Bacteria may cause type 2 diabetes

Why Asian Students Excel At Maths And Science What explains the stellar performance of Asian students, even when they study in the US?
Students from five nations and territories in Asia have topped the latest global school rankings in science and math conducted by the OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development). The top five are Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan (the last two tied in fourth place). The surprise is Vietnam, which follows in 12th place .
Only two other Asian countries are included in the rankings this year—Thailand (47th) and Indonesia (69th).
The rankings are based on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) taken by 15-year-olds around the world every three years. OECD suggests a correlation between quality basic education and economic development—the better educated a country’s people are, the faster the country develops economically.

http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/06/features/asian-students-excel...

What is Sleep? Flame Challenge 2015 Entry by Eric Galicia from Eric Galicia on Vimeo.

When nose acts like brain...

Hormone ‘Erases’ Male Smell for Female Mice

In a new study, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that state-specific odor “blindness” exists in female mice. Their research shows that female mice cannot sense the odor of male mice when they are in diestrus, the period of sexual inactivity during the reproductive cycle.

The researchers discovered that during this period, receptors in the female mouse’s nose actually block the signals from male odor molecules from ever reaching the brain. This lack of sensation directly affects mouse behavior.

“The nose was making decisions and acting like an extension of the brain.”

These findings, which point to new avenues for studying senses and behavior, were published June 4, 2015, in the journal Cell.

The new study started with an observation well-known in the field: While female mice are attracted to male mice during estrus—when they are receptive to breeding—female mice are indifferent to, and even aggressive toward, male mice during diestrus.

Researchers have long suspected that this change in behavior is related to hormonal changes in the brain during the reproductive cycle. Hormones produced in the ovaries during estrus and diestrus are known to activate specific neurons in the female brain. Stowers and her team aimed to study those neurons further. Before they investigated the brain, however, the researchers first wanted to rule out any activity in the nose that might be affecting the odor cues.

The researchers investigated a subset of neurons in a special organ in the nose called the vomeronasal organ (VNO), which detects male odors.

Using a technique called calcium imaging, the researchers discovered that these neurons don’t always detect male odors. The neurons have a “gating” mechanism and fail to activate in the presence of a hormone called progesterone, which is produced in the ovaries during diestrus. They found that progesterone acts through receptors on the surface of these sensory neurons, stopping them from transmitting the male odor smell to the brain.

Without these neurons activating, the female mouse can’t perceive male odors that promote behavior. This means ­the choice to perform behavior is being regulated in the nose itself, without thought from the brain.

What made the findings even stranger was the fact that no progesterone receptors had ever been detected in VNO neurons before. This prompted the researchers to dig further to figure out what was going on.

First, the researchers wanted to see if progesterone was disabling VNO function altogether.

To test this, the researchers checked the VNO response to predator cues—in this case, the scent of cat urine, which mice instinctually avoid. The researchers found that the subset of VNO neurons that usually respond to cat urine continued to respond normally, even in the presence of progesterone.

This showed that the ability female mice to smell in general was indeed still active during periods of diestrus.

Next, the researchers took a closer look at the signaling process. They discovered that when progesterone is detected by VNO neurons, it changes a signaling molecule that would normally relay the odor to the brain. Because only male odor-specific VNO neurons are susceptible to this change, they are the only ones that switch off in the presence of progesterone.

The reason for this male odor “blindness” is still unclear. Stowers said there is no evidence for the notion that male odors distract females from finding food or shelter. After all, female mice can smell male mice during estrus, and they still survive.

http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674%2815%2900555-3

In a new study from researchers in the University of Tel Aviv, a strategy is described for using phages to deliver a nuclease that targets antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. Phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria, are the natural enemies of bacteria. This strategy renders these resistant bacteria susceptible to antibiotics and also prevents transfer of resistance from one strain to another. The study was led by Prof Udi Qimron and is published in the journal PNAS.

The spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogens is a worldwide public health crisis, prompting the World Health Organisation, at its annual assembly in Geneva last week, to approve an ambitious plan to slow it down. The research described in the PNAS paper is a promising step in the right direction. According to the study’s authors, applying their phage-based system to hospital surfaces and to the hands of medical personnel could help us to fight back against untreatable, often lethal bacterial infections. Prof Qimron explained: "Since there are only a few pathogens in hospitals that cause most of the antibiotic-resistance infections, we wish to specifically design appropriate sensitization treatments for each one of them. We will have to choose suitable combinations of DNA-delivering phages that would deliver the DNA into pathogens, and the suitable combination of 'killing' phages that could select the re-sensitized pathogens."

In this system, phages were programmed to deliver a programmable DNA nuclease, which is called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated (Cas), into the genome of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This shot to the heart of the resistant bacteria resulted in reversal of the antibiotic resistance, rendering them sensitive to antibiotics, while protecting the bacteria that were already sensitive to antibiotics.

In essence this system is therefore selective for antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, thus applying the opposite selective pressure to antibiotics themselves. Prof Qimron explained: "Antibiotic-resistant pathogens constitute an increasing threat because antibiotics are designed to select resistant pathogens over sensitive ones. The injected DNA does two things: It eliminates the genes that cause resistance to antibiotics, and it confers protection against lethal phages. We managed to devise a way to restore antibiotic sensitivity to drug-resistant bacteria, and also prevent the transfer of genes that create that resistance among bacteria.” The CRISPR-Cas system also destroyed the lytic phages themselves. Prof Qimron said: "We believe that this strategy, in addition to disinfection, could significantly render infections once again treatable by antibiotics."
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/05/14/1500107112

Delirium is a type of sudden-onset brain dysfunction characterised by cognitive problems such as inattention and fluctuation in symptoms.
Reasons for development of delirium in the ICU patients include medications such as benzodiazepine and other sedatives. These are commonly given to patients to help them stay calm and sleep but can paradoxically cause disorientation and confusion in some patients.
the goal should be reduction or elimination of such medications, especially in more vulnerable patients such as the elderly and dementia patients, and to establish better night-time routines in hospitals such that patients are allowed to sleep with minimal interruptions. However, there are other causes of delirium, which might be more difficult to reduce. Illnesses such as severe pneumonia can cause secondary inflammation in the brain. It has also been suggested that changes in blood flow to the brain can result in delirium. The current study indicated that long-term risk of cognitive decline is increased by 20-30% in the patients who experience delirium in the ICU.
Development of delirium approximately doubles the risk of death in critically ill patients in hospital intensive care units, according to the results of a new study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The systematic review and meta-analysis study was carried out by a team of researchers based in Brazil and the United States, led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.
Outcome of delirium in critically ill patients: systematic review and meta-analysis
http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2538

There's a lesser-known biometric,that might be a bit harder to counterfeit: brainwaves. "In the biometric textbook table of contents, often the brain biometrics were listed as ‘Esoteric Biometrics.
Each person has slightly different so-called "brainprints." Different enough that computers were able to uniquely identify the study volunteers by their brainwaves 94 percent of the time. That effect held up when the subjects were retested six months later. The results are in the journal Neurocomputing. [Blair C. Armstrong et al, Brainprint: Assessing the uniqueness, collectability, and permanence of a novel method for ERP biometrics]
Brainprint: Assessing the uniqueness, collectability, and permanence of a novel method for ERP biometrics
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925231215004725

Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder predict creativity

http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4040.html

Results imply creative people are 25% more likely to carry genes that raise risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

In a large study published on Monday, scientists in Iceland report that genetic factors that raise the risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are found more often in people in creative professions. Painters, musicians, writers and dancers were, on average, 25% more likely to carry the gene variants than professions the scientists judged to be less creative, among which were farmers, manual labourers and salespeople.

“To be creative, you have to think differently. And when we are different, we have a tendency to be labelled strange, crazy and even insane.”

The scientists drew on genetic and medical information from 86,000 Icelanders to find genetic variants that doubled the average risk of schizophrenia, and raised the risk of bipolar disorder by more than a third. When they looked at how common these variants were in members of national arts societies, they found a 17% increase compared with non-members. For 1% of the population, genetic factors, life experiences and other influences can culminate in problems, and a diagnosis of mental illness.

This study found only a weak link between the genetic variants for mental illness and creativity.

( Some scientists argue that this evidence is flimsy. Remember we cautioned you!)

 Albert Rothenberg, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University is not convinced. He believes that there is no good evidence for a link between mental illness and creativity. “It’s the romantic notion of the 19th century, that the artist is the struggler, aberrant from society, and wrestling with inner demons,” he said. “But take Van Gogh. He just happened to be mentally ill as well as creative. For me, the reverse is more interesting: creative people are generally not mentally ill, but they use thought processes that are of course creative and different.”

In 2014, Rothernberg published a book, “Flight of Wonder: an investigation of scientific creativity”, in which he interviewed 45 science Nobel laureates about their creative strategies. He found no evidence of mental illness in any of them. He suspects that studies which find links between creativity and mental illness might be picking up on something rather different.

“The problem is that the criteria for being creative is never anything very creative. Belonging to an artistic society, or working in art or literature, does not prove a person is creative. But the fact is that many people who have mental illness do try to work in jobs that have to do with art and literature, not because they are good at it, but because they’re attracted to it. And that can skew the data,” he said. “Nearly all mental hospitals use art therapy, and so when patients come out, many are attracted to artistic positions and artistic pursuits.”

The children of genetically-unrelated parents are more likely than those with similar genes to be taller and more intelligent according to the biggest study yet of human genetic diversity in an age when more people than ever are marrying people from different parts of the world.

Scientists found that height and general intelligence were two traits that appear to be increasing as a result of the mixing of DNA between genetically-diverse parents who on average share fewer genes than more closely related individuals.

However, the researchers also found that the increasing genetic diversity of the human population appeared to have little or no effect on a range of other medical traits, such as blood pressure, which could affect peoples’ health over their lifetimes.

Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists have argued over the effects of “inbreeding” between close relatives such as first cousins, but there have been few studies to look into the positive benefits of “outbreeding” between more distantly-related parents with widely different genetic backgrounds.

The latest research, published in the journal Nature, analysed more than 100 separate studies carried out around the world involving some 350,000 people living in both rural and urban environments.

Sex divide seen in mechanism that produces persistent pain

Research showing that male and female mice regulate pain sensitivity differently raises questions about gender balance in experimental design.

http://www.nature.com/news/sex-divide-seen-in-mechanism-that-produc...

POPs and Gut Microbiota: Dietary Exposure Alters Ratio of Bacterial Species
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been implicated in myriad human health problems, including cancer, neurologic, immunologic, and reproductive defects, among many other adverse health effects. New lines of research suggest that chronic dietary exposure to POPs may also contribute to obesity and type 2 diabetes. In this issue of EHP, researchers examine how one POP in particular—2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF)—affects the composition of the mouse gut microbiome. They report that TCDF exposure alters the gut microbiome in ways that may prove to contribute to obesity and other metabolic diseases.

TCDF binds the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which activates a variety of biological responses. Recent studies indicate that keeping the gut in good working order is one of these functions.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/123-a187/

Researchers have developed a machine to simulate the effects of Earth’s gravity in space to alleviate the problems of space travel.

Astronauts who spend a long time in the micro-gravity environment of space can experience muscle deteoriation, bone loss and other harmful effects on their body.

But using a special type of centrifuge, researchers say these problems could be minimised - ensuring astronauts on a future mission to Mars, for example, arrive fit and healthy.

The technology was developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It works around the concept of a centrifuge - a spinning contraption that exerts a force on a human occupant through its rotation.

Rotating at a specific speed will ‘push’ the astronaut back, in effect mimicking the force they would feel from Earth’s gravity.

The research was published in the journal Acta Astronautica.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576515001344

Humans experience physiological deconditioning during space missions, primarily attributable to weightlessness. Some of these adverse consequences include bone loss, muscle atrophy, sensory-motor deconditioning, and cardiovascular alteration, which may lead to orthostatic intolerance when astronauts return to Earth. Artificial gravity could provide a comprehensive countermeasure capable of challenging all the physiological systems at once, particularly if combined with exercise, thereby maintaining overall health during extended exposure to weightlessness. A new Compact Radius Centrifuge (CRC) platform was designed and built on the existing Short Radius Centrifuge (SRC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The centrifuge has been constrained to a radius of 1.4 m, the upper radial limit for a centrifuge to fit within an International Space Station (ISS) module without extensive structural alterations. In addition, a cycle ergometer has been added for exercise during centrifugation. The CRC now includes sensors of foot forces, cardiovascular parameters, and leg muscle electromyography. An initial human experiment was conducted on 12 subjects to analyze the effects of different artificial gravity levels (0 g, 1 g, and 1.4 g, measured at the feet) and ergometer exercise intensities (25 W warm-up, 50 W moderate and 100 W vigorous) on the musculoskeletal function as well as motion sickness and comfort. Foot forces were measured during the centrifuge runs, and subjective comfort and motion sickness data were gathered after each session. Preliminary results indicate that ergometer exercise on a centrifuge may be effective in improving musculoskeletal function. The combination is well tolerated and motion sickness is minimal. The MIT CRC is a novel platform for future studies of exercise combined with artificial gravity. This combination may be effective as a countermeasure to space physiological deconditioning.

Bivalent separation into univalents precedes age-related meiosis I errors in oocytes

Defective chromosome separation in the egg cells of older women can cause miscarriage and congenital diseases according to scientists
researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan have used a novel imaging technique to pinpoint a significant event that leads to these types of age-related chromosomal errors. Published in Nature Communications, the study shows that as egg cells mature in older women, paired copies of matching chromosomes often separate from each other at the wrong time, leading to early division of chromosomes and their incorrect segregation into mature egg cells. Most cells have two copies of each chromosome—one from each parent. Immature egg cells also begin this way, but are transformed through a process called meiosis into mature egg cells that only have one copy of each chromosome. At the beginning of meiosis each chromosome copies itself and joins with its matching pair to form a group of four chromosomes that swap genetic material. These groups of four chromosomes—called bivalents—then split apart into single pairs, and the cell divides. One part continues as the egg cell and the other part degrades. In the second stage of meiosis, the single pairs of chromosomes—two sister chromatids joined in the middle—separate and the egg cell divides again in the same way, leaving a single mature egg cell with one copy of each chromosome.
They found that chromosomes were always distributed correctly in young egg cells, but that a little less than 10 percent of older cells suffered from segregation errors. Closer examination of the chromosome-tracking data showed that the dominant type of error was predivision of sister chromatids, and not movement of intact chromosome pairs to only one of the new cells. The tracking data also allowed researchers to go back in time and look at what was happening to chromosomes that eventually segregated incorrectly. They found that a large majority of them had been part of bivalents whose connection between paired chromosome copies had become hyperstretched and then snapped earlier in meiosis, leaving single pairs. The researchers then confirmed that the number of singly paired chromosomes—also called univalents—was higher in older mouse and even human egg cells, indicating that age-related segregation errors could be tracked back to increased numbers of prematurely separated chromosome pairs.
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150701/ncomms8550/full/ncomms8550...

DSM honors scientists around the world
Royal DSM, a science-based company active in nutrition, health and materials, recently launched a campaign to honor scientists around the world including one working to fight malaria.

In addition to paying tribute to the scientists, the Bright Science campaign is designed to encourage discussions about how important science is for society. The campaign emphasizes major societal needs via inspiring storytelling. A short documentary describing the perseverance and personal sacrifices of scientists around the world is the centerpiece of the campaign.

The documentary, titled Unsung Heroes of Science, shows how scientists in the future will use their discoveries to feed 9 billion people in 2050, create a bionic walking machine for disabled people, and transform methane gas into biodegradable plastics. One scientist, Bart Knols, leads a team that has created a plastic tube fitted with mosquito-killing gauze that can be built into roofs in Africa.

The general public, governments, customers, businesses, opinion leaders and others are invited to discuss their opinions about how science impacts social purpose at www.sciencecanchangetheworld.org
http://www.sciencecanchangetheworld.org/

Great work.Does anyone here work in the scientific journalism field?I think the creator of this grp does?

Science Journalism! Well that is one of the things I do! I am a freelancer though!

This is What Happens When Mosquitoes Bite:

When a mosquito bites you, it injects an anticoagulant into the skin to make the blood thinner and flow easier and longer to feast on enough of your blood.
In reaction, the skin releases histamine, causing an inflammatory reaction. The skin gets red and forms a bump. If left alone, the swelling and redness often goes away quickly. If scratched or rubbed or if the individual has an allergic reaction, the little bump can swell considerably or even become infected.
So don’t scratch the mosquito bite! Scratching the itch of the bug bite might provide temporary relief but it also causes more skin trauma and this can lead to hyperpigmentation. Scratching can also allow bacteria from your fingertips and under the fingernails to get into the small break in the skin caused by the bite and cause an infection.

How to deal with it:

When you get a mosquito bite, cleanse the area with a gentle soap or cleanser. Acu- Life Poison Ivy Soap, while for the relief of poison ivy, oak and sumac, actually relieves the itch from mosquito bites.

If the mosquito bite itching persists:

*try an anti-itch cream with hydrocortisone like Cortizone 10 Hydrocortisone Anti Itch cream
*try an antihistamine like Benadryl Itching Stopping Gel
*there are other anti-itch creams and gels like After Bite (which contains ammonium) and After Bite Outdoors (ammonium and baking soda and tea tree oil) that some sufferers have found provide relief
*calamine lotion has also been suggested for insect bites, but it’s debatable whether it really stops itching. Calamine lotion seems to help more with a rash or irritation caused by the mosquito bite. Women who are pregnant or nursing shouldn’t use calamine lotion. It’s also a good idea to ask your doctor if calamine will interact with any medicines you’re taking.

• Apply ice to reduce swelling.
• Aloe vera is an anti-inflammatory that can be used to soothe a bite and lessen the itching, as well as help heal the skin. You can dab the gel or juice on the bite.
• Mix baking soda and water until you make a paste and apply to bites. (You can also use baking soda toothpaste.)
• Make a paste of aspirin and water and apply to bites.
• Rub the affected area with an onion slice immediately after the bite to stop the itching. Onion is an anti-inflammatory. (If you rub it on after scratching the area, it will sting.)
• Take a colloidal oatmeal bath to sooth itching.
• Rub tea tree oilon the bite. Tea tree is an antiseptic and can kill bacteria and reduce allergic skin reactions.

World Population from Population Education on Vimeo.

A new kind of subatomic particle called the pentaquark has been detected for the first time, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said on 14th July, 2015.
The lab, known by its French acronym CERN, said the findings were made by a team of scientists working on the LHCb experiment, one of the four at its Large Hadron Collider.
The existence of pentaquarks was first proposed in the 1960s by American physicists Murray Gell-Mann and Georg Zweig. Gell-Mann, who received the Nobel Prize in 1969, coined the term "quark" to describe the building blocks that make up hadrons — subatomic particles such as the proton and the neutron.
Until recently, only hadrons with two or three quarks had been found. In recent years, physicists have seen evidence of hadrons made up of four quarks, called tetraquarks.
Studying pentaquarks may help scientists to better understand "how ordinary matter, the protons and neutrons from which we're all made, is constituted."

Big Data: Astronomical or Genomical?
Genetics is poised to overtake astronomy, YouTube and Twitter as a data-generating champion, Michael Schatz, a quantitative geneticist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and colleagues say. Challenges for collecting, analyzing, storing and sharing genetic data are already at least on par with some of the other most demanding big data endeavors, the researchers report July 7 in PLOS Biology.

The amount of genetic data doubles about every seven months. By 2025, researchers may have deciphered, or sequenced, 100 million to 2 billion human genomes — each the full set of genetic instructions for a person and each containing more than 3 billion DNA bases. Researchers are also compiling genetic data from thousands of species of microbes, animals and plants. No one knows for sure how much genetic information is currently available; thousands of laboratories around the world have DNA sequencing machines and most of the data are not yet in public databases.
If the doubling trend continues, genetics will soon catch up to radio astronomy’s vast data collections, Schatz says. He proposes that “genomical” may one day replace “astronomical” as an expression of gargantuan proportions. “Whether people will adopt ‘genomical,’ only time will tell,” he says.

Abstract

Genomics is a Big Data science and is going to get much bigger, very soon, but it is not known whether the needs of genomics will exceed other Big Data domains. Projecting to the year 2025, we compared genomics with three other major generators of Big Data: astronomy, YouTube, and Twitter. Our estimates show that genomics is a “four-headed beast”—it is either on par with or the most demanding of the domains analyzed here in terms of data acquisition, storage, distribution, and analysis. We discuss aspects of new technologies that will need to be developed to rise up and meet the computational challenges that genomics poses for the near future. Now is the time for concerted, community-wide planning for the “genomical” challenges of the next decade.

http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbi...

Our obligations — work, family and friends — often don’t line up with when our bodies want to sleep. Scientists call this phenomenon, the result of that shift in sleep schedule, social jetlag. It may also be associated with wider waistlines. As we learn more about how our body clocks work, it might help to think about how our own schedules can shift.

Social jetlag isn’t just about being groggy. Using a group of more than 1,000 New Zealanders from the town of Dunedin, followed throughout their lives and questioned regularly about their health, Parsons and other scientists showed that as little as a two-hour difference between weekday and weekend sleep schedules was associated with a higher body mass index, compared with people with no social jetlag. “It was an additional two [kilograms] of fat mass at age 38,” Parsons says. The authors published the work on January 20 in the International Journal of Obesity.

Social jetlag, obesity and metabolic disorder: investigation in a cohort study.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25601363

'Living against our internal clock' may contribute to metabolic dysfunction and its consequences. Further research aimed at understanding that the physiology and social features of social jetlag may inform obesity prevention and have ramifications for policies and practices that contribute to increased social jetlag, such as work schedules and daylight savings time.

This is another magic of science: Removing cataracts without surgery! The “fog” often seen by patients who have cataracts is a glob of broken proteins, stuck together in a malfunctioning clump. When healthy, these proteins, called crystallins, help the eye’s lens keep its structure and transparency. But as humans and animals alike get older, these crystallin proteins start to come unglued and lose their ability to function. Then they clump together and form a sheathlike obstruction in the lens, causing the signature “steamy glass” vision that accompanies cataracts. Currently, the only treatment for cataracts is surgery—lasers or scalpels cut away the molecular grout that builds in the eye as cataracts develop, and surgeons sometimes replace the lens. But now, a team of scientists and ophthalmologists has tested a solution in dogs that may be able to dissolve the cataract right out of the eye’s lens. And the solution is itself a solution: a steroid-based eye drop.
A research team led by University of California (UC), San Diego, molecular biologist Ling Zhao came up with the eye drop idea after finding that children with a genetically inherited form of cataracts shared a mutation that stopped the production of lanosterol, an important steroid in the body. When their parents did not have the same mutation, the adults produced lanosterol and had no cataracts.

So the researchers wondered: What if lanosterol helped prevent or reduce cataracts? The team tested a lanosterol-laden solution in three separate experiments. First, they used human lens cells to test how effectively lanosterol shrank lab models of cataracts. They saw a significant decrease. Then, they progressed to rabbits suffering from cataracts. At the end of the 6-day experiment, 11 of 13 rabbits had gone from having severe or significant cataracts to mild cataracts or no cataracts at all. Finally, the team moved on to dogs, using a group of seven, including black Labs, Queensland Heelers, and Miniature Pinschers with naturally occurring cataracts. The dogs responded just as the researchers hoped to the lanosterol solution, which was given in the form of both eye injections and eye drops. The dogs’ lenses showed the same type of dissolving pattern as the human and rabbit lens cells.
The improvement was remarkable—researchers could tell just by looking at the dogs’ eyes that the cataracts had decreased. But the exact mechanism of how lanosterol manages to disperse the mass of proteins remains unknown.
http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2015/07/eye-drops-could-dissolve-...

Genes influence academic ability across all subjects
Scientists have shown that the genes influencing numerical skills are the same ones that determine abilities in reading, arts and humanities.

A recent study suggests that if you have an academic Achilles heel, environmental factors such as a teaching are more likely to be to blame.

The findings add to growing evidence that school performance has a large heritable component, with around 60% of the differences in pupil’s GCSE results being explained by genetic factors.
Although scientists are yet to pinpoint specific genes, the latest work, published in the journal Scientific Reports, suggests that the same ones are involved across subjects.

''Pleiotropy across academic subjects at the end of compulsory education''
http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150723/srep11713/full/srep11713.html

Some interesting news that says to get better research results more than 50 scientists have created a website to help biologists avoid poor-quality chemical reagents that undermine experiments in molecular biology and drug discovery.
http://www.chemicalprobes.org/
Chemical probes are small molecules designed to bind to a specific protein and disrupt its function. They are valuable tools for biologists trying to find out what a particular protein does in a cell, or for drug-discoverers gauging whether interfering with a function could form the basis of a therapy. But probes often interfere with unintended proteins, and their reliability can vary by cell type and by species. That can lead scientists who rely on such probes to make—and publish—unwarranted conclusions.
Unreliable probes have earlier led to thousands of papers with uninterpretable results as well as a failed clinical trials.
The new portal will recommend probes for use with particular proteins as well as specify recommended experimental systems and concentrations at which to use the reagents.
http://www.nature.com/news/scientists-unite-to-warn-against-flawed-...

''Inferior frontal gyrus''. What is it? A brain area. Why is it important?
Because it makes us what we are, yes, human beings!
Neuroscientists recently have identified an area of the brain that might give the human mind its unique abilities, including language. The area lit up in human, but not monkey, brains when they were presented with different types of abstract information.
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2815%290072...

Wang, L., Uhrig, L., Jarraya, B. & Dehaene, S. Curr. Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.035 (2015).

Cooking rice by repeatedly flushing it through with fresh hot water can remove much of the grain’s stored arsenic, researchers have found—a tip that could lessen levels of the toxic substance in one of the world’s most popular foods.
Rice takes up more arsenic (which occurs naturally in water and soil as part of an inorganic compound) than do other grains. High levels of arsenic in food have been linked to different types of cancer, and other health problems.
The findings are reported in PLoS ONE.

Here we eat lots of spices. And it seems that is good for living a long time!

Consumption of spicy foods and total and cause specific mortality: population based cohort study

http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3942

Spicy food in the diet seems to contribute to longevity, a study of thousands of people in a Chinese registry finds.

Men who ate spicy food at least once a week were 10 percent less likely to die during the seven-year study period than were those with a more bland diet. Women had a mortality decrease of 12 to 22 percent during the study period with regular spicy food consumption, and eating it three or more times a week was associated with the biggest decrease.

These observational data don’t establish that spicy foods reduces mortality. But the findings suggest that men who ate spicy food three or more times a week had fewer fatal respiratory diseases.  For women, the strongest associations were seen in respiratory and cardiac diseases and infections.

The scientists speculate that capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, might underlie the benefits.

Scientists reveal their most embarrassing mistakes in the field
https://twitter.com/hashtag/fieldworkfail?vertical=default
Twitter hashtag #fieldworkfail.

Caused two fire accidents while using inflammable chemicals. Made all my colleagues run away #fieldworkfail

#FieldWorkFail proves science is a horrifyingly messy process

Being a scientist isn't always such a glamorous job. This new hasht...

The best thing on Twitter right now: #fieldworkfail recounts brilliant stories of science gone wrong.

Top 10 Science Moments on The Daily Show [Video]
(Jon Stewart's)

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/jon-stewart-s-top-...

Did you think CNG is safe? Then think again says CSIR chief.

Exhaust from CNG vehicles contains nano carbon particles, needs to be studied seriously: CSIR chief

The natural gas (CNG)-run buses are harmful for humans as they emit 'nano carbon' particles which can cause cancer, according to a study conducted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Though the study was conducted on a very limited sample size in Delhi, CSIR took the findings seriously owing to the health hazard it poses to humans and alerted the Central government for further follow up, CSIR's Director General Dr M O Garg said on 7th Aug., 2015.

A study conducted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) claims buses that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) emit 'nanocarbon' particles that can cause cancer. While the study was conducted on a limited sample size in Delhi, CSIR alerted the central government due to the severity of the threat it poses to the health of the residents.

The study was conducted along with a professor from Alberta University, who has developed a device to measure and analyze particles emitted by vehicles. This machine was installed on the exhaust of a natural gas-run DTC bus in Delhi.

The study can change the perception that natural gas is a clean fuel as it does not emit any visible smoke, which is in contrast to smoke emitted by diesel-run vehicles and perceived as harmful for humans.

He explained, "Natural gas is supposed to be a clean fuel when used in internal combustion engines, right? But, I don't think people realize that what you see (smoke) is perhaps better than what you don't see (no smoke from CNG vehicles). Can you imagine that we found nanocarbon particles coming out of from natural gas combustion. These particles are moving around in the atmosphere and going straight into your lungs through your nose. It then enters into your blood through membranes."

Dr Garg said these nanocarbon particles are carcinogenic, and the government has been alerted about its effects.

Warning : But this is not a published work. Just a speculation. And my instincts tell something is wrong here and it could be an erroneous  representation of facts - Krishna.

To 'Beat The Heat', caused by climate change, Fish in oceans Swim To Greater Depths
In this recent study, researchers tagged 60 redthroat emperor fish at Heron Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef. All the fish were equipped with transmitters that identified them individually and signaled their depth to an array of receivers around the island.

After monitoring the fish for up to a year, researchers found that fish were less likely to be found on the reef slope on warmer days; they think that many may escape to deeper water as a result of warmer temperatures.

The researchers also kept certain factors in mind, including temperature, air pressure, wind, rainfall and moon phases as reasons for the shift. Yet they discovered that the only significant correlation was due to temperature- the redthroat emperor were consistently monitored when water was less than 24 degrees Celsius.

Lead researcher Dr Leanne Currey noted how most studies examined the effect that ocean warming would have on fish biology and not how the animals would distribute themselves to compensate for higher temperatures.

"This is a commercially important fish and we are looking at a significant depth shift".

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/28658/20150807/fish-and-...

There could be a genetic reason for why you either love or hate some smells
When it comes to food, there are few items so divisive as coriander - or cilantro, as it's called in North and Central America. Some people love its fresh flavour, while others swear it tastes like soap. And it turns out a genetic variant that affects how we process aromas might at least partially explain the difference in opinion.

Back in 2012, genetic testing company 23andMe surveyed the DNA of nearly 30,000 people of European background, who'd answered a survey about whether they loved or hated coriander. Out of the 11,851 participants who declared that they liked coriander and the 14,604 who insisted it tasted like soap, they found two genetic variants that were associated with the preferences, and the strongest variant was located within a cluster of known olfactory-receptor genes.
A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro
preference
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1209.2096v1.pdf

Light in the universe is fading according to scientists

An international team of astronomers studying 200,000 galaxies has measured the energy generated within a large portion of space more precisely than ever before, discovering that it's only half what it was 2 billion years ago and fading - the Universe is slowly dying. Researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Western Australia used seven of the world's most powerful telescopes to observe galaxies at 21 different wavelengths from the far ultraviolet to the far infrared.

Initial observations were conducted using the Anglo-Australian Telescope in New South Wales and supporting observations were made by two orbiting space telescopes operated by NASA and another belonging to the European Space Agency.

All energy in the Universe was created in the Big Bang with some portion locked up as mass. Stars shine by converting this mass into energy as described by Einstein's famous equation E=MC2.

"While most of the energy sloshing around was created in the aftermath of the Big Bang, additional energy is constantly being released by stars as they fuse elements like hydrogen and helium together".

"This newly released energy is either absorbed by dust as it travels through the host galaxy, or escapes into intergalactic space and travels until it hits something such as another star, planet, or very occasionally a telescope mirror." The Universe is fated to decline from here on in, like an old age that lasts forever.

Source: International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research

MIT physicists have created a superfluid gas, the so-called Bose-Einstein condensate, for the first time in an extremely high magnetic field. The magnetic field is a synthetic magnetic field, generated using laser beams, and is 100 times stronger than that of the world’s strongest magnets. Within this magnetic field, the researchers could keep a gas superfluid for a tenth of a second — just long enough for the team to observe it. The researchers report their results this week in the journal Nature Physics.
A superfluid is a phase of matter that only certain liquids or gases can assume, if they are cooled to extremely low temperatures. At temperatures approaching absolute zero, atoms cease their individual, energetic trajectories, and start to move collectively as one wave.

Superfluids are thought to flow endlessly, without losing energy, similar to electrons in a superconductor. Observing the behavior of superfluids therefore may help scientists improve the quality of superconducting magnets and sensors, and develop energy-efficient methods for transporting electricity.

But superfluids are temperamental, and can disappear in a flash if atoms cannot be kept cold or confined. The MIT team combined several techniques in generating ultracold temperatures, to create and maintain a superfluid gas long enough to observe it at ultrahigh synthetic magnetic fields.
Observation of Bose–Einstein condensation in a strong synthetic magnetic field
http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphys3421.html

Power of pupils is in their shape
Vertical and horizontal pupils provide visual advantages for predators and prey respectively, researchers say
Visual fuzziness might actually help some animals catch prey. Out-of-focus areas created by vertically elongated pupils help predators triangulate the distance to objects, scientists proposed on August 7 in Science Advances. Prey animals may gain different visual advantages from pupil shapes that provide panoramic views.

Cats, foxes and many other predators that ambush prey have vertical pupils. Through these narrow slits, vertical objects appear sharp over great distances, the scientists report. Horizontal shapes are clear over a more limited distance, quickly going out of focus as an object moves farther away. This rapidly blurring vision should make it easy to detect even subtle changes in distance, the researchers say. That makes blur a good estimate of distance, says study author Martin Banks, a vision scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. A stalking predator might rely upon an object’s fuzziness to judge its location.

The benefits of this mix of visual cues make good sense.
Many herbivores, like horses and deer, have horizontal, rectangular pupils, rather than vertical slits. The authors don’t think these pupils help with depth perception. But rectangular pupils probably have their own advantages, the authors report, including better panoramic vision and shielding of potentially blinding overhead light. These benefits could help grazing prey spot – and flee from – an approaching slit-eyed hunter.

These visual benefits could explain why predators and prey evolved their pupil shapes.
But vision scientist Ronald Kröger of Lund University in Sweden warns against assuming that an animal’s habits caused the evolution of a certain pupil shape. Counterexamples exist of predators without slit pupils and herbivores with them, he says. Additionally, many predators and prey animals, including most birds – which were excluded from the study’s analysis – have circular pupils.

But evolution is complex, and the new hypotheses about the advantages of pupil shape only address one aspect of the evolution of vision, Banks says. “There are multiple forces that push the eye to evolve in multiple ways.”

Misrepresentation of findings of new CSIR study:
Read the story I posted below on 10th Aug., that says CNG is bad for us. Now read this story that says the findings are not presented properly...

( I have warned you then, mind you!)
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has condemned the recent attempt to misrepresent the findings of the new study that has been jointly carried out by the CSIR, IIP-Dehradun and University of Alberta.

The statements from CSIR have claimed, without presenting the full study and the facts in the public domain, that CNG buses emit more ultrafine particles than diesel buses and are a health hazard. When CSE obtained the draft findings from CSIR it was stunned to see a very different message from the study.

Their own findings have shown that the conventional CNG buses in India have already achieved emissions levels for all pollutants including ultrafine particle number very close or better than Euro VI emissions standards that are yet to be implemented. Diesel buses are far behind.

The ultrafine emissions from Indian CNG buses are higher only from the Canadian diesel bus with advanced particulate traps meeting one of the global best standards.

This motivated campaign against CNG buses in India, and defiance of what science is saying, will harm not only the CNG bus programme that has given enormous public health benefits but will also jeopardise the policy decision to leapfrog emissions standards roadmap to Euro VI by 2020 to cut dangerous diesel emissions, said CSE in a statement.

The government of India is dragging its feet in the face of strong opposition from the diesel industry. Diesel technology and fuels need the most drastic transformation in Indian transport sector today to protect public health, CSE added.

Good news for smokers who want to quit: nicotine addiction therapy.

with Nicotine-Chomping Bacteria

Researchers isolated a bacterial enzyme that could break down nicotine before smokers get the buzz that keeps them coming back for more.

A New Strategy for Smoking Cessation: Characterization of a Bacterial Enzyme for the Degradation of Nicotine

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.5b06605

The nicotine-degrading enzyme NicA2, a flavin-containing protein produced by Pseudomonas putida. When it was added the enzyme to mouse serum, doped with a cigarette's worth of nicotine, (the enzyme was stable at human body temperature) was able to cut the half-life of nicotine from a couple hours to less than 15 minutes—that is, it greatly accelerated nicotine’s disappearance.

But the enzyme isn't ready for use yet. It's bacterial—so "you're going to get an immune response, immune surveillance from it." And right now, the other important half-life, that of the enzyme in serum, is only 3 days. So it won’t stick around long enough to be an effective vaccine.

These problems still have to be solved.