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Latest Articles: Science/Tech
A 'Wild Card' in Your Genes
Post Date: 2011-12-12 06:28:56 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2011) — The human genome and the endowments of genes in other animals and plants are like a deck of poker cards containing a "wild card" that in a genetic sense introduces an element of variety and surprise that has a key role in life. That's what scientists are describing in a review of more than 100 studies on the topic that appears in ACS Chemical Biology. Rahul Kohli and colleagues focus on cytosine, one of the four chemical "bases" that comprise the alphabet that the genetic material DNA uses to spell out everything from hair and eye color to risk of certain diseases. But far from just storing information, cytosine has acquired a ...
Solar Power Much Cheaper to Produce Than Most Analysts Realize, Study Finds
Post Date: 2011-12-12 06:19:56 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2011) — The public is being kept in the dark about the viability of solar photovoltaic energy, according to a study conducted at Queen's University. "Many analysts project a higher cost for solar photovoltaic energy because they don't consider recent technological advancements and price reductions," says Joshua Pearce, Adjunct Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. "Older models for determining solar photovoltaic energy costs are too conservative." Dr. Pearce believes solar photovoltaic systems are near the "tipping point" where they can produce energy for about the same price other traditional ...
A Rothschild Speaks - Listen Closely
Post Date: 2011-12-11 11:35:14 by CadetD
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Click for Full Text!Poster Comment:
Chewing gum boosts test scores
Post Date: 2011-12-11 04:48:45 by Tatarewicz
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Researchers at St. Lawrence University have found that chewing gum for five minutes before taking a test will improve people's performance. According to previous findings any type of physical activity before taking an exam can improve test performance. A new study published in the journal appetite, however, says mild activities like chewing gum may also be helpful. Serge Onyper and colleagues compared the effects of chewing gum before or during various testing situations in 80 undergraduate students. A “battery of cognitive tasks” was given to participants, who chewed gum either prior to or throughout testing. Their performance was then compared with subjects who did not ...
Mysterious planet-sized object spotted near Mercury
Post Date: 2011-12-09 09:55:54 by PSUSA2
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Is a giant, cloaked spaceship orbiting around Mercury? That's been the speculation from some corners aftera camera onboard NASA's STEREO spacecraft caught a wave of electronically charged material shooting out from the sun and hitting Mercury. Theorists have seized on the images captured from the "coronal mass ejection" (CME) last week as suggestive of alien life hanging out in our own cosmic backyard. Specifically, the solar flare washing over Mercury appears to hit another object of comparable size. "It's cylindrical on either side and has a shape in the middle. It definitely looks like a ship to me, and very obviously, it's cloaked," YouTube-user ...
Vanadium - the new power source
Post Date: 2011-12-09 07:44:52 by Tatarewicz
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A little-known metal used in steelmaking could emerge as a game-changer for battery technology, raising the prospect of an investment boom like the one that lifted rare earths out of obscurity last year. Those aren't my words. They're Reuters'. The opportunity the straitlaced news organization is describing is so exciting, its description almost sounds sensationalized... It's not. Another Metal to Learn The metal in question is vanadium. And according to Chris Berry, founder of New York-based research firm House Mountain Partners, the potential exists “to make vanadium into a multi-billion dollar metal.” Its strengthening capabilities have been known for ...
Drug reverses aging-associated changes in brain cells: study
Post Date: 2011-12-09 04:39:32 by Tatarewicz
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Drugs that affect the levels of an important brain protein involved in learning and memory reverse cellular changes in the brain seen during aging, according to an animal study published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience. The findings could one day aid in the development of new drugs that enhance cognitive function in older adults. Aging-related memory loss is associated with the gradual deterioration of the structure and function of synapses (the connections between brain cells) in brain regions critical to learning and memory, such as the hippocampus. Recent studies suggested that histone acetylation, a chemical process that controls whether genes ...
Cosmic collisions likely caused gamma-ray explosion last Christmas
Post Date: 2011-12-09 03:29:21 by Tatarewicz
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Last Christmas, NASA’s Swift spacecraft detected a large gamma ray burst – the cause of which has been a puzzle to astrophysicists. Gamma ray bursts are large, high energy explosions that last only a short period of time. In just a few seconds, though, they emit more energy than the Sun will throughout its entire lifetime. While hundreds of gamma ray bursts have been studied and their mechanics well known, advances in detection have produced a few that don’t fit the mold – and the Christmas burst is one of those. “What the Christmas burst seems to be telling us is that the family of gamma-ray bursts is more diverse than we fully appreciate,” said Christina ...
Chinese 2,485 year tree ring study shows natural cycles control climate, temps may cool til 2068
Post Date: 2011-12-08 20:51:54 by Original_Intent
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Chinese 2,485 year tree ring study shows natural cycles control climate, temps may cool til 2068A blockbuster Chinese study of Tibetan tree rings by Liu et al 2011 shows, with detail, that the modern era is a dog-standard normal climate when compared to the last 2,500 years. The temperature, the rate of change — it’s all been seen before. Nothing about the current period is “abnormal”, indeed the current warming period in Tibet can be produced through calculation of cycles. Liu et al do a Fourier analysis on the underlying cycles and do brave predictions as well. In Tibet, it was about the same temperature on at least four occasions — back in late Roman times (those ...
The BBC: less trustworthy, more dangerous than a cannibal polar bear
Post Date: 2011-12-08 14:02:30 by farmfriend
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The BBC: less trustworthy, more dangerous than a cannibal polar bear By James Delingpole Environment Last updated: December 8th, 2011 Today's endangered polar bear story du jour comes, you won't be at all surprised to hear, from the BBC's news website. An "environmental photojournalist" named Jenny E Ross took a photograph of a polar bear eating a cub – and concluded, as of course any self-respecting environmental photojournalist would, that this was probably the result of "climate change". "This type of intraspecific predation has always occurred to some extent," she told BBC News. "However, there are increasing numbers of ...
China developing next-gen nuclear with Microsoft's Bill Gates
Post Date: 2011-12-08 03:15:37 by Tatarewicz
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BEIJING / WASHINGTON - Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates confirmed on Wednesday that a company he helped found is cooperating on the development of a new type of nuclear reactor in China. "TerraPower is working on what we call Generation-4 nuclear energy. And the idea is to be very low-cost, very safe and generate very little waste," Gates said at a news conference after he discussed cooperation with Ministry of Science and Technology officials in Beijing on Wednesday. "It is in an early stage," Gates said. TerraPower, co-founded by Gates several years ago, is working on the idea of new technologies with the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), though Gates ...
Study faults partial radiation for breast cancer recurrance
Post Date: 2011-12-07 01:47:46 by Tatarewicz
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SAN ANTONIO — New research casts doubt on a popular treatment for breast cancer: A week of radiation to part of the breast instead of longer treatment to all of it. Women who were given partial radiation were twice as likely to need their breasts removed later because the cancer came back, doctors found. The treatment uses radioactive pellets briefly placed in the breast instead of radiation beamed from a machine. At least 13 percent of older patients in the U.S. get this now, and it is popular with working women. "Even women who aren't working appreciate convenience," but they may pay a price in effectiveness if too little tissue is being treated, said study leader ...
NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in Habitable Zone
Post Date: 2011-12-05 14:38:27 by Eric Stratton
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NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in Habitable Zone MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new explanet candidates, researchers announced today (Dec. 5). The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation.These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700. The potentially habitable ...
Gene ABCC9 determines need for extra sleep
Post Date: 2011-12-05 02:55:06 by Tatarewicz
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People who like a lie-in may now have an excuse - it is at least partly down to their genes, according to experts. Experts, who studied more than 10,000 people across Europe, found those with the gene ABCC9 need around 30 minutes more sleep per night than those without the gene. The gene is carried by one in five Europeans, they say in their study, published in Molecular Psychiatry. The researchers said the finding could help explain "sleep behaviour". Over 10,000 people took part, each reporting how long they slept and providing a blood sample for DNA analysis. People's sleep needs can differ significantly. At the extreme, Margaret Thatcher managed on four hours of ...
Turtle telepathy
Post Date: 2011-12-03 02:30:01 by Tatarewicz
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ADELAIDE: River Murray Turtle embryos can adjust their developmental rate so that all the eggs in a clutch can hatch around the same time, a new study has found. Young turtles face many challenges when they hatch and venture into the world. Synchronous hatching increases their survival chances, as predators are swamped by high numbers of prey. As a large group, hatchlings can also work together to dig their way out of the nest more easily. Scientists investigated incubation and group hatching in the River Murray Turtle, which is a species restricted to the Murray-Darling River system in southeastern Australia. Although the temperature of the nest affects the developmental rate of eggs, ...
Periodic table to welcome two new elements
Post Date: 2011-12-03 01:59:54 by Tatarewicz
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Livermorium and flerovium could soon occupy the 114 and 116 spots on the periodic table of the elements. The names for the elements, which were synthesized a decade ago, were announced Thursday by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Years after their discovery, the super-heavy elements with atomic numbers of 114 and 116 have finally been named by their Russian and American discoverers. The elements are flerovium and livermoreium also known as Fl and Lv. Chemistry's periodic table can now welcome livermorium and flerovium, two newly named elements, which were announced Thursday (Dec. 1) by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The new names will ...
Ions enable animals to predict earthquakes?
Post Date: 2011-12-01 02:24:40 by Tatarewicz
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Toads can 'predict earthquakes' Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike. This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour. Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L'Aquila, Italy in 2009 - days before a quake. They suggest that animal behaviour could be incorporated into earthquake forecasting. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote When you think of all of the many things that are happening to these rocks, it would be weird if the animals weren't affected in some way” Rachel Grant The ...
Herbicide Atrazine Spurs Reproductive Problems in Many Creatures
Post Date: 2011-11-30 05:47:13 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2011) — An international team of researchers has reviewed the evidence linking exposure to atrazine -- an herbicide widely used in the U.S. and more than 60 other nations -- to reproductive problems in animals. The team found consistent patterns of reproductive dysfunction in amphibians, fish, reptiles and mammals exposed to the chemical. Atrazine is the second-most widely used herbicide in the U.S. More than 75 million pounds of it are applied to corn and other crops, and it is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of groundwater, surface water and rain in the U.S. The new review, compiled by 22 scientists studying atrazine in North and South ...
Walnut Trees May Not Be Able to Withstand Climate Change
Post Date: 2011-11-30 05:08:42 by Tatarewicz
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2011) — Warmer, drier summers and extreme weather events considered possible as the climate changes would be especially troublesome -- possibly fatal -- for walnut trees, according to research at Purdue University. Over five years, Douglass Jacobs, a professor of forestry and natural resources, and Martin-Michel Gauthier, a former doctoral student under Jacobs who is now a research scientist in the Ministry of Natural Resources in Quebec, studied the physiology of walnut trees, which are economically significant in Indiana for their lumber and veneer, and in other areas for their nuts. They found that the trees are especially sensitive to particular climates. ...
How the brain strings words into sentences
Post Date: 2011-11-30 04:52:52 by Tatarewicz
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— Distinct neural pathways are important for different aspects of language processing, researchers have discovered, studying patients with language impairments caused by neurodegenerative diseases. While it has long been recognized that certain areas in the brain's left hemisphere enable us to understand and produce language, scientists are still figuring out exactly how those areas divvy up the highly complex processes necessary to comprehend and produce language. Advances in brain imaging made within the last 10 years have revealed that highly complex cognitive tasks such as language processing rely not only on particular regions of the cerebral cortex, but also on the white ...
NeverWet: Nanotechnology for Your Airplane
Post Date: 2011-11-29 23:56:05 by X-15
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November 23, 2011 – How many different products would you need to use on your aircraft if you wanted it to repel water, prevent icing, stop corrosion, and make the aircraft self-cleaning? Soon, the answer could be just one: NeverWet. But don't rush to the store yet; retail spray-can products aren't expected to be available until mid-2012. In the meantime, you can see the product demonstrated in videos below of chocolate syrup leaping off of shoes and ice sliding from a metal surface. These seemingly magic coatings are the result of three years of work by a dozen scientists working for Ross Nanotechnology, a relatively new division of the 50-year-old Ross Technology ...
Study finds new ‘natural killers’ of micro bugs
Post Date: 2011-11-29 05:23:13 by Tatarewicz
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Researchers from The Australian National University have discovered a new type of cell which boosts the human body’s ability to fight off infections and life-threatening diseases. Professor Carola Vinuesa from The John Curtin School of Medical Research has found a type of cell which recognises lipid antigens, or foreign molecules, which sit on infectious bacteria which invade the body. Once recognising the lipids, the cell, called Natural killer T follicular helper (NKTfh), generates antibody responses in B cells – which are the body’s natural defence against invasion by viruses and bacteria. Professor Vinuesa said that the cell represents a non-chemical based and natural ...
'Anthrax isn't scary at all compared to this': Man-made flu virus with potential to wipe out many millions if it ever escaped is created in research lab
Post Date: 2011-11-29 04:50:32 by Tatarewicz
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A group of scientists is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilisation. The deadly virus is a genetically tweaked version of the H5N1 bird flu strain, but is far more infectious and could pass easily between millions of people at a time. The research has caused a storm of controversy and divided scientists, with some saying it should never have been carried out. Deadly: The new strain could wipe out millions of people at a time Deadly: The new strain of bird flu could wipe out millions of people at a time The current strain of H5N1 has only killed 500 people and is not contagious enough to cause a global pandemic. ...
Starfish-inspired 'soft' robot squeezes under obstacles
Post Date: 2011-11-29 01:33:51 by Tatarewicz
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A "soft" robot inspired by squid and starfish can crawl, undulate, and squeeze under obstacles. Built by a team at Harvard University, this robot has several advantages over those with treads, wheels and rigid parts - which have a limited repertoire of movements and may have trouble navigating difficult terrain. The sea creature-inspired creation was manufactured with soft materials and its motion is driven by compressed air. Details appear in the journal PNAS. Professor George Whitesides, Robert Shepherd and their colleagues from Harvard University in Cambridge, US, said the work was inspired by animals such as squid and starfish that lack hard skeletons. The ...
Alzheimer's: Deep brain stimulation 'reverses' disease
Post Date: 2011-11-28 05:06:06 by Tatarewicz
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Scientists in Canada have raised a tantalising prospect - reversing Alzheimer's disease. Brain shrinkage, declining function and memory loss had been thought to be irreversible. They used a technique known as deep brain stimulation - applying electricity directly to regions of the brain. In two patients, the brain's memory hub reversed its expected decline and actually grew. Deep brain stimulation has been used in tens of thousands of patients with Parkinson's as well as having an emerging role in Tourette's Syndrome and depression. Yet precisely how it works is still unknown. The procedure is all done under a local anaesthetic. An MRI scan identifies the target within ...
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