Cat History

New cat family tree revealed

The family history of the cat has been notoriously murky in the past, in part because the few discovered cat fossils are very difficult to tell apart.

The international team took a different approach by sampling DNA from living cats. They looked at both mitochondrial DNA – the scrap of DNA within the parts of the cell that generate energy and are passed along the maternal line – and DNA from the X and Y sex chromosomes.

A picture has emerged of a feline ancestor that wandered all over the world, becoming one of the most successful carnivore families.

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2006 MIT Engineering Systems Conference

2006 MIT Engineering Systems Conference

Business systems, engineering systems, and organizations grow in complexity and require careful analysis to solve problems effectively and resiliently. International commercial, political and social situations are increasingly complex and miss-steps can have a profound impact on business operations. Future corporate leaders will need increased knowledge and skills to compete in such environments. Join us on September 26th as the Engineering Systems Division at MIT and the MIT Industrial Liaison Program co-sponsor a day of presentations by MIT faculty and invited corporate speakers exploring the topic of “Complex Systems, Complex Times: Reflections on the 21st Century Enterprise.”

agenda

Kyoto Prize for Technology, Science and the Arts

Inamori Foundation Announces 22nd Annual Kyoto Prize Laureates for Lifetime Achievements in Technology, Science, and the Arts

This year’s Kyoto Prize laureates will be U.S. immunologist and geneticist Dr. Leonard A. Herzenberg, 74, a professor at Stanford University; Japanese statistical mathematician Dr. Hirotugu Akaike, 78, a professor emeritus at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics; and Japanese designer Issey Miyake, 68, an artist whose innovative creations transcend time, culture and social status.

The 22nd Annual Kyoto Prize is Japan’s highest private award for lifetime achievement, presented to individuals and groups worldwide who have contributed significantly to humankind’s betterment. Each recipient receives a cash gift of 50 million yen (approximately US$446,000).
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NSF Undergraduate Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

NSF Undergraduate Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM)

program details from NSF (web site for schools)

This program makes grants to institutions of higher education to support scholarships for academically talented, financially needy students, enabling them to enter the workforce following completion of an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate level degree in science and engineering disciplines. Grantee institutions are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients, reporting demographic information about student scholars, and managing the S-STEM project at the institution.

The program does not make scholarship awards directly to students; students should contact their institution’s Office of Financial Aid for this and other scholarship opportunities.

Thanks to Marisa Dorazio, Edmonds Community College, for mentioning this. Apply for the scholarships available from Edmonds Community College. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 18. The application form has contact information in case you have any questions.

Engineering Resources for K-12 Teachers

Teach Engineering, funded by NSF, provides k-12 teachers “teacher-tested, standards-based engineering content” to “enhance learning, excite students and stimulate interest in science and math through the use of hands-on engineering.”

The TeachEngineering digital library provides teacher-tested, standards-based engineering content for K-12 teachers to use in science and math classrooms. Engineering lessons connect real-world experiences with curricular content already taught in K-12 classrooms. Mapped to educational content standards, TeachEngineering’s comprehensive curricula are hands-on, inexpensive, and relevant to children’s daily lives.

Available modules include: Engineering and the Human Body, Exploring Solar Power, Engineering: Simple Machines and Environmental Engineering.

How do antibiotics kill bacteria?

How do antibiotics kill bacterial cells but not human cells? (pointy haired bosses (phb) at Scientific American broke the link so I removed it – see links in comments below that are not broken by phb behavior)

Most bacteria produce a cell wall that is composed partly of a macromolecule called peptidoglycan, itself made up of amino sugars and short peptides. Human cells do not make or need peptidoglycan. Penicillin, one of the first antibiotics to be used widely, prevents the final cross-linking step, or transpeptidation, in assembly of this macromolecule. The result is a very fragile cell wall that bursts, killing the bacterium.

Read more blog posts on antibiotics and on health care.

Beyond Genetics in DNA

Scientists Say They’ve Found a Code Beyond Genetics in DNA by Nicholas Wade:

The genetic code specifies all the proteins that a cell makes. The second code, superimposed on the first, sets the placement of the nucleosomes, miniature protein spools around which the DNA is looped. The spools both protect and control access to the DNA itself.
…
Jerry Workman of the Stowers Institute in Kansas City said the detection of the nucleosome code was “a profound insight if true,” because it would explain many aspects of how the DNA is controlled.

Survey of Working Engineers

Working hard for their money by Elizabeth M. Taurasi, on the annual Design News salary survey:

Engineers earned an average of $73,000 last year, with the majority receiving a 3 percent increase over last year. Eighty-three percent of those surveyed stayed in the same job.

On average, engineers are working 46 hours per week and more than 40 percent have a bachelor’s degree in engineering. But to earn that paycheck, you’re doing more than ever.

From taking on supervisory and budgetary functions to learning new skill sets, to broadening their responsibilities, today’s design engineers are doing far more than they ever had before.

This is one more confirmation of the idea that engineers have to learn and practice not just engineering concepts but many management skills (as do other specialists). The workplace is becoming continuously more integrated and all specialists have to adapt to this reality. All specialists are having to work increasingly with those outside of their specialty.

And, as in the past, though even more toady, as more responsibility is gained often this means needing new skills outside of engineering (or whatever the specific specialty is).

The article provides more interesting thoughts relating to the survey.

USA Engineering Jobs

Jobs Update: The Death of U.S. Engineering by Paul Craig Roberts

The alleged “shortage” of U.S. engineering graduates is inconsistent with reports from Duke University that 30 percent to 40 percent of students in its master’s of engineering management program accept jobs outside the profession. About one-third of engineering graduates from MIT go into careers outside their field. Job outsourcing and work visas for foreign engineers are reducing career opportunities for American engineering graduates and, also, reducing salary scales.

The number of students that go into other fields does raise questions. However, I do not think the data provides answers on its own. Given that engineering majors are the highest paid graduates it is not a case that the students options are poor. It could well be that the engineering students are very capable in many ways and find jobs that are not focused on engineering (say management, finance or …).

Engineering curriculums are demanding. The rewards for the effort are being squeezed out by jobs offshoring and work visas. If the current policy continues of substituting foreign engineers for American engineers, the profession will die in the United States.

Once again the whole area of engineering jobs and the future is complex. But once again I disagree with the thinking presented here. The competition from abroad will increase greatly going forward. That is because every country that is focused on competing with the most successful economies is focused on improving their engineering capabilities. They all want the high paying and economically valuable jobs.

See more posts on science and engineering careers.