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Sun's Orbital Forcing Of Climate Change 1.4 Billion Years Ago Much Like Today

Sun's Orbital Forcing Of Climate Change 1.4 Billion Years Ago Much Like Today

Mar 10 2015 | comment(s)

University of Southern Denmark
We may idealize the last century but natural forces have always caused climate on Earth to fluctuate - sometimes quite a bit. But science is about controlling nature and not letting random behavior control our destinies and since we know that some periods were good and some awful, we'd like to avoid the awful.

We can't control everything - the earth is still going to orbit the sun and such orbital forcing of climate change happens over thousands of years and brings ice ages and warming periods. 
Hibernation Rethink - Bat Species Hibernate At Constant Warm Temperature

Hibernation Rethink - Bat Species Hibernate At Constant Warm Temperature

Mar 10 2015 | comment(s)

mouse-tailed bat Rhinopoma microphyllum and R. Cystops hibernate at warm temperaturesMany mammals, and some birds, escape the winter by hibernating for three to nine months. This period of dormancy permits species which would otherwise perish from the cold and scarce food to survive to see another spring.

The Middle East, with temperate winters, was until recently considered an unlikely host for hibernating mammals.
Old Tech May Lead To New AI Computing

Old Tech May Lead To New AI Computing

Mar 10 2015 | comment(s)

University of Southampton
Though every month we read about some new advance in artificial intelligence, how much progress is really being made?  Neuromorphic computing has created software and electronic hardware that mimic brain functions and signal protocols but, like economic models that successfully predict the past, they have only slightly improved the efficiency and adaptability of conventional technology and are not really making bold advances. 
Healthier Males Help Infertile Obese Females Conceive

Healthier Males Help Infertile Obese Females Conceive

Mar 10 2015 | comment(s)

Male partners of infertile obese females may increase the odds of conceiving a child by improving their own weight and dietary habits, preliminary results from a pilot study from Canada suggest. The results will be presented Thursday, March 5, at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego.

Irresponsible Science-y Love Jades The Public Toward Science

Irresponsible Science-y Love Jades The Public Toward Science

Mar 10 2015 | comment(s)

Pity poor Albert Einstein. He is on more Facebook posters endorsing more causes and claims than he could ever have dreamed possible; sometimes he even uses modern colloquialisms in the quotes.

He's Einstein - if he said it, it must be smart.

There is just one problem, aside from the fact that he never said most of the things those glorified infographics claim he said - he was only smart about one thing. If you are taking his word about anything else, you are no different than if you take a Starbuck's barista's word on bST in milk. 
Wellcome Images Awards 2015 - Science Becomes Art

Wellcome Images Awards 2015 - Science Becomes Art

Mar 10 2015 | comment(s)

Since they were pioneered by Robert Hooke 350 years ago, microscopes have been extending our vision. In the 21st century, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy, which uses a pinhole to remove out-of-focus light and allows 3D structures to be built from multiple images, have pushed the boundaries of resolution.

The Myth Of Chinese Heart Health

The Myth Of Chinese Heart Health

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

In this country, poor diet, obesity and high rates of smoking have compounded to give nearly 75 percent of adults poor cardiovascular health.

It's not the United States, it is China, yet an alarming number of health plans promoted by American nutrition pundits advocate Asian lifestyles. 

The 2010 China Noncommunicable Disease Surveillance Group collected cardiovascular health data from a nationally representative sample of more than 96,000 men and women in the general Chinese population.
The IPCC Ponders Its Future

The IPCC Ponders Its Future

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)


When there’s a report in the news about the latest science on climate change, the source is very often the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

This body plays a very important role in global climate change policy around the world. Its reports, five of which have been published since 1990, enjoy a degree of credibility that renders them influential for public opinion. And more important, the reports are accepted as the definitive source by international negotiators working under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Psychedelic Drugs Could Reduce Suicidal Thinking

Psychedelic Drugs Could Reduce Suicidal Thinking

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

A history of psychedelic drug use is associated fewer suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts, according to survey results analyzed by Johns Hopkins and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

In a national survey of over 190,000 U.S. adults, lifetime use of certain psychedelic drugs was associated with a 19 percent reduced likelihood of psychological distress within the past month, a 14 percent reduced likelihood of suicidal thinking within the past year, a 29 percent reduced likelihood of suicide planning within the past year and a 36 percent reduced likelihood of attempting suicide within the past year. 
Temple Grandin: The Effect Mr. Spock Had On Me

Temple Grandin: The Effect Mr. Spock Had On Me

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)


By Temple Grandin, Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University

When I was an awkward teenager who did not fit in with the other kids, the logical Mr. Spock was a character I could really identify with. At this time, I did not know why I related to Spock because when I was a teenager, I did not know that my thinking process was different from that of most other people. I assumed that my logical picture-based thinking was the way that everybody thought.

ResearchKit - Apple Goes Open Source For Medical Apps

ResearchKit - Apple Goes Open Source For Medical Apps

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

Apple has found a new use for their iPhone - medicine. People had already created lots of apps, of course, but ResearchKit, due out next month, is the first Apple framework to make it easier. 

The framework allows new ways to create apps to track movement, take measurements, and record data and has three active modules: surveys, informed consent, and active tasks. Active tasks is the only one not intuitive - it means they can ask you to perform activities while the sensors are monitoring.
To Halt The Rise Of The Machines, Think About Fuzzy Logic

To Halt The Rise Of The Machines, Think About Fuzzy Logic

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

Amid all the dire warnings that machines run by artificial intelligence (AI) will one day take over from humans we need to think more about how we program them in the first place.

The technology may be too far off to seriously entertain these worries – for now – but much of the distrust surrounding AI arises from misunderstandings in what it means to say a machine is “thinking”.

One of the current aims of AI research is to design machines, algorithms, input/output processes or mathematical functions that can mimic human thinking as much as possible.

Can You Detect Sexism In A Smile?

Can You Detect Sexism In A Smile?

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

A new paper says they can detect sexism in a smile. 

A man’s true attitude towards the female sex can be detected according to how he smiles and chats to her, according to Jin Goh and Judith Hall of Northeastern University writing in Sex Roles. 
Blood Test Predicts Cytokine Storm Drug Reaction In Humans

Blood Test Predicts Cytokine Storm Drug Reaction In Humans

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

A new test that uses combinations of cells from a single donor’s blood can predict whether a new drug will cause a severe immune reaction in humans.
Should Information From Stalled Drug Trials Be Published?

Should Information From Stalled Drug Trials Be Published?

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

Drug discovery is an expensive, bureaucracy-laced process. Due to more restrictions requiring a lot more trials, drug discovery is an average 14 year process costing $2 billion and only 1 out of 5,000 drugs will get approved and out to the market. It's easy to imagine why once a company knows the product is not viable or safe, it is abandoned.
Biosimilars For Dummies

Biosimilars For Dummies

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)


Hot off the presses: The FDA just approved the first biosimilar drug in the United States. Sandoz's Zarxio is used to boost the production of certain white blood cells in patients who are undergoing cancer chemotherapy, and are immunocompromised. Sarxio will compete with Amgen's Neupogen, which has been used for this purpose since its approval in 1991. 

Teenager With Stroke Symptoms Actually Had Lyme Disease

Teenager With Stroke Symptoms Actually Had Lyme Disease

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

A Swiss teenager, recently returned home from a discotheque, came to the emergency department with classic sudden symptoms of stroke, only to be diagnosed with Lyme disease. The highly unusual case presentation was published in "Acute Lyme Neuroborreliosis with Transient Hemiparesis and Aphasia", Annals of Emergency Medicine.

LECs - Competitor To LEDs Could Soon Have A Better Lifespan

LECs - Competitor To LEDs Could Soon Have A Better Lifespan

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

Lighting technology is in a state of change. Incandescent bulbs, which have been around forever, have been banned in the United States but the heavily-subsidized replacement, compact fluorescent bulbs, run the risk of mercury poisoning if they break and have a glow that many don't find appealing. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are likely the technology of choice in the mid-term future but they are expensive.
Are You Related To Genghis Khan?

Are You Related To Genghis Khan?

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)


It was good to be a rampaging Mongol warlord circa 1200 A.D. - at least when it came to having a lot of sex and killing off your genetic rivals.

But he was not the only one. A new study finds that millions of Asian men share a common ancestral heritage with 11 people dating back 4,000 years ago. The study examined the male-specific Y chromosome, which is passed from father to son, in more than 5,000 Asian men belonging to 127 populations. Though most Y-chromosome types are very rare, the team discovered 11 types that were relatively common across the sample and studied their distributions and histories.
7 Promising Compounds In Spider Venom With Potential To Relieve Chronic Pain

7 Promising Compounds In Spider Venom With Potential To Relieve Chronic Pain

Mar 09 2015 | comment(s)

New research shows that seven compounds of the countless found in spider venom block a key step in the body's ability to pass pain signals to the brain. The hunt for a medicine based on just one of these compounds, which would open up a new class of potent painkillers, is now a step closer according to new research published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

Pain that cannot be controlled can ruin people's lives. One in five people worldwide currently suffer from chronic pain, and existing pain treatments often fail to provide relief. The economic burden is huge, with chronic pain in the USA alone estimated to cost around $600 billion a year, greater than the combined economic cost of cancer, diabetes and stroke.