Featured Articles

Carrot Or Stick? In Education, Reward Works Better For Most - But How?

Carrot Or Stick? In Education, Reward Works Better For Most - But How?

Jul 28 2009 | comment(s)

Most people learn more quickly if they are rewarded for making correct decisions but little is understood about how rewards facilitate the learning process.

Studies have shown that if a decision leads to a successful outcome, it is registered in the brain's reward system. The reward stimulus is then relayed to the area of the brain which was responsible for making the decision. In this way, the brain optimizes its processes for improved performance each time.
Spermatogonial Cells May Avoid Embryonic Stem Cell Pitfalls

Spermatogonial Cells May Avoid Embryonic Stem Cell Pitfalls

Jul 28 2009 | comment(s)

Researchers say they directly convert spermatogonial stem cells, the precursors of sperm cells, into tissues of the prostate, skin and uterus, an effective alternative to the medical use of embryonic stem cells.
Growing Replacement Bones Using 'Implantable' Material

Growing Replacement Bones Using 'Implantable' Material

Jul 28 2009 | comment(s)

Scientists may be closer to understanding how to grow replacement bones with stem cell technology. 

Many scientists are trying to create bone-like materials derived from stem cells to implant into patients who have damaged or fractured bones or who have had parts of diseased bones removed. The idea is that, ultimately, these bone-like materials could be inserted into cavities so that real bone could meld with it and repair the bone. 
Neuroscientists Discover Fourth Cell Related To Vision

Neuroscientists Discover Fourth Cell Related To Vision

Jul 28 2009 | comment(s)

Nearly all species have some ability to detect light and at least three types of cells in the retina allow us to see images or distinguish between night and day. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine say they have discovered another type of cell that can sense light and contribute to vision.

Reporting in Nature, the team of neuroscientists say that retinal horizontal cells, which are nerve cells once thought only to talk to neighboring nerve cells and not even to the brain, are light sensitive themselves. 
On The Fringe: An Editor’s Dilemma Raises Questions About The Future Of Science

On The Fringe: An Editor’s Dilemma Raises Questions About The Future Of Science

Jul 28 2009 | comment(s)

The tough editorial decision was behind us; the die had been cast.  Pre-prints of the controversial article and its invited rejoinder appeared on the publisher’s web site.  The same day, the Nicolas Cage movie Next opened in theaters. Those who believe in eerie coincidences will see one here.  Let me explain.

Was Einstein right about Brownian motion?

Was Einstein right about Brownian motion?

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

The phenomenon of Brownian motion (after botanist Robert Brown, who discovered it 1828) was described by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he published his statistical molecular theory of liquids. Brownian motion is basically the random movement of particles within a fluid.  
  
  As a new study by University of Illinois scientists shows, Brownian motion is, perhaps, not as mathematically applicable as previously thought.  Einstein thought if the motions of many particles were watched, and the distance each moved in a certain time were recorded, the distribution would resemble the familiar Gaussian, bell-shaped curve used to assign grades in a science class.  But was Einstein right?
 
Pterosaurs: Predators Of Ancient Skies

Pterosaurs: Predators Of Ancient Skies

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)



Pterosaurs, the mighty winged-lizards, soared ancient skies expertly hunting for prey. Because they evolved from reptiles prior to modern birds, it was once believed that pterosaurs were primitive, passive fliers. They were seen as gliders, rather than skillfull hunters.

First They Want To Kill Me, Now Discovery Channel Wants To Be Friends ...

First They Want To Kill Me, Now Discovery Channel Wants To Be Friends ...

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

A few weeks ago, I got an eerie package from the folks who work for Discovery Channel; an obituary and clues to a mystery.  Turns out this was part of a big viral marketing campaign for their upcoming Shark Week.
Perseid Meteor Shower

Perseid Meteor Shower

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)



Enjoy star gazing? Lucky enough to be in the northern hemisphere August 11th and 12th?
He's bringing sexy (green golf) back

He's bringing sexy (green golf) back

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

I just don't get the appeal, as I explain in this post about douchebaggery (and nor does Cash, apparently: see #8).

But if he can bring a little star power to one of the least environmentally friendly industries out there, more power to him and his ridiculous golf outfit.
Gullibility Is Bad For You (.org)

Gullibility Is Bad For You (.org)

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

Those of you who know or follow me surely realize that I'm not exactly a guy with a lot of spare time on his hands. Yet, I just launched a second blog devoted to short entries (mostly a paragraph with an accompanying link) to document the fact that gullibility is bad for your health.
Physics and emotion

Physics and emotion

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)


Indexed comes through on a Monday morning, as always!
The Voynich Manuscript Part 5 : The Baghdad Connection

The Voynich Manuscript Part 5 : The Baghdad Connection

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

The Voynich Manuscript part 5 : The Baghdad Connection
My favorite article 1: 2004-Nature-Functional genomic hypothesis generation and experimentation by a robot scientist

My favorite article 1: 2004-Nature-Functional genomic hypothesis generation and experimentation by a robot scientist

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

Abstract: The question of whether it is possible to automate the scientific process is of both great theoretical interest and increasing practical importance because, in many scientific areas, data are being generated much faster than they can be effectively analysed. We describe a physically implemented robotic system that applies techniques from artificial intelligence to carry out cycles of scientific experimentation. The system automatically originates hypotheses to explain observations, devises experiments to test these hypotheses, physically runs the experiments using a laboratory robot, interprets the results to falsify hypotheses inconsistent with the data, and then repeats the cycle.

Filmed: Microscopic Battle Between Bacterial And Immune Cells

Filmed: Microscopic Battle Between Bacterial And Immune Cells

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

A new technique has allowed researchers to make film bacteria infecting their living host.

Most studies of bacterial infection are done after the death of the infected organism a new technique developed by scientists at the University of Bath and University of Exeter has allowed researchers to make film bacteria and  follow the progress of infection in real-time with living organisms.

The researchers used developing fruit fly embryos as a model organism, injecting fluorescently tagged bacteria into the embryos and observing their interaction with the insect's immune system using time-lapse confocal microscopy.
Low-Energy Electron Diffraction - Buckyballs On A Silver Platter

Low-Energy Electron Diffraction - Buckyballs On A Silver Platter

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

Scientists at Penn State University, in collaboration with institutes in the US, Finland, Germany and the UK, have figured out the long-sought structure of a layer of C60 – carbon buckyballs – on a silver surface.  The results in Physical Review Letters and Physics  could help in the design of carbon nanostructure-based electronics.

Ever since the 1985 discovery of C60, this molecule, with its perfect geodesic dome shape has fascinated scientists, physicists, and chemists alike. Like a soccer ball, the molecule consists of 20 carbon hexagons and 12 carbon pentagons. The electronic properties of C60 are very unusual, and there is a massive research effort toward integrating it into molecular scale electronic devices like transistors and logic gates.
Galaxy Zoo: Citizen Scientists Find 'Green Pea' Galaxies

Galaxy Zoo: Citizen Scientists Find 'Green Pea' Galaxies

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

Citizen scientists working through an online project called Galaxy Zoo have discovered a group of rare galaxies called the "Green Peas" which could lend unique insights into how galaxies form stars in the early universe.

Galaxy Zoo users volunteer their spare time to help classify galaxies in an online image bank.  When they came across a number of objects that stuck out because of their small size and bright green color, they dubbed them the Green Peas. Employing the help of the volunteers to further analyze these strange new objects, the astronomers discovered that the Green Peas are small, compact galaxies forming stars at an incredibly high rate. 
In Vitro Fertilization Caution - Mouse Study Shows Altered Gene Expression Related To Metabolism

In Vitro Fertilization Caution - Mouse Study Shows Altered Gene Expression Related To Metabolism

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

Millions of children, as many as 2% of all births in the U.S. and Europe, have been born to couples with fertility problems through assisted reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). Because it is a newer field, relatively little research has been conducted to evaluate the long term effects of assisted reproductive techniques. 

Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) says that assisted reproductive techniques alter the expression of genes that are important for metabolism and the transport of nutrients in the placenta of mice. 
Untapped Geothermal Energy - The Upside To Abandoned Mineshafts

Untapped Geothermal Energy - The Upside To Abandoned Mineshafts

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

Abandoned mine shafts could be used to provide geothermal energy to local towns, say two engineers from the University of Oviedo in the journal Renewable Energy. They say the method they have developed makes it possible to estimate the amount of heat that a tunnel could potentially provide.

Rafael Rodríguez, from the Oviedo Higher Technical School of Mining Engineering and colleague María Belarmina Díaz have developed a "semi-empirical" method (part mathematical and part experimental) to calculate the amount of heat that could be produced by a mine tunnel that is due to be abandoned, based on studies carried out while it is still in use.
Impact Of DNA Damage In Developing Brain Tracked

Impact Of DNA Damage In Developing Brain Tracked

Jul 27 2009 | comment(s)

Switching off a key DNA repair system, Xrcc1 , in the developing nervous system was linked to smaller brain size as well as problems in brain structures vital to movement, memory and emotion in new research.

The study in Nature Neuroscience also provided the first evidence that cells known as cerebellar interneurons are targeted for DNA damage and are a likely source of neurological problems in humans. The cerebellum coordinates movement and balance. The cerebellar interneurons fine tune motor control.