pregnancy is known to cause fertility defects in the offspring, and now researchers have found out how those defects occur... -
Beauty in the eye of the beholder? Only for women
Hot or not? Men agree on the answer but women don't. So says a new study that found there is much more consensus among men about whom they find attractive than there is among women... -
Cost of genotyping plunges thanks to Sudoku logic
Sudoku, the math-based game that took the world by storm, may now be poised to revolutionize the fast-changing world of genome sequencing and the field of medical genetics...
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SCIENCENTRAL NEWS
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Hawaiian Heat
18 Jun 2009 | 1:10 pmWith climate change forecasts calling for tough times in tropical climates, scientists in America’s tropical paradise of Hawaii are carefully monitoring nature for signs of change, and citizen scientists are helping them find those signs in the ocean’s coral reefs. -
Street Corner Science with Stephen Benkovic
10 Jun 2009 | 11:22 amScienCentral is taking science back to the people with our second installment of "Street Corner Science," the radical yet-simple concept in which a film crew and a renowned scientist are plunked down amidst a busy city center, and an impromptu Q&A session with the public ensues. -
2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal Winner: Lotfi A. Zadeh
10 Jun 2009 | 8:35 amThe 2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering is presented to Lotfi Zadeh for his invention and development of the field of fuzzy logic, a mathematical system that captures aspects of the ambiguity of human language and thought, which has solved problems in areas such as artificial intelligence and the automated control of machines. -
Naps and Creativity
8 Jun 2009 | 2:03 pmTelling your boss you need a nap might not be the smartest thing to do at work, but scientific evidence is now on your side. As this ScienCentral News video explains, sleep researchers just released a new study that says naps over an hour long may boost creative problem solving. -
2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal Winner: Stephen Benkovic
4 Jun 2009 | 9:26 amThe 2009 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science is presented to Stephen Benkovic for his groundbreaking contributions to our mechanistic understanding of enzymes, and for helping to unravel the complexities of the enzymes involved in DNA replication. This ScienCentral Video Profile explains.
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The Why Files
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How a fly detects a poison
2 Jul 2009 | 2:44 pmAnimals spend a lot of energy avoiding toxic chemicals in their food. A new type of gene that does this in fruit flies reinforces the importance of reproduction in shaping evolution. -
Tenenbaum speaks to Grok Science
27 Jun 2009 | 10:22 amGrokkers turn out to have sense of humor! Conversation covers Rico the talking dog, glaciology as mock Hemingway, and a car-crash story regarding a four-way galactic collision. Get Grokked! -
Genetic tests go mainstream
25 Jun 2009 | 2:47 pmCompanies are marketing genetic tests direct to consumers. Some tests can be lifesavers. But many tests return confusing results, which even doctors have a hard time interpreting. -
Why do cats seem compelled to eat some plants, like my poor aloe, and ignore others?
15 Jun 2009 | 7:38 amCats may devour some plants but ignore others as a simple matter of taste, says Sandra Sawchuk, a clinical instructor at the School of Veterinary Medicine. “It’s each to his own. I like romaine lettuce over iceberg; cats can have their own desires.” Although cats are carnivores, they may have grown accustomed to eating plant [...] -
North Korea’s nukes
11 Jun 2009 | 10:54 amUnderground nuclear tests have been the biggest roadblock to a comprehensive test ban. How are these explosions detected, and how reliably?
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ScienceWeek
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[NEWS]Nuclear Physics: Maximum Number of Atomic Neutrons
Nuclear Physics: Maximum Number of Atomic Neutrons -
[NEWS]Science and Politics: Fishing for Certainty
Science and Politics: Fishing for Certainty -
[NEWS]SCHIP and Health Care Ideology
SCHIP and Health Care Ideology -
[NEWS]Cosmic Rays and Biodiversity
Cosmic Rays and Biodiversity -
[NEWS]Neuroscience: On the Amygdala
Neuroscience: On the Amygdala
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BBC News Player | Sci-Tech
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Wildlife threat at African reserve
1 Jul 2009 | 11:35 pmMuch of the wildlife in one of Africa's most important reserves is nearing extinction, according to a study of key animal species. -
Ariane launches giant satellite
1 Jul 2009 | 1:03 pmThe world's biggest commercial telecommunications satellite has been put into orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket. -
Grid 'can cope with variable winds'
1 Jul 2009 | 5:47 amThe National Grid can cope with the changing quantities of power generated by wind power without suffering power cuts or a meltdown, a study says. -
Dolphin 'superpod' spotted off Wales
1 Jul 2009 | 2:13 amA "superpod" of hundreds of dolphins has been captured on film off the coast of Pembrokeshire by conservationists. -
Tigers hosed down in heatwave
30 Jun 2009 | 2:04 pmTigers at the Isle of Wight zoo have been hosed down to help them keep cool as the south of the UK swelters.
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PHYSORG
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Mathematical Model Predicts Factors Driving Tumor Invasion
2 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pmTumors are complex collections of cells whose behavior has proven difficult to understand, let alone predict. As a result, oncologists are often surprised by how a particular patient responds to a given course of therapy. -
Doubts cast on credibility of some published clinical trials
2 Jul 2009 | 4:55 pmRandomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) are considered the 'gold standard' research method for assessing new medical treatments. But research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Trials shows that the design of a remarkable 93 percent of 2235 so-called RCTs published in some Chinese medical journals during 1994 to 2005 was flawed, casting doubt on the reliability of research that is likely to influence medical decision-makers. -
Poor health among indigenous peoples a question of cultural loss as well as poverty
2 Jul 2009 | 4:54 pmThe health problems of Indigenous peoples around the world are intimately tied to a number of unique factors, such as colonization, globalization, migration, and loss of land, language and culture. These factors remain even after the "typical" social problems facing the poor, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and low education levels are addressed, according to Dr. Malcolm King, lead author of a paper to be published tomorrow in the Lancet. -
Hepatitis B virus mutations may predict risk of liver cancer
2 Jul 2009 | 4:40 pmCertain mutations in the DNA of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) are associated with the development of liver cancer and may help predict which patients with HBV infections are at increased risk of the disease, according to a large meta-analysis in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online July 2. -
Plants' internal clock can improve climate-change models
2 Jul 2009 | 4:40 pmThe ability of plants to tell the time, a mechanism common to all living beings, enables them to survive, grow and reproduce. In a study published in the latest issue of the prestigious journal Ecology Letters, an international team has studied this circadian clock from a molecular viewpoint and has found an ecological implication: it makes climate change scenarios and CO2 level figures more accurate.
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Yahoo! News: Science News
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U.S. Society Ignoring Serious Boy Problems (LiveScience.com)
1 Jul 2009 | 8:00 pmLiveScience.com - Growing up is tough. But for boys, it may be even tougher. While both boys and girls face issues - in school and out - the problems affecting boys are serious and have not been properly addressed by policy makers, according to a new review article by psychologist Judith Kleinfeld. Among the results: high rates of functional illiteracy and a troublingly high suicide rate that's become even more pronounced in recent years compared to the rate among girls. ... -
2010 species pledge set to fail: conservationists (AFP)
1 Jul 2009 | 7:07 pmAFP - The world's paramount authority on species loss has warned that pledges to roll back the threat to biodiversity by 2010 were running into the sand. -
Idaho F&G plan to kill pelicans hits obstacles (AP)
1 Jul 2009 | 5:03 pmAP - Federal officials have told the Idaho fish and game officials that their plan to halve the number of pelicans nesting in southern and eastern Idaho by 2013 to boost fisheries is an "eradication program" that needs more work. -
Myanmar fossil may shed light on evolution (AP)
1 Jul 2009 | 5:02 pmAP - Fossils recently discovered in Myanmar could prove that the common ancestors of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from primates in Asia, rather than Africa, researchers contend in a study released Wednesday. -
Group: World failing to halt biodiversity decline (AP)
1 Jul 2009 | 5:02 pmAP - Governments are failing to stem a rapid decline in biodiversity that is now threatening extinction for almost half the world's coral reef species, a third of amphibians and a quarter of mammals, a leading environmental group warned Thursday.
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Scientific American
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DNA Sudoku
1 Jul 2009 | 3:30 pmA 2,000-year-old math theorem, along with Sudoku, may soon help researchers untangle DNA at blazing speeds. [More] -
Band of Bots Don't Play Musical Instruments--They Are the Instruments
1 Jul 2009 | 12:00 pmGuitarBot couldn't keep a tune. "It's too high at the top, and too low at the bottom," Michael Hearst complained as he hopped onto the platform, giving the tuning knob a hopeful quarter-turn. But when he climbed down again and hit a button on his keyboard, the mechanical bridge slid back up the track, thumbing a note before wailing off-pitch once again. [More] -
Astronomers Size Up a Candidate for Midsize Black Hole
1 Jul 2009 | 11:01 amBlack holes vary greatly in size, from relatively small ones several times the mass of the sun, which are born of collapsed stars, to supermassive lurkers like the one at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, with the mass of about four million suns. [More] -
Scientists Flesh Out Fossilized Tissues from Mummified Dinosaur
30 Jun 2009 | 5:01 pmEarlier this week scientists studying fossilized teeth from a hadrosaur revealed how the duck-billed dinosaur chewed plants for food. Now another team, analyzing what may be the most intact dinosaur mummy discovered yet, report fresh details about the skin of a hadrosaur nicknamed Dakota, which might have been bigger and moved more quickly than previously thought. [More] -
A Family Tree, a Rare Cancer, and a Hunt for its Cause
26 Jun 2009 | 5:00 amThree years ago, pathologist Ashley Hill flew to Minnesota to meet a family wracked by one of the world's rarest cancers. [More]
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Eurekalert
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Scientists 'rebuild' giant moa using ancient DNA
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmScientists have performed the first DNA-based reconstruction of the giant extinct moa bird, using prehistoric feathers recovered from caves and rock shelters in New Zealand. -
Perfect pitch study offers window into influences of nature and nurture
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmPractice, practice, practice might get you to Carnegie Hall, but for aspiring musicians, there's new evidence that genes may influence one's ability to get there, as well. -
New type of El Nino could mean more hurricanes make landfall
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmA new study, in the journal Science, suggests that the form of El Nino may be changing potentially causing not only a greater number of hurricanes than in average years, but also a greater chance of hurricanes making landfall. -
Learning from locusts
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmA similarity in brain disturbance between insects and people suffering from migraines, stroke and epilepsy points the way toward new drug therapies to address these conditions. -
Stanford bioethicist and colleagues call for federal regulation of genetic ancestry testing
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmThe lack of federal regulation in instances of DNA use will be addressed in the Policy Forum section in the July 3 issue of Science by Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Ph.D., of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, and colleagues from four other universities. The need for a clear set of rules governing genetic ancestry testing is becoming more urgent, Lee said, given the proliferation of private corporations that promise consumers insight into their genetic origins.
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Science Magazine
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[News of the Week] Carbon Trading: House Vote Seen as Big Step Toward Cooling the Greenhouse
Its praises have been sung as an energy security bill and a jobs bill. But the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed last Friday by the U.S. House of Representatives is in fact milestone greenhouse legislation.<br><br>Author: Richard A. Kerr -
[News of the Week] Pandemic Influenza: Ferrets Shed Light on New Virus's Severity and Spread
Two groups have infected ferrets with the new pandemic A(H1N1) influenza strain, and their papers, published online by Science this week, confirm that the new virus is a bit more pathogenic than seasonal influenza but nowhere near as dangerous as the 1918 pandemic virus or H5N1 avian influenza.Author: Martin Enserink -
[News of the Week] SBIR Program: Researchers Fight Against Bigger Slice to Small Business
A coalition of U.S. scientific societies and university organizations is urging Congress not to expand a $2.3 billion research program for small businesses. To succeed, however, the coalition must overcome one of the most influential interest groups in Washington and mend fences with legislators still smarting from a recent tweak to the program.<br><br>Author: Jeffrey Mervis -
[News of the Week] Budget Cuts: Proposal to Slash Salaries Riles California Researchers
Proposed salary cuts and/or furloughs for all faculty and staff members are causing consternation at the University of California, one of the nation's largest public universities, with approximately 170,000 employees.<br><br>Author: Greg Miller -
[News of the Week] ScienceNOW.org: From Science's Online Daily News Site
Highlights from Science's online daily news site, ScienceNOW, this week include a device that lets researchers record brain activity while homing pigeons fly, more evidence of liquid water on Saturn's moon Enceladus, faster evolution in the tropics, and the oldest musical instruments ever found.
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NOVA scienceNOW
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Cosmic Perspective: Carbon
29 Jun 2009 | 3:00 pmAs an astrophysicist, NOVA scienceNOW host Neil deGrasse Tyson has a unique view of the universe. Hear his “Cosmic Perspective” on the element carbon. Audio editing by David Levin. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers. Major funding for NOVA scienceNOW is provided by the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Additional funding is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This material is based… -
Pitch Perfect
19 Jun 2009 | 3:00 pmLearning to sing like the pros isn't something you can do overnight. Over the last decade, though, recording studios have been fudging things a bit with software called Auto-Tune. It lets engineers change the pitch of sour notes. But can it make even hopeless amateurs sound decent? In this podcast, we enlisted the help of a few brave souls on the NOVA staff to find out. Podcast produced by David Levin. Interviews by David Levin and Vin Liota. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for… -
A Life in Space
5 Jun 2009 | 3:00 pmFor a boy from Costa Rica, being an astronaut must have seemed like a pipe dream. But despite long odds, Franklin Chang-Diaz made the cut. In this podcast, he reflects on hurdles he's cleared on his path to space, and describes the sense of both danger and elation that comes with the job. Podcast produced by David Levin. Interview by Josh Seftel. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers. Major funding for NOVA scienceNOW is provided… -
Sexual Cannibalism
13 May 2009 | 1:00 pmIn this podcast, biologist Maydianne Andrade explains that sexual cannibalism-a gruesome mating behavior shown of Redback Spiders-is a prime example of how evolution works. Podcast produced by David Levin. Interview by Josh Seftel. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers. Major funding for NOVA scienceNOW is provided by the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Additional funding is provided by the… -
Global Warning
28 Apr 2009 | 2:00 pmIn this podcast, glaciologist Lonnie Thompson describes why global warming and melting glaciers could impact everything from drinking water supplies to the spread of infectious disease-and even political issues like refugees and terrorism. Podcast produced by David Levin. Interview by Dana Rae Warren. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers. Major funding for NOVA scienceNOW is provided by the National Science Foundation and the…
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Nerdy Science Blog
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Want to Run Faster? Take Good Oil
29 Jun 2009 | 7:03 amWant to run faster? Scientists from Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Austria, hold key to maximum running speed through diet, instead of improved training techniques or through technological assistance. The team found in previous study that mammal species with maximum running speed have high n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in their skeletal muscles. The team separated mice into two groups. One fed with sunflower oil (contained high n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids), and the other group fed with diet rich in linseed oil (contained high n3 fatty acids) for two weeks. Results showed… -
Electrical Derby
23 Jun 2009 | 4:51 pmI find this video “Electrical Derby” for the European Union is pretty weird and comedic but entertaining. The video teaches how electricity works by using roller derby. Below are some of the comments: The music is pretty catchy and ‘electrified’, but I don’t understand a word from the song. Is the lyrics related to the electric? Although the two fat men are kinda annoying, it is a good video for visual learning. Do you learn anything from this video? [hat tip: Mark Grande] -
John Hodgman: Barack Obama is the First Nerd President
20 Jun 2009 | 5:33 pmI just saw this video clip from Mashable featuring humorist John Hodgman giving a speech during the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner. John Hodgman analyze the difference between jocks, nerds, and geeks. Vulcan salute! -
Anatomy Nerd Yellow T-Shirt
8 Jun 2009 | 4:52 pmOnce a nerd, forever a nerd. Don’t be afraid of who you are, but proud of who you are. Nerds are the world trendsetter, the new cool. Grab one of these yellow Anatomy Nerd t-shirt and tells the world you are really good at human anatomy. -
Backfire of Bed Bugs’ Own Chemistry
6 Jun 2009 | 8:13 amBed bugs (Cimes lectularius) have caused so much troubles in many industries, such as agriculture, housing, travel, hospitality, etc. Although there are many methods and products available to get rid of the bugs, there are evidences showing bed bugs are becoming more resistance to insecticides, namely pyrethroids. National Bed Bug Summit was even held in April by Environmental Protection Agency to deal with problems cause by bed bugs. Desiccant dust is one of the oldest methods used to get rid of bed bugs, and it is still widely used now. Scientists from Ohio State University and…
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ScienceBlogs : Combined Feed
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Bullet Recall [Greg Laden's Blog]
2 Jul 2009 | 4:46 pmRead the comments on this post... -
The genetics of the descendants of the Garamantes [Gene Expression]
2 Jul 2009 | 4:12 pmFirst Genetic Insight into Libyan Tuaregs: A Maternal Perspective: The Tuaregs are a semi-nomadic pastoralist people of northwest Africa. Their origins are still a matter of debate due to the scarcity of genetic and historical data. Here we report the first data on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic characterization of a Tuareg sample from Fezzan (Libyan Sahara). A total of 129 individuals from two villages in the Acacus region were genetically analysed. Both the hypervariable regions and the coding region of mtDNA were investigated. Phylogeographic investigation was carried out in order… -
Rockfall "snuffs out" the Halema`uma`uma vent? [Eruptions]
2 Jul 2009 | 4:04 pmThe Halema`uma`uma Crater at Kilauea on June 29, 2009, prior to a rockfall on June 30th that has blocked the vent. Image courtesy of HVO. There is a bit of a buzz today about significant rockfalls that occurred in Halema`uma`uma Crater at Kilauea on June 30th. Some articles have suggested that the rockfall has "snuffed out" glowing vent in the Crater. Well, this is partially true. HVO is reporting that the glow that has been seen at Halema`uma`uma has been, in fact, gone since the rockfall. Here is the report of the event: A sequence of rockfalls, some quite large, within the Halema'uma'u… -
Update on "Hitler Kids" [Greg Laden's Blog]
2 Jul 2009 | 4:02 pmRemember the ice cream cake eating "Hitler kids"? In case you were wondering why you have not heard from them, it could be because the state has a gag order on the whole story. Here is a not very informative update: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy Read the comments on this post... -
The Struggle for Coexistence [The Primate Diaries]
2 Jul 2009 | 3:32 pmIndividuals, Systems and the Emergence of Cooperation in Bacterial Biofilms Join, or Die. Benjamin Franklin / Pennsylvania Gazette (via Wikimedia Commons) When the celebrated author and rabble-rouser Edward Abbey famously stated, "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell," he may not have realized just how right he was. While this intellectual founder of Earth First! was talking specifically about the self-destructive logic of despoiling the environment in his native Arizona for short term economic gain, it turns out his concern is shared at multiple levels of social…
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Bad Astronomy
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Voices from the Moon
2 Jul 2009 | 3:30 pmA lot of books are coming out right now to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. One of the best, called Voices from the Moon, is by my friends Andy Chaikin and Victoria Kohl. Andy is familiar to Apollonuts: he wrote A Man on the Moon, considered by many (including me) to be the bible of Apollo, and he knows all the Apollo astronauts and their stories. I have a copy of Voices, and it’s a GORGEOUS book, loaded with extremely high-quality images of the missions, punctuated with wonderful stories from the astronauts themselves (hence the title). The Hive Overmind has put up a… -
Astrology is Taurus feces
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 pmTonight on Showtime, Penn & Teller take on astrology! You can take a peek at the show online here (with the bad words edited out), or you can watch the show at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time. I happen to know that a certain Beloved Internet Personality who blogs about astronomy and Doctor Who is on the show briefly as well. Well, it’s probably a good episode anyway, so you should order Showtime and watch it, and buy the DVDs as well. Bonus ironic pun: the episode is directed by Star Price. Siriusly. So, if you are totally convinced that astrology actually works, despite an entire Universe… -
LRO First Light images of the Moon!
2 Jul 2009 | 11:13 am[Update: Ken Bowley on Facebook clued me in that the LRO camera has a page where you can see the raw images, and zoom in — WAY in — on the image strips. They have 73 cm resolution, folks. Yikes.] The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned its first images from the Moon! Woohoo! Check. It. Out! Whoaaaa. This image, taken in the Mare Nubium region of the Moon, shows a heavily cratered area. The scale here is amazing: the whole image is 1400 meters across, or just under a mile. That’s like looking out your airplane window… if you were over the frakking Moon! Even in… -
Online TAM registration closes tonight
2 Jul 2009 | 9:35 amIf you’re still sitting on the fence about going to The Amaz!ng Meeting — and it starts one week from right now — it’s time to jump off: online registration closes tonight at 17:00 Eastern time (21:00 GMT). After that the only way to register is at the door, and due to an increase in Nevada tax, we’re forced to raise rates somewhat for walk-ins. You can find the price breakdown on the page linked above. We’re in the final prep stages for the meeting, and it’s looking fantastic. I don’t know which part I’m most excited about, because… -
Binary planetary systems caught in the act of forming!
2 Jul 2009 | 6:00 amAstronomers have discovered a young binary system where both stars are surrounded by thick disks of material that are in the process of forming planets! And it’s a near thing, too — this system almost didn’t exist at all. First, the cool image: On the right is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the two stars (collectively called, weirdly, 253-1536). In the optical, the disk enveloping the star on the left (called 253-53 a, so I’ll just call it Star A) is obvious. It’s dark because it blocks most of the light from the star, which is deeply embedded in the disk and…
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Bitesize Bio
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10 Things You Must Do Before Starting a New Project
1 Jul 2009 | 9:08 pmRushing and overloading yourself in science is common, even normal. Surprisingly it is considered as an admirable aspect of “scientific flair” in some quarters. And the sad fact is that it is an ingrained part of the scientific landscape. But is this the best way to do things? Should you allow yourself to succumb and be swept along in this frenzy in order to demonstrate your “flair”? Should you rush into your science as fast as your feet (or your brain) can take you? I would strongly argue that you shouldn’t. And here’s why. Rushing means cutting corners. -
Gel Extraction: How to Avoid or Rescue a Bad 260/230 Ratio
30 Jun 2009 | 10:09 pmGel extraction — what could be easier? Now we have quick and easy gel extraction kits, we no longer need to use time consuming old fashioned methods like electro-elution or “freeze and squeeze”. Thank goodness. When Gel Extraction Goes Wrong But even the simplest of procedures can go wrong. Maybe you were distracted, confused or thought that gel extraction was so easy that you tried to multi-task one too many things alongside it. (We’ve been there!) However it happened, the good news is that if you make a mistake with these simple kits, it is still easy to fix. A… -
Book Review: The Emperor Of Scent
29 Jun 2009 | 10:31 pmGetting hooked on a non-fiction book isn’t something that happens often with me. Non-fiction plods and trudges. However, ‘The Emperor Of Scent‘ by Chandler Burr is breathtakingly unique. It gallops. It has all the elements of a quintessential page turner. And it’s about science too. It got me so electrified that I repeatedly found myself reading diagonally, reaching a point where I realised I’m not understanding anything because I’m going too fast, and taking a deep breath as I turned the pages back and re-read it. The book is about Luca Turin’s (a… -
NIH Requests Applications for $120 Million in Research Grants
28 Jun 2009 | 10:26 pmA heads-up for Bitesize Bio readers: The U.S. National Institutes of Health last week issued Requests for Applications (RFAs) for approximately $120 million in grants to aid research on alcoholism, cancer biomarkers, fertility, mentoring, and pathogens relevant to biodefense, among other areas. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) asks for $50-$55 million worth of plans for biomarker research and $25-$30 million for cancer intervention and surveillance modeling. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is asking for applications for $20 million to be available in FY… -
Career Advice for Eclectically Trained Scientists
26 Jun 2009 | 9:15 amVijay, a Bitesize Bio reader with an eclectic array of degrees and diplomas contacted us for advice on his career options: I have 3 diplomas in Fashion Designing, an undergraduate degree in Medicine and a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing….I need some career advice… This situation will be familiar to many of our readers. How many of us truly knew what we wanted to do when we were 17 or 18 and heading to college? We may have had an idea….but we didn’t really understand what those careers might entail. Fast forward 8 years and you are well-educated and you…
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Nature Network Blog Posts
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CATCH-PATH and a book on lice (from Trisha Saha's blog)
2 Jul 2009 | 2:50 pmToday I visited the School of Public Health (SPH) at Michigan to discuss my projects for the summer. :) The last time I worked there, I was in a sketchy hallway on top of a tanning salon, but then this was built shortly after: It’s lovely inside. I have never met an unfriendly person at SPH. As soon as you walk in, it’s all smiles and waves (not in a creepy way). The “save the world” energy is awesome. In a basic science research building, you don’t automatically sense that…it’s intense and most people keep to themselves. You occasionally might say hi… -
The London Greenhouse (from Chloé Sharrocks' blog)
2 Jul 2009 | 9:05 amMention greenery in central London and you’re probably envisaging Hyde Park or Hampstead Heath. But now scientists at Imperial College have created a futuristic £1 million rooftop ‘greenhouse’ on the top of a five-storey building on their South Kensington Campus. The new GroDome, as it’s affectionately known, will allow scientists to grow large quantities of plants for a wide range of experiments. The greenhouse may hold the key to the future developments of biofuels or sequencing the tomato genome. Unripe Cherry Tomatoes. Image Courtesy of Wikipedia. With over 200… -
Nature Network London now on Twitter (from Matt Brown's blog)
2 Jul 2009 | 3:14 amWe’ve now got ourselves a Twitter feed. Finally. We’ll be tweeting daily on all things to do with science in London, from news and events to useful links and historical tidbits. You can also follow the New York feed here and Boston here. Tweet tweet. -
The Primate Diaries is Moving to Science Blogs (from Eric Michael Johnson's blog)
1 Jul 2009 | 6:20 pmWith the birth of my son I have decided that it’s necessary to work closer to home. I wanted to thank everyone here at Nature Network for welcoming me into the fold. I enjoyed my time here immensely and made connections with people that I hope to maintain for many years to come. I can assure you that I will continue to be a regular part of the community. I look forward to continuing our discussions both on the comments pages here and at my new home: http://scienceblogs.com/primatediaries. To update your RSS feed please click here. Thank you again and I wish you all the very best! -
Event: Isaac Newton and the Counterfeiter (from Joanna Scott's blog)
1 Jul 2009 | 5:05 pmThe next event in our regular series of events on Tuesdays in Second Life will be a presentation and discussion with Professor Thomas Levenson, Professor of Science Writing at MIT. In 1695, Isaac Newton—already renowned as the greatest mind of his age—made a surprising career change. He left quiet Cambridge, where he had lived for thirty years and made his earth-shattering discoveries, and moved to London to take up the post of Warden of His Majesty’s Mint. Newton was preceded to the city by a genius of another kind, the budding criminal William Chaloner. Thanks to his preternatural…
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ScienceAlert - Latest Stories
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Ancient child deaths uncovered
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amArchaeologists have excavated burial sites that suggest child mortality in the ancient world was treated as common-place. -
Vegan bones a bit less dense
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amA study has found that vegans and meat-eaters are about five per cent different in their bone density – though this may not be a problem. -
Socks over shoes grip better
2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amA recent study found that wearing socks over shoes can prevent falls on icy paths, and also cause short periods of embarrassment. -
Feature: Antimatter Matters
2 Jul 2009 | 12:34 amDr James Sullivan is heading a team exploring the potential of the Australian Positron Beam Line Facility. -
Better diet helps diabetes
1 Jul 2009 | 1:00 amA recent study found that changing diet can help people with Type 2 diabetes avoid illness, even if they’re taking medication already.
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PHD Comics
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07/01/09 PHD comic: 'I'm sure of it'
2 Jul 2009 | 3:10 pmPiled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "I'm sure of it" - originally published 7/1/2009 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE! -
06/29/09 PHD comic: 'Film Crew, Epilogue'
30 Jun 2009 | 1:03 amPiled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Film Crew, Epilogue" - originally published 6/29/2009 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE! -
06/28/09 Cecilia's Blog: 'Strange symmetry in Star Trek movies'
28 Jun 2009 | 9:07 amI loved the new Star Trek movie so much I watched it twice the first weekend it was out. The new movie also made me curious about the old Star Trek movies, which I watched so long ago that I'd forgotten what they were about. I've watched I through IV and I think I'll stop there. The odd thing I noticed was that in Star Trek I, a character was sort of left behind at the end, and in Star Trek IV, a character was picked up by the crew and brought along with them. It turns out that the actor who played the character left behind in the first movie played the dad in Seventh Heaven (not that I… -
06/26/09 PHD comic: 'Film Crew, pt. 6'
12 Jun 2009 | 3:18 amPiled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Film Crew, pt. 6" - originally published 6/26/2009 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE! -
06/24/09 PHD comic: 'Film Crew, pt. 5'
12 Jun 2009 | 3:17 amPiled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Film Crew, pt. 5" - originally published 6/24/2009 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!
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Brain Waves
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Publishers Weekly Review of The Neuro Revolution - "Absorbing"
1 Jul 2009 | 1:15 pmThe Neuro Revolution: How Brain Science is Changing Our World Zack Lynch with Byron Laursen. St. Martin’s, $25.95 (256p) ISBN 9780312378622 Neuroscience entrepreneur Lynch, founder of a global trade association and a market research firm, is a futurologist with his feet on the ground. After an eight-year struggle to diagnose a painful back injury, Lynch's condition was pinpointed by a full-body MRI scan; the experience convinced him that emerging tools will improve our “control over the mental environment” in the same way we've managed the physical environment. Examining emerging tech,… -
The Debate: Better Living through Chemistry?
29 Jun 2009 | 12:13 pmHere is the 45 minute follow up debate. Poor title, we should have discussed neurodevices in depth but there only so much time and bandwidth. -
The Neuro Revolution Interview on The Agenda
29 Jun 2009 | 12:08 pmEnjoy this 15 minute interview! -
Future of Neurotech Innovation: Novel Neuromodulation Platforms
18 Jun 2009 | 6:05 amAdaptation of pacemaker technology has led to major advances in neurodevice development, allowing for stimulation of discrete brain areas and nerves for the treatment of Parkinson’s, essential tremor, epilepsy, and even obsessive–compulsive disorder. Novel device platforms for neuromodulation will allow for less invasive and more responsive therapies in the future. Optogenetics, for example, is an emerging field combining optics and genetics to probe neural circuits on the millisecond time scale. In early development, delivery of genes tied to cell-specific promoters has been used to make… -
The Neuro Revolution on The Agenda
14 Jun 2009 | 2:14 pmIf you are in Canada tomorrow evening, watch me on The Agenda at 8pm with Steve Paikin where I'll be talking about my forthcoming book, The Neuro Revolution and neuroenhancement. Update: Taping still happening today, but Iran is taking center stage tonight, so will be aired at later date. Will update then.
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Physics Today
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Laszlo Tisza
1 Jul 2009 | 6:00 am -
Clarifications on exoplanets
1 Jul 2009 | 6:00 am -
Population genetics and range expansions
1 Jul 2009 | 6:00 amOn a molecular level and at the frontiers of expanding habitats, large stochastic fluctuations can obscure signals of Darwinian evolution -
Reviewer dislikes Hoax, perhaps intensely
1 Jul 2009 | 6:00 am -
The dichotomous history of diffusion
1 Jul 2009 | 6:00 amNearly a century after the equations of physical diffusion and stochastic diffusion were formulated, Albert Einstein united the observable and the abstract to establish a molecular–kinetic theory of heat
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Physics Today Newspicks
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Secrets hidden in the Earth's oldest crusts
2 Jul 2009 | 6:35 amNature: Cratons are the oldest, most stable parts of Earth's crust, and as such hold clues to Earth's early evolution. Dewashish Upadhyay, a geochemist now at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, analyzed the make-up of isotopes in rocks from India's Bastar craton and found that some of the rocks carry the signature of a differentiation event—the separation of materials with different geochemical properties. This event must have taken place during the first 400 million years of Earth's history, possibly when a magma "ocean" covering the planet solidified. Related Link 142Nd… -
Iron nuclei, not protons, appear to be the most energetic cosmic rays
2 Jul 2009 | 6:29 amScience News: Scientists have generally assumed that the most energetic cosmic rays are primarily protons. That’s true even though heavier nuclei such as iron are more easily accelerated to high energies because of their greater electric charge. Heavy nuclei, however, are also more fragile and the extraordinarily violent processes that rev them up to enormous energies can also cause these nuclei to fragment. “Ask anybody what are the highest-energy [cosmic ray] particles, and they’d say ‘protons,’ ” says physics Nobel laureate James W. Cronin of the University of Chicago. But, as… -
Shifting nanoparticles cause creep
2 Jul 2009 | 6:26 amScience News: Concrete creeps. And now scientists think they know why. New measurements suggest that the rearrangement of nano-sized concrete particles is responsible for the way buildings, bridges, and other load-bearing concrete structures deform over time, a process technically known as “creep.” The new insight could allow engineers to make stronger and longer-lasting concrete, researchers report in a study to be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Related Link Nanogranular origin of concrete creep -
The weirdest dwarf planet in the solar system?
2 Jul 2009 | 6:25 amSPACE.com: The dwarf planets and other objects that litter the Kuiper belt in the far reaches of our solar system are a strange bunch, but astronomers have found what they think might be the weirdest one. Haumea looks and spins approximately like the image above (Photo credit: Caltech) Discovered on Dec. 28, 2004 (cataloged as 2003 EL61 and nicknamed "Santa" for a time), the minor planet now known as the dwarf planet Haumea, to honor its Hawaiian discovery, is as big across as Pluto and one-third of its mass, but shaped something "like a big squashed cigar," said one of the astronomers who… -
Reviewing science in the movies
1 Jul 2009 | 7:07 amNPR: From sci-fi to documentaries, good science films tell the human story behind scientific ideas. Which films get the science right, and which don't? Physicist and movie critic Sidney Perkowitz runs through some of this summer's top science flicks.
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Physics Today We Hear That
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Queen's birthday honors and awards include scientists
16 Jun 2009 | 11:33 amThe Queen's honors were announced on 13 June, 2009. Among the awardees were the following scientists. Commander (CBE) Peter Saraga, OBE. Vice‑president, Royal Academy of Engineering and lately president, Institute of Physics. For services to science and to engineering. (London, SE11) Order of the British Empire (OBE) Professor Helen Gleeson. Head of School for Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester. For services to science. (Derbyshire) Professor Mitchell Peter Grant. Regius Professor of Engineering and Electronics, University of Edinburgh. For services to science. Professor… -
FPN09-28 Fusion program notes - Abdou elected head of new university Energy Council
16 Jun 2009 | 11:24 amMohamed Abdou, Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA, has been elected the first President of the newly formed Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders (CEREL), based in Washington, DC. The Council was formed by the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). The NCSE says the CEREL is "the first multidisciplinary membership organaization made up of heads of academic energy research and education centers. Abdou is Director of the Center for Energy Science and Technology Advanced Research (CESTAR) at UCLA and is also a member of Fusion Power… -
Harold L. Flescher, longtime IEEE volunteer, to receive 2009 IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award
16 Jun 2009 | 11:17 amPISCATAWAY, N.J. (16 June 2009) - Harold L. Flescher, a dedicated volunteer with degrees in nuclear physics and a good understanding of business and financial issues who has served in IEEE Technical Societies, boards and committees for over 40 years, is being honored by IEEE with the 2009 IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award. IEEE is the world's leading technical professional association. The award, sponsored by the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB), recognizes Flescher for strong and effective leadership in the major reform of the financial structures of the Technical Activities Board and… -
Northrop Grumman Foundation accepting applications for the 2009 Weightless Flights of Discovery Program
15 Jun 2009 | 10:53 amLOS ANGELES —June 12, 2009— The Northrop Grumman Foundation is accepting teacher applications for the 2009 Weightless Flights of Discovery. This annual professional development program allows teachers to prepare for and participate in micro- and zero-gravity flights to test Newton's Laws of Motion with the purpose of taking the experience back into their classrooms to energize their students in science and math subjects during the formative middle-school years. Middle-school math and science teachers are welcome to seek additional information and apply for the program by visiting… -
NRC issues report on FY 2008 abnormal occurrences
11 Jun 2009 | 8:05 amDuring Fiscal Year 2008, ten events that occurred at facilities licensed or otherwise regulated by the NRC and/or Agreement States were determined to be AOs. Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-438) defines an abnormal occurrence (AO) as an unscheduled incident or event which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) determines to be significant from the standpoint of public health or safety. The Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-68) requires that AOs be reported to Congress annually. The report describes five events at…
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HowStuffWorks: Science Daily RSS Feed
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How Natural Burial Works
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 amA lot of science goes on that we never know about, but sometimes an experiment comes along that makes us rethink our ideas about the world. -
Name the Price: Space Exploration
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 amAshes to ashes, dust to dust -- unless of course you've been embalmed, buried in a steel and hardwood coffin and interred in a concrete vault. For some people, the luxurious excess that accompanies traditional burial is no longer appealing. -
Why do pineapple enzymes tenderize steak -- and your tongue?
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 amSome cooks like to pound their steak with a mallet. Other adventurous souls have tenderized meat with explosives. Why does a pineapple work just as well? -
What's it like in the eye of a tornado?
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 amA tornado can turn a house into toothpicks, but when you think about it, it's really just a funnel of air. What's it like on the inside? -
Who Said It: Einstein or Hawking?
2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 amCan you guess which brilliant physicist said what brilliant quote?
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FT.com - Science & Environment
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Online piracy
1 Jul 2009 | 9:20 amStrike the Jolly Roger, the scallywags have deserted The Pirate Bay with a $7.8m sale to Global Gaming Factory, a Swedish software maker -
Science briefing: Alcohol takes toll on Russia
25 Jun 2009 | 6:24 pmA study that analysed 60,000 deaths in three typical Russian cities showed that more than half of all deaths among those aged 15 to 54 between 1990 and 2001 were due to excessive drinking -
New cancer treatment shows 'great promise'
24 Jun 2009 | 10:01 amA new way of treating cancer has shown "great promise" in its first clinical trial at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London -
Science briefing: Light shed on sun's stillness
18 Jun 2009 | 6:28 pmThe US National Solar Observatory has found out why sunspots, flares and violent solar storms have been missing for much longer than is usual during the minimum period of the 11-year solar cycle -
Jetion dismisses four of its top staff
17 Jun 2009 | 10:27 amChief executive and senior managers are fired following allegations that they operate a rival company which is partly owned by their relatives
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NASA Earth Observatory
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Himalayan Topography
2 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmThe towering peaks of the Himalaya Mountains provide an illustration of a new satellite-derived topographic model. -
Atlantic Ocean Temperatures at End of June 2009
1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pmThis image of ocean temperatures on June 30, 2009, shows why storms that form in the early part of the Atlantic hurricane season tend to happen in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. -
Dust Plumes off the West Coast of Africa
1 Jul 2009 | 12:19 pmThis true-color image from July 1, 2009, shows a series of giant dust plumes west of Mauritania. The smallest and most concentrated plume appears east of Cape Verde. -
Dust Storm over the Red Sea
30 Jun 2009 | 1:33 pmThis true-color image shows dust from Sudan forming a clockwise arc over the Red Sea, barely missing the Saudi Arabian coast, on June 30, 2009. -
Dust Storm over the Aral Sea
30 Jun 2009 | 12:08 pmThis true-color image shows a dust storm blowing over the desiccated Southern Aral Sea in late June 2009. Dust blows over southern Kazakhstan and across Uzbekistan.
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News and Features - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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NASA Phoenix Results Point to Martian Climate Cycles
2 Jul 2009 | 11:07 am -
Free Spirit: Rock Under the Belly
1 Jul 2009 | 12:07 pmEngineers placed a rock underneath the test rover at JPL on July 1, 2009, to more closely simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars. -
Earthquakes, From Above and Below: Live Chat
1 Jul 2009 | 12:07 pmEarthquakes: they're among the most frightening and deadly of all natural disasters. -
Free Spirit: Test Rover Rolls In
30 Jun 2009 | 12:06 pm -
Ulysses Spacecraft Ends Historic Mission of Discovery
30 Jun 2009 | 12:06 pmUlysses, a joint NASA and European Space Agency mission, officially ceased operations today, after receiving commands from ground controllers to do so.
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SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
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Seed's Daily Zeitgeist
2 Jul 2009 | 12:20 pmSeed's Daily Zeitgeist Animal research facilities must disclose more (source: New York Times) Animal research facilities will be required to disclose more information online about their experiments under a court settlement signed by the Humane Society of the United States and the Agriculture Department. Eco-friendly fireworks offer safer pyrotechnics (source: Discovery) Scientists are working to develop a new generation of “eco-friendly” fireworks that produce less smoke and emit fewer toxic chemicals that end up in soil and groundwater. New class of black holes discovered… -
The Lesser Evil: Nuclear or Coal?
2 Jul 2009 | 4:39 amShould we depend on coal or nuclear? Five experts discuss how clean coal works, how dangerous nuclear waste really is, and whether the root of the problem is money. -
Seed's Daily Zeitgeist
1 Jul 2009 | 11:02 amSeed's Daily Zeitgeist Most complete Earth map published (source: BBC) The data, comprising of 1.3 million images and covering 99% of the Earth’s surface, will be available as a free download. G8: Canada worst, Germany best on climate change (source: Grist) At the annual G8 summit, Canada comes in last place on climate change, right behind the United States. NASA sports drink gives everyone the “right stuff” (source: Space.com) A sports drink developed by NASA to restore hydration and prevent fluid loss for astronauts on space missions is now on the market for consumers as… -
How to Build a Better Tree of Life
1 Jul 2009 | 4:00 amAn unconventional approach to analyzing molecular sequences allows researchers to construct larger evolutionary trees. -
Books to Read Now
30 Jun 2009 | 4:35 amJuly releases on how to join the commercial space race, a brief history of futurism, the inner world of mathematicians, and more.
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HowStuffWorks Daily Feed
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10 Ways to Protect Your Joints
2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amIf you still want to be spry after a few decades of birthdays have passed, then sit up straight (literally) and pay attention. We've got 10 tips to keep you in action into your sunset years. -
45 Common Foods and the Calories They Contain
2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amLosing weight basically comes down to using more calories than you consume. Learn about the number of calories in 45 common foods in this article, including apples, carrots, and ice cream. -
12 New Technologies in the 1980s
2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amIf you lived through the 1980s, then you know it was an amazing decade. It seemed like every month some cool new technology came onto the market. See the most popular consumer products that made their mark. -
Top 5 Desperate Survival Dinner Videos
2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amIf you're in the wilderness, you can't afford to be picky about your food. Could you eat a bug? Or worse? See some gross-but-true videos showing how survival experts make the best of bad supper situations. -
How the Hyanide Works
2 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amWouldn't it be great if one vehicle could handle snow, mud and regular road conditions without even having to change tires? Enter the Hyanide.
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Scienceray
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Five Small Creatures to Avoid If Pain is Not Your Thing
28 Jun 2009 | 12:46 amCriteria for this Disparate Collection There many ways to create sub-sets of creatures, and this grouping was inspired by an incident in the Florida Keys where I was introduced to one of these creatures the hard way. I was a college kid on spring break, and in all the years hence I have never experienced that level of pain. Here are the criteria I settled on: 1) the creature’s interaction with a human must be unbearably painful, but rarely if ever deadly; 2) the animal does not prey on humans. The Giant Centipede Like all centipedes, it favors warm, wet places. This arachnid is red to… -
10 Amazing Cloud Shapes
23 Jun 2009 | 5:34 amIt was William Wordsworth who penned the immortal lines “I wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o’er vales and hills” in his timeless poem – The Daffodils. Personally, if I was going to personify clouds, I wouldn’t describe them as lonely…I see them more as mischievous, and every now and again, someone with the foresight to carry a camera, catches them in the act of mimicking what they see below them….before they re-disperse into in-coherent innocence. Outline of the UK As a resident of the United Kingdom, I was particularly impressed to find… -
The Incredible Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge Under Construction
22 Jun 2009 | 11:05 pmThe people of Arizona and Nevada are patient folk. Since 1935 they have seen their local roads slowly but surely become more and more congested, most certainly at one particular point. The Hoover Dam. Since its inception it has been an important connection between the two states in terms of commerce and simply for the making the journey between the two considerably quicker. Let’s start with a money shot - even though you ain’t seen nothing yet. Image Credit A 2008 shots gives the imagination something to work on. As the Hoover Dam became more and more… -
Rare Scorpion Colony Inhabits England
22 Jun 2009 | 8:01 amThere are more than 2000 known species of scorpion and these are found in many parts of the world. They are more common in the southern hemisphere except in New Zealand and Antarctica. Scorpions are usually associated with hot desert lands but they are also found in less warm, wet regions and the furthest point north that they have been discovered is on the Isle of Sheppey, in Sheerness, Kent, England. There is a small number of the euscorpius flavicaudus variety which is relatively harmless and rarely uses its stinger. Its poison is very weak and a sting from one of these is no… -
Precious Drops of Dew
22 Jun 2009 | 3:08 amAn Israeli-based company has successfully developed a technology that extracts water from the air’s humidity. The company offers an alternative solution and water source in a country facing increasing water shortages. The technology was born from the desire to provide water to populations worldwide that suffer from insufficient water supply. EWA, (Extraction of Water from Air), located in Beersheba, Israel, employs a three step process to produce its clean water: Firstly, the water is absorbed via an exothermic process (heat-based); secondly, the water is held in a…
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Brain And Consciousness Research
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Aerobic activity may keep the brain young
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amIn a UNC study, to be published July 9 in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, physically active elderly people showed healthier cerebral blood vessels than those who are not active. -
Brain section multitasks, handling phonetics and decision-making
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amScientists from Brown University and the University of Cincinnati found that a portion of the brain that handles decision-making also helps decipher different sounds. Details are in the July issue of the journal Psychological Science. -
Site for alcohol's action in the brain discovered
1 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amAlcohol's inebriating effects are familiar to everyone. But the molecular details of alcohol's impact on brain activity remain a mystery. A new study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies brings us closer to understanding how alcohol alters the way brain cells work. -
Does quantum mechanics show a connection between the human mind and the cosmos?
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am'Quantum Gods' analyzes purported link between physics and cosmic consciousness -
Brain plasticity: Changes and resets in homeostasis
29 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amIn an article published in the June 25 edition of the journal Neuron, researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, have found that synaptic plasticity, long implicated as a device for "change" in the brain, may also be essential for stability.
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ZME Science
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Half of ALL americans use vibrators
29 Jun 2009 | 1:01 pmLadies and gents (really, stay away from this one kids; trust me, save whatever is left of your innocence), I’ve got to admit this: I thought I forgot how to read. I read the study about 7-8 times, believing it was about half of all women. No, fail. It includes men. After the awe faded off, it made a bit of sense: the study/survey was funded by Church and Dwight Co. Inc. Don’t know who they are? Well, then you probably don’t use Trojan brand sexual products. Of course, despite the fact that more than half of all women (study takes ages 18-60) in the US used one, the… -
Haiti needs water
28 Jun 2009 | 11:37 pmHaiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with it’s dazzling 70% unemployment rate and more than 3 quarters of the people living in extreme poverty. To top it off, water, what you need the most for survival, is polluted. The World Bank pretty much summed it up in a few words: Haiti has the worst water situation in all the world. Due to the lack of a sewage sanitation system, virtually every water source has been contaminated with human waste. More than half of all the deaths in Haiti are caused by polluted water, and deadly diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and chronic… -
Dramatic fireball flies above Arizona
28 Jun 2009 | 5:24 amI’m really sorry I didn’t find out about this earlier, but better late than never. So, on June 23, several observers from Tucson, Arizona reported they noticed a bright fireball on the sky. As it turns out, it was rock from outer space that broke apart and took a dive in our planet’s atmosphere, a ’shooting star’, and a pretty big one too. Events such as these one are not really uncommon, but in the vast majority of the cases, they take place above the ocean, so it’s pretty hard to see one of them. Observers compared it to a famous local event, the… -
Girl that doesn’t age baffles scientists: a 16 year old is an infant
24 Jun 2009 | 7:18 amPhysiologically speaking, Brooke Greenberg is an infant with the mind of toddler. Only thing is that she turned 16 just this Janary. It’s hard to estimate the parents opinion, especially as I wasn’t able to find almost any constructive data. “Why doesn’t she age?” Howard Greenberg, 52, asked of his daughter. “Is she the fountain of youth?” The same question (among many others) has been asked by scientists, but no answer has been found until now. What they do know is that according to their knowledge, her case is unique, and the same opinion is shared… -
Take your canvas bags - viral green
17 Jun 2009 | 6:53 amAs you may or may not know, I sometimes also write music stuff here. While I was looking around for something, I stumbled upon this particular video, by music and comedy genius Tim Minchin. The message is pretty obvious, and it’s really great to see talented people taking interest in the environment and doing something to help out. Old video I know, but better late than never Related posts Wrongly made, massive mangrove restoration backfires (1) Turning waste material into ethanol (0) The price of oil without water (1) Sharks in peril: the world’s fiercest predators cornered,…
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Popular Science - SciTech
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How to Lose Traffic and Alienate People: The Revenge!
2 Jul 2009 | 11:08 amWelcome to another installment of The Grouse's semi-annual lambasting of poor practices on the Web. When I compiled my first list of all things online and terrible six months ago, I thought I'd been fairly comprehensive. CAPTCHAs, tooltip ads, bottomless dropdown menus and audio ads were among the archaic and ill-conceived online "experiences" thrown on the fire. But just six months later, I find myself with a host of new grievances to air. read more -
Speech Recognition iPhone App Translates Arabic On the Fly
2 Jul 2009 | 10:19 amSpeech technology is advancing quickly; even smartphones offer apps that let you speak commands and perform voice-activated searches. Now, a new app for iPhone and Blackberry can convert spoken Arabic into spoken English (and vice versa). read more -
USB 3.0: A Primer
2 Jul 2009 | 5:11 amThat Universal Serial Bus port in your computer is about to get an upgrade. You know, the one where you plug in all your external hard drives, digital cameras, MP3 players, thumb drives, and USB heated-slippers? If you bought your computer any time after the year 2000, it probably came equipped with a USB 2.0 port. However, later this year computers will start shipping that include USB 3.0 ports, which can transmit data up to ten times as fast. Here's what to expect. read more -
Win Jonathan Coulton's New DVD/CD Set!
1 Jul 2009 | 11:13 amJonathan Coulton, PopSci's contributing troubadour and longtime friend, has a new DVD/CD set out titled "Best. Concert. Ever." Leave a question or comment below for a chance to win the goods. We'll announce our ten lucky winners on July 17th. Good luck! read more -
Spanish Scientists Develop Human Echolocation
30 Jun 2009 | 2:58 pmWhen navigating at night, around dark caves, and through murky waters, bats, dolphins, and whales use clicks and whistles to create a sonic picture of their environment. This ability to see with sound is called echolocation, and some Spanish scientists think they've found a way to systematically teach it to the blind. Writing in the journal Acta Acustica, the researchers identified a set of sounds that could be used by humans, and codified the training regime needed to let blind people visualize their environment through sound. read more
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Science & Technology Videos
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Nokia Phones - 24 ad
1 Jul 2009 | 6:30 amhttp://www.nsearch.com/?k=Nokia+PhonesAuthor: nsearchKeywords: nokia cellphone cell mobile phone electonic devices gadgets tech technology battery charger Added: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:30:22 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com -
Nokia Phones - 5300 Ad
1 Jul 2009 | 5:54 amhttp://www.nsearch.com/?k=Nokia+PhonesAuthor: nsearchKeywords: nokia cellphone cell mobile phone electonic devices gadgets tech technology battery charger Added: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:54:10 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com -
Nokia Phones - 6110 Ad
1 Jul 2009 | 5:22 amhttp://www.nsearch.com/?k=Nokia+PhonesAuthor: nsearchKeywords: nokia cellphone cell mobile phone electonic devices gadgets tech technology battery charger Added: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:22:46 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com -
eVENALICIUM Recommend Traffic Secrets 2.0 from John Reece
1 Jul 2009 | 5:18 amhttp://evenalicium.com/TrafficSecrets2.php Traffic Secrets 2.0 is the ground-breaking course from John Reese is a comprehensive education about how to get traffic to your website.Author: eVENALICIUMKeywords: Traffic Secrets 2.0 John Reece increase traffic website website promotion Added: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:18:59 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com -
ZOLL Child Pads
1 Jul 2009 | 5:11 amhttp://www.americanmedsupply.com/products/zoll/pedi_padz.html Pedi-Padz II Pediatric Multi-Function Electrodes.Author: amsvideo1Keywords: zoll pedi padz Added: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:11:49 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com
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BEYONDBones
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Book List: Warfare and Soldiers
1 Jul 2009 | 2:40 pmHMNS is currently hosting three special exhibitions, two of which are Genghis Khan and Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor, so the topic for this month’s booklist is soldiers and warfare. Jean Fritz, author of Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold, has written numerous books about American history and explains her work: “My approach is that of a reporter, trying for a scoop, looking for clues, connecting facts, digging under the surface.” Because of this, her books bring history alive as she helps students understand the personalities and motivations… -
100 Years - 100 Objects: Phosphophyllite
30 Jun 2009 | 1:18 pmThe Houston Museum of Natural Science was founded in 1909 - meaning that the curators of the Houston Museum of Natural Science have been collecting and preserving natural and cultural treasures for a hundred years now. For this yearlong series, our current curators have chosen one hundred exceptional objects from the Museum’s immense storehouse of specimens and artifacts—one for each year of our history. Check back here frequently to learn more about this diverse selection of behind-the-scenes curiosities—we will post the image and description of a new object every few days.that we’ll… -
June Flickr Photo of the Month: Bananagrams
29 Jun 2009 | 2:47 pmThis month’s featured photographer is Sulla55. On Valentine’s weekend we had several of our photographer friends from Flickr come to the museum to participate in Wikipedia Loves Art, a contest aimed at illustrating Wikipedia articles. We had over 40 photographers arrive and split into teams to see who could get the most and best shots of our artifacts. Sulla55 created this shot to depict the event. Here’s what Sulla55 had to say about the image. I created this shot in honor of the ‘Wikipedia Loves Art’ event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on February… -
Where have all the sunspots gone?
26 Jun 2009 | 2:48 pmWe are now just past the summer solstice, which occurred at 12:45am CDT on June 21. Anyone willing to brave the almost 100 degree heat can go out to our sundial and project a real image of the Sun - which would reveal if any sunspots are present. Lately, however, this activity has been slightly less exciting because in the past three years, the Sun has been largely without sunspots. photo credit: Image Editor Sunspots are slightly cooler regions on the photosphere (the Sun’s surface). Most of the Sun is at about 10,000o Fahrenheit, while sunspots are only about 6,000oF. To…
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HarvardScience
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Human cardiac master stem cells identified
1 Jul 2009 | 9:59 amHarvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have identified the earliest master human heart stem cell from human embryonic stem cells - ISL1+ progenitors - that give rise to a family of cells that form the essential portions of the human heart.read more -
Spinal fusion protein associated with complications, higher costs
30 Jun 2009 | 10:55 amIn the United States, back pain continues to be a leading cause of disability and one of the most common reasons to see a physician for evaluation. Among various treatment options is spinal fusion surgery, which may use a biological agent known as bone-morphogenetic protein (BMP). read more -
Low blood sugar in hospital linked to higher death risk
29 Jun 2009 | 3:58 amHarvard researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) found that diabetics hospitalized for noncritical illnesses who develop hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) during hospitalization have an increased likelihood of remaining hospitalized longer and a greater risk of mortality both during and after hospitalization.read more -
Massachusetts Lt. Governor tours Harvard research facilities
26 Jun 2009 | 10:43 amMassachusetts Lt. Governor Timothy Murray on Wednesday toured Harvard labs in both Cambridge and Boston."The Patrick Administration has been very supportive of the university research sector in Massachusetts and we welcomed the opportunity to show him the range of projects ongoing at Harvard, in both Cambridge and Longwood, that are cutting-edge, multidisciplinary and often involve collaboration with partners from other institutions, including the University of Massachusetts, and industry," Casey said.read more -
Safer stem cells for therapy
25 Jun 2009 | 10:20 amWhen stem cell researchers in Japan and the United States announced in 2007 that they had developed long-sought methods to return fully developed adult human cells to an embryonic-like state, the world of stem cell research was turned upside down. read more
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Periodic Tabloid
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Yet Another New Way to Exterminate a Cancer Cell
2 Jul 2009 | 2:00 amThere are two fundamental ways that a healthy normal cell can traverse the pathway to becoming a cancer cell: Activation of an oncogene. Inactivation of a tumor suppressor gene. It is easy to comprehend how inhibiting an overly active oncogene would throttle back cancer growth. In fact, it’s being done already with drugs like gleevec and rituxan. Harder to conceive is how to restore the function of a missing tumor suppressor gene. Despite hearty and hale efforts, this hasn’t been accomplished in any practical way. So rather than beating your head against the wall of an… -
Your Breath, Sir
25 Jun 2009 | 2:00 amThe following is surely one of the funnier exchanges in movies of the last few decades: Arthur: Hobson, do you know what the worst thing is about being me? Hobson: I should imagine your breath, sir. (Dudley Moore and Sir John Gielguid in Arthur) But what foul chemistry lies behind bad breath? The villainous reaction is perpetrated by Gram negative bacteria, which break proteins down to amino acids. The sulfur-containing ones can then form stinky chemicals called volatile sulfide compounds (VSCs to the aficionado). Recent work from Tel Aviv University adds a new twist. Sterer et al. show… -
Your Diet Doesn’t Work? Try Science.
18 Jun 2009 | 2:00 amThe mainstream media regularly barrages us with the fact that citizens of developed countries tend to being overweight, even obese. So we diet, we exercise, we pop pills, and sometimes we even resort to surgery to shed the unwanted poundage. All this obsession on weight loss appears to be high on the futility list. The World Health Organization reports that about 400 million of us are obese, with another 1.2 billion way overweight. So if behavior modification doesn’t yield good results, could science rescue us from fatness? Possibly, at least according to a new study from UCLA. Anyone… -
My Kingdom for a Battery
11 Jun 2009 | 7:41 amMost of us give little thought to the countless batteries we encounter every day. They power cell phones, iPods, cameras, computers, watches, and myriad other electronic devices, without which life would be ever so less pleasant. Chemistry, of course, is the driver of battery technology. From lithium-ion to zinc-carbon to lead-acid, chemical energy is the underlying force that produces electrical energy. But battery technology has not kept pace with other innovations in modern life, and power output, weight, cost, and longevity remain major challenges for those hoping to score big with a… -
Taking on the Establishment
4 Jun 2009 | 7:08 pmThe standard mindset in treating cancer is to kill as many of the offending cells as possible with whatever artillery you can devise. Traditionally, the weaponry has comprised surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, or, for the irreverent, “cuts, burns, and poisons.” The military metaphor is intentional, as it conveys the all-out-assault, no compromise, take-no-prisoners attitude that has marked treatment for the last several decades. And besides, the first broadly effective anticancer drug (nitrogen mustard) was courtesy of gas warfare in WWI. And now along comes Robert A. Gatenby from…
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NOVA | PBS
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NOVA scienceNOW: Anthrax Investigation
1 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amThe new science of microbial forensics reveals the source of the anthrax used in the deadly attacks of 2001. -
NOVA scienceNOW: Profile: Luis von Ahn
1 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amA computer scientist finds novel ways to stop spammers and harness the brainpower of millions of people. -
NOVA scienceNOW: Auto-Tune
1 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amCan't carry a tune? Andy Hildebrand's pitch-correction software can help you sing like a star. -
NOVA scienceNOW: Diamond Factory
1 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amVisit a laboratory where entrepreneurs are growing perfectly pure diamonds. -
Musical Minds: Watch the Program
1 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amThis one-hour program is divided into six chapters. Choose any chapter below and select QuickTime or Windows Media Player to begin viewing the video. If you experience difficulty viewing, it may be due to high demand. We regret this and suggest you try back at another time.
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Fisheye Perspective
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Bioinformatics and Systems Biology: Multidisciplinary scientists versus Interdisciplinary scientist
2 Jul 2009 | 12:17 amI could be 1 2 3 Same old wine now in new bottle, a debate which bioinformatics community has followed for the years now became a major agenda for systems biology community as well. During recent Systems Biology Inter-DTC Conference at University of Manchester Systems Biology Centre, there was a special session on the subject “can scientists be multidisciplinary?”. Steve Checkley has written an detailed opinion about this secession and following debate. Current status of systems biology is quite similar what we have seen 5 year back in bioinformatics community, both have very similar… -
BioPAX or SBML?
1 Jul 2009 | 10:12 amKatherine Mejia asked this question on twitter, well just now I want to keep it short,Both BioPAX (Level 3) and SBML (Level 2) can encode signaling pathways, metabolic pathways and regulatory pathways, although SBML can represent finer details.If your aim is simulation and prediction then SBML seems to be reasonable choice.SBML has better software and API support than BioPAX, no doubt this one is major advantage with SBML.Similarly BioPAX is rich standard when it comes to encode the interactions such as genetics, molecular or non-molecular.Visual comparison of SBML, BioPAX, CellML and PSI… -
Which molecular editor do you use and why?
26 Jun 2009 | 8:08 amRecently ChemSpider man Antony Williams raised the issue of molecular editors on a LinkedIn group discussion. He suggests that price for most of editors has dropped dramatically because there are several good commercial editors available in market. Last but not least most of companies are offering editors for free to academia and home users, and in that case what would convince you to switch from commercial to open source editor? Does commercial structure molecular editors are good value for money? Are you well satisfied with your favorite molecular editor, or still looking for a better… -
Estimating synthetic accessibility of drug-like molecules
24 Jun 2009 | 5:20 amIn a recent Journal of Cheminformatics paper, Peter Ertl and Ansgar Schuffenhauer have proposed a new scoring approach SAscore or synthetic accessibility score to estimate ease of synthesis (synthetic accessibility) of drug-like molecules based on fragment contributions and molecular complexity of given molecule.Distribution of SAscore for natural products, bioactive molecules andmolecules from cataloguesIn this studyFragment contributions have been calculated based on the analysis of one million representative molecules from PubChem and therefore one can say that they capture historical… -
Haskell for Maths
22 Jun 2009 | 9:31 pmDavid Amos is developing Haskell for Maths library and his current implementation covers mainly algebra and combinatorics. It nice to see how individual efforts are shaping as very useful libraries in Haskell community. Last time I mentioned about Haskell for Bioinformatics library developed by Ketil Malde. David also blogs where he explains different mathematical teasers, math behind them and how you can solve them using Haskell code. If you are math geek don't forget to point your browser to his weblog.A math teaser using Haskell- Clebsch graph Original article is available at Fisheye…
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findingDulcinea Science
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Sudoku: Brainteaser, Time Waster, Genome Sequencer
2 Jul 2009 | 5:00 pmResearchers apply the principles behind the popular math puzzle to vastly reduce the time and cost of genome sequencing. -
Recent Advances in Brain-Wave Technology
1 Jul 2009 | 7:00 amToyota’s new brain-controlled wheelchair is just one of many advances in brain-machine interface technology. -
On This Day: Tunguska Event Flattens 800 Square Miles of Trees in Siberia
30 Jun 2009 | 7:00 amOn June 30, 1908, a bit of space debris entered the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded over the Tunguska River in Siberia, becoming the largest natural explosion in modern history. -
On This Day: Einstein Publishes Theory of Special Relativity
30 Jun 2009 | 2:00 amOn June 30, 1905, Swiss patent clerk Albert Einstein published “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” introducing his relativity theory and launching a new era in physics. -
Sunday Morning Coming Down
28 Jun 2009 | 8:00 amFor many people, Sunday afternoons are a mix of cloudy yearning for the day before and dread of the week to come.
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2020 Science
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Nanotechnology on Twit TV’s Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour
2 Jul 2009 | 1:47 pmJust a quick post (at least, as far as the text goes). Last week, I had the pleasure of appearing on Twit TV’s Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour with Kristen Sanford and Leo Laporte. The conversation covered nanotechnology from every conceivable angle. I should have known with Leo’s opening question – asking what I thought of Eric Drexler’s ideas – that we were in for a fun ride! As Kiki and Leo managed to get in a whole bunch of questions about what nanotech is (and isn’t), where and how it’s being used, what’s so great about it, and what some of… -
Can innovation tunneling help organizations survive disruptive change?
1 Jul 2009 | 1:23 pmA couple of days ago, @michael_nielsen posted a thoughtful article on his blog tackling rapid and disruptive changes in the scientific publishing business – especially the challenge of overcoming organizational immune systems that actively obstruct change and adaptation. Reading through the piece, I was particularly struck by his conceptualization of the barriers to change faced by established organizations. He used a neat piece of physics-speak – “local optima” – to describe the inevitable isolation businesses face when the price of change simply becomes too… -
Celebrity scientists – it takes more than stardust
27 Jun 2009 | 1:38 pmIt’s been a few weeks now since the men’s style magazine GQ launched the “Rock Stars of Science” campaign. I’m a staunch advocate of raising science’s profile, but the whole campaign has had me on edge, and I haven’t quite been able to put my finger on why. Was it the exclusive use of white middle-aged male scientists? Was it the implied message that the science-guys were rock-star wannabes? Or was it the assumption that medical science is the only science worth promoting? Sheryl Crow, Anthony S. Fauci M.D. and Harold Varmus, M. D. (I'll leave you to work out which… -
Confluence: Where communication, coupling and control collide
26 Jun 2009 | 3:20 pmPart 7 of a series on rethinking science and technology for the 21st century Yesterday, I listened to respected economists discussing geoengineering; gave a Skype interview on nanotechnology from the comfort of my own home; and watched as reactions to Michael Jackson’s death spread through virtual web-based communities. Twenty years ago, when Jackson was at the height of his artistic powers, such a day would have been the stuff of science fiction. Now, it’s just business and usual. Looking back over the past two decades, it’s easy to see how Coupling, Communication and… -
Science influence on Twitter – June update
23 Jun 2009 | 9:58 amBack in April I posted data on three indicators of “influence” for ~400 science-focused Twitter users – based on David Bradley’s list of “Scientific Twitter Friends.” Intrigued to see how these Tweeps’ influence evolves over time, I will be updating these data periodically. In this first update (aided and abetted by @ruthseeley – thanks Ruth!), the overall number of followers (both primary and secondary) of the SciTweep cohort has increased over the past two months – as would be expected given increasing interest in Twitter. There is the slightest…
