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Science Simplified!

                       JAI VIGNAN

All about Science - to remove misconceptions and encourage scientific temper

Communicating science to the common people

'To make  them see the world differently through the beautiful lense of  science'

Members: 22
Latest Activity: 17 hours ago

         WE LOVE SCIENCE HERE BECAUSE IT IS A MANY SPLENDOURED THING

     THIS  IS A WAR ZONE WHERE SCIENCE FIGHTS WITH NONSENSE AND WINS                                               

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”             

                    "Being a scientist is a state of mind, not a profession!"

                  "Science, when it's done right, can yield amazing things".

         The Reach of Scientific Research From Labs to Laymen

The aim of science is not only to open a door to infinite knowledge and                                     wisdom but to set a limit to infinite error.

"Knowledge is a Superpower but the irony is you cannot get enough of it with ever increasing data base unless you try to keep up with it constantly and in the right way!" The best education comes from learning from people who know what they are exactly talking about.

Science is this glorious adventure into the unknown, the opportunity to discover things that nobody knew before. And that’s just an experience that’s not to be missed. But it’s also a motivated effort to try to help humankind. And maybe that’s just by increasing human knowledge—because that’s a way to make us a nobler species.

If you are scientifically literate the world looks very different to you.

We do science and science communication not because they are easy but because they are difficult!

“Science is not a subject you studied in school. It’s life. We 're brought into existence by it!"

 Links to some important articles :

1. Interactive science series...

a. how-to-do-research-and-write-research-papers-part 13

b. Some Qs people asked me on science and my replies to them...

Part 6part-10part-11part-12, part 14  ,  part- 8

part- 1part-2part-4part-5part-16part-17part-18 , part-19 , part-20

part-21 , part-22part-23part-24part-25part-26part-27 , part-28

part-29part-30part-31part-32part-33part-34part-35part-36part-37,

 part-38part-40part-41part-42part-43part-44part-45part-46part-47

Part 48 part49Critical thinking -part 50 , part -51part-52part-53

part-54part-55part-57part-58part-59part-60part-61part-62part-63

part 64, part-65part-66part-67part-68part 69part-70 part-71part-73 ...

.......306

BP variations during pregnancy part-72

who is responsible for the gender of  their children - a man or a woman -part-56

c. some-questions-people-asked-me-on-science-based-on-my-art-and-poems -part-7

d. science-s-rules-are-unyielding-they-will-not-be-bent-for-anybody-part-3-

e. debate-between-scientists-and-people-who-practice-and-propagate-pseudo-science - part -9

f. why astrology is pseudo-science part 15

g. How Science is demolishing patriarchal ideas - part-39

2. in-defence-of-mangalyaan-why-even-developing-countries-like-india need space research programmes

3. Science communication series:

a. science-communication - part 1

b. how-scienitsts-should-communicate-with-laymen - part 2

c. main-challenges-of-science-communication-and-how-to-overcome-them - part 3

d. the-importance-of-science-communication-through-art- part 4

e. why-science-communication-is-geting worse - part  5

f. why-science-journalism-is-not-taken-seriously-in-this-part-of-the-world - part 6

g. blogs-the-best-bet-to-communicate-science-by-scientists- part 7

h. why-it-is-difficult-for-scientists-to-debate-controversial-issues - part 8

i. science-writers-and-communicators-where-are-you - part 9

j. shooting-the-messengers-for-a-different-reason-for-conveying-the- part 10

k. why-is-science-journalism-different-from-other-forms-of-journalism - part 11

l.  golden-rules-of-science-communication- Part 12

m. science-writers-should-develop-a-broader-view-to-put-things-in-th - part 13

n. an-informed-patient-is-the-most-cooperative-one -part 14

o. the-risks-scientists-will-have-to-face-while-communicating-science - part 15

p. the-most-difficult-part-of-science-communication - part 16

q. clarity-on-who-you-are-writing-for-is-important-before-sitting-to write a science story - part 17

r. science-communicators-get-thick-skinned-to-communicate-science-without-any-bias - part 18

s. is-post-truth-another-name-for-science-communication-failure?

t. why-is-it-difficult-for-scientists-to-have-high-eqs

u. art-and-literature-as-effective-aids-in-science-communication-and teaching

v.* some-qs-people-asked-me-on-science communication-and-my-replies-to-them

 ** qs-people-asked-me-on-science-and-my-replies-to-them-part-173

w. why-motivated-perception-influences-your-understanding-of-science

x. science-communication-in-uncertain-times

y. sci-com: why-keep-a-dog-and-bark-yourself

z. How to deal with sci com dilemmas?

 A+. sci-com-what-makes-a-story-news-worthy-in-science

 B+. is-a-perfect-language-important-in-writing-science-stories

C+. sci-com-how-much-entertainment-is-too-much-while-communicating-sc

D+. sci-com-why-can-t-everybody-understand-science-in-the-same-way

E+. how-to-successfully-negotiate-the-science-communication-maze

4. Health related topics:

a. why-antibiotic-resistance-is-increasing-and-how-scientists-are-tr

b. what-might-happen-when-you-take-lots-of-medicines

c. know-your-cesarean-facts-ladies

d. right-facts-about-menstruation

e. answer-to-the-question-why-on-big-c

f. how-scientists-are-identifying-new-preventive-measures-and-cures-

g. what-if-little-creatures-high-jack-your-brain-and-try-to-control-

h. who-knows-better?

i. mycotoxicoses

j. immunotherapy

k. can-rust-from-old-drinking-water-pipes-cause-health-problems

l. pvc-and-cpvc-pipes-should-not-be-used-for-drinking-water-supply

m. melioidosis

n.vaccine-woes

o. desensitization-and-transplant-success-story

p. do-you-think-the-medicines-you-are-taking-are-perfectly-alright-then revisit your position!

q. swine-flu-the-difficlulties-we-still-face-while-tackling-the-outb

r. dump-this-useless-information-into-a-garbage-bin-if-you-really-care about evidence based medicine

s. don-t-ignore-these-head-injuries

t. the-detoxification-scam

u. allergic- agony-caused-by-caterpillars-and-moths

General science: 

a.why-do-water-bodies-suddenly-change-colour

b. don-t-knock-down-your-own-life-line

c. the-most-menacing-animal-in-the-world

d. how-exo-planets-are-detected

e. the-importance-of-earth-s-magnetic-field

f. saving-tigers-from-extinction-is-still-a-travail

g. the-importance-of-snakes-in-our-eco-systems

h. understanding-reverse-osmosis

i. the-importance-of-microbiomes

j. crispr-cas9-gene-editing-technique-a-boon-to-fixing-defective-gen

k. biomimicry-a-solution-to-some-of-our-problems

5. the-dilemmas-scientists-face

6. why-we-get-contradictory-reports-in-science

7. be-alert-pseudo-science-and-anti-science-are-on-prowl

8. science-will-answer-your-questions-and-solve-your-problems

9. how-science-debunks-baseless-beliefs

10. climate-science-and-its-relevance

11. the-road-to-a-healthy-life

12. relative-truth-about-gm-crops-and-foods

13. intuition-based-work-is-bad-science

14. how-science-explains-near-death-experiences

15. just-studies-are-different-from-thorough-scientific-research

16. lab-scientists-versus-internet-scientists

17. can-you-challenge-science?

18. the-myth-of-ritual-working

19.science-and-superstitions-how-rational-thinking-can-make-you-work-better

20. comets-are-not-harmful-or-bad-omens-so-enjoy-the-clestial-shows

21. explanation-of-mysterious-lights-during-earthquakes

22. science-can-tell-what-constitutes-the-beauty-of-a-rose

23. what-lessons-can-science-learn-from-tragedies-like-these

24. the-specific-traits-of-a-scientific-mind

25. science-and-the-paranormal

26. are-these-inventions-and-discoveries-really-accidental-and-intuitive like the journalists say?

27. how-the-brain-of-a-polymath-copes-with-all-the-things-it-does

28. how-to-make-scientific-research-in-india-a-success-story

29. getting-rid-of-plastic-the-natural-way

30. why-some-interesting-things-happen-in-nature

31. real-life-stories-that-proves-how-science-helps-you

32. Science and trust series:

a. how-to-trust-science-stories-a-guide-for-common-man

b. trust-in-science-what-makes-people-waver

c. standing-up-for-science-showing-reasons-why-science-should-be-trusted

You will find the entire list of discussions here: http://kkartlab.in/group/some-science/forum

( Please go through the comments section below to find scientific research  reports posted on a daily basis and watch videos based on science)

Get interactive...

Please contact us if you want us to add any information or scientific explanation on any topic that interests you. We will try our level best to give you the right information.

Our mail ID: kkartlabin@gmail.com

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What might happen when you take lots of medicines...One of our uncles died of liver cirrhosis ten years back. He never touched alcohol in his life. He didn't have any viral infection to cause this.…Continue

Comment Wall

Comment

You need to be a member of Science Simplified! to add comments!

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 3, 2015 at 1:40pm

POPs and Gut Microbiota: Dietary Exposure Alters Ratio of Bacterial Species
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been implicated in myriad human health problems, including cancer, neurologic, immunologic, and reproductive defects, among many other adverse health effects. New lines of research suggest that chronic dietary exposure to POPs may also contribute to obesity and type 2 diabetes. In this issue of EHP, researchers examine how one POP in particular—2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF)—affects the composition of the mouse gut microbiome. They report that TCDF exposure alters the gut microbiome in ways that may prove to contribute to obesity and other metabolic diseases.

TCDF binds the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which activates a variety of biological responses. Recent studies indicate that keeping the gut in good working order is one of these functions.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/123-a187/

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 3, 2015 at 1:27pm

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 2, 2015 at 11:58am

Sex divide seen in mechanism that produces persistent pain

Research showing that male and female mice regulate pain sensitivity differently raises questions about gender balance in experimental design.

http://www.nature.com/news/sex-divide-seen-in-mechanism-that-produc...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 2, 2015 at 11:54am

The children of genetically-unrelated parents are more likely than those with similar genes to be taller and more intelligent according to the biggest study yet of human genetic diversity in an age when more people than ever are marrying people from different parts of the world.

Scientists found that height and general intelligence were two traits that appear to be increasing as a result of the mixing of DNA between genetically-diverse parents who on average share fewer genes than more closely related individuals.

However, the researchers also found that the increasing genetic diversity of the human population appeared to have little or no effect on a range of other medical traits, such as blood pressure, which could affect peoples’ health over their lifetimes.

Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists have argued over the effects of “inbreeding” between close relatives such as first cousins, but there have been few studies to look into the positive benefits of “outbreeding” between more distantly-related parents with widely different genetic backgrounds.

The latest research, published in the journal Nature, analysed more than 100 separate studies carried out around the world involving some 350,000 people living in both rural and urban environments.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 9, 2015 at 8:30am

Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder predict creativity

http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4040.html

Results imply creative people are 25% more likely to carry genes that raise risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

In a large study published on Monday, scientists in Iceland report that genetic factors that raise the risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are found more often in people in creative professions. Painters, musicians, writers and dancers were, on average, 25% more likely to carry the gene variants than professions the scientists judged to be less creative, among which were farmers, manual labourers and salespeople.

“To be creative, you have to think differently. And when we are different, we have a tendency to be labelled strange, crazy and even insane.”

The scientists drew on genetic and medical information from 86,000 Icelanders to find genetic variants that doubled the average risk of schizophrenia, and raised the risk of bipolar disorder by more than a third. When they looked at how common these variants were in members of national arts societies, they found a 17% increase compared with non-members. For 1% of the population, genetic factors, life experiences and other influences can culminate in problems, and a diagnosis of mental illness.

This study found only a weak link between the genetic variants for mental illness and creativity.

( Some scientists argue that this evidence is flimsy. Remember we cautioned you!)

 Albert Rothenberg, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University is not convinced. He believes that there is no good evidence for a link between mental illness and creativity. “It’s the romantic notion of the 19th century, that the artist is the struggler, aberrant from society, and wrestling with inner demons,” he said. “But take Van Gogh. He just happened to be mentally ill as well as creative. For me, the reverse is more interesting: creative people are generally not mentally ill, but they use thought processes that are of course creative and different.”

In 2014, Rothernberg published a book, “Flight of Wonder: an investigation of scientific creativity”, in which he interviewed 45 science Nobel laureates about their creative strategies. He found no evidence of mental illness in any of them. He suspects that studies which find links between creativity and mental illness might be picking up on something rather different.

“The problem is that the criteria for being creative is never anything very creative. Belonging to an artistic society, or working in art or literature, does not prove a person is creative. But the fact is that many people who have mental illness do try to work in jobs that have to do with art and literature, not because they are good at it, but because they’re attracted to it. And that can skew the data,” he said. “Nearly all mental hospitals use art therapy, and so when patients come out, many are attracted to artistic positions and artistic pursuits.”

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 9, 2015 at 7:59am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 6, 2015 at 7:40am
Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 6, 2015 at 7:32am

There's a lesser-known biometric,that might be a bit harder to counterfeit: brainwaves. "In the biometric textbook table of contents, often the brain biometrics were listed as ‘Esoteric Biometrics.
Each person has slightly different so-called "brainprints." Different enough that computers were able to uniquely identify the study volunteers by their brainwaves 94 percent of the time. That effect held up when the subjects were retested six months later. The results are in the journal Neurocomputing. [Blair C. Armstrong et al, Brainprint: Assessing the uniqueness, collectability, and permanence of a novel method for ERP biometrics]
Brainprint: Assessing the uniqueness, collectability, and permanence of a novel method for ERP biometrics
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925231215004725

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 6, 2015 at 7:25am

Delirium is a type of sudden-onset brain dysfunction characterised by cognitive problems such as inattention and fluctuation in symptoms.
Reasons for development of delirium in the ICU patients include medications such as benzodiazepine and other sedatives. These are commonly given to patients to help them stay calm and sleep but can paradoxically cause disorientation and confusion in some patients.
the goal should be reduction or elimination of such medications, especially in more vulnerable patients such as the elderly and dementia patients, and to establish better night-time routines in hospitals such that patients are allowed to sleep with minimal interruptions. However, there are other causes of delirium, which might be more difficult to reduce. Illnesses such as severe pneumonia can cause secondary inflammation in the brain. It has also been suggested that changes in blood flow to the brain can result in delirium. The current study indicated that long-term risk of cognitive decline is increased by 20-30% in the patients who experience delirium in the ICU.
Development of delirium approximately doubles the risk of death in critically ill patients in hospital intensive care units, according to the results of a new study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The systematic review and meta-analysis study was carried out by a team of researchers based in Brazil and the United States, led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.
Outcome of delirium in critically ill patients: systematic review and meta-analysis
http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2538

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 6, 2015 at 7:19am

In a new study from researchers in the University of Tel Aviv, a strategy is described for using phages to deliver a nuclease that targets antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. Phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria, are the natural enemies of bacteria. This strategy renders these resistant bacteria susceptible to antibiotics and also prevents transfer of resistance from one strain to another. The study was led by Prof Udi Qimron and is published in the journal PNAS.

The spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogens is a worldwide public health crisis, prompting the World Health Organisation, at its annual assembly in Geneva last week, to approve an ambitious plan to slow it down. The research described in the PNAS paper is a promising step in the right direction. According to the study’s authors, applying their phage-based system to hospital surfaces and to the hands of medical personnel could help us to fight back against untreatable, often lethal bacterial infections. Prof Qimron explained: "Since there are only a few pathogens in hospitals that cause most of the antibiotic-resistance infections, we wish to specifically design appropriate sensitization treatments for each one of them. We will have to choose suitable combinations of DNA-delivering phages that would deliver the DNA into pathogens, and the suitable combination of 'killing' phages that could select the re-sensitized pathogens."

In this system, phages were programmed to deliver a programmable DNA nuclease, which is called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated (Cas), into the genome of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This shot to the heart of the resistant bacteria resulted in reversal of the antibiotic resistance, rendering them sensitive to antibiotics, while protecting the bacteria that were already sensitive to antibiotics.

In essence this system is therefore selective for antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, thus applying the opposite selective pressure to antibiotics themselves. Prof Qimron explained: "Antibiotic-resistant pathogens constitute an increasing threat because antibiotics are designed to select resistant pathogens over sensitive ones. The injected DNA does two things: It eliminates the genes that cause resistance to antibiotics, and it confers protection against lethal phages. We managed to devise a way to restore antibiotic sensitivity to drug-resistant bacteria, and also prevent the transfer of genes that create that resistance among bacteria.” The CRISPR-Cas system also destroyed the lytic phages themselves. Prof Qimron said: "We believe that this strategy, in addition to disinfection, could significantly render infections once again treatable by antibiotics."
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/05/14/1500107112

 

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