Category Archives: Science

Create Your Own Book

I received a custom made photo book from my brother. It is amazing. It is a hardcover book, full of photos. The quality is amazing. The book is printed by blurb. Looking on their web site the pricing is surprisingly cheap: 150 page full color hardcover book – $39.95 (for 1 copy! – 10% discount at 25 copies…), as little as $18.95 for a full color softcover book up to 40 pages. The site says books are normally printed in under a week.

I have not tried it but it appears printing your own great looking book is about as easy as creating a blog. I knew it was getting easier to print books, but still I find this very cool. Blurb can import photos from Flickr and Picasa.

This technology enabled self publishing also brings us: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006, using lulu: “Lulu is fast, easy and free, No set-up fees. No minimum order. Keep control of the rights. Set your own price. Each product is printed as it is ordered. No excess inventory.”

Helium-3 Fusion Reactor

Future In Fusion? by John Lasker:

Nevertheless, UW fusion researchers believe their plan could get civilization off fossil fuels. That’s if crews could return to the moon to mine for helium-3, super-heat it out of the lunar soil to process the gas, and return it to the Earth.
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But scientists and investors have taken notice. Nearly all of UW fusion research is privately funded. And meanwhile, with China, India, the European Space Agency and at least one Russian corporation all pursuing plans for a manned lunar base in the coming decades, there is increasing talk of a race to control this fuel, one shuttle load of which could theoretically power the United States for a year.
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Aftergood doesn’t believe a race with China for lunar helium-3 has begun. Yet a race to the moon against China — whether real or superficial — may be in NASA’s best interest, he said. “There are some who wish this would be the case — this race with China. They believe it would recapture the dynamic of the United States’ and Russia’s race to the moon,” he said.

This sounds pretty incredible to me and I find the claims of using fuel from the Moon economically to power our needs on Earth. Still it is interesting and just because it sounds fantastic does not mean it can’t be true. But I am skeptical.

Scientists discover new class of RNA

These new RNAs are named after their distinctive features: Each molecule contains 21 chemical building blocks (or nucleotides), and each begins with the chemical uridine, represented by the letter U (the only RNA nucleotide not also found on DNA). In addition, each of the 5,000 different 21U-RNA molecules comes from one of two chromosomal regions.

Further, “we can predict where additional 21U-RNA genes might reside,” says Bartel, who is also a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “Combining these predictions with the 5,000 (21U-RNAs) that we experimentally identified, we suspect that there are more than 12,000 different 21U-RNA genes in the genome.” Because each gene typically produces a unique 21U-RNA, a very large diversity of molecules is made.

RNA description from the Nobel Prize site:

When an organism needs to use the data stored in the genome, e.g. to build components of a new cell, a copy of the required DNA part is made. This copy is called RNA and is almost identical to DNA. Just like DNA, RNA is an abbreviated form of a chemical name which in the case of RNA is ribonucleic acid. Unlike the double stranded DNA, RNA is only made up of a single strand. Furthermore, the base T, thymine, is replaced by U, uracil in RNA. This RNA string is used by the organism as a template when it builds protein molecules, sometimes called the building blocks of the body. For example, your muscles and hair are mostly made up of proteins.

Related: DNA-RNA-Protein Introduction

Can Brain Exercises Prevent Mental Decline?

Last month we posted about: Short Mental Workouts May Slow Decline of Aging Minds. Now here is another article on the same topic: Little proof that brain exercises can prevent mental decline by Alice Dembner

Richard Suzman, who oversees behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging, said the downside of using the programs include “harm to the wallet or false hope,” or health setbacks if people spend time brain-training instead of getting physical exercise. But others say, despite the lack of evidence, that the programs may be worth trying, particularly in conjunction with other activities that may help with brain health such as a healthy diet, exercise, managing stress, and keeping up social contacts.
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And only last month did the first rigorous study suggest that brain training could positively affect daily-life activities and might delay age-related declines in everyday functioning. Even in that large, government-funded study, the evidence was far from conclusive.

In the original post we mentioned: “Another Paper Questions Scientific Paper Accuracy (just a reminder that the conclusions of many studies are not confirmed in future studies).” That is always important to keep in mind, even though we don’t post that reminder every time.

Science Education

The Real Issue Is Science

They warned that fewer and fewer high school students are choosing math and science classes as electives, leading to a crisis situation. They said science should not be taught as an elective course, but as a mandatory one, while the curriculum should be revised so that science and engineering majors can take more math and science classes. This warning should not be taken lightly. Since the industrial revolution, competitiveness in math and science was the decisive factor in separating the winners from the losers in global economics.

Seems like this could be said in many countries. Certainly it sounds like the kind of thing that might be said in the USA. This time it is from Korea:

Six national science and technology organizations, including the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, the National Council of Natural Science University Deans and the National Council of Engineering University Deans, issued a statement on Wednesday saying the quality of high school math and science classes should not be left to further deteriorate.

Human Embryo Hybrids

Embryo hybrids are used to grow human stem cells (for a few days) in eggs from animals. Public debate on embryo hybrids

Allowing DNA from humans and animals to be mixed should be put to a public debate, a regulatory body has said.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which oversees embryo research and fertility treatment, said the research could fall under its remit and would not be prohibited by law after a meeting of experts on Wednesday.

Door left open for creation of hybrid embryos:

Two teams of British scientists have applied for licences to create “hybrid” embryos that would be about 99.9 per cent human and 0.1 per cent animal to produce embryonic stem cells — the body’s building blocks that can grow into all other types of cells.
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They want to use stem cells to understand and develop therapies for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis, motor neurone disease and Huntington’s. The hybrid embryos would be destroyed within 14 days when they were no bigger than a pinhead.

2006 Science Blog Anthology

SciBlog Anthology suggestions so far

Neat idea to create an anthology of great science blog posts from 2006. via: Confessions of a Science Librarian

NSF Strategic Plan

National Science Foundation Investing in America’s Future Strategic Plan FY 2006-2011

We will support transformational research and promote excellence in science and engineering education in ways that will fuel innovation, stimulate the economy, and improve quality of life. We will also nurture the vibrant and innovative science and engineering enterprise necessary to achieve these goals and stimulate broader participation in this enterprise throughout the nation.

That is pretty broad strokes but they have details and recognizable changes in attitude also.

abroad. Increasing international competition and workforce mobility, combined with a surge in international collaboration in science and engineering research, continue to alter the science and engineering landscape worldwide. To lead within this broader global context, the U.S. science and engineering workforce must build greater capacity for productive international collaboration.

More priorities: “Promote transformational, multidisciplinary research.” “Prepare a diverse, globally engaged STEM workforce.” “Engage and inform the public in science and engineering through informal education.” “Identify and support the next generation of large research facilities.” “Expand efforts to broaden participation from underrepresented groups and diverse institutions in all NSF activities.”

Help Choose the New PBS Science Program

PBS Science:

Here’s the experiment: Throughout January, PBS will broadcast three new science programs. Only one program will become a regular science series on PBS. We want you to help us decide. Watch the programs on your PBS station or, beginning January 1st, visit the companion sites below to watch each pilot show. Then tell us what you think

Wired Science – “brings WIRED Magazine’s cutting edge vision, stylish design, and irreverent attitude to the screen with breakout ideas, recent discoveries, and the latest innovations”

Science Investigators – “Full of information told through compelling stories, the series is presented by four young, lively hosts armed with the latest gadgets and technology, who make this a science show with attitude for the blog generation.” From WGBH, producers of NOVA

22nd Century – “Science fantasy or futuristic nightmare? 22nd Century takes you to the forefront of technology and hears from people on the cusp of a scientific revolution.”

Australian Coal Mining Caused Earthquakes

Coal Mining Causing Earthquakes, Study Says by Richard A. Lovett:

The magnitude-5.6 quake that struck Newcastle, in New South Wales, on December 28, 1989, killed 13 people, injured 160, and caused 3.5 billion U.S. dollars worth of damage. That quake was triggered by changes in tectonic forces caused by 200 years of underground coal mining, according to a study by Christian D. Klose of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York.
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The removal of millions of tons of coal from the area caused much of the stress that triggered the Newcastle quake, Klose said. But even more significant was groundwater pumping needed to keep the mines from flooding.