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thinkahol *

Astronomers discover complex organic matter in the universe | KurzweilAI - 1 views

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    Organic compounds of unexpected complexity exist throughout the universe, Prof. Sun Kwok and Dr. Yong Zhang of the University of Hong Kong have discovered, suggesting that complex organic compounds can be synthesized in space even when no life forms are present. The organic substance they found contains a mixture of aromatic (ring-like) and aliphatic (chain-like) components that are so complex, their chemical structures resemble those of coal and petroleum. Since coal and oil are remnants of ancient life, this type of organic matter was thought to arise only from living organisms. Unidentified radiation from the universe The researchers investigated an unsolved phenomenon: a set of infrared emissions detected in stars, interstellar space, and galaxies, known as "Unidentified Infrared Emission features." From observations taken by the Infrared Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope, Kwok and Zhang showed that the astronomical spectra have chemical structures that are much more complex that previously thought. By analyzing spectra of star dust formed in exploding stars called novae, they show that stars are making these complex organic compounds on extremely short time scales of weeks, and ejecting it into the general interstellar space, the region between stars. "Our work has shown that stars have no problem making complex organic compounds under near-vacuum conditions," says Kwok. "Theoretically, this is impossible, but observationally we can see it happening." Most interestingly, this organic star dust is similar in structure to complex organic compounds found in meteorites. Since meteorites are remnants of the early Solar System, the findings raise the possibility that stars enriched the early Solar System with organic compounds. The early Earth was subjected to severe bombardments by comets and asteroids, which potentially could have carried organic star dust. Whether these delivered organic compounds played any role in the development of l
Charles Daney

The cosmic comic: Riding early waves - 0 views

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    Two fictitious high-spirited scientists of the institute, passionate surfers, take off to visit the early Universe. Not to do serious research there but to experience the ultimate ride on the plasma waves of the big bang. However, they quickly realize that they would be stuck without their knowledge of the physics of the early Universe.
Erich Feldmeier

Jeremy Ginsberg: Grippe, Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data :... - 0 views

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    "Seasonal influenza epidemics are a major public health concern, causing tens of millions of respiratory illnesses and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide each year1. In addition to seasonal influenza, a new strain of influenza virus against which no previous immunity exists and that demonstrates human-to-human transmission could result in a pandemic with millions of fatalities2. Early detection of disease activity, when followed by a rapid response, can reduce the impact of both seasonal and pandemic influenza3, 4. One way to improve early detection is to monitor health-seeking behaviour in the form of queries to online search engines, which are submitted by millions of users around the world each day. Here we present a method of analysing large numbers of Google search queries to track influenza-like illness in a population."
Ivan Pavlov

Skull suggests three early human species were one - 0 views

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    One of the most complete early human skulls yet found suggests that what scientists thought were three hominin species may in fact be one. This controversial claim comes from a comparison between the anatomical features of a 1.8-million-year-old fossil skull with those of four other skulls from the same excavation site at Dmanisi, Georgia. The wide variability in their features suggests that Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus, the species so far identified as existing worldwide in that era, might represent a single species.
anonymous

How to Recognize the Early Symptoms of Mesothelioma Or Asbestos Cancer - 0 views

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    How to recognize the early signs of asbestos cancer or mesothelioma.
Skeptical Debunker

What causes autism? Exploring the environmental contribution : Current Opinion in Pedia... - 0 views

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    Purpose of review: Autism is a biologically based disorder of brain development. Genetic factors - mutations, deletions, and copy number variants - are clearly implicated in causation of autism. However, they account for only a small fraction of cases, and do not easily explain key clinical and epidemiological features. This suggests that early environmental exposures also contribute. This review explores this hypothesis. Recent findings: Indirect evidence for an environmental contribution to autism comes from studies demonstrating the sensitivity of the developing brain to external exposures such as lead, ethyl alcohol and methyl mercury. But the most powerful proof-of-concept evidence derives from studies specifically linking autism to exposures in early pregnancy - thalidomide, misoprostol, and valproic acid; maternal rubella infection; and the organophosphate insecticide, chlorpyrifos. There is no credible evidence that vaccines cause autism. Summary: Expanded research is needed into environmental causation of autism. Children today are surrounded by thousands of synthetic chemicals. Two hundred of them are neurotoxic in adult humans, and 1000 more in laboratory models. Yet fewer than 20% of high-volume chemicals have been tested for neurodevelopmental toxicity. I propose a targeted discovery strategy focused on suspect chemicals, which combines expanded toxicological screening, neurobiological research and prospective epidemiological studies.
Walid Damouny

Primordial weirdness: Did the early universe have 1 dimension? - 1 views

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    "(PhysOrg.com) -- Did the early universe have just one spatial dimension? That's the mind-boggling concept at the heart of a theory that University at Buffalo physicist Dejan Stojkovic and colleagues proposed in 2010."
thinkahol *

Mental problems gave early humans an edge - life - 07 November 2011 - New Scientist - 0 views

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    Some argue that these genes bring benefits - mental illness and genius have a long-standing link - but archaeologist Penny Spikins at the University of York, UK, goes further. She believes that mental illness and conditions such as autism persist at such high levels because in the past they were advantageous to humanity. "I think that part of the reason Homo sapiens were so successful is because they were willing to include people with different minds in their society - people with autism or schizophrenia, for example."
Mike Chelen

RNA world easier to make : Nature News - 0 views

  • John Sutherland and his colleagues from the University of Manchester, UK
  • ribonucleotide
  • building block of RNA
  • ...29 more annotations...
  • Donna Blackmond, a chemist at Imperial College London.
  • strong evidence for the RNA world
  • 'RNA world' hypothesis, which suggests that life began when RNA, a polymer related to DNA that can duplicate itself and catalyse reactions
  • chemists had thought the subunits would probably assemble themselves first, then join to form a ribonucleotide
  • three distinct parts: a ribose sugar, a phosphate group and a base
  • RNA polymer is a string of ribonucleotides
  • efforts to connect ribose and base together have met with frustrating failure
  • researchers have now managed to synthesise
  • ribonucleotides
  • remedy is to avoid producing separate ribose-sugar and base subunits
  • makes a molecule whose scaffolding contains a bond that will
  • be the key ribose-base connection
  • atoms are then added around this skeleton
  • final connection is to add a phosphate group
  • influences the entire synthesis
  • acting as a catalyst, it guides small organic molecules into making the right connections
  • What we have ended up with is molecular choreography
  • objectors to the RNA-world theory say the RNA molecule as a whole is too complex to be created using early-Earth geochemistry
  • flaw is in the logic — that this experimental control by researchers in a modern laboratory could have been available on the early Earth
  • Robert Shapiro, a chemist at New York University
  • early-Earth scenarios
  • heating molecules in water, evaporating them and irradiating them with ultraviolet light
  • results showing that they can string nucleotides together
  • ultimate goal is to get a living system (RNA) emerging from a one-pot experiment
  • need to know what the constraints on the conditions are first
  • Shapiro sides with
  • another theory of life's origins
  • because RNA is too complex to emerge from small molecules, simpler metabolic processes
  • eventually catalysed the formation of RNA and DNA
Skeptical Debunker

Pliocene Hurricaines - 0 views

  • By combining a hurricane model and coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model to investigate the early Pliocene, Emanuel, Brierley and co-author Alexey Fedorov observed how vertical ocean mixing by hurricanes near the equator caused shallow parcels of water to heat up and later resurface in the eastern equatorial Pacific as part of the ocean wind-driven circulation. The researchers conclude from this pattern that frequent hurricanes in the central Pacific likely strengthened the warm pool in the eastern equatorial Pacific, which in turn increased hurricane frequency — an interaction described by Emanuel as a “two-way feedback process.”�The researchers believe that in addition to creating more hurricanes, the intense hurricane activity likely created a permanent El Nino like state in which very warm water in the eastern Pacific near the equator extended to higher latitudes. The El Nino weather pattern, which is caused when warm water replaces cold water in the Pacific, can impact the global climate by intermittently altering atmospheric circulation, temperature and precipitation patterns.The research suggests that Earth’s climate system may have at least two states — the one we currently live in that has relatively few tropical cyclones and relatively cold water, including in the eastern part of the Pacific, and the one during the Pliocene that featured warm sea surface temperatures, permanent El Nino conditions and high tropical cyclone activity.Although the paper does not suggest a direct link with current climate models, Fedorov said it is possible that future global warming could cause Earth to transition into a different equilibrium state that has more hurricanes and permanent El Nino conditions. “So far, there is no evidence in our simulations that this transition is going to occur at least in the next century. However, it’s still possible that the condition can occur in the future.”�Whether our future world is characterized by a mean state that is more El Nino-like remains one of the most important unanswered questions in climate dynamics, according to Matt Huber, a professor in Purdue University’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The Pliocene was a warmer time than now with high carbon dioxide levels. The present study found that hurricanes influenced by weakened atmospheric circulation — possibly related to high levels of carbon dioxide — contributed to very warm temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which in turn led to more frequent and intense hurricanes. The research indicates that Earth’s climate may have multiple states based on this feedback cycle, meaning that the climate could change qualitatively in response to the effects of global warming.
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    The Pliocene epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5 million to 3 million years before present. Although scientists know that the early Pliocene had carbon dioxide concentrations similar to those of today, it has remained a mystery what caused the high levels of greenhouse gas and how the Pliocene's warm conditions, including an extensive warm pool in the Pacific Ocean and temperatures that were roughly 4 degrees C higher than today's, were maintained. In a paper published February 25 in Nature, Kerry Emanuel and two colleagues from Yale University's Department of Geology and Geophysics suggest that a positive feedback between tropical cyclones - commonly called hurricanes and typhoons - and the circulation in the Pacific could have been the mechanism that enabled the Pliocene's warm climate.
Erich Feldmeier

Maurice Levi: Winterkind Summer babies less likely to be CEOs - 0 views

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    "Levi and his co-authors, former Sauder PhD students Qianqian Du and Huasheng Gao, investigated the birth-date effect in a sample of 375 CEOs from S&P 500 companies between 1992 and 2009. "Our study adds to the growing evidence that the way our education system groups students by age impacts their lifelong success," says Prof. Levi. "We could be excluding some of the business world's best talent simply by enrolling them in school too early.""
Erich Feldmeier

DIYgenomics - 0 views

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    "Nature: "A group called DIYgenomics has banded together to analyse their genomes, and even conduct and participate in small clinical trials" - October 2010 Nature Medicine: "...early adopters are showing how empowering and beneficial to science personal genetic information can be" - September 2010 WIRED: "...they wanted to build a model trial that could be easily replicated by citizen scientists anywhere" "
Janos Haits

Digital Public Library of America - 0 views

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    The vision of a national digital library has been circulating among librarians, scholars, educators, and private industry representatives since the early 1990s, but it has not yet materialized. Efforts led by a range of organizations, including the Library of Congress, HathiTrust, and the Internet Archive, have successfully built resources that provide books, images, historical records, and audiovisual materials to anyone with Internet access. Many universities, public libraries, and other public-spirited organizations have digitized materials that could be brought together under the frame of the DPLA, but these digital collections often exist in silos.
Erich Feldmeier

Peter Rothwell, Daily aspirin at low doses reduces cancer deaths - University of Oxford - 0 views

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    http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2010/101207.html Peter Rothwell: In this new work, scientists from Oxford, Edinburgh, London and Japan used data on over 670 deaths from cancer in a range of randomised trials involving over 25,000 people. These trials compared daily use of aspirin against no aspirin and were done originally to look for any preventative effect against heart disease. The results, published in the Lancet, showed that aspirin reduced death due to any cancer by around 20% during the trials. But the benefits of aspirin only became apparent after taking the drug for 5 years or more, suggesting aspirin works by slowing or preventing the early stages of the disease so that the effect is only seen much later. After 5 years of taking aspirin, the data from patients in the trials showed that death rates were 34% less for all cancers and as much as 54% less for gastrointestinal cancers, such as oesophagus, stomach, bowel, pancreas and liver cancers.
Erich Feldmeier

'Roy Taylor, Iain Frame Reversing' type 2 diabetes? | Quality in Care - 0 views

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    "The results are indeed worthy of attention, with Prof Taylor's team finding that in an early stage clinical trial of 11 people who were put on a diet of just 600 calories As written about in Dr Ben Goldacre's latest Bad Science column, producing a pattern from experimental data to come to a conclusion can be a 'magical' experience, but medicine is an 'imperfect art'. "We all know one atom of experience isn't enough to spot a pattern." writes Goldacre, "But when you put lots of experiences together and process that data, you get new knowledge.""
Erich Feldmeier

MPG Nod2 is essential for temporal development of intestinal microbial communities. - 0 views

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    "We found that adult Nod2-deficient mice display a substantially altered microbial community structure and a significantly elevated bacterial load in their faeces and terminal ileum compared to their wild-type counterparts. Interestingly, we demonstrate that these findings are also present in weaning mice, indicating a profound influence of Nod2 on the early development and composition of the intestinal microbiota. We demonstrate that NOD2 genotypes also influence the microbial composition in humans. Conclusions Our results point to an essential role of Nod2 for the temporal development and composition of the host microbiota, both in mice and in humans, which may contribute to the complex role of NOD2 for the aetiopathogenesis of Crohn's disease. "
Erich Feldmeier

#introvertiert oder Mehr Hirnschmalz!? @auticon @GeistGegenwart Roberto Ferná... - 0 views

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    ""Our results suggest that autistic children are not interested in social interactions because their brains generate more information at rest, which we interpret as more introspection in line with early descriptions of the disorder," said Roberto Fernández Galán"
Erich Feldmeier

Robin Mellors-Bourne: #Vitae #STEM Researchers' 'unrealistic' hopes of academic careers... - 0 views

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    "There is a "significant credibility gap" between researchers' expectations and the likelihood of their forging long-term careers in higher education, a survey has found. More than three-quarters of research staff responding to the Careers in Research Online Survey 2013 said they aspired to a career in higher education and around two-thirds said they expected to achieve this. But it was "unrealistic to expect" that this number of research staff, or even half of those in the early stages of their career, would be able to secure a long-term research role in higher education, says the report, based on the survey produced by Vitae, the careers organisation for researchers."
Erich Feldmeier

@biogarage @trendinafrica https://tombaden.wordpress.com - 0 views

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    "I am a Neuroscientist working at the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), University of Tübingen, Germany. In My Research I use a combination of 2-photon imaging, electrophysiology and computational modelling to unravel principles of synaptic and network computations in the vertebrate early visual system. Outside my regular work I am also co-founder of a not-for-profit organisation TReND in Africa, dedicated to foster Neuroscience Education and Research on the African continent. Moreover I am contributor to Open Labware, the design and building of open source laboratory equipment based on off-the-shelf electronics and simple mechanics as made possible by 3D printing"
thinkahol *

Seeing the world with new eyes: Biosynthetic corneas restore vision in humans - 1 views

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    "ScienceDaily (Aug. 25, 2010) - A new study from researchers in Canada and Sweden has shown that biosynthetic corneas can help regenerate and repair damaged eye tissue and improve vision in humans. The results, from an early phase clinical trial with 10 patients, are published in the August 25th, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine"
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