Science & TechnologyS


Syringe

Genetically Engineered Viruses to be Used in New Brain Mapping Technique

Virus engineered brain scan of auditory region
© J. Livet and J. W. LichtmanThe auditory region of the brain stem.
Imagine an exceedingly complex circuit board. Wires often split -- seemingly at random -- and connect in strange and unexpected ways.

This is how Princeton University researchers developing a new method for studying brain connectivity see the brain.

Because of its intricate organization, figuring out the wiring diagram that explains how the billions of neurons in the brain are connected, and determining how they work together, remains a formidable task. But success in this endeavor could transform the field of neuroscience, offering a map toward increased knowledge of how the brain works, with implications for learning more about conditions ranging from depression and schizophrenia to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Funded by a $993,000 National Institutes of Health Challenge Grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Lynn Enquist, a professor in Princeton's Department of Molecular Biology and in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, is leading an effort to use genetically engineered viruses as explorers that travel throughout the nervous system, tracing the connections between neurons and reporting on their activity along the way.

Info

Life on Earth Gets Wiped Out Every 27 Million Years, Say Boffins

Much of life on Earth gets regularly wiped out every 27 million years, according to boffins. It had been thought that this was caused by a dark star named "Nemesis", but apparently that was wrong. The next globo-extinction event is due in about 16 million years' time.

Extinction events
© Richard K Bambach, Adrian MelottA plot of extinction intensity in the past.
The revelations are made in a new paper from paleontologist Richard K Bambach of the Smithsonian Institution and astronomer Adrian Melott, flagged up by the Physics arXiv blog and viewable online.

According to Bambach, there's no doubt at all that every 27 million years-odd, huge numbers of species suddenly become extinct. He says this is confirmed by "two modern, greatly improved paleontological datasets of fossil biodiversity" and that "an excess of extinction events are associated with this periodicity at 99% confidence". This regular mass slaughter has apparently taken place around 18 times, back into the remote past of half a billion years ago.

This had previously been noted by other scientists - though not confirmed so far back into the past - which had led to theorising on what could have caused such long-separated, regular disasters.

Sherlock

Tiny Fragment Bears Oldest Script Found in Jerusalem

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© AP PhotoThe tiny clay fragment dates from the 14th century BC
A tiny clay fragment dating from the 14th century BC, which was discovered outside Jerusalem's Old City walls, contains the oldest written document found in the city, researchers say.

The 3,350-year-old clay fragment was uncovered during sifting of fill excavated from beneath a 10th century BC tower, dating from the period of King Solomon in an area near the southern wall of the Old City, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said today in an emailed statement. Details of the find appear in the current Israel Exploration Journal.

The find, believed to be part of a tablet from a royal archive, further testifies to the importance of Jerusalem as a major city in the Late Bronze Age, long before its conquest by King David, the statement said.

The fragment, which is two centimetres (less than one inch) by 2.8 centimetres in size and one centimetre thick, contains cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, symbols in ancient Akkadian. The fragment was likely part of a royal missive, according to Wayne Horowitz, a scholar of Assyriology at the Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology.

Sun

Solar Wind Stream Should Hit Earth's Magnetic Field July 13th or 14th

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should hit Earth's magnetic field on July 13th or 14th.

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© SDO/AIA

Better Earth

Flashback Magnetic Portals Connect Earth to the Sun

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© NASAAn artist's concept of Earth's magnetic field connecting to the sun's--a.k.a. a "flux transfer event"--with a spacecraft on hand to measure particles and fields.
During the time it takes you to read this article, something will happen high overhead that until recently many scientists didn't believe in. A magnetic portal will open, linking Earth to the sun 93 million miles away. Tons of high-energy particles may flow through the opening before it closes again, around the time you reach the end of the page.

"It's called a flux transfer event or 'FTE,'" says space physicist David Sibeck of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Ten years ago I was pretty sure they didn't exist, but now the evidence is incontrovertible."

Indeed, today Sibeck is telling an international assembly of space physicists at the 2008 Plasma Workshop in Huntsville, Alabama, that FTEs are not just common, but possibly twice as common as anyone had ever imagined.

Sun

Sinuous Beauty: Sunspot 1087

Sunspot 1087 is developing into a behemoth many times wider than Earth. It now has dozens of dark cores with a long magnetic filament snaking among them:
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© Britta Suhre

"What amazing active region!" says Britta Suhre, who took the picture from her backyard observatory in Rosenheim, Germany: "It is real fun to photograph."

The filament is crackling with B- and C-class solar flares, as shown in these movies from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The biggest and most spectacular eruption so far was a C3-flare on July 9th (movie).

Magnify

Dracula Was Not Bloodthirsty, Just a Victim of Bad Propaganda, New Exhibition Claims

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© Press AssociationVlad the Impaler: bloodthirsty tyrant or victim of bad PR?
Vlad the Impaler, the medieval Romanian prince who inspired the character of Count Dracula, was not a blood-thirsty tyrant, he was simply a misunderstood victim of bad Western European propaganda, a new exhibition has claimed.

The show, which has just opened in Bucharest, attempts to rehabilitate Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, who ruled Wallachia in the 15th century.

"Vlad Dracula was doubtlessly cruel, but not more so than other princes of his time," said Margot Rauch, the Austrian curator of the exhibition, entitled "Dracula - Voivode and Vampire".

Vlad was born in the town of Sighisoara, in Transylvania, in 1431. He ruled over Wallachia, now a region of Romania, between 1456 and 1462 and was reputed to have killed thousands of political opponents, common criminals and captured Turkish soldiers by having them impaled on sharp wooden stakes. It is estimated he had 50,000 people put to death.

Sherlock

Historians Locate King Arthur's Round Table

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© photolibrary.comHistorians claim to have found the site of Camelot
Historians claim to have finally located the site of King Arthur's Round Table - and believe it could have seated 1,000 people.

Researchers exploring the legend of Britain's most famous Knight believe his stronghold of Camelot was built on the site of a recently discovered Roman amphitheatre in Chester.

Legend has it that his Knights would gather before battle at a round table where they would receive instructions from their King.

But rather than it being a piece of furniture, historians believe it would have been a vast wood and stone structure which would have allowed more than 1,000 of his followers to gather.

Historians believe regional noblemen would have sat in the front row of a circular meeting place, with lower ranked subjects on stone benches grouped around the outside.

Info

Cosmic Collision? Russia'll Take Care of It

Russian astronomers have developed an innovative satellite network that would alert people when any space objects are on a collision course with the Earth. Some argue the system isn't effective and is too expensive. A large asteroid hitting the Earth could mean the worst natural disaster in millions of years - and threaten most forms of life.


Sun

Obama Shines Light on Solar with $2B Investment

obama
© TechCrunch
In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama announced the Department of Energy will loan almost $2 billion to two solar energy companies: Abengoa Solar and Abound Solar Manufacturing. The loans will go towards developing solar energy plants.

With the funding, Abengoa will build a solar plant in Arizona that can power 70,000 homes. When completed in 2013, the plant will be one of the largest in the world. It will also store part of the energy it produces, becoming the first plant in the U.S. to do so.