This week on the Petri Dish:
Science News
Remember This Fact?: What is diabetes?
Science Myth: Sugar makes children hyper
Science Controversy: Sugarcane farming is bad for the environment
Film of the Week: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Science News 28/7/09
Trees are going camo
Researchers at the University of Wellington in New Zealand this week uncovered a tree that camouflages to protect itself from predators. The leaves of the New Zealand native Araliaceae tree changes colour as it matures. And scientists believe the reason it does this was to protect itself from an the moa, a giant flightless bird that became extinct 750 years ago. To show the changes are was due to the moa the team compared Araliaceae leaves to samples from a similar species of tree, that are on a island 800 km from New Zealand, where there are no Moas.
Aloe boys
Aloe vera fights cavities and bacteria as effective as commercial toothpaste says research published in May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry. The study compared the bacteria-fighting ability of an aloe vera tooth gel to two commercially popular toothpastes and found that the aloe vera tooth gel controlled cavity-causing organisms as well as commercial toothpaste. Why? Aloe latex contains anti-inflammatory chemicals. And, it is less harsh on teeth because it doesn’t have the abrasive elements typically found in commercial toothpaste. But! Watch out! Not all aloe vera tooth gel has the medicinal form of aloe vera – products must use gel located in the center of the aloe vera plant to be effective
Evolution is heating up
Mammals that live in the tropics evolve faster than their counterparts from cooler climates. According to a study published in July from the University of Auckland, which looked at biodiversity over prolonged evolutionary periods, there is much more biodiversity in warmer areas like the tropics. The results show that species occupying warmer climates have almost 50 per cent more DNA evolution relative to those in cooler climates. This is pretty interesting because some scientists did not believe that climate could possibly have any bearing on mammal evolution given their constant body temperatures.
Researchers at the University of Wellington in New Zealand this week uncovered a tree that camouflages to protect itself from predators. The leaves of the New Zealand native Araliaceae tree changes colour as it matures. And scientists believe the reason it does this was to protect itself from an the moa, a giant flightless bird that became extinct 750 years ago. To show the changes are was due to the moa the team compared Araliaceae leaves to samples from a similar species of tree, that are on a island 800 km from New Zealand, where there are no Moas.
Aloe boys
Aloe vera fights cavities and bacteria as effective as commercial toothpaste says research published in May/June 2009 issue of General Dentistry. The study compared the bacteria-fighting ability of an aloe vera tooth gel to two commercially popular toothpastes and found that the aloe vera tooth gel controlled cavity-causing organisms as well as commercial toothpaste. Why? Aloe latex contains anti-inflammatory chemicals. And, it is less harsh on teeth because it doesn’t have the abrasive elements typically found in commercial toothpaste. But! Watch out! Not all aloe vera tooth gel has the medicinal form of aloe vera – products must use gel located in the center of the aloe vera plant to be effective
Evolution is heating up
Mammals that live in the tropics evolve faster than their counterparts from cooler climates. According to a study published in July from the University of Auckland, which looked at biodiversity over prolonged evolutionary periods, there is much more biodiversity in warmer areas like the tropics. The results show that species occupying warmer climates have almost 50 per cent more DNA evolution relative to those in cooler climates. This is pretty interesting because some scientists did not believe that climate could possibly have any bearing on mammal evolution given their constant body temperatures.
Episode S2E5: Duplicity
We're back! After our mid-season break, the Petri Dish is back with more of the science you all love so much.
To celebrate our return, this week on the Petri Dish, we have:
Science News
Remember This Fact?: Binary numbers
Film of the Week: The Dark Knight
Further Thoughts
People with questions or concerns about schizophrenia, multiple personalities or bipolar disorders can get more information at sane.org, headspace.org.au and beyondblue.org.au.
To celebrate our return, this week on the Petri Dish, we have:
Science News
Remember This Fact?: Binary numbers
Science Controversy: Bipolar disorder
Science Myth: Schizophrenia means you have multiple personalitiesFilm of the Week: The Dark Knight
Further Thoughts
People with questions or concerns about schizophrenia, multiple personalities or bipolar disorders can get more information at sane.org, headspace.org.au and beyondblue.org.au.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Science News S2E4
Quantum Computers
A team at Yale University has created the world’s first solid state quantum processor, leading us another step closer to building a quantum computer.
The researchers manufactured two artificial atoms, or qubits ("q-bits"). While each qubit is actually made up of a billion aluminum atoms, it acts like a single atom that can occupy two different energy states. These states are akin to the "1" and "0" or "on" and "off" states of regular bits employed by conventional computers. Because of the counterintuitive laws of quantum mechanics, however, scientists can effectively place qubits in a "superposition" of multiple states at the same time, allowing for greater information storage and processing power.
The team is now trying to attach more qubits to the processor, which exponentially increases the processing power of the chip. A quantum computer, which would run thousands of times faster and with more processing power than our current computers, is still a long way off though.
Schrodinger’s Cat Helps Find Oil
Oxford University scientists have created a “quantum cat”. Schrodinger’s cat was a thought experiment that said that, if a cat sealed into a box with a poison that might or might not kill it, behaved like a subatomic particle, the cat would be alive and dead at the same time.
The quantum cat made at Oxford University is a star shaped atom where all of the 10 atoms are in the same spin state (that is, spinning the same way) and entangled (so if one changes its spin, they all do).
The cat is very sensitive to tiny fluctuations in magnetic fields, which change the spin of the cat. This means it can detect tiny changes that correspond to under sea deposits of oil or gas, or make ultra-high tech security, or help in other scientific experiments.
DNA Sequencing Through Quantum Tunnelling
DNA is a long sequence of Cs, Gs, As and Ts. Reading these sequences is vitally important to biochemistry and genetic science, as well as to modern medicine.
Bringing the power of DNA sequencing to every individual will require new, affordable technologies to help mine the wealth of information DNA can provide concerning morphology, hereditary traits and predisposition to disease. Standard biochemical sequencing is slow and extravagantly expensive.
Quantum tunneling is when a particle, say an electron, can cross a barrier, when, according to classical physics, it does not have enough energy to do so. That means that if you get an electrode close enough to a piece of DNA, electrons from the DNA can jump to the electrode and cause a measureable current. The Cs and Gs in DNA have slightly stronger chemical bonds, which make it harder for the electrons to tunnel to the electrode and cause a smaller current.
So theoretically, the new quantum sequencing can be done simply by running an electrode up the DNA and measuring the current as it passes over the DNA bases, instead of the slow, expensive processes used to sequence DNA currently.
Quantum Hurricanes in Really Cold Gas
When gas gets really cold, they spontaneously spin up into tiny quantum mechanical hurricanes. It’s not really of any practical value, but it is an interesting new fact about the way the universe works. It is, in fact, just cool.
A team at Yale University has created the world’s first solid state quantum processor, leading us another step closer to building a quantum computer.
The researchers manufactured two artificial atoms, or qubits ("q-bits"). While each qubit is actually made up of a billion aluminum atoms, it acts like a single atom that can occupy two different energy states. These states are akin to the "1" and "0" or "on" and "off" states of regular bits employed by conventional computers. Because of the counterintuitive laws of quantum mechanics, however, scientists can effectively place qubits in a "superposition" of multiple states at the same time, allowing for greater information storage and processing power.
The team is now trying to attach more qubits to the processor, which exponentially increases the processing power of the chip. A quantum computer, which would run thousands of times faster and with more processing power than our current computers, is still a long way off though.
Schrodinger’s Cat Helps Find Oil
Oxford University scientists have created a “quantum cat”. Schrodinger’s cat was a thought experiment that said that, if a cat sealed into a box with a poison that might or might not kill it, behaved like a subatomic particle, the cat would be alive and dead at the same time.
The quantum cat made at Oxford University is a star shaped atom where all of the 10 atoms are in the same spin state (that is, spinning the same way) and entangled (so if one changes its spin, they all do).
The cat is very sensitive to tiny fluctuations in magnetic fields, which change the spin of the cat. This means it can detect tiny changes that correspond to under sea deposits of oil or gas, or make ultra-high tech security, or help in other scientific experiments.
DNA Sequencing Through Quantum Tunnelling
DNA is a long sequence of Cs, Gs, As and Ts. Reading these sequences is vitally important to biochemistry and genetic science, as well as to modern medicine.
Bringing the power of DNA sequencing to every individual will require new, affordable technologies to help mine the wealth of information DNA can provide concerning morphology, hereditary traits and predisposition to disease. Standard biochemical sequencing is slow and extravagantly expensive.
Quantum tunneling is when a particle, say an electron, can cross a barrier, when, according to classical physics, it does not have enough energy to do so. That means that if you get an electrode close enough to a piece of DNA, electrons from the DNA can jump to the electrode and cause a measureable current. The Cs and Gs in DNA have slightly stronger chemical bonds, which make it harder for the electrons to tunnel to the electrode and cause a smaller current.
So theoretically, the new quantum sequencing can be done simply by running an electrode up the DNA and measuring the current as it passes over the DNA bases, instead of the slow, expensive processes used to sequence DNA currently.
Quantum Hurricanes in Really Cold Gas
When gas gets really cold, they spontaneously spin up into tiny quantum mechanical hurricanes. It’s not really of any practical value, but it is an interesting new fact about the way the universe works. It is, in fact, just cool.
Episode S2E4: Quantum Mechanics
This week on the Petri Dish, we're giving up coherency and talking about the weirdness that occurs in high level phyics. Be sure to tune in: this episode will expand your mind!
Science News
Remember This Fact?: What are atoms made of?
Science Myth: The universe makes sense
Science Controversy: What is dark matter?
Film of the Week: Stargate
Science News
Remember This Fact?: What are atoms made of?
Science Myth: The universe makes sense
Science Controversy: What is dark matter?
Film of the Week: Stargate
Monday, July 6, 2009
S2E3- Spoken Like a Gentlemen
Just a taster of what is on tonight's show, and so we might just leak the topics and this evenings science new. Also we would like to thank Dan Vo for his musical selection, Opera-ising the Petri-dish for this very special episode.
This week we will be talking about whether or not it is possible for everyone to have perfect pitch, whether we can loose our voice, and if we can be hypnotised by someones voice like Ulysses was by the Sirens in the epic poem The Odyssey. But first some Science News.
Whales on Broadway
The songs of a Blue Whale were heard in New York by Cornell University and were able to confirm the voice at a distance of 70 miles. This news is important since the Blue Whale is an endangered species, and by them being detected closer to the City suggests that they are increasing in number.
Voice Recognition
Scientists from Mastik University found that while listening to people speak, dependent on the person and the subject matter, different brain patterns emerge. It showed that speak, sound and subject can be identified via a Neural Fingerprint. It is hoped that this will help with computer automated speech recognition systems.
Im Sorry who's Calling
The first case of someone born without the ability to recognise voices. A 65 year-young woman was reported in by the University College of London was reported with the rare condition known as Phonagnosia and is usually Associated with strokes and Brain Damage. She is able to identify emotion and tone in voices, as well as appreciate music, though she is unable to identify who the voice is.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
