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NGC 2264 - The Cosmic Christmas Tree Star Cluster Gets A New Image

Dec 18 2008 | comment(s)

The festive season has arrived for astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in the form of this dramatic new image. It shows the swirling gas around the region known as NGC 2264 — an area of sky that includes the sparkling blue baubles of the Christmas Tree star cluster.

NGC 2264 lies about 2600 light-years from Earth in the obscure constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn, not far from the more familiar figure of Orion, the Hunter. The image shows a region of space about 30 light-years across.

Where Did The Water On Venus Go?

Dec 18 2008 | comment(s)

Venus Express has made the first detection of an atmospheric loss process on Venus's day-side. Last year, the spacecraft revealed that most of the lost atmosphere escapes from the night-side. Together, these discoveries bring planetary scientists closer to understanding what happened to the water on Venus, which is suspected to have once been as abundant as on Earth.

The spacecraft's magnetometer instrument (MAG) detected the unmistakable signature of hydrogen gas being stripped from the day-side. “This is a process that was believed to be happening at Venus but this is the first time we measured it,” says Magda Delva, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, who leads the investigation.

A Shock For Rock - Head Banging Is Bad For Your Head (And Falling For This Is Bad For Your IQ)

Dec 18 2008 | comment(s)

It must be December. Those cheeky pranksters at BMJ are at it again, this time releasing an authentic-looking study that says head banging is bad for your head. Let's see how many media publications that basically print news releases without bothering to read them get suckered again (we mean you, BBC).

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Head banging increases the risk of head and neck injury, but the effects may be lessened with reduced head and neck motion, head banging to lower tempo songs or to every second beat, and using protective equipment such as neck braces, finds a study in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today.

6 Medical Myths Debunked For Christmas

Dec 18 2008 | comment(s)

In a study published in the Christmas 2008 issue of the British Medical Journal (and not one of their prank articles), Aaron Carroll, M.D., M.S., and Rachel Vreeman, M.D., M.S., of the Indiana University School of Medicine, explore the science behind six myths commonly associated with the holidays yet relevant year-round.

Phytochemicals Make Olive Oil Even More Awesome Than Previously Believed

Dec 18 2008 | comment(s)

Good quality extra-virgin olive oil contains health-relevant chemicals, 'phytochemicals', that can trigger cancer cell death. New research published in the open access journal BMC Cancer sheds more light on the suspected association between olive oil-rich Mediterranean diets and reductions in breast cancer risk.

6 Researchers Take On Science Education

Dec 18 2008 | comment(s)

A greater commitment by science faculty to focus on science education could drive education reform at universities and K-12 schools, according to a new report by a team of five researchers from the California State University (CSU) system and one from Purdue University.

Appearing in today's issue of the journal Science, the report evaluates the role that science professors who specialize in science education play in improving how the sciences are taught.

Live Small, Live Better - And They Really Mean Live Small

Dec 18 2008 | comment(s)

As you can imagine, running a swanky science publication ends up getting me a lot of press releases. People want to get the word out about what they are doing and I make no secret of the fact that I want to know what's going on because I don't have time to proactively go out and find the latest stuff. So I like getting them, including the ones I want to make fun of.

Redneck Astrophysicists Tackle Dark Energy

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

The astronomy/physics sector of the internets is all abuzz about Dark Energy.

It was originally thought that gravity would slow the expansion of the universe as huge astronomical bodies become attracted to each other and pull together like Sumo wrestlers trying to share a waterbed. That has not happened. Instead, the universe is expanding, and doing so at an increasing rate. Dark Energy is the general repulsive force that is kicking gravity's butt and driving the expansion of the universe.

Somebody should have told the Nobel Prize Committee

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

Can science journalism get any more embarrassingly bad?

"Real-time gene monitoring developed" says a headline over at physorg.com. The piece starts off with an insane hook that makes no sense whatsoever:

With GeneVision, military commanders could compare gene expression in victorious and defeated troops. Retailers could track genes related to craving as shoppers moved about a store. "The Bachelor" would enjoy yet one more secret advantage over his love-struck dates.

The Power Of Communication: Psychology Of Words And Language Revealed

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

Whoever said that the pen is mightier than the sword definitely knew what they were talking about. To humans, words are more than a means of communication, they can shape our beliefs, behaviors, feelings and ultimately our actions. Although swords can coerce us, and threaten, nothing is more powerful than a tool which can shape our opinions.

When it comes to language and communication, the rule is that it’s not what you say, but what people hear. Words are one of the most powerful tools that we as humans possess; they can ignite revolutions or defuse tension. The problem is that words are underestimated as being central to thought and behavior processing as well as decision making.

Vocalzone Fine Tunes Tom Jones' Vocal Cords

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

As a result of Sir Tom Jones citing his use of Vocalzone on Top Gear (14/12/2008) Kestrel, the (Poole based) makers of the Throat Pastille which is also known to be used Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Joss Stone and Robbie Williams, has been inundated with enquiries from literally thousands of aspiring singers that watch the program.

Sir Tom Jones was asked by Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear if he took anything to maintain his voice.

Olivia Judson on Information Bedlam

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

I can relate to Olivia Judson's experience with the digitization of science journals:

On the good side, instead of hauling dusty volumes off shelves and standing over the photocopier, I sit comfortably in my office, downloading papers from journal Web sites.

On the bad side, this has produced informational bedlam.

The journal articles arrive with file names like 456330a.pdf or sd-article121.pdf. Keeping track of what these are, what I have, where I’ve put them, which other papers are related to them — hopeless...

New Ideas To Harness Wave Power

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

As early as 1890, people were beginning to think about harnessing the power of the ocean. During the twenty-year span between 1890 and 1910, there were wave power generation stations built all along the Southern California coast. The advent of cheap petroleum coming straight from the ground, however, has taken the focus off of energy generation solutions such as wave power for decades now, and as a result the only surviving wave motor from the large Southern California program is buried in the sand at the foot of the Manhattan Beach pier. Now, thanks to the huge push toward green energy sources and freeing the world from oil, wave power has seen a flurry of research and innovation in recent years.

Appreciative Thinking

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

Ben Casnocha asks what I mean by appreciative thinking.

A good question, since I invented the phrase. To learn appreciative thinking is to learn to appreciate, to learn to see the value of things. More or less the opposite of critical thinking.

That I had to make up a phrase shows the problem. I have complained many times about an overemphasis on critical thinking at universities. Sometimes I’d say, “Have you ever heard the term appreciative thinking? No? How many times have you heard the term critical thinking?”

When it comes to scientific papers, to teach appreciative thinking means to help students see such aspects of a paper as:

Their Name Was LUCA, Not Adam Or Eve, And They Are The Ancestor Of Life On Earth - Study

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

An evolutionary geneticist from the Université de Montréal, together with researchers from the French cities of Lyon and Montpellier, say a new study presented in the recent issue of Nature characterizes the common ancestor of all life on earth, and it isn't called Adam or Eve, but rather LUCA, for Last Universal Common Ancestor. The 3.8-billion-year-old organism was not the creature usually imagined.

Green, But Not Too Green - Unicellular Algae Growing Into Biofuel Of The Future

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

In pursuing cleaner energy there is such a thing as being too green. Unicellular microalgae, for instance, can be considered too green.

In a paper in a special energy issue of Optics Express, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley describe a method for using microalgae for making biofuel. The researchers explain a way to genetically modify the tiny organisms, so as to minimize the number of chlorophyll molecules needed to harvest light without compromising the photosynthesis process in the cells. With this modification, instead of making more sugar molecules, the microalgae could be producing hydrogen or hydrocarbons.

Cosmic Rays Not The Source Of Global Warming - Study

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

It is sometimes claimed that changes in radiation from space, so-called galactic cosmic rays, can be one of the causes of global warming. A new study, investigating the effect of cosmic rays on clouds, says that the likelihood of this is very small.

The study "Cosmic rays, cloud condensation nuclei and clouds – a reassessment using MODIS data" was recently published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. A group of researchers from the University of Oslo, Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), CICERO Center for Climate and Environmental Research, and the University of Iceland, are behind the study.

Scientific Red Cards - French Students Launch Online Registry Of Fraudulent Science Papers

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

A group of French research students is launching an online register to flag up scientific papers that have been tainted by fraud and other types of scientific misconduct.

Claire Ribrault, a PhD student in neurobiology at Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, unveiled the Scientific Red Cards project last month at a workshop on research integrity sponsored by the European Science Foundation (ESF). The idea is to identify papers that have been shown to be fraudulent but are still in circulation.

Noblesse Oblige In 2008 - Are Power And Compassion Mutually Exclusive?

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

If you're a Spider-Man reader, you are certainly aware of “noblesse oblige” - the idea that with great power comes great responsibilities. And you may believe that if you had great power you would use it compassionately - but it's unlikely you think anyone else wielding great power will act in a compassionate way.

The term was created because it is often perceived that increased power makes people - that is, other, less noble people - less likely to use compassion. Psychologist Gerben A. van Kleef (University of Amsterdam) and his colleagues from University of California, Berkeley, examined how power influences emotional reactions to the suffering of others.

The Neuropsychological Connection To Selflessness (And Religion)

Dec 17 2008 | comment(s)

All spiritual experiences are based in the brain. That statement is truer than ever before, according to a University of Missouri neuropsychologist. An MU study has data to support a neuropsychological model that proposes spiritual experiences associated with selflessness are related to decreased activity in the right parietal lobe of the brain. The study is one of the first to use individuals with traumatic brain injury to determine this connection. Researchers say the implication of this connection means people in many disciplines, including peace studies, health care or religion can learn different ways to attain selflessness, to experience transcendence, and to help themselves and others.