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Couch Potatoes May Be Genetically Predisposed to Being Lazy, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostMay 14, 2013Scienceamerican adults, childhood obesity, couch potato rats, exercise, extreme laziness, frank booth, genetic traits, michael roberts, mitochondria, motivation to exercise, muscle cells, physical activity motivation, rna, sedentary lifestyle, specific genes, super runner, united states, university of missouri, veterinary medicine

Genetics could be a reason some people are motivated to exercise more than others

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Studies show 97 percent of American adults get less than 30 minutes of exercise a day, which is the minimum recommended amount based on federal guidelines. New research from the University of Missouri suggests certain genetic traits may predispose people to being more or less motivated to exercise and remain active. Frank Booth, a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, along with his post-doctoral fellow Michael Roberts, were able to selectively breed rats that exhibited traits of either extreme activity or extreme laziness. They say these rats indicate that genetics could play a role in exercise motivation, even in humans.

“We have shown that it is possible to be genetically predisposed to being lazy,” Booth said. “This could be an important step in identifying additional causes for obesity in humans, especially considering dramatic increases in childhood obesity in the United States. It would be very useful to know if a person is genetically predisposed to having a lack of motivation to exercise, because that could potentially make them more likely to grow obese.” (more…)

UCLA researchers capture wasted heat, use it to power devices

By Guest PostMay 14, 2013Scienceenergy, heat energy, spin of electrons, spin wave

FINDINGS:

Imagine how much you could save on your electricity bill if you could use the excess heat your computer generates to actually power the machine.
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Mobile health technologies to rapidly test and track infectious diseases

By Guest PostMay 14, 2013Health, Technologyadvances in nanotechnology, big data analysis, bing, biomarker discovery, calum mcneil, cepheid, david willetts, deadly diseases, deenan pillay, early warning, epsrc irc, Facebook, flu epidemics, genomics, geographically linked information, google trends, gp surgeries, hiv, internet, irc, Microsoft, mobile health technologies, mobile phone, mrsa, new british technologies, next generation solutions, o2 health, oj bio, outbreaks, pathogen specific fingerprints, prototype test, rachel mckendry, search engine queries, sensor systems, serious infectious diseases, Social networking sites, strains of influenza, symptoms of infection, temperature stable biomimetic, tracking systems, Twitter, ucl, xfab, zurich instruments

Early-warning sensor systems that can test and track serious infectious diseases – such as major flu epidemics, MRSA and HIV – using mobile phones and the internet are being developed by a major new Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) led by UCL.

The new £11 million IRC, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (total investment £16 million), will develop mobile health technologies that allow doctors to diagnose and track diseases much earlier than ever before. (more…)

New device could cut costs on household products, pharmaceuticals

By Guest PostMay 13, 2013Sciencealice dohnalkova, amy shen, cost, flow of liquid, flow procedure, fluid, household products, joshua cardiel, microfluidics, micron level, microscopic channels, nanoscale packages, neville dubash, pharmaceuticals, pump water, soap products, toxic, university of washington, web, ya zhao

Sometimes cost saving comes in nanoscale packages.

A new procedure that thickens and thins fluid at the micron level could save consumers and manufacturers money, particularly for soap products that depend on certain molecules to effectively deal with grease and dirt. Researchers at the University of Washington published their findings online April 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read the back of most shampoos and dishwashing detergents and you’ll find the word “surfactant” in the list of active ingredients. Surfactant molecules are tiny, yet they are the reason dish soap can attack an oily spot and shampoo can rid the scalp of grease. (more…)

Research Enables Fishermen to Harvest Lucrative Shellfish on Georges Bank

By Guest PostMay 13, 2013Environment, Sciencealexandrium cells, alexandrium fundyense, bloom dynamics, cape cod, chrissy petitpas, cysts, darcie couture, dave townsend, dave wallace, deana erdner, delaware, dennis mcgillicuddy, dna evidence, don anderson, ecohab, fda, georges bank, gomtox project, gulf of maine, harmful algal blooms, marine biotoxins, massachusetts, microscope, mindy richlen, nccos, new england shellfisheries, new jersey, noaa, nova scotia, ocean quahogs, offshore population, paralytic shellfish poisoning, phytoplankton, psp, red tides, rhode island, robert magnien, sea watcher, sea water samples, smast, stacey degrasse, surf clams, toxicity, toxicity in shellfish, united states, university of maine, university of massachusetts, university of texas, whoi

Combined research efforts by scientists involved in the Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project, funded by NOAA’s Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program, and administered by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), have led to enhanced understanding of toxic algal blooms on Georges Bank. This new information, coupled with an at-sea and dockside testing protocol developed through collaboration between GOMTOX and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigators, has allowed fishermen to harvest ocean quahogs and surf clams in these offshore waters for the first time in more than two decades.

The shellfish industry estimates the Georges Bank fishery can produce up to 1 million bushels of surf clams and ocean quahogs a year, valued $10 – 15 million annually. “There is a billion dollars’ worth of shellfish product on Georges Bank that is property of the United States but that can’t be harvested because of the threat of toxicity, and 99.9% of the time, it is good wholesome product,” says Dave Wallace of North Atlantic Clam Association and a GOMTOX participant. “In an unusual and unique partnership, we worked with GOMTOX scientists, the FDA, and the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware and now that huge resource can go into commerce, which helps the entire country.” (more…)

The fluorescent future of solar cells

By Guest PostMay 13, 2013Scienceabsorb light, andre d taylor, cell layer, electrical power, fluorescent future, fluorescent organic dye, fret, higher efficiency photovoltaics, jing shun huang, matthew y sfeir, mechanical flexibility, nilay hazari, polymer solar cells, power conversion efficiency, scientists at yale, solar cells, tenghooi goh, xiaokai li

For some solar cells, the future may be fluorescent.

Scientists at Yale have improved the ability of a promising type of solar cell to absorb light and convert it into electrical power by adding a fluorescent organic dye to the cell layer. This squaraine dye boosts light absorption and recycles electrons, improving the conversion of light into energy. The results suggest a new route for the development of lower-cost, higher-efficiency photovoltaics, the scientists said.

“People can apply our approach in designing advanced solar cells with higher efficiencies,” said André D. Taylor, the assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale who led the research, published May 5 online in the journal Nature Photonics. (more…)

New dark matter detector begins search for invisible particles

By Guest PostMay 12, 2013Sciencecanada, cf3i, chicagoland observatory, coupp, coupp 60, dark matter detector, dark matter experiment, dark matter particles, earth from space, fermilab, fire extinguishers, galaxies, hugh lippincott, ingredient, invisible particles, juan collar, massive particles, neutrons, ontario, purified water, rotational velocities, snolab, telescopes, underground particle physics, universe, university of chicago

Scientists heard their first pops last week in an experiment that searches for signs of dark matter in the form of tiny bubbles.

They will need to analyze them further in order to discern whether dark matter caused any of the COUPP-60 experiment’s first bubbles at the SNOLAB underground science laboratory in Ontario, Canada. Dark matter accounts for nearly 90 percent of all matter in the universe, yet it is invisible to telescopes.

“Our goal is to make the most sensitive detector to see signals of particles that we don’t understand,” said Hugh Lippincott, a postdoctoral scientist with Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Lippincott has spent much of the past several months leading the installation of the one-of-a-kind detector at SNOLAB, 1.5 miles underground. (more…)

Reaching more farmers

By Guest PostMay 12, 2013Environmentag professionals, corn, cropping system, economic activity, environmental impacts, expert, farmers, hancock, herbicide issues, insect pests, jeff gunsolus, john dosdall, minnesota, paul groneberg, pests in field, production of food, soybean aphid, soybeans, u extension, university of minnesota, weed science, western minnesota

Since its inception in 1909, University of Minnesota Extension has worked with farmers to find solutions to their biggest challenges. And, since we all eat—our biggest challenges. For the past 25 years, Extension has shared the U’s expertise by educating agriculture professionals, who in turn have the most influence on crop farmers today.

Keeping agriculture professionals on top of current research helps ensure economically and environmentally responsible cropping decisions are made throughout the state. (more…)

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