Science blog
Science blog From What is this
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- Physicists Tackle Knotty Puzzle
Electrical cables, garden hoses and strands of holiday lights seem to get themselves hopelessly tangled with no help at all. Now research initiated by an undergraduate student at the University of California, San Diego has resulted in the first model of how knots form. The study, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigated the likelihood of knot formation and the types of knots formed in a tumbled string. The scientists say they were interested in the problem because it has a number of applications, including to the biophysics research questions their group commonly studies........
Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:02:43 GMT - Global Warming, Water Crisis: Reality Now
Kashmir's rivers and streams have decreased by two-thirds, and many glaciers have completely disappeared over the last four decades. Average temperatures have risen between 2.6 and 4.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last two decades, depending on where you are - putting the state's water supply, and people, in extreme danger of .........
Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:02:43 GMT - Pyrostegia venusta
Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. – .........
Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:54:29 GMT - Biodegradable polymers to deliver genes
In work that could lead to safe and effective techniques for gene treatment, MIT scientists have found a way to fine-tune the ability of biodegradable polymers to deliver genes. Gene treatment, which involves inserting new genes into patients' cells to fight diseases like cancer, holds great promise but has yet to realize its full potential, in part because of safety concerns over using viruses to carry the genes........
Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:34:17 GMT - Multi-million research project on rice epigenetics
Using a novel "deep sequencing" technology that can in one fell swoop decode 50 million sequences representing well over a billion bases of DNA, a research team led by University of Delaware researchers is working to unmask where, why and how certain genes are switched on or off in rice--a crop vital to the world's food supply........
Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:34:17 GMT - Anacardium occidentale
Thanks to “Shyzaboy@UBC BG Forums” of Troutville, Virginia for today's photograph from Panama. Images from the tropics are very .........
Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:34:17 GMT - Gelatin from corn, a first
Boston 8/22/07:: Scientists meeting in Boston last week announced an advance toward turning corn plants into natural factories producing gelatin.
Currently gelatin for food and used by the pharmaceutical industry for manufacturing capsules is derived almost exclusively from animal products. The advance, described Wednesday at the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, may lead to a safe, inexpensive source of this protein.
About 55,000 tons of animal-sourced gelatin are used each year to produce capsules and tablets for medicinal purposes. Plant-derived .........
Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:42:32 GMT - Brachycereus nesioticus
Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. – .........
Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:24:04 GMT - Humans mispredict their emotions after decision making
Behavioral research over the past 15 years has confirmed what anyone who has purchased a house or dumped a significant other could tell you: When people make decisions, they anticipate that they may regret their choices. It is important that we maintain this ability, because as the aforementioned house-buyers and spouse-dumpers know, regret can be a terrible feeling........
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:09:41 GMT - A New Wrinkle in Thin Film Science
A remarkably simple experiment devised by researchers yields important information about the mechanical properties of thin films--nanoscopically thin layers of material that are deposited onto a metal, ceramic or semiconductor base. The research results, funded by the National Science Foundation and performed at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, appears in the August 3, 2007, issue of Science........
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:09:41 GMT - Animated beer smooth to pour
CSIRO fluids researcher Dr Mahesh Prakash says the physics of bubble creation in carbonated drinks like beer is complex. "As you pour beer into a glass, you see bubbles appearing on what are called nucleation sites, where the glass isn't quite smooth," Dr Prakash says. "The bubbles expand to a certain size then rise up in streams to the surface, where they bump into each other and form a raft of foam that floats on the top"........
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:09:41 GMT - Sensors Help Africa Tackle Water Shortage
Zambian water authorities are integrating information based on satellite imagery to alleviate water shortages. With inadequate information causing many water-related problems, an ESA project has generated a variety of environmental maps to provide local policy makers with the necessary tools for effective water resource management........
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:09:41 GMT - Nano-layer of Ruthenium Stabilizes Magnetic Sensors
A layer of ruthenium just a few atoms thick can be used to fine-tune the sensitivity and enhance the reliability of magnetic sensors, tests at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) show.* The nonmagnetic metal acts as a buffer between active layers of sensor materials, offering a simple means of customizing field instruments such as compasses, and stabilizing the magnetization in a given direction in devices such as computer hard-disk readers........
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:09:41 GMT - Wider buffers are better
Excess nitrogen caused by fertilizers, animal waste, leaf litter, sewer lines, and highways is responsible for contaminating groundwater. It can also cause human health risks when found in drinking water and oxygen depleted water bodies endangering animals that drink from them. Establishing Riparian buffers is considered a best management practice (BMP) by State and Federal resource agencies for maintaining water quality, and they may be particularly critical in controlling amounts of human produced nitrogen........
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:09:41 GMT - Argemone munita subsp. rotundata
Argemone munita, or prickly poppy, is divided into four subspecies. Assuming I'm correct in my identification to species (which I may not be), it was trivial to identify this to subspecies rotundata – it is the only subspecies which occurs in Nevada, where this photograph was .........
Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:09:41 GMT
