SCI-ART LAB

Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication

Information

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: 16 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

Discussion Forum

What is a three body problem?

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 16 hours ago. 1 Reply

Q: What is a three body problem?Krishna: I don't know about  science fiction or movies that are made based on the theme, but I will tell you what it is based on science.  Systems with two objects…Continue

Your Biological Age Can Be Different From Your Actual (Chronological)Age!

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 19 hours ago. 6 Replies

Recently I have seen an old lady teasing an young girl who became breathless after climbing up a few steps.  "Look I am 78. But still I can climb steps with ease. I can go anywhere I want without any…Continue

How Soil Microorganisms Can Combat Desertification

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 20 hours ago. 1 Reply

 Soil Microbiology is the specialized subject I studied during my Post…Continue

DNA can be considered as a natural flame retardant and suppressant

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday. 1 Reply

Q: Is DNA fire-proof?Krishna: Research has shown that DNA is flame retardant (1). Yes, DNA can be considered as a natural flame retardant and suppressant.NORMALLY, COTTON FABRICS are highly…Continue

Comment Wall

Comment

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

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 27, 2021 at 12:22pm

Cooling homes without warming the planet

As global temperatures are increasing, demand for air conditioners is expected to triple by 2050. The surge will multiply what is already a major source of greenhouse gas emissions: Air conditioning is currently responsible for almost 20 percent of electricity use in buildings around the world.

Now the startup Transaera is working to curb those energy demands with a more efficient air conditioner that uses safer refrigerants to cool homes. The company believes its machine could have one-fifth the impact on the climate when compared to traditional ACs. 

The thing about  is the basic technology hasn't changed much since it was invented 100 years ago. 

That will change rapidly if Transaera's small team is successful. The company is currently a finalist in a  to redesign the air conditioner. The winner of the competition, named the Global Cooling Prize, will get $1 million to commercialize their machines.

At the heart of Transaera's design is a class of highly  called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, that passively pull moisture from the air as the machine works. MOFs have a lot of potential applications, but the thing that's held them back is unit economics and the inability to make them in a cost-effective way at scale. What Transaera aims to do is be the first to commercialize MOFs at scale and lead the breakthrough that brings MOFs into the public domain.

Most people think  only cool the air in a space, but they also dry the air they're cooling. Traditional machines use something called an evaporator, a cold coil to pull water out of the air through condensation. The cold coil must be made much colder than the desired temperature in the room in order to collect moisture. Pulling moisture out of the air takes up about half of the electricity used by traditional air conditioners.

Transaera's MOFs passively collect moisture as air enters the system. The machine's waste heat is then used to dry the MOF material for continuous reuse.

https://news.mit.edu/2021/transaera-air-conditioner-0326

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-cooling-homes-planet.html?utm_source=...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 27, 2021 at 11:55am

How microorganisms can help us get to net negative emissions

Many of the common items we use in our everyday lives—from building materials to plastics to pharmaceuticals—are manufactured from fossil fuels. To reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, society has increasingly tried turning to plants to make the everyday products we need. For example, corn can be turned into corn ethanol and plastics, lignocellulosic sugars can be turned into sustainable aviation fuels, and paints can be made from soy oil.

But what if plants could be removed from the picture, eliminating the need for water, fertilizer, and land? What if  could instead be harnessed to make fuels and other products? And what if these microbes could grow on , thus simultaneously producing valuable goods while also removing a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, all in one reactor? 

Scientists have made good progress in turning this technology into reality. A project developed by them project combines biology and electrochemistry to produce , all powered by renewable energy. With carbon dioxide as one of the inputs, the system has potential to remove heat-trapping gases from the atmosphere, or in other words, a negative emissions technology (NET).

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-microorganisms-net-negative-emissions...

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 27, 2021 at 11:44am

Direct observations confirm that humans are throwing Earth's energy budget off balance

Earth is on a budget—an energy budget. Our planet is constantly trying to balance the flow of energy in and out of Earth's system. But human activities are throwing that off balance, causing our planet to warm in response.

Radiative  enters Earth's system from the sunlight that shines on our planet. Some of this energy reflects off of Earth's surface or atmosphere back into space. The rest gets absorbed, heats the planet, and is then emitted as thermal radiative energy the same way that black asphalt gets hot and radiates heat on a sunny day. Eventually this energy also heads toward space, but some of it gets re-absorbed by clouds and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The absorbed energy may also be emitted back toward Earth, where it will warm the surface even more.

Adding more components that absorb radiation—like greenhouse gases—or removing those that reflect it—like aerosols—throws off Earth's energy balance, and causes more energy to be absorbed by Earth instead of escaping into space. This is called a , and it's the dominant way human activities are affecting the climate.

Climate modeling predicts that human activities are causing the release of greenhouse gases and aerosols that are affecting Earth's . Now, a NASA study has confirmed these predictions with  for the first time: radiative forcings are increasing due to human actions, affecting the planet's energy balance and ultimately causing . The paper was published online March 25, 2021, in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

It was found that  human activities have caused the radiative forcing on Earth to increase by about 0.5 Watts per square meter from 2003 to 2018. The increase is mostly from  emissions from things like power generation, transport and industrial manufacturing. Reduced reflective aerosols are also contributing to the imbalance.

 Ryan J. Kramer et al. Observational evidence of increasing global radiative forcing, Geophysical Research Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1029/2020GL091585

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-humans-earth-energy.html?utm_source=n...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 27, 2021 at 11:38am

The cell signal of death

Scientists have revealed molecular mechanisms involved in eliminating unwanted cells in the body. A nuclear protein fragment released into the cytoplasm activates a plasma membrane protein to display a lipid on the cell surface, signaling other cells to get rid of it. The findings were published in the journal Molecular Cell.

Every day, 10 billion cells die and are engulfed by  called phagocytes. If this didn't happen,  would burst, triggering an auto-immune reaction. It is important to understand how dead cells are eliminated as part of our body's maintenance.

Scientists already know that dead cells display an 'eat me' signal on their surface that is recognized by phagocytes. During this process, lipids are flipped between the inner and outer parts of the cell membrane via a variety of proteins called scramblases, mostly using a protein called Xkr4. It was found that found that a nuclear protein fragment activates Xkr4 to display the 'eat me' signal to phagocytes.

Specifically, the scientists found that cell death signals lead to an enzyme cutting a nuclear protein called XRCC4. A fragment of XRCC4 leaves the nucleus, activating Xkr4, which forms a dimer: the linking of identical pieces into configurations. Both XRCC4 binding and dimer formation are necessary for Xkr4 to ultimately transfer lipids on the  to alert phagocytes.

Xkr4 is only one of the scrambling proteins. Others are activated much faster during 

Masahiro Maruoka et al, Caspase cleavage releases a nuclear protein fragment that stimulates phospholipid scrambling at the plasma membrane, Molecular Cell (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.02.025

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-cell-death.html?utm_source=nwletter&a...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 27, 2021 at 11:27am

How teeth sense the cold

For people with sensitive teeth, eating cold foods is hell. It's a unique kind of pain. It's just excruciating. an international team of scientists have figured out how  sense the cold and pinpointed the molecular and cellular players involved. In both mice and humans, tooth cells called odontoblasts contain cold-sensitive proteins that detect temperature drops, the team reports March 26, 2021, in the journal Science Advances. Signals from these cells can ultimately trigger a jolt of pain to the brain.

The work offers an explanation for how one age-old home remedy eases toothaches. The main ingredient in clove oil, which has been used for centuries in dentistry, contains a chemical that blocks the "cold sensor"protein.

Developing drugs that target this sensor even more specifically could potentially eliminate  to cold. Once you have a molecule to target, there is a possibility of treatment.

 L. Bernal el al., "Odontoblast TRPC5 channels signal cold pain in teeth," Science Advances (2021). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup … .1126/sciadv.abf5567

--

Teeth decay when films of bacteria and acid eat away at the enamel, the hard, whitish covering of teeth. As enamel erodes, pits called cavities form. Roughly 2.4 billion people—about a third of the world's population—have untreated cavities in permanent teeth, which can cause intense pain, including extreme cold sensitivity.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-teeth-cold.html?utm_source=n...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 27, 2021 at 7:13am

Scientists Created an Artificial Early Embryo From Human Skin Cells

We all know how human reproduction works: sperm meets egg, fertilized egg kicks off its journey, transforms into a human embryo, then becomes a fetus and ultimately a baby.

But what if boy meets girl isn’t the only way?

Last week, two studies in Nature torpedoed the classic narrative of the beginning of life. Two independent teams coaxed ordinary skin cells into a living cluster that resembled a fertilized human egg—and the very first stages of a developing human embryo.

To be clear, the teams did not engineer an artificial embryo that could develop into a viable baby. Rather, they replicated what happens during the first four days after an egg has been fertilized; it develops into a ball of cells called a blastocyst, the first station towards a full-formed baby.

Though they didn’t get beyond the blastocyst stage, both models are by far the most complete replicas of an early human embryo to date. They don’t just contain cells that grow into a baby, but also all of the supporting structures. Within just 10 days inside a Jello-like incubator, the reverse-engineered cells showed traits astonishingly similar to their natural counterparts. For example, the artificial embryos generated cells that form the placenta, which is critical for a viable embryo that could, in theory, develop further or even until birth.

It’s the first complete model of the human early embryo. 

These studies offer a new window into the first days of pregnancy, and may provide insight into previously inexplicable infertility or pregnancy loss without experimenting on human embryos.

Yet the sophistication of these cells is raising concerns. For now, because the artificial embryos differ from natural ones in several ways, scientists don’t expect them to have the ability to grow into complete embryos. As the technologies further refine, however, it may become possible to grow artificial human embryos for longer periods, putting the technology on a collision course with debates about the beginning of life.

The first 14 days of building a human are a mystery.

Scientists know that during a pregnancy, a fertilized egg develops into a blastocyst around day four, and it then implants around day eight. Around this time, something “magical” happens within the blastocyst, such that it churns out cells that eventually develop into the placenta, and others that give rise to a fetus.

The problem? This initial stage is incredibly hard to study. Thus far, scientists have relied on discarded human embryos in the lab—often from IVF outcasts—which can be grown to 13 days according to ethics guidelines

https://singularityhub.com/2021/03/23/scientists-created-an-artific...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 12:25pm

A technique to track Earth’s subtle movements with orbiting radars is heating up

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 11:42am

Meet the zeptosecond, the shortest unit of time ever measured

Scientists have measured the shortest unit of time ever: the time it takes a light particle to cross a hydrogen molecule. 

That time, for the record, is 247 zeptoseconds. A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second, or a decimal point followed by 20 zeroes and a 1. Previously, researchers had dipped into the realm of zeptoseconds; in 2016, researchers reporting in the journal Nature Physics used lasers to measure time in increments down to 850 zeptoseconds. This accuracy is a huge leap from the 1999 Nobel Prize-winning work that first measured time in femtoseconds, which are millionths of a billionths of seconds. 

It takes femtoseconds for chemical bonds to break and form, but it takes zeptoseconds for light to travel across a single hydrogen molecule (H2).

https://www.space.com/zeptosecond-shortest-time-unit-measured.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 9:45am

New Way of Identification of a Place and Tracking

Identification of a place and navigation to reach are two most important things for any traveler. Although Google map has been helping the society at large in many ways, it has some disadvantages. For example, all the postal addresses cannot be identifiable through Google map APP. There is no unique place for identification as popular name of a location has several places. Additionally, it depends wholly on GPS accuracy and may sometimes be away from the desired location by 100 meters. Some of these disadvantages are overcome from our new way of identification of a place. This innovation is simple but its applications are many. It can provide code for any place on the land, water or ice-covered surface of this planet with 8-digit alphanumeric code (TH code). This code is integrated with Google map and implemented in Android based mobile phones and can easily be extended to IOS based Apple mobile phones as well. The accuracy of the code location is about one meter anywhere in the world. To get the code of a location, GPS is not required but internet service is necessary. However, to navigate from one place to the other both GPS and Internet are required. The APP is quite simple to operate and useful to many and has applications at least in ten different sectors. In this present-day Corona virus scenario, the APP is vital to track human beings, goods, medical equipment etc. to reduce human loss, economy loss due to quarantine/lockdown issues .
This app will be very useful in cases of medical emergencies, fire accidents, police security and courier service deliveries.
Harinarayana, T. , Goyal, P. and Rajendran, N. (2020) New Way of Identification of a Place and Tracking. International Journal of Geosciences11, 360-376. doi: 10.4236/ijg.2020.116019.
Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2021 at 9:10am

Scientist discovers a new type of 'bi-molecule' with applications for quantum sensors

Researchers found a new type of bi-molecule formed from two nitric oxide (NO) molecules, both in their ground state and in the Rydberg electronic state.

This new type of bi-molecule is the result of the union of two molecules of  (NO) whose structure is arranged in such a way that the NO and NO+ ion are located in opposite poles. The electron orbits around both, acting like a "glue" that binds the bi-molecule. In addition, its size corresponds to between 200 and 1,000 times that of NO, and its lifetime is long enough to enable its observation and experimental control, as these fragile systems are easily manipulated by means of very weak electric fields.

This type of bi-molecule enables researchers to implement and study chemical reactions at low temperatures from a quantum perspective and facilitates the investigation of intermolecular interactions at large distances, since they coexist at low temperatures.

Rosario González-Férez et al. Ultralong-Range Rydberg Bimolecules, Physical Review Letters (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.043401

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-scientist-bi-molecule-applications-qu...

 

Members (22)

 
 
 

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service