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Boldest pictures taken during groundbreaking scientific research

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:16:20 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Wellcome Image Awards 2008

Special Award Winner: The new technique of Optical Projection Tomography enables stained whole embryos and small pieces of tissue to reveal internal structures without the need for cutting sections, as shown here on this mouse embryo

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Crystals of oxidised Vitamin C

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Colour-enhanced image of red blood cells

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Villi from the human small intestine

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Liquid crystal seen under polarised light

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Colon cancer cells growing in a dish

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Internal structure of an HIV particle

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Trachea from a silkworm

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A clump of prostate cancer cells.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A clump of breast cancer cells.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Colour-enhanced image of a single breast cancer cell

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A carpet of red blood cells clearly showing their typical biconcave disc shape

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A molecular model showing all the different molecules

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Meningitis bacteria

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

fly on sugar crystals

Tags: science

Ancient Bones of Small Humans Discovered in Palau

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:17:57 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Thousands of human bones belonging to numerous individuals have been discovered in the Pacific island nation of Palau. Some of the bones are ancient and indicate inhabitants of particularly small size, scientists announced today.

The remains are between 900 and 2,900 years old and align with Homo sapiens, according to a paper on the discovery. However, the older bones are tiny and exhibit several traits considered primitive, or archaic, for the human lineage.

"They weren't very typical, very small in fact," said Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The caves were littered with bones that had been dislodged by waves and piled like driftwood. Others had remained buried deep in the sandy floor, and more, including several skulls, were cemented to the cave walls.

Tags: discovery

35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:25:25 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: via Smashing Magazine

Clip Source: www.smashingmagazine.com

Tags: hdr

Are Women Really Better at Language?

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:20:36 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: In a classroom setting, it implies that boys need to be taught language both visually (with a textbook) and orally (through a lecture) to get a full grasp of the subject, whereas a girl may be able to pick up the concepts by either method.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Scientific literature has been littered with studies over the past 40 years documenting the superior language skills of girls, but the biological reason why has remained a mystery until now.

Researchers report in the journal Neuropsychologia that the answer lies in the way words are processed: Girls completing a linguistic abilities task showed greater activity in brain areas implicated specifically in language encoding, which decipher information abstractly. Boys, on the other hand, showed a lot of activity in regions tied to visual and auditory functions, depending on the way the words were presented during the exercise.

The finding suggests that although linguistic information goes directly to the seat of language processing in the female brain, males use sensory machinery to do a great deal of the work in untangling the data.

Tags: science, girls, boys, biology, language, research

Another Scientist in Congress!

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:13:22 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: cosmicvariance.com

Physicist Bill Foster

will be a great Representative. He is not just any old particle physicist, but quite an accomplished one, having been a co-inventor of Fermilab’s antiproton Recycler Ring. Once you’ve mastered antiprotons, the Washington political process should be child’s play. Congratulations!

The bad news is: because this was a special election to replace Hastert, they will have to do the whole thing over again in November. Here’s hoping that Foster can repeat his great showing.

Tags: science, congress

Dalai Lama speaks out

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:00:14 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.iol.co.za

Dharamshala, India - The Dalai Lama on Monday attacked China's human rights record, accusing it of "unimaginable and gross violations" in his Himalayan homeland.

"Repression continues to increase with numerous, unimaginable and gross violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom and politicisation of religious issues," he told hundreds of flag-waving supporters on the 49th anniversary of his escape to India after an abortive uprising in Lhasa.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner's angry comments came in a speech in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala and contrasted sharply with what his critics say has been a "soft" approach on China.

"For nearly six decades Tibetans have had to live in a state of constant fear under Chinese repression," he said.

"All these take place as a result of the Chinese government's lack of respect of the Tibetan people," the 72-year-old told the gathering from his palace in this seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Tags: china, dalai lama

Jet Li and Jackie Chan square off

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:59:17 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.nzherald.co.nz

Two titans of the kung fu world Jet Li and Jackie Chan square off in China's most expensive film ever made.

Jet Li, born Li Lianjie in Beijing, started practicing the martial arts, or Wushu, when he was eight. He won several national championships as a teenager before he gained instant fame for his role in the 1982 China-made movie Shaolin Temple. He is now the most paid Chinese actor in Hollywood.

Jackie Chan is arguably the most famous Chinese kung fu movie actor, famous for his comedy-style kung fu fighting. Starting a career from early 1970's, he has played roles in over 100 films.

Li said the opportunity to square off with Chan was a life-long dream come true - for both of them. "After 15 years, we finally have the chance to fight each other. We are very happy. We have some 27 or 28 years of fighting experience and it was easy for us to work together."

Tags: news, entertainment

Toddler Returns to Iraq After Life-Saving Surgery

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:57:45 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

She is an amazingly lucky girl in a country where bad luck is everywhere. But 2-year-old Amenah al-Bayati is not aware of her good fortune.

She is still ignorant of how ruthlessly death stalks her country. She was not yet born when, in 2005, American marines killed 24 civilians, including five children, after their convoy hit a roadside bomb in this farming town on the Euphrates. She was too young to understand the politics that briefly landed her father in jail, suspected of ties to the insurgency.

So she does not know how exceptional her luck was last fall when a Marine company decided to do everything it could to save her life, sending her to the United States in January for surgery to repair a congenital heart defect that was cutting off her oxygen supply.

Last Friday, Amenah returned home to Iraq. She and her mother, who had accompanied her to the United States, met her father in Baghdad

Tags: iraq, united states

Vatican lists "new sins," including pollution

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:56:08 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight.

The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils.

Asked what he believed were today's "new sins," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics.

"(Within bioethics) there are areas where we absolutely must denounce some violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments and genetic manipulation whose outcome is difficult to predict and control," he said.

The Vatican opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning.

Tags: religion, sin, christianity