An exciting week has passed with a number of remarkable achievements. Many of them could not be included due to space constraints. The achievements are not in any specific order (I should say that I do not prefer any order because no achievement is more or less important than others).
A traveler to the Antarctic continent (I am not joking) cannot miss the Transantarctic Mountains - a 3,000 km long stretch. This white, snowy beauty had a mystery. Scientists could not explain how she was formed or what geological process triggered her existence? The team of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, studied this question and reports that the mountains appear to be the remnant edge of a gigantic high plateau that began stretching and thinning 105 million years ago.
When you smoke, how does the brain know that nicotine (the cause which persuades smoking) has arrived? You may tell me that it is because the neurons transmit the signal to the brain. Ok. Now let me put it like this. When a neuron finds a nicotine molecule, how does it know that it should signal the brain that "Yes man, the bull has arrived!"? A University of Southern California study has identified the key player - sugar. He is the gateman who opens the gate and announces the arrival of nicotine. Their study provides a detailed look at nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), one in a large and important group of molecules, known as ion channel proteins, which allow signals to pass between neurons. Now how did the research team come up to such a conclusion? It was by cutting the sugar chains, which stopped the gates operation.
The blood plays an important role in eliminating the bad cells - the devils from our body. UNSW researchers have uncovered a natural mechanism where the devil cells are kept under strict growth control. This mechanism in short is a molecular dictatorship with a conscience. The dictator is a specific gene suppressor called YY1, which differentiates between the devils and angels. The most effective drug consumed for restenosis (the closing or narrowing of arteries) was found to inhibit the growth of the good cells as well as the bad cells. In curing, the disease, they also do harm to us. Let us hope that the medical community, with understanding gained from this mechanism, would come up with a drug which would inhibit the growth of only the bad cells.
Is your kid spending a lot of time in the sun? Are you worried of this? Don't worry - says researchers Talat Islam and Thomas Mack with the University of Southern California. They are at a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). They found that a child more exposed to sunlight has less chance of getting MS. Exposure to ultraviolet rays induce protection against MS. But how this works is not known. The future research on this topic may provide us insights on the mechanism. If your kids do not play in the sun, persuade them to play.
Lowering cholestrol helps in preventing a heart disease. But it may also increase the risk of cancer. Statins are the most popular means of reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is the prime cause for a heart disease. But consuming statins, according to a study by researchers at the Tufts University School of Medicine, increases the risk of cancer. However the exact relationship between statins and cancer are not yet confirmed. They say that a moderate-dose therapy including statins may prove to be preferable to high-dose therapy with statins.
Are you obsessed with soft drinks? Do you drink more than one soft drink daily? Beware, says Ramachandran Vasan and Ravi Dhingra, Framingham researchers in their study - you are at an increased risk for heart disease. Drinking more than one soft drink daily increased the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL “good” cholesterol) and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person’s risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It was found that there is a 44% increase in the risk for metabolic syndrome if you drink more than one soft drink daily.
A "gene from nowhere " has appeared in a fruit fly, the Drosophila Melanogaster. It was thought that genes are derived from genes already present in the genome. But the researchers at Cornell have identified a gene called hydra in Drosophila whose origin is not from a gene already present in the genome. The research team of Hsiao-Pei Yang, at the Cornell's Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, do not know exactly how hydra was created, but they speculate that it may have developed from a piece of DNA junk called a transposable element (or "jumping gene"), which may have been inserted into the genome by a virus.
I have a bad news and good news for copper. The good news first. Iron is the workhorse of trace minerals. An essential component of red blood cells, disruption of iron levels in the body will result in a myriad of serious conditions, and life cannot be sustained without it. Researchers at the University of Buffalo have identified another key player - a helper to the workhorse. It is none other than copper. Both work hand in hand to maintain homeostasis. They have found out that when iron-absorption by cells lining the small intestine decreases during iron-deficient states, copper absorption increases. The team is now doing more investigations on the role of copper in homeostasis.
Now the bad news for copper. My dear friend, Copper, your days as the best inter-connector in computer chips, are numbered. The most unlikely friend - the pencil, is standing at your doorstep with a death warrant. Graphene, a one-atom thick sheet of carbon when piled together in countless layers gives the graphite used in pencils. This Graphene's electrical properties have been studied by Saroj Nayak and his team in Rensselaer’s Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy. They say that the length of graphene may be used to manipulate and tune the material’s energy gap. This is important because energy gaps determine if the graphene is metallic or semi conducting. This research is an important first step for developing a way to mass produce metallic graphene that could one day replace copper as the primary interconnecting material on nearly all computer chips.
In an advance that could help curb global demand for oil, MIT researchers have demonstrated how ordinary spark-ignition automobile engines can, under certain driving conditions, move into a spark-free operating mode that is more fuel-efficient and just as clean. They are studying a new way of operating an internal combustion engine known as "homogeneous charge compression ignition" (HCCI). Switching a spark-ignition (SI) engine to HCCI mode pushes up its fuel efficiency. In an HCCI engine, fuel and air are mixed together and injected into the cylinder. The piston compresses the mixture until spontaneous combustion occurs. The engine thus combines fuel-and-air premixing (as in an SI engine) with spontaneous ignition (as in a diesel engine). The result is the HCCI's distinctive feature: combustion occurs simultaneously at many locations throughout the combustion chamber. The researchers developed an inexpensive technique that should enable a single engine to run in SI mode but switch to HCCI mode whenever possible.
Have you seen an insect on top of the ceiling, clinging to it but not falling? They have an ability to stick when they want to and release the adhesion when they do not want. Even though Mark Geoghegan and colleagues at the University of Sheffield do not know how the insects do it, they definitely know a way to do it themselves. They have developed an adhesive which is switchable. They achieved this by two layers of material. One layer made of a polyacid gel and the other a silicon chip. The adhesive, they say can be switched on and off - an intelligent, controllable adhesive.
Ozone may be good when it is very high - in the peaks of the troposphere, but not when they are near the surface of the earth. They have been found to reduce the plant production and crop yields. This would lead to a lower absorption of carbon dioxide and hence accelerate global warming. Stephen Sitch at the Met Office Hadley Centre says in an article in Nature that the amount of near-surface ozone has doubled since 1850 due to chemical emissions from vehicles, industrial processes and the burning of forests.
Horror movies had been a trend recently. Why do people love horror movies? Human behaviour is to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. Then why is it that they love watching horror movies? There are two theories which explain this behaviour. One says that the person is not actually afraid, but excited by the movie. The second is that they enjoy the euphoric sense of relief at the end of the movie. After studying this question, Eduardo Andrade and Joel B. Cohen argue that both the theories are not correct and the correct explanation is that the horror movie viewers are happy to be unhappy.
A new chlorophyll producing bacterium called Candidatus Chloracidobacterium thermophilum, belonging to the phyla acidobacteria has been discovered by scientists at the Yellowstone National Park. The unexpectation in this new bacterium is that it has special light-harvesting antennae known as chlorosomes. No member of this phylum nor any aerobic microbe was known to make chlorosomes before this discovery.
Live Broadcasting in the gene level - that is what Weizmann Institute's researchers has come up with. They have devised a method of employing reporter genes to broadcast the happenings in a genetic setup. If you are interested in the activity of a certain gene, then the reporter gene will follow this culprit and when the culprit gene is activated, the reported gene produces certain easily detectable proteins such as the green fluorescent protein (GFP). By detecting this you can lean about what the culprit gene is upto. An amazing discovery indeed.
A traveler to the Antarctic continent (I am not joking) cannot miss the Transantarctic Mountains - a 3,000 km long stretch. This white, snowy beauty had a mystery. Scientists could not explain how she was formed or what geological process triggered her existence? The team of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, studied this question and reports that the mountains appear to be the remnant edge of a gigantic high plateau that began stretching and thinning 105 million years ago.
When you smoke, how does the brain know that nicotine (the cause which persuades smoking) has arrived? You may tell me that it is because the neurons transmit the signal to the brain. Ok. Now let me put it like this. When a neuron finds a nicotine molecule, how does it know that it should signal the brain that "Yes man, the bull has arrived!"? A University of Southern California study has identified the key player - sugar. He is the gateman who opens the gate and announces the arrival of nicotine. Their study provides a detailed look at nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), one in a large and important group of molecules, known as ion channel proteins, which allow signals to pass between neurons. Now how did the research team come up to such a conclusion? It was by cutting the sugar chains, which stopped the gates operation.
The blood plays an important role in eliminating the bad cells - the devils from our body. UNSW researchers have uncovered a natural mechanism where the devil cells are kept under strict growth control. This mechanism in short is a molecular dictatorship with a conscience. The dictator is a specific gene suppressor called YY1, which differentiates between the devils and angels. The most effective drug consumed for restenosis (the closing or narrowing of arteries) was found to inhibit the growth of the good cells as well as the bad cells. In curing, the disease, they also do harm to us. Let us hope that the medical community, with understanding gained from this mechanism, would come up with a drug which would inhibit the growth of only the bad cells.
Is your kid spending a lot of time in the sun? Are you worried of this? Don't worry - says researchers Talat Islam and Thomas Mack with the University of Southern California. They are at a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). They found that a child more exposed to sunlight has less chance of getting MS. Exposure to ultraviolet rays induce protection against MS. But how this works is not known. The future research on this topic may provide us insights on the mechanism. If your kids do not play in the sun, persuade them to play.
Lowering cholestrol helps in preventing a heart disease. But it may also increase the risk of cancer. Statins are the most popular means of reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is the prime cause for a heart disease. But consuming statins, according to a study by researchers at the Tufts University School of Medicine, increases the risk of cancer. However the exact relationship between statins and cancer are not yet confirmed. They say that a moderate-dose therapy including statins may prove to be preferable to high-dose therapy with statins.
Are you obsessed with soft drinks? Do you drink more than one soft drink daily? Beware, says Ramachandran Vasan and Ravi Dhingra, Framingham researchers in their study - you are at an increased risk for heart disease. Drinking more than one soft drink daily increased the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL “good” cholesterol) and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person’s risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It was found that there is a 44% increase in the risk for metabolic syndrome if you drink more than one soft drink daily.
A "gene from nowhere " has appeared in a fruit fly, the Drosophila Melanogaster. It was thought that genes are derived from genes already present in the genome. But the researchers at Cornell have identified a gene called hydra in Drosophila whose origin is not from a gene already present in the genome. The research team of Hsiao-Pei Yang, at the Cornell's Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, do not know exactly how hydra was created, but they speculate that it may have developed from a piece of DNA junk called a transposable element (or "jumping gene"), which may have been inserted into the genome by a virus.
I have a bad news and good news for copper. The good news first. Iron is the workhorse of trace minerals. An essential component of red blood cells, disruption of iron levels in the body will result in a myriad of serious conditions, and life cannot be sustained without it. Researchers at the University of Buffalo have identified another key player - a helper to the workhorse. It is none other than copper. Both work hand in hand to maintain homeostasis. They have found out that when iron-absorption by cells lining the small intestine decreases during iron-deficient states, copper absorption increases. The team is now doing more investigations on the role of copper in homeostasis.
Now the bad news for copper. My dear friend, Copper, your days as the best inter-connector in computer chips, are numbered. The most unlikely friend - the pencil, is standing at your doorstep with a death warrant. Graphene, a one-atom thick sheet of carbon when piled together in countless layers gives the graphite used in pencils. This Graphene's electrical properties have been studied by Saroj Nayak and his team in Rensselaer’s Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy. They say that the length of graphene may be used to manipulate and tune the material’s energy gap. This is important because energy gaps determine if the graphene is metallic or semi conducting. This research is an important first step for developing a way to mass produce metallic graphene that could one day replace copper as the primary interconnecting material on nearly all computer chips.
In an advance that could help curb global demand for oil, MIT researchers have demonstrated how ordinary spark-ignition automobile engines can, under certain driving conditions, move into a spark-free operating mode that is more fuel-efficient and just as clean. They are studying a new way of operating an internal combustion engine known as "homogeneous charge compression ignition" (HCCI). Switching a spark-ignition (SI) engine to HCCI mode pushes up its fuel efficiency. In an HCCI engine, fuel and air are mixed together and injected into the cylinder. The piston compresses the mixture until spontaneous combustion occurs. The engine thus combines fuel-and-air premixing (as in an SI engine) with spontaneous ignition (as in a diesel engine). The result is the HCCI's distinctive feature: combustion occurs simultaneously at many locations throughout the combustion chamber. The researchers developed an inexpensive technique that should enable a single engine to run in SI mode but switch to HCCI mode whenever possible.
Have you seen an insect on top of the ceiling, clinging to it but not falling? They have an ability to stick when they want to and release the adhesion when they do not want. Even though Mark Geoghegan and colleagues at the University of Sheffield do not know how the insects do it, they definitely know a way to do it themselves. They have developed an adhesive which is switchable. They achieved this by two layers of material. One layer made of a polyacid gel and the other a silicon chip. The adhesive, they say can be switched on and off - an intelligent, controllable adhesive.
Ozone may be good when it is very high - in the peaks of the troposphere, but not when they are near the surface of the earth. They have been found to reduce the plant production and crop yields. This would lead to a lower absorption of carbon dioxide and hence accelerate global warming. Stephen Sitch at the Met Office Hadley Centre says in an article in Nature that the amount of near-surface ozone has doubled since 1850 due to chemical emissions from vehicles, industrial processes and the burning of forests.
Horror movies had been a trend recently. Why do people love horror movies? Human behaviour is to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. Then why is it that they love watching horror movies? There are two theories which explain this behaviour. One says that the person is not actually afraid, but excited by the movie. The second is that they enjoy the euphoric sense of relief at the end of the movie. After studying this question, Eduardo Andrade and Joel B. Cohen argue that both the theories are not correct and the correct explanation is that the horror movie viewers are happy to be unhappy.
A new chlorophyll producing bacterium called Candidatus Chloracidobacterium thermophilum, belonging to the phyla acidobacteria has been discovered by scientists at the Yellowstone National Park. The unexpectation in this new bacterium is that it has special light-harvesting antennae known as chlorosomes. No member of this phylum nor any aerobic microbe was known to make chlorosomes before this discovery.
Live Broadcasting in the gene level - that is what Weizmann Institute's researchers has come up with. They have devised a method of employing reporter genes to broadcast the happenings in a genetic setup. If you are interested in the activity of a certain gene, then the reporter gene will follow this culprit and when the culprit gene is activated, the reported gene produces certain easily detectable proteins such as the green fluorescent protein (GFP). By detecting this you can lean about what the culprit gene is upto. An amazing discovery indeed.
1 comment:
Sukesh,
Nice initiative!!
Pretty long .. but as you said the happenings in science world must he too huge to describe in short…But can you try giving an index of the topics you are describing at the beginning …so that I can go to the topics I am really interested?
All the very best!
Santhosh
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