Science News

According to this MIT News article, neuroscientists believe they have identified the neurons associated with how we process our emotions. The article describes how tagging neurons of mice amygdala with light-sensitive proteins and then exposing these study animals to fear and pleasure stimuli led to their preliminary findings. The article suggests how identifying this emotional circuitry could further our understanding and treatment of mental illness and depression. Enjoy!

The scientist who grew a human ear at the back of a mouse has suggested it may one day be possible to grow a liver.

Some interesting research into why some people look younger than others. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-36133475 There has been some recent discussion on the forum on the evolution of pale skin. It is easy to imagine how this could be a selection factor - people are, perhaps, more likely to choose a partner who looks younger and, therefore, healthier. And, because of the genes involved also has pale skin.

(preface: i had absolutely no clue where to put this. i considered physics, Engineering and a couple others but decided to just guess and let mods move it if they want) http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/japan.nuclear/index.html?hpt=T1 apparently a Japanese nuclear reactor's power source has been disabled by the earthquake in japan and the backup was disabled by the tsunami and now they can't cool the core what possibility of there being a meltdown (Chernobyl like melt down) or any significant release of radionuclides from the power plant?

According to Professor Emeritus, Roy Lewicki, there are 6 elements and we should endeavor to incorporate as many of those elements as possible in our apologies. His findings are based on an Ohio State study involving 755 participants and Prof. Lewicki suggests that "Apologies really do work". I find that the smarter a person believes him or herself to be, the less likely he or she is willing to offer an apology. Apologizing for a wrong or an error is, in my view, a measure of character rather than a barometer of intelligence. In forums like this and others, where personal esteem or "Likes" are coveted, I have met few of such character. If you consider yourself a per…

I haven't read it yet, but it looks interesting: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-02-groundbreaking-discovery-skin-cells-cancer.html Feel free to discuss. So, the story goes.... back when I was taking a human biology at my community college, the instructor made a point that despite how long you live, cancer will get you. And, as I think we've discussed here on SFN, and as I think I've told people, brain cancer will get you if you think that somehow you can find a way to live a long time. But that article starts to say different. Your search: Author: Bagó, Juli R Title: Nature communications Article: Therapeutically engineered induced neural stem cells are tumou…

The article says that the microbots can be collected magnetically, leeched in acid to remove the heavy metals, and reused. That's good, but aquifers are contaminated, with homes having wells pumping toxins. What can be done to clean the aquifers?

Is it possible some particles in space are affected by this phenomenon, either quantum or macroscopic?

NASA's Curiosity Rover recorded a strange audio frequency on August 7, 2015. A strong narrowband radio signal detected by NASA. The bandwidth of the signal is less than 10 kHz. Jerry Z. Audio Development Laboratory (ADL) working in the NASA since 20years extracted the frequency from 100 - 275Hz and heard the first music record from space specially from the planet Mars. Since August 7, 2015, NASA reseach to find out exactly where this music symphony come from and what provoke this strange sound. The frequencies has been recorded near the Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus). See the video:https://youtu.be/rumr70m7tdU

A large, heavy ship, scuttled between 1775 and 1798, is being dug out of its damp grave at the site of a new hotel construction project in Old Town Alexandria. Archaeologists found the partial hull of a ship at 220 S. Union Street, part of the city’s major redevelopment of the Potomac River waterfront. It’s on the same one-block site where workers two months ago discovered a 1755 fondation from a warehouse that is believed to have been the city’s first public building. “It’s very rare. This almost never happens,” said Dan Baicy, the hard-hatted field director for Thunderbird Archeology, the firm watching for historic evidence during construction. “In 15 years that I’ve …

Sounds like all kinds of supercomputer magnets can be made 3.2 times stronger for the same size. Does it include the LHC?

This is pretty interesting. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35976498

Can individual genes be removed or modified to learn more about the role of DNA and cell dynamics? Armed with better knowledge, will it be possible to eliminate additional parts of the DNA to make simpler and simpler cells until the secret of abiogenesis is discovered? It seems unlikely that life popped into existence with nearly 500 genes in its DNA. They seem to have hit a plateau of complexity at 531,000/473. Perhaps some genes can be changed to more or less complex forms that allow other genes to be removed, perhaps some combinations can be removed to simplify the DNA, or something else. It seems unlikely they have explored all possibilities of simplifying the DNA…

Has anyone seen this video of a unique spider that may have lived well before the age of dinosaurs? The spider is unique in that it didn't have an organ for web spinning. The 305 year-old fossil was discovered in the 1980's in France and was not examined until recently because it could not be removed from the rock in which it was encased without damage. It's suggested that web-spinning spiders had an evolutionary advantage leading to their proliferation and decline of this web-less spieces. Enjoy!

I found a video of them in action. Jump to 1.27 to actually see it. The video url link in the above article just shows stills...disappointing. Isn't evolution wonderful? Definitely a 'wow' moment for me. To read about the transitional steps is one thing but to see such a step in action makes it really sink in. It looks like we crawled out of a dark cave and not the open sea or open watercourse, as I've always imagined before

More data at CERN seems to hint at a new, very heavy fundamental particle beyond the standard model of quantum mechanics. Its mass is 750 GeV/c^2. For comparison, the top quark -- the most massive fundamental particle in the standard model -- has a mass of 173 GeV/c^2. See link: http://blog.physicsworld.com/2016/03/18/new-boson-buzz-intensifies-at-cern-fire-prevention-in-space-and-neil-turok-on-a-bright-future-for-physics/ I read somewhere that some physicists are proposing that dark matter is made of not yet detected heavy neutrinos. Could this be it? (I didn't see any electric charge data on the possible new CERN particle.)

From the BBC site:

Here is a link to the article announcing this expected discovery confirming Einstein's prediction. The article provides several informative links on subject and it's current research. Data results from the LIGO (Advance Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) experiment will be released Thursday. Ripples in space-time detected, wow!

Esmeralda; what a lovely, lyrical name. Here's a link to a Washington Post article on the discovery of one of Vasco da Gama's ill-fated ships off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea. The article discusses the discovery by David Mearns salvage company and a preliminary report published in the journal Nautical Archeology. At 500 years, the author says it is the oldest shipwreck discovery from the age of exploration da Gama led. Enjoy!

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/water-bears-glass-all-full Something spotted before, but not understood quite as well: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19732016 I like water bears, and not just because they look like the Aunts in "A Wrinkle In Time". ( photo: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/water-bears’-genetic-borrowing-questioned) To say that this is possiby the coolest thing a water bear can do is to say something. Maybe because human packaging is almost always designed to prevent water from affecting the contents, this comes from left field - but methinks those guys need to get hold of a patent attorney.

When I saw this CNET headline, I thought we now have some answers regarding the nature of dark matter. I was right; the article discusses the mystery of radio signal bursts that emit the energy our Sun would over 10,000 years. The infrequency of the these bursts made their source difficult to locate. Scientist have now discovered that they originate from an elliptical galaxy about 6 billion light years from Earth. According to the article, the mystery was solved by "locating" the matter between the Earth and the signals source. The article contains a link to the published research. Enjoy!

phys.org Abiotic species that feed and replicate and sometimes create another abiotic species might evolve into biologic species, but its not likely to occur in my lifetime. This satisfies my curiosity about the genesis of life and more or less corresponds to my expectations. I hope someone else successfully does this experiment.

It was known that the moon influences the tides had, but never on precipitation. The force of gravity of the moon makes its effects felt causing fluctuations not only for what concerns the rising sea levels, but the amount of rain. To detect for the first time this influence, a barely perceptible reduction of 1%, is the study carried out by Tsubasa Kohyama, University of Washington and will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The discovery was made by studying data on precipitation in tropical varieregioni collected by satellites over the past 15 years. Just comparing that data the researchers saw that was recorded a slight decrease in rainfall when …

What happened to the population of Easter Island? Nothing, according to this article in the IB Times. The Rapa Nui were a successful society until the Europeans arrived according to evidence based on a new analysis of island weaponry. According to the article, the abundance of prehistoric spearheads found on the island's shores and the desolation of the island's vegetation had previously led researchers to believe that sparse resources led to war and cannibalism among its inhabitants. New analysis of their so-called weaponry, according to Professor Carl Lipo of Binghamton University, suggests that their variable shapes and variance from traditional weapons rendered the…

Antarctic fungi survive Martian conditions on the International Space StationScientists have gathered tiny fungi that take shelter in Antarctic rocks and sent them to the International Space Station. After 18 months on board in conditions similar to those on Mars, more than 60 percent of their cells remained intact, with stable DNA. The results provide new information for the search for life on the red planet. Lichens from the Sierra de Gredos (Spain) and the Alps (Austria) also traveled into space for the same experiment. >>>>> Read more