Science

• 
  Discovery News Top Stories

• Thousands of Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in China

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:27 am

  Over 3,000 dinosaur tracks have been discovered in a gully at Zhucheng, China, according to a recent AFP report. I haven't seen any journal studies yet on this find, but it certainly sounds like one of the largest collections of ...

• Mid-Atlantic Bracing for Another Major Storm

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:46 am

  Powerful winds and heavy snow are expected to hit the eastern U.S. by this evening.

• Antibiotics Inhibit Plant Growth

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:23 am

  A common antibiotic that can be found in wastewater reduces the ability of plant leaves to capture sunlight.

• NASA Launches Private Firms into Space Race

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  Astronauts may be hitching rides on commercial spaceships by 2014.

• Evidence of Liquid Water on Saturn's Moon Enceladus

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:50 am

  Enceladus' icy plumes glow as the small moon passes in front of the sun from Cassini's point of view in 2007 (NASA) Saturn's moon Enceladus contains a large body of water under its surface, new research has confirmed. This has ...

• 
  Popular Science

• On DARPA's List: a Real-Time, 3-D Picture of The Earth Beneath Our Feet

  Clay Dillow

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:32 am

  DARPA wants to know what's happening in the skies overhead and seeks full situational awareness on the ground, so we suppose it's no surprise that now it wants full, real-time surveillance of what's happening beneath the surface. As part of the agency's fiscal 2011 budget, $4 million will go toward creating a system of sensors and algorithms that will create real-time 3-D maps displaying "the physical, chemical, and dynamic properties of the earth down to 5 km depth, including natural or man-made structures at militarily- relevant spatial scales." Sounds reasonable enough. From where you are…

• To Deter Plague of Bark Beetles, A Boombox Blasting Bug Sounds

  Stuart Fox

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am

  Bark beetles plague the forests of Canada so furiously you'd think rivers of blood and the death of the firstborn would follow hot on their heels. So far, no one has stopped the beetle rampage that has destroyed 33 million acres of trees in British Columbia. However, scientists at Northern Arizona University (NAU) may have devised a way to turn back the beetle tide using sound recordings. Like Nevada residents tried last year, the NAU scientists started by blasting rock music and backwards recordings of Rush Limbaugh (presumably because playing the Rush Limbaugh recordings forward is a…

• Marijuana Research Offers New Hope For Male Birth Control Pill

  Stuart Fox

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:59 am

  The male birth control pill has lingered for years tantalizingly just out of reach, in the realm where rumor meets science. Recently developed hormonal and mechanical contraceptives never found an audience, serving only to highlight the absence of a male pill. Now, an examination of how smoking pot lowers fertility may make the male pill more than a persistent rumor. Writing in last week's issue of the journal Cell, University of California, San Francisco, researcher Yuriy Kirichok revealed a new link between bong hits, a protein called Hv1, and the ability of sperm to swim. Hv1 activates in…

• New Breed of Variable-Pressure Touchscreens Harnesses Quantum-Mechanical Phenomenon

  Clay Dillow

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:17 am

  Tapping a principle of quantum mechanics and a medieval-looking nanoparticle, a UK firm has created a composite material that may soon deliver efficient, pressure-sensitive touchscreens to numerous devices. Yorkshire-based Peratech has already licensed the technology to a division of Samsung that provides mobile components to other handset manufacturers, but it's in the growing realm of touchscreen tech where the potential for Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC) is most exciting. The composite works on an idea in quantum mechanics that if you shoot a tiny particle at a solid wall, there is a…

• Marine Corps' Unmanned Programmable Copter Passes First Major Test

  Stuart Fox

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:29 am

  The difficulty of supplying remote outposts across rugged terrain has contributed to many of the deadliest moments in the Afghan War, by preventing the delivery of weapons and ammo to engaged soldiers, forcing supplies to travel over dangerous roads, or turning helicopters into vulnerable targets. Last June, the Marines put out a call for a helicopter UAV to solve those problems. Now, with a successful demonstration at Utah's Dugway Proving Grounds, the Marines might have found their robocopter. In the demonstration, a modified K-MAX helicopter moved 3,000 pounds across 600 miles, in under…

• 
  Futurity.org

• One step closer to quantum computing

  Kitta MacPherson-Princeton

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:22 am

  In his laboratory, Jason Petta has trapped one or two electrons in microscopic corrals created by applying voltages to miniscule electrodes on a wafer of semiconductor. His method of altering the property of a lone electron without disturbing the trillions of electrons in its immediate surroundings may be an important step toward developing future types [...]

• Eyeing an enzyme to stop deadly infections

  Bill Snyder-Vanderbilt

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:31 am

  Molecule (shown as a stick model in white) attaches to an enzyme (shown in green) essential to the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, inhibiting its activity and causing the death of the organism. (Credit: Galina Lepesheva/Vanderbilt University) VANDERBILT (US)—Knowing the structure of an enzyme essential to the protozoan parasite that causes African sleeping sickness may [...]

• New ‘Flowerpecker’ spotted in Borneo

  Richard Ashby-Leeds

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:55 am

  The “Spectacled Flowerpecker”—a bird species new to science—has been found in the Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah, Malaysia, by David Edwards, a fellow at the Faculty of Biological Science at the University of Leeds, and two tour leaders. Fortunately, Richard Webster managed to take some photographs, which show an attractive grey bird with bright [...]

• More aggressive MS seen in blacks

  Lois Baker-Buffalo

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:28 am

  MRI scans of the same brain slice at monthly intervals reveal bright spots within the brain tissue indicating active lesions. MRI scans of participants in a recent study show that African Americans with MS had more damage to brain tissue and had less normal white and grey matter compared to whites with the disease. (Courtesy: [...]

• Driverless car to scale Pikes Peak

  Christine Blackman-Stanford

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:19 am

  Shelley, Stanford’s driverless car, was named after Michele Mouton, the first woman to win the race up Pikes Peak. In the video below, mechanical engineer Chris Gerdes gives a tour of Shelley, a modified Audi TTS, which is scheduled to climb Pikes Peak in September. (Credit: L.A. Cicero) STANFORD (US)—A re-engineered Audi TTS will attempt to [...]

• 
  New Scientist

• What the LHC could find at half-power

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:22 am

  Next week engineers will begin preparing the machine to run at half its maximum energy – so what can a half-power collider find?

• Today on New Scientist: 9 February 2010

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  Today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: the hunt for the world's missing whales, how bright the stars really are, and how to make your food more filling

• Airliner landing gear not fit for all emergencies

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am

  An investigation into an airliner brought down by ice in its fuel tank has thrown up a design problem that may affect many aircraft

• Complex smells make food more filling

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:41 am

  Food that incorporates more complex aromas appears to make you feel more full

• Software photo-doctor fixes up bad photos

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:01 am

  A tool that knows what makes a good photo subtly tweaks and moves elements of a bad snap to make it more aesthetically pleasing

• 
  Scientific Blogging

• Broken Hearts: Not Just Fodder For Songwriters

  Becky Jungbauer

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:15 am

  If you feel like you have an achy breaky heart, you may not be imagining things. "Broken hearts" are indeed real, although in the medical community they go by the much less lyrical name of stress (tako-tsubo) cardiomyopathy. A recent article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology described stress (tako-tsubo) cardiomyopathy as "a rapidly reversible form of acute heart failure reported to be triggered by stressful events and associated with a distinctive left ventricular (LV) contraction pattern." Oooh, romantic. Shakespeare couldn't have written it better. read more

• Music, Not Xbox, May Be To Blame For Teenagers' Headaches

  News Account

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  According to a study of 1025 13-17 year-olds, gaming, texting, or staring at the TV for hours on end are unlikely to cause headaches in adolescents, but listening to one or two hours of music every day may do the trick. The study appears this week in BMC Neurology. The researchers interviewed 489 teenagers who claimed to suffer from headaches and 536 who said they did not. When the two groups were compared, no associations were found for television viewing, electronic gaming, mobile phone usage or computer usage. read more

• Earlier Springs May Throw Nature Out Of Step

  News Account

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  A collaborative study involving scientists from 12 UK research institutions, universities and conservation organizations suggests that the trend towards earlier UK springs and summers has been accelerating. The study, published recently in Global Change Biology, is the most comprehensive and rigorous assessment so far of long-term changes in the seasonal timing (phenology) of biological events across marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments in the UK, the authors say. read more

• Most Smokers Quit 'Cold Turkey', Researchers Say

  News Account

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Despite the over-promotion of nicotine replacement therapies by drug companies and anti-tobacco activists, the most successful method used by ex-smokers is unassisted cessation, according to a new policy forum in PLoS Medicine. In the article, researchers from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Australia take a critical look at most tobacco control campaigns, which emphasize that serious attempts at quitting smoking must be pharmacologically or professionally mediated. read more

• Bullet-Shaped Virus Could Help Treat Cancer

  News Account

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, has shown the potential to serve as an anti-cancer agent, exercising high selectivity in killing cancer cells while sparing healthy cells, and as a potent vaccine against HIV. But in order for the necessary genetic modifications to occur, scientists must have an accurate picture of the virus's structure. While three-dimensional structural information of VSV's characteristic bullet shape and its assembly process has been sought for decades, efforts have been hampered by technological and methodological limitations. read more

• 
  Sciencebase Science Blog

• Nerdy passwords, secure and memorable

  David Bradley

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:45 am

  WARNING: Do not simply use the formula of a common chemical without obfuscating it in some way. It could be dictionary cracked very easily if you do. Coming up with a secure password that cannot be bruteforce or dictionary attacked but that is easy to remember is quite troubling. So, here’s the nerdiest approach yet. Think of a compound, any compound, but preferably one with which you are familiar. If you’re in science, then you could pick a compound associated with your research thesis or perhaps the medication you needed to get through the viva. Now, work out, or look up, its…

• How to get your fill of Sciencebase goodness

  David Bradley

  5 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  Do you lie at wake at night worrying that you might have missed the latest words of wisdom on Sciencebase? Are you concerned that a new post might have published that you desperately wanted to comment on and now it’s too late? Well…fear not. There are so many ways to connect with Sciencebase and sibling sites Sciencetext Tech Talk and the SciScoop Science Forum that you really can rest easy. On Facebook – become a Sciencebase fan and you get to read the headlines from SB, ST, SC and more as they appear. You can also comment right there and then without having to hop back and…

• Making carbon dioxide useful

  David Bradley

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

  My SpectroscopyNOW column is now live. This week self-perception, trapping and using carbon dioxide, cosmic coronene, mopping up radioactive caesium, photosynthesis and magic spectral lines: Red lenses – US scientists have used MRI to show that apparently the less you use your brain’s frontal lobes, the more you perceive your behaviour through rose-tinted spectacles. They publish details in the February issue of the journal NeuroImage. Carbon dioxide trap and drop – The reduction of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to a useful chemical industry feedstock material, carbon…

• Science based risk assessment

  David Bradley

  3 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  Ask people why the enter the lottery and they will usually tell you that “you’ve got to be in it to win it”. As far as it goes that’s true, but it still doesn’t get around the odds of you picking the right numbers being vanishingly (although not quite homeopathically) small at 14 million to 1 against for 6 numbers from a 1-49 selection. Compare their feelings about their chances of winning the lottery to succumbing to the toxic effects of their favourite tipple or a disease triggered by dietary whim and they may well respond, that such problems are more likely to…

• Early Valentine’s Alchemist

  David Bradley

  2 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  The Alchemist this week learns of a golden opportunity to make a fundamental industrial feedstock, ethylene, from natural gas, rather than oil. In microfluidics, a droplet of acid finds its way out of a maze, while an accidental mineral could become the material of choice for magnetic tunnel junctions. In the zone between chemistry and physics, German researchers have discovered a new way to produce free electrons, which might help explain biological radiation damage, and in health PFOA emerges as a risk factor for thyroid problems. Finally, more than half a million small molecules have found…

• Photostream from Daylife
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• 
  New England Journal of Medicine

• Oral Fingolimod or Intramuscular Interferon for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

  Cohen, J. A., Barkhof, F., Comi, G., Hartung, H.-P., Khatri, B. O., Montalban, X., Pelletier, J., Capra, R., Gallo, P., Izquierdo, G., Tiel-Wilck, K., de Vera, A., Jin, J., Stites, T., Wu, S., Aradhye, S., Kappos, L., the TRANSFORMS Study Group

  3 Feb 2010 | 1:55 pm

  In this 12-month trial involving patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, oral fingolimod was more effective than intramuscular interferon beta-1a in reducing relapse rates. Adverse events associated with fingolimod included herpesvirus infections (two fatal infections), atrioventricular block, macular edema, skin cancer, and liver-enzyme elevation. <P>

• A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Fingolimod in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

  Kappos, L., Radue, E.-W., O'Connor, P., Polman, C., Hohlfeld, R., Calabresi, P., Selmaj, K., Agoropoulou, C., Leyk, M., Zhang-Auberson, L., Burtin, P., the FREEDOMS Study Group

  3 Feb 2010 | 1:55 pm

  In this 24-month, randomized trial involving patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, oral fingolimod reduced the rates of relapse and disability progression, as compared with placebo. Adverse events reported in patients treated with fingolimod included bradycardia, atrioventricular conduction block, macular edema, elevations in liver-enzyme levels, and mild hypertension. <P>

• CME: Under Pressure

  3 Feb 2010 | 1:55 pm

  (No abstract is available for this citation)

• CME: Jet Lag

  3 Feb 2010 | 1:55 pm

  (No abstract is available for this citation)

• CME: A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Fingolimod in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

  3 Feb 2010 | 1:55 pm

  (No abstract is available for this citation)

• 
  Livescience.com

• World's Smallest Solar-Powered Sensor Runs Almost Forever

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:43 am

  A tiny solar-powered sensor, smaller than Abe Lincoln's head on a penny, can supply almost perpetual energy.

• Olympic Medals Made from E-waste

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:41 am

  Medals for Vancouver Winter Olympics made from metal extracted from e-waste.

• The Dangers of Third-Hand Smoke Revealed

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:09 am

  Nicotine absorbed on surfaces reacts with chemicals in air to produce harmful carcinogens.

• Emerging Tech Could Make Tomorrow's Cars Safer

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:51 am

  Exploring how emerging technologies and advanced materials will make tomorrow's cars safer.

• Want Passionate Kids? Leave 'em Alone

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:11 am

  Children who explore interests on their own develop healthier passions.

• 
  PopTech Blog

• FLAP Videos from a Navajo Reservation

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:44 am

  Editor's note: For more on the FLAP off-grid solar project, see the PopTech FLAP page. One might think of living at the “base of the pyramid” as an unimaginably difficult situation confined to those in the developing world, but there are plenty of people living at the base right here in the United States in the 21st century--people like Pat Boone. I met Pat Boone just outside of a ceremony his community was holding in order to heal his brother’s abdominal pains after traditional medicine failed to provide relief. Pat is a tiny man with laughing eyes that are partially blind, leaving him…

• Paving a Nuanced Path for Online Privacy

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:54 am

  Make no mistake: the privacy debate is hotter (and louder) than ever. The recent uproar over Facebook’s new Terms of Service – and then, even more recently, Twitter’s new service terms – is all about privacy, says Helen Nissenbaum, an associate professor in NYU’s Department of Culture and Communication and a Senior Fellow of the NYU Information Law Institute. But what people really care about today when they complain that their privacy has been violated, Nissenbaum says, is not the fact that their personal information has been shared, but that it’s been shared inappropriately.

• A New PopTech Fellows 2009 Video

  4 Feb 2010 | 11:19 am

  We announced a call for nominations for the 2010 class of PopTech Social Innovation Fellows this week, so I edited a video to accompany the email announcement. Typically during the PopTech conference I’m running around with the camera crew, missing all the edifying and moving moments taking place on stage, so I was excited to finally watch the 2009 Fellows’ videos in their entirety while pulling this short piece together. Editing always involves a dance between what’s being said, where the camera was focused when the great moments took place, and how each piece fits with every other…

• Apply Now to be a Global Citizen Year Fellow

  4 Feb 2010 | 7:59 am

  Editor's note: Wil Keenan heads up communications and technology at Global Citizen Year, an organization led by PopTech Social Innovation Fellow Abby Falik. Watch Abby's PopTech talk to learn more. Each year, Global Citizen Year (GCY) selects and trains a corps of HS grads and supports them in apprenticeships across Asia, Africa and Latin America during a bridge year before college. Our first corps of Fellows launched last fall and now we're searching for our 2010 Fellows. Do you know any high school seniors or educators who might be interested? Help us spread the word! Since the 2009 Fellows…

• The Grand Disappointment: Apple and Obama after Hype and Hope

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:47 pm

  Some languages are more precise than others. German's word for disappointment, “Enttäuschung,” for example, literally translates as “disillusion” and thus implies that the prerequisite of any disappointment is excessive (and false!) expectation. As if that needed any further evidence, Apple’s iPad presentation and President Obama’s first State of the Union address last Wednesday marked the preliminary culmination of an obvious trend: disappointment as a widespread sentiment and cultural subtext at the dawn of this young decade. Both Apple and Obama are…

• 
  Newswise

• Paul Gilna to lead ORNL's BioEnergy Science Center

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:45 am

  Dr. Paul Gilna is joining the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory as director of the DOE BioEnergy Science Center (BESC).

• Space Shuttle Artifacts Destined for Display in Columbus, Ga.

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  More than $17 million worth of NASA Space Shuttle parts are scheduled for donation to Columbus State University's Coca-Cola Space Science Center in Georgia.

• Comprehensive Study Using Bioinformatics Predicts the Molecular Causes of Many Genetic Diseases

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  It is widely known that genetic mutations cause disease. What are largely unknown are the mechanisms by which these mutations wreak havoc at the molecular level, giving rise to clinically observable symptoms in patients. Now a new study using bioinformatics, reports the ability to predict the molecular cause of many inherited genetic diseases. These predictions have led to the creation of a web-based tool available to academic researchers who study disease.

• Scientists Explore the Future of High-Energy Physics

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm

  Niobium-based superconducting devices could lead to smaller, more efficient linear colliders.

• Research Identifies Gene with Likely Role in Premenstrual Disorder

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  Scientists have identified a gene they say is a strong candidate for involvement in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and other maladies associated with the natural flux in hormones during the menstrual cycle.

• 
  SciGuy

• NASA chief seeks new exploration ideas; "No holds barred."

  Eric Berger / Houston Chronicle

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:18 am

  NASA administrator Charles Bolden laughed when I asked him about the possibility of a one-way mission to Mars, so I don't think it's necessarily on the table. But he did acknowledge that people with ideas about where and how the...

• Heat, humidity & humor: Your weekly weather

  Eric Berger / Houston Chronicle

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:33 am

  Welcome to your Monday morning weather update in which I'll attempt to sum up the immediate past, present and future of weather on the bayou. Below find a look ahead a look at a possible freeze, and an extended outlook...

• Endeavour ascends successfully to orbit

  Eric Berger / Houston Chronicle

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:37 am

  In what may be the final night launch of a space shuttle, Endeavour made a picturesque launch against a black Florida sky Monday morning. The launch came after mission managers' concerns about the weather dissipated as did a low-level cloud...

• Tracking the second attempt to launch Endeavour

  Eric Berger / Houston Chronicle

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:00 pm

  After Sunday morning's scrub of Endeavour, NASA will try again to get the shuttle into orbit early Monday at 3:14 a.m. CT. With just five flights remaining in the shuttle program, the space agency is counting on Endeavour to deliver...

• Endeavour launch attempt scrubbed due to weather

  Eric Berger / Houston Chronicle

  7 Feb 2010 | 1:43 am

  NASA's attempt to fly Endeavour failed this morning because low clouds around the launch site were too thick to allow the vehicle to safely ascend to orbit. The 13-day mission to deliver to large new components the International Space Station...

• 
  digg.com: Stories / General Sciences / Popular

• Metric vs. other systems [pic]

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:20 am

  *****

• The Future of Artificial Intelligence (w/ VIDEO)

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:06 am

  The world has come a long way since 1955 but has AI? What are AI researchers and their machine learning systems up to these days? And will there ever be a truly intelligent machine?

• Smallest eel-loach Fish Discovered

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:10 am

  The world's smallest species of eel-loach fish has been discovered by a Natural History Museum scientist and his colleague this month and is featured on the Museum's Species of the day today.

• Photosynthesis uses quantum interactions to harvest light

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  A new experimental setup using algae photosynthesis proteins shows that, when they are stimulated with light, they exchange energy via quantum interactions.

• Virus-Free Technique Enables To Make Stem-Cell Pluripotent

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:00 pm

  Tiny circles of DNA are the key to a new and easier way to transform stem cells from human fat into induced pluripotent stem cells for use in regenerative medicine, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Unlike other commonly used techniques, the method, which is based on standard ...

• 
  Wired: Wired Science

• A Peek at Wired’s Ultra Geeky Super Bowl Party

  Alexis Madrigal

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am

  SAN FRANCISCO — More than 100 million Americans watched Sunday’s Super Bowl, but here at Wired.com, a couple dozen of our readers can probably brag they had the strangest viewing experience. They were strapped up with sensors that measured their body’s physiological reactions to what was happening during the game and commercials. With the help of Boston-based research firm Innerscope, we converted Wired’s cafeteria into a makeshift sports bar complete with 6 HDTVs gathered from around the office and of course, Beer Robot and greasy pizza. Participants in the study had…

• Fastest Wings on Earth Show Extremes of Sexual Selection

  Brandon Keim

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:43 am

  With feathers that resonate at precisely 1,500 hertz, the male club-winged manakin is perhaps the bird world’s most perfectly tuned example of sexual selection. By pinning down the frequency, researchers have completed a long investigation into the bird’s sonic physiology and showed just how far some guys go to impress the ladies. “The fundamental anatomy of the wings has been completely reworked to play a sound for courtship,” said Cornell University ornithologist Kim Bostwick, who describes the wings in a paper published Monday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

• Stunningly Preserved 165-Million-Year-Old Spider Fossil Found

  Tia Ghose

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:11 pm

  Scientists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved spider fossil in China dating back to the middle Jurassic era, 165 million years ago. The fossilized spiders, Eoplectreurys gertschi, are older than the only two other specimens known by around 120 million years. The level of detail preserved in the fossils is amazing, said paleontologist Paul Selden of the University of Kansas and lead author of the study appearing Feb. 6 in Naturwissenschaften. “You go in with a microscope, and bingo! It’s fantastic.” The fossils were found at a site called Daohugou in Northern China…

• Audio: DIY Recordings of Awakening Sun

  Alexis Madrigal

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pm

  As the sun emerges from a long lull in activity, the star’s emissions in the radio band of the spectrum have also picked up. And from a shed on three acres of land outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft is making recordings of them available for download. “The Sun has become hyper-dynamic the past few days,” Ashcraft wrote on his website Sunday, along with links to four “specimens” of radio bursts, as he calls them. The sun is crackling with solar flares now as a very large sunspot continues to circle our star. The recent solar…

• Ultra-Precise Quantum-Logic Clock Trumps Old Atomic Clock

  Tia Ghose

  5 Feb 2010 | 3:13 pm

  Scientists have built a clock which is 37 times more precise than the existing international standard. The quantum-logic clock, which detects the energy state of a single aluminum ion, keeps time to within a second every 3.7 billion years. The new timekeeper could one day improve GPS or detect the slowing of time predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. “It could it be a real contender for the next frequency standard, or next timekeeper,” said physicist Chin-wen (James) Chou of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, lead author of a study…

• 
  Eye on DNA

• Genetic Genealogy on Faces of America

  Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

  16 Jan 2010 | 7:19 am

  Quite a line-up of celebrities! Eva Longoria, Meryl Streep, Mario Batali, Stephen Colbert, Malcolm Gladwell, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Nichols, Kristi Yamaguchi, Elizabeth Alexander, Queen Noor and Louise Erdrich have all submitted DNA tests for a new PBS television series FACES OF AMERICA.   Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. airs on Wednesdays, February 10 – March 3, 2010 from 8-9 p.m. ET on PBS.

• DNA Network Tweet Cloud

  Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

  28 Nov 2009 | 8:13 pm

  FYI. I tweet about genetics and related science topics under The DNA Network Twitter account @DNAnetwork. Are you on Twitter? by Tweet Cloud

• DNA{wesome}

  Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

  15 Nov 2009 | 3:01 am

  That’s right, baby! via Buzzfeed

• Genetics = Real Science

  Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

  14 Nov 2009 | 7:37 am

  Matchmaking services are adding DNA testing to their list of offers. The DNA test analyzes HLA genes of the immune system that influence a person’s body odor. The theory is that people are attracted to those whose HLA genes and body odor differ from their own so that their potential offspring have the possibility of inheriting a more varied set of HLA genes leading to enhanced health due to a stronger immune system. In an Associated Press article, Dr. Rocio Moran, medical director of the General Genetics Clinic at the Cleveland Clinic said: They are just trying to make a buck. That if…

• Larry David’s DNA Test

  Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

  13 Nov 2009 | 7:46 am

  Larry David found out last night on Lopez Tonight that he “fails as a European” being only 63% European according to a DNA ancestry test. David seemed genuinely surprised by the remaining 37% of his ethnicity. Watch the video to find out more about the 37% or click on this link from Twitter.

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  Neuromarketing

• Cookie Framing

  Roger Dooley

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:34 am

  Years ago, when The Tonight Show ruled late-night TV and when all the guests weren’t celebrities promoting their latest book, movie, or TV show, host Johnny Carson interviewed the Girl Scout who sold the most cookies that year. This young lady, Markita Andrews, set a cookie-sales record that has yet to be broken. [...] CommentsThe title of this post caught my eye immediately when it popped ... by Jon

• Post-Super Bowl Briefing

  Roger Dooley

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:36 am

  Very soon, we will be subjected to a variety of neuromarketing-based opinions on which Super Bowl 2010 ads worked, and which didn’t. While we are awaiting these analyses, I thought I’d point readers at a good article on one kind of neuromarketing study methodology by WIRED writer Alexis Madrigal. It’s accurate, largely devoid [...] CommentsHi Roger- Thanks for the post. You are correct that we are in ... by Ron Wright

• Neuromarketing Foes Use Subliminal Text?

  Roger Dooley

  2 Feb 2010 | 5:08 am

  Yesterday I wrote about the latest anti-neuromarketing flap in Guard Your Reptilian Brain! While researching that post, I found an interesting spinoff at another site, Progressives, South Bend. I initially couldn’t find the text “neuromarketing” on that page. When I searched the page text, I found what looked like a short horizontal [...] CommentsGreat catch Roger. As someone very famous once said : Judgment ... by christophe morinhahaha, and I even mentioned subliminals in my comment ... by Sculptor?!?Plus 2 more...

• Guard Your Reptilian Brain!

  Roger Dooley

  1 Feb 2010 | 4:28 am

  Every year or so, some fuzzy-thinking critic reads an article about neuromarketing, becomes extremely agitated, and tries to raise the alarm about marketers turning consumers into mind-controlled zombies. The latest push of the neuro-panic button began with an article on a site called Truthout (fresh out of truth, perhaps?). Truthout seems to be a [...] CommentsThe writers from Truthout are not fully aware that the ... by CindyLet's be fair. To those who don't understand something, it's ... by Brendon ClarkPlus 7 more...

• WIRED Throwing Biometric Super Bowl Party

  Roger Dooley

  29 Jan 2010 | 10:21 am

  Every year, there is a burst of neuromarketing-related activity coinciding with the Super Bowl. After all, that game features commercials that people actually watch, and the cost of airing each ad is the highest of any program throughout the entire year. One staple of Super Bowl Sunday is the party – millions will [...] Comments*reposted to my blog* Thanks Roger! by CindyI am a fan of neuroscience and marketing and am glad that there ... by CindyPlus 2 more...

• 
  SCIENCEFRIDAY

• SciFri Video:Finding Dino Color In Fossil Feathers

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:28 am

  Forget those drab grays and greens, dinosaurs might have been more colorful, according to a new study in Science. Yale graduate student Jakob Vinther and colleagues looked at the fossilized feathers of 150-million-year-old Anchiornis huxleyi and found melanosomes--the organelles that hold melanin. Vinther's analysis suggests the dinosaur had surprisingly flashy plumage. En Español.

• SciFri Video:Bots Take On The Bard

  5 Feb 2010 | 6:42 am

  Robots were cast in a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream thanks to a collaboration between the theater department and the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue at Texas A&M University. Computer science grad student Kevin Pratt talks about the ultra high-tech production and why it's helpful for scientists to put robots on the stage. En Español.

• SciFri Blog:The Red Scare

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  The red fox moves into his smaller cousin's territory and acts like he owns the place...

• SciFri Radio:Gene Doping in Sports

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  With the Winter Olympics just a week away, we'll talk about a new potential threat to fair competition -- gene doping.

• SciFri Radio:Science and the Budget

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  This week, President Obama unveiled his proposed budget for 2011. We'll talk about how the proposed budget might affect science.

• 
  Games with Words

• Briefings: New Science Budget

  josh

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:39 am

  Details on Obama's 2011 science budget are now available. The last issue of Nature has a run-down. The news is better than it could have been -- and certainly better than the disastrous Bush years. Cancellation of the Constellation program (the replacement for the Shuttle) and the moon mission made the headlines, but despite that, NASA's budget will increase slightly. The end of the Constellation project would have seriously increased the amount available for science, but in fact a lot of the money budgeted for that will be spent stimulating the development of commercial rockets. NIH is…

• Findings: How memory changes with age

  josh

  28 Jan 2010 | 10:27 am

  It's well-known that both long-term and short-term memory decline with age. However, most of these data come from verbal memory tests. The evidence for visual short-term memory is less clear. A few studies (Adamowicz, 1976; 1978; Fahle & Daum, 1997) show age-related declines, but more recent studies do not (Faubert & Bellefeuille, 2002; McIntosh et al., 1999; Sara & Faubert, 2000; Thompson, Cengelci & Ozekes, 1999). In one of our longest-running experiments -- now archived -- we looked at visual short-term memory across a wide age range: from 14 years old to 90 years old. This…

• Lab Notebook: Shopping Period

  josh

  28 Jan 2010 | 7:40 am

  Harvard and Yale, in their infinite wisdom and love of tradition, do not register students for classes until the second week of the semester. The first week, called "Shopping Period," in theory gives students a chance to try out different classes. Undergraduates seem to like it.Shopping Period has several consequences. One is that no schedules can be set in stone until the second -- or often third -- week of the semester. Since nobody knows how many students are going to take a class, much less which students, graduate student-led course sections can't be scheduled until the second week.

• Vote!

  josh

  19 Jan 2010 | 5:52 am

  I know it's snowy out there, but all of you in Massachusetts: go out and vote!' Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laserstars/ / CC BY 2.0 Read the blog: http://gameswithwords.fieldofscience.com/ Do the research: http://coglanglab.org

• Making research open-access

  josh

  18 Jan 2010 | 10:36 am

  The US Office of Science & Technology policy is continuing to receive comments on the future of its open-access policy. The comments have been overwhelmingly in favor of making research papers available for free electronically, which many suggesting they be available immediately on publication (or even upon acceptance, which is as much as a year or two before publication). The comment that was most on-point, from my perspective, was one person who wondered what purpose publishers even serve beyond copy-editing, given that all the work is done volunteers (and, come to think of it, I helped…

• 
  collision detection

• The "Milky Way Transit Authority" map

  Clive Thompson

  5 Feb 2010 | 2:32 pm

  This one is really lovely. Samuel Arbesman, a computational sociologist at Harvard, has created the "Milky Way Transit Authority" -- a London-tube-like map of our galaxy. As he describes it: Our galaxy is unimaginably vast, and we really have no idea what is out there. We are discovering new planets in other star systems all the time, learning new facts about the galactic core, and even learning about whole new portions of the galaxy. This map is an attempt to approach our galaxy with a bit more familiarity than usual and get people thinking about long-term possibilities in outer space.

• Should automobile software be open-sourced?

  Clive Thompson

  5 Feb 2010 | 9:43 am

  Back in the late 90s, many newspapers reported this apocryphal exchange between Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and General Motors: At a recent COMDEX, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated: "If GM had kept up the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1,000 miles per gallon." Recently General Motors addressed this comment by releasing the statement: "Yes, but would you want your car to crash twice a day?" I was abruptly put in mind of this old joke when reading the latest news about…

• My Bookforum review of Jaron Lanier's "You Are Not A Gadget"

  Clive Thompson

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:25 am

  You may have heard about You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto, the new book by Jaron Lanier, the inventor of virtual reality. It's been getting quite a lot of praise; in the New York Times, Michiko Kakutani called it "lucid, powerful and persuasive", and the New Yorker suggested that "his argument will make intuitive sense." I was recently assigned to review the book by Bookforum, and that review is now on the newsstands. It's an omnibus analysis of three books, loosely bungee-corded together by their common concern for how the Internet is changing the way we think, write and communicate. I had…

• Molecular secrets of the "iron-plated snail"

  Clive Thompson

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:06 am

  Life isn't easy for the "scaly-foot gastropod". This humble snail lives in hydrothermal vent fields two miles deep in the Indian ocean, and is surrounded by vicious predators. For example, there's the "cone snail", which stabs at its victims with a harpoon-style tooth as a precursor to injecting them with paralyzing venom. Then there's the Brachyuran crab, which has been known to squeeze its prey for three days in an attempt to kill it. Yowsa. Ah, but the scaly-foot gastropod has its own tricks. To fight back, it long ago evolved a particularly cool defense structure: It takes the grains of…

• Garry Kasparov, cyborg

  Clive Thompson

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:43 am

  Back in 1997, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov played against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, and lost. At the time it was widely regarded as a huge victory for artificial intelligence. But as Kasparov points out -- in a fantastic new essay about computer chess in the New York Review of Books -- experts had long predicted that a computer would eventually beat a human at chess. That's because chess software doesn't need to analyze the game the way a human does. It just needs to do a "brute force" attack: It calculates all the possible games several moves out, finds the one that's most…

• 
  New Scientist - The Human Brain

• Giving the 'unconscious' a voice

  3 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm

  It is now possible to communicate with people who seem to be in a vegetative state, by tapping into their brain activity

• 'Imaginary rabbit' breaks out of the body

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:22 am

  A classic tactile illusion can spread to objects outside the body, suggesting our brain's body map is more malleable than once thought

• 'Imaginary rabbit' illusion breaks out of the body

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:18 am

  A tactile illusion can spread to objects outside the body, suggesting our brain's body map is more malleable than once thought

• Matthieu Ricard: Meditate yourself better

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  The Buddhist monk explains how meditation improves mind and body alike, and how altruism could transform economics

• Draw! The neuroscience behind Hollywood shoot-outs

  2 Feb 2010 | 4:01 pm

  In Hollywood westerns, the bad guy always draws first, but gets shot. Niels Bohr had a theory to explain why, and it's now been tested

• 
  neurodudes

• Network design algorithm of a slime mold

  Bayle

  28 Jan 2010 | 6:26 pm

  [The slime mold Physarum polycephalum] “can find the shortest path through a maze (15–17) or connect different arrays of food sources in an efficient manner with low total length… yet short average minimum distance… between pairs of food sources… with a high degree of fault tolerance… to accidental disconnection (11, 18, 19)” This paper provide a model of the slime mold’s network construction algorithm. “When [Physarum] grows on a nutrient-rich substratum, it covers the surface as a coherent layer (like a pancake). If nutrition becomes…

• Sixth Sense technology

  Stephen

  13 Dec 2009 | 8:14 pm

  The brilliant next-generation technology for wearable computing from the MIT media lab.  If you haven’t seen this yet, I highly recommend watching this video.

• Its alive! Soft morphing blob robot!

  Stephen

  13 Dec 2009 | 8:08 pm

  You’ve got to see this to believe it…!

• Bayesian truth serum

  Bayle

  8 Dec 2009 | 1:51 am

  Neville told me about this neat article from ‘04. It presents a way to offer rewards to people taking a poll in such a way so as to motivate them to be honest, with no prior information about what the distribution of correct answers is. Apparently, previous such techniques are based on the idea of rewarding people for agreeing with other people’s answers. This new thing about this technique for calculating the reward is that it provides people with an incentive to tell their true opinion even if they know that they hold a minority viewpoint. Drazen Prelec. A Bayesian Truth Serum…

• IBM Cat Brain Simulation Scuffle: Symbolic?

  Stephen

  4 Dec 2009 | 1:48 pm

  You’ve probably read by now about the announcement by IBM’s Cognitive Computing group that they had created a “computer system that simulates and emulates the brain’s abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition” at the “scale of a cat cortex”.    For their work, the IBM team led by Dharmendra Modha was awarded the ACM Gordon Bell prize, which recognizes “outstanding achievement in high-performance computing”. A few days later, Henry Markram, leader of the Blue Brain Project at EPFL, sent off an e-mail to IBM CTO…

• 
  Mind Hacks

• Nine Legendary Hypochondriacs

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  ABC Radio National's Late Night Live has a fascinating discussion with the author of a new book on nine famous hypochondriacs: James Boswell, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Alice James, Daniel Paul Schreber, Marcel Proust, Glenn Gould and Andy Warhol. I'm not sure Daniel Paul Schreber is necessarily the best example of someone with hypochondria is he is famous for writing a personal account of being genuinely mentally ill and floridly psychotic. However, I've not read the book and the programme focuses on better known figures so I am open to being convinced (certainly…

• Bonuses generate more heat than light

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:11 am

  The engaging behavioural economist Dan Ariely has just become a columnist for Wired UK and in his first article he describes how the promise of performance-related pay often backfires leading people to do more but perform worse. To see the effect of bonuses on performance, Nina Mazar (assistant professor of marketing, Toronto University), Uri Gneezy (professor of economics and strategy, University of California, San Diego), George Loewenstein (professor of economics, Carnegie Mellon, Pennsylvania) and I conducted three experiments. In one we gave subjects tasks that demanded attention,…

• 2010-02-05 Spike activity

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news: Sex addiction is a feminist victory, according to an article in Slate, apparently because it allows man shaming. Malevolence-based medicine rears its ugly head. The BPS Research Digest covers research finding CBT-based self-help books might do more harm than good for people who worry a lot. The public are asked for their opinion on the recent news that The Lancet retracts the Wakefield autism paper, by The Onion. Neurophilosophy has an excellent piece on big news that the first evidence for navigation essential grid cells in the human…

• Eureka brain special and more fighting

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  The Times has just released its monthly science magazine, Eureka, with a special issue on the brain and all the articles freely available online. There doesn't seem to be a way to link to a whole issue, but inside you'll find an excellent piece on the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily switch off bits of the working brain, a profile of neurosurgeon Huma Sethi, an article on commercial brain-computer interfaces, a remarkable piece on how old injuries can 'return' to affect phantom limbs as well as an exploration of the link between brain activity and sporting skill.

• Time to think

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  Bioemphemera has found some wonderfully left-field brain illustrations by Dutch graphic designer Rhonald Blommestijn. The image on the left is a brain made out of clocks. Blommestijn's blog is full of strikingly surreal eye-candy that manages both to inspire a feeling of wide-eyed wonder and illustrate scientific themes. They're certainly very original takes on the subject and the neuroscience images are particularly vivid. Link to Bioephemera on Blommestijn's brain illustrations. Link to Blommestijn's blog.

• 
  NPR Topics: Science

• Math Professor Helps Uncover Art Fakes

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Professor Daniel Rockmore is an art lover — and the chairman of the math department at Dartmouth College. He has united his two interests, art and math, to develop a program that analyzes pen strokes. The program gives art historians a new tool for detecting art forgeries, which are estimated to make up 20 percent of the worldwide art market.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• New Data Point To Huntington's Disease Hope

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  A study being published Monday offers hope for those with Huntington's disease. The Archives of Neurology has a report about a drug aimed at the serious cognitive deficits that people with Huntington's also suffer.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• Shuttle Heads To Space Station As Weather Clears

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:09 am

  Space shuttle Endeavour is now orbiting Earth after blasting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center in Monday's early morning darkness. Weather problems had delayed what might be the last pre-dawn launch for the shuttle program, which is heading toward retirement.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• Scientist: Autism Paper Had Catastrophic Effects

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  The prestigious British medical journal Lancet took a rare step this week: It retracted a 1998 paper that sparked a firestorm about potential links between vaccines and autism. That paper has been a bane to Dr. Paul Offit, co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine and chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. Offit tells host Guy Raz why he thinks the paper was a disaster for parents seeking answers about autism.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• Is It Time To Throw Out 'Primordial Soup' Theory?

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  A group of scientists says the idea that life emerged from a prebiotic broth is past its expiration date.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• 
  Not Exactly Rocket Science

• Crickets forewarn their offspring about predators before they're born

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am

  Mothers can teach their children much about the world, but some mothers can do it without ever meeting their young. Take the field cricket Gryllus pennsylvanicus. A female cricket isn't exactly a caring mother. Once she lays her eggs, she abandons them to their fate. But amazingly, she can also forewarn her young of the dangers they might face. If a pregnant female is exposed to a wolf spider, her experiences affect her unborn young. When they hatch, the baby crickets are more likely to freeze when they smell wolf spiders nearby. If mothers sense a threat in their environment, there are clear…

• Clean smells promote generosity and fair play; dark rooms and sunglasses promote deceit and selfishness

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:05 am

  The English language is full of metaphors linking moral purity to both physical cleanliness and brightness. We speak of "clean consciences", "pure thoughts" and "dirty thieves". We're suspicious of "shady behaviour" and we use light and darkness to symbolise good and evil. But there is more to these metaphors than we might imagine. The mere scent of a clean-smelling room can take people down a virtuous road, compelling them to choose generosity over greed and charity over apathy. Meanwhile, the darkness of a dimmed room or a pair of sunglasses can compel people towards selfishness and…

• South African wildlife - rock hyrax

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am

  These are rock hyraxes or dassies. They may look like guinea pigs, but they're in an entirely different order of mammals. It's sometimes said that they are the closest living relatives of elephants. However, some scientists would dispute that sirenians - the manatees and dugongs - are more closely related still, with the hyraxes as a more distant outgroup. They're nimble animals, scuttling comfortably across rocky terrain and even climbing trees with relative ease. They can often be spotted basking in the sun to raise their body temperature, not unlike a reptile would. We found this pair in…

• Seven habits of highly successful toads

  5 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am

  Toads are an evolutionary success story. In a relatively short span of time, they diversified into around 500 species and spread to every continent except Antarctica. Now, Ines van Bocxlaer from Vrije University has uncovered the secrets of their success. By comparing the most home-bound toads with the most invasive ones, she has outlined seven qualities that enabled these amphibians to conquer the world. In a common ancestor, these seven traits came together to create an eighth - a pioneer's skill are colonising new habitats. Some, like the harlequin toads, are restricted to such narrow…

• The renaissance of technicolour dinosaurs continues (and the gloves come off...)

  4 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  National Geographic should have a 3-D animation up soon The pursuit of accurate dinosaur colours just turned into a race, and a heated one at that. Just last week, I wrote about a group of scientists who claimed to have accurately identified the colours of some feathered dinosaurs by microscopically analysing three fossils. According to that study, Sinosauropteryx had a tail covered in ginger stripes. Now, another group have revealed the palette of an entire dinosaur, AnchiornisThis tiny predator had a dark grey body and the limbs bore long, white feathers tipped with black spangles. Its head…

• 
  NYT > Science

• Findings: Will You Be E-Mailing This Column? It’s Awesome

  By JOHN TIERNEY

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  A University of Pennsylvania study found that readers of news in print and online had more exalted tastes than might be expected.

• Skeptics Find Fault With U.N. Climate Panel

  By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:56 am

  Rajendra K. Pachauri and the U.N. panel he leads face accusations of scientific sloppiness and conflicts of interest.

• Thirty Knots, With the Wind at Your Wings

  By HENRY FOUNTAIN

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:48 am

  The sailboats competing in the America’s Cup are the fastest ever built but about as delicate as a house of cards.

• Personal Health: Less Invasive Hip Surgeries Make Inroads

  By JANE E. BRODY

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:26 am

  Orthopedic surgeons across the country are using techniques for hip replacement that reduce complications and speed recovery in patients.

• Update: Recovery Matches a Marathon Operation

  By DENISE GRADY

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:49 pm

  After a surgeon removed a huge cancerous tumor from his abdomen, Robert Collison, 59, spent eight weeks in the hospital with infections and other complications.

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  P212121

• CNS: Simulated Annealing

  Sean

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:04 pm

  CNS (Crystallography and NMR systems) is able to perform simulated annealing to get started, one must first create a generate file. 1) Input then scroll down to Refinement, refine.inp and Edit 2) amy.pdb needs to be replaced with your pdb file 3) The space group, unit cell, angles and amy.cv need to be updated 4) Adjust the resolution to your desired range. The overall B-factor correction should be set to isotropic unless you are dealing with very high resolution data (~1 Angstrom). Set Bulk solvent correction needs to be set to False 5) Change annealing schedule to slowcool Note: Not shown,…

• CNS: Create a Composite Omit Map

  Sean

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:53 pm

  CNS (Crystallography and NMR systems) is able to generate a composite omit map. In getting started, one must first create a generate file. 1) Input then scroll down to Refinement, composite_omit_map.inp and Edit 2) Three ‘amy’ files need to be placed with your appropriate files The space group, unit cell and angles also need to be updated (I find this slightly annoying since the information is contained in the files you are submitting) 3) Bulk solvent correction needs to be set to False 4) I suggest putting the map grid at 0.25, raising the starting temp to 1500 and 50 K steps. I…

• Vulnerable

  Sean

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:44 am

  Artem comments: late graduate students and Postdocs are vulnerable… the challenge is to stick out from the background of young researchers… Vulnerable in the sense of being attacked The logical response is to defend, but be careful how you do so The reflex is to follow protocol, keep your head down and get a paper published. What other options do you have? You aren’t in charge, it’s not your lab. Getting ready to move on, you search for job openings, ask your boss who they know, polish the CV and get ready for interviews. The job opening appears and 300 people apply. A…

• Tattoos

  Sean

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  Just found out some scientists like tattoos. Our contribution: 1) hkl (on the appropriate knuckles) 2) Bragg’s Law (arm) 3) Diffraction pattern (full back) Send in pictures of your crystallography tattoos for bonus points.

• Anonymous Feedback

  Sean

  30 Jan 2010 | 11:51 am

  At our university we are required to give a literature presentation. The presentation is 1 hour including time for questions. The goal of this exercise is to help students develop various skills that are valuable in a scientific career such as presenting, evaluating literature and answering questions. Good stuff. I did my presentation and it really well except to one professor. According to my evaluation, I had confidently fabricated an answer and misled an entire audience. Fair enough, I make mistakes, but in this case I was right and had the literature to back it up. My scores were fine…

• 
  IEEE Spectrum

• Wind Turbines Cause Radar Cone of Silence

  Radar interference from spinning blades have nixed thousands of megawatts of construction.

• Inquiry Clears Climategate Researcher

  First of several reviews finds Michael Mann of hockeystick fame largely innocent of misconduct

• Evolution of Adaptive Behaviour in Robots by Means of Darwinian Selection

  In spite of the apparent behavioral complexity of the robots, all behaviors were achieved with extremely simple brains consisting of only a handful of neurons.

• IBM Demonstrates Graphene Transistor Twice as Fast as Silicon

  Graphene continues to impress with its string of landmark achievements for electronics

• Solar Tech in Africa

  Green lanterns and green radios.

• 
  National Geographic News

• Groundhog Day Pictures: Punxsutawney Phil, Now and Then

  2 Feb 2010 | 10:06 am

• Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil Sees Shadow--And Long Winter for 2010

  2 Feb 2010 | 7:47 am

  On Groundhog Day 2010, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow—and six more weeks of winter, according to tradition. Get surprising facts behind the wacky weather prediction.

• Obama Scrubs NASA's Manned Moon Missions

  1 Feb 2010 | 3:08 pm

  Although NASA will get a budget increase for 2011, plans to return humans to the moon by 2020 would be officially scrapped, because the program is "over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation," according to the White House.

• Birds Got Too Fat to Fly After Dinosaurs Vanished?

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:53 pm

  The ancestors of ostriches and other flightless birds once flew, a new study says. They apparently grounded themselves in earnest, though, after dinosaurs were wiped out.

• How to Survive Without Sex for 50 Million Years? Dry Up

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:20 pm

  Scientists have finally solved the mystery of how one tiny creature has flourished for up to 50 million years without sex: it dries up.

• 
  PLoS Biology

• Using Structural Information to Change the Phosphotransfer Specificity of a Two-Component Chemotaxis Signalling Complex

  Christian H. Bell et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Analysis of the crystal structure of a phosphotransfer complex from the Rhodobacter sphaeroides chemotaxis pathway allowed reengineering of molecular recognition in a two-component signalling system.

• Paleovirology—Modern Consequences of Ancient Viruses

  Michael Emerman et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

• A Novel High-Affinity Sucrose Transporter Is Required for Virulence of the Plant Pathogen Ustilago maydis

  Ramon Wahl et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  A novel, high-affinity sucrose transporter identified in the plasma membrane of the plant pathogen Ustilago maydis is essential for fungal virulence and successful infection of maize.

• mRNA Secondary Structures Fold Sequentially But Exchange Rapidly In Vivo

  Elisabeth M. Mahen et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Self-cleavage assays of RNA folding reveal that mRNA structures fold sequentially in vitro and in vivo, but exchange between adjacent structures is much faster in vivo than it is in vitro.

• Living the Sweet Life: How Does a Plant Pathogenic Fungus Acquire Sugar from Plants?

  Nicholas J. Talbot

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

• 
  PLoS Computational Biology

• Predicted Functions of MdmX in Fine-Tuning the Response of p53 to DNA Damage

  Sohyoung Kim et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary A Molecular Interaction Map (MIM) akin to a circuit diagram of an electric device can give a comprehensive view of cellular processes and help understand complex protein functions in cells. To this end, we generated a MIM focused on the p53-Mdm2-MdmX network proteins and performed computer simulations to help understand how Mdm2 and MdmX may regulate p53. Proper regulation of p53 is important for cell survival: elevated levels of p53 can lead to cell death, and decreased levels of p53 can lead to cancer. Mdm2 and MdmX are structurally homologous proteins that regulate p53. Mdm2…

• In Silico Analysis of the Apolipoprotein E and the Amyloid β Peptide Interaction: Misfolding Induced by Frustration of the Salt Bridge Network

  Jinghui Luo et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Unraveling the molecular details of the interaction between apolipoprotein E and the amyloid β peptide will yield insights into the relationship between Alzheimer's disease and lipid transport and metabolism. The isoform E4 of apolipoprotein E has been shown to be closely related to Alzheimer's disease. We have therefore used a computational approach to depict a detailed interaction map for this peptide-lipoprotein interaction. The simulation shows that the specific formation of the lipoprotein isoform E4 and the peptide complex affects the structure of the lipoprotein and the…

• The Overlap of Small Molecule and Protein Binding Sites within Families of Protein Structures

  Fred P. Davis et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Proteins function through their interactions with other biological molecules, including other proteins. Often times, these interactions underlie cellular processes that go awry in disease. Therefore, modulating these interactions with small molecules is an active area of research for new drugs to treat diseases and new chemical tools to dissect cellular interaction networks. However, targeting protein–protein interactions has proven to be more challenging than the typical drug targets found on individual proteins. Here, we present a computational approach that aims to help in…

• A Universal Trend of Reduced mRNA Stability near the Translation-Initiation Site in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes

  Wanjun Gu et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Synonymous mutations are mutations that change the nucleotide sequence of a gene without changing the amino-acid sequence. Because these mutations don't alter the expressed protein, they are frequently also called silent mutations. Yet increasing evidence demonstrates that synonymous mutations are not that silent. In particular, experimental work in Escherichia coli has shown that the choice of synonymous codons near the start codon can greatly influence protein production. Codons that allow the mRNA to fold into a stable secondary structure seem to inhibit efficient…

• Explicit Kinetic Heterogeneity: Mathematical Models for Interpretation of Deuterium Labeling of Heterogeneous Cell Populations

  Vitaly V. Ganusov et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Understanding of cellular processes is impossible without quantitative estimates of how quickly cells in an organism divide and die. The most widely used approach to measure rates of cell turnover in humans is by labeling dividing cells with deuterium given in the form of deuterated glucose or heavy water. Surprisingly, quantitative estimates of the rates of cell turnover obtained from accumulation and decay of the labeled nucleotides in the cell population varied between different studies. We demonstrate that these differences were not likely to arise because of different…

• 
  PLoS Genetics

• Wing Patterns in the Mist

  Arnaud Martin et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

• DNA Binding of Centromere Protein C (CENPC) Is Stabilized by Single-Stranded RNA

  Yaqing Du et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Here we address the issue of how genetic information is passed from one generation to the next without the involvement of specific DNA sequences. This type of inheritance is referred to as epigenetics. Centromeric sequences are highly variable and in many cases are not sufficient for centromere function. Rather, secondary features of the DNA, such as methylation or associated RNA molecules may serve to recruit key centromere binding proteins. Prior data from several species have established that single-stranded RNAs are surprisingly abundant on centromeric chromatin. Here we…

• Genomic Hotspots for Adaptation: The Population Genetics of Müllerian Mimicry in Heliconius erato

  Brian A. Counterman et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Identifying the genetic changes responsible for beneficial variation is essential for understanding how organisms adapt. Here, we use a combination of mapping, population genetic analysis, and gene expression studies to identify the genomic regions responsible for phenotypic evolution in the Neotropical butterfly Heliconius erato. H. erato, together with its co-mimic H. melpomene, have undergone parallel and concordant radiations in their warningly colored wing patterns across Central and South America. The “genes” underlying the H. erato color pattern radiation are classic…

• Mutations in SLC29A3, Encoding an Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter ENT3, Cause a Familial Histiocytosis Syndrome (Faisalabad Histiocytosis) and Familial Rosai-Dorfman Disease

  Neil V. Morgan et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary The histiocytoses are a group of systemic disorders usually confined to childhood and are caused by an excessive number of histiocytes which phagocytose other cells and process antigens. Although nearly a century has passed since histiocytic disorders were recognised, their pathophysiology remains largely unclear, and treatment is nonspecific. The identification of SLC29A3 mutations as the molecular basis for a familial form of syndromic histiocytosis (FHC/RDD) confirms a direct link between Faisalabad histiocytosis and Rosai-Dorfman disease and links these disorders to other…

• Genetic and Functional Dissection of HTRA1 and LOC387715 in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

  Zhenglin Yang et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading blindness cause in western countries. Several genes encoding components of the complement pathway—including CFH, C2/BF, and C3—have been confirmed to be associated with AMD, as well as a region on 10q26 that encompasses two genes. Recent data have suggested that loss of LOC387715 on 10q26, mediated by an insertion/deletion (in/del) at its 3'UTR that destabilizes its message, is causally related with the disorder. We found that a common disease haplotype including the in/del and rs11200638 also has an effect on the…

• 
  PLoS Pathogens

• Neutrophil-Derived CCL3 Is Essential for the Rapid Recruitment of Dendritic Cells to the Site of Leishmania major Inoculation in Resistant Mice

  Mélanie Charmoy et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary When infectious agents enter our body, neutrophils are the first cells recruited to the scene. In addition to their capacity to kill microbes, neutrophils secrete molecules that attract other cells also involved in immune defense, such as dendritic cells (DCs). Here, we investigate the secretion of DC-attracting chemokines by neutrophils after inoculation of mice with Leishmania major, a protozoan parasite that can cause long-lasting, skin ulcers in man. Following parasite inoculation, most inbred strains of mice (e.g.C57BL/6) develop self-resolving lesions, while in a few…

• Immunoelectron Microscopic Evidence for Tetherin/BST2 as the Physical Bridge between HIV-1 Virions and the Plasma Membrane

  Jason Hammonds et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Tetherin or BST2 is a cellular protein that was recently found to limit the ability of HIV to escape from cells. HIV counteracts this cellular restriction to its lifecycle by expressing the small viral accessory protein Vpu. Upon viral infection, cells expressing high levels of tetherin accumulate large clusters or strings of virions that remain attached to the plasma membrane by an unknown mechanism. The simplest explanation for this clustering is that tetherin itself physically attaches particles to the plasma membrane and to each other. In this article, we demonstrate that…

• Reverse Genetics in Candida albicans Predicts ARF Cycling Is Essential for Drug Resistance and Virulence

  Elias Epp et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Candida albicans is a fungus that normally resides as part of the microflora in the human gut. Candida species can cause superficial infections like thrush in the healthy human population and life-threatening invasive infections in immunocompromised patients. Fungal infections are often treated with azole drugs, but due to the fungistatic nature of these agents, C. albicans can develop drug resistance, leading to therapy failure. To improve the action of azoles and convert them into fungicidal drugs, we first systematically analyzed the genetic requirements for tolerance to one…

• Fis Is Essential for Capsule Production in Pasteurella multocida and Regulates Expression of Other Important Virulence Factors

  Jason A. Steen et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Pasteurella multocida is an animal pathogen of worldwide economic significance. It causes fowl cholera in wild birds and poultry, hemorrhagic septicemia in ungulates, and atrophic rhinitis in swine. The major virulence factor in fowl cholera-causing isolates is the polysaccharide capsule, which is composed of hyaluronic acid. Although there have been reports of spontaneous capsule loss in some strains, to date there has been no systematic investigation into the molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon. In this study, we describe for the first time the underlying transcriptional…

• Distinct External Signals Trigger Sequential Release of Apical Organelles during Erythrocyte Invasion by Malaria Parasites

  Shailja Singh et al.

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Malaria remains a major public health problem in many parts of the tropical world. All the clinical symptoms of malaria are attributed to the blood stage of the parasite life cycle during which Plasmodium merozoites invade and multiply within host erythrocytes. Invasion by Plasmodium merozoites is a complex process that requires multiple molecular interactions between the invading parasite and target erythrocyte. Parasite proteins that mediate such interactions are localized in membrane bound internal organelles at the apical end of merozoites called micronemes and rhoptries.

• 
  PLoS ONE Alerts

• Maternal Investment Influences Expression of Resource Polymorphism in Amphibians: Implications for the Evolution of Novel Resource-Use Phenotypes

  Ryan A. Martin et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Maternal effects—where an individual's phenotype is influenced by the phenotype or environment of its mother—are taxonomically and ecologically widespread. Yet, their role in the origin of novel, complex traits remains unclear. Here we investigate the role of maternal effects in influencing the induction of a novel resource-use phenotype. Spadefoot toad tadpoles, Spea multiplicata, often deviate from their normal development and produce a morphologically distinctive carnivore-morph phenotype, which specializes on anostracan fairy shrimp. We evaluated whether maternal investment influences…

• The Induction of Colitis and Ileitis in Mice Is Associated with Marked Increases in Intestinal Concentrations of Stimulants of TLRs 2, 4, and 5

  Clett Erridge et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) appear to be modulated by the interaction of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) derived from intestinal bacteria with their respective innate immune receptors, including Toll-like receptors (TLRs). We aimed to establish if intestinal concentrations of proinflammatory bacterial ligands of TLR2, TLR4, or TLR5 may be altered in murine IBD models, and to characterize which of the major bacterial groups may contribute to each signal. Methodology/Principal Findings PAMPs specific for TLR2 (lipopeptide equivalents), TLR4 (lipopolysaccharide…

• Engineering Clostridium Strain to Accept Unmethylated DNA

  Hongjun Dong et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  It is difficult to genetically manipulate the medically and biotechnologically important genus Clostridium due to the existence of the restriction and modification (RM) systems. We identified and engineered the RM system of a model clostridial species, C. acetobutylicum, with the aim to allow the host to accept the unmethylated DNA efficiently. A gene CAC1502 putatively encoding the type II restriction endonuclease Cac824I was identified from the genome of C. acetobutylicum DSM1731, and disrupted using the ClosTron system based on group II intron insertion. The resulting strain SMB009 lost…

• Identification of Differentially Expressed Proteins in Murine Embryonic and Postnatal Cortical Neural Progenitors

  Lorelei D. Shoemaker et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background The central nervous system (CNS) develops from a heterogeneous pool of neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPC), the underlying differences among which are poorly understood. The study of NSPC would be greatly facilitated by the identification of additional proteins that mediate their function and that would distinguish amongst different progenitor populations. Methodology/Principal Findings To identify membrane and membrane-associated proteins expressed by NSPC, we used a proteomics approach to profile NSPC cultured as neurospheres (NS) isolated from the murine cortex during a…

• An Empirical Method for Establishing Positional Confidence Intervals Tailored for Composite Interval Mapping of QTL

  Andrew Crossett et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background Improved genetic resolution and availability of sequenced genomes have made positional cloning of moderate-effect QTL realistic in several systems, emphasizing the need for precise and accurate derivation of positional confidence intervals (CIs) for QTL. Support interval (SI) methods based on the shape of the QTL likelihood curve have proven adequate for standard interval mapping, but have not been shown to be appropriate for use with composite interval mapping (CIM), which is one of the most commonly used QTL mapping methods. Results Based on a non-parametric confidence interval…

• 
  PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

• Of Cattle, Sand Flies and Men: A Systematic Review of Risk Factor Analyses for South Asian Visceral Leishmaniasis and Implications for Elimination

  Caryn Bern et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a potentially deadly parasitic disease that affects 200,000 to 300,000 people per year in the Indian subcontinent, where an effort is currently underway to eliminate the disease. Studies have identified fairly consistent patterns of risk factors for VL. This information can help to inform the elimination effort. Because humans form the sole source of infection, clustering of VL cases is a prominent feature, both at the household level and on a larger scale. Mud walls, dampness in houses, and peri-domestic vegetation increase infection risk by…

• Schistosoma mansoni Stomatin Like Protein-2 Is Located in the Tegument and Induces Partial Protection against Challenge Infection

  Leonardo P. Farias et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease causing serious chronic morbidity in tropical countries. Together with the publication of the transcriptome database, a series of new vaccine candidates were proposed based on their functional classification. However, the prediction of vaccine candidates from sequence information or even by proteomics or microarrays data is somewhat speculative and there remains the considerable task of functional analysis of each new gene/protein. In this study, we present the characterization of one of these molecules, a stomatin like protein 2…

• Temporal Expression of Chemokines Dictates the Hepatic Inflammatory Infiltrate in a Murine Model of Schistosomiasis

  Melissa L. Burke et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms, is a significant cause of illness and death in the developing world. Furthermore, recent reports suggest that the global burden of disease due to schistosomiasis has been significantly underestimated. Schistosomiasis of the liver arises due to inflammation and the deposition of scar tissue around parasite eggs trapped in this organ. In the current study we analysed the gene-expression profile of the mouse liver at several time points following infection with a virulent strain of Schistosoma japonicum to better understand the…

• Transcriptional Changes in Schistosoma mansoni during Early Schistosomula Development and in the Presence of Erythrocytes

  Geoffrey N. Gobert et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Schistosome blood flukes cause more mortality and morbidity than any other human worm infection, but current control methods primarily rely on a single drug. There is a desperate need for new approaches to control this parasite, including vaccines. People become infected when the free-swimming larva, the cercaria, enters through the skin and becomes the schistosomulum. Schistosomula are susceptible to immune responses during their first few days in the host before they become adult parasites. We characterised the genes that these newly transformed parasites switch on when they…

• An “In-Depth” Description of the Small Non-coding RNA Population of Schistosoma japonicum Schistosomulum

  Zhangxun Wang et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Author Summary Schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent and serious parasitic diseases in tropical and subtropical regions. Schistosomes are pathogens that have a unique repertoire of genes expressed at different life cycle stages. Small regulatory RNAs play an important role in the control of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In a previous study, we identified five conserved miRNAs in adult S. japonicum worms through traditional sequencing methods. In this work, we discovered more microRNAs, including 16 new schistosome-specific miRNA families in addition to 20 conserved…

• 
  PLoS Hubs for Clinical Trials

• Safety and Immunogenicity of an AMA1 Malaria Vaccine in Malian Children: Results of a Phase 1 Randomized Controlled Trial

  Mahamadou A. Thera et al.

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background The objective was to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the AMA1-based malaria vaccine FMP2.1/AS02A in children exposed to seasonal falciparum malaria. Methodology/Principal Findings A Phase 1 double blind randomized controlled dose escalation trial was conducted in Bandiagara, Mali, West Africa, a rural town with intense seasonal transmission of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The malaria vaccine FMP2.1/AS02A is a recombinant protein (FMP2.1) based on apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) from the 3D7 clone of P. falciparum, formulated in the Adjuvant System AS02A. The comparator…

• Effect of a High Intake of Conjugated Linoleic Acid on Lipoprotein Levels in Healthy Human Subjects

  Anne J. Wanders et al.

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background Trans fatty acids are produced either by industrial hydrogenation or by biohydrogenation in the rumens of cows and sheep. Industrial trans fatty acids lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and increase the risk of coronary heart disease. The effects of trans fatty acids from ruminants are less clear. We investigated the effect on blood lipids of cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a trans fatty acid largely restricted to ruminant fats. Methodology/Principal Findings Sixty-one healthy women and men were…

• Ghostwriting at Elite Academic Medical Centers in the United States

  Jeffrey R. Lacasse et al.

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Jeffrey Lacasse and Jonathan Leo assess ghostwriting policies at 50 academic medical centers in the United States and find that only 10 explicitly prohibit ghostwriting.

• Priming Immunization with DNA Augments Immunogenicity of Recombinant Adenoviral Vectors for Both HIV-1 Specific Antibody and T-Cell Responses

  Richard A. Koup et al.

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background Induction of HIV-1-specific T-cell responses relevant to diverse subtypes is a major goal of HIV vaccine development. Prime-boost regimens using heterologous gene-based vaccine vectors have induced potent, polyfunctional T cell responses in preclinical studies. Methods The first opportunity to evaluate the immunogenicity of DNA priming followed by recombinant adenovirus serotype 5 (rAd5) boosting was as open-label rollover trials in subjects who had been enrolled in prior studies of HIV-1 specific DNA vaccines. All subjects underwent apheresis before and after rAd5 boosting to…

• Considerations for the Design and Conduct of a Pharmacovigilance Study Involving Mass Drug Administration in a Resource-Constrained Setting

  Demissie Alemayehu et al.

  26 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am

• 
  PLoS Medicine

• The Global Research Neglect of Unassisted Smoking Cessation: Causes and Consequences

  Simon Chapman et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Simon Chapman and Ross MacKenzie review the evidence and argue that health promotion messages should emphasize that the most successful method used by most ex-smokers is unassisted cessation.

• Impact of Antiretroviral Therapy on Incidence of Pregnancy among HIV-Infected Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cohort Study

  Landon Myer et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  A multicountry cohort study in sub-Saharan Africa by Landon Myer and colleagues reveals higher pregnancy rates in HIV-infected women on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

• Developing Global Maps of the Dominant Anopheles Vectors of Human Malaria

  Simon I. Hay et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Simon Hay and colleagues describe how the Malaria Atlas Project has collated anopheline occurrence data to map the geographic distributions of the dominant mosquito vectors of human malaria.

• Ghostwriting at Elite Academic Medical Centers in the United States

  Jeffrey R. Lacasse et al.

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Jeffrey Lacasse and Jonathan Leo assess ghostwriting policies at 50 academic medical centers in the United States and find that only 10 explicitly prohibit ghostwriting.

• Measuring hsCRP—An Important Part of a Comprehensive Risk Profile or a Clinically Redundant Practice?

  James P. McCormack et al.

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  James McCormack and Michael Allan discuss issues and questions surrounding hsCRP measurements in patients.

• 
  Smartbrief: American Chemistry Council

• SEC's disclosure guidance shows climate change's impact on business

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  The Securities and Exchange Commission's guidance for corporate disclosure on climate-related risks is an acknowledgment that -More- 

• Strong pesticide demand in Argentina boosts sales of chemical makers

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Dow Chemical, BASF and Monsanto are benefiting from strong pesticide sales in Argentina, as the world's third-largest soy pro -More- 

• Florida Retail Bags Report a "Step in the Right Direction," Say Plastic Makers

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

   -More- 

• DuPont shows off new line of plastics for health care, pharmaceuticals

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  DuPont is launching engineering polymer products aimed at the health care and pharmaceutical-manufacturing markets.  -More- Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C) -- a law firm focusing on chemical product approval and advocacy. The B&C team of lawyers, policy experts, and scientists puts clients at the cutting edge of product advocacy, while our Acta Group affiliates (offices in Washington DC and Manchester UK) deliver chemical product approval and advocacy to clients globally.

• W.Va. county adopts protocol for emergencies involving chemicals

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Kanawha County officials in Charleston, W.Va., implemented a protocol for responding to chemical-plant emergencies as a way t -More- 

• 
  Smartbrief: American Institute of Chemical Engineers

• BASF remains committed to major chemical complexes

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  BASF expressed its commitment to continue investing in its facilities in Louisiana and Texas.  -More- 

• Say hello to a great phone interview

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Before a phone interview, review the employer's Web site to glean information about how the company operates, and write down  -More- 

• Tesco to invest $159M in green efforts

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Retail giant Tesco says it will spend more than $159 million on green technology in its mission to reduce its carbon emission -More- 

• Drug-releasing nanoburrs target damaged areas of blood vessels

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed protein-coated nanoburrs that focus on damaged arteries and -More- 

• Dow seeks joint venture for chlorine business

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  In line with its plan to employ an asset-light strategy for its chlor-alkali business, Dow Chemical could enter into a joint  -More- 

• 
  Reuters: Science News

• Study shows why it is so scary to lose money

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:50 am

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People are afraid to lose money and an unusual study released on Monday explains why -- the brain's fear center controls the response to a gamble.

• Scientists find gene variant link to aging cells

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:07 am

  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have found specific genetic variants which may explain why some people age earlier than others and say their findings have important implications for understanding cancer and age-related diseases.

• Shuttle Endeavour blasts off for space station

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:29 am

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The space shuttle Endeavour bolted off its seaside launch pad in Florida on Monday, carrying six astronauts on a voyage to install the last two main pieces of the International Space Station.

• Arctic climate changing faster than expected

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:32 pm

  WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Climate change is transforming the Arctic environment faster than expected and accelerating the disappearance of sea ice, scientists said on Friday in giving their early findings from the biggest-ever study of Canada's changing north.

• Russian cargo ship docks at International Space Station

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:14 pm

  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian cargo ship delivered food, water, fuel and other supplies to the International Space Station on Friday, space officials said.

• 
  ScienceNOW

• Australia, Antarctica Linked by Climate

  Phil Berardelli

  Carbon dioxide emissions could be leading to record drought and snowfalls [Read more]

• How Cancer Wreaks Havoc on Bone

  Laura Margottini

  Insulin-like hormone sends bodies' own bone-eating cells into overdrive [Read more]

• Teamwork Tackles Larger Protein Structures

  Robert F. Service

  Experiments and computer modeling provide an advance in solving protein structures [Read more]

• Can Thin Mountain Air Make You Slim?

  Jennifer Couzin-Frankel

  High living--in the topographical sense--causes weight loss, a study suggests [Read more]

• Better to React Than to Act

  Tim Wogan

  Legendary quantum physicist's speculations about Westerns inspire discovery about reaction speed [Read more]

• 
  Sciencetext Tips and Tricks

• Forty years of hackers at the movies

  David Bradley

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:51 am

  There are two definitions of “hacker” the first is the one we geeks mean when we call someone a hacker – a person skilled in using technology, particularly computers, who enjoys understanding the inner workings of that technology, perhaps for personal education. The second is the colloquial definition that refers to someone engaged in breaking through computer security, often seen as a disaffected teenager, lurking behind a green-glowing computer monitor that clicks with every keystroke. Are the movies to blame for the hacker stereotype? Damian Gordon of the School of…

• Force Google to spider your site

  David Bradley

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am

  If you have a static website, one with content that doesn’t change often and that has no RSS newsfeed (so not a blog), you’ve probably noticed (if you care about these things) that Google doesn’t bother to visit, or spider, your static that often. After an initial flurry of activity when you first created the site, the search engine will have recognized that nothing changed between consecutive visits and will have settled itself down to visiting just once a week, month, every few months, or whatever…what happens next is that Google may consider your static site to be…

• One simple trick to boost Adsense earnings

  David Bradley

  2 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  Are you a blogger running the Google Adsense revenue generation program on your blog? Disappointed with the results? Well, there’s one thing you can do that is almost guaranteed to boost income significantly almost instantaneously. Add an optimal ad unit in the most prominent and appealing place on your blog. So, you ask, what’s the optimal unit and where should I stick it? Google and countless A-list bloggers will tell you it’s the 300×250 with a color scheme that matches that of your blog theme. Lots of people use it but don’t always put it in the best place on…

• Facebook Doppelgängers

  David Bradley

  1 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am

  In case you missed it, quite a few Facebook users were switching their avatars for photos of famous people they have been told they resemble, their celebrity Doppelgänger, if you will. It followed on quickly from the “retro” meme where a lot of people were posting a picture of themselves when much younger. But, that seemed a bit boring to me. Much more fun would be to persuade lookalike celebrities to replace their Facebook photo with a picture of you! We could call it “antigänger week” Intute’s Paul Meehan has already got Dan Ackroyd to swap his. It seems…

• Hey pal, your widgets are showing!

  David Bradley

  29 Jan 2010 | 5:00 am

  I’m not sure whether the phrase “flying low without a license” translates beyond the shores of the British Isles. Nevertheless, it is an expression one gent might remark to another when he spots that said gent has failed to fasten the fly buttons on his 501s or the zipper on his pantaloons and is in danger of an embarrassing public display. Across the blogosphere one might say instead, “your widgets are showing”. As a gent, I’d be discrete in letting a fellow blogger know that there is potential for virtual fallout. However, I spotted a little box, in a…

• 
  FlowingData

• Track Mouse Activity On Your Computer

  Nathan

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:31 am

  Anatoly Zenkov provides this nifty tool (Mac and PC) to track your mouse pointer. Really simple. Just start it, let it run, minimize the window, and carry on as usual. In the end, you get this image that looks something like a Pollock. Circles show areas where the pointer didn't move while the tracks show movement. The above is my own activity during the past couple of hours. I was just randomly browsing while watching the Laker game, so it's kind of all over the place. Run while using a single application for a while, and you might see something like Zenkov's tracks on Photoshop. What do…

• Data Underload #8 – Unsolicited

  Nathan

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:56 am

  A few months back, the Caltrans Performance Measurement System (PeMS) opened up a brand spanking new forum where people could discuss how they used the group's traffic data. They created an email list to tell everyone about the new forum. The problem is that PeMS used a single address to email everyone. So when someone "replied all," he would in turn email every single person on the list. What followed was a long thread of emails that (entertaining) morning. This is that email thread. It got ugly quick (and kind of inappropriate towards the end). Let this be a lesson to you site…

• Weekend Fodder

  Nathan

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:30 pm

  Here are some links and stuff to chew on as you wait for the Super Bowl, in between the beer, pizza, and wings. Pink Floyd Timeline, 1960-2000 - A highly stylized timeline of music from Pink Floyd over the years. The making of the NYT’s Netflix graphic - The interactive showing the geography of Netlfix rentals was a big hit around the Web. Detailed, engaging, interesting, and a great ad for Netflix. An Interview With Nicholas Felton, Creator of the Feltron Annual Report - It manages to make a bigger splash every month. Felton gets into some of the details of compiling the report [thanks,…

• Undergraduate Summer Program for Statistics

  Nathan

  5 Feb 2010 | 11:28 am

  If you're an undergraduate with an interest in data and statistics, you should definitely consider applying to this one-week summer program: Explorations in Statistics Research. It's in Boulder, Colorado and your travel expenses, along with room and board, will be covered. The seven day workshop is designed so that students get a sense of how statisticians approach large, complex problems. Several different topics will be presented over the course of the week. You'll also get hands-on experience with computing and visualization tools. Basically, you're going to have fun with data when you're…

• Excessively Labeled Airplane Tells You Where the Big Cheese Sits

  Nathan

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:51 am

  In case the in-flight pamphlet isn't enough for you, everything on this Kulula airplane is labeled for your convenience. Look, there's even a spot to put your boots. So convenient. [Thanks, Fernando]

• 
  ScienceDaily

• Marijuana ineffective as an Alzheimer's treatment

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  The benefits of marijuana in tempering or reversing the effects of Alzheimer's disease have been challenged in a new study.

• Poor hand-grip strength associated with poor survival

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  Poor or declining hand-grip strength in the oldest old is associated with poor survival and may be used as a tool to assess mortality, found a new article. The fastest growing segment of the elderly population is the group older than 85 years, classified as the oldest old.

• Probing exoplanets from the ground: A little telescope goes a long way

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  NASA astronomers have successfully demonstrated that a David of a telescope can tackle Goliath-size questions in the quest to study Earth-like planets around other stars. Their work provides a new tool for ground-based observatories, promising to accelerate by years the search for prebiotic, or life-related, molecules on planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system.

• Detecting cancer early

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  A new testing method is being developed to detect cancer soon after the tumor has formed. It will identify characteristic substances in the blood which accompany a certain type of tumor. The first steps in the development have already been completed.

• Ultra-cold chemistry: First direct observation of exchange process in quantum gas

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  Considerable progresses made in controlling quantum gases open up a new avenue to study chemical processes. An Austrian research team has now succeeded in directly observing chemical exchange processes in an ultra-cold sample of cesium atoms and Feshbach molecules.

• 
  Science News And Research

• Ability to navigate may be linked to genes

  Human, animals and even fish routinely reorient themselves using landmarks and mentally visualizing the geometry of their surroundings. Now, according to new research, it appears there may also be a genetic component that plays a part in our ability to navigate the world...

• Samoan study reveals possible evolutionary role for homosexuality

  Male homosexuality doesn't make complete sense from an evolutionary point of view but a new study suggests that it may convey an indirect benefit by enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives. The study hypothesizes that homosexual men enhance their own genetic prospects by acting altruistically toward their nieces and nephews, thereby perpetuating some of their genes indirectly through the family line...

• Viagra found to enhance fetal growth

  Not content with erections, Pfizer have been funding left-of-field studies for other potential applications for their stiffy dysfunction treatment. The latest finding to come from Pfizer's, er, benevolence? That the drug can enhance fetal growth - at least in pregnant sheep...

• Facebook use associated with depression

  An alarming new study provides compelling evidence that chat rooms, online gaming and social networking sites can have a serious impact on mental health, leading to moderate to severe depression in users...

• White paint touted as climate remedy

  Painting the roofs of buildings white has the potential to significantly cool cities, say researchers who have calculated that New York City would cool by almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit in summer...

• 
  The Why Files

• Tracking traveling toads

  svmedaristwf

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:42 pm

  Do new species arise because so many niches are available in a new habitat? Or do they arise because newcomers have multiple talents for survival? A new study points to traits that enable success in the new location.

• Shock and aftershock in Haiti

  admin

  28 Jan 2010 | 1:59 pm

  Aftershocks and triggered earthquakes both follow a large earthquake, and they don't happen at random. Can lessons about the sequence and timing of quakes improve safety?

• Sustaining symbiosis – new clues

  svmedaristwf

  21 Jan 2010 | 1:02 pm

  To hide from hungry fish, this animal houses luminous bacteria. But what prevents the bacteria from reproducing and killing the squid? At last, a genetic a balancing mechanism is revealed.

• Make rainbows!

  admin

  21 Jan 2010 | 12:38 pm

  Rainbows are one of the wonders of the natural world: But why do you sometimes see one rainbow, and other times a double? Why do you always see rainbows with your back to the sun? How do they really work? Operate your own rainbow, then find out! OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS: CHOOSE YOUR ‘BOW: • Primary shows the primary rainbow and [...]

• San Andreas Fault

  admin

  14 Jan 2010 | 7:42 pm

  In a recent issue of Nature, U.S. seismologists report that the devastating earthquake of 2004 that caused tsunamis in the Indian Ocean had also affected California’s San Andreas Fault. The tsunamis that resulted from the earthquake, which was recorded as a magnitude of 9.2, the second largest reading ever recorded, caused the death of [...]

• 
  ScienceWeek

• [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

• 
  BBC News Player | Sci-Tech

• Internet safety for five-year-olds

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:13 am

  Children as young as five are being targeted in a new online safety campaign by the UK body charged with protecting children from abuse.

• Prof Watson on climate science

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:45 am

  Chief Scientist at the Department for the Environment, Professor Robert Watson on the science of climate change.

• ClickBits: Tech talk with LJ Rich

  5 Feb 2010 | 1:26 pm

  LJ Rich takes a sideways look at the week's tech stories. This week's episode features pole-dancing robots, tablet wars and Lego-lovers.

• US pandas arrive in China

  5 Feb 2010 | 3:07 am

  Two young giant pandas born in the US have completed their journey to Chengdu in China.

• How 3D rugby is filmed

  5 Feb 2010 | 2:55 am

  See how the 6 Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham on Saturday 6 February will be filmed in 3D.

• 
  PHYSORG

• Exposure to secondhand smoke among children in England has declined since 1996

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:20 am

  The most comprehensive study to date of secondhand smoke exposure among children in England is published today in the journal Addiction. The study, carried out by researchers from the University of Bath's School for Health, reveals that exposure to household secondhand smoke among children aged 4-15 has declined steadily since 1996.

• Breakthrough for mobile television

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:20 am

  Long Term Evolution, the new mobile telecommunications standard, will revolutionize mobile Internet. High transmission rates will soon be possible on mobile devices. For this purpose Fraunhofer researchers at HHI Berlin, Germany, developed the cross-layer design SVC over LTE -- a coding method that offers HD films in real-time in the appropriate format for cell phones or netbooks. The experts are presenting their solution in a live demonstration at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

• Leaf veins inspire a new model for distribution networks (w/ Video)

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:18 am

  (PhysOrg.com) -- Following the straight and narrow may be good moral advice, but it`s not a great design principle for a distribution network. In new research, a team of biophysicists describe a complex netting of interconnected looping veins that evolution devised to distribute water in leaves. The work, which bucks decades of thinking, may compel engineers to revisit some common assumptions that have informed the building of many human-built distribution networks.

• 'Counterfactual' thinkers are more motivated and analytical, study suggests

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:13 am

  (PhysOrg.com) -- "If only I had..." Almost everyone has said those four words at some time. Rather than intensifying regret, '"what if" reflection about pivotal moments in the past helps people to weave a coherent life story, and fosters their organizational commitment, scholars say.

• 'Revolutionary' water treatment units on their way to Afghanistan

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:10 am

  The United States Army has taken delivery of the first two units of a "revolutionary" waste-water treatment system that will clean putrid water within 24 hours and leave no toxic by-products, according to scientists at Sam Houston State University.

• 
  Yahoo! News: Science News

• Still no word from Toyota on Prius recall (AP)

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:26 pm

  AP - Toyota is close to recalling as many as 300,000 of its popular Prius hybrids over brake problems, according to Japanese media — a decision that would further embarrass a trusted brand suddenly beset by safety problems.

• Different Colors Describe Happiness vs. Depression (LiveScience.com)

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:10 pm

  LiveScience.com - Are you in a gray mood today? How about a blue funk? Maybe you're seeing red, because you're green with jealousy. The colors we use to describe emotions may be more useful than you think, according to new research.

• Scientists Spot Genes Tied to Aging (HealthDay)

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:04 pm

  HealthDay - SUNDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have discovered genetic variants that are associated with biological aging, a finding that could explain why some people seem to age faster than others.

• Stem Cell Research Makes Another Advance (HealthDay)

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:03 pm

  HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say they've developed a new and easier way to create what's known as pluripotent stem cells -- cells that can develop into one of many cell types for use in regenerative medicine.

• Ex-Boeing engineer gets 15 years in spy case (Reuters)

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:52 pm

  Reuters - An ex-Boeing Co engineer, found guilty last year of passing space shuttle secrets to China in America's first conviction under a 1996 espionage law, was sentenced on Monday to 15 years in prison.

• 
  Scientific American

• NASA Readies a Satellite to Probe the Sun, Inside and Out

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is what might be called a satellite for the information age. It is designed to provide scientists who study the sun with a torrent of data--the space agency says the observatory will return 150 million bits of data about Earth's host star per second, or about 1.5 terabytes per day. [More]

• What Happens in the Amygdala... Damage to Brain's Decision-Making Area May Encourage Dicey Gambles

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  Imagine you've lost your job. You have some money saved, and a chance to double it with a gamble. But if you lose the bet, you'll forfeit everything. What would you do? [More]

• City Dwellers Drive Deforestation in 21st Century

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pm

  Globally, roughly 13 million hectares of forest fall to the blade or fire each year. Such deforestation has long been driven by farmers eking out a slash-and-burn living or loggers using new roads to cut inroads into pristine forest. But now new data appears to show that, at least for the first five years of the 21st century, big block clearings that reflect industrial deforestation have come to dominate, rather than smaller-scale efforts that leave behind long, narrow swaths of cleared land. [More]

• Researchers Identify Genetic Variant Linked to Faster Biological Aging

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:45 am

  There's no right answer when someone asks you: " How old do you think I am ?"Faced with such a dilemma, most of us aim low--erring on the side of flattery rather than honesty. But the truth is, accurately guessing someone's age is a difficult task, perhaps best left to amusement park workers and street performers. [More]

• CERN Gears Up Its Computers for More Atom Smashing

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  A deluge of high-energy physics data is headed toward servers in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month. That's because the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) now says it plans to restart its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) soon for a run that could last as long as two years at a collision energy of seven TeV (tera–electron volts, 3.5 TeV per beam). As CERN ramps up the world's most powerful particle accelerator to operate well beyond its previous best performance , the lab's computer systems must likewise be tuned so they can properly capture and analyze all of this new…

• 
  Eurekalert

• Low forms of cyclin E reduce breast cancer drug's effectiveness

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Overexpression of low-molecular-weight (LMW-E) forms of the protein cyclin E renders the aromatase inhibitor letrozole ineffective among women with estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers, researchers from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in Clinical Cancer Research.

• Caltech neuroscientists discover brain area responsible for fear of losing money

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brain -- the amygdala.

• Animals cope with climate change at the dinner table

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Professor Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology has been measuring the evolving body sizes of birds and animals in areas where climate change is most extreme. In higher latitudes, Professor Yom-Tov has identified a pattern of birds getting smaller and mammals getting bigger. The change, he hypothesizes, is likely a strategy for survival.

• One-third of antimalarial medicines sampled in 3 African nations found to be substandard

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  The first results from a large-scale study of key antimalarial medicines in ten Sub-Saharan African countries reveal that a high percentage of medicines circulating on national markets are of substandard quality and thus may contribute to the growth of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent form of malaria.

• Antiretroviral therapy associated with increase in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  In PLoS Medicine this week a study conducted in a multi-country HIV treatment program in sub-Saharan Africa has found that pregnancy rates increase in HIV-infected women after they start antiretroviral therapy.

• 
  Science Magazine

• [News of the Week] U.S. Budget: Science Spared From Domestic Spending Freeze—for Now

  Jeffrey Mervis

  Despite his pledge to freeze domestic discretionary spending in an attempt to shrink a $1.6 trillion deficit, President Barack Obama has asked Congress to boost science spending next year across the federal government.<br><br>Author: Jeffrey Mervis

• [News of the Week] U.S. Budget: Obama Shakes Up Satellite Programs For Clearer Picture of Earth

  Eli Kintisch

  More money to study climate change is a central element in the president's 2011 budget, and much of that science will be done in orbit.<br><br>Author: Eli Kintisch

• [News of the Week] Research Facilities: New Korean Science City Caught in Political Crossfire

  Dennis Normile

  Plans for a new $34 billion Korean science city inched forward last week when the South Korean administration unveiled enabling legislation that will eventually go to the National Assembly.<br><br>Author: Dennis Normile

• [News of the Week] Scientific Publishing: Publications and Expats Warn Of Russia's Dangerous Decline

  Daniel Clery

  Last week, information provider Thomson Reuters released an analysis* of worldwide scientific publications that shows that Russia's research output has continued to slide since the demise of the Soviet Union.<br><br>Author: Daniel Clery

• [News of the Week] ScienceInsider: From the Science Policy Blog

  Stewart Wills (mailto:swills@aaas.org)

  ScienceInsider has analyzed the Administration's budget proposals for individual agencies in a series of postings throughout the week, among other stories.

• 
  NOVA scienceNOW

• Diving Into Danger

  WGBH Science Unit

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

  Scientists are excited about the Bahamas, and it’s not just the tropical vacations that have their interest. It’s what’s underneath the surface of the islands—huge caves systems filled with water. They’re called blue holes, and deep inside of them lie clues to past climate change, new species of invertebrates, even human remains from people who lived on the islands long before Columbus visited. In this podcast, hear from Kenny Broad, a researcher who led a diving expedition into blue holes last year. Podcast produced by David Levin. Original interview by James Barrat. NOVA is…

• Shaping Skulls

  WGBH Science Unit

  27 Jan 2010 | 2:00 pm

  For thousands of years, people around the world have modified their bodies with tattoos and piercings. But some cultures, like the ancient Inca in Peru, took that practice beyond skin deep. They sometimes used ropes and boards to slowly change the shape of human skulls. It’s a process called “cranial modification.” In this podcast, bioarcheologist Valerie Andrushko explains. Podcast produced by David Levin. Original interview by Melissa Salpietra. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the…

• Finding the Lost City

  WGBH Science Unit

  19 Jan 2010 | 2:00 pm

  Egyptologist Mark Lehner thinks it took almost 20,000 people to build the Great Pyramids. But where did all those workers live? In this podcast, Lehner describes how he found evidence of a “lost city” on the Giza plateau. Podcast produced by David Levin. Original interview by Peter Tyson. Music courtesy Pharaoh's Daughter (freemusicarchive.org/music/Pharaohs_Daughter/), Selva de Mar (freemusicarchive.org/music/Selva_de_Mar/), and APMmusic. 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…

• Notes from the Pluto Files

  WGBH Science Unit

  13 Jan 2010 | 12:00 pm

  While filming "The Pluto Files" Neil deGrasse Tyson and NOVA producer Terri Randall took a cross-country journey to trace the history of that distant cosmic body. Along the way, they met with the family of the late Clyde Tombaugh—the man who discovered Pluto in 1930. In this podcast, Neil talks to Terri about his experience on the trip. Podcast produced by David Levin. Original interview by Terri Randall. 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…

• Surprises in Your Genes

  WGBH Science Unit

  28 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

  In order to develop from an embryo, animals as different as fruit flies and humans call on a nearly identical set of genes. But how does this one common genetic toolkit create so many different species? It turns out that it's not the genes you have-it's how you use them. Podcast produced by David Levin. Original interviews by John Rubin. 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. To learn more, go to pbs.org/nova/evolution

• 
  Nerdy Science Blog

• Walk like Spiderman with the Help of New Adhesive Device

  WTJ

  2 Feb 2010 | 3:02 am

  Paul Steen, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Michael Vogal, a formal postdoctoral associate, developed a palm-size device that possibly allowed human to walk on walls by using water surface tension as an adhesive bond.  The device was developed at Cornell University and the research was published in Feb 1’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The invention was inspired by beetle native to Florida which can stick itself to a leaf 100 times more than its own weight.  Scientists applied the rapid adhesion mechanism they found to develop a device that…

• Healthy Adults Need Less Sleep As They Are Older

  WTJ

  31 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm

  A study was conducted at Clinical Research Centre of the University of Surrey to understand the sleeping time difference of healthy adults.  The study involved young adults (age 20 to 30 years), middle-aged adults (40 to 55 years) and older adults (66 to 83 years) without sleep disorders.  Researchers found that the older healthy adults are, the less time they sleep.  It was found that the sleep need of healthy adults decreased significantly with increasing age.  Older adults sleep 20 minutes less than middle-aged adults, whereas middle-aged adults sleep 23 minutes less than young…

• How do giraffes sleep?

  matthuan

  23 Jan 2010 | 1:50 am

  The giraffe (Giraffa camilopardalis) is the tallest land animal in the world. Interestingly, it is also one of few animals which require minimal amounts of sleep (average 1.9 hours of total sleep time a day, compared to 7.75 hours for a human according to sources for BBC). Scientists have observed that giraffes sleep in short naps at nights, and usually sleep while standing (an ability shared by other ungulates, or hoofed animals). They rest their long necks on their hind legs, thus arching their long necks over their backs. They may also rest with their necks down at nights. When entering…

• No More Rooting Pigs in Snow

  WTJ

  15 Jan 2010 | 7:21 am

  Scientists had been conducting Avalanche experiments by burying pigs in snow at Austrian Alps. The purpose of the experiments was to find out the factors human are able to survive in an air pocket in snow without suffering permanent brain damage. Although anaesthesiologists said the pigs were sedated and anesthetized beforehand to minimize sufferings of the pigs, their experiments were protested by various animal rights groups. The growing media pressure forced scientists to stop the experiments. (news [pic])

• Genes Determine Domestic Cat Stripes and Spots

  WTJ

  14 Jan 2010 | 3:23 am

  Scientists have identified three genes that involve in the development of stripes, spots and other markings on domestic cats.  There are at least three genes involved and genomic location of two of these genes was located through linkage mapping.  Scientists believed the findings can help to understand how mammals evolve and change coat patterns to adapt different environment (such as for camouflage function).  The two genes may be able to help in various human skin disorders research.  The result is published in January 2010 issue of Genetics. (news [journal][pic])

• 
  ScienceBlogs : Combined Feed

• #scio10 aftermath: some thoughts on "An Open History of Science". [Adventures in Ethics and Science]

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am

  Here are some of the thoughts and questions that stayed with me from this session. (Here are my tweets from the session and the session's wiki page.) The session was led by John McKay and Eric Michael Johnson. John posted the text of his presentation and Eric posted his presentation a la YouTube. I'm going to take this as permission to skip doing a proper recap here. Instead, I'm going to write about the big ideas this session raised for me. First, I'm struck by how easy it is for those of us who were trained to do science to know very little about where scientific practices come from --…

• Creationists are *WEIRD* [erv]

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  Look, I like weird people. Goth kids. Sci-fi geeks. Language nerds. Weird people are far more interesting than, say, the 'normal' people that get cast for shows like 'The Bachelor': Generic Human #231975, Generic Human #576930, Generic Human #750193, bleh. But theres a whole different level of weird, and that level is 'Creationist'. Example: Remember that guy, that Creationist that branded kids in his Ohio classroom? Had a whole system of weird signals and words and stuff he was brainwashing kids with? Yes, that was weird, but now weve reached a level of weird only Creationists can hope to…

• Predictable People are Predictable [Science After Sunclipse]

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:37 am

  Jeffrey Shallit calls our attention to the recent antics of Suzan Mazur, a journalist well-known among science bloggers for, well, getting everything wrong. I particularly liked this part of Mazur's tale of dark conspiracies controlling science from smoke-filled rooms: Open-access scientific publishing, however, is proving useful to a degree in leveling the playing field so that independent scientists have a shot at being published and cited. As the kids say these days, "LOLWUT?" Open Access is about lowering financial and legal barriers for readers, not reducing the standards or even…

• Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be [Pharyngula]

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:03 am

  People keep asking me for books on evolution for their kids, and I have to keep telling them that there is a major gap in the library. We have lots of great books for adults, but most of the books for the younger set reduce evolution to stamp collecting: catalogs of dinosaurs, for instance. I just got a copy of a book that is one small step in filling that gap, titled Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) by Daniel Loxton. It's beautifully illustrated, and the organization of the book focuses on concepts (and misconceptions!) of evolution, explaining them…

• Father and Mother and Uncle John...: Tribalism and a Place at the Table [Casaubon's Book]

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  This morning, during school time, Isaiah asked me just how many Aunts and Uncles he had. Asked to clarify what the parameters of the question were, Isaiah asked me how many people he would call by the title "Aunt" or "Uncle." Which led me to do some quick addition - and to a number that came out above 70. Now Eric and I don't have that many siblings. In fact, I have two sisters, and until into adulthood, Eric was an only child. Nor do my parents make up for it at the great-level - each of them had one brother. So how on earth do I get 70 aunts and uncles for my kids? Me, Eric and the boys…

• 
  Bad Astronomy

• Utah to be destroyed by a comet! Or not!

  Phil Plait

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  Utah is only one state over, so when I see a website that tells me a fragment of a comet will hit it on March 1 of this year, I sit up and take notice. Then I see the flashing text. The multiple colors. The GIANT FONT. The URL: satansrapture.com. Well, still. It can’t be all wrong can it? And then I see the title: "BIBLE CODE PREDICTIONS 2010". Oh. I guess it can be all wrong. OK, Utah, you can rest easy. I’m guessing March 1 will come and go with no comet impact, fragment or otherwise. The Bible code is a long debunked piece of antiscience garbage, basically just people…

• Opportunity for anaglyphs

  Phil Plait

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  Oh, I have a very cool anaglyph (red-green 3D images) for you! Stuart Atkinson from the Cumbrian Sky blog has created some fantastic anaglyphs of images from the Mars rover Opportunity as it investigates Concepcion crater. Here are some blocks that look like ejecta from the impact itself: [Click to embiggen.] These are beautiful! They almost look sedimentary, which at least makes some sense given that the region Opportunity is roving, Meridiani Planum, was once under water. Closeups of those rocks show they have the famous "blueberries", concretions of jarosite formed by…

• Advisor to the planets^h^h^h stars

  Phil Plait

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:14 pm

  I was pleasantly surprised to see my old friend Kevin Grazier — planetary scientist with Cassini, and science advisor for Battlestar Galactica and Eureka — highlighted in a Eureka Unscripted blog post. It’s a two-parter, with the second one going up sometimes soon. At the same time, it was cool to see another friend, Jennifer Ouellette, talking about the science of Eureka as well! I like the show, and while the science is sometimes warped a bit (or a lot) for story-telling, I know for a fact the executive producer and writers try to get as much right as they can. The EP,…

• Earth Sky interviews me about NASA’s future

  Phil Plait

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  I was recently interviewed on EarthSky about Obama’s budget and future plans for NASA. I talked about some of the things I covered in my earlier blog post, but I also added some thoughts about where I see NASA going and what I see its role is. I’ll have more to say about this soon; I’ve been thinking about it more and I’m scratching my head over some of it. Anyway, EarthSky is a site filled with interviews from scientists, and has a lot of great content. They cut my interview into two versions; a short 90 second one, and a longer 8-minute on. Both are recorded and on…

• Looks like the Sun is in its teens again

  Phil Plait

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  I’ve been posting sporadically on how sunspots are starting to come back to the Sun, and I’m glad to see a new group sprouted up recently… and it’s a monster: These images are from SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The orange one is in visible light, and the sunspots are pretty obvious. The green one shows the Sun in the far ultraviolet, and you can see the sunspots are pretty intense, blasting out high-energy light. Sunspots are indicators of magnetic activity, and the intense magnetic field can accelerate plasma (ionized gas) to high energies. Just…

• 
  Bitesize Bio

• How NOT to Receive Phone Calls in Your Job Hunt

  Travis

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:31 am

  Being in the recruiting business, we make a lot of calls to candidates each day. And you would be surprised how many job seekers have put a lot of thought into their resume, but fail to follow through by ensuring a professional phone experience. Remember that when a hiring manager calls you, it is your first chance to make a great impression. With so many phone options available, using both cellular and land lines, you should be able to cover all bases and be ready to receive the knock of opportunity. You just have to think about it and set it up first. You want the entire experience to exude…

• Where Did Bio Begin For You?

  Christopher

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:27 pm

  Where did bio begin for you? That intriguing question has been the central focus of an interesting experience I just had. How this all started It began on a Saturday morning. After I woke up and fed my cat, and before making my own breakfast, I went straight to my computer to check which emails had come in overnight – this gives you an idea of my priorities as a postdoctoral scientist… (or maybe just a workaholic). One email was an automated message indicating that @WhereBioBegins was now following me on Twitter. “Spammer of the day” was my first thought, but, after looking at…

• Better Plasmid Midipreps Part II: What Causes Low Yields?

  Suzanne

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:03 am

  Recently we received a question from Bitesize Bio reader Sonia after our article How to: Get Better Plasmid Midiprep Yields. She asked: “What could be the problem when one sample gives a good yield while the other plasmid gives poor a one, when both the samples were processed simultaneously, and in the same way.” This is a good question because many things can cause differences in yields between plasmid preps.  Let’s resolve this mystery one point at a time and go over some reasons why you might get low yields when you prep plasmids. 1. Plasmid backbone You prepped two…

• Yonder Biology: Bringing Science to “Mom and Dad”

  Suzanne

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:40 pm

  Who is Andy Bass? Answer: A surfing scientist turned businessman from Alabama with a passion for educating the world about molecular biology. Andy is the CEO and founder of Yonder Biology, a brand new biotech company located in northern San Diego county here in California. I had a chance to speak with Andy about his new venture into personalized DNA art. I was really impressed with Andy’s passion for bringing science to the public and using his new company as a platform to further educate people on how science is impacting their lives. You may recall Alex’s pre-holiday’s…

• How To Get a Perfect Pellet After DNA/RNA Precipitation

  John

  25 Jan 2010 | 3:08 am

  If you’re performing DNA/RNA precipitations, you will have read Suzanne’s excellent article on which alcohol to use for precipitating your precious samples (check out some useful info in the comments for that article as well). Its publication prompted the recall of a useful tip I learned from a post-doc many years ago,  one of those ‘magic-hands’ scientists where everything seemed to work first time. This tip of his is on the removal of the 70% ethanol in the final step of the precipitation process. The usual wisdom is to carefully drain off the ethanol and leave it to either…

• 
  Nature Network Blog Posts

• On a new publishing model (from Richard Grant's blog)

  Richard Grant

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:01 am

  Twitter, what is it good for? Hunh. There’s been rather an interesting couple of posts over at the Scholarly Kitchen, recently. What am I saying? They’re all interesting. Anyway, Kent Anderson says that blogs are for fogies and David Crotty talks about ‘talking’ vs ‘doing’. Elsewhere on Nature Network we’re re-visiting the meme of why do we blog anyway (to which I’m not going to contribute, myself having decided to do rather than talk about). You can look up the links yourself if you can be bothered. Anyway, in the middle of a rather long and…

• Ig Nobel Prizes Coming To London (from Matt Brown's blog)

  London

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:32 am

  One of my event highlights of last year was attending the Ig Nobel Prize roadshow. The 2009 awards were presented at Harvard back in October, but founder Marc Abrahams likes to take his creation round the world, hence the roadshow. I can’t believe for one attosecond that anyone reading this won’t have heard of the Ig Nobels. But just in case, they’re awards for research that ‘first makes you laugh, and then makes you think’. The roadshow gives recent winners the chance to present their hilarious findings on stage, which last year included a memorable display of…

• The unicycling girrafe evolves (from Brian Clegg's blog)

  Brian Clegg

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:56 am

  Over at my other e-home I have just blogged about the joy of painting one wall of the house with blackboard paint. It really is good fun, and here’s its latest state: Now, I admit Maxwell’s equations were my contribution, but of particular interest in these parts is the creature in the top left hand corner. This was done by one of the children or their friends without any access to Nature Network, yet we see here a bicycling, winged giraffe – clearly an evolutionary relative to the unicycling girrafe. All we need to do now is find the artwork of the missing link.

• Nature.com iPhone app in pictures (from Martin Fenner's blog)

  Martin Fenner

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:17 pm

  Just four weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled How do you read papers? 2010 will be different. Not only have we since seen the announcement of the Apple iPad, but last Monday the free Nature.com iPhone app was launched. The application gives access to the full text of all Nature and Nature News content (through until 30 April 2010, how access is handled afterwards hasn’t been announced yet). A version for the Android platform was promised for April, and the app will work with the just-announced iPad. I included a few screenshots for those without an iPhone or iPod Touch. A free…

• Jerry Fodor Fails Evolution 101. Again (from Bob O'Hara's blog)

  Bob O'Hara

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:02 pm

  Uh oh. Now I have some inkling of what Orac goes through. Which is an oblique way of apologising for the length and tone of this post. A couple of years ago Jerry Fodor (a psychologist) wrote a piece in the London Review of Books arguing that evolution was wrong. I had some fun with it, back on my old blog. Now he and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini have a whole book called What Darwin Got Wrong, and New Scientist has given them a platform to outline their argument. Fodor & Piattelli-Palmarini raise what they see as problems with evolution, but they basically reveal their own ignorance of the…

• 
  ScienceAlert - Latest Stories

• Back treatment goes too far

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Most people who see a doctor about back pain get expensive and unnecessary treatment, according to a new study.

• Platypus survives bad habitat

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Researchers have found that the platypus is toughing out human changes to their habitat – some are even living in outer suburbs.

• Cell lockdown stalls disease

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Researchers have found a way to discourage cells from migrating around the body, which could fight cancer and autoimmune diseases.

• Bones reveal male moa rarity

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Researchers have found that most male moas died young, probably because the larger female moas gave them a rough time.

• Obese feel powerless

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  A survey has found that severely obese individuals are aware of the risks of obesity, but feel powerless to change.

• 
  PHD Comics

• 02/05/10 PHD comic: 'Cecilia in Thesisland, Pt. 4: Follow the Wait Habit'

  7 Feb 2010 | 1:20 pm

  Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Cecilia in Thesisland, Pt. 4: Follow the Wait Habit" - originally published 2/5/2010 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

• 02/03/10 PHD comic: 'Cecilia in Thesisland, Pt. 3: To be sure, this is generally what happens when you think'

  5 Feb 2010 | 9:01 am

  Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Cecilia in Thesisland, Pt. 3: To be sure, this is generally what happens when you think" - originally published 2/3/2010 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

• 02/01/10 PHD comic: 'Cecilia in Thesisland, Pt. 2: Down the raw bit code'

  2 Feb 2010 | 10:49 pm

  Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Cecilia in Thesisland, Pt. 2: Down the raw bit code" - originally published 2/1/2010 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

• 01/29/10 PHD comic: 'Cecilia's Adventures in Thesisland, Pt. 1'

  30 Jan 2010 | 9:35 pm

  Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Cecilia's Adventures in Thesisland, Pt. 1" - originally published 1/29/2010 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

• 01/27/10 PHD comic: 'Procrastigal son'

  28 Jan 2010 | 11:26 pm

  Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com title: "Procrastigal son" - originally published 1/27/2010 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

• 
  Brain Waves

• The Neurodiagnostics Report 2010: Brain Imaging, Biomarkers and NeuroInformatics

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:23 am

  We've recently published "The Neurodiagnostics Report 2010: Brain Imaging, Biomarkers and NeuroInformatics," a report published by NeuroInsights. It is a fully updated second annual industry insider report detailing markets and emerging diagnostics in neurology and psychiatry. In addition to the massive unmet markets, long-term growth in neurodiagnostics is being driven by technology advances and equipment upgrades in neuroimaging; new biomarkers and imaging protocols for early diagnosis and disease monitoring; and increased use of imaging and informatics in drug and device development.

• Neuropharma FDA Approvals Down in 2009

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:08 am

  As we report today in this month's edition of Neurotech Insights, five of the 26 new drugs and biologics approved by the FDA were neuropharmaceuticals: Vanda/Novartis’ Fanapt for schizophrenia, Lundbeck's Sabril for infantile spasms and add-on for refractory partial seizures, Cypress/Forest’s Savella for fibromyalgia, Merck's (Organon) Saphris for bipolar and schizophrenia, and Novartis’ branded version of betaseron for multiple sclerosis.. This compares to seven neuropharmaceutical approvals out of 24 in 2008 (Pristiq, Relistor, Entereg, Xenazine, Vimpat, Banzel and tapentadol) and…

• Tel Aviv Neurotech Cluster Thrives

  17 Jan 2010 | 8:18 am

  Last week David Brooks wrote a spot on column about innovation in Tel Aviv, Israel. This is readily apparent in my own analysis of the global neurotechnology industry where Tel Aviv is rapidly becoming an innovation hub for next generation drugs, devices and diagnostics for the brain and nervous systems as I recently described in NIO's Neurotech Clusters 2010 report: Tel Aviv, Israel is the among the emerging nascent regions worldwide in neurotechnology. It ranks 11th overall (17 total companies; 9 neuropharmaceutical, 7 neurodevice, 14 private, 3 public). Of note, the region features a…

• McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT - Must See 20 Minute Video

  23 Dec 2009 | 11:56 am

  I highly recommend that you take 20 minutes over the next week to watch this important video that takes you on an intimate tour of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. As a member of the Leadership Board at the McGovern Institute, I've had the opportunity over the past several years to see first hand the brilliant, world-leading research occurring everyday at the Institute. I am extraordinarily inspired and impressed with the researchers' relentless focus on understanding the causes of neurological diseases and psychiatric illnesses. You will be too, once you watch the video.

• Neurofeedback Gets the Test

  16 Dec 2009 | 8:30 am

  Yesterday's Washington Post highlighted a wide scale eeg-based neurofeedback trial being conducted by the NIMH for ADHD. To date, neurofeedback for ADHD has been a cottage industry with continued attempts to bring it into the mainstream. However, lack of consensus around efficacy and its cost relative to popping pills have hindered patient adoption. Given the powerful nature of ADHD meds, it will be tough to compete on the same playing field, however, should the trials shed positive light on neurofeedback's ability to treat less aggressive forms of ADHD (which I believe is quite likely)…

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  Physics Today

• Galileo, Kepler share IYA anniversary

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

• The first wetting layer on a solid

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  For decades researchers imagined that hydrogen bonding imposes a hexagonal, icelike arrangement on the first water molecules on a solid. Recent theory and experiments argue for a richer view.

• New books

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

• Hearing music in ensembles

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  Musical illusions created in the laboratory or concert hall provide insight on how the brain regroups auditory inputs

• Finding the Big Bang

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

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  Physics Today Newspicks

• Methane's glow from an exoplanet

  Physics Today

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:14 pm

  CSMonitor.com: For the first time, astronomers have detected methane gas glowing like a fluorescent bulb in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a distant star. Researchers have had glimpses of the atmospheres of so-called exoplanets before, but never in this way. The fluorescent signature of HD 189733b, a Jupiter-size planet in the faint constellation of Vulpecula, could help astronomers explore exoplanets in more detail—including ways that help them in the search for life elsewhere in the galaxy.

• Opinion: The right message for NASA

  Physics Today

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:32 pm

  WSJ.com Steven Weinberg has declared that the Obama administration's new approach to NASA's future is a positive development because the "manned space flight program frequently masquerades as science, but actually crowds out real science at NASA, which is all done on unmanned missions." Weinberg writes: Soon after Mr. Bush's [2004] announcement [of the "Vision for Space Exploration"] I predicted that sending astronauts to the moon and Mars would be so expensive that future administrations would abandon the plan. This prediction seems to have come true. All of the brilliant past discoveries in…

• World's fastest graphene transistor

  Physics Today

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:54 pm

  Physics Today: IBM researchers demonstrated a radio-frequency graphene transistor with the highest cut-off frequency achieved so far for any graphene device—100 billion cycles/second (100 GigaHertz). The high frequency record was achieved using wafer-scale, epitaxially grown graphene using processing technology compatible to that used in advanced silicon device fabrication. "A key advantage of graphene lies in the very high speeds in which electrons propagate, which is essential for achieving high-speed, high-performance next generation transistors," said T.C. Chen, vice president of…

• Bohr proof confirmed: it's better to react than to act

  Physics Today

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:19 pm

  ScienceNOW: Have you ever noticed that the first gunslinger to draw his gun in a movie is invariably the one to get shot? Nobel prize winning physicist Niels Bohr did, once arranging mock duels to test the validity of this cinematic curiosity. Following Bohr's example, researchers have now confirmed that people move faster if they are reacting to another person's movements than if they are taking the lead themselves.

• Cold air blows on regional US wind power proposal

  Physics Today

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:38 am

  NYTimes.com: Wind could replace coal and natural gas for 20% to 30% of the electricity used in the eastern two-thirds of the US by 2024, according to a study released by the US Department of Energy. But doing so would require a reorganization of the power grid and a significant increase in costs. And it would have only a modest impact on cutting emissions linked to global warming, the study found.

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  Physics Today We Hear That

• Announcement of the first ACFA/IPAC Accelerator Prizes

  Physics Today

  1 Feb 2010 | 10:18 am

  With the introduction of a 3-year cycle among the Asian, European and North American Particle Accelerator Conferences, the Asian Committee for Future Accelerators, ACFA, has decided to award prizes in conjunction with the new series of International Particle Accelerator Conferences when they take place in Asia. The ACFA/IPAC'10 Prizes Selection Committee, under the Chairmanship of Won Namkung, Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL), Korea, met on Wednesday, 20 January 2010 and decided the following prizes, which will be awarded during IPAC'10 in Kyoto from 23 to 28 May: An Achievement Prize for…

• AAPT Member, Noah Finkelstein, to Testify at Congressional Hearing

  American Association of Physics Teachers

  28 Jan 2010 | 1:08 pm

  IMMEDIATE RELEASE College Park, Maryland, January 28, 2010--Noah Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Physics and Co-director of the Integrating STEM Education Initiative at the University of Colorado-Boulder, will testify on Strengthening Undergraduate and Graduate STEM Education before the US House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Research and Science Education at a hearing on February 4, 2010. An active member of AAPT, Finkelstein is a member of the Colorado/Wyoming AAPT Section, the Physics Education Research (PER) Group, and the PER Leadership…

• Eugene Commins to Receive First J.D. Jackson Excellence in Graduate Education Award

  American Association of Physics Teachers

  28 Jan 2010 | 10:08 am

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE College Park, Maryland, United States, January 28, 2010--The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) will present the first J. D. Jackson Excellence in Graduate Education Award to Eugene Commins, physics professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. His remarks, Some Personal Reflections on Physics Graduate Education, will present a picture of his life as a graduate student and then as an instructor in the Columbia University Physics Department of the 1950s. He will discuss how those early experiences influenced his subsequent experiences as a…

• Melba Newell Phillips Medal Presentation to Mary Beth Monroe: The Faces of AAPT

  American Association of Physics Teachers

  27 Jan 2010 | 12:52 pm

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE College Park, Maryland, United States, January 27, 2010 --The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) will present The Melba Newell Phillips Medal to Mary Beth Monroe, Professor of Physics at Southwest Texas Junior College, at the Ceremonial Session of the Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 15, 2010 at 1:30 pm. As a long-time AAPT member, Monroe has served the organization with dedication at the state and national level for more than three decades. She was AAPT Secretary and Chair of the…

• WINTER 2010 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CITATION AWARDEES

  American Association of Physics Teachers

  27 Jan 2010 | 6:06 am

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE College Park, Maryland, United States, January 26, 2010 -- The Winter 2010 AAPT Distinguished Service Citations will be presented on Monday, February 15 at 1:30 pm during the Awards Ceremony at the 2010 Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The AAPT members being honored with this award are Karen Williams, Patrick Whippey, and Beverly (Trina) Cannon. Karen Williams is Professor of Physics at East Central University in Ada, OK. She earned her MS in Physics from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and her PhD in Physics Education…

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  FT.com - Science & Environment

• Skin cells turned directly into neurons

  27 Jan 2010 | 5:07 pm

  Scientists announce 'a huge step forward' with research that turned skin into nerve cells without any intermediate step, providing plentiful supply for treating degenerative brain diseases

• Survival stories demonstrate resilience limits

  21 Jan 2010 | 10:19 am

  The extraordinary resilience of some human beings in the face of extreme adversity has been demonstrated again in Haiti, with more than 120 people rescued after spending days under collapsed buildings

• Scientists in glacier claim controversy

  20 Jan 2010 | 3:24 pm

  Scientists embarrassed by claim in climate change report that Himalayan glaciers may disappear

• Sacked adviser launches drugs panel

  15 Jan 2010 | 11:12 am

  Some may view recreational drugs as the scourge of the City; now a hedge fund manager is underwriting an independent scientific advisory committee on their safety

• Science briefing: Medicinal plant yields secrets

  14 Jan 2010 | 3:19 pm

  Genetic map being used to produce higher-yielding source of antimalarial drugs

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  NASA Earth Observatory

• New NASA Web Site Launches Kids on Mission to Save Our Planet

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Climate change can be a daunting topic for most adults to grasp, let alone kids. A new NASA Web site can help our future explorers and leaders understand how and why their planet is changing.

• Heavy Snow around U.S. Capital

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Acquired February 7, 2010, this true-color image shows snow blanketing much of the U.S. East Coast. Snow extends hundreds of kilometers inland from the Atlantic coastline, but thins near New York City.

• Next Generation Weather/Environmental Satellite Marks Major Milestone

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  The development of a new series of weather and environmental monitoring satellites has marked a significant milestone.

• Haze along the Himalaya

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am

  Acquired February 8, 2010, this true-color image shows thick haze over northern India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.

• Heavy Snow around U.S. Capital

  7 Feb 2010 | 1:44 pm

  Acquired February 7, 2010, this true-color image shows snow blanketing much of the U.S. East Coast. Snow extends hundreds of kilometers inland from the Atlantic coastline, but thins near New York City.

• 
  News and Features - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

• NASA Radar Studies Continue in Central America, Hispaniola

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:02 pm

  NASA radar imaging flights over Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are in the second week of a three-week campaign.

• NASA Extends Cassini's Tour of Saturn, Continuing International Cooperation for World Class Science

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:02 pm

  NASA will extend the international Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn and its moons to 2017.

• A Little Telescope Goes a Long Way

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:02 pm

  NASA astronomers have successfully demonstrated that a David of a telescope can tackle Goliath-size questions in the quest to study Earth-like planets around other stars.

• JPL Airborne Radar Captures Its First Image of Post-Quake Haiti

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:02 pm

  JPL's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) captured this false-color composite image of the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the surrounding region.

• NASA's Aquarius Gets a Presidential Visit

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:02 pm

  Argentina's president got an up-close look at NASA's Aquarius instrument at the Argentine facility where it's being integrated with the SAC-D spacecraft.

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  SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

• Seed's Daily Zeitgeist

  billings@seedmediagroup.com

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:43 am

  Seed's Daily Zeitgeist The awesome power of science journalism (source: NY Times) After tracking the New York Times’ list of most e-mailed articles for more than six months, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found to their surprise that lengthy, challenging science articles were consistently more popular than articles on the Times home page. The reason, they posit, is readers’ desire to share material that inspires awe. Meet the elusive and majestic oarfish (source: BBC News) Oarfish, bizarre ribbon-like marine fish that can grow to lengths of 17 meters, are usually…

• The Matthew Effect

  billings@seedmediagroup.com

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:27 am

  When it comes to scientific publishing and fame, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. How can we break this feedback loop?

• Seed's Daily Zeitgeist

  billings@seedmediagroup.com

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:21 pm

  Seed's Daily Zeitgeist Radiation oncologists respond to newspaper injury investigation (source: New York Times) A sobering investigative report from the New York Times on radiation overdoses in cancer treatments has prompted the American Society for Radiation Oncology to produce a new quality assurance plan. Obama Administration launches Climate.gov (source: NOAA) The federal government has a number of branches, organizations, and advocates that speak on climate change, from the Department of Energy to the Environmental Protection Agency. Now, a joint project of the Department of Commerce and…

• Illuminating Dark Economies

  billings@seedmediagroup.com

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:18 am

  Measuring economic activity from outer space is a new frontier in the struggle to quantify humanity’s impact on the natural world.

• Seed's Daily Zeitgeist

  billings@seedmediagroup.com

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pm

  Seed's Daily Zeitgeist The study of networks meets the study of ecosystems (source: e360) In his latest piece for e360, Carl Zimmer delves in the science of networks and how it can be applied to understanding the resilience of natural systems. Infoviz: Graffiti trends in college bathrooms (source: Inkling) A longitudinal study of graffiti in the UChicago library bathrooms shows that chemistry is both loved and loathed. But for tiramisu, and religious fundamentalists, the data are different. A mathematical mandala appears for the first time in nature (source: PLUS) A mysterious symmetrical…

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  Scienceray

• Picky Mosquitoes

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:09 pm

  Image by basykes via Flickr Hate the idea of mosquitoes and the various diseases they carry?  Well, scientists researching mosquitoes are finding that the pests are quite choosy—in all aspects of their lives: whether mating, laying eggs or biting us. Female mosquitoes decide on whether the potential mate is suitable based whether the male can harmonize with them.  Mosquitoes buzz by flapping their wings and, if the male can match, the female’s harmonics they are considered a suitable mate.  This means that mosquitoes produce different species very quickly and that…

• Dinosaurs to Birds

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:14 pm

  Image by unforth via Flickr The scientific debate about how birds got their wings is often held up as “proof” that evolution didn’t really happen.  However, most scientists will tell you that the birds of today are the descendants of dinosaurs.  The disagreements are about how and why did feathers (and later wings) evolve, which dinosaurs exactly survived and the intriguing fact that there are so many species of birds.  There are far more different birds around than there are mammals.  Part of the reason these debates have continued for so long is that,…

• Fibonacci Series: Magical Numbers

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:24 am

  The Fibonacci series is an arithmetical sequence which was invented by the Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci in 1225.  It solved a puzzle about the breeding rate of rabbits. By now you may be tempted to switch off and lost interest, but this series is very relevant to nature and the world around us. This is not an article about understand mathematics but one which looks at the amazing patterns that nature uses. Each number in the series which starts 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34  is after the first two numbers, the sum of the previous two numbers. This is very simple and does not look…

• Which One is More Important? Luck or Hard Work?

  23 Jan 2010 | 9:16 am

  Everyone in this world want to become a successful person. The motivation for becoming a successful person may vary from people to people. Some people want fame, the other want to gain a lot of money, some other want to make this world a better place. Regardless of what motivate people to success the fact is still the same. Everyone want to become a successful person. Different people have different theory about what matter the most for people to success. Some people think that having luck is important. Some people think that success is a result of hard work. The more compromising type often…

• The Ten Most Deadly Earthquakes To Have Rocked The World

  22 Jan 2010 | 10:11 pm

  Image source Earthquakes can be more destructive and deadly than any other natural disaster and history has recorded the massive destruction on grand scale. A single earthquake event can rock, roll and shake entire cities in to piles of concrete powder and yards deep of steel and concrete rubble within seconds. Earthquakes leave terrified survivors homeless, hurt and hungry amongst rotting dead bodies and equally frightening aftershocks that roar and rumble throughout the days and nights following the earth’s first strike. Shaanxi (Shensi) China (Magnitude 8.0) On January 23, 1556, a…

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  Brain And Consciousness Research

• Study maps the effects of acupuncture on the brain

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  New research from the University of York and the Hull York Medical School about the effects of acupuncture on the brain may provide an understanding of the complex mechanisms of acupuncture and could lead to a wider acceptability of the treatment.

• Depressed people feel more gray than blue

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  People with anxiety and depression are most likely to use a shade of gray to represent their mental state. Researchers writing in the open-access journal BMC Medical Research Methodology describe the development of a color chart, the Manchester Color Wheel, which can be used to study people's preferred pigment in relation to their state of mind.

• Melatonin precursor stimulates growth factor circuits in brain

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  N-acetylserotonin, the immediate precursor to melatonin, activates the same growth circuits in the brain as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). The results have implications for how some antidepressants function and suggest that the molecules and pathways involved in mood regulation and circadian rhythms are intertwined.

• Pay it forward: Elevation leads to altruistic behavior

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Seeing someone perform a virtuous deed (especially if they are helping another person), makes us feel good -- a positive, uplifting emotion, known as "elevation." New findings suggest that elevation may lead to helping behavior: participants who viewed an uplifting TV clip spent almost twice as long helping a research assistant than participants who saw a neutral TV clip or a comedy clip.

• New brain research: Hunger for stimulation driven by dopamine in the brain

  6 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Our need for stimulation and dopamine's action upon the brain are connected, which explains why people who constantly crave stimulation are in danger of addictive behavior such as drug abuse and gambling.

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  ZME Science

• Pluto is changing colors

  Mihai Andrei

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:09 pm

  Pluto is so upset that it’s no longer a planet, that it’s turning all red with anger ! No, seriously. There’s been a whole lot of “Pluto-related news” these days including the 2006 chalking off of the planet list, and naming it a “dwarf planet”, and the news just gets better and better. Recently, astronomers were stunned to find out that the planet is actually changing colors, and turning more and more red. The official color is still orange-yellow, but the red pigmentation has increased with about 20 percent in a relatively extremely short period.

• Amazingly long fish filmed

  Mihai Andrei

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:49 pm

  Mark Benfield from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge was undertaking a survey when he spotted this amazing oarfish at about 10 meters long. The fish is one of the longest in the world, and it’s general aspect resembles that of a serpent, so it’s possible it lies at the basis of some sea serpent myths. Professor Benfield explains how they found the fish: “We saw this bright vertical shiny thing, I said ‘are they lowering more riser?’ as it looked like they were lowering a huge pipe. We zoomed in a little bit and we said ‘that’s not a riser…

• Hell’s gate

  Mihai Andrei

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:28 pm

  If a gate to hell existed, I bet this is how it would look like. Locals from the town of Darvaz in Uzbekistan were really inspired when they named it this way. When looking at the pictures, you’d be tempted to think this is some sort of a volcano, but it’s not. Geologists are actually responsible (that sure makes sense) for this huge burning hole that’s been lasting for 35 years already. So, 35 years ago, they were digging and searching for gas. Then suddenly, they found an underground cavern so wide and deep that caused all their camping and equipment to fall underground. I…

• Underwater… lakes !

  Mihai Andrei

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:21 pm

  The lake floor, composed mostly of mussels Boy I’ve gotta tell you, my jaw really dropped when I heard this one. There are actual lakes, on the bottom of oceans, especially in the Gulf of Mexico region; they’ve got their own shores and all. The brine water of these lakes actually hosts unique wildlife, creating an absolutely amazing environment. The fact that these are brine water means that they have an extremely high salinity, way more than the rest of the ocean, which means of course they are heavier, which is why they stick to the bottom. Think about the very bottom of the…

• Giant squids take to California

  Mihai Andrei

  2 Feb 2010 | 6:03 am

  Yes ladies and gents, giant squids are all over the California beaches. Each of the squids weighs about 40 pounds, but some of them reach 60 and even more than that. I haven’t been able to find out what’s up with them, or why they gathered in such numbers, but according to scientists, this happens almost periodically, though they cannot have a totally satisfying explanation. The most plausible guess is that they’ve been brought there by a warm water current. Anyway, there’s no reason to panic or anything, though you might want to avoid taking a swim this week. However,…

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  Science & Technology Videos

• Headaches Gone after treatment with Dr John Quackenbush Phoenix Chiropractor

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:50 pm

  www.drqdc.com Listen to this patient describe her health issues with headaches and how they have responded to Dr John Quackenbush Phoenix Chiropractic services.Author: laquinceKeywords: Chiropractor Dr John Quackenbush Phoenix Chiropractic Services Headaches Neck Pain Phoenix Arizona Added: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:50:18 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com

• Learning Alpha Attraction Brings MLM Alpha Leadership And MLM Success

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:36 pm

  For Real MLM wealth you must become an Alpha Leader - Find out how right now!- go to: http://susancooktopcoach.com/2010/01/14/alpha-attraction-your-mlm-bait-hook/Author: figemu13Keywords: mlm alpha leader alpha leader alpha leadership alpha attraction mlm leadership Added: Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:36:21 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com

• HONOR

  7 Feb 2010 | 4:03 pm

  PLANE'S IN ACTIONAuthor: Night-HawkF117Keywords: NIGHT NIGHT-HAWK NIGHT-HAWKF117 Added: Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:03:44 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com

• Formation Lecture Rapide, Secrets & Techniques d'Experts

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:16 pm

  www.lecture-rapide.biz Formation Lecture Rapide: Comme des milliers de personnes pratiquant La Lecture Rapide, gagnez du temps et de l'efficacite avec cette nouvelle Formation de Lecture...Author: massotcharlotte19Keywords: Formation Lecture Rapide Added: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:16:34 GMT

• Trucking Billing Software - Accounting Software Trucking

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:13 pm

  http://www.AuroraSoftware.com LTL Software, Intermodal Software, Truckload Software, Air Freight Software, Trucking Software 800-304-1488Author: videoedge02Keywords: LTL Software Trucking Software Intermodal Software Intermodal operations Air freigh software Broker Operations Less Than Truckload Added: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:13:43 GMTVideo codes to display this video on your website!http://www.livevideo.com

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  BEYONDBones

• The Real Blob! The Truth About Slime Molds

  ErinC

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:31 am

  Ever heard of a nefarious, amorphous gelatinous mass with a seemingly insatiable appetite, ingesting and digesting anything and everything it comes in contact with? It’s The Blob, right?! Well, as close as you can get and still operate within real-life parameters…the real blob of which I speak is most commonly known as a slime mold! photo credit: Keresh Now, its name is slightly misleading as it is actually not a mold at all. True slime molds form a plasmodium, a big blob with one membrane and lots and lots (think millions) of diploid nuclei – it is really like one huge cell the…

• Magic: The Science of Wonder

  Scott

  5 Feb 2010 | 1:02 pm

  Ed. Note: Scott Cervine is the guest curator for the new exhibit Magic: The Science of Wonder, opening Friday,  Feb. 26, 2010 at HMNS – and this is the first post in a series he’ll be sharing with us here. In the days leading up to the opening and throughout the run of the exhibit check back here for exclusive videos and descriptions of the unique items on display. Learn more about the Magic exhibit at the HMNS web site Science is simple….it’s the study of the physical world through observation. Wonder is a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by…

• Diplocaulus: The Boomerang-Head Amphibian

  Bob

  4 Feb 2010 | 1:05 pm

   Super-sized “Boomerang-head” amphibian from 290 million years ago The Houston Museum of Natural Science has just excavated the complete skull of one of the most bizarre animals that ever lived – the amphibian Diplocaulus. With a head shaped like an armor-plated banana, or an Australian boomerang, this distant kin of today’s salamander is so famous that it stars in most kids’ books on dinosaurs – and in college textbooks as well. The Boomerang-Head (my favorite nickname for the Diplocaulus) was only of modest size – twenty pounds live weight would be an…

• Go Stargazing! February Edition

  James

  2 Feb 2010 | 3:12 pm

  photo credit: Joshua Bury Jupiter leaves the evening sky this month.  You can still see it during the next two weeks if you face southwest at dusk and look for the brightest point of light there. Jupiter sets by 7:30 as February opens, so you must look soon after dusk to see it.   However, Jupiter sets earlier and earlier and appears lower and lower to the horizon each February night, and soon disappears into the sun’s glare.  On Tuesday, Feb. 16, observers with a clear view of the horizon during twilight can try to see a very close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, which is slowly…

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  HarvardScience

• Report from Haiti

  404132862

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:49 am

  PARISIEN, Haiti — Nearly a month after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti, paramedic Anthony Croese looked into the crowd outside a destroyed orphanage near Port-au-Prince and spotted an emaciated baby cradled in his father’s arms. read more

• National Institute on Aging funds two new "Roybal Center" programs at Harvard

  404132862

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:44 pm

  Harvard Medical School professor Nicholas Christakis, whose work focuses on social networks, and economics professor David Laibson, who examines how and why people make the decisions they do regarding savings and health behaviors, have been selected to receive five year Roybal Center grants, of about $1.5 million each, from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a part read more

• A molecule that destroys normal metabolism is found

  404132862

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:19 am

  Overeating in mice triggers a molecule once considered to be only involved in detecting and fighting viruses to also destroy normal metabolism, leading to insulin resistance and setting the stage for diabetes, according to the results of a new study led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).read more

• Open innovation challenge seeks solutions to type 1 diabetes

  404132862

  2 Feb 2010 | 2:30 pm

  The best scientific insights, which ultimately may lead to the solution of the world’s great puzzles, do not always come from the experts in the fields in question. Sometimes they come from outliers who approach a problem from an entirely new perspective — just as unknown English clockmaker John Harrison demonstrated that longitude could be determined by using an accurate timepiece and not, as almost all experts predicted, by the study of astronomy. So suppose the intellectual power of the entire Harvard community, more than 55,000 faculty members, students, and staff members, in all of…

• For bonobos, it’s one for all

  404132862

  1 Feb 2010 | 1:05 pm

  Daycare workers and kindergarten teachers tend to offer young humans a lot of coaching about the idea of sharing. But for our ape cousins the bonobos, sharing just comes naturally. read more

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  Periodic Tabloid

• Chemistry.com

  Tom Tritton

  4 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am

  What would you expect to find if you pointed your Web browser to www.chemistry.com? The Chemical Heritage Foundation, perhaps. The American Chemical Society would be another good guess. Or you might anticipate a random site devoted to the wonders and mysteries of chemical science. Go ahead, give it a try (simply click the link above). I’ll wait…. Were you surprised to find yourself at a dating site? My own reaction is thoroughly schizophrenic. On the one hand, romance is often spoken of as having the “right chemistry,” and close relationships are similarly described as resulting…

• My Kingdom for a Methyl Group

  Tom Tritton

  28 Jan 2010 | 2:00 am

  The simplest organic functionality of all is the humble methyl group. A single carbon and three hydrogen atoms seem relatively small and insignificant compared to most full-blown organic molecules. You might even think that a methyl group here and there would hardly be noticed in the vastness of very large molecules like DNA. And if you did think this, you would be wrong. Take the case of identical twins. They start life with exactly the same DNA, so it would seem to follow that their susceptibility to genetically based disease would be the same. If your twin had high blood pressure, got…

• Harry Potter’s Invisibility in Jeopardy

  Tom Tritton

  21 Jan 2010 | 2:00 am

  Last year I wrote about the prospects for an “invisibility cloak” that works by bending light around an object so it can’t be observed. (See my post of 29 January 2009.) Amazing as it seems, this is not only theoretically possible but has already been realized for a limited range of wavelengths. New work from MIT imagines a “perfect invisibility cloak” that smoothly glides light of any wavelength around Harry Potter. Alas, these researchers also throw cold water on the theory that hides Harry’s cape. Their results show that shooting fast-moving charged particles at the…

• See the Unseeable

  Tom Tritton

  14 Jan 2010 | 2:00 am

  When I was a graduate student in the 1970s, conventional wisdom held that light microscopy couldn’t resolve anything smaller than the wavelength of visible light (hundreds of nanometers). Electron microscopes overcame this size limitation but required “fixed” samples so no motions could be seen. The dilemma this produces is that if you want to observe molecules, even relatively large ones like carbon nanotubes, you can’t also watch how they move in real time. The stirrings of a solution to this problem come from the laboratory of Ahmed Zewail. Members of his Caltech research group…

• Molecular Eats

  Tom Tritton

  7 Jan 2010 | 2:00 am

  Someone once remarked in my presence that the world would be so much better off if we just banned chemicals. Hmmm…. Plumbing the depths of such sentiment is probably pointless, but among the losses in a chemical-free world would be all the things we eat. Perhaps this is why there is burgeoning interest in the charmingly named field of molecular gastronomy, i.e., the chemistry of food and cooking. Googling the term yields 279,000 hits, ranging from the comical to the scholarly. If you are inclined in this direction, check out the “molecular cooking sets” at cusine-innovation.com. You…

• 
  YouTube: Science

• Fight Science

  NationalGeographic

  25 Jan 2010 | 8:25 am

  Fight Science Scientists, motion-capture specialists, and CGI animators analyze the world's greatest fight techniques. Fight Science : NEW SEASON STARTS FEB 1 10P et/pt : channel.nationalgeographic.com From: NationalGeographic Views: 7419 192 ratings Time: 01:31:43 More in Shows

• Top 10 quirky science tricks for parties

  Quirkology

  7 Dec 2009 | 1:52 pm

  Top 10 quirky science tricks for parties Created by Prof Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire (UK). For more quirky science visit his daily blog richardwiseman.wordpress.com. From: Quirkology Views: 816384 1995 ratings Time: 03:22 More in Education

• Symphony of Science - 'We Are All Connected' (ft. Sagan, Feynman, deGrasse Tyson & Bill Nye)

  melodysheep

  19 Oct 2009 | 10:14 am

  Symphony of Science - 'We Are All Connected' (ft. Sagan, Feynman, deGrasse Tyson & Bill Nye) From: melodysheep Views: 1282845 12155 ratings Time: 04:12 More in Music

• They Might Be Giants - Science is Real

  ParticleMen

  8 Sep 2009 | 10:45 am

  They Might Be Giants - Science is Real Directed by David Cowles and Andy Kennedy. From tmbgs new DVD/CD set Here Comes Science. Available at itunes and Amazon now! bit.ly From: ParticleMen Views: 136582 877 ratings Time: 02:21 More in Science & Technology

• Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science (2009 Digital...

  emimusic

  15 Apr 2009 | 1:17 pm

  Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science (2009 Digital... Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science (2009 Digital Remaster) EMI UK Digital Remaster (P) 2009 The copyright in this audiovisual recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd From: emimusic Views: 196774 837 ratings Time: 03:49 More in Music

• 
  NOVA | PBS

• Ghosts of Machu Picchu: Watch the Program

  3 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Watch the program online on PBS.org now

• Extreme Cave Diving: TV Program Description

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm

  In a daring work of filmmaking, NOVA follows a scientific expedition into watery caves that hold clues to the future of our climate.

• Extreme Cave Diving: Links and Books

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm

  Find resources on cave diving, the biology and geology of blue holes, and more.

• Extreme Cave Diving: Creatures of the Underwater Caves

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm

  The "blue holes" of the Bahamas harbor animals seen nowhere else on the planet.

• Extreme Cave Diving: Risking it all for Science

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm

  What drives scientists to delve into flooded caves where they face rock falls, nitrogen narcosis, even drowning?

• 
  Fisheye Perspective

• MapReduce goes evolutionary

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:51 am

  Scientists from Texas A&M University have developed a new algorithm MrsRF (MapReduce Speeds up Robinson-Foulds) for analyzing large collection of evolutionary trees using MapReduce framework. Matthews et. al, have used their MapReduce algorithm to compute all-to-all Robinson-Foulds (RF) distance matrix on multi-core computing platforms. Calculation of all possible Robinson-Foulds distance pairs is a computationally intensive task. The results show that a significant speedup can be achieved using MrsRF compared to the fastest sequential algorithms.We studied the performance of our MrsRF…

• Science changes the world, sometimes the world changes the science, we are overdue

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:33 pm

  Dr. Monica Anderson talks about reductionism vs holism in science. She also suggests that artificial intelligence failed because intelligence is too holistic and by its nature it always attracted the hardcore reductionists. One of my favorite quote from this talk is "Science changes the world, sometimes the world changes the science, we are overdue", which is significant in each and every sense. Check out the whole lecture it is worthwhile. Original article is available at Fisheye Perspective blog. Stay tuned for more posts and subscribe the RSS feed. 

• After phylogenetics Microsoft patents personal data mining

  6 Feb 2010 | 12:23 am

  I hope you remember that some time back Microsoft tried to patent clustering phylogenetics methods which was a socking news for the bioinformatics community as community used these methods for a long time without any restriction. Now Microsoft had patented the personal data mining system. According to patent abstract which was accepted just last weekPersonal data mining mechanisms and methods are employed to identify relevant information that otherwise would likely remain undiscovered. Users supply personal data that can be analyzed in conjunction with data associated with a plurality of…

• Bullet-Shaped Vesicular Stomatitis Virus

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:24 pm

  In a latest online article in journal Science Ge et al. report a cryo-electron microscopy structure of a model rhabdovirus, a bullet-shaped vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). Using their structural data they suggest a mechanism of VSV assembly in which the nucleocapsid spirals from the tip to become the helical trunk.Cryo-EM structure showing the putative cytoplasmic tail of G protein binding to an M subunit through a thin linker. Image credits ScienceProposed mechanism by which the nucleocapsid ribbon generates the virion head, starting with its bullet tip.Image credits ScienceArchitectural…

• Computational Biology: Is reproducibility overrated?

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:04 am

  Recently I was reading a bunch of articles on computational reproducibility in scientific research including one from my fellow blogger Grant Jacobs of Code for life blog. The term reproducibility in computational science is not monolithic - what seems essential for one scientific domain may not matter to another. Finding out what it takes is a difficult, but necessary effort. According to Randy LeVeque, a prominent mathematicianScientific and mathematical journals are filled with pretty pictures these days of computational experiments that the reader has no hope of repeating. Even brilliant…

• 
  findingDulcinea Science

• More Schools Starting Later to Accommodate Sleepy Teens

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:40 pm

  Research shows that teens' natural sleep cycle is to sleep later in the morning. Some schools are responding by pushing back start times.

• DNA Technology Reveals Charles Darwin’s Ancient Ancestry

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:25 pm

  Darwin’s great-great-grandson submitted a cheek swab sample to the Genographic Project in order to discover his—and his great-great-grandfather’s—“human deep ancestry.”

• Blue Whales Singing at Ever-Lower Frequency

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:40 pm

  Researchers can’t figure out why blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, are singing in deeper voices every year.

• Applying Earth’s Rules in Space

  29 Jan 2010 | 4:40 pm

  A new movement wants to designate items left on the moon by the Apollo 11 crew as protected artifacts. Is space under mankind’s jurisdiction, and is it time to create some rules?

• Errors in UN Climate Report Fuel Global Warming Debate

  21 Jan 2010 | 4:30 pm

  Five errors in a U.N. climate panel report have called into question the credibility of the panel, prompting climate change skeptics to cry foul.

• 
  2020 Science

• Twenty nanotechnology safety questions in search of answers

  I should warn you in advance – this is an interactive blog – there’s something I want from you!  I have a question – where do ordinary people go to get information on nanotechnology safety? Feeling a little lazy I thought I would get you – the loyal 2020 Science readership – to help me out [...]

• Nanotechnology researchers at sea when it comes to safety

  If you ever wanted proof that the nanotechnology research community is floundering when it comes to safe working practices, look no further than a paper just published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.  The paper, written by researchers at the Nanoscience Institute of Aragon (NIA) in Spain, surveys nanosafety practices in labs around the world.  Sadly, [...]

• Davos 2010 wrapup – inspired by youth

  Well, I’ve survived my first “Davos” and lived to tell the tale.  I feel I should write about how profoundly important and influential these meetings are (and without a doubt, they are).  But it’s two o’clock in the morning, and I wanted to wrap up this blog series with a minimum of effort before hitting [...]

• Getting from A to B: Technology innovation, global challenges and the Davos process

  There’s been something of a theme running through my day at The World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos today – getting from A to B.  The “A” in this case is technology innovation, and the “B” the problems we hope it will solve – the big ones like world hunger and disease, as well as [...]

• Owning the carbon cycle

  This evening I was invited to talk to a group of industry leaders on alternative solutions to the “carbon” problem at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.  The brief was to be one of three “firestarters” – a bit of a dangerous one if you ask me.  Given the informal setting (this was [...]

• 
  TreeHugger

• Ford Unveils Electric Version of Transit Connect Utility Van

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:36 am

  Photo: Ford Not Sexy, But the Business World Needs Electric Vehicles Too Ford has just unveiled the electric version of its award-winning Transit Connect utility van in Chicago, and it's not just a "maybe far in the future" announcement. Transit Connect Electric vans should be in the hands of customers "later this year", says Ford, though full volume production is only scheduled for 2011.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

• TreeHugger's Best of Green 2010: Now Calling for Nominations

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:03 am

  Do you know of a green person, product, company, event, or concept that deserves to be lauded for the positive environmental change it has enacted? Let us know! In TreeHugger's second annual Best of Green Awards, we're looking to bestow top honors on the people, places, and things that are helping move sustainability into the mainstream. Last year, we awarded more than 170 prizes across eight general themes. This year, we're asking for your help making some of the selections. Let us know who you think should be nominated for a Best of Green Award. Then we'll ask for your hel... Read the full…

• Innovations for Fighting Plastic Waste

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:56 am

  Image credit: Good Plastic trash, we know, is a serious problem. It's refreshing to know that some innovative people are working on solutions.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

• Are The Joneses Green Shoppers? Interactive Website Let's You Spy on Your Neighbor's Spending Habits

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am

  Image via Bundle Ahhh, keeping up with the Joneses - spending more so you can match up with your neighbors. But does it always have to be that way? When it comes to smart metering, experts have shown that knowing how much electricity your neighbors are using can spark up the competitive spirit, and you're likely to reduce your energy consumption just to "bea... Read the full story on TreeHugger

• Google Map Turns Envelope Into Directions to Party

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:30 am

  Image via Mapenvelope A key element of party invitations is including in the envelope directions on how to get to the location. But what if the envelope is the directions? We love this idea for an envelope that unfolds into a Google map that not only reduces how much paper space is used up on directions, but also just makes for a great looking envelope. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

• 
  Sara Bellum Blog

• Let's Talk: SBB Wants Your Feedback- First Impressions

  admin

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:14 am

  Image Courtesy of Lesley Mitchell Thanks to all the SBB readers who are leaving comments and asking questions on the Sara Bellum blog. It’s time for Question #4-let us know what you think. Question #4: So, we’re curious…how would you describe the Sara Bellum blog to a friend?  To answer the question, you can either submit a comment by writing your response in the “Leave a Reply” box below, or send us a message. As always, we will read all comments and consider all feedback. The following month, check back with the SBB to see how we’ve addressed your…

• Word of the Day: Disease

  admin

  2 Feb 2010 | 2:39 pm

  This picture is showing us an inside view of the brain from the top down. It compares healthy brain activity (left side, with all the red areas) with diminished brain activity in a drug user (right side). What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word disease?  You might think of cancer, diabetes, or epilepsy.  But do you think of drug abuse? Probably not. But, for some people, drug abuse can lead to a disease called addiction. A disease is when something in the body doesn’t work like it’s supposed to-an organ or a whole system has something wrong with it…

• Word of the Day: Relapse

  admin

  26 Jan 2010 | 12:20 pm

  Relapse… If you keep up with the SBB you know by now that addiction is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that takes hold in some people who abuse drugs. You may also know that some people can quit their drug use. But often a person will return to using drugs after they have quit. This is what NIDA Scientists call a relapse. Why does it happen?  Addiction changes the wiring of the brain to cause uncontrollable craving and compulsive drug use–despite the consequences. For someone with an addiction, going without the drug for periods of time can make that person feel so anxious and…

• So... Why Do People Like Drugs?

  admin

  19 Jan 2010 | 1:42 pm

  Is there something magical about drugs and alcohol with us humans?  So what’s our fascination and why do some of us like them so much?!  Actually, before we try and answer that one, let me just say: we are not alone.  Some of the drugs we use, abuse, and become addicted to today were actually “discovered” by animals first.  For example, you know why we have coffee today?  Well, the “legend of the dancing goats” says that coffee beans were first discovered in a field in Ethiopia by a goat herder who noticed that his goats were acting weird sometimes, running…

• Meth Mouth and Crank Bugs: Meth-a-morphosis

  admin

  11 Jan 2010 | 8:13 am

  The SBB has already told you about some of the nasty effects that methamphetamine can have on the body-remember that post about how scavengers won’t even eat the dead bodies of meth users? Not only can meth mess up your body’s chemical structure and even cause problems with your heart and lungs, it also changes your appearance and behavior. Soon, meth users might not even look or act like themselves. Bad news for teeth and skin.  Ever heard of “meth mouth?” It isn’t pretty.  Meth reduces the amount of protective saliva around the teeth.  People who use the…

• 
  Science

• Scientists Hurry to Examine Devastating Haiti Quake

  Andrea DeFronzo

  16 Jan 2010 | 9:38 am

  In the wake of the devastating earthquake that crippled Haiti earlier this week, scientists are eager to understand what happened and are trying to predict if it could potentially happen again. The destruction to Haiti has been extraordinary. Due to poor building construction and over population, a 7.0 earthquake, which is not massive by seismic standards, caused a major catastrophe leaving tens of thousands dead and many more injured and homeless. “The question we are trying to address right now is if there could be other faults nearby or perhaps other portions of the fault to the…

• A Win for University Stem Cell Research...For Now.

  Andrea DeFronzo

  23 Nov 2009 | 5:10 am

  A tie vote of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents Friday defeated -- for now -- a campaign to impose new limits on stem cell research at the system. The outcome of the vote was in doubt until it took place, and the research only escaped the limits because of a change of heart by a regent who had been backed in his election campaign by anti-abortion groups. (Nebraska is among the minority of states where regents are elected in popular elections.) With that reversal, the vote was 4-4, and measures are considered defeated if they don't receive a majority. Faculty groups and…

• Jones & Bartlett Author James Girard Appointed a 2009 Franklin Fellow at the US Department of State

  Andrea DeFronzo

  15 Sep 2009 | 12:35 pm

  Dr. James Girard, Chairman of the Chemistry Department at American University has been appointed a 2009 Franklin Fellow at the US Department of State  He will serve in OES’ Office of Environmental Policy and will advise the office and OES principals on preparations for the 2009-2010 UN Commission on Sustainable Development and will lead the clearance of a National report for the United States on themes having to do with the UN Commission.       Jones & Bartlett recently published the second edition of Dr. Girard's popular Principles of Environmental Chemistry. For ordering…

• New iPhone App Tracks Swine Flu

  Andrea DeFronzo

  2 Sep 2009 | 7:34 am

  iPhone just released a new application, created by researches at Children's Hospital Boston and MIT Media Lab, that allows users to track and report outbreaks of infectious disease, like H1N1,  in real time.  The application, Outbreaks Near Me, is a free download in the iTunes App Store. Click here to read the full story on Science Daily

• H1N1 Invades College Campuses Around the Country

  Andrea DeFronzo

  2 Sep 2009 | 7:04 am

  As students return to school, colleges and universities around the country are doing everything they can to halt the spread of the H1N1 virus by educating students.  At many schools, hundreds are already reporting flu-like symptoms and the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are anticipating much larger and dangerous outbreaks than those seen in the Spring and Summer.   Click here for the full story reported on Inside Higher Ed.

• 
  Mr Science Show: Where Science Meets Pop Culture

• Ep 113: The science of cocktails

  1 Feb 2010 | 11:25 pm

  Manuel Terron is a celebrity chef with the Lifestyle Channel program Mixing with the Best - he is described as a Mixologist, writer and bar consultant, and has been working in the bar/cocktail industry for 17 years. He's also described as sultry and I know my better half certainly had an eye on him.... Manuel ran an event called The Science of Cocktails during the Ultimo Science Festival. It was a fantastic event, and apart from learning how to make margaritas and martinis, Manuel took us on the cocktail making journey, explaining why making cocktails has far more to do with the scientific…

• Ep 121: Science of Superheroes - Wolverine (Part 1)

  1 Feb 2010 | 3:15 am

  Wolverine is probably the best known of the X-Men. Commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant who has animal-keen senses, super bodily strength, retracting claws, and the ability to almost instantly heal himself from injury. And thanks to some evil scientists, he has the near indestructible (and fictional) metal alloy adamantium fused to his bones, meaning that his claws and skeleton are almost unbreakable. In the second episode of our regular series on the science of superheroes, biochemist Dr Chris Pettigrew (aka Dr Boob) and I discuss where in nature Wolverine's powers can be found,…

• Ep 116: Terence Tao and Prime Numbers

  31 Jan 2010 | 5:24 pm

  Terence Tao is a Professor at the Department of Mathematics, UCLA and one of Australia's most acclaimed mathematicians. Indeed, he is arguably the world's greatest living mathematician. In 2006, he was awarded a Fields Medal, which is the top prize a mathematician can win, and at 24 became the youngest ever full professor at UCLA. I recently went to Tao's Clay–Mahler Lecturer at UNSW, which was a fascinating look at prime numbers. I managed to grab Terence for a quick chat. Listen to this podcast here: Primes are integers that can only be divided by themselves and one. For example, the…

• Ep 120: Correlation of the Week: Housework and Sex

  31 Jan 2010 | 4:23 pm

  There's nothing quite like pulling on the rubber gloves, splashing each other with dirty dish-water and then reaching for the vacuum cleaner with the adjustable nozzle to get you in mood for love. The first Correlation of the Week for 2010 is awarded to Constance Gager, from Montclair State University, and Scott Yabiku, from Arizona State University, who discovered that wives and husbands who spend more hours in housework and paidwork report more frequent sex. They theorise that womenand men who "work hard" also "play hard." To listen to this show, tune in here (or press play below): The…

• Keyboard cat tops the charts

  24 Jan 2010 | 2:53 pm

  Internet memes are fascinating. The term meme refers to ideas and cultural phenomena that spread through society through imitation. The term was first used by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene to discuss how evolution could work with cultural phenomena such as beliefs, fashion and music. He argues that memes are cultural analogues to genes, in that they self-replicate, mutate, can be inherited and respond to selective pressure. The concept of Internet memes relates to this original definition of meme, and refers to the spread of ideas across the internet. Colloquially, internet…

• 
  EurekAlert!

• Low forms of cyclin E reduce breast cancer drug's effectiveness

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Overexpression of low-molecular-weight (LMW-E) forms of the protein cyclin E renders the aromatase inhibitor letrozole ineffective among women with estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers, researchers from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in Clinical Cancer Research.

• Caltech neuroscientists discover brain area responsible for fear of losing money

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brain -- the amygdala.

• Animals cope with climate change at the dinner table

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Professor Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology has been measuring the evolving body sizes of birds and animals in areas where climate change is most extreme. In higher latitudes, Professor Yom-Tov has identified a pattern of birds getting smaller and mammals getting bigger. The change, he hypothesizes, is likely a strategy for survival.

• One-third of antimalarial medicines sampled in 3 African nations found to be substandard

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  The first results from a large-scale study of key antimalarial medicines in ten Sub-Saharan African countries reveal that a high percentage of medicines circulating on national markets are of substandard quality and thus may contribute to the growth of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent form of malaria.

• Antiretroviral therapy associated with increase in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  In PLoS Medicine this week a study conducted in a multi-country HIV treatment program in sub-Saharan Africa has found that pregnancy rates increase in HIV-infected women after they start antiretroviral therapy.

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  Imgur Gallery

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• 
  Discover Magazine

• Utah to be destroyed by a comet! Or not!

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  Utah is only one state over, so when I see a website that tells me a ...

• Cassini Probe Finds “Ingredients for Life” on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:32 am

  Five years ago, the Cassini spacecraft first detected plumes of water ice ...

• Study: “Third-Hand Smoke” Sticks Around & Produces New Carcinogens

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:15 am

  You might not be a smoker yourself, but hanging around people who are ...

• I Go ‘Under The Microscope’…

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:02 am

  Under the Microscope is a cool website ‘where women and science ...

• The Clever Tricks That Let Caterpillars Reach Butterflyhood

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:35 am

  For the lowly, wingless caterpillar, survival is a daily battle. Luckily these wily crawlers are masters of disguise and defense. Photographer and naturalist Samuel Jaffe spends countless hours collecting and carefully raising various species of Massachusetts caterpillars in order to photograph their best tricks: ingenious disguises, alarming (and stinky) appendages, and startling noises.

• 
  The Daily Galaxy - Great Discoveries Channel -Your Daily Dose of Awe: Science, Space, Tech

• Saturn's Enceladus Joins Earth & Titan With Discovery of Water

  Casey Kazan Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am

  Detecting salty ice and negatively charged water ions in the ice plume of Saturn's moon Enceladus, which primarily replenishes Saturn's ring with material from discharging jets, hints that it could harbor a reservoir of liquid water -- perhaps an ocean -- beneath its surface. And, where's there's an ocean of liquid water, there's a higher probability of finding some form of life. "The original picture of the plumes as violently erupting Yellowstone-like geysers is changing," said Frank Postberg, Cassini scientist for the cosmic dust analyzer at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in…

• "Einstein's Telescope": Zooming In On the Dark Side of the Universe

  Casey Kazan Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am

  “Such stunning cosmic coincidences reveal so much about nature.”~ Leonidas Moustakas, Jet Propulsion LaboratoryThe Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a never-before-seen optical alignment in space: a pair of glowing rings, one nestled inside the other like a bull's-eye pattern. The double-ring pattern is caused by the complex bending of light from two distant galaxies strung directly behind a foreground massive galaxy, like three beads on a string. The foreground galaxy is 3 billion light-years away, the inner ring and outer ring are comprised of multiple images of two galaxies at a…

• Image of the Day: The Tango of Galaxies in Collision

  Casey Kazan Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:24 am

   NGC 6872 and IC 4970 are two galaxies in the process of undergoing a collision. IC 4970 is the small galaxy at the top of the image that, thanks to Chandra and Spitzer data. New images show IC 4970 has stripped cold gas from NGC 6872 and is using it to feed its growing supermassive black hole. The galaxies and black holes co-exist, inextricably linked in their evolution. To better understand this symbiotic relationship, scientists have turned to rapidly growing black holes - so-called active galactic nucleus (AGN) - to study how they are affected by their galactic environments. The latest…

• "WOW!" The Famous 1977 'ET Signal' -A Look Back

  Casey Kazan Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:20 am

  August 15, 1977: the night before Elvis Presley died, at 11:16 p.m. an Ohio radio telescope called the Big Ear recorded a single pulse of radiation that seemed to come from somewhere in the constellation of Sagittarius at the 1420 MHz hydrogen line, the vibration frequency of hydrogen, the most common molecule in the universe -exactly the signal ET-hunters had been instructed to look out for. The signal was so strong that it pushed the Big Ear's recording device off the chart. Jerry Ehman, the young Columbus, Ohio volunteer man who spotted it in the computer printout, scrawled the now…

• NASA Sends Life Into Space

  Casey Kazan Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:16 am

  NASA scientists hope to better understand exactly how and why plants grow differently in space in an experiment named Tropi so that astronauts may be able to grow plants as part of life support systems on long-duration space missions to the moon or Mars."There's only one way to determine exactly why plants grow differently in weaker gravity environments, like on the moon and Mars, than on Earth - and that's by using the microgravity environment in spacecraft orbiting Earth," said John Z. Kiss, Tropi principal investigator and a professor at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. "Studying the…

• 
  Brainspin

• Kids with Two Mommies Turn Out A-Okay, Study Finds

  David Disalvo

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:10 am

  Image by mind on fire via Flickr A new study that’s sure to stoke political fires about same-sex marriage indicates that children raised by lesbian parents do just as well, or not, as those raised by heterosexual parents.  Researchers from New York University conducted an analysis of essentially all of the research to-date on same-sex parenting. The bottom line result: kids in both heterosexual and lesbian households had similar levels of academic achievement, number of friends and overall well-being. (You can view the study online here in the Journal of Marriage and Family.) Kids…

• Why Won’t the University of Washington Release its TV Studies Data?

  David Disalvo

  6 Feb 2010 | 6:02 am

  Image by tomeppy via Flickr The founders of the Baby Einstein video series have taken the University of Washington to court to force the release of research data they claim the University has been suspiciously keeping under wraps for years. Two peer-reviewed studies conducted by UW professors, published in 2004 and 2007, allegedly link television viewing by young children with attention-deficit problems and delayed language development. The more recent study specifically calls out “baby DVDs” as a culprit. Viewed as landmark studies by much of the pediatric establishment, they…

• On the 40th Anniversary of ‘Deliverance’, it’s Time to Give a Genius his Due

  David Disalvo

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:23 am

  This year marks the 40th anniversary of James Dickey’s novel, Deliverance (the movie, directed by John Boorman, came out two years later).  Even if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, you’re probably familiar with their themes and highlights, etched as they are in our cultural memory. If you heard the song “Dueling Banjos” for example, you’d probably know it was in the movie. Or if someone slipped the term “squeal like a pig” into conversation, you’d get the allusion (and you might also decide to cut the chat short). But beyond its piecemeal resonance,…

• When Lust gets Shafted, Loathing gets Going

  David Disalvo

  2 Feb 2010 | 2:21 pm

  Image by NeoGaboX via Flickr Let’s say that you’re on eBay and see an auction for something you really want.  You end up having to fight for it right down to the wire, but eventually lose to a last second sniper. Annoyed, you go prowling around and find the same item for more money as a Buy it Now.  Without hesitation, you buy it, paying a substantial premium over the ending price from the auction you just lost.  A week later the item arrives at your house. You open the box and are elated, right? Wrong. In fact, you can’t even recall why you liked the thing so much to begin with. …

• A Response to Dr. Phil’s Scolding of Farmville Mom

  David Disalvo

  31 Jan 2010 | 7:25 pm

  Image by Getty Images via Daylife A few days ago Dr. Phil scolded a mother on his show for her obsession with Farmville, the insanely popular game that more than 11 million people on Facebook are playing.  According to the woman, she’d all but stopped interacting with her family or doing anything other than tending her thriving virtual crops and animals.  She even allegedly unplugged the router in her house to make sure her daughter couldn’t get online, and then reconnected it to secretly get back to working the farm. Dr. Phil told the woman, You unplugged it because you have a…

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  sciencestage.com - the global hub of research

• News: Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Perseveres Struggles, Opportunity Digs Marquette Island and We Look Back

  sciencestaff

  30 Dec 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Perseveres Struggles, Opportunity Digs Marquette Island and We Look Back (from Planetary News)

• The Matthew Effect

  sciencestaff

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:30 am

  When it comes to scientific publishing and fame, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. How can we break this feedback loop?

• Cassini Probe Finds “Ingredients for Life” on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus | 80beats

  sciencestaff

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:32 am

  Five years ago, the Cassini spacecraft first detected plumes of water ice emanating from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, making the moon one of the best hopes for finding life somewhere else in the solar system.

• Le microcrédit réduit-il la pauvreté ?

  sciencestaff

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:30 am

  Système de crédit accordé aux plus pauvres, le microcrédit est aujourd’hui évalué pour la première fois. Certes, il n’a pas...

• Un GPS adapté aux pompiers

  sciencestaff

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:30 am

  Comment s’orienter dans un bâtiment très enfumé pour porter secours ? C’est depuis longtemps une préoccupation pour les pompiers. Une solution vient...

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  Science Magazine

• The Web

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:03 am

  The global information resource spun out of research into fundamental physicsWhen Tim Berners-Lee sketched out what we now know as the World Wide Web, he offered it as a solution to an age-old but prosaic source of problems: documentation. In 1989 the computer scientist was working at CERN, the particle physics laboratory near Geneva, just as a major project, the Large Electron Positron collider, was coming online. CERN was one of the largest Internet sites in Europe at the time, home to thousands of scientists using a variety of computer systems. Information was stored hierarchically: a…

• Tectonic Plates

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:06 am

  The long, strange trip of continental driftAlfred Wegener’s idea of continental drift wandered in the wilderness for the first few decades after he wrote about it in his 1915 book, The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Although some geologists marshaled further evidence for the theory, most remained skeptical because no plausible mechanism seemed capable of sending huge landmasses plowing through the ocean crust on long journeys across the surface of the earth. The modern concept of moving tectonic plates emerged in 1962, proposed by Harry H. Hess of Princeton University. Hess had captained…

• Appendix

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:52 am

  Not needed, but not uselessMany have speculated that it exists to keep surgeons in business. Leonardo da Vinci thought it might be an outlet for “excessive wind” to prevent the intestines from bursting. The great artist and anatomist was not entirely off base in that the human appendix does appear to have originated at a time when primates ate plants exclusively, and all that fiber was tougher to digest.The intestinal offshoot formally known as the vermiform appendix is a long, slender cavity, closed at its tip. It branches off the cecum, which is itself a big pouch at the beginning of…

• Cupcakes

  6 Feb 2010 | 10:48 am

  The yummy baked good is one of America’s first and finest contributions to world cuisineLike many acts of pure genius, the invention of the cupcake is lost in the creamy fillings of history. According to food historian Andrew Smith, the first known recipe using the term “cupcake” appeared in an American cookbook in 1826. The “cup” referred not to the shape of the cake but to the quantity of ingredients; it was simply a downsized English pound cake. Lynne Olver, who maintains a Web site called the Food Timeline, has tracked down a recipe for cakes baked in cups from 1796. But we will…

• INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:07 am

  Still powering the world’s vehicle fleet 130 years onNearly every vehicle on the road today is powered by some version of the four-stroke internalcombustion engine patented by Nikolaus Otto in 1876 (right). Otto exploited the findings of French physicist Sadi Carnot, who in 1824 showed that the efficiency of an engine depends critically on the temperature differential between a hot “source” of energy and a cold “sink.” The four-stroke engine compresses an air-fuel mixture and ignites it with a spark, thus creating a fleeting but intense source of heat. Its portable efficiency has…