Author Archives: curiouscat

Cancer-Killing Virus

Scientists Say Cancer-Killing Virus Developed (site broke the link so I removed it)

South Korean scientists have said they have developed a new genetically altered strain of virus which is highly efficient in targeting and killing cancer cells. The new therapy developed by the team from Yonsei University uses a genetically-engineered form of the adenovirus, which normally causes colds.

The adenovirus was implanted with a human gene that is related to the production of relaxin, a hormone associated with pregnancy. When injected into cancerous tumors, the virus quickly multiplies in the cancer cells and kills them, the team said.

There are many more wonderful announcements than wonderful treatments. Still this is one in the long line of potentially wonderful treatments. If it turns out to be successful the whole world will benefit. That we all will benefit from such breakthroughs is why I am glad so many countries are investing in science and engineering (also see: Worldwide Science and Engineering Doctoral Degree Data).

CDC Urges Increased Effort to Reduce Drug-Resistant Infections

The US Center for Disease Control has again urged hospitals to increase efforts to reduce drug-resistant infections. In 1972, only 2 percent of these types of bacteria were drug resistant. By 2004, 63 percent of these types of bacteria had become resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat them, and methicillin-resistant “staph” infections, often referred to as MRSA, are a growing problem. The CDC press release. This press release is focused on reducing the transmission of such dangers bacteria to patients. Other CDC efforts focus on improving the system to reduce the production of such virulent bacteria.

I know the Pittsburgh area has done a fair amount of work in the reduction of MRSA transmission. Several white papers on their efforts are available. A great PBS documentary covers this and other health care improvements.

Related: How do antibiotics kill bacteria? – Drug Resistant Bacteria More Common – Entirely New Antibiotic Developed – Overuse of Antibiotics – aritcles on the overuse of antibiotics – CDC antibiotics resistance site

Possibilities Ahead for Engineers

Possibilities and challenges ahead for engineers

To that end, engineering institutions should avoid focusing solely on lecture-based courses and ensure that students participate in team projects, research and experiential learning. Students should also learn communication skills and gain understanding of ethics and social responsibility, business organization, innovation and product development, in addition to engineering fundamentals, Vest said.
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The Senate is now working on legislation that would invest in making the United States more competitive with other nations when it comes to science and engineering education. The National Competitiveness Investment Act is based on recommendations from a recent federal report called “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” which argued that science and engineering education is vital to U.S. economic interests.

Previous posts on proposed legislation: Graduate Scholar Awards in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math – Proposed Legislation on Science and Education – Science and Engineering Innovation Legislation – The Innovation Agenda – Science and Engineering Fellowships Legislation

Open Access Engineering Journals

Open Access Engineering Journals

Continue reading →

The Emperor of Math

Shing-Tung Yau: The Emperor of Math by Dennis Overbyte

For nine months of the year, Dr. Yau is a Harvard math professor, best known for inventing the mathematical structures known as Calabi-Yau spaces that underlie string theory, the supposed “theory of everything.”
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But the other three months he is what his friend Andrew Strominger, a Harvard physicist, called “the emperor ascendant of Chinese science,” one of the most prominent of the “overseas Chinese” who return home every summer to work, teach, lobby, inspire and feud like warlords in an effort to advance world-class science in China.

K-12 Engineering Education

Program aims to steer students into engineering (site broke the link so I removed it – poor usability):

Throughout the year, they will use the same tools that engineers use in the field to learn concepts of mechanics and simple machines.
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Across the country, 27 universities have partnered with Project Lead the Way, a non-profit organization, to train high school and middle school educators planning to teach the program.
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Helm said one student in the program in Texas designed a thin and flexible life vest to fit more comfortably over foul-weather gear worn by shrimpers on the Gulf Coast.

“The Coast Guard liked it so much they bought the idea from her,” she said.

Learn more about Project Lead The Way and see more posts on other such projects: Middle School Engineers (another post on project lead the way which includes many related links) – Directory of Science Education Sites – Engineering Education Program for k-12 – Inspiring Students to be Engineers

Singapore Engineering Week

Students at Singapore Engineering Week

See Singapore Engineering Week activities at Singapore Polytechnic. If you located in Singapore you can attend but even if not the site offers interesting ideas for others.

Events include: Fun with Small Practical Circuits where “participants will develop a project using basic electrical/electronic devices such as resistors, transistors, basic sensors, etc.”

Solar Toy Car where: participants will learn the principle of photovoltaic technology and build a mini-solar car through the hands-on exercise.

Engineering of Customised Foot Insole:

Currently, the static deformation or foot shape is used in customised insole design. However, such method cannot accurately describe the behaviour of the foot during locomotion as dynamic deformation differs significantly from static deformation. Participants will have the opportunity to determine the differences between static and dynamic deformation of the plantar tissue and how this information can be used to engineer customised foot insoles.

Inside Live Red Blood Cells

Technique reveals inner lives of red blood cells:

For the first time, researchers at MIT can see every vibration of a cell membrane, using a technique that could one day allow scientists to create three-dimensional images of the inner workings of living cells.
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Soon, the researchers hope to extend their view beyond the cell membrane into the cell, to create images of what is happening inside living cells — including how cells communicate with each other and what causes them to become cancerous.

“One of our goals is create 3D tomographic images of the internal structure of a cell,” said Michael Feld, MIT professor of physics and director of the Spectroscopy Lab. “The beauty is that with this technique, you can study dynamical processes in living cells in real time.”

Example of what that will look like: The Inner Life of a Cell – Animation – ok actually that level of detail may still be fairly far away 🙂

Related: Red Blood Cell’s Amazing Flexibility – Seeing Cellular Machinery – Cancer cell ‘executioner’ found – Nanospheres Targeting Cancer at MIT – Attaching Biological Cells to Non-Biological Surfaces

MIT Faculty Study Recommends Significant Undergraduate Education Changes

A 2 year study by faculty provides recommendations for undergraduate education at MIT.

HigherEd article – When Knowledge Overtakes a Core:

Updating the traditional core of science subjects, giving students more choices and more hands-on science. The shift would end MIT’s long-standing practice of having all students take six common science courses — a change that institute officials say is necessary because the explosion of scientific knowledge has made it impossible to cover all basics in any introductory sequence.
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MIT’s reforms, if adopted, would represent the most significant overhaul of its curriculum in decades. The changes could be influential far beyond Cambridge, given the institute’s prominence in science and engineering education.

I think making science and engineering more hands on is a good thing.

Related: Harvard Elevates Engineering Profile – Improving Engineering Education – Improving Undergraduate Science Education – Center for Innovation in Engineering Education at Princeton – Innovative Science and Engineering Higher Education

Google India Looking for Engineers

Google not finding right talent in India to suit its needs

Google, which is considered to have a very low attrition rate even in the high-job-hopping Indian IT space, has found it more challenging to hire certain talent in India as compared to other parts of the world, the company’s Founder-Director Kavitark Ram Shriram admitted recently.

The Indian origin founding board member of Google and a well-known venture capitalist said at an ‘investing in India’ conference in San Francisco, “I know first hand that we have had a bit more of a challenge trying to hire engineers for Google in Bangalore compared to the other parts of the world.”

Google even has a we’re hiring link on the Google India home page.

Recent articles also point to other companies having trouble finding Indian engineers to fill all the jobs they hoped to fill.