Clipmarks | debbyski's 'science' clips

Neuroscience: Rewiring the brain after stroke

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:57:43 GMT

clipped by: kmcolo

The brain can recover so well from a stroke that initially paralysed limbs can be moved again. Scientists have discovered how this happens at the level of individual neurons.

Timothy Murphy and Ian Winship of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver induced stroke in adult mice and used an in vivo imaging technique called two-photon microscopy to monitor the activity of individual neurons close to the site of damage.

In the first month — when paralysis is usually at its worst — they found that some neurons ditched their speciality for one particular limb and began processing information from multiple limbs. During the following month, as the affected brain region reorganized itself more permanently, those neurons re-specialized to a new single limb.

Tags: brain, health, stroke, science, neuroscience

Adopt A Scientist Program

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:39:29 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: If you can afford to be involved , it could be fun, oh, and educational.

Clip Source: www.seti.org

Anyone can adopt a SETI Institute scientist and become part of the adventure!

Each of our scientists offers a compelling journey of discovery. When you adopt a scientist, you help lead the way towards answering profound questions regarding our place in the universe.

The SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe and Center for SETI Research are home to more than 90 scientists. Their work covers a broad spectrum of research dedicated to understanding the origins of life and the extent to which life may be present beyond Earth. Traditionally, each scientist, or principal investigator (PI), has had many partners who sponsor his/her work including NASA, the National Science Foundation, and major universities. However, current trends in government funding are making it increasingly difficult for astrobiologists to depend on those sources of support.

Tags: science, is, expensive

Highwaterline: "This is your city on climate change"

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:42:20 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: A young artist "draws" a new coastline, reflecting a ten-foot rise in sea level, on the surfaces of New York City as a way of raising awareness and engagement about the issues of climate change.

Clip Source: www.highwaterline.org

High Water Line is a public artwork on the New York city waterfront designed to create an immediate visual and local understanding of the affects of climate change. I will be marking the 10-feet above sea level line by drawing a blue chalk line and installing illuminated beacons in parks. This line marks the extent of increased flooding brought on by stronger and more frequent storms as a result of climate change.

During the summer of 2007, I will be walking, chalking and marking almost 70 miles of coastline. As I am out in the public creating the work, I will have a chance to engage in conversations about climate change and its potential impacts.

Through awareness and action, we can change the future.

This project is being produced in partnership with
The Canary Project.

Clip Source: www.highwaterline.org

Tags: climate_change, global_warming, science, art, environment, public_art, nyc, cool

The Science Of The Orgasm

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:47:31 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "But today, a few scientists are making real progress -- in part because they're changing their focus. To uncover the orgasm's secrets, researchers are looking beyond the clitoris, vagina, penis and prostate, to the place behind the scenes where the true magic happens. They're examining the central nervous system: the network of electrical impulses that zip to and fro through the brain and spinal cord."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

AS they seek to document and demystify one of life's great thrills, scientists have run across some real head-scratchers.

How, for example, can they explain the fact that some men and women who are paralyzed and numb below the waist are able to have orgasms?

How to explain the "orgasmic auras" that can descend at the onset of epileptic seizures -- sensations so pleasurable they prompt some patients to refuse antiseizure medication?

And how on Earth to explain the case of the amputee who felt his orgasms centered in that missing foot?

No one -- no sexologist, no neuroscientist -- really knows. For a subject with so many armchair experts, the human orgasm is remarkably mysterious.

Tags: i, luv, science

The Challenge Of Finding Peace

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:09:24 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Peace.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The challenge of finding peace in Lourdes

Lourdes is a massive Roman Catholic pilgrimage site

So, when I arrived at my very tired-looking hotel, which appeared to be perfumed by the socks of last season's pilgrims and saw its lobby, packed full of gaudy Virgin Mary memorabilia, you will forgive me when the words "Good God!" escaped my lips, and not in any laudatory way.

Surely the "magic of Lourdes"

had to be more than this.

"It is a constant balancing act between faith and science for me," he said.

I met a young Austrian woman who told me she was seriously ill.

"I have come to ask Him to look after me,"

"I need to get better. I need the miracle."

I told one of the visiting British priests

how uncomfortable I felt witnessing such scenes of despair.

Father Bob

threw back his head and laughed.

Don't you worry

Peggy's not come for a miracle. She has just come to find peace."

I sat quietly for a while before the shrine

Before I left I lit a candle for the sick Austrian woman.

You just never know.

Tags: peace, faith, religion, science

Moon is younger and more Earth-like than thought

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:29:42 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: space.newscientist.com

It's a good thing the Moon doesn't have any feelings to hurt. New research suggests it is actually 30 million years younger than anyone had thought, and that it is merely a 'chip off the old block' of Earth rather than being made up of the remnants of a Mars-sized body that slammed into Earth billions of years ago.

That violent impact was thought to have taken place 30 million years after the solar system began to condense from a disc of gas and dust 4.567 billion years ago. The event was thought to have melted the Earth, generating a magma ocean that covered the planet and allowed iron and other metals to sink to its centre, forming a core.

At the same time, the Moon was thought to have coalesced from a disc of molten debris blasted off the Earth and the Mars-sized interloper.

But new research led by Mathieu Touboul of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich suggests that picture is not so simple.

Tags: moon, earth, space, science

Why Men Like Lesbians

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:45:31 GMT

clipped by: kwonsu

Clip Source: www.safalra.com

early humans lived in moderately-sized family groups

dominated by an alpha-male,

An alpha-male rises to that position by deposing the previous alpha-male, and maintains it through the brutal oppression of any challengers. As a result, the alpha-male is the most powerful individual in the group, and can mate with any female he chooses, regardless of her consent.

It is in a female's interest to mate with the alpha-male

Fortunately for the lower-ranking males, it is also in a female's interest to mate with them as well, as this ensures a wider genetic range in her offspring. As a result, females and lower-ranking males will often mate covertly.

It is not in the interest of the alpha-male to mate with females who have already been fertilised by other males.

Homosexual females will not be interested in the males,

The alpha-male can force himself upon these females, leading to his female offspring being more likely to be homosexual.

Tags: sex, lesbian, evolution, homosexuals, behavior, life, science

Nun brains may help unlock secrets of Alzheimer's

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:45:47 GMT

clipped by: gingembre
clipper's remarks: Nun Study -- yielding valuable research into aging. And it's okay with the Pope!

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Two decades ago, Sister Treanor and 677 other members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame granted a young researcher's request to test them each year

The mission: Tracking the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other age-related brain disorders

The 61 surviving nuns recently completed their last round of intellectual and physical tests for the Nun Study, one of the world's most comprehensive neurological research projects

One final sacrifice remains: When they die, their brains will be taken for further study, joining a collection of hundreds of other brains donated by the the nuns who died before them

Snowdon's work already has produced interesting results, including a finding that people who challenge themselves intellectually can apparently delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms

About half the nuns in the study developed Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia before they died, about similar to the general population

It's such a cool study

Tags: aging, alzheimer's, brain, research, medicine, science, neuroscience, nuns, university of kentucky

Unified theory of the crank

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:13:57 GMT

clipped by: laceym
clipper's remarks:

... It explains the tendency of cranks not to care if other cranks (and denialists in general for that matter) have variations on their own crazy ideas, just as long as the other cranks are opposing the same perceived incorrect truth. Cranks and denialists aren't honest brokers in a debate, they stand outside of it and just shovel horse manure into it to try to sow confusion and doubt about real science. They don't care if some other crank or denialist comes along and challenges the prevailing theory by tossing cow manure, as long as what they're shoveling stinks.

This clip makes me think of willhelm

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

A crank is defined as a man who cannot be turned.
- Nature, 8 Nov 1906

Our definition of a crank, loosely, is a person who has unreasonable ideas about established science or facts that will not relent in defending their own, often laughable, version of the truth. Central to the crank is the "overvalued idea". That is some idea they've incorporated into their world view that they will not relinquish for any reason. Common overvalued ideas that are a source of crankery range from bigotry, antisemitism(holocaust deniers), biblical literalism (creationists - especially YEC's), egotism (as it relates to the complete unwillingness to ever be proven wrong) or an indiscriminant obsession with possessing "controversial" or iconoclastic ideas. Some people just love believing in things that no one in their right mind does, out of some obscure idea that it makes them seem smart or different.

Tags: science, education, politics, religion, denialism, crank

"Lesbian" Worms

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:25:09 GMT

clipped by: Pooge

Clip Source: blogs.nature.com

Scientists have created ‘lesbian worms’ in a new development that some are suggesting could shed light on the nature vs nurture debate over sexuality

“The conclusion is that sexual attraction is wired into brain circuits common to both sexes of worms, and is not caused solely by extra nerve cells added to the male or female brain,” says biologist Erik Jorgensen

The ‘lesbian worms’ line is a bit of red herring. There aren’t true females in the C. elegans nematodes used, only hermaphrodites and (rare) true males. “A hermaphrodite makes both eggs and sperm,” says Jorgensen.

They also took hermaphrodite worms and turned on the genes that determine maleness, these then became the famous ‘lesbian worms’, chasing after other hermaphrodites.

Jorgensen calls hermaphrodites “females” because they reproduce independently.

Tags: science, worms, sexuality, off-beat news

Sealing Your Last Deal

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:29:47 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

You can't cheat death. ¶ So you might as well face it as a smart shopper.

The bedrock federal consumer law on death matters went into effect in 1984. It's known throughout the industry as the "Funeral Rule."

The law has strong provisions that govern how funeral providers have to deal with consumers:

* If you call a funeral home and ask about prices, the staff has to give them to you, even if you don't disclose your name or telephone number.

* If you visit a funeral home and ask about prices, they must give you a detailed, printed document known as the "general price list." And you can take it home.

* You have the right to buy some items, such as caskets, from outside providers. The funeral home can't add a corkage-type fee when you BYOB (bring your own box).

* Caskets are not required for cremations. A provider who offers cremations must make alternative boxes available.

Tags: i'm, leaving, me, to, medial, science

Free Will: Now you have it . . .

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:56:04 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

I was a free man until they brought the dessert menu around. There was one of those molten chocolate cakes, and I was suddenly being dragged into a vortex, swirling helplessly toward caloric doom, sucked toward the edge of a black (chocolate) hole. Visions of my father’s heart attack danced before my glazed eyes. My wife, Nancy, had a resigned look on her face.

Having just lived through another New Year’s Eve, many of you have just resolved to be better, wiser, stronger and richer in the coming months and years. After all, we’re free humans, not slaves, robots or animals doomed to repeat the same boring mistakes over and over again. As William James wrote in 1890, the whole “sting and excitement” of life comes from “our sense that in it things are really being decided from one moment to another, and that it is not the dull rattling off of a chain that was forged innumerable ages ago.” Get over it, Dr. James. Go get yourself fitted for a new chain-mail vest. A bevy of experiments in recent years suggest that the conscious mind is like a monkey riding a tiger of subconscious decisions and actions in progress, frantically making up stories about being in control.

As a result, physicists, neuroscientists and computer scientists have joined the heirs of Plato and Aristotle in arguing about what free will is, whether we have it, and if not, why we ever thought we did in the first place.

How comforted or depressed this makes you might depend on what you mean by free will. The traditional definition is called “libertarian” or “deep” free will. It holds that humans are free moral agents whose actions are not predetermined. This school of thought says in effect that the whole chain of cause and effect in the history of the universe stops dead in its tracks as you ponder the dessert menu.

Tags: science, human, choices

X-ray to unravel Dead Sea Scrolls

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 04:58:52 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: newsvote.bbc.co.uk

Super-powerful X-rays could peer beneath the skin of manuscripts
Animation: How synchrotron light unravels the text

The hidden content in ancient works could be illuminated by a light source 10 billion times brighter than the Sun.

The technique employs Britain's new facility, the Diamond synchrotron, and could be used on works such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or musical scores by Bach.

Intense light beams will enable scientists to uncover the text in scrolls and books without having to open - and potentially damage - them.

The research was presented at the British Association science festival.

Tags: religion, science, discovery, scriptures

New Math Theory Explains Toddler's "Word Spurt"

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:36:01 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: A bell-shaped word distribution and a steady child learning rate turn out to be enough to bring about the extraordinary explosion seen in children's vocabularies around this age.

McMurray notes that languages have only a small number of very easy-to-learn words and many more intermediate words. So when a baby has been exposed to enough language to learn the easy words, she will acquire just a few words. As she is exposed to more language, she begins to learn the medium words. And because there are a lot of medium words, she is likely to pick up a lot of words at this stage. This, McMurray says, is the vocabulary explosion.

Clip Source: www.sciencenews.org

When children first begin to talk, they learn perhaps a word or two a week. Then suddenly, at around 14 to 18 months, they seem to soak up new words like a sponge, learning as many as ten a day.

Child psychologists have long been puzzled by this dramatic acceleration, and they have developed a variety of theories to explain it. Some researchers have argued that as the brain develops, it reorganizes to become much more efficient at storing new words. Others have argued that babies are able to use their knowledge of a few words to deduce the meanings of other words.

Bob McMurray, a child psychologist at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, now says that a bit of mathematics is enough to explain the phenomenon. Children's word absorption, he says, is the logical consequence of two basic principles: (1.) children work on learning many words at the same time, and (2.) some words are more difficult to learn than others.

Tags: toddler, children, child, word, words, vocabulary, learning, psychology, math, science

Parallel Universes: They Do Exist

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:27:30 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Revisiting & re-clipping some of my old stuff.

Clip Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Parallel Universes

Everything you're about to read here seems impossible and insane, beyond science fiction. Yet it's all true.

Scientists now believe there may really be a parallel universe - in fact, there may be an infinite number of parallel universes, and we just happen to live in one of them. These other universes contain space, time and strange forms of exotic matter. Some of them may even contain you, in a slightly different form. Astonishingly, scientists believe that these parallel universes exist less than one millimetre away from us. In fact, our gravity is just a weak signal leaking out of another universe into ours.

For years parallel universes were a staple of the Twilight Zone. Science fiction writers loved to speculate on the possible other universes which might exist.

But now it seems the speculation wasn't absurd enough. Parallel universes really do exist and they are much stranger than even the science fiction writers dared to imagine.

Tags: phsics, parallel universes, universe, science