A molecule called Alda-1 can repair Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), an often defective alcohol metabolism enzyme that affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, according to research published Jan. 10 in the advance online edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The findings suggest the possibility of a treatment to reduce the health problems associated with the enzyme defect.

After alcohol is consumed, it is metabolized into acetaldehyde, a toxic chemical that causes DNA damage.  Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is the main enzyme responsible for breaking down acetaldehyde into acetate, a nontoxic metabolite in the body.  It also removes other toxic aldehydes that can accumulate in the body.

In an effort to be more environmentally conscious, the United States government is dolling out various rebates and tax credits to consumers who purchase more earth friendly, energy efficient appliances. While the aim of the rebate program may be admirable, economists from the University of Delaware say taxpayers will lose a significant portion of the $300 Million they are contributing to the federal government's appliance rebate program and the energy-saving program could actually increase energy usage. Their analysis is published in the 1st Quarter 2010 issue of the Milken Institute Review.

New research published in Nature Geoscience shows that water levels in the Bering Strait helped drive global climate patterns during ice age episodes dating back more than 100,000 years. The study, led by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), found that the repeated opening and closing of the narrow strait due to fluctuating sea levels affected currents that transported heat and salinity in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

As a result, summer temperatures in parts of North America and Greenland oscillated between warmer and colder phases, causing ice sheets to alternate between expansion and retreat and affecting sea levels worldwide.

Concern Who It May

When should one use 'who', and when 'whom'?  A simple enough question on the face of it, but in practice a path through a quagmire.

Generally, making a choice between 'who' and 'whom' in constructs does not lead to a significant change in meaning.  But it may.  Consider the stock phrase "to whom it may concern."  Here, the term 'concern' means 'be of interest'.   By way of contrast, in the phrase "concern who it may", 'concern' may mean 'trouble', 'worry', or 'annoy'.  Annoy who it may!

Joggers love their head phones. If you ask them why, they’ll tell you it keeps them motivated. The right song can transform what is by all rights an arduous half hour of ascetic masochism into an exhilarating whirlwind (or, in my case, into what feels like only 25 minutes of ascetic masochism).

Music-driven joggers may be experiencing a pleasurable diversion, but to the joggers and bikers in their vicinity, they’re Tasmanian Devils.

As a young woman from France working as a civil servant in Liverpool in 1999, I once stumbled upon a book in a discount book shop, which was going to change the way I would look upon things. The book was called “Baby Wars: The Dynamics of Family Conflict” by Robin Baker and Elizabeth Oram.

I just posted a tweet storm from this week's 215th AAS Conference.  The specific session was a workshop on "Astronomy Employment: Past and Future".  The panelists were Beryl Benderly (Science Careers journalist), Rachel Ivie (AIP), Jim Ulvestad (NRAO), and Steve Beckwith (Univ. of CA), and their opinions were both frank and highly welcome at dispelling illusions about the ivory tower of academia.

This is the cold, hard reality of professional astronomy, presented from the inside.  Here are the quotes and tweets from the workshop.

"More people are beign qualified as scientists than can be employed" (B. Benderly) #aas215

Defrosting The Freezer

There are many ways to defrost a freezer.  You can just switch off the power and wait for room temperature to permeate the ice.  You can use a heat source such as a hair-dryer or hot air gun.  Or you could chip away the ice and dump it where it will melt naturally due to local atmospheric temperature.

As I write this, Britain is shivering in its worst winter for 30 years.  A temperature has been measured in Scotland insignificantly different from the current temperature at the South Pole. Supplies of grit, salt and gas are being rationed.

A large number of comments have been posted on newspaper websites claiming that our current U.K. weather disproves the theory of global warming.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers is challenging the theory that the origin of life stems from a system of self-catalytic molecules capable of experiencing Darwinian evolution without the need of RNA or DNA and their replication. Through the analysis of 'compound genomes', the team argues that these chemical networks cannot be considered evolutionary units because they lose properties which are essential for evolution when they reach a critical size and greater level of complexity.

A group of marine organisms called Echinoderms, which includes starfish and sea urchin, has a significant impact on the levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and that influence has been greatly underestimated by scientists, argues a new paper in Ecological Monographs.

"Climate models must take this carbon sink into account," says Mario Lebrato, lead author of the study. Globally, the seabed habitats occupy more than 300 million million square metres, from the intertidal flats and pools to the mightiest deep-sea trenches at 11,000 meters. The benthos – the animals living on and in the sediments – populate this vast ecosystem.