SCI-ART LAB

Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication

Information

Science Simplified!

                       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: 22 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 6part-10part-11part-12, part 14  ,  part- 8

part- 1part-2part-4part-5part-16part-17part-18 , part-19 , part-20

part-21 , part-22part-23part-24part-25part-26part-27 , part-28

part-29part-30part-31part-32part-33part-34part-35part-36part-37,

 part-38part-40part-41part-42part-43part-44part-45part-46part-47

Part 48 part49Critical thinking -part 50 , part -51part-52part-53

part-54part-55part-57part-58part-59part-60part-61part-62part-63

part 64, part-65part-66part-67part-68part 69part-70 part-71part-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?

i. mycotoxicoses

j. immunotherapy

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

n.vaccine-woes

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

t. the-detoxification-scam

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

Discussion Forum

Why do type 2 diabetics sometimes become thin if their condition is not managed properly?

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday. 1 Reply

Why do type 2 diabetics sometimes become thin if their condition is not managed properly?Earlier we used to get this answer to the Q : Type 2 diabetics may experience weight loss and become thin due…Continue

Real heart attacks won't be like the ones shown in Hollywood or Bollywoood

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Friday. 1 Reply

Movies and TV serials shaped how many people imagine a heart attack—someone clutching their chest and collapsing dramatically. But those portrayals are misleading and shouldn't be expected, say the…Continue

Vaccine woes

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Friday. 13 Replies

Recent measles outbreak in the California state of the US ( now spread to other states too) tells an interesting story.Vaccines are not responsible for the woes people face but because of rejection…Continue

Dad, this is why I scream when ever I hurt myself!

Started by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa. Last reply by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Thursday. 5 Replies

When I was a very young school girl, I still remember very well, my Dad used to tell me to bear the pain out and not to scream and cry whenever I hurt myself and was in severe pain. I never ever saw…Continue

Comment Wall

Comment

You need to be a member of Science Simplified! to add comments!

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 11, 2023 at 12:42pm

You're stuck with your same old genome, but corals aren't

Some corals live to be hundreds, and even thousands, of years old. They were born with genes that were successful back in their parent's generation, so how can these old corals still be successful now? Especially in a changing climate? It's possible that the generation and the filtering of mutations that occur in different parts of a big coral act as a proving ground for adaptive genetics for the future. A new study shows a novel way that some very ancient animals might be surviving.

You got your entire set of genes—good or bad—from your parents, and those are the only genes you will have for your entire life. Those genes are also the only ones you will pass along to your children. Of course, there are a few exceptions—like mutations that happen in sperm or egg cells that you might pass along to the next generation. And a growing chorus of technologies is poised to alter harmful mutations in human genes that make life difficult, such as recent success in altering the genes in lung cells that cause cystic fibrosis.

Nearly every animal must make a living with a set of genes that remains virtually unchanged during their lifetime, but a recent study of tropical reef building corals shows something different. These very long-lived animals are constantly changing and testing their genes—and some of these changes make it into the next generation. In this way a centuries-old coral might be a cauldron of genetic innovation, and it might help prepare them for climate change.

Elora H. López-Nandam et al, Mutations in coral soma and sperm imply lifelong stem cell renewal and cell lineage selection, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1766

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 11, 2023 at 12:38pm

Ancient dormant viruses found in permafrost, once revived, can infect 

A team of climate scientists has found that ancient viruses dormant for tens of thousands of years in permafrost can infect modern amoeba when they are revived. For their study, reported on the open-access site Viruses, the group collected several giant virus specimens from permafrost in Siberia and tested them to see if they could still infect modern creatures.

Prior research has shown that permafrost—frozen soil—is an excellent preservative. Many carcasses of frozen extinct animals have been extracted from permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere. Prior research has also shown that plant seeds lying dormant in permafrost can be coaxed to grow once revived. And there is evidence suggesting that viruses and bacteria trapped in permafrost could infect hosts if revived. In this new effort, the researchers tested this theory.

The effort by the research team followed up on prior work in 2014 that showed a 30,000-year-old virus could be revived—and that it could be infectious. The team followed up on that effort by reviving a different virus in 2015 and allowing it to infect an amoeba. In this new effort, the team collected several virus specimens from multiple permafrost sites across Siberia for lab testing. For safety reasons, the research team collects only so-called giant viruses and only those that can infect amoeba, not humans or any other creature. In reviving the virus samples, the team found that they were still capable of infecting amoeba. They also found, via radiocarbon dating of the permafrost in which they were found, that the viruses had been in a dormant state for between 27,000 and 48,500 years.

The researchers suggest their findings hint at a much bigger problem—as the planet warms and the permafrost melts, there is a chance of viruses emerging that are capable of infecting humans. Such a threat is not science fiction, they note—prior researchers found influenza viruses in a lung sample of a woman who had died in Alaska during the flu pandemic of 1918. And another team found a virus related to smallpox in a mummified woman found in Siberia—she had been there for 300 years.

Jean-Marie Alempic et al, An Update on Eukaryotic Viruses Revived from Ancient Permafrost, Viruses (2023). DOI: 10.3390/v15020564

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 12:09pm

How wildfires shred the ozone layer

Huge wildfires that raged across Australia in 2019–20 unleashed chemicals that chewed through the ozone layer. The wildfire smoke combined with harmless remnants of now-banned chlorinated compounds, reactivating their ozone-eating form — a reaction that doesn’t usually happen in the warm air away from the poles. More-frequent wildfires resulting from climate change could expand ..., which protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00687-w?utm_source=Natur...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05683-0.epdf?sharing_tok...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 12:07pm

The mice with two dads: scientists create eggs from male cells

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 11:52am

In the world's smallest ball game, scientists throw and catch singl...

In many baseball-obsessed countries like Korea, Japan and the United States, with spring months comes the start of the season and quite a few balls flying through the air. But it's not just balls that can be thrown. On the tiniest field imaginable, scientists have now shown they can also throw and catch individual atoms using light.

This amazing feat was achieved with optical traps, which use a highly focused laser beam to hold and move tiny objects. Although optical traps have been used to move individual atoms before, this is the first time an atom has been released from a trap—or thrown—and then caught by another trap.

 Jaewook Ahn et al, Optical tweezers throw and catch single atoms, Optica (2023). DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.480535

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 11:49am

Scientists harness power, precision of RNA to make mutations invisible

Scientists have discovered a new way to suppress mutations that lead to a wide range of genetic disorders.

A study recently published in the journal Molecular Cell describes a strategy that co-opts a normal RNA modification process within cells to transform disease genes into normal genes that produce healthy proteins. The findings are significant because they may ultimately help researchers alter the course of devastating disorders such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and many forms of cancer.

About 15% of mutations that lead to genetic diseases are called nonsense mutations. Aptly named, nonsense mutations occur when an mRNA molecule contains an early "stop" signal. When the mRNA takes genetic instructions from DNA to create a protein, this early stop sign orders the cell to stop reading the instructions partway through the process. This results in the creation of an incomplete protein that can lead to disease.

A team of researchers  designed an artificial guide RNA—a piece of RNA that can modify other types of RNA—to target mRNA molecules that contain early stop signals (also called premature termination codons). Guide RNAs are a natural mechanism that cells use all the time; This  team altered this already existing process.

Like DNA, RNA is made up of molecular building blocks that are represented by the letters A (adenine), G (guanine), U (uracil), and C (cytosine). Premature termination codons always have the building block U in the first position (for example, UAG, UAA or UGA). The team's artificial guide RNA was designed to modify the U in the first position, changing the molecular makeup of the targeted mRNA so that the stop signal is no longer—or less well—recognized by the cell.

Researchers tested the artificial guide RNA in yeast cells and in human disease cells (derived from cystic fibrosis and neurofibromatosis patients). In both cases, they found the action of the artificial guide RNA rendered the premature termination codon (stop sign) invisible, allowing cells to read the genetic instructions all the way through and create full-length, functional proteins.

They also discovered that the guide RNA suppressed another mechanism in the cell known as nonsense-mediated mRNA decay or NMD. One of the major surveillance systems in the body, NMD targets and eliminates mRNAs with premature termination codons, so no protein is produced. Curbing NMD is another way the artificial guide RNA ensured that a significant amount of mRNA was present in the cell, and that the genetic instructions carried by the targeted mRNAs were read all the way through and translated into complete proteins.

Hironori Adachi et al, Targeted pseudouridylation: An approach for suppressing nonsense mutations in disease genes, Molecular Cell (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.01.009

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 11:41am

Bacterial enzyme traps and breaks down PFAS molecules

Highly nondegradable chemicals such as PFAS and pesticides can have useful properties in some situations, but are extremely difficult for nature to remove afterwards. Now researchers have found that certain bacteria use an enzyme that acts as a molecular nutcracker to crush the harmful substances.

All cells contain a large number of enzymes, each of which functions as a small machine that carries out a . Inside E. coli bacteria, researchers have found an enzyme, C-P lyase, that enables the microbe to degrade highly stable chemicals. By rapidly freezing purified samples of the enzyme, the researchers have succeeded in capturing the molecular nutcracker in two different states that represent an open and closed form, respectively. The results show that the bacterium uses the energy from ATP, the cellular energy source, to both open and close the nutcracker.

Two similar, ATP-consuming modules, which are mostly known from transport proteins, have been put together to be able to open and close the enzyme.

The results, which have recently been published in the journal, Nature Communications, are expected to be useful in developing dedicated strains of bacteria that survive by breaking down the difficult substances and therefore potentially can be of great importance for the future use of pesticides in agriculture.

Søren K. Amstrup et al, Structural remodelling of the carbon–phosphorus lyase machinery by a dual ABC ATPase, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36604-y

**

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 11:34am

So researchers now turned to the genome editing technology CRISPR to test the roles of a variety of genes in hyperoxia.

Using CRISPR, the researchers removed, one at a time, more than 20,000 different genes from human cells grown in the lab and then compared the growth of each group of cells at 21 percent oxygen and 50 percent oxygen.

This kind of unbiased screen let researchers probe the contributions of thousands of different pathways in hyperoxia rather than just focusing on those we already suspected might be involved.

Four molecular pathways stood out in the screen as being involved in the effects of hyperoxia. They related to diverse cellular functions including the repair of damaged DNA, the production of new DNA building blocks, and the generation of cellular energy.

It took some molecular sleuthing to discover that each pathway had a critical protein that contained iron atoms connected to sulfur atoms—so-called "iron-sulfur clusters"—in its molecular structure.

The researchers went on to show that in as little as 30 percent oxygen, the iron-sulfur clusters in the four proteins become oxidized—they chemically react with oxygen atoms—and that change causes the proteins to degrade. As a result, cells stop functioning correctly and consume even less oxygen, causing a further increase in oxygen levels in the surrounding tissues.

One important thing found in this work is that hyperoxia is not impacting cells and tissues solely through reactive oxygen species, as many had assumed. That means the use of antioxidants—which can combat reactive oxygen species to some degree—is unlikely to be sufficient to prevent oxygen toxicity.

 Alan H. Baik et al, Oxygen toxicity causes cyclic damage by destabilizing specific Fe-S cluster-containing protein complexes, Molecular Cell (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.02.013

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 11:30am

Researchers discover how too much oxygen damages cells and tissues

Breathing air that contains higher levels of oxygen than the usual 21 percent found in Earth's atmosphere can cause organ damage, seizures, and even death in people and animals, particularly if it's in excess of the body's oxygen needs. Until now, however, scientists have mostly speculated about the mechanisms behind this phenomenon, known as oxygen toxicity, or hyperoxia.

Now, researchers at Gladstone Institutes have discovered how excess  oxygen changes a handful of proteins in our cells that contain iron and sulfur—a chemical process similar to the rusting of iron. In turn, those "rusty" proteins trigger a cascade of events that damage cells and tissues. The findings, published in the journal Molecular Cell, have implications for conditions such as heart attacks and sleep apnea.

At high levels, oxygen is toxic to every form of life, from bacteria and plants to animals and people. Of course, not enough oxygen is also fatal; there's an intermediate, "Goldilocks" amount under which most life on Earth thrives—not too much and not too little.

While clinicians have long studied the details of how oxygen shortage impacts cells and tissues (for example, in heart attacks and strokes), the effects of excess oxygen have been relatively understudied.

Studies have recently revealed, for instance, that breathing too much supplemental oxygen might be detrimental to heart attack  patients and premature infants. Similarly, in obstructive sleep apnea,  the sudden bursts of oxygen that follow pauses in breathing have been shown to be a key component of how the disorder increases patients' risks of chronic health problems.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 10, 2023 at 10:59am

Low-dose radiation linked to increased lifetime risk of heart disease

Exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation is associated with a modestly increased excess risk of heart disease, finds an analysis of the latest evidence published by The BMJ recently.

The researchers say these findings "have implications for patients who undergo radiation exposure as part of their medical care, as well as policy makers involved in managing radiation risks to radiation workers and the public." A linked editorial suggests that these risks "should now be carefully considered in protection against radiation in medicine and elsewhere."

It's well recognized that exposure to high dose radiation can damage the heart, but firm evidence linking low dose radiation to heart disease (e.g., scatter radiation dose from radiotherapy or working in the nuclear industry) is less clear.

To address this knowledge gap, an international team of researchers examined scientific databases for studies evaluating links between a range of cardiovascular diseases and exposure to radiation (mostly radiotherapy and occupational exposures).

They excluded uninformative datasets or those largely duplicating others, leaving 93 studies, published mainly during the past decade, suitable for analysis. These studies covered a broad range of doses, brief and prolonged exposures, and evaluated frequency (incidence) and mortality of various types of vascular diseases.

After taking account of other important factors, such as age at exposure, the researchers found consistent evidence for a dose dependent increase in cardiovascular risks across a broad range of radiation doses.

For example, the relative risk per gray (Gy) increased for all cardiovascular disease and for specific types of cardiovascular disease, and there was a higher relative risk per dose unit at lower dose ranges (less than 0.1 Gy), and also for lower dose rates (multiple exposures over hours to years).

At a , excess absolute risks ranged from 2.33% per Gy for a current England and Wales population to 3.66% per Gy for Germany, largely reflecting the underlying rates of cardiovascular disease mortality in these populations.

This equates to a modest but significantly increased excess lifetime risk of 2.3-3.9 cardiovascular deaths per 100 persons exposed to one Gy of radiation, explain the authors.

Ionising radiation and cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis, The BMJ (2023). DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2022-072924

 

Members (22)

 
 
 

Badge

Loading…

© 2025   Created by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service