Science Simplified!

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 16, 2014 at 9:02am

This is how stem cells decide what organs they should become:

How do stem cells decide whether to become liver cells or pancreatic cells during development?

A cell's fate is determined by the nearby presence of 'prostaglandin E2' - a messenger molecule best known for its role in inflammation and pain.

Stem cell scientists Wolfram Goessling and Trista Northat the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) identified a gradient of prostaglandin E2 in the region of zebrafish embryos where stem cells differentiate into the internal organs.

The finding could potentially make liver and pancreas cells easier to generate both in the lab and for future cell therapies.

"Cells that see more prostaglandin become liver and the cells that see less prostaglandin become pancreas," said Goessling, assistant professor of medicine.

This is the first time that prostaglandin is being reported as a factor that can lead this 'fate switch' and essentially instruct what kind of identity a cell is going to be, the researchers added.

Other experiments showed that prostaglandin E2 could also enhance liver growth and regeneration of liver cells.

"Prostaglandin might be a master regulator of cell growth in different organs," Goessling said.

It's used in cord blood, as we have shown, it works in the liver, and who knows what other organs might be affected by it, revealed the findings published in the journal Developmental Cell.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2014 at 9:47am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2014 at 9:01am

Americans struggle with science, respect scientists, survey finds
While most Americans could be a bit more knowledgeable in the ways of science, a majority are interested in hearing about the latest scientific breakthroughs and think highly of scientists.

This is according to a survey of more than 2,200 people conducted by the National Science Foundation, one that is conducted every two years and is part of a report – Science and Engineering Indicators – that the National Science Board provides to the president and Congress.

According to the survey, more than 90 percent of Americans think scientists are "helping to solve challenging problems" and are "dedicated people who work for the good of humanity."

Unfortunately, Americans still have a tough time answering some basic science questions. Out of a total of nine questions that covered the physical and biological sciences, the average score was 6.5 correct answers.

For example, only 74 percent of those queried knew that the Earth revolved around the sun, while fewer than half (48 percent) knew that human beings developed from earlier species of animals.

Some of the other highlights of the survey include:

• A majority of Americans – more than 90 percent – say they are "very interested" or "moderately interested" in learning about new medical discoveries.
• The United States appears to be relatively strong in the use of what's known as "informal science education." Nearly 60 percent of Americans have visited a zoo/aquarium, natural history museum or a science and technology museum.
• Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed think the benefits of science outweigh any potential dangers.
• About a third of the respondents think science and technology should get more funding.

http://phys.org/news/2014-02-americans-struggle-science-respect-sci...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2014 at 6:55am

Math Explains Likely Long Shots, Miracles and Winning the Lottery
Why you should not be surprised when long shots, miracles and other extraordinary events occur—even when the same six winning lottery numbers come up in two successive drawings
What we think of as extremely unlikely events actually happen around us all the time. The mathematical law of truly large numbers as well as the law of combinations help to explain why.
With only 23 people in a room, the probability that two of them share the same birthday is 0.51—greater than 50 percent.
The Bulgarian lottery randomly selected the winning numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35, 42 on September 6, 2009. Four days later it selected the same numbers again. The North Carolina Cash 5 lottery produced the same winning numbers on July 9 and 11, 2007. Strange? Not according to probability.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/math-explains-likely-long...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 15, 2014 at 6:47am

When Scientists Are Mad about Each Other
Science couples who overcame the two-body problem collaborate in the lab and the home
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-scientists-are-mad-a...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 14, 2014 at 10:01am

Neuroscientists Discover The Secret Behind Galileo’s Illusion
With Kremkow and colleagues’ new study, science has zoomed in and illuminated the scope of the problem. It’s a feature of how we see everything, no less. By examining the responses of neurons in the visual system of the brain—to both light stimuli and dark stimuli—the neuroscientists discovered that, whereas dark stimuli result in a faithful neural response that accurately represents their size, light stimuli on the contrary result in non-linear and exaggerated responses that make the stimulus look larger. So white spots on a black background look bigger than same-sized black spots on white background, and Galileo’s glowing moons are not really as big as they might appear to the unaided eye.

This effect is responsible for how we see everything from textures and faces—based on their dark parts in bright daylight—to why it is easier to read this very page with black-on-white lettering, rather than white-on-black (a well known, and until now, unexplained phenomenon).

By tracing these effects as a function of the way neurons are laid out and interconnected in the retina and brain, the authors found that these effects are potentially derived from the very origin of vision—in the photoreceptors of the eye themselves.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/02/05/1310442111.abstract?si...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 14, 2014 at 9:31am

Science, not muscle, driving many Olympic wins!
Much as we'd like to, no one today can pretend that the Olympics — or any sport, for that matter — is just about exceptional physical ability anymore. It's about the marriage between exceptional humans and exceptional technology, a union in which technology is increasingly the breadwinner.

Every advance in the ever-accelerating juggernaut of sports technology threatens to widen the divide between Olympic haves and have-nots. Well-sponsored teams and rich governments pay top-end scientists and engineers to shape their skis, perfect their skates, tighten their suits, measure their gravitational pull. That brings home medals, which in turn brings home new attention, new sponsors, new money to invest in the next race.

http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Science-not-muscle-driving-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 14, 2014 at 7:13am

Oregano Oil Kills Norovirus—but Not Enough
Oregano oil cut numbers of the mouse version of norovirus 10-fold. Its active ingredient was better: a 10,000-fold reduction. But bleach achieves a million-fold reduction.
but there's no evidence it can do so inside your body, scientists say.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 14, 2014 at 7:07am

Mammograms Fail to Reduce Breast Cancer Deaths, Study Finds
The large, 25-year study suggests that women under 60 do not benefit from yearly breast cancer screening
Yearly mammograms in middle-age women do not reduce breast cancer deaths — these tests are essentially as good as physical examination alone, according to a new 25-year study from Canada.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mammograms-fail-to-reduce...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 14, 2014 at 6:49am

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