Science & TechnologyS


Wolf

How wolves change rivers

Sustainable Man
Youtube
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 00:00 UTC
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When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.
- John Muir
When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the United States after being absent nearly 70 years, the most remarkable "trophic cascade" occurred. What is a trophic cascade and how exactly do wolves change rivers? George Monbiot explains in this movie remix.
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Beaker

The GM potato that could be cropping up near you soon

Dan Bloom
Mail Online
Sun, 16 Feb 2014 18:00 UTC
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© Mail OnlineFoolish science: Professor Joanthan Jones, who led the three-year study, with the two crops which were combined
The first potato genetically modified to resist blight may soon be grown in Britain.

It was engineered in a three-year project that saw genes from a wild South American potato inserted into a normal Desiree.

Scientists say it is fully resistant to blight, caused by the organism Phytophthora infestans, which destroys up to half of British crops in a bad year.

The disease was responsible for the Irish famine of 1845 and remains potato farmers' greatest enemy, costing them £60 million a year.

Comment: Are you inflamed over GMO foods?

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Robot

Nanomotors controlled inside living human cells for the first time

Dieter Bohn
The Verge
Sun, 16 Feb 2014 16:34 UTC
Nanomotors
© The Verge
Scientists at Penn State University have successfully controlled tiny nanomotors inside living human cells. Consisting of tiny, rocket-shaped bits of metal, the nanomotors were propelled by ultrasonic waves and steered with magnets. Researcher Tom Mallouk wasn't afraid to talk up potential future applications, saying that the technology could one day be used "to treat cancer and other diseases by mechanically manipulating cells from the inside."

Once inside a living cell, the nanomotors could pulverize the cell's contents like an "egg beater" or just break the cell's membrane, Penn State's note about the research says, which could allow for targeted attacks on specific cells. More importantly, Mallouk says that the nanomotors were able to move independently of one another, instead of the "whole mass of them going in one direction."
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Comet

Missing a crucial clue! Study on flu evolution may change textbooks, history books, but not a word about viruses from space

Daniel Stolte
University of Arizona
Sun, 16 Feb 2014 13:24 UTC
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© Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)This is the influenza virus under the electron microscope.
A new study reconstructing the evolutionary tree of flu viruses challenges conventional wisdom and solves some of the mysteries surrounding flu outbreaks of historical significance.

The study, published in the journal Nature, provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the evolutionary relationships of influenza virus across different host species over time. In addition to dissecting how the virus evolves at different rates in different host species, the study challenges several tenets of conventional wisdom, for example the notion that the virus moves largely unidirectionally from wild birds to domestic birds rather than with spillover in the other direction. It also helps resolve the origin of the virus that caused the unprecedentedly severe influenza pandemic of 1918.

The new research is likely to change how scientists and health experts look at the history of influenza virus, how it has changed genetically over time and how it has jumped between different host species. The findings may have implications ranging from the assessment of health risks for populations to developing vaccines.

Comment: This research is indeed very interesting and insightful, but, unfortunately, it doesn't consider another important factor, like a possibility of viruses and new strains arriving from space. Read the following articles to learn more:

New study confirms cometary activity (possibly fragment of Comet Halley) preceded Justinian Plague, wiping out Roman civilization and Western Europe 1,500 years ago

New Light on the Black Death: The Viral and Cosmic Connection

Two of history's deadliest plagues were linked, with implications for another outbreak: Scientists discover link between Justinian plague and Black Death

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Evil Rays

Toxic webs: Visualizing the evil WI-FI frequency fence cloaking the Western world

Victoria Woolaston
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 12 Feb 2014 11:17 UTC
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© Nickolay LammFrequency fence: Visualisations from U.S artist Nickolay Lamm based on how mobile networks and frequencies are distributed across U.S. cities
If we could see the mobile signals being sent and received from the hundreds of devices that surround us, they would cover us like a psychedelic patchwork quilt.

That's according to the latest visualisations from U.S artist Nickolay Lamm.

Lamm worked with computer engineering professors in Illinois to learn how mobile networks and frequencies are distributed across U.S cities such as New York and Chicago.

The result is a colourful grid system that blankets buildings and famous landmarks, and in real-life would change and glow as the frequencies changed.

Comment: The science is conclusive: Wireless (Wi-fi) is damaging our brains and cells in general, despite what the industry-paid studies try to make us believe.


See also: The Hidden Dangers of Cell Phone Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation and its effect on the brain: an insider speaks out

Cell Phones and Cancer: the Risk is Real

European Leaders Call for Ban of Cell Phones and WiFi in Schools

Telecom company patent admits wireless radiation is harmful

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Network

Military's 'Iron Man' suit may be ready to test this summer

Denise Chow
Live Science
Sat, 15 Feb 2014 08:00 UTC
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© Unknown

The first prototypes of a high-tech suit of armor to give soldiers superhuman abilities could be ready to test this summer, according to top military officials. The suits, which have drawn comparisons to the one worn by Marvel Comics superhero "Iron Man," could be delivered to special operations forces as early as June.

The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, is being developed by engineers at MIT; the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM); and researchers at other businesses and academic institutions. Prototypes of the suit, which is designed to provide protection from bullets and is equipped with a variety of sensors and cameras, are being assembled and could be ready for the military to test in June, reported Military.com.
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Arrow Down

New forms of racism arising in research


Discovery News
Sat, 15 Feb 2014 08:54 UTC
Neoracism
© Discovery News

Advances in genetic sequencing are giving rise to a new era of scientific racism, despite decades of efforts to reverse attitudes used to justify the slave trade and Nazi theology, experts said on Friday.

New forms of discrimination, known as neoracism, are taking hold in scientific research, spreading the belief that races exist and are different in terms of biology, behavior and culture, according to anthropologists who spoke at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Chicago.

"Genome science can help us a lot in the individualization of medical practice," said Nina Jablonski, an anthropology professor at The Pennsylvania State University.

But she warned that science could be "misused" to propagate the belief that people inherently have different abilities based on skin color or ethnic background.

She cited new research urging that children be identified based on their genetically predetermined educational abilities and then put in separate schools that could be used to foster different kinds of learning.

"We have heard this before and it is incredibly worrying," she said, recalling the segregation era when blacks and whites were schooled separately and African Americans were considered inferior.
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Network

New malware is tearing up the internet - probably created by NSA

Dylan Love
Business Insider
Wed, 12 Feb 2014 12:04 UTC
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"Careto" is the name of "a sophisticated suite of tools for compromising computers and collecting a wealth of information from them," reports The Washington Post.

Here's how it works.

It sends out emails designed to look as though they were sent legitimately from news sources like The Guardian and others. A population of people end up clicking on a link that takes them to a shady site that scans their computer for vulnerabilities. It works against Windows, OS X and Linux systems, and there may be iOS and Android versions on the way.
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Fish

Hypnotic interactive globe reveals our planet's powerful sea currents in real time

Ellie Zolfagharifard and Sam Webb
The Daily Mail
Thu, 06 Feb 2014 10:26 UTC
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The latest weather-model has a passing similarity with Nasa's mesmerising Perpetual Ocean map (pictured). Nasa's ocean current model looks just like Van Gogh's The Starry Night.
  • Created by Tokyo-based Cameron Beccario, users can drag the globe to their desired location and click to zoom in
  • A region that looks calm at a first glance is seen as an active area of currents circling as the user moves closer in
  • It follows an interactive global wind map, also created by Mr Beccario. Studied together, they reveal just how unpredictable our planet's weather system can be
If you've ever wanted to sail through the world's powerful ocean currents, then take a look at this.

Created by Tokyo-based Cameron Beccario, this interactive globe shows the ocean currents in real time as they swirl around continents.

Users can drag the globe to their desired location and click on the spot they want to find out an ocean current in all its grandeur. See the animation here.

Fascinatingly, the globe gives viewers an insight into the five major ocean gyres, the large systems of rotating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements.

The five - located in the Indian Ocean and in the north and south of the Pacific and the Atlantic - are clearly visible and their affects can be traced throughout the world.
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Camera

Scientists take stunning 'photographs' of human cells by making the DNA inside them glow!

Ellie Zolfagharifard
The Daily Mail
Thu, 06 Feb 2014 08:11 UTC
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This ultrasharp image uses a new method to simultaneously resolve microtubules (green), mitochondria (purple), Golgi apparatus (red), and peroxisomes (yellow) from a single human cell. Each of these components works together to make the cell function.
  • The structures were captured using a technique dubbed 'Exchange-PAINT'
  • DNA is attached to antibodies that recognise a specific cellular structure
  • DNA with fluorescent tags are introduced and bind to partner structure
  • This is first time system has been able to take images less than 10nm apart
  • Images like this could uncover new ways to diagnose disease, track its progress, or monitor the effectiveness of therapies at a cellular level
This hypnotic image is what the human body looks like when you break it down into its smallest parts.

It might seem like a piece of abstract art, but in reality these intricate patterns are the tiny scaffolds and components that make up a human cell.

Inside each cell is a huge range of molecular machinery that can resemble a busy construction site, with different types of these tiny cellular workers coming and going.

This ultrasharp image uses a new method to simultaneously resolve microtubules (green), mitochondria (purple), Golgi apparatus (red), and peroxisomes (yellow) from a single human cell. Each of these components works together to make the cell function

Researchers in Boston were able to capture these tiny structures using strands of custom-built DNA in a microscopy technique dubbed 'Exchange-PAINT'.

The new technique could enable scientists to generate snapshots of dozens of different biomolecules at once in a single human cell.
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