Featured Articles

Sunday Science Book Club, December 14 2008

Sunday Science Book Club, December 14 2008

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)


The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, Spencer Wells
Random House, 2002

Spencer Wells, in his short, accessible book designed to accompany a similarly titled documentary film, describes the deep history of humans as it has been inscribed in Y chromosomes. This history has only recently become decipherable through modern genetic tools, and the results have settled some centuries-old controversies about how humans in different parts of the world have become so diverse. The biggest surprise is that our differences are recent: the dramatic differences that distinguish Kenyans, Swedes, Han Chinese, and Polynesians all arose less than 50,000 years ago.
The Difficult Task Of Saving The Iberian Lynx – A New Proposal

The Difficult Task Of Saving The Iberian Lynx – A New Proposal

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

The Iberian Lynx is now the most endangered cat in the world with only about 160 animals remaining in the wild and, despite extensive research and millions of Euros spent in decades of protection, nothing seems capable to stop this decline.


The LA Times On Ghosts, Aliens And Why Paranormal Belief Is Good For Us

The LA Times On Ghosts, Aliens And Why Paranormal Belief Is Good For Us

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

I’m used to some American media outlets shamelessly feeding crap to the public. Think Fox so-called News, for instance. But the Los Angeles Times? That’s supposed to be one of the most highly respectable papers in the country, on par with the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune or the Boston Globe. Well, once again I was wrong. David Klinghoffer published an opinion piecein the LA Times that argued that belief in the paranormal is not just, well, normal, but actually good for you.
Crowds, Solubility And The Future Of Organic Chemistry

Crowds, Solubility And The Future Of Organic Chemistry

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

This week I participated in a Social Media Day at NIST. During my talk I provided an overview of our current work in using Web2.0 tools for doing Open Notebook Science in fields related to chemical synthesis and drug discovery.
Crowds, Solubility And The Future Of Organic Chemistry

Crowds, Solubility And The Future Of Organic Chemistry

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

This week I participated in a Social Media Day at NIST. During my talk I provided an overview of our current work in using Web2.0 tools for doing Open Notebook Science in fields related to chemical synthesis and drug discovery.

During my talks I generally try to place our work in context and give the audience a sense of where I see science evolving. I often start with the increasingly important role of openness and at some point follow up with this slide showing the shift of scientific communication from human-to-human to machine-to-machine.
Lesbian Necrophiliacs - Why Discover Is Bigger Than We Are

Lesbian Necrophiliacs - Why Discover Is Bigger Than We Are

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

Well, two reasons; reason one is that if we write about bdelloid rotifers we just make reference to bdelloid rotifers but if they write about bdelloid rotifers, they find a way to incorporate lesbian necrophiliacs into the title.   

Seriously, who is not going to click on that title?   I am sure we can all agree that Safe For Work (SFW, because I am so internet lingo hip after getting a Facebook account) articles with 'lesbian' and 'necrophiliac' in the title are kind of rare.
Children Need Slow TV Such As Bagpuss And Other Oliver Postgate Characters

Children Need Slow TV Such As Bagpuss And Other Oliver Postgate Characters

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

So says an article in the Sunday Telegraph, following the death of Oliver Postgate, creator and writer of some of Britain’s most popular children’s television programmes, namely Pingwings, Pogles’ Wood, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers and Bagpuss, of which the last was voted in a 1999 poll to be the most popular children’s television programme of all time.
Chromosomes Are So 20th Century - Male Genes Really Determine Baby Gender, Says Study

Chromosomes Are So 20th Century - Male Genes Really Determine Baby Gender, Says Study

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

Men determine the sex of a baby depending on whether their sperm is carrying an X or Y chromosome. An X chromosome combines with the mother's X chromosome to make a baby girl (XX) and a Y chromosome will combine with the mother's to make a boy (XY).

A Newcastle University study suggests that an as-yet undiscovered gene controls whether a man's sperm contains more X or more Y chromosomes, which affects the sex of his children. On a larger scale, the number of men with more X sperm compared to the number of men with more Y sperm affects the sex ratio of children born each year.
Phagocytosis - Why Immunity Is Stronger At Night Than During The Day

Phagocytosis - Why Immunity Is Stronger At Night Than During The Day

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

The immune system's battle against invading bacteria reaches its peak activity at night and is lowest during the day, according to Stanford researchers who based it on experiments with Drosophila melanogaster and reveal that the specific immune response known as phagocytosis oscillates with the body's circadian rhythm. They presented their findings at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco. "These results suggest that immunity is stronger at night, consistent with the hypothesis that circadian proteins upregulate restorative functions such as specific immune responses during sleep, when animals are not engaged in metabolically costly activities," explains Mimi Shirasu-Hiza of Stanford University.
In The Head, Literally - Gene Study Says Obese People May Be Hard-Wired To Overeat

In The Head, Literally - Gene Study Says Obese People May Be Hard-Wired To Overeat

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

Is obesity all in your head? A new study says that genes that predispose people to obesity act in the brain and that perhaps some people are simply hardwired to overeat. An international research team found six new genes that help explain body mass index and obesity, and all but one of the genes are tied to the brain rather than to metabolic functions, such as fat storage and sugar metabolism. In addition to the six new genes, the study also confirmed the role of two other genes previously associated with obesity, said co-principal investigator Goncalo Abecasis, an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. The study is in the journal Nature Genetics.
Transplanted Adult Stem Cell Repairs Tissue Damage In Mouse

Transplanted Adult Stem Cell Repairs Tissue Damage In Mouse

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

The first demonstration that a single adult stem cell can self-renew in a mammal was reported at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.   The transplanted adult stem cell and its differentiated descendants restored lost function to mice with hind limb muscle tissue damage.
Get Ready, Get Set ... Meiosis!

Get Ready, Get Set ... Meiosis!

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

Meiosis, the process of halving a germ cell’s chromosomes in preparation for egg or sperm production, has been one of the most studied areas of cell biology. But in mammals, the field has been divided over the question of whether meiosis is triggered by a signal within a cell or by a signal coming from the cell’s environment. Now new research from the lab of Whitehead Director David Page reveals that both sets of signals are needed to initiate meiosis.
Math For Membranes

Math For Membranes

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

Determining the mechanisms that shape biological membranes has long been a tricky business. Like a factory assembly line, eukaryotic cells are organized into membrane-bound, functional compartments called organelles. For instance, the nucleus is the repository of genetic information and houses the machinery that creates the messenger RNA transcripts, which direct the synthesis of new protein. Secreted proteins are synthesized in a second organelle, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which are exported to the cell surface by a third organelle, the Golgi complex. All membrane bound organelles are characterized by dynamic changes in membrane structure that are closely coupled to the function of these compartments.
Brain Scan Reveals Why You Buy Jewelry For Your Wife Instead Of Gears Of War 2

Brain Scan Reveals Why You Buy Jewelry For Your Wife Instead Of Gears Of War 2

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

You're in the store and you have a choice between buying Gears Of War 2, with its innovative third-person tactical action gameplay and jaw-dropping graphics with effects like ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows and advanced destructible environments, or, oh yeah, some jewelry thing your wife mumbled something about wanting for Christmas.

What goes through your mind as you consider these tough choices?  And, of more importance to retailers, how can they manipulate this process for their benefit?  

Seven In Absentia Gene - Funny Name, Serious Therapeutic Target For Pancreatic Cancer

Seven In Absentia Gene - Funny Name, Serious Therapeutic Target For Pancreatic Cancer

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

A possible new therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer, the most lethal form of human cancer, has been identified in the proteins whose DNA recipe comes from the gene named "Seven-In-Absentia," according to researchers at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco. In their studies with Drosophila melanogaster at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Minnesota, scientists found a link between the "Seven-In-Absentia" or SINA gene and the aggressive cellular transformation, oncogenesis and metastasis that characterize pancreatic cancer. Scientists already knew that a mutation in the K-RAS gene underlies the abnormal, excessive cell growth of pancreatic cancer.
Acision To Showcase Expertise In Messaging, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Marketing And Charging At GSM 3G Middle East 2008

Acision To Showcase Expertise In Messaging, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Marketing And Charging At GSM 3G Middle East 2008

Dec 14 2008 | comment(s)

GSM 3G Middle East, DUBAI, UAE, December 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Acision, the world's leading messaging company, will be showcasing products and features from its four core business domains - Messaging, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Marketing and Charging - at this year's GSM 3G Middle East, the leading event for the telecom industry in this region. Acision will be exhibiting at stand No. 8.50 on 15th - 16th December 2008, and representatives will be on hand to discuss how Acision's expertise within these domains can resolve both infrastructure and revenue challenges faced by operators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) today.

The Hunt For Biotraces Of Extraterrestrial Life Catches A Break - Carbon Dioxide On HD 189733b

The Hunt For Biotraces Of Extraterrestrial Life Catches A Break - Carbon Dioxide On HD 189733b

Dec 13 2008 | comment(s)

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star.    The Jupiter-sized planet, called HD 189733b, is too hot for life, but the Hubble observations are a proof-of-concept demonstration that the basic chemistry for life can be measured on planets orbiting other stars. Organic compounds also can be a by-product of life processes and their detection on an Earthlike planet someday may provide the first evidence of life beyond our planet. 

Previous observations of HD 189733b by Hubble and the Spitzer Space Telescope found water vapor. Earlier this year, Hubble found methane in the planet's atmosphere. 
Agendia's Breast Cancer Test MammaPrint(R) Identifies New Subset Of Low Risk HER2+ Patients

Agendia's Breast Cancer Test MammaPrint(R) Identifies New Subset Of Low Risk HER2+ Patients

Dec 13 2008 | comment(s)

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California and AMSTERDAM, December 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- Recent Study Reveals Substantial Group of Traditionally Miscategorized HER2+ Patients

Dr. Michael Knauer from the Netherlands Cancer Institute today announced data uncovering a substantial group of traditionally miscategorized low risk HER2+ patients. Agendia's highly accurate breast cancer tumor recurrence test, MammaPrint(R), was used to differentiate between patients at high and low risk for recurrence.

Guitar Hero Of 1875 - Weighing Yourself In Public After A Big Meal

Guitar Hero Of 1875 - Weighing Yourself In Public After A Big Meal

Dec 13 2008 | comment(s)

Stepping onto a scale after a calorie-filled holiday season isn't an activity many 21st-century Americans relish.

But in the late 19th century, scales were all the rage at festive gatherings — the 1800s' answer to Guitar Hero.

"A family would think it fun to weigh themselves before and after a big holiday dinner to see how much they had gained," said Deborah I. Levine, Ph.D., an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Modeling Interdisciplinary Inquiry Fellowship Program in the Humanities and Social Sciences in Arts&Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Knowing your weight was a novelty, a kind of parlor trick, before scales became widely available through mass production," said Levine.
Complicated - Conscious Versus Unconscious Thought In Decision Making

Complicated - Conscious Versus Unconscious Thought In Decision Making

Dec 13 2008 | comment(s)

When faced with a difficult decision, we try to come up with the best choice by carefully considering all of the options, maybe even resorting to lists and lots of sleepless nights. So it may be surprising that recent studies have suggested that the best way to deal with complex decisions is to not think about them at all—that unconscious thought will help us make the best choices. Although this may seem like an appealing strategy, new research in Psychological Science cautions that there are limitations in the efficacy of unconscious thought making the best decisions.