Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication
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 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-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?
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
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
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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Rising temperatures could boost toxic mercury levels in fish by up to seven times the current rates, say Swedish researchers.
In experiments, they found that extra rainfall drives up the amount of organic material flowing into the seas.
This alters the food chain, adding another layer of complex organisms which boosts the concentrations of mercury up the line. The study has been published in the journal, Science Advances.
A joint statement issued by the Australian Academy of Sciences, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts, Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Canada, Caribbean Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, French Academy of Sciences, German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina, Indian National Science Academy, Indonesian Academy of Sciences, Royal Irish Academy, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy), Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Turkish Academy of Sciences, and Royal Society (UK).
National academies of sciences from around the world have published formal statements and declarations acknowledging the state of climate science, the fact that climate is changing, the compelling evidence that humans are responsible, and the need to debate and implement strategies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Not a single national science academy disputes or denies the scientific consensus around human-caused climate change. A few examples of joint academy statements since 2000 on climate are listed here. Many national academies have, in addition, published their own reports and studies on climate issues.
Doomsday clock advanced!
It's now 2 ½ minutes to “midnight,” according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which warned Thursday that the end of humanity may be near.
The group behind the famed Doomsday Clock announced at a news conference that it was adjusting the countdown to the End of it All by moving the hands 30 seconds closer to midnight — the closest the clock has been to Doomsday since 1953, after the United States tested its first thermonuclear device, followed months later by the Soviet Union's hydrogen bomb test.
In announcing that the Doomsday Clock was moving 30 seconds closer to the end of humanity, the group noted that in 2016, “the global security landscape darkened as the international community failed to come effectively to grips with humanity’s most pressing existential threats, nuclear weapons and climate change.”
But the organization also cited the election of President Trump in changing the symbolic clock.
The scientists' message: Climate change exists...there are no alternative facts here.
“This already-threatening world situation was the backdrop for a rise in strident nationalism worldwide in 2016, including in a US presidential campaign during which the eventual victor, Donald Trump, made disturbing comments about the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons and expressed disbelief in the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change.”
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have announced the development of the first stable semisynthetic organism. Building on their 2014 study in which they synthesized a DNA base pair, the researchers created a new bacterium that uses the four natural bases (called A, T, C and G), which every living organism possesses, but that also holds as a pair two synthetic bases called X and Y in its genetic code.
TSRI Professor Floyd Romesberg and his colleagues have now shown that their single-celled organism can hold on indefinitely to the synthetic base pair as it divides. Their research was published January 23, 2017, online ahead of print in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The demonstration will be in opposition to the administration’s plans to delete climate change data and gag scientists
Scientists are going to march on the White House to try and force Donald Trump to recognise climate change.
Following the Women’s Marches held around the world on the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration – and widely thought to be the biggest mobilisation in the history of the US – various groups are now organising a “March for Science”. Tens of thousands of people have indicated that they will attend the protest, which is set to happen both in Washington DC and across the United States.
The event will not be restricted specifically to scientists but to “anyone who values empirical science”, and not specifically to professional scientists.
The group behind it intends to announce a date and a platform as soon as it can, and is expected to do so before the end of the month.
Scientists have discovered 'smart cancer cells' - and realized why a type of breast cancer drug stops working in some patients. The early-stage findings, from an international team led by Imperial College London and the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, reveal some breast tumours evolve to make their own 'fuel supply', rendering treatments powerless.
The team, whose findings are published in the journal Nature Genetics, hope their work will increase treatment options for patients whose cancer has returned.
Around 70 per cent of breast cancers are so-called ER positive, which means the cancer cells contain a receptor for the hormone oestrogen. It is this hormone that fuels the tumours.
Patients with this type of cancer are offered one of two drugs after surgery to prevent the cancer coming back.
One of these drugs, called tamoxifen, prevents oestrogen from binding to DNA in cancer cells, while the second type of treatment, called aromatase inhibitors, prevents residual oestrogen from being produced in other tissues.
However both tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors stop working in around one in three patients.
Scientists assumed the tumours developed resistance in some way.
in the latest study, the team discovered that in one in four patients taking aromatase inhibitors, the tumours had increased production of aromatase in the cancer cells. The tumours appear to do this by increasing the number of aromatase genes, in a process called amplification.
This allowed the cancer cells to effectively make their own oestrogen, without relying on external sources of the hormone, explained Dr Luca Magnani, co-lead author of the research from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial: “For the first time we have seen how breast cancer tumours become resistant to aromatase inhibitors. The treatments work by cutting off the tumour’s fuel supply – oestrogen – but the cancer adapts to this by making its own fuel supply.”
The researchers also discovered that tumours become resistant in different ways, depending on whether tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors are used.
Almost none of the tumours in patients taking tamoxifen had increased production of aromatase to boost their oestrogen supply - and the team are now planning further studies into how cancer cells become resistant to tamoxifen.
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3773.html?WT...
Cities eating into world’s farm lands
By 2030 the world could lose 30 million hectares of farm lands to cities
Asia and Africa accounts for 80 per cent of the losses with China as worst hit
Forest lands will likely be converted to replace the losses in agricultural lands
By 2030, the world could lose millions of fertile agricultural lands to expanding cities with Asia and Africa accounting for 80 per cent of the total farm losses, a study finds.
Analysing satellite data on croplands and their productivity using year 2000 as the reference point and comparing it with urban area projections for 2030, international researchers found that 30 million hectares of crop lands will be lost to growing cities – an area equivalent to the Philippines. Of this, Asia and Africa will lose 24 million hectares of prime agricultural land.
With cities becoming hubs of economic activity, large-scale changes are expected. However, the authors say this is the first study to quantify the effect of urbanisation on crop lands at global, continental, and country levels. The study was carried out by researchers from Austria, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, and United States.
The croplands that are going to disappear by 2030 have productivity that is almost twice the global average and accounted for about 3—4 per cent of global crop production in 2000.
China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the US top countries set to lose cropland to urbanisation. The productivity of rice, wheat, maize, and soybean are most likely to be affected, though there are significant variations at regional levels.
Scientists are considering psychological fake news vaccine
The appearance of fake news on websites and social media has inspired scientists to develop a "vaccine" to immunise people against the problem.
A University of Cambridge study devised psychological tools to target fact distortion.
Researchers suggest "pre-emptively exposing" readers to a small "dose" of the misinformation can help organisations cancel out bogus claims.
Stories on the US election and Syria are among those to have caused concern.
"Misinformation can be sticky, spreading and replicating like a virus," said the University of Cambridge study's lead author Dr Sander van der Linden.
"The idea is to provide a cognitive repertoire that helps build up resistance to misinformation, so the next time people come across it they are less susceptible."
The study, published in the journal Global Challenges, was conducted as a disguised experiment.
More than 2,000 US residents were presented with two claims about global warming.
The researchers say when presented consecutively, the influence well-established facts had on people were cancelled out by bogus claims made by campaigners.
But when information was combined with misinformation, in the form of a warning, the fake news had less resonance.
Ants can navigate over long distances between their nest and food sites using visual cues. Recent studies show that this capacity is undiminished when walking backward while dragging a heavy food item. This challenges the idea that ants use egocentric visual memories of the scene for guidance. Can ants use their visual memories of the terrestrial cues when going backward? Recent research results suggest that ants do not adjust their direction of travel based on the perceived scene while going backward. Instead, they maintain a straight direction using their celestial compass. This direction can be dictated by their path integrator but can also be set using terrestrial visual cues after a forward peek. If the food item is too heavy to enable body rotations, ants moving backward drop their food on occasion, rotate and walk a few steps forward, return to the food, and drag it backward in a now-corrected direction defined by terrestrial cues. Furthermore, ants can maintain their direction of travel independently of their body orientation. It thus appears that egocentric retinal alignment is required for visual scene recognition, but ants can translate this acquired directional information into a holonomic frame of reference, which enables them to decouple their travel direction from their body orientation and hence navigate backward. This reveals substantial flexibility and communication between different types of navigational information: from terrestrial to celestial cues and from egocentric to holonomic directional memories.
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)31466-X
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