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Machine translation poetry

Machine translation poetry

Jan 03 2015 | comment(s)

Nonsensical but oddly beautiful Bing and Google translations from Facebook posts in a variety of languages:

袁嘟嘟第一次以老公的身分參加部門聚會，泡完湯好舒服

All Pets Help Children With Autism Gain Sociality

All Pets Help Children With Autism Gain Sociality

Jan 03 2015 | comment(s)

Pets play an important role in our social lives and they can act as catalysts for social interaction, previous research has shown, because pets often serve as "social lubricants."

Although much media attention has focused on how dogs can improve the social skills of children with autism, a University of Missouri researcher recently found that children with autism have stronger social skills when any kind of pet lived in the home.

Stoicism: Ancient Wisdom For The Modern World

Stoicism: Ancient Wisdom For The Modern World

Jan 02 2015 | comment(s)


Marcus Aurelius.

By Robert S. Colter, University of Wyoming

You May Not Be Obese Because Of Genes Or Habits - It May Be Just Time

You May Not Be Obese Because Of Genes Or Habits - It May Be Just Time

Jan 02 2015 | comment(s)

Some people have the appearance of a young shape even as they age. Good genes and clean living, it is said. But the nature and nurture argument has a new companion - historical context - at least in sociology.

A new study claims evidence that the role of genetics in complex traits, including obesity, varies over time. Both the era in which scientific research is conducted and the era in which subjects were born may have an impact on the degree to which genetic factors are present in scientific data. 

Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, With A Graphene Wrapper

Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, With A Graphene Wrapper

Jan 02 2015 | comment(s)

A thin sheet of graphene wrapped around a new multifunctional sulfur electrode that combines an energy storage unit and electron/ion transfer networks could lead to a promising design for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are of great commercial interest because they boast theoretical specific energy densities considerably greater than those of their already-well-established cousin, lithium ion batteries. And we clearly need battery improvements, there hasn't been anything substantial for 25 years.

Nanostructures Could Lead To Your Future Cyborg Robot Chassis

Nanostructures Could Lead To Your Future Cyborg Robot Chassis

Jan 02 2015 | comment(s)

A new research effort is focused on nanostructured materials with biocompatible and antibacterial properties. Ana Maria Arizmendi Morquecho, scholar at the Research Center for Advanced Materials (Cimav) in Mexico, says that the challenge is to find appropriate measures to improve the compatibility of a metal structure with the chemical composition of bone tissue and human bone’s nanostructures.

Materials have to be resistant to wear, they need improved mechanical properties and they need to be compatible with the human body while abiding with public health requirements. Knees are a good place to make advances since knee problems are common and real-world data has been available for decades.
Farming Made Humans Fragile

Farming Made Humans Fragile

Jan 02 2015 | comment(s)

It would be madness today to think of farmers as wimpy - watching a 160 lb. kid throw a giant hay bale around does not make people think of weakness - but skeletally the invention of agriculture made us weak compared to foraging ancestors.

As we shifted from foraging to farming, we had more food and that led to more culture and education and progress - but it also brought more sedentary lifestyles and so our skeletons have become much lighter and more fragile since the invention of agriculture.
Multiple Sclerosis Patients Doing Well Years After Stem Cell Transplants

Multiple Sclerosis Patients Doing Well Years After Stem Cell Transplants

Jan 02 2015 | comment(s)

Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease and most patients with RRMS who received disease-modifying therapies experience breakthrough disease. Autologous (using a patient's own cells) hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) has been studied in multiple sclerosis with the goal of removing disease-causing immune cells and resetting the immune system.

TRK Mutation Now Target Of Colon Cancer Clinical Trials

TRK Mutation Now Target Of Colon Cancer Clinical Trials

Jan 02 2015 | comment(s)

The gene TRK was shown to cause a small percentage of colon cancers in 1982 and then in 2013 and 2014, sequencing of tumor samples found fusions of the TRK family of genes in at least 11 tumor types, including lung, breast and melanoma . 

The TRK family of genes, including NTRK1, NTRK2 and NTRK3 are important in the developing nervous system. In the womb, these genes and the proteins they encode are essential for the growth and survival of new neurons. After birth, these genes are unneeded in many tissues and so are programmed to go dormant.

Some cancers wake them up - when improperly fused with other nearby genes, genes in the TRK family can restart their ability to signal cells to grow and become immortal, which in adult tissues can cause cancer.

War-Mongers Get The Girls: The Biological Spoils Of Battle

War-Mongers Get The Girls: The Biological Spoils Of Battle

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

About 10 percent of Asia can claim to be descended from Genghis Khan and they are absolutely correct, genetic studies show; the reason is that part of the benefit to rampaging across Asia, the mid-East and into Europe was a lot of sex.

But it isn't just conquering Mongols, even on a small scale violent conflict offers biological rewards to those those who take part in it, say anthropologists who correlated violent raids and combat to reproductive fitness. 

Cycling for Science #2 - Geology

Cycling for Science #2 - Geology

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

Cycling for Science #2 - Geology

Cycling on tarmac roads in summer is all very well but you can learn a whole lot about geology - and the laws of physics - if you ride off-road.  For example: today I went for a ride along a little-known trail and discovered a great deal about the adhesive properties of clay, the non-adhesive properties of tires clogged with wet clay and the super-adhesive and abrasive properties of brake pads clogged with dry clay.


A lot of mud and a bike - bliss!


An aside
Perhaps Bad Luck And Nature Gave You Cancer, Not Genetics Or Your Lifestyle

Perhaps Bad Luck And Nature Gave You Cancer, Not Genetics Or Your Lifestyle

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

There is no question there are genetic and environmental components to cancer but a statistical model that measures the proportion of cancer incidence across many tissue types finds that cancer is caused mainly by random mutations that occur when stem cells divide.

According to scientists from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, two-thirds of adult cancer incidence across tissues can be explained primarily by "bad luck," when these random mutations occur in genes that can drive cancer growth, while the remaining third are due to environmental factors and inherited genes.

The implications of their model range from altering public perception about cancer risk factors to the funding of cancer research, they say.
The Ebola Epidemic In West Africa - Maybe It Was Bats

The Ebola Epidemic In West Africa - Maybe It Was Bats

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

The most recent outbreak of the Ebola virus disease occurring in West Africa may have originated from contact between humans and virus-infected bats, according to a new study in EMBO Molecular Medicine, which identifies insectivorous free-tailed bats as plausible reservoirs and expands the range of possible Ebola virus sources to this type of bats.

The virus that spread from Meliandou into other areas of Guinea and Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal, represents the largest ever-recorded Ebola outbreak killing 7,800 people as of December 17th 2014. 

PSA Test - More Harm Than Good For Prostate Cancer Screening

PSA Test - More Harm Than Good For Prostate Cancer Screening

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

New prostate screening guidelines recommend that the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test not be used to screen for prostate cancer based on evidence that shows uncertain benefits and   an increased risk of harm. 

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in men and the third most common cause of death from cancer in men in Canada and elsewhere. In modern times, the prognosis for most prostate cancers is good with a 10-year survival rate of 95%. Prostate cancer is generally slow to progress and today is usually not life-threatening. 

New Year's Eve Science: Popping The Cork On Champagne

New Year's Eve Science: Popping The Cork On Champagne

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, champagne bottles get popped all around the world.

So what is it exactly that sends that cork flying? And what's the best way to pour your bubbly?


Credit: The American Chemical Society

This week, Reactions gives you plenty of champagne facts and tips to impress your fellow partygoers as you ring in the New Year.

Subscribe to the series at Reactions YouTube

Symbolic Gestures: The Magical Thinking Of New Year's Resolutions

Symbolic Gestures: The Magical Thinking Of New Year's Resolutions

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)


Have you made your 2015 New Year's Resolutions yet? Toni Blay

By Jayashri Kulkarni, Monash University

“I will definitely give up smoking – that’s my New Year’s resolution,” she stated emphatically as she thumped her fist on the table to underline her determination. “All very well”, I thought, as I sat opposite her in my medical consulting room in October.

What is it about New Year’s resolutions that we find so compelling?

Why We Give Up On New Year's Resolutions, Online Courses And Diets

Why We Give Up On New Year's Resolutions, Online Courses And Diets

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

By David Glance, University of Western Australia

One of the characteristic features of Massive Open Online Courses is the observation that no matter how many students enroll in a course, only between 5 to 10% of them will ever complete it.

Setting aside the argument of whether this actually means that MOOCs are considerably less “massive” than the name suggests, the interesting question is what is behind this high level of drop-outs and why does it seem so consistent?

Binge Drinking Disrupts Immune System In Small Study

Binge Drinking Disrupts Immune System In Small Study

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

Binge drinking in young, healthy adults significantly disrupts the immune system, according to a new epidemiology paper.