Category Archives: Science

UW-Madison Scientist Solves Bird Flu Puzzler

UW-Madison scientist solves bird flu puzzler by David Wahlberg:

Before the H5N1 virus can cause a human pandemic, the new findings suggest, it must mutate and become able to recognize human flu virus receptors, Kawaoka said.

The virus, which has led to the death or slaughter of millions of birds in Asia, Africa and Europe, has killed 103 of the 184 people known to be infected since 2003, nearly all of them thought to be sickened by birds.

If the virus starts spreading from person to person, health officials say, it could cause a pandemic like the one in 1918 that killed up to 50 million people worldwide.

Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge

Shift Bicycle photo

The History Channel and Invent Now, announced the 25 semi-finalists of the Modern Marvels Invent
Now Challenge, a national competition that provides an opportunity for independent inventors to be recognized and to influence the ever-changing face of invention.

The semi-finalists, who hail from 17 states across the U.S. and range in age from 19 to 80, were chosen from nearly 4,300 submissions entered, a number that confirms that the inventive spirit in America is alive
and well. This spring, the Challenge will ultimately name the invention of one of these 25 semi-finalists as the 2006 Modern Marvel of the Year during Modern Marvels: Great Inventions Week on The History Channel May 24-27th.

Innvetions include:

Matthew C. Grossman, Student, Austin, TX – Shift Bicycle (shown in photo): This bicycle is intended to help small children learn to balance on their own without the crutch of training wheels and the worry of skinned knees. The bicycle features two rear wheels that are spread apart at slow speeds to provide critical stability, and as the rider gains speed, the two rear wheels merge together to act as one wheel until the rider reduces speed and consequently returns the bicycle to the two wheel configuration. More information on the bike: new bike design for toddlers wins international competition

Russell D. Keller, Truck Driver, Oklahoma, OK – Drag Vent: An air diversion device captures a flow of air from above a roadway vehicle and forcibly diverts the captured air to the center of the low pressure area at the rear of the vehicle, thus reducing the amount of drag force applied to the vehicle and increasing the vehicles efficiency of operation.

Randal J. Kwapis, Computer Engineer, New Boston, MI – Typhoon: The Typhoon is an everyday manual wheelchair that utilizes shock-absorbing technology to make the chair easier to propel over rough terrain like grass and gravel.

Find more information on the semi-finalists and the Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge

via Make

GE’s Edison Desk Blog

photo of windmills

GE global research’s Edison Desk blog provides interesting posts on the scientific and engineering research at GE. They provide interesting reading and, as I am sure is part of GE’s plan, let GE present their company in a positive light (so far the text is a bit too heavy on public relations spin, in my opinion, but it is still interesting). For example, Reaching for A High Penetration of Renewable Energy in The Grid:

Many additional challenges exist. Technologies that ease the integration of renewable energy resources into the grid will have a large impact in driving continued growth for these industries. Technology needs range from advanced component design to renewable resource forecasting and all the way through to large-scale system designs which take into consideration the aggregation of diverse power generation technologies to form dispatchable entities (such as wind-hydro hybrids, for example)

and Your Movie Collection on a Single Disk:

However, the capacity of the discs is being increased just enough to put a single HDTV movie on one disc. The Holographic Storage technology that our team is working on leapfrogs these next generation formats enabling users to put over 40 HDTV movies or over 200 standard definition movies on a single disc.

Students put Scientific Principles to Use

Lessons in Innovation by Shannon Mullen (site removed content – poor usability)
Instructor encourages students to put scientific principles to use … one LEGO brick at a time.

The mini course, called Engineering Experiences, uses an educational approach known as “discovery-based learning.” As the name implies, the idea is for students to learn by doing, through trial and error. Hotaling and her colleagues try to remain on the sidelines, guiding the students with questions, rather than spooning out solutions.

The mission of the Stevens Institute Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science is to catalyze and support excellence in teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and other core subjects through innovative, research-based instructional strategies and use of novel technologies.

UK Science and Innovation Grants

UK Science and Innovation Grants

The recipients of the second round of Science and Innovation Awards have been announced by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Funding has been awarded to build the UK’s research base in the areas of nanometrology, statistics, plasma physics and the Mathematics-Computer Science interface.

Professor John O’Reilly, Chief Executive of EPSRC, said: “A strong research base in engineering and the physical sciences is vital to the UK’s success as a knowledge economy. These latest awards underscore EPSRC’s commitment, working in partnership with the Funding Councils and the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, to address shortages of academics to lead research teams in some crucially important areas.”
Continue reading →

Science and Engineering Jobs

Alarm as white-collar jobs vanish overseas (link broken so I removed it), Australian Financial Review:

The council’s draft report, a copy of which was obtained by the Australian Financial Review, says Australia needs to respond by investing in education and research and development, and by linking up with developing knowledge sectors in China and India.

There has been a steady progression up the value scale in work sent to low-cost countries – from manufacturing to data processing, call centres and computer software.

Now there is evidence that China and India are competing for high-level jobs in financial services, industrial design, architecture, research and development, engineering, medicine and even management areas such as human resources and business consulting.

Every country realizes the value to their economy of jobs in science, engineering and technology. Countries are taking steps to create a environment that will attract those jobs. Countries that do this less effectively will suffer.

Previous posts on the topic of economics, science and engineering

Smokeless Stove Uses 80% Less Fuel

Philips Smokeless Stove Uses 80% Less Fuel, Saves Lives

300 million families in the world’s poorest regions burn wood for cooking, and smoke and toxic emissions kill 1.6 million people per year.

That claim in the article is disputed by a comment on the web site. The difficulty of drawing direct causation for many medical problems makes such claims difficult to prove. A scientific paper explores the issue:

Chronic pulmonary disease in rural women exposed to biomass fumes

There is little question finding engineering solutions that serve to reduce health risks are often much better than trying to deal with the health consequences after people are sick. So providing safe drinking water, for example, will do more for health than increase spending on medical care to treat those who get sick.

Additionally the opportunities to save lives and improve health in the world often do not require cutting edge science. It is often a matter of engineering effective solutions for hundreds of millions and billions of people living without what those in the wealthy take for granted (Water and Electricity for All – Solar Powered Hearing Aid – Appropriate Technology).

Intel Science Talent Search Results

photo of Shannon Lisa Babb

Shannon Babb of Utah Named Top High School Scientist:

With a rare ability to combine research and remediation in environmental science, Babb, 18, of American Fork High School, conducted a six-month study to identify water quality problems in the Spanish Fork River. Babb, who started researching water quality at age 13, analyzed the chemical and physical properties along the river drainage system. She concluded that humans, through urban and agricultural factors, have a negative effect on the water quality of the river. She contends that the water quality problem can be resolved with a combination of restructuring and educating the public that household chemicals should not be poured down storm drains.

Yi Sun, 17, of The Harker School in San Jose, Calif., received second-place honors and a $75,000 scholarship. Sun discovered new geometric properties of random walks, a mathematical theory with applications to computer algorithms and polymers.

Yuan “Chelsea” Zhang, 17, of Montgomery Blair High School in Rockville, Md., received third-place honors and a $50,000 scholarship. Zhang researched the molecular genetic mechanisms behind heart disease. Specifically, Zhang implicated CX3CL1 molecules as contributing to plaque build-up in the arteries. This knowledge can lead to the development of new medicines for atherosclerosis.

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, a long-time advocate for improving science and math education, praised the contributions these young scientists are poised to make.

“The talent represented at Intel STS is a dramatic illustration that investing in science and math education will pay great dividends for the future of American innovation,” Barrett said. “The seed of the next big scientific discovery could very well be planted in this room tonight.”

Photos from News.com

Read about more science talent search winners.

Nanofibers Knit Severed Neurons Together

Hamster Study Shows Nanofibers Knit Severed Neurons Together, Restore Vision by David Biello, Scientific American:

“We have healing of the brain, which we’ve never seen before. We have axons growing through the center of the cut, which we’ve never seen before, and we have axons connecting to the target tissue,” Rutledge notes. “If we could use something like this to mitigate the damage caused by cutting the brain with a knife, that would be great.” The research appears online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Swimming Ants

Scientists discover swimming ants

North Queensland scientists have discovered a new type of ant, believed to be the only species that can live, swim and navigate under water.
…
The ants nest in submerged mangroves and survive by hiding in air pockets and then swimming to the surface.
…
“I was actually working with a film crew working on insects in the mangroves and they wanted to film one of these ants and I said, ‘Well, lets put it on a rock in a puddle of water and that’ll stop it going away and then you’ll be able to film it,’ and the ant promptly just leapt off the edge of the rock and swam across the water and disappeared.

“We were sort of dumbfounded.”

Dr Robson says it is amazing that the ants can survive in such a hostile environment.

“We’ve been doing a lot of studies on their foraging behaviour and there’s a lot of things that eat them, so when they’re swimming, fish will sometimes eat them, mud skippers will eat them, crabs will attack them,” he said.

It is great to see experts can still be so suprised by nature.

Unique northern ants gain global attention