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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2014 at 6:50am

Odors define us, yet the scientific zeitgeist is that we don’t communicate through pheromones—scents that influence behavior. A new study challenges that thinking, finding that scent can change whether we think someone is masculine or feminine.

Humans carry more secretion and sweat glands in their skin than any other primate. Yet 70% of people lack a vomeronasal organ, a crescent-shaped bundle of neurons at the base of each nostril that allows a variety of species—from reptiles to nonprimate mammals—to pick up on pheromones. (If you’ve ever seen your cat huff something, he’s using this organ.) Still, scientists have continued to hunt for examples of pheromones that humans might sense.

Two strong candidates are androstadienone (andro) and estratetraenol (estra). Men secrete andro in their sweat and semen, while estra is primarily found in female urine. Researchers have found hints that both trigger arousal—by improving moods and switching on the brain’s “urge” center, the hypothalamus—in the opposite sex. Yet to be true pheromones, these chemicals must shape how people view different genders.

That’s exactly what they do, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing report online today in Current Biology.
http://bcove.me/qupsica9
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/05/man-or-woman-trust-your-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2014 at 6:46am

Put science before emotion over radioactive waste
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/columnists/put-science-before-emoti...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2014 at 6:43am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2014 at 6:40am

Young blood may reverse ageing : Researchers think it may contain natural chemicals that turn back the clock to rejuvenate the ageing brain
Scientists have shown that an infusion of young blood can reverse signs of ageing. Although the experiment was conducted on laboratory mice, the next step could involve a study of elderly humans.
In the study, blood from three-month-old mice was repeatedly injected into 18-month-old mice near the end of their natural life span. The "vampire therapy" improved the performance of the elderly mice in memory and learning tasks. Structural, molecular and functional changes were also seen in their brains.

Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, the US team led by Dr Tony Wyss-Coray, from Stanford University, said: "Our data indicate that exposure of aged mice to young blood late in life is capable of rejuvenating synaptic plasticity and improving cognitive function.

"Future studies are warranted in aged humans and potentially those suffering from age-related neurodegenerative disorders."
Evidence was seen of new connections forming in the hippocampus, a brain region vital to memory and sensitive to ageing.

Ageing mice given eight infusions of young blood over three weeks improved their performance in mental tests. Infusions of blood from other elderly mice had no effect.

What caused the changes is still unknown, but it appears to involve activation of a protein called Creb in the hippocampus that helps regulate certain genes.

The scientists wrote: "One possibility is that introducing 'pro-youthful' factors from aged blood can reverse age-related impairments in the brain, and a second possibility is that abrogating pro-ageing factors from aged blood can counteract such impairments.These two possibilities are not mutually exclusive, warrant further investigation, and may each provide a successful strategy to combat the effects of ageing."

Dr Eric Karran, from the dementia charity Alzheimer's Research UK, described the results as "interesting", but added that the study "does not investigate the type of cognitive impairment that is seen in Alzheimer's disease".

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2014 at 5:48am

MERS is a respiratory virus, known initially as novel coronavirus (CoV). Until now, it has largely been confined to the Middle East, having been first discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012. One possibility is that camel meat or raw camel milk might be one route of transmission. fruit bats are increasingly thought to be the reservoir for MERS—specifically, the Egyptian tomb bat.
SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus), which is a cousin to MERS, caused a major worldwide epidemic in 2003, infecting more than 8000 and killing almost 10%. SARS caused major infections in China, Hong Kong and Toronto, among others, before being contained by unprecedented multinational cooperation and careful infection control, within only about a year. SARS was linked to live animal markets, and specifically to civets.

Animals are often the hidden source of outbreaks, known as zoonoses.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 4, 2014 at 7:50am

Is Lead Poisoning one of the reasons for the Down fall of Ancient Rome?
It is now universally accepted that utilization of lead for domestic purposes and water distribution presents a major health hazard. The ancient Roman world was unaware of these risks. How far the gigantic network of lead pipes used in ancient Rome compromised public health in the city is unknown. Lead isotopes in sediments from the harbor of Imperial Rome register the presence of a strong anthropogenic component during the beginning of the Common Era and the Early Middle Ages. They demonstrate that the lead pipes of the water distribution system increased Pb contents in drinking water of the capital city by up to two orders of magnitude over the natural background. The Pb isotope record shows that the discontinuities in the pollution of the Tiber by lead are intimately entwined with the major issues affecting Late Antique Rome and its water distribution system.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/16/1400097111

http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2014/04/scienceshot-did-lead...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 4, 2014 at 7:16am

How Ancient Egyptians Moved Massive Pyramid Stones
The ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids may have been able to move massive stone blocks across the desert by wetting the sand in front of a contraption built to pull the heavy objects, according to a new study.

Physicists at the University of Amsterdam investigated the forces needed to pull weighty objects on a giant sled over desert sand, and discovered that dampening the sand in front of the primitive device reduces friction on the sled, making it easier to operate. The findings help answer one of the most enduring historical mysteries: how the Egyptians were able to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of constructing the famous pyramids.

To make their discovery, the researchers picked up on clues from the ancient Egyptians themselves. A wall painting discovered in the ancient tomb of Djehutihotep, which dates back to about 1900 B.C., depicts 172 men hauling an immense statue using ropes attached to a sledge. In the drawing, a person can be seen standing on the front of the sledge, pouring water over the sand, said study lead author Daniel Bonn, a physics professor at the University of Amsterdam.
"Egyptologists thought it was a purely ceremonial act," Bonn told Live Science. "The question was: Why did they do it?"

Bonn and his colleagues constructed miniature sleds and experimented with pulling heavy objects through trays of sand.

When the researchers dragged the sleds over dry sand, they noticed clumps would build up in front of the contraptions, requiring more force to pull them across.

Adding water to the sand, however, increased its stiffness, and the sleds were able to glide more easily across the surface. This is because droplets of water create bridges between the grains of sand, which helps them stick together, the scientists said. It is also the same reason why using wet sand to build a sandcastle is easier than using dry sand, Bonn said.

But, there is a delicate balance, the researchers found.

"If you use dry sand, it won't work as well, but if the sand is too wet, it won't work either," Bonn said."There's an optimum stiffness."

The study, published April 29 in the journal Physical Review Letters, may explain how the ancient Egyptians constructed the pyramids.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 4, 2014 at 7:12am

How bacteria exploit proteins to trigger potentially lethal infections
New research by scientists at the University of York sheds light on how bacteria exploit human proteins during infections. A research team led by Professor Jennifer Potts, a British Heart Foundation Senior Research Fellow in York's Department of Biology, studied how Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause life-threatening human infections, attach to two proteins fibronectin and fibrinogen found in human blood.

The human proteins play important roles in clot formation and wound healing and the bacteria appear to exploit them during the process of infection.
- Journal of Biological Chemistry

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 4, 2014 at 7:10am

New Super-Heavy Element 117 Confirmed by Scientists

Atoms of a new super-heavy element — the as-yet-unnamed element 117 — have reportedly been created by scientists in Germany, moving it closer to being officially recognized as part of the standard periodic table.

Researchers at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, an accelerator laboratory located in Darmstadt, Germany, say they have created and observed several atoms of element 117, which is temporarily named ununseptium.

Element 117 — so-called because it is an atom with 117 protons in its nucleus — was previously one of the missing items on the periodic table of elements. These super-heavy elements, which include all the elements beyond atomic number 104, are not found naturally on Earth, and thus have to be created synthetically within a laboratory.
http://www.livescience.com/45289-superheavy-element-117-confirmed.html

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 3, 2014 at 5:39am

Elephant Seals Reveal Anti-Inflammatory Secrets of Carbon Monoxide
The gas appears to protect the deep-diving seals from cell damage after periods of restricted blood flow
Blood samples from elephant seals may help to explain how carbon monoxide — a poison — can stop inflammation, researchers have found.

The seals routinely dive to depths of 500 metres and stay underwater for 25 minutes at a time, surfacing for just a few minutes between plunges1. During these forays, blood flow to nonessential tissues and organs is restricted, but the tissues are not damaged. Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, suggest that high levels of carbon monoxide in the seals' blood has a protective effect — echoing laboratory research on rats and mice that has found the gas has anti-inflammatory properties and can lead to better outcomes after organ transplant.
http://www.nature.com/news/deep-diving-seals-reveal-secrets-of-carb...

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