Category Archives: Education

Remove the Identical Stretches of DNA Found in Mice, Rats, and Humans and What Happens?

A Real Genetic Headscratcher by Derek Lowe:

As you root through genomic sequences – and there are more and more of them to root through these days – you come across some stretches of DNA that hardly seem to vary at all. The hard-core “ultraconserved” parts, first identified in 2004, are absolutely identical between mice, rats, and humans.
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Even important enzyme sequences vary a bit among the three species, so what could these pristine stretches (some of which are hundreds of base pairs long) be used for? The assumption, naturally, has been that whatever it is, it must be mighty important, but if we’re going to be scientists, we can’t just go around assuming that what we think must be right. A team at Lawrence Berkeley and the DOE put things to the test recently by identifying four of the ultraconserved elements that all seem to be located next to critical genes – and deleting them.

The knockout mice turned out to do something very surprising indeed. They were born normally, but then they grew up normally. When they reached adulthood, though, they were completely normal. Exhaustive biochemical and behavioral tests finally uncovered the truth: they’re basically indistinguishable from the wild type. Hey, I told you it was surprising. This must have been the last thing that the researchers expected.

What a great example of scientists at work. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Math and Science Education Assessment

Science Friday podcast (NPR radio programming) on the urban institute study mentioned a few weeks ago in: The Importance of Science Education.

Conventional wisdom says that U.S. students don’t measure up well against students in many foreign countries when it comes to math and science skills. But is that really true? A team of researchers have re-assessed the results of several common measures of science education success, and they say the true picture may not be as gloomy as some analysts have said.

“When it comes to math and science, American students are no worse, and often score better, than students from many leading countries,” said Harold Salzman, one of the authors of the new Urban Institute report “Into the Eye of the Storm: Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand.” The researchers argue that some of the rankings produced by measures such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are due to statistically insignificant differences in scoring.

Read the actual report – Into the Eye of the Storm, Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand by B. Lindsay Lowell, Harold Salzman.

Sandwich Brick – Reusing Waste Material

A brick-through, Malaysia

at the British Invention Show 2007 held in London recently, waste material bagged Universiti Malaya (UM) researcher Asrul Mahjuddin Ressang Aminuddin a Diamond (Special Award for Earth Science). The lecturer, from UM’s Built Environment faculty, designed a “sandwich brick” that incorporated unwanted plastic, wood particles and other waste material at its core. Helping to save about 26% to 30% on construction costs, the sandwich brick promotes green architecture in the built environment.

“I first came up with the idea when I was assisting the tsunami victims in Thailand and Indonesia,” said Asrul Mahjuddin Ressang. “There was a lot of debris lying around and I wondered how if any could be used for rebuilding purposes.” The brick design has been well received by British construction companies as it is not only environmental friendly but is also entitled to tax incentives across Europe.

It also provides a solution to Britain’s hard-pressed construction industry following the ban on sand mining from riverbeds and waste accumulation that stands at 15 million tonnes in 2007 alone. The innovation impressed judges as it had better heat insulation compared to ordinary bricks and encouraged industries to rethink recycling at minimal costs.
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Meanwhile, engineering faculty senior lecturer Dr Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor received a Double Gold (Special Award for Industry) – for his work on tough synthetic bio-ceramic for bone implant technology and a minimal cutting fluid application in a pulse jet form.

Scientists Chart Record Rise in Yellowstone Caldera

Scientists chart record rise in Yellowstone caldera

The floor of Yellowstone National Park’s gigantic volcano has been rising at a record rate in recent years, probably due to an underground blob of molten rock more than 14 times the size of Billings, according to a new study. The Yellowstone caldera rose nearly 3 inches a year for the past three years, faster than anyone has ever recorded. “These are rates three times (greater) than previous historic rates,” said University of Utah seismologist Bob Smith, a lead author of the study to be published in the journal Science today.

But that rapid rising isn’t an indication of an imminent volcanic eruption or hydrothermal explosion at Yellowstone, he said. It appears in line with behavior at other volcanic craters that rise and fall for thousands of years without large-scale, catastrophic eruptions. “These things go up and down,” Smith said. “That’s very common for calderas globally.”

The researchers believe the 463-square-mile slab formed from molten rock in the magma chamber beneath Yellowstone, causing the surface of the caldera to rise.

HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative

The value of the grant award to each school is approximately $40,000. Based on the outcomes of those projects, some recipients may have the opportunity to receive additional, higher-value grants from HP in 2009. The HP Technology for Teaching Grant is targeted to K–12 public schools in the United States, including Puerto Rico.

HP will select teams of five teachers from approximately 110 schools to receive the equipment and professional development support they need to effectively integrate technology into their instruction. Preference will be given to projects that address mathematics and/or science. Preference will also be given to schools that serve a high proportion of low-income students, relative to their district or state’s free and reduced price lunch percentages.

Proposals must be completed in an online grant application system HP Technology for Teaching website (which will open 8 January 2008) and must be submitted no later than 5 PM Pacific time on Thursday, February 14, 2008.

Fish Discovery: Breathes Air for Months at a Time

Fish Lives in Logs, Breathing Air, for Months at a Time:

A tiny Western Atlantic fish does something never before seen: It makes like a bird, living in mangrove wood for months at a time. A team of U.S. and English scientists accidentally discovered the unique behavior, which they call “logpacking,” during recent excursions to Belize and Florida. They were studying how the mangrove rivulus—an animal already infamous for its bizarre sexual behavior—survived the frequent dry spells that strike its swampy forest habitat.

“One of us kicked at a log, which broke apart and out came the fish!” said team leader Scott Taylor of Brevard County, Florida’s Environmentally Endangered Lands Program. The mangrove rivulus, also known as the mangrove killifish, is native to the Americas and is about two inches (five centimeters) long. The fish has long been studied for its many unique features.

It’s the only vertebrate known to naturally self-fertilize, for example. In some populations, it can become a hermaphrodite, developing both male and female parts simultaneously, to produce clones of itself. The animal can also live out of water for up to 66 days, Taylor said, and is one of very few fish species that spend their entire lives in mangrove swamps. Most fish move in and out of the areas as water sources dwindle.

New and Old Ways to Make Flu Vaccines

New and Old Ways to Make Flu Vaccines by Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR:

Standard Practice
Pros: Millions of Americans receive this [standard] vaccine every year. It’s safe and well tolerated. Its production begins in hens’ eggs — a tried and true technology for 50 years.
Cons: Eggs must be ordered many months in advance, and millions of doses require millions of eggs.

Live-Attenuated Vaccine
Pros: This newer method of production results in a vaccine that has a flu virus that is crippled, so it can’t cause disease. But the virus is not killed, as is the case in the standard vaccine. The vaccine also can be given as a nasal spray.
Cons: More expensive than standard vaccine, and also produced in eggs. Not approved for young children or older people.

Cell-Based Vaccine
Pros: This vaccine can be produced in giant vats of living cells. Such a production method means it can be scaled up much faster than egg-based vaccines, making it more useful in a pandemic. Several versions have been tested successfully in people.
Cons: Won’t be widely available for a few years. Clinical trials are under way, but no flu vaccine made this way is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Home Use Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Photo of Winterra Turbine

The Windterra ECO1200 Wind Turbine is a revolutionary Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT).

Omni-directional: The ECO1200 can instantaneously accept wind from any direction as opposed to HAWTs (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, which require an on-board motor to rotate the unit relative to wind direction.
Turbulent-wind friendly: The ECO1200 is easily roof mountable and is less affected by turbulent air, making ECO1200 suited for areas where houses and trees may disturb airflow.
All-in-one system: The ECO 1200is a complete power-generation package, including turbine, controller/inverter, and mounting system. This system can typically be installed and ready to use in four to five hours.
Roof-top mounting: The ECO1200 is designed for roof top use, eliminating the need for a pole or tower installation that significantly increase cost and complicate routine maintenance.

Interesting looking. Based on some of the figures on their site it seems like this is still pushing the economic justification but with more and more engineers improving such similar system hopefully wind power can meet more of our energy needs over time.

Cat Joins Exclusive Genome Club

Cat joins exclusive genome club

The domestic cat now joins the select club of mammals whose genome has been deciphered – including dogs, chimps, rats, mice, cows and people. The genome map is expected to shed light on both feline and human disease. Cats get hundreds of illnesses similar to human ones, including a feline version of HIV, known as FIV, and a hereditary form of blindness.
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Cats are among the 26 mammals chosen by the National Human Genome Research Institute in the US for less complete or “light” genome sequencing. Scientists use the so-called “shot-gun” sequencing method, where DNA is extracted, chopped into pieces, sequenced, and then pieced back together again.

It has yielded a rough version of the cat genome, including around 60% of Cinnamon’s DNA “letters” with many gaps in between. A more complete version, expected next year, will be used to make more detailed comparisons with other animals.

Vast Garbage Float in the Pacific Ocean

Feds want to survey, possibly clean up vast garbage pit in Pacific:

Charles Moore, the marine researcher at the Algalita Marina Research Foundation in Long Beach who has been studying and publicizing the patch for the past 10 years, said the debris – which he estimates weighs 3 million tons and covers an area twice the size of Texas – is made up mostly of fine plastic chips and is impossible to skim out of the ocean. “Any attempt to remove that much plastic from the oceans – it boggles the mind,” Moore said from Hawaii, where his crew is docked. “There’s just too much, and the ocean is just too big.”

The trash collects in one area, known as the North Pacific Gyre, due to a clockwise trade wind that circulates along the Pacific Rim. It accumulates the same way bubbles gather at the center of hot tub, Moore said. A two-liter plastic bottle that begins its voyage from a storm drain in San Francisco will get pulled into the gyre and take weeks to reach its place among the other debris in the Garbage Patch. While the bottle floats along, instead of biodegrading, it will “photodegrade,” Moore said – the sun’s UV rays will turn the bottle brittle, much like they would crack the vinyl on a car roof. They will break down the bottle into small pieces and, in some cases, into particles as fine as dust.