Continuation of  "Quantum biology " -2:

Experiments suggest this is going on within single molecules in birds' eyes, and John Morton of University College London explained that the way birds sense it could be stranger still.

"You could think about that as... a kind of 'heads-up display' like what pilots have: an image of the magnetic field... imprinted on top of the image that they see around them," he said.

The idea continues to be somewhat controversial - as is the one that your nose might be doing a bit of quantum biology.

Most smell researchers think the way that we smell has to do only with the shapes of odour molecules matching those of receptors in our noses.

But Dr Turin believes that the way smell molecules wiggle and vibrate is responsible - thanks to the quantum effect called tunnelling.

The idea holds that electrons in the receptors in our noses disappear on one side of a smell molecule and reappear on the other, leaving a little bit of energy behind in the process.

A paper published in Plos One this week shows that people can tell the difference between two molecules of identical shape but with different vibrations, suggesting that shape is not the only thing at work.

What intrigues all these researchers is how much more quantum trickery may be out there in nature.

"Are these three fields the tip of the iceberg, or is there actually no iceberg underneath?" asked Dr Turin. "We just don't know. And we won't know until we go and look."

http://www.informedbynature.org/

informed by nature.org
...encouraging science learning

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-24/science/4016...
Plants do complex arithmetic calculations to make sure they have enough food to prevent starvation at night, a new study has found.

The research shows that to get through the night, plants perform accurate arithmetic division. The calculation allows them to use up their starch reserves at a constant rate so that they run out of it almost precisely at dawn.
"This is the first concrete example in a fundamental biological process of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation," said mathematical modeller Professor Martin Howard from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK.

Plants feed themselves during the day by using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into sugars and starch. Once the sun has set, they must depend on a store of starch to prevent starvation.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre showed that plants make precise adjustments to their rate of starch consumption. These adjustments ensure that the starch store lasts until dawn even if the night comes unexpectedly early.To adjust their starch consumption so precisely, they must be performing a mathematical calculation - arithmetic division, scientists said. "The capacity to perform arithmetic calculation is vital for plant growth and productivity," said metabolic biologist Professor Alison Smith.

"Understanding how plants continue to grow in the dark could help unlock new ways to boost crop yield," said Smith.

During the night, mechanisms inside the leaf measure the size of the starch store and estimate the length of time until dawn. Information about time comes from an internal clock, similar to our own body clock. The size of the starch store is then divided by the length of time until dawn to set the correct rate of starch consumption, so that, by dawn, around 95% of starch is used up.

"The calculations are precise so that plants not only prevent starvation but also make the most efficient use of their food. If the starch store is used too fast, plants will starve and stop growing during the night. If the store is used too slowly, some of it will be wasted," said Smith.

The scientists used mathematical modelling to investigate how such a division calculation can be carried out inside a plant.

The study appears in the journal eLife. PTI

http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1265920/biomimicry-pus...

Biomimicry pushes science forward

Science constantly looks to nature for inspiration in its search for solutions to problems.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/06/25/science...
Science Will Protect Us from Climate Change, Obama Says

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=silver-makes-antib...
Silver Makes Antibiotics Thousands of Times More Effective

The antimicrobial treatment could help to solve modern bacterial resistance

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=human-caused-globa...
Human-Caused Global Warming Behind Record Hot Australian Summer

http://sciencefriday.com/segment/06/21/2013/e-o-wilson-s-advice-for...
EO Wilson’s interview

http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Young-Scientist-Edward-Wilson/dp/0871...

http://www.livescience.com/36999-top-scientists-world-enders.html

9 Real Ways the Earth Could End

Solar energy from deserts:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=challenges-for-des...

Is Anything Stopping a Truly Massive Build-Out of Desert Solar Power?

Engineers and industry agree that although challenges abound in utility-scale solar in the sunniest places on Earth, we have the technology to go big in the desert

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=prakash-blind-chil...
Blind Children in India Receive Gift of Sight [Video]

Cataract surgery lets blind children see at an advanced age, giving scientists new insight into the brain’s adaptability

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/bonemarrow-transplants-le...
Bone-marrow transplants leave men ‘HIV-free’

http://siliconrepublic.com/innovation/item/28308-esof2012-science-g...
Science Gallery Dublin to spawn new science gallery in London (with science and art innovation) and at Bangalore , India too.
Science Gallery to spawn its innovative formula in London, with new €8.2m funding
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/item/33322-science-galler...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/the-art-...

The art of teaching them to love science

More pupils are choosing arts subjects over chemistry, physics and maths. But a new initiative aims to bring scientific topics to life – and help secure our economic future. Will it help?

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Any_parasite_that_caused_extincti...,,
Any parasite that caused extinction of its host species ever?

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/07/04/climate.change.deniers....
Climate change deniers using dirty tricks from 'Tobacco Wars'
Published: Thursday, July 4, 2013 - 12:21 in Earth & Climate

Fossil fuel companies have been funding smear campaigns that raise doubts about climate change, writes John Sauven in the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine. Environmental campaigner Sauven argues: "Some of the characters involved have previously worked to deny the reality of the hole in the ozone layer, acid rain and the link between tobacco and lung cancer. And the tactics they are applying are largely the same as those they used in the tobacco wars. Doubt is still their product."

Governments around the world have also attempted to silence scientists who have raised concerns about climate change. Tactics used have included: the UK government spending millions infiltrating peaceful environmental organisations; Canadian government scientists barred from communicating with journalists without media officers; and US federal scientists pressured to remove words 'global warming' and 'climate change' from reports under the Bush administration.

Writing about government corruption in the Indian mining industry, Sauven says: "It will be in these expanding economies that the battle over the Earth's future will be won or lost. And as in the tobacco wars, the fight over clean energy is likely to be a dirty one."
Source: SAGE Publications

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jul/07/rational-heroes-saul-...

Saul Perlmutter: 'Science is about figuring out your mistakes'

The man who discovered that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate reveals why he isn't afraid to fail

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6140/1574
Temperature Drives the Continental-Scale Distribution of Key Microbes in Topsoil Communities

Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Virginia Loza, Yevgeniy Marusenko, Pilar Mateo, Ruth M. Potrafka
Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler areas or sustain range losses; whether this is also true for microorganisms remains unknown. Through continental-scale compositional surveys of soil crust microbial communities across arid North America, we observed a latitudinal replacement in dominance between two key topsoil cyanobacteria that was driven largely by temperature. The responses to temperature of enrichment cultures and cultivated strains support this contention, with one cyanobacterium (Microcoleus vaginatus) being more psychrotolerant and less thermotolerant than the other (M. steenstrupii). In view of our data and regional climate predictions, the latter cyanobacterium may replace the former in much of the studied area within the next few decades, with unknown ecological consequences for soil fertility and erodibility.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/07/10/i-dont-kn...
“I Don’t Know If I’m a Scientist”: The Problem with Archetypes

Michio Kaku who said that "extraordinary scientific claims need extraordinary support".

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323936404578579753341...

Science Is About Evidence, Not Consensus

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?annotation_id=annotation_115652&...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jul/11/fracking-water-inject...

Pumping water underground could trigger major earthquake, say scientists

New studies suggest injecting water for geothermal power or fracking can lead to larger earthquakes than previously thought

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2013/07/bacteria-that-live-in-the...
The power of microbes

Bacteria that live in the gut may help define species
bacteria A large group of single-celled microorganisms, including some that cause disease.

evolution The process by which different kinds of living organisms developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of Earth.

gene Information that is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.

germ Any microbe, usually a one-celled organism such as a bacterium, fungus or amoeba. Germ may also be applied to viruses. Germs are defined on the basis of their size, not on whether they affect health.

gut Colloquial term for an organism’s stomach and/or intestines. It is where food is broken down and absorbed for use by the rest of the body.

microbe Short for microorganism, it describes very tiny — typically one-celled — living organisms or viruses.

species A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring.

larvae The immature form of an insect, especially one that differs greatly from the adult and is part of the stage between egg and adult.

http://io9.com/awesome-new-ted-ed-videos-explain-the-physics-of-sup...
Awesome new TED-ED videos explain the physics of superhero powers

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/07/14/key.step.molecular.danc...

Key step in molecular 'dance' that duplicates DNA deciphered

http://bcove.me/kgloou61
Blood Cell Therapy Developed for Wounds That Won't Heal

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/351634/description/Sound...
Sound waves put levitation on the move
Technique transports nonmagnetic particles such as cells, water droplets and coffee grounds - acoustic levitation.
Using steady streams of sound waves, engineers maneuvered hovering toothpicks, coffee granules and water droplets through the air, a team from ETH Zurich reports July 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists could use the touch-free technique to gently handle delicate or hazardous lab chemicals or to avoid contaminating cells in biological experiments.
Scientists have known for years how to use sound waves to hoist particles in the air, a process known as acoustic levitation. But moving the lifted bits around was more challenging. The sound waves tend to trap a levitated object in a fixed pocket of space.

The new technique moves the pockets around by deforming a field of sound waves, letting researchers transport trapped objects several centimeters.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-discover-the-m...

Scientists discover the molecule responsible for causing feelings of depression

Protein receptor is found to release hormones that can cause anxiety and depression

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-hypothesis-exp...
New Hypothesis Explains Why We Sleep [Preview]

During sleep, the brain weakens the connections among nerve cells, apparently conserving energy and, paradoxically, aiding memory

Sleep must serve some vital function because all animals do it.
Evidence suggests that sleep weakens the connections among nerve cells, which is a surprising effect, considering that strengthening of those connections during wakefulness supports learning and memory.
But by weakening synapses, sleep may keep brain cells from becoming oversaturated with daily experience and from consuming too much energy.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-your-eyes-sear...
How Your Eyes Search a Scene
Sight-Specific

Isolating one item from the crowded visual environment—such as a favorite brand of cereal in the supermarket or a deer in the forest—is a sophisticated psychological feat, but people accomplish it routinely thousands of times every day.
To search effectively, the brain focuses on a few select attributes, such as color and shape, ignoring other kinds of input. When you are looking for the ketchup bottle, your eyes alight on other red and cylindrical things.
Our eyes jump around, rarely fixating on anything for more than one third of a second. The brain protects us from this disorienting reality by suppressing vision when our eyes are moving.

http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/Nikola_Tesla.htm?nl=1
Nikola Tesla - the unsung scientist:
During his lifetime, Tesla invented fluorescent lighting, the Tesla induction motor, the Tesla coil, and developed the alternating current (AC) electrical supply system that included a motor and transformer, and 3-phase electricity.
Tesla is now credited with inventing modern radio as well; since the Supreme Court overturned Guglielmo Marconi's patent in 1943 in favor of Nikola Tesla's earlier patents. When an engineer (Otis Pond) once said to Tesla, "Looks as if Marconi got the jump on you" regarding Marconi's radio system, Tesla replied, "Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents."

The Tesla coil, invented in 1891, is still used in radio and television sets and other electronic equipment.
Ten years after patenting a successful method for producing alternating current, Nikola Tesla claimed the invention of an electrical generator that would not consume any fuel. This invention has been lost to the public. Tesla stated about his invention that he had harnessed the cosmic rays and caused them to operate a motive device.

In total, Nikola Telsa was granted more than one hundred patents and invented countless unpatented inventions.

http://painting.about.com/od/artsupplies/ig/Winsor-Newton-Factory/i...
invention of a paint tube

Famous inventions - A to Z:

http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/FamousInvention.htm

sciencenews.com/articles/2013/07/25/what.if.quantum.physics.worked.a.macroscopic.level
What if quantum physics worked on a macroscopic level?
Quantum physics concerns a world of infinitely small things. But for years, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have been attempting to observe the properties of quantum physics on a larger scale, even macroscopic. In January 2011, they managed to entangle crystals, therefore surpassing the atomic dimension. Now, Professor Nicolas Gisin's team has successfully entangled two optic fibers, populated by 500 photons. Unlike previous experiments which were carried out with the fiber optics of one photon, this new feat (which has been published in Nature Physics) begins to answer a fundamental question: can quantum properties survive on a macroscopic level?

Anti- gravity?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23503694
The BBC has topped a list of the 10 best websites for science news.

The BBC News science and environment page beat off tough competition such as New Scientist and National Geographic in the list compiled by the website RealClearScience.

The BBC's journalists were commended for an "ability to communicate complex topics to a global audience".

Nature News came just behind the BBC in the top 10 and Wired's science coverage was listed at number three.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=physicists-debate-...
Physicists Debate Whether the World Is Made of Particles or Fields--or Something Else Entirely [Preview]

Physicists speak of the world as being made of particles and force fields, but it is not at all clear what particles and force fields actually are in the quantum realm. The world may instead consist of bundles of properties, such as color and shape.

It stands to reason that particle physics is about particles, and most people have a mental image of little billiard balls caroming around space. Yet the concept of “particle” falls apart on closer inspection.
Many physicists think that particles are not things at all but excitations in a quantum field, the modern successor of classical fields such as the magnetic field. But fields, too, are paradoxical.
If neither particles nor fields are fundamental, then what is? Some researchers think that the world, at root, does not consist of material things but of relations or of properties, such as mass, charge and spin.

http://geology.about.com/cs/odds_and_ends/a/aa070101a.htm?nl=1
The Loch Ness Phenomenon
Natural explanations for the Loch Ness Monster

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_the_Protection_of_Research_Ide...,,
Is the Protection of Research Ideas by Intellectual Property Really Worthwhile?

http://www.longislandexchange.com/press/2013/07/31/orthobiologics-t...
By definition, orthobiologics is the inclusion of biology and biochemistry in the development of bone and soft tissue replacement materials for skeletal and tissue healing.