Have an apple little girl?
Research from the University of Auckland found the DNA code that makes the red pigment in apple flesh. The pigments that are made by most plants are called anthocyanins, and they include making an array of colours from red to purple to blue. Anthocyanins are also powerful antioxidants. This means that as we exploit the pigments to make apples prettier, we are also improving their nutrition! Scientists are implanting the pigment into the flesh and skin if the apples.
Hole in the Ozone is no laughing matter
Nitrous oxide is the most dangerous greenhouse gas to our ozone says New Zealand research published in August in Science magazine. This is quite a breakthrough considering nitrous oxide is not covered by the Montreal Protocol, which is an international protocol designed to cut the use of ozone-depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Nitrous oxide is made from agriculture, and the authors of the research suggest that restricting N2O emissions can increase recovery of the Earth’s ozone layer, and assist with combating climate change. The authors calculated that if N2O levels continue to increase at current rates, by 2050 they would cause more than 30 per cent of the ozone depletion that was caused by CFCs at their peak in 1987 due to CFCs.
Things are looking sunnier
A team of Australian and US researchers have set a new record for solar cell efficiency. Their multi-cell array were 43% efficient which beats the previous world record by whopping 0.3%. University of New South Wales (UNSW) Professor Martin Green, led the Aussie contribution to the record breaking design. Solar cells only convert a fraction of the energy from sunlight into electricity because the particles in sunlight have different energy, and some of these energies aren’t enough to free up electrons in the solar cells and create energy. This cell combines five different cells that are matched to different energies in the light. "Each cell has the maximum efficiency for one particular colour," says Green. Using filters, the solar cell splits the incoming light into its different wavelength bands and sends it to the different cells.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Episode S2E10: Space
This week on the Petri Dish, we're heading for the stars and the land of science fiction. We've got:
Science News
Remember This Fact?: Gravity
Science Controversy: The Asian Space Race
Science Interview: Dr. Lawrence Krauss, astrophysicist and author, who is also helping us out with our Film of the Week, Star Trek.
Enjoy!
Science News
Remember This Fact?: Gravity
Science Controversy: The Asian Space Race
Science Interview: Dr. Lawrence Krauss, astrophysicist and author, who is also helping us out with our Film of the Week, Star Trek.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Science News 25/8/09
Getting out of the cold
A new study from the University of Newcastle has revealed that ice ages may have ended because warmer summers in the northern and southern hemispheres. We’ve thought for a while that wobbles in the Earth's orbit push the ice-age cycle but we were in the cold trying to explain why. When the Earth tilts in higher angles it increases the amount of solar energy reaching the hemisphere's poles,which is where the glacial ice sheets are positioned. This makes summers warmer in both hemispheres and causes the ice sheets to collapse. While the theory was around for a while it was never proven.The recent research looked at the ancient chemicals changes in tiny amounts of uranium found in stalagmites in an Italian cave to create a timescale of when the ice sheets collapsed, ending the second last ice age. The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Science.
The pterodactyl has landed
Research from the University of California published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, describes in unprecedented detail how the pterodactyl landed. From fossilised footprints found at the Late Jurassic site in France palaeontologists can see that the pterodactyl first touched the ground with both clawed hind feet. The claws were then dragged along the ground as the animal landed, and the pterodactyl became slightly airborne before touching the ground again with its hind feet. The bird then put its winged forelimbs on the ground, took a short step with its back legs, changed its forelimbs and began to walk normally. Pretty amazing that we know all this detail when you remember that the animal took to the Late Jurassic skies - 161 to 145 million years ago.
T-rex gets his lips done
A new study of the remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex that roamed Earth 68 million years ago has confirmed that proteins from blood and bone, tendons, or cartilage were in fact the T. Rex’s. The findings will be published in the Sept. issue of the Journal of Proteome Research. A first analysis of the fossil T.rex said that they proteins, but other studies came along and poo-pooed the results. The new study confirms the results and reports the finding of T- rex collagen.
Dinosaurs go laser
Researchers from the University of Manchester have reconstructed the bodies of five dinosaurs, including two T. rex and analysed them using laser technology. One of the dinosaurs they constructed, the Acrocanthosaurus atokensis was a large predatory dinosaur that looked like T. rex but it had large spines on its back and roamed the earth earlier than its famous cousin. The team used laser scanning technology to devise 3D models of the prehistoric creatures. Their program allows the scientists to calculate how fat dinosaurs were, and more specifically the weight of their specific body segments. This will be used to analyze body movements of the dinosaurs and even track the evolution of their different walking styles.
A new study from the University of Newcastle has revealed that ice ages may have ended because warmer summers in the northern and southern hemispheres. We’ve thought for a while that wobbles in the Earth's orbit push the ice-age cycle but we were in the cold trying to explain why. When the Earth tilts in higher angles it increases the amount of solar energy reaching the hemisphere's poles,which is where the glacial ice sheets are positioned. This makes summers warmer in both hemispheres and causes the ice sheets to collapse. While the theory was around for a while it was never proven.The recent research looked at the ancient chemicals changes in tiny amounts of uranium found in stalagmites in an Italian cave to create a timescale of when the ice sheets collapsed, ending the second last ice age. The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Science.
The pterodactyl has landed
Research from the University of California published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, describes in unprecedented detail how the pterodactyl landed. From fossilised footprints found at the Late Jurassic site in France palaeontologists can see that the pterodactyl first touched the ground with both clawed hind feet. The claws were then dragged along the ground as the animal landed, and the pterodactyl became slightly airborne before touching the ground again with its hind feet. The bird then put its winged forelimbs on the ground, took a short step with its back legs, changed its forelimbs and began to walk normally. Pretty amazing that we know all this detail when you remember that the animal took to the Late Jurassic skies - 161 to 145 million years ago.
T-rex gets his lips done
A new study of the remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex that roamed Earth 68 million years ago has confirmed that proteins from blood and bone, tendons, or cartilage were in fact the T. Rex’s. The findings will be published in the Sept. issue of the Journal of Proteome Research. A first analysis of the fossil T.rex said that they proteins, but other studies came along and poo-pooed the results. The new study confirms the results and reports the finding of T- rex collagen.
Dinosaurs go laser
Researchers from the University of Manchester have reconstructed the bodies of five dinosaurs, including two T. rex and analysed them using laser technology. One of the dinosaurs they constructed, the Acrocanthosaurus atokensis was a large predatory dinosaur that looked like T. rex but it had large spines on its back and roamed the earth earlier than its famous cousin. The team used laser scanning technology to devise 3D models of the prehistoric creatures. Their program allows the scientists to calculate how fat dinosaurs were, and more specifically the weight of their specific body segments. This will be used to analyze body movements of the dinosaurs and even track the evolution of their different walking styles.
Episode S2E9: Paleontology
This week on the Petri Dish, we're digging up the ancient past:
Science News
Science Interview: Dr. Scott Sampson, paleontologist
Science Controversy: Primordial soup
Film of the Week: Frankenstein
Science News
Science Interview: Dr. Scott Sampson, paleontologist
Science Controversy: Primordial soup
Film of the Week: Frankenstein
Science News 17/8/09
Shy and dry
In the past research has found a strong association with alcohol problems and socially anxious people. People who suffer from social phobia are 2-3 times more likely to develop problems with alcohol abuse and/or alcohol dependence. Researchers from Macquarie University have developed a new treatment for adults that addresses both problems simultaneously. Dr Lexine Stapinski who is coordinating the new program, says many people believe that alcohol relaxes them but actually excessive drinking increases agitation and anxiety. This is because it can lead to a reliance on alcohol. The program developed by researchers at Macquarie offers participants 10 individual cognitive behavioural therapy sessions at no cost. 10.6 per cent of Australians have problems with social phobia while 18.9 per cent of the population drink alcohol at harmful levels, according to the most recent ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Alcohol weakens muscles
A study from Massey University found that if you use your muscles strenuously and then go for a bit of drink your muscles won’t repair themselves very well. The message to the research is simple: “If you’re there to perform, you shouldn’t be drinking alcohol.” Mr Barnes got recreational sportsmen and tested their muscle performance after a strenuous resistance training session, which was followed by either a moderate amount of alcohol in juice or the same energy content in juice alone. 36-hours and 60 hours later the athletes’ performance was measured. Muscles were nearly twice as weak after the alcohol, shows that if you drink even moderate levels of alcohol after you use your muscles strenuously you are impairing your ability to recover.
Early binging leads to early babies
Research from WA shows that pregnant women who drink more than one to two standard drinks per occasion and more than six standard drinks per week increase their risk of having a premature baby, even if they stop drinking before the second trimester. It’s thought that stopping alcohol consumption before the second trimester may trigger an inflammatory response leading to preterm birth. Not surprisingly the incidence of preterm birth was highest among women who binged (9.5 per cent) or drank heavily. But even if the mother stopped drinking before the second trimester (13.6 per cent) babies were born preterm, compared women who did not drink during pregnancy, here less than 6 per cent had preterm births. A Western Australian study took a random sample of 4719 women who gave birth in WA between 1995 and 1997. Women were asked how often they drank alcohol, and the amount of alcohol they consumed in each occasion and the types of alcohol they drank.
The study was published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in January.
In the past research has found a strong association with alcohol problems and socially anxious people. People who suffer from social phobia are 2-3 times more likely to develop problems with alcohol abuse and/or alcohol dependence. Researchers from Macquarie University have developed a new treatment for adults that addresses both problems simultaneously. Dr Lexine Stapinski who is coordinating the new program, says many people believe that alcohol relaxes them but actually excessive drinking increases agitation and anxiety. This is because it can lead to a reliance on alcohol. The program developed by researchers at Macquarie offers participants 10 individual cognitive behavioural therapy sessions at no cost. 10.6 per cent of Australians have problems with social phobia while 18.9 per cent of the population drink alcohol at harmful levels, according to the most recent ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Alcohol weakens muscles
A study from Massey University found that if you use your muscles strenuously and then go for a bit of drink your muscles won’t repair themselves very well. The message to the research is simple: “If you’re there to perform, you shouldn’t be drinking alcohol.” Mr Barnes got recreational sportsmen and tested their muscle performance after a strenuous resistance training session, which was followed by either a moderate amount of alcohol in juice or the same energy content in juice alone. 36-hours and 60 hours later the athletes’ performance was measured. Muscles were nearly twice as weak after the alcohol, shows that if you drink even moderate levels of alcohol after you use your muscles strenuously you are impairing your ability to recover.
Early binging leads to early babies
Research from WA shows that pregnant women who drink more than one to two standard drinks per occasion and more than six standard drinks per week increase their risk of having a premature baby, even if they stop drinking before the second trimester. It’s thought that stopping alcohol consumption before the second trimester may trigger an inflammatory response leading to preterm birth. Not surprisingly the incidence of preterm birth was highest among women who binged (9.5 per cent) or drank heavily. But even if the mother stopped drinking before the second trimester (13.6 per cent) babies were born preterm, compared women who did not drink during pregnancy, here less than 6 per cent had preterm births. A Western Australian study took a random sample of 4719 women who gave birth in WA between 1995 and 1997. Women were asked how often they drank alcohol, and the amount of alcohol they consumed in each occasion and the types of alcohol they drank.
The study was published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in January.
Episode S2E8: Alcohol
This week on the Petri Dish, we're talking about alcohol:
Science News
Remember This Fact?: Whati s alcohol and how do we get drunk?
Science Myth: Drunken rages
Science Interview: Alcohol and depression
Film of the Week: The Hangover
Science News
Remember This Fact?: Whati s alcohol and how do we get drunk?
Science Myth: Drunken rages
Science Interview: Alcohol and depression
Film of the Week: The Hangover
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Science News 11/8/09
Magnetic dreaming
A study published this year found a connection between bizarre dreams, and the Earth's magnetic field. The Perth researcher Darren Lipnicki, recorded his dreams over eight years, and correlated them to extremes in local geomagnetic activity. He recorded 2387 written accounts during his teenage years. He scored is dreams on a bizarreness scale of 1 -5. Dreams that scored a three could happen, but were unlikely. For example: "A friend is in the backyard of my house, building a wooden platform atop of 7-foot high stilts." While 5 on the scale were dreams that Lipnicki had little or no connection with reality: "I was stranded on a foreign coastline with a monkey that spoke English and a woman that suddenly became small, almost doll-sized. Then I was at home." Why would these extremes influence our dreams? According to past studies low geomagnetic activity increases the production of the melatonin, which is a hormone that helps set the body's circadian clock.
You have a snoring face
Earlier this year researchers from the University of Sydney created a new method to analyse digital photographs of faces to determine an individual's risk of developing Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). Four per cent of Australian middle-aged men and two per cent of middle-aged women suffer from OSA syndrome. The disease is caused by the upper airways closing during periods of interrupted sleep. Previous methods of diagnosis were costly and involved a specialist.
Dreaming the world in black and white
Studies from 1915 to the 1950s suggested that the vast majority of dreams are in black and white. But from the 60s and beyond results suggested that up to 83% of dreams contain some colour. Not so coincidentally in this period there was a from black-and-white film and TV and widespread Technicolor. Eva Murzyn from the University of Dundee, UK found that only 4.4% of the under-25s' dreams were black and white, and the over-55s who'd had access to colour TV and film during their childhood dreamed in monochrome just 7.3% of the time. This is compared to around 25% of the over-55s who had only had access to black-and-white media in their child hood who reported dreaming in black and white. According to Murzyn, eventhough the children would only have spent a few hours a day watching TV or films, because their attention and emotional engagement was increased while they were watching the footage, it would have had a bigger impact on their development.
A study published this year found a connection between bizarre dreams, and the Earth's magnetic field. The Perth researcher Darren Lipnicki, recorded his dreams over eight years, and correlated them to extremes in local geomagnetic activity. He recorded 2387 written accounts during his teenage years. He scored is dreams on a bizarreness scale of 1 -5. Dreams that scored a three could happen, but were unlikely. For example: "A friend is in the backyard of my house, building a wooden platform atop of 7-foot high stilts." While 5 on the scale were dreams that Lipnicki had little or no connection with reality: "I was stranded on a foreign coastline with a monkey that spoke English and a woman that suddenly became small, almost doll-sized. Then I was at home." Why would these extremes influence our dreams? According to past studies low geomagnetic activity increases the production of the melatonin, which is a hormone that helps set the body's circadian clock.
You have a snoring face
Earlier this year researchers from the University of Sydney created a new method to analyse digital photographs of faces to determine an individual's risk of developing Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). Four per cent of Australian middle-aged men and two per cent of middle-aged women suffer from OSA syndrome. The disease is caused by the upper airways closing during periods of interrupted sleep. Previous methods of diagnosis were costly and involved a specialist.
Dreaming the world in black and white
Studies from 1915 to the 1950s suggested that the vast majority of dreams are in black and white. But from the 60s and beyond results suggested that up to 83% of dreams contain some colour. Not so coincidentally in this period there was a from black-and-white film and TV and widespread Technicolor. Eva Murzyn from the University of Dundee, UK found that only 4.4% of the under-25s' dreams were black and white, and the over-55s who'd had access to colour TV and film during their childhood dreamed in monochrome just 7.3% of the time. This is compared to around 25% of the over-55s who had only had access to black-and-white media in their child hood who reported dreaming in black and white. According to Murzyn, eventhough the children would only have spent a few hours a day watching TV or films, because their attention and emotional engagement was increased while they were watching the footage, it would have had a bigger impact on their development.
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