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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2014 at 7:23am

MIT Engineers Use Bacterial Biofilms To Create Lifelike Materials
drawing inspiration from the way in which minerals, living cells and other substances combine to form bone, a team of MIT engineers have created a type of “living material” out of bacterial cells, according to research appearing in Sunday’s edition of the journal Nature Materials.

Lead author Allen Chen, an MIT-Harvard MD-PhD student, and his colleagues coaxed those cells to produce biofilms capable of incorporating nonliving materials such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots. They combined the ability of living cells to respond to their environments and produce complex biological molecules with the benefits of nonliving materials, such as adding functions like electrical conductivity or light emissions.

- Nature

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 26, 2014 at 7:20am

Scientists Working On Facial Reconstruction Method Using Genetic Material
Modeling 3D Facial Shape from DNA
Human facial diversity is substantial, complex, and largely scientifically unexplained. We used spatially dense quasi-landmarks to measure face shape in population samples with mixed West African and European ancestry from three locations (United States, Brazil, and Cape Verde). Using bootstrapped response-based imputation modeling (BRIM), we uncover the relationships between facial variation and the effects of sex, genomic ancestry, and a subset of craniofacial candidate genes. The facial effects of these variables are summarized as response-based imputed predictor (RIP) variables, which are validated using self-reported sex, genomic ancestry, and observer-based facial ratings (femininity and proportional ancestry) and judgments (sex and population group). By jointly modeling sex, genomic ancestry, and genotype, the independent effects of particular alleles on facial features can be uncovered. Results on a set of 20 genes showing significant effects on facial features provide support for this approach as a novel means to identify genes affecting normal-range facial features and for approximating the appearance of a face from genetic markers.
http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal....

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 25, 2014 at 7:23am

Children born to older fathers are not just at an increased risk of autism and some other diseases but are also more likely to be ugly, scientists say. Previous studies have shown that extra-genetic mutations that build up in older men's genes can raise their children's risk of autism, schizophrenia and other diseases. Now researchers say the impact is so strong that it also affects the appearance of those who have older fathers.

"We found a significant negative effect between paternal age and people's facial attractiveness," said Martin Fieder, an anthropologist at Vienna University and one of the research team leaders. "The age of the father at conception is not only a determinant of the risk for certain diseases but also predicts facial attractiveness," Fieder said.

In the study, a group of six men and six women was shown photographs of 4,018 men and 4,416 women, mostly aged 18-20, and asked to rate their attractiveness. The researchers found that subjects with older fathers tended to be consistently rated less attractive than those with younger fathers.
Older dads more likely to have uglier children
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Older-dads-more-lik...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 25, 2014 at 7:12am

Stick filters out ‘99 per cent’ of bacteria from water

Scientists are developing a system to filter out bacteria using plant sticks

A small stick cleans water at a rate sufficient for one person’s drinking needs

Others say the system still needs to pass WHO standards for drinking water
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States are working with their counterparts in developing countries to produce an “economical and efficient” means of filtering out bacteria from water using plant xylem that normally transports water and nutrients from the soil.

The novel technology could provide a solution to the burden of water-borne diseases in East Asia and the Pacific where about 180 million people lack access to safe water supply, according to the UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund).
Water Filtration Using Plant Xylem
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone....

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 24, 2014 at 6:13am

DNA left at a crime scene could in future be used to build up a picture of an offender’s face, scientists believe.
Researches are now saying the day is not very far away when they will be able to create a "photo" of the perpetrator from the DNA that he leaves behind. Researchers are already able to tell what a crime suspect might look like from looking at his DNA, including his racial ancestry and the colour of his hair.
That started in 2012, when Manfred Kayser from the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Holland, began looking for genes that affected the relative positions of nine facial "landmarks", including the tip of the nose and the middle of each eyeball. He found five genetic variants which had discernable effects on facial shape.

Furthering Kayser's work, population geneticist Mark Shriver of Pennsylvania State University and imaging specialist Peter Claes of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium used a stereoscopic camera to take 3D pictures of almost 600 volunteers with mixed European and West African ancestry. The scientists reasoned that because people from Europe and Africa tend to have differently shaped faces, studying people with mixed ancestry pushed up their chances of finding genetic variants that affected facial structure.

Shriver and Claes found 24 variants in 20 genes that seemed to predict what a face would look like.

The researches however say their reconstructions are not yet ready for routine use by crime labs. But that said, Shriver is already working with police to see if he can help find the man believed to be responsible for two cases of serial rape in Pennsylvania.
- Agencies

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 24, 2014 at 5:28am

NASA discovers Mars gully channel formed just three years ago

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has just revealed to the world an enormous new gully channel cutting across the Martian landscape. But this isn’t like the other ancient channels found on Mars, where liquid water once flowed. It’s a gully that wasn’t there 3 years ago.

Using the powerful High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, the orbiter snapped the area in both 2010 and in 2013. Before-and-after pictures record the appearance of an entirely new gully located on a crater-wall slope in Mars’ southern highlands, NASA said in a news release. Scientists think it likely was formed by carbon-dioxide frost.

According to NASA, gully or ravine landforms are common on the Red Planet, especially in its southern highlands.

The images show that material flowing down from an alcove at the head of a gully broke out of an older route and eroded a new channel, NASA explains. The dates on the images are more than a full Martian year apart, so the observations didn’t pin down the Martian season of the activity at the site.

Before-and-after HiRISE photos of similar activity at other sites show that this type of activity generally occurs in the winter, in temperatures so cold that carbon dioxide, rather than water, is the likely to play a key role, the space agency said.

http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/nasas-mars-orbiter-finds-gully-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 24, 2014 at 5:24am

Optical Origins of Opposing Facial Expression Actions
Darwin theorized that emotional expressions originated as opposing functional adaptations for the expresser, not as distinct categories of social signals. Given that two thirds of the eye’s refractive power comes from the cornea, we examined whether opposing expressive behaviors that widen the eyes (e.g., fear) or narrow the eyes (e.g., disgust) may have served as an optical trade-off, enhancing either sensitivity or acuity, thereby promoting stimulus localization (“where”) or stimulus discrimination (“what”), respectively. An optical model based on eye apertures of posed fear and disgust expressions supported this functional trade-off. We then tested the model using standardized optometric measures of sensitivity and acuity. We demonstrated that eye widening enhanced stimulus detection, whereas eye narrowing enhanced discrimination, each at the expense of the other. Opposing expressive actions around the eye may thus reflect origins in an optical principle, shaping visual encoding at its earliest stage—how light is cast onto the retina.
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/01/24/0956797613514451.ab...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 21, 2014 at 8:55am

Earth's inner radiation belt displays a persistent zebra striped pattern generated by our planet's rotation, Nasa's twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft have found.

The high-energy electrons in the inner radiation belt display a persistent pattern that resembles slanted zebra stripes, researchers said.

Surprisingly, this structure is produced by the slow rotation of Earth, previously considered incapable of affecting the motion of radiation belt particles, which have velocities approaching the speed of light.
Because of the tilt in Earth's magnetic field axis, the planet's rotation generates an oscillating, weak electric field that permeates through the entire inner radiation belt.
he global oscillations slowly stretch and fold the fluid, much like taffy is stretched and folded in a candy store machine.

The stretching and folding process results in the striped pattern observed across the entire inner belt, extending from above Earth's atmosphere, about 800km above the planet's surface up to roughly 13,000km.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 21, 2014 at 8:33am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 20, 2014 at 8:57am

Ghee, butter and cheese not tied to heart disease? Experts: No Proof That Saturated Fat Is Unhealthy ( Take this with a pinch of salt! - K) Yes, your genes will definitely determine whether you are susceptible or not. You cannot put all the people in one bracket to come to a conclusion! Flawed study! The results are unclear!

A dollop of ghee or butter in your diet does not cause as much harm to your heart as it was believed till now. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Heart Foundation have found there is actually no evidence that confirms changing the type of fat you eat from “bad” saturated to “healthier” polyunsaturated cuts heart risk.
The researchers analysed data from 72 unique studies with over 600,000 participants from 18 nations and found total saturated fatty acid, whether measured in the diet or in the bloodstream as a biomarker, was not associated with coronary disease risk in the observational studies. Similarly, when analysing the studies that involved assessments of the consumption of total monounsaturated fatty acids, long-chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, there were no significant associations between consumption and cardiovascular risk.
Saturated fat is the kind of fat found in butter, biscuits, red meat, sausages and bacon and cheese and cream. There has been a big drive to get more people eating unsaturated fats, such as olive and sunflower oils, and other non-animal fats instead. But the latest study raises questions about the current guidelines that generally restrict the consumption of saturated fats and encourage consumption of polyunsaturated fats to prevent heart disease.
“These are interesting results that potentially stimulate new lines of scientific inquiry and encourage careful reappraisal of our current nutritional guidelines,” said Dr Rajiv Chowdhury, lead author of the research at the University of Cambridge. “Cardiovascular disease, in which the principal manifestation is coronary heart disease, remains the single leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In 2008, more than 17 million people died from a cardiovascular cause globally. With so many affected by this illness, it is critical to have appropriate prevention guidelines which are informed by the best available scientific evidence.”
The research collaboration led by the University of Cambridge analysed existing cohort studies and randomised trials on coronary risk and fatty acid intake. They showed that current evidence does not support guidelines which restrict the consumption of saturated fats in order to prevent heart disease. The researchers also found insufficient support for guidelines which advocate the high consumption of polyunsaturated fats (such as omega 3 and omega 6) to reduce the risk of coronary disease.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

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