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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2014 at 9:05am

Some good news: relieved to hear this. As long as religion doesn't clash with science and hinder its progress, scientists will have open minds about considering co-existing with religion.

Pope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are right and God isn't 'a magician with a magic wand'

The theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real and God is not “a magician with a magic wand”, Pope Francis has declared.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-declare...

Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope made comments which experts said put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they “require it”.

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” Francis said.

He added: “He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfilment.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2014 at 9:47am

Ecologist Mark Browne knew he’d found something big when, after months of tediously examining sediment along shorelines around the world, he noticed something no one had predicted: fibers. Everywhere. They were tiny and synthetic and he was finding them in the greatest concentration near sewage outflows. In other words, they were coming from us.

In fact, 85% of the human-made material found on the shoreline were microfibers, and matched the types of material, such as nylon and acrylic, used in clothing.

It is not news that microplastic – which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines as plastic fragments 5mm or smaller – is ubiquitous in all five major ocean gyres. And numerous studies have shown that small organisms readily ingest microplastics, introducing toxic pollutants to the food chain.

But Browne’s 2011 paper announcing his findings marked a milestone, according to Abigail Barrows, an independent marine research scientist based in Stonington, Maine, who has helped to check for plastic in more than 150 one-liter water samples collected around the world. “He’s fantastic – very well respected” among marine science researchers, says Barrows. “He is a pioneer in microplastics research.”
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es201811s

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2014 at 9:45am

Algal virus found in humans, slows brain activity
It’s not such a stretch to think that humans can catch the Ebola virus from monkeys and the flu virus from pigs. After all, they are all mammals with fundamentally similar physiologies. But now researchers have discovered that even a virus found in the lowly algae can make mammals its home. The invader doesn’t make people or mice sick, but it does seem to slow specific brain activities.

The virus, called ATCV-1, showed up in human brain tissue several years ago, but at the time researchers could not be sure whether it had entered the tissue before or after the people died. Then, it showed up again in a survey of microbes and viruses in the throats of people with psychiatric disease. Pediatric infectious disease expert Robert Yolken from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and his colleagues were trying to see if pathogens play a role in these conditions. At first, they didn't know what ATCV-1 was, but a database search revealed its identity as a virus that typically infects a species of green algae found in lakes and rivers.
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/10/algal-virus-found-humans...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2014 at 7:06am

People with implants such as pacemakers, cochlear implants and spinal cord pain relief implants, can’t go near an MRI machine due to its magnetic force. Not only does it risk pulling their implants out, it also has 10 times the radio frequency of a microwave oven, and can cook tissue surrounding any devices containing an electrode in the body.

However, MRIs are an important part of diagnosing diseases such as cancer, so right now scientists are urgently trying to develop devices that will help doctors to better treat patients with implants. That’s where this human fish tank, named the phantom case, comes in.
Researchers at the University of Waikato in New Zealand have created a human-shaped fish tank that’s filled with jelly, and they’re sticking implants into it in order to create medical devices that can travel through MRI machines.
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/news-events/media/2014/10human-replicant-a...

“So many people are fitted with medical equipment such as spinal cord, deep brain and cochlear implants and pacemakers, but if you have one of these devices, you can’t go into an MRI machine because of the electromagnetic and magnetic risks,” said engineering professor Jonathan Scott from the University of Waikato in a press release. “Our goal is to find a non-magnetic material for the electrode that that won’t be affected by the [radio frequency] fields.”

Scott became involved in the project after hearing about recipients of spinal cord implants who couldn’t undergo potentially life-saving MRI scans.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2014 at 7:02am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 28, 2014 at 6:54am

Erratic rain patterns can change the taste of your tea
You may have noticed that sometimes your brew tastes ‘different’. According to a new study, this is because shifting rain patterns affect key compounds in tea that determine its flavour.
There are a number of major antioxidant compounds found in tea leaves that influence its taste and health properties. The concentration of secondary metabolites, which are the compounds in tea that determine its quality and health benefits, can be up to 50 percent lower following an extreme monsoon, as suggested in a study by researchers at Montana State University in the US.

The results, which are published in PLOS ONE, are based on a chemical analysis of samples of Camellia sinensis - a plant from which many popular teas, such as green tea, oolong, and black tea, are harvested. Each of these teas are processed differently to attain varying levels of oxygen, which give them their unique flavour.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-10/msu-nss102214.php

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 27, 2014 at 5:55am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 27, 2014 at 5:49am

Scientists have opened the blood-brain barrier for the first time
For the first time in humans, researchers have managed to penetrate the brain’s protector, meaning that doctors will be able to deliver drugs to previously inaccessible parts of the brain.
The blood-brain barrier is a network of cells that separates the brain from the rest of the body, preventing harmful toxins and chemicals in the blood stream from entering the brain tissue. This blocking mechanism makes it very difficult to deliver drugs to the brain for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders and cancer.

This protective barrier has been opened in animals but never in humans, until now. A medical start-up company CarThera in France, have opened and closed the barrier on demand with the help of an ultrasound brain implant and an injection of microbubbles.

The findings were presented last week at the Focused Ultrasound symposium in the US by Michael Canney, a neuroscientist at CarThera. The study involved the treatment of glioblastoma - the most aggressive form of brain cancer - in four patients. Patients with glioblastoma usually need surgery to remove the tumour, after which they are given chemotherapy drugs to destroy any remaining cancerous cells. The blood-brain barrier becomes leaky when a tumour is present, so a small amount of the drugs are able to enter the brain.
To penetrate the barrier, the surgeons first inserted a tiny ultrasound brain implant into the patients’ skulls. They then injected microbubbles to counter the ultrasound imaging. When the ultrasound’s pulses collided with the bubbles, it caused them to vibrate, pushing apart the cells of the blood-brain barrier. To confirm the observations, an MRI scan showed that the microbubbles were effectively crossing the blood-brain barrier.
The team estimate that the novel approach keeps the barrier open for up to six hours, allowing enough time to deliver high dosages of the drugs.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 25, 2014 at 11:02am

Cancer cells can ‘infect’ normal neighbours

Tiny RNAs shed by tumours can transform healthy cells into cancerous ones.
When a cancer cell throws out its trash, it can turn healthy neighbours into fellow tumour cells, researchers have found.

Many cells, including cancerous ones, shed thousands of tiny membrane-bound vesicles called exosomes that contain proteins, DNA and RNA. The process is thought to be a waste-management system, but it may also facilitate cell-to-cell communication: some of these vesicles can then merge with other cells and dump their payload inside.

In a study published online on 23 October in Cancer Cell1, researchers show that when human breast-cancer exosomes can cause tumours when mixed with normal cells then injected into mice. The results could pave the way to finding markers to monitor the progression of cancer, and possibly even point to targets for therapies.
http://www.nature.com/news/cancer-cells-can-infect-normal-neighbour...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 25, 2014 at 10:48am

Ten Species That Are Evolving Due to the Changing Climate
From tropical corals to tawny owls, some species are already being pushed to evolve—but adaptation doesn’t guarantee survival.

Table Corals, Thyme, Pink Salmon , Tawny Owls, Pitcher plant mosquitoes, Banded snails, Sockeye Salmon, Red squirrels, Fruit flies, and Great Tits.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ten-species-are-evolvi...

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