Science News

It seems the LHC is consistently narrowing the range in which SUSY particles might exist (apart from some frantic goal-post maneuvering) - and failing to find any of the decay pathways that the theory predicts. http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-20300100 http://www.math.colu...woit/wordpress/

Not sure how to take this one but it looks like human females have been cheating... http://news.yahoo.com/bigfoot-part-human-dna-study-claims-142909433.html

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/01/21/doubling-down-four-stranded-quadruple-helix-dna-discovered/ 60 years after scientists first described the “double helix” shape of human DNA, the chemical code of life, scientists have discovered the first quadruple helix -- and it may help them prevent the runaway cell proliferation at the root of cancer. "It's been sixty years since its structure was solved but work like this shows us that the story of DNA continues to twist and turn," said Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK. 'The story of DNA continues to twist and turn.' - Julie Sharp, senior science information manager a…

Researchers have achieved temperatures below absolute zero and may have opened up a new realm of possibilities in heat engines.. http://www.livescience.com/25959-atoms-colder-than-absolute-zero.html

Horizontal gene transfer between higher animals has been thought to be rare, i remember reading someplace many years ago about turtle and rabbit genes being mixed by gene transfer, the kicker was of course the tale of the race between the tortoise and the hare. This article would at least seem to indicate that such gene transfer is not quite as rare as first assumed. i thought the transfer between cow and snake genomes was particularly interesting since one of the tales i grew up with involved snakes milking cows. http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/33829/title/DNA-Jumps-Between-Vertebrates/

Hello all, This my first post on this forum. I'd like to alert you to something which I think is unfortunate in the UK and I'd like to see changed. Transport companies such as ferry operators and airlines have begun to refuse to transport animals for medical research. This is because they have been threatened with bad publicity by animal rights activists. Now no mainstream hauliers will bring animals for medical research into the UK (which is an island). This means they have to be taken by specialist companies on longer more arduous journeys. This ironically has actually meant things have become worse as far as animal welfare is concerned. This is obviou…

The Largest structure in the universe has been discovered, but the authors say it should not exist according to our present theories of how the universe began and formed. http://www.space.com/19220-universe-largest-structure-discovered.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/largest-structure-in-universe-large-quasar-group_n_2455552.html

Stumbled upon something quite interesting while browsing on my phone today. Anyway, I'm not here to explain it... Just to diffuse information, so here you go! Wired - Galactic Pile-Up May Point to Mysterious New Dark Force in the Universe (note: fully a "pop sci" layman article, not for everyone) Background info on Musket Ball Cluster and the related: Chandra Observatory (NASA) - Discovery of Musket Ball Cluster I've never felt "pop science" news to be a reliable source, but since this marks a potential (major) discovery in physics, I've decided to share this. Of course, this is beyond tetantive as of now, so we'll likely have to wait a while to see what comes…

NASA is considering towing a 500 ton asteroid into lunar orbit so it can be studied with out the cost of deep space missions. http://www.gizmag.com/asteroid-capture/25625

Here's the link to the official PR. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-crowdfunding-platform-scitechstarter-focuses-on-science-and-technology-innovators-179941301.html

I had to laugh when I read this. I just wanted to share it with you all. Fox News Viewers Know Less [about the news] Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: A Study

This one saw some site, i didn't know that what happening after that happens, anybody to tell that

If epigenetics deals with heritable traits from parent to child that are not a part of the standard DNA sequence, then can it not be said that evolution is actually not the accumulation of random chances that many are lead to believe? It certainly cannot be said that inherited changes are entirely due to the DNA of the parents. Random mutation will always occur, but they are most likely not the drivers of evolution if epigenetics are at work. If the environment in any way can cause an inherited trait to be passed on to a child, then the theory that evolution is driven by solely random mutation cannot be true any more. It would make very much sense when one considers how f…

The New York Times reports (published 9 December, 2012) "In Girl’s Last Hope, Altered Immune Cells Beat Leukemia" . Last Spring, the article reports, doctors at Children's Hospital of Philidelphia treating Emma Whitehead, (aged 6 at the time) for an advanced case of lymphoblastic lukemia which had not responded to any other treatment resorted to injecting a disabled form of the Human Immuno Virus in a never-before-attempted therapy. In Emma's case, the treatment appears to have been effective and she remains in complete remission at this point. "To perform the treatment, doctors remove millions of the patient’s T-cells — a type of white blood cell — and insert…

These organic semiconductor polymer strips could eventually replace fluorescent lighting. They have a much better quality of light, and are comparable in efficiency to current LEDs. They contain multi-walled carbon nanotubes and operate best on 80 kHz frequency current. http://www.gizmag.com/fipel-alternative-fluorescent-lights/25287/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1566119912004831

Sir Patrick presented the monthly astronomy program on the BBC for over fifty years. He was a much loved figure in the UK bringing the breakthroughs of the field and the simple delights of stargazing to a lay audience. I had an opportunity to meet him about eight years ago and thank him for having kindled my interest in science as a ten year old. He will be sorely missed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20657939

Reports are out that the Mars Rover Curiosity team has "BIG news" to share from Mars. There is talk about really interesting data coming from the SAM chemistry device. What do you think it will be? How likely is it in your opinion that we just found the first ever evidence for life on another planet? http://www.npr.org/2012/11/20/165513016/big-news-from-mars-rover-scientists-mum-for-now

For dark matter to be in fact the gravitational influence that explains the motions of spiral galaxies via gravitational influences therefore exonerating General Relativity and Newtonian gravity it would need to have a specific observable behavior. This dark matter hypothesis now seems to be in serious question based upon this link. Opponents of conventional gravity models have made such predictions since the advent of the dark matter hypothesis, my own model being one of them. http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112486232/hubble-findings-cast-doubt-on-dark-matter-theories/

Some interesting news out of CERN on the quark-gluon soup of matter just after the big bang: http://news.discovery.com/space/lhc-collision-new-form-matter-cern-121128.html

Always thought geckos used suction to attach to walls. Turns out they don't, and they have created a material to replicate their feet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVd6bOhDUKI

http://www.iol.co.za...89#.UIVBNaNvLc8 http://www.youtube.c...h?v=9jHRDFqk_Ys Air Fuel Synthesis in Stockton-on-Tees has produced five litres of petrol since August in this small refinery.

Similar to the artificial jellyfish model made this summer, the "walking" biological robot uses rat cardiac cells. The cells are placed onto hydrogel (gelatin-like polymer) which is then layered with cardiomyocetes from a 3-D printer. Read more here; http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/121115/srep00857/full/srep00857.html

http://phys.org/news/2012-03-efficiency.html Apparently this device actually puts out more energy than it consumes, converting some of the ambient room temperature heat to light in the process.

Synthetic Magnetism Used to Control Light: Opens Door to Nanoscale Applications That Use Light Instead of Electricity http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121031151609.htm ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2012) — Stanford researchers in physics and engineering have demonstrated a device that produces a synthetic magnetism to exert virtual force on photons similar to the effect of magnets on electrons. The advance could yield a new class of nanoscale applications that use light instead of electricity. Promise of harnessing light. An advance could yield a new class of nanoscale applications that use light instead of electricity. (Credit: © mrage / Fotolia)

The closest Earth sized planet has been found orbiting Alpha Centauri, while too close to it's parent star to be earth like in climate it is close to the right size. http://www.space.com/18097-alpha-centauri-stars-planet-explained-infographic.html