Math Explains Likely Long Shots, Miracles and Winning the Lottery
Why you should not be surprised when long shots, miracles and other extraordinary events occur—even when the same six winning lottery numbers come up in two successive drawings
What we think of as extremely unlikely events actually happen around us all the time. The mathematical law of truly large numbers as well as the law of combinations help to explain why.
With only 23 people in a room, the probability that two of them share the same birthday is 0.51—greater than 50 percent.
The Bulgarian lottery randomly selected the winning numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35, 42 on September 6, 2009. Four days later it selected the same numbers again. The North Carolina Cash 5 lottery produced the same winning numbers on July 9 and 11, 2007. Strange? Not according to probability.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/math-explains-likely-long...

Americans struggle with science, respect scientists, survey finds
While most Americans could be a bit more knowledgeable in the ways of science, a majority are interested in hearing about the latest scientific breakthroughs and think highly of scientists.

This is according to a survey of more than 2,200 people conducted by the National Science Foundation, one that is conducted every two years and is part of a report – Science and Engineering Indicators – that the National Science Board provides to the president and Congress.

This is how stem cells decide what organs they should become:

How do stem cells decide whether to become liver cells or pancreatic cells during development?

A cell's fate is determined by the nearby presence of 'prostaglandin E2' - a messenger molecule best known for its role in inflammation and pain.

Stem cell scientists Wolfram Goessling and Trista Northat the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) identified a gradient of prostaglandin E2 in the region of zebrafish embryos where stem cells differentiate into the internal organs.

The finding could potentially make liver and pancreas cells easier to generate both in the lab and for future cell therapies.

"Cells that see more prostaglandin become liver and the cells that see less prostaglandin become pancreas," said Goessling, assistant professor of medicine.

This is the first time that prostaglandin is being reported as a factor that can lead this 'fate switch' and essentially instruct what kind of identity a cell is going to be, the researchers added.

Other experiments showed that prostaglandin E2 could also enhance liver growth and regeneration of liver cells.

"Prostaglandin might be a master regulator of cell growth in different organs," Goessling said.

It's used in cord blood, as we have shown, it works in the liver, and who knows what other organs might be affected by it, revealed the findings published in the journal Developmental Cell.

Science Knowledge Lacking In America – Only 74 Percent Know The Earth Revolves Around The Sun

While most Americans are interested in learning about the most recent scientific advancements and tend to have high opinions of the men and women behind those breakthroughs, they could stand to be somewhat more knowledgeable about the topic itself, a new National Science Foundation (NSF) survey has revealed.
Furthermore, nearly 90 percent of responders believed the benefits of scientific research outweighed any potential dangers, and that the country appeared to have a high level of “informal science education.” To clarify, nearly 60 percent of US residents had visited a zoo, an aquarium, a natural history museum or a science and technology museum, the study authors concluded.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113072470/science-knowledge-i...

While most Americans could be a bit more knowledgeable in the ways of science, a majority are interested in hearing about the latest scientific breakthroughs and think highly of scientists. This is according to a survey of more than 2,200 people conducted by the National Science Foundation, one that is conducted every two years and is part of a report -- Science and Engineering Indicators -- that the National Science Board provides to the president and Congress.

A Michigan State University faculty member served as lead author for the chapter in the report that covers public perceptions of science. John Besley, an associate professor in MSU's Department of Advertising and Public Relations, reviewed the data, as well as similar surveys from around the world, and highlighted key findings on Feb. 14 during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

According to the survey, more than 90 percent of Americans think scientists are "helping to solve challenging problems" and are "dedicated people who work for the good of humanity."

"It's important for Americans to maintain a high regard for science and scientists," said Besley, who also is the Ellis N. Brandt Chair in Public Relations. "It can help ensure funding and help attract future scientists."

Unfortunately, Americans still have a tough time answering some basic science questions. Out of a total of nine questions that covered the physical and biological sciences, the average score was 6.5 correct answers.

For example, only 74 percent of those queried knew that Earth revolved around the sun, while fewer than half (48 percent) knew that human beings developed from earlier species of animals.

Some of the other highlights of the survey include: A majority of Americans -- more than 90 percent -- say they are "very interested" or "moderately interested" in learning about new medical discoveries. The United States appears to be relatively strong in the use of what's known as "informal science education." Nearly 60 percent of Americans have visited a zoo/aquarium, natural history museum or a science and technology museum. Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed think the benefits of science outweigh any potential dangers. About a third of the respondents think science and technology should get more funding.

A new breed of ultra thin super-material has the potential to cause a technological revolution. "Artificial graphene" should lead to faster, smaller and lighter electronic and optical devices of all kinds, including higher performance photovoltaic cells, lasers or LED lighting. For the first time, scientists are able to produce and have analysed artificial graphene from traditional semiconductor materials. These findings were published recently in Physical Review X. A researcher from the University of Luxembourg played an important role in this highly innovative work.

Graphene (derived from graphite) is a one atom thick honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms. This strong, flexible, conducting and transparent material has huge scientific and technological potential. Only discovered in 2004, there is a major global push to understand its potential uses. Artificial graphene has the same honeycomb structure, but in this case, instead of carbon atoms, nanometer-thick semiconductor crystals are used. Changing the size, shape and chemical nature of the nano-crystals, makes it possible to tailor the material to each specific task.
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/02/15/physicists.produce.a.po...

Extreme loneliness worse for health than obesity and can lead to an early grave, scientists say
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/extreme-loneliness-worse-...

The Sixth Extinction: Earth is on the brink of another massive loss of animal species but this time the calamity isn't an asteroid or ice age...
There have been five mass extinction events in Earth’s history. In the worst, 250 million years ago, 96 per cent of marine species and 70 per cent of land species died off. It took millions of years to recover.
Nowadays, many scientists are predicting that we’re on pace for a sixth mass extinction. The world’s species are already vanishing at an unnaturally rapid rate. And humans are altering the Earth’s landscape in far-reaching ways: we’ve hunted animals such as the great auk to extinction; we’ve cleared away broad swaths of rainforest; we’ve transported species from their natural habitats to new continents; we’ve pumped billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and oceans, transforming the climate.

Those changes are pushing more species to the brink. A 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested that 20 to 30 per cent of plant and animal species faced an increased risk of extinction this century if the planet keeps warming (though scientists are still debating these exact numbers, with some going far higher).

So what happens if the extinction rate speeds up? That’s one of the questions that Elizabeth Kolbert, the New Yorker science writer, explores in her excellent new book, The Sixth Extinction, an in-depth look at the science of extinction and the ways we’re altering life on the planet.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-sixth-extinction-eart...

Study on flu evolution may change textbooks, history books
A new study reconstructing the evolutionary tree of flu viruses challenges conventional wisdom and solves some of the mysteries surrounding flu outbreaks of historical significance. The study, published in the journal Nature, provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the evolutionary relationships of influenza virus across different host species over time. In addition to dissecting how the virus evolves at different rates in different host species, the study challenges several tenets of conventional wisdom -- for example, the notion that the virus moves largely unidirectionally from wild birds to domestic birds rather than with spillover in the other direction. It also helps resolve the origin of the virus that caused the unprecedentedly severe influenza pandemic of 1918.

The new research is likely to change how scientists and health experts look at the history of influenza virus, how it has changed genetically over time and how it has jumped between different host species. The findings may have implications ranging from the assessment of health risks for populations to developing vaccines.
"if you don't account for the fact that the virus evolves at a different rates in each host species, you can get nonsense -- nonsensical results about when and from where pandemic viruses emerged."

"Once you resolve the evolutionary trees for these viruses correctly, everything snaps into place and makes much more sense,
"It is now clear that most of its genome jumped from birds very close to 1918 in the Western Hemisphere
The results also challenge the accepted wisdom of wild birds as the major reservoir harboring the flu virus, from where it jumps to domestic birds and other species, including humans. Instead, the genetic diversity across the whole avian virus gene pool in domestic and wild birds often appears to trace back to earlier outbreaks of the virus in domestic birds,
"People tend to think of wild birds as the source of everything, but we see a very strong indication of spillover from domestic birds to wild birds," . "It turns out the animals we keep for food and eggs may be substantially shaping the diversity of these viruses in the wild over time spans of decades. That is a surprise.
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/02/17/study.flu.evolution.may...

Experts from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland are combining experimental data with the core principles of brain organization in order to create a detailed computer model which will allow them to conduct supercomputer-based simulations of the brain’s inner workings.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113072740/brain-inner-working...

One factor that makes glioblastoma cancers so difficult to treat is that malignant cells from the tumors spread throughout the brain by following nerve fibers and blood vessels to invade new locations. Now, researchers have learned to hijack this migratory mechanism, turning it against the cancer by using a film of nanofibers thinner than human hair to lure tumor cells away. Instead of invading new areas, the migrating cells latch onto the specially-designed nanofibers and follow them to a location -- potentially outside the brain -- where they can be captured and killed. Using this technique, researchers can partially move tumors from inoperable locations to more accessible ones. Though it won't eliminate the cancer, the new technique reduced the size of brain tumors in animal models, suggesting that this form of brain cancer might one day be treated more like a chronic disease.

Details of the technique were reported February 16 in the journal Nature Materials.

The Atlanta-based researchers decided to take a more engineering approach

Researchers hijack cancer migration mechanism to 'move' brain tumors
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/02/17/researchers.hijack.canc...

Recently I came across a news paper report that says racism arises in science research: 

According to a Penn State anthropologist, both medical and scientific researchers need to be careful that the growth of genomics does not bring about another resurgence of scientific racism. "What we are facing is a time when genomic knowledge widens and gene engineering will be possible and widespread," said Nina Jablonski, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology. "We must constantly monitor how this information on human gene diversity is used and interpreted. Any belief system that seeks to separate people on the basis of genetic endowment or different physical or intellectual features is simply inadmissible in human society."
people who believe that they can use genetic traits to describe races and to develop race-specific interventions for each group. One particularly disturbing approach, although currently suggested as beneficial, is application of genetics to create special approaches to education. The idea that certain individuals and groups learn differently due to their genetic makeup, and so need specialized educational programs could be the first step in a slippery slope to recreating a new brand of "separate but equal."
Similar approaches in medicine that are based not on personal genetics but on racial generalizations can be just as incorrect and troubling, especially because human genetic admixture is so prevalent.
Scientific racism's long history mandates caution.

Yes, be cautious but this is using science in a bad way. Science is not at fault. This is like saying a knife is 'bad' because it was used in murder! It is the murderer at fault but not the knife!

Ganga teeming with deadly superbugs: Study
The Ganga is teeming with multi-drug resistant superbugs, including the deadly NDM-1 virus, and their levels peak during the annual pilgrimage season, says a new study.

Experts from UK's Newcastle University and the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, sampled water and sediments at seven sites along the upper Ganga and found that in May-June , when millions of pilgrims travel to Rishikesh and Haridwar , levels of resistance genes that lead to "superbugs" were about 60 times higher than other times of the year.

The NDM-1 was first identified in New Delhi and coded by the resistant gene blaNDM-1 . Until recently, strains that carry blaNDM-1 were only found in clinical settings or hospitals but in 2008, blaNDM-1 positive strains were found in surface waters in Delhi. Since then, blaNDM-1 has been found elsewhere in the world, including new variants.

By comparing water quality of the upper Ganga in February and again in June, the team showed that levels of blaNDM-1 were 20 times higher per capita during the pilgrimage season than at other times.

Monitoring levels of other contaminants in the water, the study found overloading of waste treatment facilities was likely to blame and that in many cases, untreated sewage was going straight into the river where the pilgrims bathe.

"The bugs and their genes are carried in people's guts," said professor David Graham , an environmental engineer based at Newcastle University who has spent more than 10 years studying the environmental transmission of antibiotic resistance around the world. "If untreated wastes get into the water supply, resistance potential in the wastes can pass to the next person and spiraling increases in resistance can occur."

"This isn't a local problem - it's a global one. We studied pilgrimage areas because we suspected such locations would provide new information about resistance transmission via the environment . And it has - temporary visitors from outside the region overload local waste handling systems, which seasonally reduces water quality at the normally pristine sites," Graham said.

The team says it is important to protect people visiting and living at these sites while also making sure nothing interferes with important religious practices. They argue that preventing the spread of resistance genes that promote life-threatening bacteria could be achieved by improving waste management at key pilgrimage sites.

"What humans have done by excess use of antibiotics is accelerate the rate of evolution , creating a world of resistant strains that never existed before. Through the overuse of antibiotics, contamination of drinking water and other factors, we have exponentially speeded-up the rate at which superbugs might develop. For example, when a new drug is developed , natural bacteria can rapidly adapt and become resistant ; therefore very few new drugs are in the pipeline because it simply isn't cost-effective to make them," Graham said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Study-Ganges-te...

Outsmarting Nature During Disasters
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113073691/outsmarting-nature-...

Theory On Origin Of Animals Challenged
Study Suggests High Oxygen Levels Not Required For Complex Life
In sharp contrast to the longstanding belief among scientists that advanced life on Earth was only able to evolve once atmospheric oxygen levels rose to near-modern levels, new research has discovered a small sea sponge which they claim proves that a high concentration is not needed in order for complex creatures to live and grow.
According to the authors of the new study, which appears in Monday’s edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), complex life first evolved when atmospheric levels of oxygen began to increase approximately 630 to 635 million years ago.

However, a sea sponge (a species known as Halichondria panicea )that was fished out of Kerteminde Fjord in Denmark is challenging that theory, as the creature demonstrates that animals are able to grow and thrive with extremely limited oxygen supplies. In fact, they can stay alive when the atmosphere contains just 0.5 percent of the oxygen content of typical modern levels.

“Our studies suggest that the origin of animals was not prevented by low oxygen levels,” and Daniel Mills of the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution at the University of Southern Denmark, who co-wrote the PNAS paper alongside Lewis M. Ward from the Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.

“There must have been other ecological and evolutionary mechanisms at play,” Mills said. “Maybe life remained microbial for so long because it took a while to develop the biological machinery required to construct an animal. Perhaps the ancient Earth lacked animals because complex, many-celled bodies are simply hard to evolve.”

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113073323/oxygen-high-concent...

What Good are Footprints?
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113073715/what-good-are-footp...

Why Einstein changed his view on the universe.
Albert Einstein accepted the modern cosmological view that the universe is expanding long after his contemporaries Until 1931, physicist Albert Einstein believed that the universe was static.. An urban legend attributes this change of perspective to when American astronomer Edwin Hubble showed Einstein his observations of redshift in the light emitted by far away nebulae -- today known as galaxies. But the reality is more complex. The change in Einstein's viewpoint, in fact, resulted from a tortuous thought process. Now, in an article published in EPJ H, Harry Nussbaumer from the Institute of Astronomy at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, explains how Einstein changed his mind following many encounters with some of the most influential astrophysicists of his generation. In 1917 Einstein applied his theory of general relativity in the universe, and suggested a model of a homogenous, static, spatially curved universe. However, this interpretation has one major problem: If gravitation was the only active force, his universe would collapse -- an issue Einstein addressed by introducing the cosmological constant.

He then fiercely resisted the view that the universe was expanding, despite his contemporaries' suggestions that this was the case. For example, in 1922, Russian physicist Alexander Friedman showed that Einstein's equations were viable for dynamical worlds. And, in 1927, Georges Lemaître, a Belgian astrophysicist from the Catholic University of Louvain, concluded that the universe was expanding by combining general relativity with astronomical observations. Yet, Einstein still refused to abandon his static universe.

However, in an April 1931 report to the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Einstein finally adopted a model of an expanding universe. In 1932 he teamed up with the Dutch theoretical physicist and astronomer, Willem de Sitter, to propose an eternally expanding universe which became the cosmological model generally accepted until the middle of the 1990s. To Einstein's relief these two models no longer needed the cosmological constant. - Agencies

A Happy Life May Not Be a Meaningful Life
Feeling happy was strongly correlated with seeing life as easy, pleasant, and free from difficult or troubling events. Happiness was also correlated with being in good health and generally feeling well most of the time. However, none of these things were correlated with a greater sense of meaning. Feeling good most of the time might help us feel happier, but it doesn’t necessarily bring a sense of purpose to our lives.
Money, contrary to popular sayings, can indeed buy happiness. Having enough money to buy what one needs in life, as well as what one desires, were also positively correlated with greater levels of happiness. However, people don’t see their lives as more meaningful when they have lot sof money.
Perhaps instead of saying that “money doesn’t buy happiness,” we ought to say instead that “money doesn’t buy meaning.”
More broadly, the findings in the study suggest that pure happiness is about getting what we want in life—whether through people, money, or life circumstances. Meaningfulness, in contrast, seems to have more to do with giving, effort, and sacrifice. It is clear that a highly meaningful life may not always include a great deal of day-to-day happiness. And, the study suggests, obsession with happiness may be intimately related to a feeling of emptiness, or a life that lacks meaning.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-happy-life-may-not-be-a...

Prions Are Key to Preserving Long Term Memories
The famed protein chain reaction that made mad cow disease a terror may be involved in helping to ensure that our recollections don't fade
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/prions-are-key-to-preserv...

Asian Elephants Console Each Other When in Distress
Using trunks and vocalizations, elephants reassure one another when distressed
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/asian-elephants-console-e...

Questions raised about new method for making stem cells
Research reports in late January garnered attention for showing that making stem cells just required dipping adult cells in acid (SN: 2/22/14, p. 6). But Japan’s RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, where the lead scientist works, has begun an investigation of the findings, according to reports in Nature, the Wall Street Journal and other publications.

The reported investigation comes after online commenters discovered potentially manipulated images in the two papers published in the Jan. 30 Nature, and several scientists have had difficulty replicating the work.

http://www.ipscell.com/stap-new-data/
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/questions-raised-ab...

http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/files/us-bennetc/QInfWe...
Quantum entanglement

Buried amid the complexity of the human brain, a newly described scaffold carries important messages from one place to another. A map of the scaffold, which reveals intricate connections made by bundles of nerve fibers called white matter tracts, could help explain why some brain injuries are particularly devastating.
scaffold offers new view of the brain
Neural map may explain why some injuries are worse than others
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/white-matter-scaffold-offers-ne...

New sitting risk: Disability after 60

If you're 60 and older, every additional hour a day you spend sitting is linked to doubling the risk of being disabled -- regardless of how much moderate exercise you get, reports a new Northwestern Medicine® study. The study is the first to show sedentary behavior is its own risk factor for disability, separate from lack of moderate vigorous physical activity. In fact, sedentary behavior is almost as strong a risk factor for disability as lack of moderate exercise.

Being sedentary was almost as strong a risk factor for disability as lack of moderate vigorous activity. "It means older adults need to reduce the amount of time they spend sitting, whether in front of the TV or at the computer, regardless of their participation in moderate or vigorous activity,"

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/02/20/new.sitting.risk.disabi...

Vaccines Endure Hot Weather without Damage
An anti-meningitis campaign in Benin has delivered more than 150,000 doses with no losses from excess heat
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccines-endure-hot-weath...

Whale euthanasia: vets learn to kill stranded leviathans humanely
Putting beached whales out of their misery is dangerous, difficult work and chemicals used in the past can poison the ecosystem
http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/feb/19/whale-euthanasi...

The law school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore hopes to introduce a master of science in law program — the first of its kind in the region — as soon as fall 2015.

http://www.thestate.com/2014/02/23/3286577/university-plans-master-...

Many young researchers in poor nations name a lack of funding as a major constraint

The report fills a data gap on young scientists’ status in developing nations

It also encourages further studies on young scholars around the world
Young scientists neglected in developing world
http://www.scidev.net/global/education/news/young-scientists-neglec...

Research without fixed boundaries

There can be strong academic resistance to interdisciplinarity

Better communication, reformed education and new frameworks can help

But is there a risk of creating new boundaries and maintaining old divisions?
http://www.scidev.net/global/education/editorials/research-without-...

The Flame Challenge for the scientists!
The Flame Challenge is an international contest started by Alan Alda that asks scientists to communicate complex science in ways that would interest and enlighten an 11-year-old.
“The Flame Challenge has grown from scientists trying to answer the question of one 11-year old from many decades ago, to tackling questions on the minds of thousands of current 11-year olds from around the world,” according to Alda. “I’m in awe of the scientists who can bring clarity to these questions and I’m in awe of the kids who keep the scientists on their toes.”
After screening for scientific accuracy, the entries are judged by thousands of 11-year-olds in schools around the world!

http://www.centerforcommunicatingscience.org/the-flame-challenge-2/...

http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Record/EAR000034354

http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Digital/EAR000034354#page/1/mode...

Einstein's Lost Theory Uncovered

The Golden Goose Award is a new award that recognizes scientists and engineers whose federally funded research has had significant human and economic benefits
http://www.goldengooseaward.org/

Dim lighting helps people make better decisions, scientists claim
scientists now claim that by harnessing the subduing effect on emotions caused by dim lights.

Therefore, by dimming the lights, people become more rational, negotiate better and are therefore able to make better decisions.

Alison Jing Xu, assistant professor of management at University of Toronto Scarborough and Aparna Labroo of Northwestern University, made the findings by examining the link between lighting and human emotion, PsychCentral reported.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dim-lighting-helps-people...

The Science Is In: Elephants Are Even Smarter Than We Realized
We now have solid evidence that elephants are some of the most intelligent, social and empathic animals around—so how can we justify keeping them in captivity?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-is-in-elephan...

What Is Bitcoin and Its Current Crisis?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-bitcoin-and-its-c...

Scientists demonstrate first contagious airborne WiFi virus

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have shown for the first time that WiFi networks can be infected with a virus that can move through densely populated areas as efficiently as the common cold spreads between humans. The team designed and simulated an attack by a virus, called "Chameleon," and found that not only could it spread quickly between homes and businesses, but it was able to avoid detection and identify the points at which WiFi access is least protected by encryption and passwords.
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/02/26/scientists.demonstrate....

Children of older dads face more health problems
Children with older fathers are significantly more likely to develop conditions such as autism, ADHD and bipolar disorder and consider suicide, according an analysis of 2.6 million people’s health records.
Scientists at Indiana University found that a child born when their father is 45 was 3.5 times more likely to have autism, 13 times more likely to have ADHD and 25 times more likely to have bipolar disorder than the child of a 24-year-old man.

Suicidal behaviour and substance misuse was twice as likely, according to the study, which is published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/children-of-older-dads-fa...

Dropleton—a “Quantum Droplet” That Acts Like a Liquid
Physicists in Germany and the US have created a new composite "quasiparticle" that could help probe the quantum mechanics of many particles working together.
It behaves a bit like a liquid droplet and described it as a quasiparticle - an amalgamation of smaller types of particles. It
could be useful in the development of nanotechnology, including the design of optoelectronic devices. These include things like the semiconductor lasers used in Blu-ray disc players.

The microscopic quantum droplet does not dawdle. In the physicists' experiments using an ultra-fast laser emitting about 100 million pulses per second, the quantum droplet appeared for only about 2.5 billionths of a second.

That does not sound like much, but the scientists said it is stable enough for research on how light interacts with certain types of matter.

A previously known example of a quasiparticle is the exciton, a pairing of an electron and a "hole" - a place in the material's energy structure where an electron could be located but is not.

The quantum droplet is made up of roughly five electrons and five holes. It possesses some characteristics of a liquid, like having ripples, the scientists said.

Quantum physics is a branch of physics that relates to events taking place on the tiniest scale. It is essential in describing the structure of atoms.

Particles are the basic building blocks of matter. They include things like subatomic entities such as electrons, protons, neutrons and quarks. Only rarely are new ones found. The laser experiments were performed using a semiconductor of the elements gallium and arsenic, revealing the new particle, albeit fleetingly.

"The effects that give rise to the formation of dropletons also influence the electrons in optoelectronic devices such as laser diodes," physicist Mackillo Kira of the University of Marburg in Germany, one of the researchers.

Agencies

Chronic insomnia results from a difference in brain function according to research reported by Dr. Rachel E. Salas, an assistant professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and colleagues in the Feb. 28, 2014, edition of the journal Sleep.

The researchers demonstrated that chronic insomniacs have more plasticity in the motor cortex of the brain. This finding not only explains the reason insomniacs cannot sleep but also explains the high level of muscular movement involved in sleep when insomniacs do sleep.
http://www.examiner.com/article/johns-hopkins-researchers-find-brai...

'Don't Know Much About Science'
One in four Americans believes that the Sun revolves around the Earth.
What is noticeable is that other countries are trending upward in the acquisition of scientific knowledge, but the United States has remained more or less at a standstill. And in response to scientific questions that contradict established doctrine, Americans performed markedly worse, unless a qualifying preface such as "according to scientists" was appended to the questions
the study suggests that Americans value science as a career and the scientific community very highly. We don't know what scientists do -- 65 percent claimed they didn't know. In short, though we don't possess a lot of scientific knowledge, and though few of us know what scientists do, we think very highly of them and want our children to become scientists.
The NSF study confirms that the media's coverage and portrayal of science does not mirror the value we place on it. Less than 2 percent of traditional news coverage is related to science and technology, with coverage of Steve Jobs' passing, the end of the Space Shuttle program, Facebook's IPO and the Mars Curiosity rover taking the lion's share.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melanie-fine/dont-know-much-about-sci...

Break-up of the supercontinent Gondwana about 130 Million years ago could have lead to a completely different shape of the African and South American continent with an ocean south of today’s Sahara desert, as geoscientists from the University of Sydney and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences have shown through the use of sophisticated plate tectonic and three-dimensional numerical modelling. The study highlights the importance of rift orientation relative to extension direction as key factor deciding whether an ocean basin opens or an aborted rift basin forms in the continental interior.
What Sculpted Africa’s Margin?
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113085773/what-sculpted-afric...

Scientists use laser-powered mind control to make flies flirt
Neurons treated with a heat-activated protein were activated with infrared lasers to trigger courtship behaviour
Neuroscientists have successfully controlled a fly’s behaviour with thermogenetics – a new technique that uses lasers to remotely activate brain neurons.
Using the ­whimsically named Fly Mind-Altering Device (also known as FlyMAD), researchers were able to trigger complex courtship behaviour in a target fly, essentially causing the insect to ‘fall in love’ with a ball of wax.

The research, led by Barry Dickson of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, Virginia, is similar to optogenetics; a method that activates neurons using light and that has previously been used to control behaviour in mice.

However, while optogenetics require fibre-optic cables to be embedded into mice skulls to activate the genetically-altered neurons, thermogenetics achieves the same effect by using infrared lasers to deliver the ‘instructions’ directly to the fly’s brain.
Scientists have previously influenced fly behaviour by adding a heat-activated protein called TRPA1 to neurons associated with certain actions. When flies modified in this way are placed in a hot box the targeted neurons activate and trigger certain behaviours.

FlyMAD, however, uses a video camera to track the fly as it moves around a box before directing an infrared laser at the insect and activating the parts of its neural circuit that control courtship.
http://www.nature.com/news/laser-beam-makes-flies-flirt-1.14794

Imaging dynamics of small biomolecules inside live cells
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/03/03/imaging.dynamics.small....