Category Archives: Science

Second Life for Scientist

A farewell to academia and hello to Second Life – a professor of Physics and Astronomy moves on the the second act of his professional career.

Loved the teaching. Loved the science. Couldn’t take the politics. Couldn’t take the tenure stress. That about sums it up.

It is a very good post that spells out several important points that should be addressed including:

Many people have noted that it’s getting harder to get null results published, and that it’s very difficult to get “credit’ for having done good science if you produce a null result… even though such things really should be the bread and butter of what scientists do, if we really believe all the things we say all the time about how science works, and about how the process of science is an honest, open, and objective process.

Lifestyle Drugs and Risk

I see taking drugs as risky. Certain drug have long histories and seem safe and even seem to have positive side effect like Aspirin (though even it is not without risks – see below). Even if a drug has a good chance of a positive result in treating some medical condition – assuming it is otherwise safe is not wise. I believe you have have a significant positive known benefit to consider taking drugs given the unknown problems that are likely to be lurking. I find the pop a pill culture for anything that might be a minor annoyance to be foolish – taking risks without consideration. Taking drugs entails taking a risk and the more you take the risks of interactions and cumulative effects increase the risks to you. Business Week (somewhat surprising given the huge amount drug makers pay to advertise lifestyle drugs) has a decent article pointing out some of the foolishness involved in the Lifestyle Drug Binge:

The renewed excitement is most evident in four treatment areas that account for the bulk of lifestyle-drug sales: weight loss, hair loss, sleep, and sexual dysfunction.

This trend is surprising because such treatments can expose patients to risks, sparking criticism of drug companies at a time when patient safety is already under a spotlight. Lifestyle drugs are defined loosely as products used to treat conditions that are not life-threatening. Because people take them over long periods of time, sometimes on a daily basis, they may be more dangerous than they first appear.

We have found amazingly helpful and useful drugs. This is great. But people need to remember these drugs are not without potential negative consequences. Take advantage of them when appropriate but don’t forget the risks each instance has for negative side effects. Related: health care improvement articles – health care blog posts
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Evolution at Work – Blue Moon Butterfly

Butterfly shows evolution at work

The tropical Blue Moon butterfly has developed a way of fighting back against parasitic bacteria. Six years ago, males accounted for just 1% of the Blue Moon population on two islands in the South Pacific. But by last year, the butterflies had developed a gene to keep the bacteria in check and male numbers were up to about 40% of the population.

Scientists believe the comeback is due to “suppressor” genes that control the Wolbachia bacteria that is passed down from the mother and kills the male embryos before they hatch. “To my knowledge, this is the fastest evolutionary change that has ever been observed,” said Sylvain Charlat, of University College London, whose study appears in the journal Science.
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“We’re witnessing an evolutionary arms race between the parasite and the host. This strengthens the view that parasites can be major drivers in evolution,” Mr Charlat said.

It makes a great deal of sense that evolution would have such bursts under the right conditions. This seems an nearly perfect example of such conditions – if males can be produced they are going to have a large opening to reproduce and rapidly pass on a new tool to fight the bacteria. The University of California – Berkeley has a good site on understanding evolution (with lesson plans for k-16 and information for anyone interested in science).

Relates: Two Butterfly Species Evolved Into Third – Evolution in Darwin’s Finches – Evolution In Action – Evo-Devo

Science Interview with John Edwards

Interview with Senator John Edwards on Science-Related Topics

How would you address the current problems of scientific research in the USA – stopping the brain-drain, attracting foreign students, energizing young Americans to consider careers in science, the need for balance between basic and applied research, and encouraging development of science in other countries (with free flow of information between nations as well as between scientists and the public in the USA) while still retaining the US dominance?

There are so many things we can and must do. The president can send a signal that science is the cornerstone of American innovation and will support it, free from political agendas and distortions, send a signal that that the United States wants to lead the way in scientific inquiry, not close doors to certain avenues of research.

We must have a sensible policy towards attracting young scholars. International students are a valuable part of our higher education community, and I support our student visa programs. We need to do a better job tracking student visas, but we ought to be able to do that without creating long lines. U.S. consulates have been asked to interview more applicants personally, but have not been given enough resources.

The answers overall seem to be lacking in specifics. While providing a show of support for science they don’t seem to offer much else.

Interesting Lobsters

Is there a 400 pound lobster out there?

Lobsters sometimes bury their food and eat it over several days. They use teeth located in their stomachs, eat their molted shells (full of calcium) and can shed appendages if attacked, wounded or surprised, only to regenerate them later. Finally, lobsters live in a hierarchy and it’s the females who do the courting.

But there’s one lobster fact that trumps them all: lobsters show no apparent signs of aging. They don’t slow down or become weaker or more susceptible to disease. They don’t get infertile — older lobsters are actually more fertile than younger ones. Most lobsters seem to die because of something inflicted upon them and not because a body part failed or broke down. They’re such hardy creatures that scientists aren’t even sure how old lobsters can get. Add in that lobsters grow throughout their lives, and one has to ask: Is possible that a lobster born before Napoleon and as heavy as an NFL lineman is chowing down on the seafloor?

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2007

Top 3 students - Intel ISEF 2007

Can These Kids Save American Science?

Jose Manuel Otero realized that science was his goal in 1996, when he went to ISEF with a project on filtering diesel from water using charcoal that he made from leaves and grass. Otero, the son of Spanish immigrants who never finished high school, took first place in the Connecticut state fair and went on to the internationals, winning third place in his division. “I didn’t know I wanted to be a scientist until I got to ISEF,” he says.
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Where students in previous generations built robots in their basements or sampled pond water in the local park, the majority of today’s winning projects showcase research done in a lab under the supervision of a mentor, an academic at a university or corporate research institute. Students get their own portion of the lab’s investigation. If they discover anything of significance, they might be rewarded as a co-author of a paper the professor submits to a journal, or they might share in a patent that the lab takes out on their work. One team project from Stony Brook’s summer program on detecting individual cancer cells by how hard or soft they are is up for a patent and has been submitted to the journal Science.

The top three winners of the ISEF receive a $50,000 scholarship and $4 million in cash and scholarships are awarded. Related: Intel ISEF Awards 2006 – Science Fair Project on Bacterial Growth on Packaged Salads – Amber’s Science Talent Search Blog – Science Fair Directory

Obesity Epidemic Explained – Kind Of

Graphic: percentage of population over 15 with a body-mass index greater than 30, for more see Wellington Grey

Obesity Epidemic Explained – Kind Of

So maybe everyone else already knew this and I am like, bumpkin girl, but I just have to take a moment and point everyone to this USDA research site on the massive inflationary trend in daily caloric consumption over the past three decades.

1970 – Americans ate an average of 2170 calories per day
2000 – Americans ate an average of 2700 calories per day

I don’t think most people know that. It does seem odd to me that so much effort is put into trying to come up with explanations that are much more complicated. Most of the complicated suggestions (usually some explanation that indicates it is some biology issue and not eating to much or exercising too little) don’t explain why there is an increase in the incidence of obesity over time – at least I don’t see how they do. It seems to me the base requirement for improving the health issue of increasing obesity is to have an explanation of what has caused the incredible increase.

I can certainly believe biological issues impact how easy it is to become obese or how difficult it is to maintain a healthy weight. But it seems to me the proportion of the population that is obese has drastically increased over time (or different regions of the globe with a similar genetic makeup) and the logical place to look for an explanation is behavior differences that created this change (not some biological issue that has changed). If 5% of the population was predisposed obesity in 1950 to obesity I can’t see any rational reason to think that has increased to 30% today.

Chocolate Every Day Will Keep the Doctor Away

We need more news like this: A Bite of Chocolate a Day May Keep Blood Pressure at Bay:

Chocolate lovers can rejoice again: More research has found that the antioxidants in dark chocolate can help slightly lower blood pressure. But the good news comes with a caveat — the chocolate portions have to be limited to 30 calories a day, which works out to slightly more than one Hershey’s Kiss.

Such small amounts of the flavanol-rich cocoa found in dark chocolate “may be a promising behavioral approach to lower blood pressure in individuals with above-optimal blood pressure,” the German researchers reported in their study. Unlimited quantities of chocolate won’t work, they added, because “the potential blood pressure reduction contributed by the flavanols could be offset by the high sugar, fat and calorie intake with the cocoa products.”

Ok, I’ll admit I am eating a bit more than that but I have cut back my Mountain Dew from 2 day a couple years ago to maybe 3 a week now so I figure I have some leeway 🙂 Remember it has to be the dark chocolate with flavanol – given the recent positive press those the packaging usually makes the point of mentioning that the good stuff is included if it is.

Learn Physics with Free Space Flight Simulator

The free, Orbiter Space Flight Simulator, is not a typical computer game.

The emphasis is firmly on realism, and the learning curve can be steep. Be prepared to invest some time and effort to brush up on your orbital mechanics background. Good starting points are JPL’s Basics of Space Flight, and R. Braeunig’s Rocket & Space Technology.
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Improved physics: Gravity-gradient torque effects are now implemented. Vessels in low orbit will now experience torques as a result of their mass distribution. Orbiter’s model of angular motion has also been extensively overhauled.

via: Space Simulator Related: So You Want to be a Computer Game Programmer – Physics Concepts in 60 Seconds – PhysicsQuest – Non-Newtonian Fluid Demo

Single Electron on Video

Researchers Catch Motion of a Single Electron on Video

Maris and Wei Guo, a doctoral student, took advantage of the bubbles that form around electrons in supercold liquid helium. Using sound waves to expand the bubbles and a coordinated strobe light to illuminate them, Guo was able to catch their movements on a home video camera.

A free electron repels the atoms that surround it, creating a small space, or bubble, around itself. In conventional liquids, the bubble shrinks to nothing because the surface tension of the liquid works against the repulsive force. Superfluid helium has very little surface tension, so the bubble can become much larger. The two opposing forces balance when the diameter of the bubble is about 40 angstroms – still far to tiny to see.

The researchers used a planar transducer – basically, a loudspeaker that produces flat, not focused, sound waves – to pummel the whole volume of liquid helium with sound. As each wave overtook an electron bubble, it alternately increased and decreased the surrounding pressure. Under negative pressure, the bubbles expanded to about eight microns, the size of a small speck of dust, then shrank again as the next wave of high pressure washed over them. A strobe light, synchronized to the sound pulse, illuminated the bubbles without overheating the chamber.

Running a camcorder in “super night mode,” Guo and Maris were able to record the approximately 2,000 photons they estimate were scattered by the expanded bubbles, producing a series of electron-bubble images on each frame of videotape.

Pretty amazing. My pictures are of a bit larger things.