http://www.examiner.com/article/disinhibition-neurons-discovered
Disinhibition neurons discovered
Dr. Adam Kepecs led a group of a team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory that is the first to elucidate a class of inhibitory neurons that specialize in inhibiting the action of other inhibitory neurons. The research was published in the Oct. 6, 2013, edition of the journal Nature.

The new class of neurons called VIP interneurons provides a secondary layer of inhibition of neuronal expression for both inhibitory neurons and minimizing the expression of neurons that cause excitation to occur in brain. The VIP interneurons release vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and function in the auditory cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex.

http://www.authintmail.com/news/science/health/new-treatments-tackl...
New treatments to tackle allergies
Scientists have zeroed-in on new treatments for people with allergies to grasses and to dust mites.

The treatments are from a new class of therapy, known as 'synthetic peptide immuno-regulatory epitopes', or SPIREs.

There are two treatments, one for grass allergy, which is commonly known as hay fever, and the other for dust mite allergy.

These are expected to help people who, as a reaction to grass pollen or the tiny bugs that live in house dust, have sneezing bouts, itching eyes and a running nose, impacting their productivity at school or work.

The two studies were conducted by Adiga Life Sciences, a joint venture between McMaster University and Circassia, a UK-based biotechnology company, and was supported by St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton.

It is estimated that these allergens together are responsible for more than 50 percent of allergic respiratory disease. Between 15 and 25 per cent of the population in North America and Europe is sensitive to pollen from different grass species.

One in four people is sensitised to house dust mites, more than any other common allergen, which includes millions of people in these regions, reports Science Daily.

Science comedy? Yes, why not?

http://fora.tv/v/c11174

Science Laughs: Science Comedian Brian Malow from Wonderfest on FORA.tv

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/10/08/brain.training.may.boos...

'Brain training' may boost working memory, but not intelligence
Brain training games, apps, and websites are popular and it's not hard to see why -- who wouldn't want to give their mental abilities a boost? New research suggests that brain training programs might strengthen your ability to hold information in mind, but they won't bring any benefits to the kind of intelligence that helps you reason and solve problems. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

General fluid intelligence is the ability to infer relationships, do complex reasoning, and solve novel problems.

Science based jokes:

http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-funniest-science-based-joke-you-know

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=climate-ch...
Climate Change Fight Needs Game Attitude

Game theory suggests that punishment for pollution has to come at the local level. David Biello reports
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=neurons-fire-backw...
Neurons Fire Backward in Sleep

Unusual brain cell activity may underlie memory strengthening

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/10/16/how-to-...
How to Save Coral Reefs from Climate Change: Genetic Manipulation

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/3d_printer_exhibition.a...

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/4521/20131019/scientists-on...
Scientists One Step Closer to Defining Consciousness

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=inventions-what-ar...
What Are the 10 Greatest Inventions of Our Time?

Before you consider, here are a few opinions from Scientific American readers in 1913 on what makes a great invention

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/mama-bird-tells-babies...
Mama bird tells babies to shut up, danger is near

Search Escalates for Key to Why Matter Exists
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=search-escalates-f...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/money-doesnt-grow-on-tree...

Money doesn't grow on trees - but gold does

Scientists in Australia have confirmed the presence of gold particles in the leaves of eucalyptus plants
Australia based researchers found the gold particles hidden within eucalyptus tree foliage, indicating that gold deposits may also be buried many metres below.

The grains growing within the leaves are approximately one fifth the diameter of a human hair, making the discovery unlikely to start a gold rush. However, it can provide a unique opportunity for mineral exploration.

Geochemists from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRPO) said eucalyptus trees in western Australia are drawing up gold particles from the earth via their root system and depositing it their leaves and branches.

Although the amounts found were tiny, their presence could indicate gold ore deposits buried up to tens of metres underground and under sediments that are up to 60 million years old.

Life on Earth Was Not a Fluke
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=life-on-earth-was-...

Figuring out how biomolecular self-organization happens may hold the key to understanding life on Earth formed and perhaps how it might form on other planets

United Nations to Adopt Asteroid Defense Plan

Earth is not prepared for the threat of hazardous rocks from space, say astronauts who helped formulate the U.N. measures

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=un-asteroid-defens...

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/2013/10/28/are-we-to...
Are We Too Close to Making Gattaca a Reality?
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/11/02/global.warming.led.dwar...

Global warming led to dwarfism in mammals -- twice

Mammal body size decreased significantly during at least two ancient global warming events. A new finding that suggests a similar outcome is possible in response to human-caused climate change, according to a University of Michigan paleontologist and his colleagues. Researchers have known for years that mammals such as primates and the groups that include horses and deer became much smaller during a period of warming, called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), about 55 million years ago.

Now U-M paleontologist Philip Gingerich and his colleagues have found evidence that mammalian "dwarfing" also occurred during a separate, smaller global warming event that occurred about 2 million years after the PETM, around 53 million years ago.

"The fact that it happened twice significantly increases our confidence that we're seeing cause and effect, that one interesting response to global warming in the past was a substantial decrease in body size in mammalian species," said Gingerich, a professor of earth and environmental sciences.

The research team also includes scientists from the University of New Hampshire, Colorado College and the California Institute of Technology. The researchers are scheduled to present their findings Friday, Nov. 1, in Los Angeles at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

They concluded that decreased body size "seems to be a common evolutionary response" by mammals to extreme global warming events, known as hyperthermals, "and thus may be a predictable natural response for some lineages to future global warming."

The parallels between ancient hyperthermals and modern-day warming make studies of the fossil record particularly valuable, said team member Will Clyde of the University of New Hampshire.

"Developing a better understanding of the relationship between mammalian body size change and greenhouse gas-induced global warming during the geological past may help us predict ecological changes that may occur in response to current changes in Earth's climate," Clyde said.

In 2006, Gingerich proposed that mammalian dwarfing could be a response to the lower nutritional value of plants grown under elevated carbon dioxide levels. Under such conditions, plants grow quickly but are less nutritious than they would normally be.

Animals eating such plants might adapt by becoming smaller over time. Evidence from the ETM2 fossils is consistent with that hypothesis, and research on the topic is ongoing, Gingerich said.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (EAR0958821), Geological Society of America, Paleontological Society and Sigma Xi.

Source: University of Michigan

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-4-d-printi...
What Is 4-D Printing?

An M.I.T. lab is tweaking the idea of 3-D printing with the help of smart materials that continue to change even after they leave the printer
The biggest breakthroughs in how we make things lie not in the technology to manipulate materials but in the materials themselves. Such is the thinking behind “4-D printing,” an experimental approach to manufacturing that expands on much-hyped 3-D printing processes. Instead of building static three-dimensional items from layers of plastics or metals, 4-D printing employs dynamic materials that continue to evolve in response to their environment.

This new wrinkle in the maker movement comes courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Self-Assembly Lab, where director Skylar Tibbits and his team are experimenting with so-called “programmable materials.” The researchers print these substances using a 3-D printer and then watch as the fourth dimension—time—takes over and the materials change shape or automatically reassemble in new patterns.

Improvements in software, computers and assembly processes have enabled more complex designs and greater automation when translating designs into actual things.

Confident Multitaskers Are the Most Dangerous behind the Wheel

The dangerous psychology of texting while driving
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=confident-multi-ta...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-limb-regenerat...
New Limb Regeneration Insight Surprises Scientists

Reactivating a dormant gene enhances mice’s healing abilities

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=who-is-the-best-sc...
Who Is the Best Scientist of All Time?

An online ranking that compares the performance of academics across all fields found that Karl Marx is the most influential scholar and Edward Witten is the most influential scientist.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=where-old-building...

Where Old Buildings Withstand Earthquakes Best

Buildings constructed during the Middle Ages in Liechtenstein ride out earthquakes better than those built to modern standards

Old buildings may be the safest spot to be when in Liechtenstein.

A new study in this tiny European country reveals that buildings constructed during the Middle Ages ride out earthquakes better than those built to modern standards. The reason for this counterintuitive truth appears to be that old buildings were constructed so that the floor doesn't attach to the walls.

"Instead of rolling like a boat," these structures actually stabilize during quakes, said study researcher Maria Brunhart-Lupo, a geologist at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112997290/clue-to-regrowing-n...
Clue To Regrowing Nerve Cells Identified

Scientists discover gene for advanced healing and limb regeneration

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/334725/scitech/science/scienti...

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/10/10-medical-breakthroughs-t...
10 medical breakthroughs that sound like science fiction

Vapours from damp buildings may trigger Parkinson’s

A vapour known as “mushroom alcohol” which is present in damp, mouldy buildings can damage the nerve cells of the brain responsible for Parkinson’s disease, scientists said.

A study has found that the compound, called 1-octen-3-ol, leads to the degeneration of two genes involved with the transport and storage of dopamine, the neurotransmitter in the brain that is lost in patients with Parkinson’s.

The researchers suggest that the volatile substances given off by mildew and other fungi growing in damp houses may be a significant risk factor in the development of the degenerative brain disease, which is thought to have environmental as well as genetic causes.

The study was carried out on the dopamine system of fruit flies, a recognised animal “model” of Parkinson’s disease, and the researchers calculated that mushroom alcohol was more toxic to these specialised nerves than benzene – a poisonous chemical known to cause genetic damage.

“These findings are of particular interest given recent epidemiological studies that have raised the concern of neuropsychological impairments and movement disorders in human populations exposed to mouldy and water-damaged buildings,” the scientists said in the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Increased incidence of Parkinson’s disease is seen in rural populations, where it is usually attributed to pesticide exposure. However, the prevalence of mould and mushroom in these environments may provide another plausible risk factor for the development of Parkinson’s disease.”

Until recently, the search for environmental factors that could trigger the disease has focused largely on man-made chemicals, such as pesticides. However, natural compounds could be equally to blame, said Arati Inamdar of Rutgers University.

Source:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/vapours-from-damp-buildin...

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/11/11/bacteria.may.allow.anim...
Bacteria may allow animals to send quick, voluminous messages

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http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/absolutely-maybe/2013/11/11/sta...

Statistical significance and its part in science downfalls

The Big Data Brain Drain: Why Science is in Trouble
http://jakevdp.github.io/blog/2013/10/26/big-data-brain-drain/

http://www.siliconindia.com/news/technology/10-Forgotten-Inventors-...
10 Forgotten Inventors Who Did Amazing Crafts

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113005458/evolution-targets-e...
Evolution Picks Evolvability As A Survival Trait

http://www.asianscientist.com/blog/2013/11/19/thinking-like-an-indi...
Thinking Like An Indian Parent -1
Professor Pushkar of BITS Pilani-Goa explains why Indian parents are so interested in sending their children to engineering colleges.

The truth is that at most Indian institutions, students earn degrees quite easily but do not get an education. As a result, there is such an extreme disconnect between degrees and actual education that employers treat the former as nothing more than pieces of paper. A  good number of students who attend engineering colleges actively look for and find careers that have nothing to do with engineering.

Part -2 : http://www.asianscientist.com/features/thinking-like-an-indian-pare...

http://www.asianscientist.com/blog/2013/11/18/zinc-starves-deadly-s...

Zinc Starves Deadly Streptococcus Bacteria: Study
A new study shows that zinc can ‘starve’ one of the world’s most deadly bacteria by preventing its uptake of an essential metal

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-science-minister-say-he-agrees...
Science Minister of India says he agrees with CNR Rao's views on funding
A day after the angry outburst from Bharat Ratna awardee scientist CNR Rao, Science and Technology Minister Jaipal Reddy today said he agreed with Rao's views that sufficient funds are not being earmarked for scientific research in the country.

"...He (Rao) is right because I do not disagree with him. Because the importance of science and technology is so high that any amount government allots is not adequate," Reddy said here.

Addressing a press conference after the award was announced, Rao had yesterday said "....For the money that government has given to scientific sector, we have done much more.... Why the hell these idiots these politicians have given so little for us. In spite of that we scientists have done something."

Rao's comments drew reactions from many quarters over the funding priority of the government.

Congratulating Rao for the award, Reddy said, "Government has always focused on science and technology. He has been the guide for the Indian science establishment for the last 10 years.

"His views are respected we have been able to spare as much money as possible keeping the financial stringency in view."

However, Reddy declined to comment on Rao's "idiots" remark saying "one does not want to comment to all issues." Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said funds which were reaching for actual research were low.

"But I will not blame entirely on the government or politicians. Because I have seen the scenario for the last decade or so...the government very flatly announces substantial increase in the funding to the science department," he said. TMC MP Derek O'brien said, "He (Rao) is an honourable gentleman and recipient of Bharat Ratna. So we shall refrain from making any comment what he said. But obviously after he won the Bharat Ratna, he is entitled to his opinion and we must listen and respect his opinion."

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bacteria-discovere...
New Bacterial Life-Form Discovered in NASA and ESA Spacecraft Clean Rooms

The previously unknown microbe was tough enough to survive stringent sterilization at two locations. Might it survive a trip to Mars?