Science News

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/04/09/mystery-of-the-disappearing-bees-solved/ A reason for everyone to only buy organic food perhaps? The use of these pesticides must stop.

Felix Baumgartner is today attempting to break the world records for Highest Freefall Jump and to be the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle. If anybody asks where the real men have gone, tell them that one of them is in a balloon more than 30 kilometres up. Those with "The Right Stuff" are still with us. Good Luck Felix. Gods speed.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120718192607.htm Child's Behavior Linked to Father-Infant Interactions, Study Shows ScienceDaily (July 18, 2012) — Children whose fathers are more positively engaged with them at the age of three months have fewer behavioural problems at the age of twelve months, according to new research funded by the Wellcome Trust. The study suggests that interventions aimed at improving parent-child interaction in the early postnatal period may be beneficial to the child's behaviour later in life. Children whose fathers are more positively engaged with them at the age of three months have fewer behavioural problems at the age …

New site that contains an interactive tree of life. So far it's just for mammals but other groups are coming soon. http://www.onezoom.org/mammals.htm

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012 was awarded jointly to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2012/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19879890

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2012 was awarded jointly to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka "for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors" http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2012/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-19894971

Looks like they may have found a way to show that Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle may be wrong. The Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Mechanics is intuitive to a certain extent and is only one of a few primary foundation principles of Quantum Theory. Maybe its wording and formulations may need to be changed in the future. Other principles of QM are the Either Or, but not both at once, wave particle duality Principle of EM radiation, the Indeterminacy of particle state before observation, relating to Shroedingers Cat and quantum Entanglement. The Lack of Causality Principle: that events can happen by pure chance, their probability determined by statistics. W…

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 was awarded jointly to Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent" http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2012/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19869673

http://news.discovery.com/space/warp-drive-possible-nasa-tests-100yss-120917.html Comments? Is this the real deal, or media twisting the facts?

http://www.nature.com/news/tantalizing-hints-of-room-temperature-superconductivity-1.11443 Anyone got any thoughts on if this could be possible?

In a study published in PloS one researchers have handed out questionaires to assess the moral orientation of the participants. After filling out the survey, candidates were asked to defend their position. The trick was that while turning over the sheets the wording in the question changed to the opposite of the original statement. Interestingly over 50% of the participants even argued for the opposite of their original attitude. PloS One Of course, this calls into question the validity of such surveys, but also shows the flexibility of attitudes to some extent.

http://www.guardian....hower-astronomy The Martians have retaliated quickly. This weekend there's a meteor shower. Keep an eye out.

http://phys.org/news/2012-09-world-atomic-microscope-chemical-bonds.html

In this publication the authors report the extensive creation of flint tool by the famous bonobo Kanzi. Stone tool production and utilization by bonobo-chimpanzees (Pan paniscus) Roffman, Itai; Savage-Rumbaugh, Sue; Rubert-Pugh, Elizabeth; Ronen, Avraham; Nevo, Eviatar (2012) PNAS (published before print) Supplementary material with video is found Here.

BEHAVIOR OF YOUNG CHILDREN UNDER CONDITIONS SIMULATING ENTRAPMENT IN REFRIGERATORS I love this kind of stuff. source: Journal of Pediatrics

It indicates that suicide victims often show the presence of T gondii, a parasite protoctistan organism (with several warm blooded hosts, especially the cat). T gondii can cause cell inflammation which then releases metabolites which can cause inflammation of brain tissues. People with inflammation in the brain are often seen to have committed suicide, presumably after autopsy evidence. Science Daily Although this is interesting news and is also interesting science, are the premises strong enough for the conclusion are are they weak enough for other factors to be considered? Any comments?

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/23jan_entangled/ Spooky Atomic Clocks NASA-supported researchers hope to improve high-precision clocks by entangling their atoms. Listen to this story via streaming audio, a downloadable file, or get help. January 23, 2004: Einstein called it "spooky action at a distance." Now NASA-funded researchers are using an astonishing property of quantum mechanics called "entanglement" to improve atomic clocks--humanity's most precise way to measure time. Entangled clocks could be as much as 1000 times more stable than their non-entangled counterparts. This improvement would benefit pilots, …

Good news to the physicist community. I came across an excellent website on conceptual physics questions. Address of the website is (url removed by mod). The website has got worthful content and is very helpful to the student community.

Ann interesting article describing how young gorillas learned to spot and dismantle traps. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120719-young-gorillas-juvenile-traps-snares-rwanda-science-fossey/?source=hp_dl2_news_smart_gorillas20120720

A connection between solar flare activity and radioactive decay may be used to predict solar flares more than a day in advance. http://www.gizmag.com/radioactive-solar-flare-warning-system/23702/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927650512000928

A contest backed by google to place a telescope on the moon is moving closer to fruition... http://www.gizmag.com/iloa-lunar-telescope/23639/?utm_source

Computer simulations of what happens to Earth like planets when they are subjected to great heat, similar to the super earths orbiting near their home stars is allowing scientists to gain insight into how these planets form and how Earth and Venus became so different. http://www.gizmag.com/super-earth-destroyed-simulation/23628/?utm_source

Surprised no one posted this yet... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19184370 What does this mean for current human evolutionary models? They mention "the research adds to a growing body of evidence that runs counter to the popular perception that there was a linear evolution from early primates to modern humans". Explain please.

Paddlefish's Doubled Genome May Question Theories On Limb Evolution ScienceDaily (Aug. 6, 2012) — The American paddlefish -- known for its bizarre, protruding snout and eggs harvested for caviar -- duplicated its entire genome about 42 million years ago, according to a new study published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution. This finding may add a new twist to the way scientists study how fins evolved into limbs since the paddlefish is often used as a proxy for a more representative ancestor shared by humans and fishes. A juvenile paddlefish, just under three inches long at two months old. Fully grown American paddlefish can reach five feet (1.5 m) in le…

Histology is the study of tissue, all tissue types and species. We take live tissue and fix it, so that is no longer degrading, so it stays in it's original form. Then we process the tissue, take all the water out and replace it with paraffin. The specimen is then cut on a machine called a microtome. It is cut very thin, 2-10 microns and placed on a glass slide. Typically it is then stained with hematoxylin and eosin or (H&E), although there are many other stains. The hematoxylin stains the tissue structures a purple color that are basic or alkaline such as the nuclei. The eosin will stain the structures different hues of pink that are acidic such as the cytopla…