Category Archives: Science

E = mc²

That Famous Equation and You by Brian Greene

Over the last couple of decades, this less familiar reading of Einstein’s equation has helped physicists explain why everything ever encountered has the mass that it does. Experiments have shown that the subatomic particles making up matter have almost no mass of their own. But because of their motions and interactions inside of atoms, these particles contain substantial energy – and it’s this energy that gives matter its heft. Take away Einstein’s equation, and matter loses its mass. You can’t get much more pervasive than that.

Bird Flu Resistant to Main Drug

Bird Flu ‘Resistant to Main Drug’ (site removed content so link to them removed)

While the H5N1 virus is now mostly passed directly from bird to human, health experts have warned that it is just a matter of time before it mutates into a form that is easily transmissible between people. When that happens, it may result in as many as 150 million human deaths.

Obviously the 1918 flu pandemic should stand as a recent example of the danger posed by flu epidemics. I don’t have any ability to judge how likely these threats of “bird flu” are but it seems like we could very easily be failing to invest sufficient resources in fighting such a possibility.

Have bird flu warnings affected you?, BBC

It also is a reminder that we should be careful not to overuse anti-biotics.

25 New MacArthur Fellows

25 New MacArthur Fellows Announced
press release
overview of fellows

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 25 new MacArthur Fellows for 2005. Each received a phone call from the Foundation this week informing them that they will be given $500,000 in ‘“no strings attached’ support over the next five years.

I think the fellowships are a great idea: give money to people who have done excellent work. I am not sure of the motivations of the MacArthur Foundation, but if it were me I would trust by providing funds to those people they would (as a group, not every single person) take advantage of those funds to create great advances for all of humanity.

It is great to see examples of those doing work worthy of such high praise. Many of the fellows are scientists and engineers including:

  • Ted Ames – Fisherman fusing the roles of applied scientist and lobsterman to respond to increasing threats to the fishery ecosystem and to suggest needed changes in fisheries management.
  • Lu Chen – Neuroscientist probing the complexities of synaptic transmission in the brain, gaining new insights into the processes of learning and memory.
  • Claire Gmachl – Laser Technologist engineering state-of-the-art lasers for novel applications in environmental monitoring, clinical diagnoses, chemical process control, and homeland security.
  • Michael Walsh – Vehicle Emissions Specialist designing and implementing inventive, cost-effective programs to improve air quality for populations around the globe.

Mapping Cellular Signals

Mapping Cellular Signals by David Pescovitz

Shokat’s laboratory focuses on kinases, enzymes that transfer energy stored within the cell to other proteins. The kinases act as control switches for many cellular activities, from development to death. However, with more than 500 kinases in every cell, identifying a specific kinase’s functionality and manipulating it without affecting others in the protein family is no easy task.
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Shokat hopes that someday, scientists wielding his chemical-genetic tools will build a map of all the kinases in the cell. Pharmacologists could then consult that map to determine the best drug therapy to fight a particular disease.

Another Paper Questions Scientific Paper Accuracy

Most Scientific Papers are Probably Wrong, New Scientist.

Assuming that the new paper is itself correct, problems with experimental and statistical methods mean that there is less than a 50% chance that the results of any randomly chosen scientific paper are true.

Funding Basic Research

The West has lost the will to fund basic research by William Brody.

In the US, university basic research has withered in many important fields, especially in the physical and information sciences and engineering.
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Industrial basic research has failed to demonstrate a return on investment that satisfies the ravenous appetite of financial markets for short-term earnings growth. As a result, companies have been directing capital to applied research and development, rather than basic invention and innovation.
The writer is president of the Johns Hopkhins University, the co-founder of three medical device companies and co-chairman of the US Council on Competitiveness’s National Innovation Initiative.

Related Post: Science Funding Dips In U.S. While Soaring In China

Pentagon’s New Goal: Put Science Into Scripts

Pentagon’s New Goal: Put Science Into Scripts

Fewer and fewer students are pursuing science and engineering. While immigrants are taking up the slack in many areas, defense laboratories and industries generally require American citizenship or permanent residency. So a crisis is looming, unless careers in science and engineering suddenly become hugely popular, said Robert J. Barker, an Air Force program manager who approved the grant. And what better way to get a lot of young people interested in science than by producing movies and television shows that depict scientists in flattering ways?