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Do some stars give birth to black holes?

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:56:43 GMT

clipped by: onleyone

The biggest black holes in the universe might have grown within the bellies of giant stars, a new study suggests. If these hole-bearing "quasistars" exist, then they might be bright enough to see from across the universe.

Quasistars are one attempt to explain the existence of supermassive black holes, which astronomers have detected at the hearts of most large galaxies, and whose origin is still unknown.

Smaller black holes are easier to account for – a massive star's core can sometimes collapse into a black hole with around 10 times the mass of the Sun. But their big brothers can be a billion times as massive.

It is possible that the smaller siblings can grow that big by eating stars and gas or by colliding with each other and merging. But they would have to grow up very quickly in cosmic terms, because some supermassive black holes were already around just a few hundred million years after the big bang.

Tags: stars, black hole, astronomy, mass, sun, quasistar

Cracked.com - 5 Upcoming Comic Book Movies That Must Be Stopped - The Green Lantern

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:49:21 GMT

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Clip Source: www.cracked.com

In the hands of the right creative team it could be really, really cool.

The studio, however, had a different idea. They hired a man named Greg Berlanti to write and direct the film. Name sound familiar? No, it doesn't. Don't lie to the Internet. Berlanti thus far has directed one movie: The Broken Hearts Club, a romantic comedy about a group of young, hip friends with relationship troubles whose tagline is "The shortest distance between friends isn't always a straight line."

His previous writing credits include Dawson's Creek and Everwood, two teen dramas that we assume are notorious for their epic super-powered battle scenes. Based on these credentials, expect the new Green Lantern film to imagine up some slightly-larger-than-usual vanilla lattes and tickets to the Plain White T's concert in order to impress his high school sweetheart, Dakota, after which he will most likely imagine an awkward handjob in the back of a Toyota Celica.

Tags: comics, comic books, green lantern, cracked, movies

I missed a good joke this past Spring

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:35:53 GMT

clipped by: onleyone

Clip Source: www.mindfully.org

In 2006, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address fall on the same day.
It is an ironic juxtaposition: One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a groundhog.

Tags: joke, humor, president, groundhog day, 2006, state of the union

In Hospitals, Air Ducts with Silver-Based Coating Stay Germ-Free

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:28:20 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

DUARTE, Calif.--For more than 6,000 years, humans have used silver to fight germs, also known as microbes. Now, some hospitals are using a silver compound to reduce hospital infections.

Agion technologies is using silver, a centuries-old germ killer, in a unique compound to coat surfaces and instruments that could spread disease. When bacteria are detected, the compound releases silver ions to the surface, killing existing microbes and any new ones that come along. "We have virtually no organisms grown," Dr. Miser says.

It's potent enough to kill germs, but is safe to use on virtually any surface. Trogolo says, "It's less toxic than table salt and less irritating than talcum powder. Ultimately we hope this will result in less infections and actually better outcomes for the patients."

Tags: silver, compound, germs, infections, hospitals, bacteria, microbes, disease

Sex Determining Genes Of Infectious Fungus Resemble Human Y Chromosome

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:23:08 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Regions of the genome that determine the sexual identity of the infectious fungus Cryptococcus neoformans bear striking similarities to the human Y chromosome -- the sex chromosome associated with male characteristics -- the team found. The researchers reported their findings in the December 2004 issue of the Public Library of Science Biology (now available online).

The result suggests that, despite their differences, similar evolutionary processes shaped the chromosomal sex-determining regions in both groups, said HHMI investigator Joseph Heitman, M.D., director of Duke's Center for Microbial Pathogenesis. The fungus might therefore serve as a useful model system for the study of sex chromosome evolution and the genetic changes that can lead to infertility, he said.

Tags: fungus, sex, chromosome, model, genetic

Genetic Divergence Of Man From Chimp Has Aided Human Fertility But Could Have Made Us More Prone To

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:20:02 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

One of the more interesting observations occurred in some genes that govern cell death in sperm cells and tumor cells alike. Both types of cells use a mechanism called apoptosis -- a pathway that includes genes that program a cell's demise and death. During the production of sperm cells, for example, apoptosis kills many of the cells before they reach maturity. But mutations in these genes could inhibit apoptosis in some sperm cells, allowing more sperm to reach maturity, reproduce again and ensure that future cells will carry the gene that defuses early self-destruction.

Unfortunately, this same machinery also allows cancer cells to live on. The researchers suspect that some mutations that allow sperm cells to increase their chances of reproduction might also diminish an organism's ability to turn off tumor cell growth and fight cancer.

Tags: cancer, genes, growth, genome, tumor, sperm, cells, mutation

Paleontologists Teach Medical Students About Fossil Tumors

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:15:30 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Carnegie Museum of Natural History paleontologist Chris Beard says by studying the evolution of prehistoric animals, today's medical students can understand the origins of some common medical problems.

"This is, as far as we know, the oldest evidence of cancer in the fossil record," he tells DBIS of a softball-sized tumor in a 150-million-year-old dinosaur bone.

Paleontologists learned this is a special kind of cancer called osteosarcoma that, in humans, can develop during a teenage growth spurt.

Beard says these are examples that med students are unlikely to forget. "I think that it'll make them better physicians just in the sense of being able to diagnose a potential osteosarcoma at an early stage," he says. "They'll be more ready to look out for it, just knowing and being exposed to this dramatic example in the past." ...Mysteries from the past, unraveled by research and delicate work in the present.

Tags: fossil, tumor, cancer, dinosaur, medical

Scientists restore nerve sensation from amputated limb in chest

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:53:30 GMT

clipped by: onleyone
clipper's remarks: wow!

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

An amputee at Walter Reed Hospital, VA. Amputees could "feel" their lost arms and hands after scientists reconnected the nerves to their chests in an experiment that holds promise for providing sensation in artificial limbs

Amputees could "feel" their lost arms and hands after scientists reconnected the nerves to their chests in an experiment that holds promise for providing sensation in artificial limbs, according to a report released Monday.

In two patients who had lost arms, scientists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University rerouted to their chests the key nerves that had transferred sensation from the hand to the brain.

After several months during which the nerves reestablished themselves in the chest muscles, physical pressure, heat and cold, and electrical stimulus were applied to the areas of the nerves and the patients said they could feel their missing arms and hands.

Tags: nerve, chest, amputated, amputee, walter reed, army, feelartificial limb, prosthetic

Researchers outline structure of largest nonvirus particle ever crystallized

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:48:18 GMT

clipped by: onleyone

Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

Researchers at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have modeled the structure of the largest cellular particle ever crystallized, suggesting ways to engineer the particles for drug delivery.

Vaults are large, barrel-shaped particles found in the cytoplasm of all mammalian cells; they may function in innate immunity. As naturally occurring nanoscale capsules, vaults may be useful to engineer as therapeutic delivery vehicles. For the study, the team of researchers proposed an atomic structure for the thin outer shell of the vault.

"Our draft model is essentially an atomic-level vault with a completely unique structure, like a barrel with staves. It is unlike any other large structure found in nature," Rome said. "The outside of the vault structure is like an eggshell — a continuous protective barrier with no gaps."

Tags: viirus, particle, protein, vault, mammalian, cell, crystallized, structure

Focused Ion Beam used to create low-light "moth's eye" lens

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:34:10 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Engineers Give Industry A Moth's Eye View

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2007) — When moths fly at night, their eyes need to capture all the light available. To do this, certain species have evolved nanoscopic structures on the surface of their eyes which allow almost no light to reflect off the surface and hence to escape.

Now scientists at MicroBridge, a project at Cardiff University's Manufacturing Engineering Centre (MEC), have adopted the model to create an industrial lens for use in a low light environment.

The structures on the surface of the new lens are less than 100 nanometres in height (a nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre). They need to be smaller than the wavelength of light to avoid disrupting the light as it enters the lens.

The tiny features of the lens mould were created using the MEC's Focused Ion Beam. The beam uses highly charged atomic particles to machine materials in microscopic detail.

Tags: low, light, moth, eye, lens, ion, beam, wavelength, engineer, nanoscopic

Genetics support land-bridge theory of migration

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:16:39 GMT

clipped by: onleyone

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Gene Study Supports Single Main Migration Across Bering Strait

o genetic diversity, as well as genetic similarity to the Siberian groups, decreases the farther a native population is from the Bering Strait -- adding to existing archaeological and genetic evidence that the ancestors of native North and South Americans came by the northwest route.

o a unique genetic variant is widespread in Native Americans across both American continents -- suggesting that the first humans in the Americas came in a single migration or multiple waves from a single source, not in waves of migrations from different sources. The variant, which is not part of a gene and has no biological function, has not been found in genetic studies of people elsewhere in the world except eastern Siberia.

In addition, the study's findings hint at supporting evidence for scholars who believe early inhabitants followed the coasts to spread south into South America, rather than moving in waves across the interior.

Tags: gene, genetic, bering, beringia, land bridge, siberian, evidence, native american

Overfished bigeye tuna stocks in danger of collapse

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:08:20 GMT

clipped by: onleyone
clipper's remarks: if the tuna goes, everybody suffers

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Science News

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Up to 60% of the bigeye tuna catch in the Eastern Pacific are small, juvenile fish, and the proportion of these is rising, says a new report from WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife monitoring network.

The report reveals that bigeye tuna stocks in the Eastern Pacific, Indian, Atlantic and Western and Central Pacific Oceans are all suffering from excessive fishing and the Eastern Pacific stock is overfished.

“Science demands a sharp reduction in the catch of bigeye tuna, but over the past decade this advice has been ignored,” says Dr Simon Cripps, Director of WWF’s Global Marine Programme.

The collapse of bigeye tuna stocks will have a profound economic impact on fishing fleets, associated processing and trading industries and on a number of island states who rely on income from fishing fleet fees.

Tags: collapse, bigeye tuna, tuna, pacific, catch, stock, fishing, fish, fleet

ESA Mars vehicle hits 5k orbits

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:12:06 GMT

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Clip Source: www.upi.com

Mars Express records 5,000 orbits

DARMSTADT, Germany, Nov. 26 (UPI) --

The European Space Agency said its Mars Express spacecraft has completed 5,000 orbits of the Red Planet since arriving there on Dec. 25, 2003.

The orbiter has revolutionized knowledge of Mars, probing every facet of the planet in unprecedented detail, the ESA said. Some of the most visually astonishing results have been returned by the craft's High-Resolution Stereo Camera, which has produced 3D color images of Mars' surface, the ESA said.

Other instruments have been examining different aspects of the planet's environment.

With the mission already extended until at least 2009 and the possibility of further extensions into the next decade, Mars Express controllers at the ESA's Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, are fine-tuning the spacecraft's orbit.

Tags: esa, europe, space, 5000, orbit, orbiter, mars, express, planet, spacecraft

Lincoln may have had rare genetic condition

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:07:55 GMT

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Clip Source: www.upi.com

A California doctor who studies rare ailments said Abraham Lincoln was probably dying of cancer from a rare genetic syndrome at the time he was assassinated.

Cardiologist John G. Sotos of Palo Alto, Calif., said he believed the U.S. Civil War-era president had a genetic abnormality called MEN 2B that could be easily proved through DNA testing, The Washington Post reported Monday.

MEN 2B is short for "multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B," a subtype of a genetic disease whose sufferers invariably develop cancer in a hormone-producing organ. Nearly every victim of MEN 2B gets cancer of the thyroid gland and about half also get cancer of the adrenal gland.

Tags: disease, genetic, gene, abraham lincoln, syndrome, doctor, adrenal, rare, cancer

Nanotech safety worries scientists

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:03:42 GMT

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Clip Source: www.upi.com

A U.S. survey suggested that human health and environmental impacts of nanotechnology are a bigger worry for scientists than for the public.

Conducted by Professor Dietram Scheufele of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Elizabeth Corley of Arizona State University, the telephone survey of U.S. households and a sampling of 363 leading U.S. nanotechnology scientists and engineers revealed those with the most insight into nanotechnology are unsure what health and environmental problems might be posed by the technology.

"Scientists aren't saying there are problems," said Scheufele. "They're saying, 'We don't know.'"

He said the findings are in contrast to past controversies involving new technologies, such as nuclear power and genetically modified foods, which scientists perceived as having lower risks than did the public.

Tags: nanotech, nanotechnology, technology, saftey, environment, scientist, public