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Science Simplified!

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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'

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

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

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

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

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

Part 48, part49, Critical thinking -part 50 , part -51, part-52, part-53

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

part 64, part-65, part-66, part-67, part-68, part 69, part-70 part-71, part-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-wi thout-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-ca re 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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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 7, 2021 at 8:34am: Study explores the effects of immune responses on the aging brain

As human beings age, the functioning of organs gradually deteriorates. While countless past studies have investigated the effects of aging on the human body, brain and on cognition, the neural mechanisms and environmental factors that can accelerate or slow down these effects are not yet fully understood.

The immune system and the nervous system are both known to play a key role in the control of organs in the body. Moreover, past findings suggest that both of these systems change significantly during aging.

Neuroscientific studies have found that as the nervous system ages, the way in which the human body controls immune responses also changes. Nonetheless, how the nervous system's aging process affects immune responses and the consequent impact on the brain's functioning are still poorly understood.

Researchers have recently carried out a study investigating the possible effects of immune responses on the aging brain. Their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, shows that the deterioration of neuroblasts (i.e., the embryonic cells from which nerve fibers originate) in the aging brain can increase the toxicity of natural killer cells (NK), which leads to impairments in neurogenesis and cognition. NK cells are a class of blood cells that are part of the human immune system.

"Systemic inflammation escalates during the aging process, but the potential impact of immune and inflammatory responses on brain aging remains unknown.

Researchers now found that immune cells such as NK cells impair neurogenesis and cognitive function during normal brain aging. Immune modulation targeting immune cells (which accumulate in the aged brain) may thus be useful to improve cognition in the aged population.

The recent study carried out by this team of researchers suggests that the accumulation of NK cells in the aging brain can impair the process through which neurons are formed in the brain, known as neurogenesis. In the future, this important finding could inform the development of more effective treatment strategies for improving cognition in older adults.

Neuroblast senescence in the aged brain augments natural killer cell cytotoxicity leading to impaired neurogenesis and cognition. Nature Neuroscience(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-00745-w

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-explores-effects-immune-resp...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 6, 2021 at 11:43am: Removing Two Pollutants With One Bacteria A new strain of bacteria that can remove both nitrogen and phosphorus from sewage could reduce the electricity consumption of treatment plants by over 60 percent.

A newly identified strain of bacteria that can simultaneously remove both nitrogen and phosphorus from sewage could make wastewater treatment simpler, cheaper and greener.

Called SND5, the bacteria also circumvents the problem of nitrous oxide gas release by converting ammonia into harmless nitrogen gas instead. The unique strain was discovered in a wastewater treatment plant in Singapore. When the NUS research team was carrying out routine monitoring, they observed an unexpected removal of nitrogen in the aerobic tanks, as well as better-than-expected phosphate removal despite the absence of known phosphorus-removing bacteria. The researchers then took wastewater samples from a tank, isolated various strains of bacteria and tested each of them for their ability to remove nitrogen and phosphorus. One of the strains, which appeared as sticky, creamy, light yellow blobs on the agar medium, surprised the researchers by its ability to remove both nitrogen and phosphorous from water. In fact, it did the job faster than the other microbes that were tested. The team sequenced its genes and compared them to related bacteria in a global database, establishing it to be a new strain. Compared to conventional nitrogen removal processes of nitrification and denitrification, the lower oxygen demand of the newly identified microbe could help reduce electricity consumption at wastewater treatment plants by about 62 percent.

Wang & He (2020) Complete Nitrogen Removal via Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification by a Novel Phosphate Accumulating Thauera sp. Strain SND5.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004313542030...

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0043135420308368

https://www.asianscientist.com/2020/12/in-the-lab/thauera-snd5-nitr...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 6, 2021 at 10:56am: SETI: new signal excites alien hunters – here’s how we could find out if it’s real

https://theconversation.com/seti-new-signal-excites-alien-hunters-h...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 6, 2021 at 10:08am: **Researchers uncover unequal effects of human activity on mammals

Silvia Pineda-Munoz et al. Mammal species occupy different climates following the expansion of human impacts, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1922859118

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-uncover-unequal-effects-human-mammals...

--

Uncovering how grasslands changed our climate

Grasslands are managed worldwide to support livestock production, while remaining natural or semi-natural ones provide critical services that contribute to the wellbeing of both people and the planet. Human activities are, however, causing grasslands to become a source of greenhouse gas emissions rather than a carbon sink. A new study published in Nature Communications reports how grasslands used by humans have changed our climate in recent centuries.

--

Heat treatment may make chemotherapy more effective

Heating up cancer cells while targeting them with chemotherapy is a highly effective way of killing them, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 6, 2021 at 9:46am: Wood-inspired cement with high strength and multifunctionality

Scientists in advanced materials, engineering and science in China developed bio-inspired new cement materials based on unidirectionally porous architectures to replicate the designs of natural wood. The resulting wood-like cement material showed higher strength at equal densities, alongside multifunctional properties for effective thermal insulation, water permeability and easy adjustment for water repulsion. The team simultaneously achieved high strength and multifunctionality to make the wood-like cement a promising new building material for wood-mimetic designs with high performance. They presented a simple fabrication procedure to promote better efficiency during mass production with applications suited across other material systems.

Porous cement-based materials possess low thermal conductivity for heat insulation, high sound-absorbing efficiency, outstanding permeability for air and water, while maintaining light weight and fire resistance. However, it still remains a key challenge to achieve the simultaneous enhancement of both mechanical and multifunctional properties including mechanical support, effective transport and good thermal insulation. It is therefore highly desirable to generate materials with enhanced mechanical and multifunctional properties to actively implement the design principles of natural wood. During the experiments, Wang et al. developed wood-like cement with unidirectionally porous architectures formed via a bidirectional freezing treatment method. The process allowed bridges to form between the constituents of the structure, the team then thawed the fully frozen bodies until the ice gradually melted and the cement hardened. The subsequent hydration process produced new minerals and gels within the cement, including hexagon-shaped calcium hydroxide, needle‐like ettringite and calcium-silicate-hydrate gels. The phases mainly originated at the cement lamellae and grew into their spacing during the thawing and curing process for better structural integrity with enhanced lamellae interconnections during porous cement formation. Using X-ray tomography (XRT), the team then revealed the formation of unidirectional micropores in the ice-templated cement.

Wang F. et al. Wood‐Inspired Cement with High Strength and Multifunctionality, Advanced Science, doi: doi.org/10.1002/advs.202000096

Monteiro P. et al. Towards sustainable concrete, Nature Materials, doi.org/10.1038/nmat4930

Roy D. M. New Strong Cement Materials: Chemically Bonded Ceramics, Science, 10.1126/science.235.4789.651

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-wood-inspired-cement-high-strength-mu...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 5, 2021 at 12:02pm: Transparent creatures

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 5, 2021 at 9:48am: Soon you might have to pay for your emails ….

No I am not kidding.

The world's most popular email program Gmail, is owned by Google, which has decided to follow in Apple's footsteps by getting more people hooked on monthly subscriptions (1).

As of June 1, Google will no longer allow users to upload their photos and videos to Google Photos for free. Google offers 15 GBs of free storage for photos, but that also includes Gmail and Google Drive backup. The ask is that you pay for storage, which starts at $1.99 monthly—but for just 100 GB of storage.

Microsoft and Yahoo still offer free email, but they're littered with ads, and you're encouraged to step up to the "premium" versions, which starts at $5 and $3.49 a month, respectively, to go ad-free. Yahoo is eliminating the ability to automatically forward emails from Yahoo Mail, beginning next week, unless you spend $34.99 yearly for the service.

Google's rates sound competitive for online storage, but it's not just photos and videos here. All those Gmail emails with attachments that you forgot to delete also count, as does anything else you do on Google. Google charges $9.99 monthly for 2 TBs, or $50 monthly for 10 TBs (2).

Footnotes:

1.

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-email-podcasts-tech.html?utm_so...

2.

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-google-photos-free-unlimited-st...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 5, 2021 at 9:38am: Scientists discover how mother-of-pearl self-assembles into a perfect structure

In a new study published in Nature Physics, researchers from the B CUBE—Center for Molecular Bioengineering at TU Dresden and European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble describe, for the first time, that structural defects in self-assembling nacre attract and cancel each other out, eventually leading to a perfect periodic structure.

Mollusks build shells to protect their soft tissues from predators. Nacre, also known as the mother of pearl, has an intricate, highly regular structure that makes it an incredibly strong material. Depending on the species, nacres can reach tens of centimeters in length. No matter the size, each nacre is built from materials deposited by a multitude of single cells at multiple different locations at the same time. How exactly this highly periodic and uniform structure emerges from the initial disorder was unknown until now.

Nacre formation starts uncoordinated with the cells depositing the material simultaneously at different locations. Not surprisingly, the early nacre structure is not very regular. At this point, it is full of defects.

Dynamics of topological defects and structural synchronization in a forming periodic tissue, Nature Physics (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-01069-z , www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-01069-z

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-scientists-mother-of-pearl-self-assem...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 5, 2021 at 9:34am: Study explains why patients with cancer spread to the liver have worse outcomes

Medical Researchers often noticed that when patients had cancer that spread to the liver, they fared poorly—more so than when cancer spread to other parts of the body. Not only that, but transformative immunotherapy treatments had little impact for these patients.

Uncovering the reason and a possible solution, a new study, published in Nature Medicine, finds that tumors in the liver siphon off critical immune cells, rendering immunotherapy ineffective. But coupling immunotherapy with radiotherapy to the liver in mice restored the immune cell function and led to better outcomes.

Liver metastasis restrains immunotherapy efficacy via macrophage-mediated T cell elimination, Nature Medicine (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-1131-x , www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1131-x

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-patients-cancer-liver-worse-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 5, 2021 at 9:29am: Brain cancer linked to tissue healing

The healing process that follows a brain injury could spur tumor growth when new cells generated to replace those lost to the injury are derailed by mutations, Toronto scientists have found. A brain injury can be anything from trauma to infection or stroke.

The data suggest that the right mutational change in particular cells in the brain could be modified by injury to give rise to a tumour.

The findings could lead to new therapy for glioblastoma patients who currently have limited treatment options with an average lifespan of 15 months after diagnosis.

The researchers applied the latest single-cell RNA sequencing and machine learning technologies to map the molecular make-up of the glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), which Dirks' team previously showed are responsible for tumor initiation and recurrence after treatment.

They found new subpopulations of GSCs which bear the molecular hallmarks of inflammation and which are comingled with other cancer stem cells inside patients' tumors. It suggests that some glioblastomas start to form when the normal tissue healing process, which generates new cells to replace those lost to injury, gets derailed by mutations, possibly even many years before patients become symptomatic.

Gradient of Developmental and Injury Response transcriptional states defines functional vulnerabilities underpinning glioblastoma heterogeneity, Nature Cancer (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s43018-020-00154-9 , www.nature.com/articles/s43018-020-00154-9

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-brain-cancer-linked-tissue.h...