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Join The Navy : See A Nuke

Join The Navy : See A Nuke

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Join The Navy : See A Nuke

There was a time when a navy, merchant or military,  consisted of hundreds of ships, each manned by hundreds of crew.  When I was a child in the 1950s, Sheerness was a thriving dockyard town.  Everyone in town knew at least one soldier or sailor, either as a relative or as a friend.
Go Higher or Go to Antarctica

Go Higher or Go to Antarctica

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

You can (and should) listen to my first ever podcast, at "365 Days of Astronomy", which is either about a) why we put telescopes on mountains and in space or b) why science in Antarctica rocks!  From the 365DOA site:
Ever wonder why astronomers loft telescopes higher and higher, to mountains and via balloons and satellites? Astrophysicist Sandy Antunes explains, and in the process gets an accidental lesson from a Linda Banish, a rock-climbing colleague, on why Antarctica is the best place in the world for science.
AAS: Starting 2010 on the right foot

AAS: Starting 2010 on the right foot

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

I am not one for New Year's resolutions.  January 1st does not particularly stand out to me, frankly.  This year, however, I felt the need to turn over a new leaf.  And so, amongst the various changes I wish to undertake in my semi-professional life, I have decided to actually give regular attention to this blog.  (No promises for thesis deadline weeks, however.)
Takedown of Creationist Information Theory

Takedown of Creationist Information Theory

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Jeffrey Shallit takes down creationist nonsense about information theory in Stephen Meyer's latest creationist offering, Signature in the Cell:

In Signature in the Cell, Meyer talks about three different kinds of information: Shannon information, Kolmogorov information, and a third kind that has been invented by ID creationists and has no coherent definition. I'll call the third kind "creationist information"...

This Week's Topic:

Science 2020

Farming 2.0 - Innovation And Limiting Environmental Impacts

When we think about agriculture, technology and the future there is one apparent truth—we will...

Giant Squid In Aquariums By 2020?

What to look for in the next decade, as far as squid are concerned? Certainly new species will...

The Man Machine Model 2020...

...

The Future Of Science In The Next Decade? Transdisciplinary Collaboration

I was asked the question, "What can we expect to see from science in the next decade?" My answer...

Tevatron Higgs Searches: Past And Future

To see the future, you must know the past: these nine words nicely summarize a syllogism which...

Significant Science "Discoveries" In The Coming Decade

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Science 2020: Prospecting For Nanopores

I think that in many ways, the motivation of scientists is similar to that of prospectors in the...

Particle Physics In 2020

2010 has just started with the best auspices to bring us exciting new science, and there comes...

Science 2020: Motherhood, Clean & Sustainable

THE QUESTION IS "What Will The Next Decade Bring In Science?" The answer is both obvious...

Biomedical Science In 2020

What will geneticists and molecular cell biologists be doing in 2020? 10 years ago, genomic technologies...

Global Cooling : Beyond Parochialism

Global Cooling : Beyond ParochialismDuring the next 10 years, climate science and climate science...

Dimers Are A Nobel's Best Friend - The Potential For Beryllium

In the beginning, like attracts like to make a dimer. Nobel Prizes are a rich ...

Filtering Information In The Information Age

Filtering Information In The Information AgeThe Fortean Times appears never to have been mentioned...

Ten years after, in home computing

To start off 2010, we're invited to join a new “Hot Topics” feature, which will periodically...

Optimizing Science Education: What We Will Need For The University Of 2020

In Optimizing The University - Why We Need a New Educational Model for a New Century I discussed...

The Neurobiology Of How Brain Cells Process Mathematical Rules

The Neurobiology Of How Brain Cells Process Mathematical Rules

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Children learn basic mathematical rules such as 'less than' and 'greater than' because they are the foundation of mathematical operations.  As adults, intelligent behavior requires strategic processing of numbers and abstract quantity information, such as when we adopt a 'less than' strategy when shopping for a product to pay the smallest amount of money.   When searching for a job our plan of action is 'greater than' and we strive to earn the largest sum of money.

Neurobiologists in the laboratory of Andreas Nieder at the University of Tübingen writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) (January 18.-24. 2010) say they have shown for the first time how brain cells process simple mathematical rules.
How Ebola Hoodwinks Host Cells

How Ebola Hoodwinks Host Cells

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

 Iowa State University researchers say they have discovered how the Ebola Virus is able to elude the immune response of host cells that it invades. The problem has stumped scientists for many years, and in a new study published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the Iowa team says that host cells can't recognize and respond to the virus because of a dirty little trick it plays.

When most viruses invade cells, they begin producing RNA in order to replicate. In response,  the healthy host cells activate anti-viral defenses that halt replication and eventually help clear the viral infections
Stem Cell-Derived Neurons May Help Treat ALS

Stem Cell-Derived Neurons May Help Treat ALS

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Stem cell-derived neurons can fully integrate into the brains of young animals, according to new research published in the the Journal of Neuroscience. Healthy brains have stable and precise connections between cells that are necessary for normal behavior, and the new study suggests that stem cells can be directed not only to become specific brain cells, but to link correctly. The finding may have long term implications for the treatment of spinal cord injuries and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Underachievers Excel At 'Fun' Tasks, Study Finds

Underachievers Excel At 'Fun' Tasks, Study Finds

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Hard workers who are motivated to achieve generally excel on specific tasks when they are reminded of the benefits of their hard work. But when a task is presented as fun, researchers report in a new Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study, the same hard-working individuals are often outperformed by those less motivated to achieve.

The findings suggest that two students may respond quite differently to a teacher's exhortation that they strive for excellence, said University of Illinois psychology professor Dolores Albarracín, who conducted the research with William Hart, of the University of Florida. One may be spurred to try harder, while another may become less motivated.
Culture of Candida albicans on peptone agar and other media helps in identification

Culture of Candida albicans on peptone agar and other media helps in identification

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Seventy-nine isolates of Candida albicans and 33 of 5 other pathogenic species of Candida were cultured for 3 h at 37°C in 1·5% aqueous solution of 6 peptone media. While all isolates of C. albicans formed germ tubes, the other species did not. Some isolates of C. albicans formed germ tubes in 1·5% trypticase peptone and neopeptone, and all did so in phytone, bactopetone, polypeptone and proteose peptone at the same concentration. Subsequently, 140 isolates of C.

Plastid transcription technologies: bacterial core with eukaryotic extension.

Plastid transcription technologies: bacterial core with eukaryotic extension.

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Chloroplasts are photosynthetic organelles containing a part of plant genome usually called plastome. Introduction of foreign genes into plastids and creation of transplastomic plants has some advantages over classic nuclear transformation, so chloroplasts are of great importance for biotechnology. Chloroplast gene expression machinery is diverse and complicated. Apparently, it was inherited from a cyanobacterial ancestor but evolved greatly in eukaryotic plant cell. Transcription is the first stage of gene expression and the review focuses on plastid transcription apparatus. Higher plant chloroplasts have two RNA polymerases, one of bacterial origin (PEP) and the other arose from mitochondrial one (NEP).
Abstract Language More Convincing To Consumers, Study Finds

Abstract Language More Convincing To Consumers, Study Finds

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

The next time you want to convince someone to vote for your favored political candidate, or to buy a certain product, use abstract language, say the authors of a new study published in the The Journal of Consumer Research. The study found that consumers respond  better to product descriptions when they are framed in abstract as opposed to concrete terms.

"Our finding that abstract messages have a stronger impact on buying intentions can be translated straightforwardly into the recommendation to use abstract language if you try to convince someone of the (positive or negative) consequences of buying a product, or of following your advice," the authors explain.
HPV Screening Could Reduce Cervical Cancer Rates

HPV Screening Could Reduce Cervical Cancer Rates

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Results from a study recently published in the Lancet Oncology found that testing for high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA is significantly more effective in preventing invasive cervical cancer than cytology (Pap testing) alone.

Two rounds of screening were performed in more than 90,000 women age 25-60. In phase one, women were randomly assigned to a control group with conventional cytology (Pap) only or to an intervention group where women had HPV DNA testing plus liquid-based cytology. In phase two, which was conducted two years later, with three to five years of follow-up, the control group received conventional cytology and the women in the intervention group received HPV testing alone.
Too Many Choices May Be Unhealthy, Psychologists Suggest

Too Many Choices May Be Unhealthy, Psychologists Suggest

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Thanks to capitalism and a cultural heritage of individual freedom, Americans enjoy just about ever modern convenience imaginable and do almost anything they want. But, according to psychologists from Standford University and Swarthmore College, the amount of choice that results from such a decadent lifestyle may be unhealthy. The researchers say that too many choices cause Americans to ignore how the rest of the world feels about choice and may even make us selfish and depressed.
New Theory Shakes Up Primate Evolution

New Theory Shakes Up Primate Evolution

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

A new paper published in Zoologica Scripta argues that the distributions of the major primate groups are correlated with Mesozoic tectonic features and that their respective ranges are congruent with each evolving locally from a widespread ancestor on Pangea about 185 million years ago.

The new theory incorporates spatial patterns of primate diversity and distribution as historical evidence for primate evolution, while previous models of primate evolution had been limited to interpretations of the fossil record and molecular clocks, says author Michael Heads, a Research Associate of the Buffalo Museum of Science.
How Gliomas Outsmart Cancer-Killing Drugs

How Gliomas Outsmart Cancer-Killing Drugs

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

University of California, San Diego researchers say they have shown one way deadly brain tumors called gliomas evade drugs aimed at blocking the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a cell signaling protein that is crucial for tumor growth. They also say that a particular EGFR mutation is important not only to initiate the tumor, but for its continued growth as well. The findings appear this week in PNAS.
Exoskeletons to Envy

Exoskeletons to Envy

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

We human primates evolved and innovated extreme flexibility of body and mind, partly because we grow flesh around, instead of within, a bony framework. Yet we envy and copy the crusty, scaly or shelly attire of many biological predecessors.

Who sports the best exoskeleton?

Echinoderms grow some of the most fancy and flashy. Mollusks grow plenty of ornate, effective examples.
Squid Counting And Comics

Squid Counting And Comics

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

Not a whole lot of squid news this week, although the cephalopod mailing list continues to host a lively discussion, spurred by that coconut octopus story, of concepts like "tool use" and "intelligence". Everyone's got a different perspective! One of my favorite questions: is an archerfish that spits a jet of water to knock an insect off a branch a "tool user"? Is "using" a jet of water different from "using" a rock or a coconut shell?
Have We Achieved Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream?

Have We Achieved Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream?

Jan 19 2010 | comment(s)

That we should be judged by the content of our characters and not the color of our skin. I don't think so.  The way other "black" people treat each other says no. America has still defaulted on the promisory note he spoke of in his "Dream Speech".