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'
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Latest Activity: 5 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
Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Wednesday. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Q: Isaac Newton was a “natural philosopher,” not known in his time as a “scientist,” yet is now seen as one of the greatest scientists. There was a split between natural science and the humanities…Continue
Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Monday. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Health care providers and patients have traditionally thought that infections patients get while in the hospital are caused by superbugs…Continue
Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa Apr 13. 1 Reply 0 Likes
A person asked me just now why we treat people who have strangebeliefs as inferior in mental health.And this 's my reply to him:Inferior in mental health? No, we don't think so.But let me explain a…Continue
Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa Apr 13. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Q: RI machines use powerful magnets to create detailed images of the body. But some people with certain medical implants cannot undergo MRI scans. Why is this, and what does it tell us about the…Continue
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What role do the stages of sleep play in forming memories?
We've known for a long time that useful learning happens during sleep. You encode new experiences while you're awake, you go to sleep, and when you wake up your memory has somehow been transformed.
Yet precisely how new experiences get processed during sleep has remained mostly a mystery. Using a neural network computational model they built, researchers now have new insight into the process.
In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that as the brain cycles through slow-wave and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, which happens about five times a night, the hippocampus teaches the neocortex what it learned, transforming novel, fleeting information into enduring memory. This is not just a model of learning in local circuits in the brain. It's how one brain region can teach another brain region during sleep, a time when there is no guidance from the external world.
The team ran several sleep simulations using a brain-inspired learning algorithm they built. The simulations revealed that during slow-wave sleep, the brain mostly revisits recent incidents and data, guided by the hippocampus, and during REM sleep, it mostly reruns what happened previously, guided by memory storage in the neocortical regions. As the two brain regions connect during non-REM sleep, that's when the hippocampus is actually teaching the neocortex. Then, during the REM phase, the neocortex reactivates and can replay what it already knows, solidifying the data's hold in long-term memory.
When the neocortex doesn't have a chance to replay its own information, we see that the information there gets overwritten. Scientists think you need to have alternating REM and non-REM sleep for strong memory formation to occur.
This needs to be tested further to confirm, though.
Singh, Dhairyya et al, A model of autonomous interactions between hippocampus and neocortex driving sleep-dependent memory consolidation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2123432119. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2123432119
Researchers at Europe's science lab CERN, who regularly use particle physics to challenge our understanding of the universe, are also applying their craft to upend the limits to cancer treatment.
The physicists here are working with giant particle accelerators in search of ways to expand the reach of cancer radiation therapy, and take on hard-to-reach tumors that would otherwise have been fatal.
In one CERN lab, called CLEAR, the research is aimed at creating very high energy beams of electrons – the negatively charged particles in the atom – that eventually could help to combat cancerous cells more effectively. They are researching a "technology to accelerate electrons to the energies that are needed to treat deep-seated tumors, which is above 100 million electron volts" (MeV)
The idea is to use these very high-energy electrons (VHEE) in combination with a new and promising treatment method called FLASH.
This method entails delivering the radiation dose in a few hundred milliseconds, instead of minutes as is the current approach.
This has been shown to have the same destructive effect on the targeted tumor but causes far less damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. The effect of the brief but intense FLASH treatment is to "reduce the toxicity to healthy tissue while still properly damaging cancer cells".
At such low energy though, the beams cannot penetrate deeply, meaning the highly-effective treatment has so far only been used on superficial tumors, found with skin cancer.
But the CERN physicists are now collaborating with the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) to build a machine for FLASH delivery that can accelerate electrons to 100 to 200 MeV, making it possible to use the method for much more hard-to-reach tumors.
source: new agencies
Breaking the sound barriers without the sonic boom
Seventy-five years ago, a sonic boom thundered for the first time over the high desert of California.
It was Oct. 14, 1947, and the joint X-1 team of NACA, Air Force (newly formed that year), and Bell engineers and pilots had broken the sound barrier —an imaginary wall in the sky some said was impossible to penetrate.
Now, aeronautical innovators with NASA's Quesst mission are poised to break the sound barrier again, only this time in a very different way that could make it possible for all of us to one day travel by air just as fast as any of the X-1 pilots who flew supersonic. With X-59.
Through Quesst, NASA plans to demonstrate the X-59 can fly faster than sound without generating the typically loud sonic booms.
Researchers gained a greater understanding of how aircraft create sonic booms and turned their attention the idea of lowering the intensity of the sonic booms by manipulating the shape of the airplane.
That idea was tested in flight by NASA's Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration program during 2003–2004. It used a Northrop F-5E jet whose fuselage was modified to give it a shape designed to produce quieter sonic booms.
And it worked now. First flight of the X-59 is targeted for early 2023.
Source: NASA
Why NASA is trying to crash land on Mars
Like a car’s crumple zone, the experimental SHIELD lander is designed to absorb a hard impact.
NASA has successfully touched down on Mars nine times, relying on cutting-edge parachutes, massive airbags, and jetpacks to set spacecraft safely on the surface. Now engineers are testing whether or not the easiest way to get to the Martian surface is to crash.
Rather than slow a spacecraft’s high-speed descent, an experimental lander design called SHIELD (Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device) would use an accordion-like, collapsible base that acts like the crumple zone of a car and absorbs the energy of a hard impact.
The new design could drastically reduce the cost of landing on Mars by simplifying the harrowing entry, descent, and landing process and expanding options for possible landing sites.
https://researchnews.cc/news/15986/Why-NASA-is-trying-to-crash-land...
A team of researchers has found that an increase in thermogenesis in fat cells during active periods of the daily circadian rhythm can limit weight gain in mice.
Prior research has shown that overeating during the inactive phase of the circadian rhythm in mice and humans can lead to higher levels of weight gain. Likewise, adhering to time-restricted feeding (TRF) can lead to less weight gain. But until now, why this happens has not been fully understood. To learn more about the effects of a high-fat diet on mice over phases of the circadian rhythm, the researchers fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet. One group was fed during their active phase (when it was dark out) and the other was fed during their inactive phase (when it was light out.) They then took a close look at what was occurring in the fat cells of both groups. The researchers found that the mice fed during their inactive phase gained more weight, as expected. But they also learned more about the factors behind such a weight gain. One of the biggest was thermogenesis, the process by which heat is generated in the body. They found that an increase in thermogenesis in fat cells during the active phase of the circadian rhythm (due to a boost in creatine in fat cells) was at least partly responsible for restricting weight gain. They also found that a zinc finger protein can block the genes responsible for producing the chemicals that regulate thermogenesis by controlling production of adenosine triphosphate. They conclude that their work has helped to explain why TRF can play such an important role in weight management.
Chelsea Hepler et al, Time-restricted feeding mitigates obesity through adipocyte thermogenesis, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abl8007
Damien Lagarde et al, The timing of eating controls energy use, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.ade6720
Disruptions in the gut microbiome have been linked to lower survival rates for people who have undergone kidney and liver transplants, a finding that highlights the critical importance of the vast and complex microbial communities that dwell within us.
Scientists studied faecal samples from more than 1,000 recipients of kidney and liver transplants to learn how the balance of microbes in the gut microbiome impact post-transplant survival. Gut microbiome dysbiosis—disruptions in microbial diversity—is associated with increased mortality after solid organ transplantation, researchers found.
The gut microbiome is made up of both "good" and "bad" microbes: bacteria, viruses and fungi. Health benefits throughout the body are derived from the healthy balance of these microbial communities in the gut. However, the living communities are not static; they fluctuate in response to diet, emotions, exercise, surgery, and exposure to medications.
Past studies demonstrated that recipients of stem cell transplants had a higher mortality risk when faced with disruptions in their gut microbiome. It has taken until now to pose the same question, based on a large sample size, whether microbiota disruption negatively impacts recipients of solid organ transplants.
They were aware that the health of the microbiome influenced the fate of patients who had undergone stem cell transplants, infusions that are sometimes referred to as bone marrow transplants. The procedure provides the recipient with a donor's healthy progenitor cells to generate a new blood supply. But scientists also were aware that a successful stem cell transplant wasn't enough unless the gut microbiome was also flourishing with a diverse population of beneficial microbes.
The researchers reported on the need for microbial variety to ensure a healthy transplant outcome.
J. Casper Swarte et al, Gut microbiome dysbiosis is associated with increased mortality after solid organ transplantation, Science Translational Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn7566
Inside a vacuum chamber, the researchers expose a drop of sodium-potassium alloy to a small amount of water vapor, which begins to condense on its surface. The electrons liberated from the alkali metal dissolve in the layer of water on the surface faster than the chemical reaction that results in the explosion. There are a sufficient number of them to overcome the critical limit for the formation of a conduction band and thus give rise to a metallic water solution.
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-transformed-pure-water-into...
A recent study of alligators found the animals had elevated levels of 14 different per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in their blood serum, as well as clinical and genetic indicators of immune system effects. The work adds to the body of evidence connecting PFAS exposure with adverse immune system effects.
Researchers took blood samples and did health evaluations on 49 alligators living along the Cape Fear River between 2018 and 2019. They compared these results to a reference population of 26 alligators from Lake Waccamaw, located in the adjoining Lumber River basin.
They looked at 23 different PFAS and saw clear differences between both types and levels of PFAS in the two populations. The most unusual observation the team made was that alligators in the Cape Fear River which had high concentration of PFAS also had a number of unhealed or infected lesions.
Alligators rarely suffer from infections. They do get wounds, but they normally heal quickly. Seeing infected lesions that weren't healing properly was concerning and led the scientists to look more closely at the connections between PFAS exposure and changes in the immune systems of the alligators.
A qRT-PCR genetic analysis revealed significantly elevated levels of interferon-alpha (INF-α) responsive genes in the Cape Fear River alligators: their levels were 400 times higher than those of the low level PFAS containing alligators,
INF-α is a secreted immune protein involved in stimulating immune response.The set of INF-α responsive genes we analyzed are normally involved with viral infections. In humans, chronic (or long-term) high expression of this set of genes is an important indicator of autoimmune diseases, especially lupus. Additionally, some PFAS exposures in humans are linked with chronic autoimmune disorders like ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease.
The elevated expression of INF-α in these alligators tells us that something in these alligators' immune responses is being disrupted.
Blood Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances are Associated with Autoimmune-like Effects in American Alligators from Wilmington, North Carolina, Frontiers in Toxicology (2022). DOI: 10.3389/ftox.2022.1010185
A team of researchers has found that injecting older mice with extracellular vesicles (EVs) from young mice reduced some signs of aging.
EVs, which are also known as exosomes, are structures produced in eukaryotic cells that are involved in signaling between cells and also used for transporting mRNA. Suspecting that aspects of the aging process might be related to degeneration in communication between cells, the researchers wondered what would happen if they injected older mice with EVs. To find out, they extracted stem cells from fatty tissue in young test mice. Next, they collected EVs that were produced by the cells they had collected. They then injected the EVs into the tails of older mice—once at the outset of the test and again a week later.
The researchers then began studying the mice to see what impact the injections might have. They found that after just two weeks, the mice showed improvements in physical strength, suggesting reductions in age-related muscle degeneration. They also found the mice tired less easily and tended to be better coordinated—and their fur grew back more quickly. The team noted that the improvements peaked at approximately 30 days after the initial injection and disappeared after approximately 60 days.
The researchers also dissected some of the test mice and found reductions in degeneration of kidney tissue and an increase in cell production. They also found reductions in inflammatory biomarkers and that some tissue appeared to be epigenetically younger.
Jorge Sanz-Ros et al, Small extracellular vesicles from young adipose-derived stem cells prevent frailty, improve health span, and decrease epigenetic age in old mice, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2226
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