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Dandelions Could Be A Sustainable Source Of Rubber

Dandelions Could Be A Sustainable Source Of Rubber

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

While most farmers are actively trying to kill weeds, researchers in Ohio are trying to grow them - fast. Taraxacum kok-saghyz, a special variety of dandelion from Kazakhstan -- nicknamed "Buckeye Gold" by the researchers studying it -- may be the answer to sustainable and U.S.-based rubber-making. An article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, examines the plants' potential for revolutionizing the rubber industry.

Even Thinking About Marriage Gets Young People To Straighten Up

Even Thinking About Marriage Gets Young People To Straighten Up

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - You don't have to get married to settle down and leave behind your wild ways - you just have to expect to get married soon.

Researchers found that teenagers and young adults who expected to get married within the next five years reported committing fewer delinquent acts in the next year than those who weren't thinking about wedding bells.

While other studies have shown that people commit fewer crimes when they get married, this is the first to show that people straighten up their act even before they tie the knot.

"You may start to act married even before the wedding," said Rachel Arocho, lead author of the study and a research fellow in human development and family science at The Ohio State University.

White Dwarf Lashes Red Dwarf With Mystery Ray

White Dwarf Lashes Red Dwarf With Mystery Ray

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, along with other telescopes on the ground and in space, have discovered a new type of exotic binary star: in the system AR Scorpii a rapidly spinning white dwarf star is powering electrons up to almost the speed of light. These high energy particles release blasts of radiation that lash the companion red dwarf star, and cause the entire system to pulse dramatically every 1.97 minutes with radiation ranging from the ultraviolet to radio.

For The First Time, Researchers See Structure That Allows Brain Cells To Communicate

For The First Time, Researchers See Structure That Allows Brain Cells To Communicate

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

For more than a century, neuroscientists have known that nerve cells talk to one another across the small gaps between them, a process known as synaptic transmission (synapses are the connections between neurons). Information is carried from one cell to the other by neurotransmitters such as glutamate, dopamine, and serotonin, which activate receptors on the receiving neuron to convey excitatory or inhibitory messages.

But beyond this basic outline, the details of how this crucial aspect of brain function occurs have remained elusive. Now, new research by scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) has for the first time elucidated details about the architecture of this process. The paper was published today in the journal Nature.

Radiologists Need To Establish Themselves As Vital On Cancer Teams

Radiologists Need To Establish Themselves As Vital On Cancer Teams

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

Given the anticipated increase in cancer imaging over the next decade [1, 2], radiologists need to solidify their position as central members of the cancer team by identifying toxicity early and understanding the implications of their findings.

A team of radiologists and researchers led by Stephanie A. Holler Howard, of the Department of Radiology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, write in the American Journal of Roentgenology that they want to broaden the radiologist's understanding of imaging-evident toxicity. 

What's It Like For A Working Scientist To Write A Novel?

What's It Like For A Working Scientist To Write A Novel?

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

In an essay for The New York Times, (September 28, 2002) Joseph Epstein wrote: "According to a recent survey, 81 percent of Americans feel they have a book in them -- and that they should write it. As the author of 14 books, with a 15th to be published next spring, I'd like to use this space to do what I can to discourage them."    

Christopher Hitchens had a similar sentiment: “Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that's where it should stay.”  
Apollo Astronauts And Cardiovascular-Related Deaths

Apollo Astronauts And Cardiovascular-Related Deaths

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

Cardiovascular disease affects around 46 percent of men and 48 percent of women but scholars in Florida are concerned that Apollo astronauts have died from related diseases 43 percent of the time. Why be worried, when it is lower? Because they have exceptional government health care, not the kind people under the Affordable Care Act get, and that means in a spacefaring environment, there could be unforeseen issues.

It is well-documented that age is the biggest risk factor for all diseases, and cardiovascular disease is the big killer of Americans. The Apollo program began 50 years ago so it is no surprise elderly astronauts have heart issues.

Toxic Ta-Ta’s?

Toxic Ta-Ta’s?

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

What research looks like when it is and is not performed by scientists

I am Sorry Retractions and First Ever Book Recommendation

I am Sorry Retractions and First Ever Book Recommendation

Jul 28 2016 | comment(s)

After more research into the roots as well as the current realities of certain issues, I have removed some articles and revised many (as I usually do, but even more). The US does not have a prison or gun problem; it has a problem with certain races. Since separation (segregation) is no longer possible, the US is forced to build more incarceration facilities. It also needs far more holders of concealed weapons - that such is not necessary in certain other places is no argument against such but rather strengthens the case for that it is necessary, and it becomes so all over the decaying West now.
Toxins In E-Cigarette Vapor Increase With Heat And Frequency Of Use

Toxins In E-Cigarette Vapor Increase With Heat And Frequency Of Use

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

Electronic cigarettes have grown in popularity as an alternative to traditional cigarette smoking - the idea is that since they are just nicotine vapor, users will not be placed in peril by the 200 toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke.

Still, they are controversial. The government does not allow them to be marketed for smoking cessation because no company is large enough to survive regulatory approval - except tobacco or pharmaceutical companies, which many e-cigarette users regard as the problem.

Cord Blood Outperforms Matched, Unrelated Donor In Bone Marrow Transplant

Cord Blood Outperforms Matched, Unrelated Donor In Bone Marrow Transplant

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study compared outcomes of leukemia patients receiving bone marrow transplants from 2009-2014, finding that three years post transplant, the incidence of severe chronic graft-versus-host disease was 44 percent in patients who had received transplants from matched, unrelated donors (MUD) and 8 percent in patients who had received umbilical cord blood transplants (CBT). Patients who received CBT were also more likely to no longer need immunosuppression and less likely to experience late infections and hospitalizations. There was no difference in overall survival between these two techniques. Results are published in the journal Bone Marrow Transplant.

Watering Solar Cells Makes Them Grow ... In Power!

Watering Solar Cells Makes Them Grow ... In Power!

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

Perovskite solar cells are the rising star in the photovoltaic landscape. Since their invention, less than ten years ago, their efficiency has doubled twice and it is now over 22% - an astonishing result in the renewable energy sector. Taking the name 'perovskite' from the light-harvesting layer that characterizes them, these solar cells are lighter, cheaper, and more flexible than the traditional crystalline silicon-based cells.

Top Scientists Chastise Greenpeace

Top Scientists Chastise Greenpeace

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

The Nobel Prize was established upon the death of scientist and inventor, Alfred Nobel
New Genetics Clues Into Motor Neuron Disease

New Genetics Clues Into Motor Neuron Disease

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

Researchers at The University of Queensland have contributed to the discovery of three new genes which increase the risk of motor neuron disease (MND), opening the door for targeted treatments.

Professor Naomi Wray from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute was involved in the data analysis as a part of an international study of more than 30,000 people.

"These three new genes open new opportunities for research to understand a complex and debilitating disease which currently has no effective treatments," Professor Wray said.

"Crucially, we hope Australian patients will be included in the next phase of the study, thanks to funds raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge."

Ancient Eye In The Sky

Ancient Eye In The Sky

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

Light from a distant galaxy can be strongly bent by the gravitational influence of a foreground galaxy. That effect is called strong gravitational lensing. Normally a single galaxy is lensed at a time. The same foreground galaxy can - in theory - simultaneously lens multiple background galaxies. Although extremely rare, such a lens system offers a unique opportunity to probe the fundamental physics of galaxies and add to our understanding of cosmology. One such lens system has recently been discovered and the discovery was made not in an astronomer's office, but in a classroom. It has been dubbed the Eye of Horus (Fig. 1), and this ancient eye in the sky will help us understand the history of the universe.

Classroom Research Pays Off

Why Has Organic Farming Flatlined?

Why Has Organic Farming Flatlined?

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

Organic farming should be in a Golden Age. Organic marketing groups, and the junkyard dogs they pay to attack scientists (1) finally got mandatory labeling on conventional food, the public is already spending $13,000,000,000 on organic food in the U.S. alone, and margins have shown to be much higher.

I have long wondered why everyone doesn't switch to organic farming.

It's that pesky free market. 
Why Baby Boomers Need A Hepatitis C Screening

Why Baby Boomers Need A Hepatitis C Screening

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

Baby boomers, adults born between 1945 and 1965, are five times more likely to have been exposed to the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force recommend that all patients in that age group get tested.

But the simple blood test, designed to detect and prevent illness before the virus wreaks havoc, is infrequently performed on baby boomers whose routine medical appointments are often crammed with other preventive measures and tests -- as well as time spent addressing active problems that require a doctor's immediate attention.

Measure Of Age In Soil Nitrogen Could Help Precision Agriculture

Measure Of Age In Soil Nitrogen Could Help Precision Agriculture

Jul 27 2016 | comment(s)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - What's good for crops is not always good for the environment. Nitrogen, a key nutrient for plants, can cause problems when it leaches into water supplies. University of Illinois engineers developed a model to calculate the age of nitrogen in corn and soybean fields, which could lead to improved fertilizer application techniques to promote crop growth while reducing leaching.

Civil and environmental engineering professor Praveen Kumar and graduate student Dong Kook Woo published their work in the journal Water Resources Research.

The Daily Physics Problem - 5

The Daily Physics Problem - 5

Jul 26 2016 | comment(s)

As explained in the first installment of this series, these questions are a warm-up for my younger colleagues, who will in two months have to pass a tough exam to become INFN researchers.
A disclaimer follows:
SYRINA: A Trojan Horse For Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals?

SYRINA: A Trojan Horse For Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals?

Jul 26 2016 | comment(s)

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the European Commission’s (EC) proposed scientific criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals and highlighted what I, along with many others, believe are its numerous shortcomings.