Science & TechnologyS


Chalkboard

New Genomic Sequencing Method Enables 'Smarter' Analysis of Individual Cells


ScienceDaily
Sun, 22 Jul 2012 17:09 UTC
Only by viewing a Seurat painting at close range can you appreciate the hidden complexities of pointillism -- small, distinct dots of pure color applied in patterns to form an image from a distance. Similarly, biologists and geneticists have long sought to analyze profiles of genes at the single cell level but technology limitations have only allowed a view from afar until now.

Research published in the July 22 issue of Nature Biotechnology, shows for the first time that a novel genomic sequencing method called Smart-Seq can help scientists conduct in-depth analyses of clinically relevant single cells. Smart-Seq has many possible applications, including helping scientists to better understand the complexities of tumor development. This is vitally important as many clinically important cells exist only in small numbers and require single cell analysis. The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, the University of California, San Diego and Illumina Inc.
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Bizarro Earth

'Earthquake in a Maze': April 2012 Sumatra strike-slip earthquake was largest of its kind ever


Science Daily
Sat, 21 Jul 2012 21:43 UTC
Sumatra unusual quake pattern
© Caltech/Meng et al.The colored circles on the large map indicate the complex spatial rupture pattern as a function of time during the Sumatra earthquake in April 2012. The white star indicates the epicenter of the magnitude-8.6 mainshock. The area shaded in darker red in the inset indicates the location of the area of study.

The powerful magnitude-8.6 earthquake that shook Sumatra on April 11, 2012, was a seismic standout for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was larger than scientists thought an earthquake of its type -- an intraplate strike-slip quake -- could ever be. Now, as Caltech researchers report on their findings from the first high-resolution observations of the underwater temblor, they point out that the earthquake was also unusually complex -- rupturing along multiple faults that lie at nearly right angles to one another, as though racing through a maze.

The new details provide fresh insights into the possibility of ruptures involving multiple faults occurring elsewhere -- something that could be important for earthquake-hazard assessment along California's San Andreas fault, which itself is made up of many different segments and is intersected by a number of other faults at right angles.

"Our results indicate that the earthquake rupture followed an exceptionally tortuous path, breaking multiple segments of a previously unrecognized network of perpendicular faults," says Jean-Paul Ampuero, an assistant professor of seismology at Caltech and one of the authors of the report, which appears online July 19 in Science Express. "This earthquake provided a rare opportunity to investigate the physics of such extreme events and to probe the mechanical properties of Earth's materials deep beneath the oceans."
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Meteor

Close Approach of PHA Asteroid 2012 OQ

Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero and Nick Howes
Remanzacco Observatory
Fri, 20 Jul 2012 19:23 UTC
M.P.E.C. 2012-O13, issued on 2012 July 19, reports the discovery of the PHA asteroid 2012 OQ (discovery magnitude 16.1) by J75 OAM Observatory, La Sagra on images taken on July 16.9 with a 0.45-m f/2.8 reflector + CCD.

2012 OQ has an approximate size of 120 m - 270 m meters (H=21.7) and it will have a close approach with Earth at about 7.7 LD (Lunar Distances) or 0.0197 AU at 1829 UT of July 24, 2012. At the moment of its close approach this asteroid will reach the magnitude 15.9 while moving at 51"/min.

We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp, remotely from the H06 ITelescope network (near Mayhill, NM) on 2012, Jul. 18.3, through a 0.25-m f/3.4 reflector + CCD.

Our confirmation image, stack of 34x20-second exposures

2012 OQ Asteroid
© Remanzacco Observatory
See an animation showing the movement of 2012 OQ (each frame is a 20-second exposure).
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Telescope

'Seeds' of Massive Black Holes Found at the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy


ScienceDaily
Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:08 UTC
Image
© Keio UniversityA conceptual image of the newly discovered "large star cluster buried in dust." It is considered that IMBHs are formed at the center of the cluster.
Many galaxies contain enormous amounts of molecular gas in small areas near their nuclei. Highly condensed molecular gas is a birthplace of lots of stars. Moreover, it is considered to closely relate to activities of galactic nuclei. Therefore, it is important to investigate the physical state and chemical properties of molecular gas at galaxy centers through observation. To obtain detailed observation data, it is best to survey the center of the Milky Way Galaxy in which our solar system exists.

The research team observed emission lines at wavelengths of 0.87 mm, emitted from carbon monoxide molecules in an area of several degrees that includes the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The ASTE 10 m telescope in the Atacama Desert (4,800 meters above sea level) of Chile was used for observation. More than 250 hours in total were spent on the prolonged observation from 2005 to 2010.

The research team compared this observation data with data of emission lines at wavelengths of 2.6 mm, emitted from carbon monoxide molecules in the same area, which were obtained using the NRO 45m Telescope (Note: 1). When intensity values of emission lines at different wavelengths, emitted from carbon monoxide molecules, are compared, it is possible to estimate temperature and density of molecular gas. In this way, the research team succeeded in drawing detailed distribution maps of "warm, dense" molecular gas of more than 50 degrees Kelvin and more than 10,000 hydrogen molecules per cubic centimeter at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time ever.
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Chalkboard

River Networks On Saturn's Largest Moon, Titan, Point to a Puzzling Geologic History


ScienceDaily
Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:01 UTC
Image
© NASA/JPL/USGSImages from the Cassini mission show river networks draining into lakes in Titan's north polar region.
New findings suggest the surface of Saturn's largest moon may have undergone a recent transformation. For many years, Titan's thick, methane- and nitrogen-rich atmosphere kept astronomers from seeing what lies beneath. Saturn's largest moon appeared through telescopes as a hazy orange orb, in contrast to other heavily cratered moons in the solar system.

In 2004, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft -- a probe that flies by Titan as it orbits Saturn -- penetrated Titan's haze, providing scientists with their first detailed images of the surface. Radar images revealed an icy terrain carved out over millions of years by rivers of liquid methane, similar to how rivers of water have etched into Earth's rocky continents.

While images of Titan have revealed its present landscape, very little is known about its geologic past. Now researchers at MIT and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville have analyzed images of Titan's river networks and determined that in some regions, rivers have created surprisingly little erosion. The researchers say there are two possible explanations: either erosion on Titan is extremely slow, or some other recent phenomena may have wiped out older riverbeds and landforms.
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Meteor

Mile Wide Asteroid Passing Near Earth This Weekend

Rob Waugh
Dailymail.co.uk
Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:34 UTC
An asteroid nearly a mile wide will hurtle past Earth on Sunday July 22.

The asteroid is estimated to be 2,000 to 4,500ft wide, and qualifies as a 'near Earth object'.

NEA (near-Earth asteroid) 2002 AM31 is described as 'the size of a city block'.

Astronomers say not to panic - it will pass through space 14 times further from Earth than the Moon.

Image
© UnknownHurtling through space: The asteroid is estimated to be 2,000 to 4,500ft wide, and qualifies as a 'near Earth object'
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Meteor

New Comet - 2012 OP

Seiichi Yoshida
Aerith Net
Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:06 UTC
Discovery Date: July 16, 2012

Magnitude: 20.0 Mag

Discoverer: Siding Spring Survey

2012 OP
© Aerith NetMagnitude Graph
The orbital elements are published on M.P.E.C. 2012-O12.
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Meteor

Watch A Near Earth Asteroid Zoom By

Nancy Atkinson
Universe Today
Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:21 UTC
Asteroid Flyby
© Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. A view of asteroid 2002 AM31 on Friday, July 20 2012, at 08:34 UT by the Faulkes Telescope North.
An asteroid will pass by Earth on July 22, and thanks to the Slooh Space Camera you can watch it zoom by. There's absolutely no chance this asteroid, named 2002 AM31, could hit Earth, as it is passing by at 14 times the distance of the Moon. But it should be interesting to watch the action live! As they have done with recent asteroid close passes, Slooh live-stream telescope views of the near-approach of this city-block-sized asteroid here, starting at 4:30 p.m. PDT / 7:30 p.m. EDT / 23:30 UTC - accompanied by real-time discussions by Slooh's Patrick Paolucci and Astronomy magazine columnist Bob Berman.

The asteroid is estimated to be 620 m to 1.4 km (2,000 to 4,500 ft wide) and will pass within 14 times the Moon's distance from our planet.

Due to its size and proximity to Earth, 2002 AM31 qualifies as a near-Earth object as it's more than 500 feet wide and within 4.65 million miles of Earth.
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Chalkboard

Like a Transformer? Protein Unfolds and Refolds for New Function


ScienceDaily
Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:47 UTC
New research has shown that a protein does something that scientists once thought impossible: It unfolds itself and refolds into a completely new shape.

This protein, called RfaH, activates genes that allow bacterial cells to launch a successful attack on their host, causing disease. The researchers determined that RfaH starts out in its alpha form, composed of two spiral shapes. Later, in its beta form, it resembles spokes on a wheel and is called a barrel.
When RfaH refolds, it acquires a new function -- yet another finding that researchers would not have predicted.

"We showed that RfaH refolds, which is a big enough deal already. You would think this is impossible. That's what you're told in school," said Irina Artsimovitch, professor of microbiology at Ohio State University and a lead author of the study. "But in this case, it's even better than that because we show that when RfaH refolds, it acquires a new function. It can do something that it couldn't do before."
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Chalkboard

One Step Closer to Growing a Tooth


ScienceDaily
Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:41 UTC
To build a tooth, a detailed recipe to instruct cells to differentiate towards proper lineages and form dental cells is needed. Researchers in the group of Professor Irma Thesleff at the Institute of Biotechnology in Helsinki, Finland have now found a marker for dental stem cells. They showed that the transcription factor Sox2 is specifically expressed in stem cells of the mouse front tooth.

Despite the development of new bioengineering protocols, building a tooth from stem cells remains a distant goal. Demand for it exists as loss of teeth affects oral health, quality of life, as well as one's appearance. To build a tooth, a detailed recipe to instruct cells to differentiate towards proper lineages and form dental cells is needed. However, the study of stem cells requires their isolation and a lack of a specific marker has hindered studies so far.

Researchers in the group of Professor Irma Thesleff at the Institute of Biotechnology in Helsinki, Finland have now found a marker for dental stem cells. They showed that the transcription factor Sox2 is specifically expressed in stem cells of the mouse incisor (front tooth). The mouse incisor grows continuously throughout life and this growth is fueled by stem cells located at the base of the tooth. These cells offer an excellent model to study dental stem cells.
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