Science & TechnologyS


Telescope

Monster Storm Rages on Tiny Misfit Star

Clara Moskowitz
Space.com
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:48 UTC
brown dwarf
© Jon LombergExtreme brightness changes observed on a nearby tiny brown dwarf star may indicate a storm grander than any yet seen on an alien world, scientists say.
A small, dim star appears to be wracked by a mega storm more violent than any weather yet seen on another world, astronomers announced.

The star, called a brown dwarf, is more massive than a giant planet but much lighter than most stars. Over a period of several hours, the star exhibited the largest brightness variations ever seen on a cool brown dwarf.

"We found that our target's brightness changed by a whopping 30 percent in just under eight hours," graduate student Jacqueline Radigan of the University of Toronto said in a statement. "The best explanation is that brighter and darker patches of its atmosphere are coming into our view as the brown dwarf spins on its axis."
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Info

Vagus Nerve: Neurotransmitter-Regulated Immunity

Rachel Nuwer
The Scientist
Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:00 UTC
Lymphocyte Cells
© Mauricio Rosas-Ballina, Courtesy of Kevin TraceyGreen labelled lymphocyte cells are capable of producing acetylcholine.

Neurotransmitters may play a bigger role in immunity than scientists had realized. In two papers published today (September 15) in Science Express, immunologists identify neurotransmitters as key players in two previously mystery-shrouded defense mechanisms: how the nervous system body puts the brakes on an overenthusiastic inflammatory response, and the reasons behind post-stroke infections.

"These connections between the brain and immune system in both health and disease are very intriguing," said Lawrence Steinman, a professor of neurology at Stanford School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. The findings could have implications for the treatment of inflammatory disorders and stroke patients, he added.

The immune system is designed to protect the body from infection and injury, but an overactive immune response can damage organs or lead to inflammatory diseases. The vagus nerve connects the brain to the body and controls inflammatory response. One molecule in particular, the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, is released by the vagus nerve to slow the immune response before it causes collateral damage. In the spleen, for example, acetylcholine is necessary for blocking the production of dangerous amounts of inflammatory molecules like cytokines, but the details of how it worked was unclear.
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Info

Sex Hormones May Sway Women's Career Choices

Sarah C.P. Williams
Live Science
Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:20 UTC
Hormones
© Monkey Business Images | ShutterstockWomen with high levels of a male sex hormone were more likely than others to choose hands-on jobs such as a firefighter rather than "people" jobs, such as a teacher.

Whether a girl grows up to be a firefighter, a scientist, an artist or a teacher may have its roots in the hormones she was exposed to as a fetus.

A new study of 125 individuals discovered that females exposed to high rates of a male hormone in their mother's uterus are more likely than other females to later be interested in jobs normally preferred by males, such as engineer or pilot.

A team of psychologists at Pennsylvania State University looked at the career interests of young men and women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a genetic condition in which the body produces high levels of the male hormone androgen. Although they are exposed to androgen while developing, females with CAH are genetically female and reared as females. Their career interests, however, tended to match those shown by males, both with and without CAH. They were less interested in jobs like social worker and teacher than other females.

"We took advantage of a natural experiment," said study researcher Sheri Berenbaum, a psychologist at Penn State University.
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Telescope

Real Life "Star Wars" Planet Seen

Alan Boyle
MSNBC / Cosmic Log
Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:51 UTC
Planet-hunters say they've detected the first world that's absolutely known to circle two stars, like Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine in the fictional Star Wars saga.

"Once again, what used to be science fiction has turned into reality," said Carnegie Institution astronomer Alan Boss, a member of the team for NASA's Kepler mission and a co-author of a paper on the discovery in the journal Science.

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Info

'Superdeep' Diamonds Hint at Depth of Carbon Cycle

Charles Q. Choi
OurAmazingPlanet
Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:01 UTC
Raw Diamond
© Science/AAASA raw diamond from Juina, Brazil, with a small window polished into it to see if any inclusions are inside.

Diamonds from deep underground now reveal that the activities of life can have effects far beneath Earth's surface, researchers find.

All life on Earth is based on carbon. This element moves through the atmosphere, oceans and the planet's crust in a pattern called the carbon cycle. Humans and other life on Earth are part of this cycle - for instance, we and other species live off nutrients made with carbon, such as sugars, fats and proteins, and also exhale carbon dioxide and emit the gas with our cars and factories.

The most well-known parts of the carbon cycle occur at or near the Earth's surface, but recent studies have hinted the carbon cycle might extend much deeper into the Earth's interior than is generally thought. For instance, oceanic crust loaded with carbon-rich sediment could delve, or subduct, to mix with the upper mantle layer of hot rock that reaches about 410 miles (660 kilometers) down, or even to the lower mantle below that. If true, more than just Earth's thin crust might play a role in this key cycle - a much larger fraction of the planet might be involved as well.

However, proof that such cycling occurs has proven difficult to come by.

Now "superdeep" diamonds from Brazil reveal the carbon cycle does indeed reach deep into the mantle.
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Satellite

US: NASA Announces Design for New Deep Space Exploration System


NASA.gov
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:00 UTC
NASA is ready to move forward with the development of the Space Launch System -- an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle that will provide an entirely new national capability for human exploration beyond Earth's orbit. The Space Launch System will give the nation a safe, affordable and sustainable means of reaching beyond our current limits and opening up new discoveries from the unique vantage point of space.


The Space Launch System, or SLS, will be designed to carry the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, as well as important cargo, equipment and science experiments to Earth's orbit and destinations beyond. Additionally, the SLS will serve as a back up for commercial and international partner transportation services to the International Space Station.

"This launch system will create good-paying American jobs, ensure continued U.S. leadership in space, and inspire millions around the world," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "President Obama challenged us to be bold and dream big, and that's exactly what we are doing at NASA. While I was proud to fly on the space shuttle, tomorrow's explorers will now dream of one day walking on Mars."
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Fish

New dolphin species discovered in Australia


Physorg.com
Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:07 UTC
dolphin
Researchers in Australia have discovered that dolphin colonies living around Melbourne are a species unlike any other in the world, they revealed on Thursday.

Researchers in Australia have discovered that dolphin colonies living around Melbourne are a species unlike any other in the world, they revealed on Thursday.

The dolphins that frolic in Port Phillip Bay and the Gippsland Lakes, numbering around 150, were originally thought to be one of the two recognised bottlenose species.

But Monash University PhD researcher Kate Charlton-Robb found they were different by comparing skulls, DNA and physical traits with specimens dating back to the early 1900s.
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Info

Scientists Take First Step Towards Creating 'Inorganic Life'


Science Daily
Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:17 UTC
Inorgnaic Life
© University of GlasgowResearchers led by Professor Lee Cronin at the University of Glasgow have developed inorganic chemical cells (iCHELLs), which show redox activity, chirality, as well as selective permeability towards small molecules, and which can be nested within one another, potentially allowing stepwise reactions to occur in sequence within the cell.

Scientists at the University of Glasgow say they have taken their first tentative steps towards creating 'life' from inorganic chemicals potentially defining the new area of 'inorganic biology'.

Professor Lee Cronin, Gardiner Chair of Chemistry in the College of Science and Engineering, and his team have demonstrated a new way of making inorganic-chemical-cells or iCHELLs.

Prof Cronin said: "All life on earth is based on organic biology (i.e. carbon in the form of amino acids, nucleotides, and sugars, etc.) but the inorganic world is considered to be inanimate.

"What we are trying do is create self-replicating, evolving inorganic cells that would essentially be alive. You could call it inorganic biology."

The cells can be compartmentalised by creating internal membranes that control the passage of materials and energy through them, meaning several chemical processes can be isolated within the same cell -- just like biological cells.
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Info

Milk Drinkers Share Common Ancestor

Tim Wall
Discovery News
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 05:47 UTC
Drinking Milk
© Wikipedia CommonsA man and a calf share a cow's milk in India.

Like a milk mustache that just won't go away, a shared genetic signature marks many Europeans and Indians as descendants from a common milk-drinking ancestor within the last 7,500 years.

The majority of Europeans and Indians who can drink milk share the mutation known as -13910T. Scientists already knew that the mutation was what allowed most European adults to drink milk.

"To our surprise we found that the -13910T mutation was also common in India - especially in those populations with a tradition of milk drinking," said Toomas Kivisild of Cambridge University, senior author of the study, in a press release.

"Not only that, but by looking at nearby genetic regions we could show that the Indian -13910T has the same origin as that found in Europeans; that it could lead back to the same few people who may have migrated between Europe and India," said Kivisild.
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Health

Why Laughter May Be the Best Pain Medicine

Jennifer Welsh
Live Science
Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:01 UTC
Laughter Best Medicine
© DreamstimeLaughter comes in two main types, scientists found.

Laughing with friends releases feel-good brain chemicals, which also relieve pain, new research indicates. Until now, scientists haven't proven that like exercise and other activities, laughing causes a release of so-called endorphins.

"Very little research has been done into why we laugh and what role it plays in society," study researcher Robin Dunbar, of the University of Oxford, said in a statement. "We think that it is the bonding effects of the endorphin rush that explain why laughter plays such an important role in our social lives."

Chuckle it up

Dunbar and colleagues thought our guffaws might turn on the brain's endorphins, a long debated, but unproven idea. These pain-relieving chemicals are created in response to exercise, excitement, pain, spicy food, love and sexual orgasm, among other things.

In addition to giving us a "buzz," these endorphins raise our ability to ignore pain. So the researchers used the endorphins' pain relief to determine if laughter causes an endorphin release. They first tested participants for their pain threshold, then exposed them to either a control or a laugh-inducing test, and then tested pain levels again.

The tests included humorous videos (clips of the TV shows Mr. Bean and Friends) and a live comedy show during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Because laughter is such a social activity (it's 30 times more likely to happen in a social context than when alone), the participants were tested both in groups and alone.

The lab-based pain tests included wrapping a participant's arm in a frozen wine-cooling sleeve or a blood-pressure cuff. The pain tests were administered until the patient said they couldn't take it anymore. At the live shows, the researchers tested pain by having participants squat against a wall until they collapsed.
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