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.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
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.
Episode S2E7: Dreams and Nightmares
This week on the Petri Dish, we're delving into the Freudian world of dreams and nightmares. Put on your pyjamas and get comfortable for:
Science News
Remember This Fact?: What are dreams?
Science Myth: Do girls have wet dreams?
Science Controversy: Can you die from sleep deprivation?
Film of the Week: Nightmare on Elm Street
Science News
Remember This Fact?: What are dreams?
Science Myth: Do girls have wet dreams?
Science Controversy: Can you die from sleep deprivation?
Film of the Week: Nightmare on Elm Street
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Science News 4/8/09
Bee yourself
University of Otago researchers have a found a clue to explain how honey bee queen's control her workers. Two years ago the researchers discovered that queen bees release a pheromone that blocks young bees’ ability to remember unpleasant experiences in the brain and predict punishment. Now - Professor Alison Mercer and Dr Kyle Beggs, have identified the molecular target of this pheromone. The pheromone activates one of three honey bee dopamine receptors. This changes how dopamine signals in the brain and the behaviour of young bees. Why make the chemical? It stops worker bees becoming revolutionary! The queens’ pheromones have unpleasant effects; like impairing motor activity. By not remember how mean the queen can be stops young bees from become aversive so they keep protecting the queen and the colony.
Targeting pancreatic cancer
A Western Australian Institute for Medical Research team has created a molecule that can target a type of pancreatic tumour, and attract the body’s immune system to the cancer. An inflammatory agent is shoved into the molecule using nanotechnology, which targets tumours and attracts millions of immune cells to attack and kill the tumour. Excitingly the coating of the capsule heads to pancreatic tumours specifically – so it will only attract immune cells to the cancer site! Clinical trials may begin in 5-10 years, depending on pharmaceutical company interest.
Bridging the gap
A researcher from Queensland University of Technology can monitor changes in vibrations that will identify weak spots in bridges. It can detect if the bridge is damaged and even locate where the damage is in the structure. The method detects vibrations, this data is collected and fed into a computer model which could identify any damage in the bridge.
University of Otago researchers have a found a clue to explain how honey bee queen's control her workers. Two years ago the researchers discovered that queen bees release a pheromone that blocks young bees’ ability to remember unpleasant experiences in the brain and predict punishment. Now - Professor Alison Mercer and Dr Kyle Beggs, have identified the molecular target of this pheromone. The pheromone activates one of three honey bee dopamine receptors. This changes how dopamine signals in the brain and the behaviour of young bees. Why make the chemical? It stops worker bees becoming revolutionary! The queens’ pheromones have unpleasant effects; like impairing motor activity. By not remember how mean the queen can be stops young bees from become aversive so they keep protecting the queen and the colony.
Targeting pancreatic cancer
A Western Australian Institute for Medical Research team has created a molecule that can target a type of pancreatic tumour, and attract the body’s immune system to the cancer. An inflammatory agent is shoved into the molecule using nanotechnology, which targets tumours and attracts millions of immune cells to attack and kill the tumour. Excitingly the coating of the capsule heads to pancreatic tumours specifically – so it will only attract immune cells to the cancer site! Clinical trials may begin in 5-10 years, depending on pharmaceutical company interest.
Bridging the gap
A researcher from Queensland University of Technology can monitor changes in vibrations that will identify weak spots in bridges. It can detect if the bridge is damaged and even locate where the damage is in the structure. The method detects vibrations, this data is collected and fed into a computer model which could identify any damage in the bridge.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
