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The Neurobiology Of Pleasure

The Neurobiology Of Pleasure

Aug 23 2009 | comment(s)

A sense of pleasure generated by the brain’s hedonic neural systems is fundamental to daily life and it's been essential for evolution and the survival of humans and most animals, say Morten Kringelbach and Kent Berridge, editors of a new book to be published by Oxford University Press in October 2009 called Pleasures of the Brain.
Are you smarter than 90% of the public?

Are you smarter than 90% of the public?

Aug 22 2009 | comment(s)

I assume so, given that you're on Scientific Blogging. But if you have any lingering doubts, take the Pew Research Center's Science Knowledge quiz. It's a quick 12-question quiz about basic scientific ideas, kicking off with the great colorful "mad scientist" art below.


"Americans are knowledgeable about basic scientific facts that affect their health and their daily lives. But the public is less able to answer questions about more complex science topics," the report notes.
Networks Are Killing Science

Networks Are Killing Science

Aug 22 2009 | comment(s)


Here's a little exercise in scientific thinking. What's wrong the approach to science described in the following passage? (This passage, about applying network analysis to counterterrorism, is taken from the complex systems special feature in the July 24th issue of Science.)
Science Of Fine Wines Event

Science Of Fine Wines Event

Aug 22 2009 | comment(s)

Last night we attended the "Science of Fine Wines" event in support of the Sacramento Discovery Science&Space Museum.

This was, as you can imagine, not a hard science event.   The Museum itself is devoted primarily to helping kids understand science and the attendees were primarily there to drink wine.   But when we talked to them about it a 'science of cheese' portion made sense because it lent itself to a hands-on lab.
PRODUCTIVTY OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA IN SEMI-ARID REGIONS OF RAJASTHAN AND ITS USE AS

PRODUCTIVTY OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA IN SEMI-ARID REGIONS OF RAJASTHAN AND ITS USE AS

Aug 22 2009 | comment(s)

 India has over 180 million of wasteland out of which 90 million ha is uncultivable. The degraded and denuded lands arise

More Daylight, Less Obesity

More Daylight, Less Obesity

Aug 22 2009 | comment(s)

New research led by Michael Symonds, Professor of Developmental Physiology in the School of Clincal Sciences at The University of Nottingham, says Brown adipose tissue (BAT), the brown fat found in abundance in hibernating animals and newborn babies, could be the key to new ways of preventing obesity.

Studies have previously shown that BAT activity in adults is reduced with obesity, so logically  promoting BAT function could prevent or reduce obesity in some people. 

Symonds now says that daylight is a major factor in controlling BAT activity.  “Our research has suggested a previously unknown mechanism for controlling BAT function in humans and this could potentially lead to new treatments for the prevention or reversal of obesity.”
Want To Make Your Own Black Hole? This May Be How

Want To Make Your Own Black Hole? This May Be How

Aug 22 2009 | comment(s)

Would you like to make your own black hole before the LHC supposedly dooms us all (though it has to stop breaking first before it can unleash  physics-induced Eschaton)?
 
Dartmouth researchers say they may be able to do it.

Writing in Physical Review Letters, they propose a new way of creating reproduction black holes in the laboratory on a much-tinier scale than their science-fiction staples. 

The new method, if it works, would create tiny quantum-sized black hole and allow researchers to better understand what physicist Stephen Hawking proposed more than 35 years ago; that black holes are not totally void of activity, they emit photons, what is now called Hawking radiation. 
Improving Biomass Use Efficiency For Semi-Arid Regions

Improving Biomass Use Efficiency For Semi-Arid Regions

Aug 22 2009 | comment(s)

Biomass refers to all the matter that can be obtained from photosynthesis. Most vegetable species use solar energy to create sugars from carbon dioxide and water. They store this energy in the form of glucose or starch molecules, oleaginous, cellulose, and lignocellulose .Biomass appears to be an attractive feedstock for three main reasons.

First, it is a renewable resource that could be sustain ably developed in the future. Second, it appears to have formidably positive environmental properties, notably the recycling of carbon in the biological processes, resulting in no net releases of carbon dioxide and a very low sulphur content.

Misunderstanding Government Help

Misunderstanding Government Help

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

In watching an interview the other day with Craig T. Nelson, I couldn't help but be struck by how dramatically the role of government is both taken for granted, and ignored.  It is precisely this level of misunderstanding that has given rise to the hysterical nature of the dialog about health care.

"They should be allowed to go bankrupt. What happened...? We are a capitalistic society. OK. I go into business. I don't make it. I go bankrupt. They're not gonna bail me out.

I've been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No. No. They gave me hope and they gave me encouragement and they gave me a vision. And that came from my education. "

Craig T. Nelson on Glenn Beck's show

Another Scalp - International Master Vladimir Barskij

Another Scalp - International Master Vladimir Barskij

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

Back from vacations, I found the usual pile of errands, tons of unattended emails, papers to review to take care of at work. I got home pretty tired tonight, and I was more than else looking for some relaxation when I logged on the Internet Chess Club for a couple of blitz chess games. Instead, I found some fulfilment by winning a short game with the black pieces. White was International Master Vladimir Barskij, Fide ELO 2419 in the current list, number 2273 in the world. Not a top chess player, but one of those I sometimes have a chance of beating.
Quenching The Sun, For Fun

Quenching The Sun, For Fun

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

My kids asked me if there was enough water in the universe to quench the Sun.  I voted yes, but of course science isn't about voting, but about verifiable facts.  So now the explanation.

The Sun has a mass of around a third of a million Earths.  Stealing a figure from MadSci.org, the mass of water on the Earth is 1/4400 the total mass.  We'll say we need enough water to completely douse every atom in that fusion-burning puppy we call Sol, so we'll need... 4400 * 0.3 * a million Earths. 

This works out neatly to just over a billion Earths, to get enough water to douse the Sun.
Dude Looks Like A Lady

Dude Looks Like A Lady

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

Seriously, if you have to ask, then you should probably just keep your mouth shut. Because nothing good is going to come of asking.

The question? Whether or not 18-year-old South African runner Caster Semenya, who won the 800-meter race at the World Athletics Championship in Berlin, is a chick or a dude.



Imagine crossing the finish line to thunderous applause, accolades, etc. Job well done after pouring so much effort into this race. And then, some insensitive prick says, wait, are you actually a girl?
Metered Parking In A High-Tech World

Metered Parking In A High-Tech World

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

I just spent an extended weekend in Montréal (Picasa album with some highlight photos), and one thing I noted is the parking payment system — New York is adopting a similar system.

In some places, they still have the old parking meters (well, for some value of “old”; they’re digital), and I used one of those — you put coins in, and the time on the display increases up to the maximum.

Technology Challenge: Identify This Mystery Steampunk Object

Technology Challenge: Identify This Mystery Steampunk Object

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

A short while ago, the wife saw me working feverishly on yet another project, this one involving clothes, and came to investigate.   Why?   Well, she's pretty agreeable about work done outside or in the garage and mostly tolerant about things I do in my den - unlike most men, for example, she lets me watch all the sports I want, as long she is in Asia on business and I keep it on mute.

But she turns into a Wizard Of Oz-style tornado of rage if I get near our kitchen granite countertops with a drill bit and maintains an irrational skepticism about other internal projects regardless of how many times I have paid people to fix things I have messed up.
Do computational biologists care about being right?

Do computational biologists care about being right?

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

I'm not the only one who hates computational biologists:

Zhang et al. (11), Braunewell and Bornholdt (12), Ge et al. (13), and Okabe and Sasai (14) have presented stochastic models of the yeast cell cycle based on a deterministic Boolean model from Li et al. (15). The main concern of all of these authors was the robustness of cell cycle progression in the presence of intrinsic and extrinsic sources of noise. None of them compared their models to observed statistics of cell cycle properties in wild-type or mutant cells.

Jatropha development is moving forward as Abundant Biofuels Corp. offers long term contracts and D1 Oils plc refocuses its business.

Jatropha development is moving forward as Abundant Biofuels Corp. offers long term contracts and D1 Oils plc refocuses its business.

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

Jatropha development is moving forward as Abundant Biofuels Corp. offers long term contracts and D1 Oils plc refocuses its business.


Recent advances in plant biotechnology: Applications in Agriculture.

Recent advances in plant biotechnology: Applications in Agriculture.

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

Recent advances in plant biotechnology: Applications in Agriculture.

Ashwani Kumar

Professor of Botany,

Department of Botany and P G School of Biotechnology

University of Rajasthan

Jaipur 302004.

msku4@hotmail.com Tel 0141 2711654 ( Off) 0141 2654100 ( Res) Mob (0) 9414057484

Abstract:
STUDIES ON BIOMASS UTILIZATION IN A RURAL INDIA AND ITS IMPACT ASSESSMENT ON ENVIRONMENT WITH SUGGESTION FOR POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES

STUDIES ON BIOMASS UTILIZATION IN A RURAL INDIA AND ITS IMPACT ASSESSMENT ON ENVIRONMENT WITH SUGGESTION FOR POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

Around 80% of the population lives in rural areas which primarily utilize biomass for their energy requirement. Depending on the agroclimatic zone by diversity and plant productivity the biomass utilization varies in different parts of the country. A large number of laticiferous plants have been reported to yield hydrocarbons which could be converted into petroleum like substances. Initially E. abyssinica J.F. Gmel.

Wrinkled old bats

Wrinkled old bats

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

I laughed when I saw an upcoming conference on aging was to be held in Miami - really, can you think of a better place?

Anyway, I was following a related link and discovered the story of wrinkled bats - not the leathery-skinned, bingo-playing ones living in Florida, but actual bats with the cutest little smooshed faces. I think these deserve a spot on Josh's second cutest babies ever series.

Morning Science Quote

Morning Science Quote

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth.

- Richard Feynman, Letter to the Editor of the California Tech, Feb. 27 1976