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English Literature Influenced Prize-Winning Paleontologist

By Guest PostJanuary 14, 2012Science21st century, age of reptiles, ancient plant structure, carbon cycle, carboniferous period, cocktail party, dinosaurs, earth, ecology, evolution, excalibur movie, fieldwork, fossil record, giant fungus, harvard university, history of life, ice age, jung eun lee, kevin boyce, knowledge, la brea tar pits, lloyd degrane, los angeles, macroevolution, mammal fossils, michael foote, million years ago, mural, pair of calipers, paleontology, plant fossils, prehistoric life, scanning electron microscope, school, soil moisture, terrestrial ecosystems, vascular plants

For a short time in grade school, Kevin Boyce lived within two blocks of the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles, a place where ice age mammal fossils had been discovered. Above his bed hung a poster of the Yale Peabody Museum’s famous Age of Reptiles mural. But it wasn’t a boyhood fascination with prehistoric life that influenced his interest in paleontology, but rather the medieval literary world of Chaucer that Boyce discovered in college.

“I didn’t think twice about fossils between the ages of 7 and 20,” said Boyce, associate professor in geophysical sciences. Even during his undergraduate studies in literature and biology at the California Institute of Technology in the early 1990s, the deep history of life on Earth was far from his mind. (more…)

Clearing a Potential Road Block to Bisabolane

By Guest PostJanuary 14, 2012Scienceabies grandis, abies grandis α bisabolene synthase, advanced biofuels, agbis, andy degiovanni, berkeley lab, biofuel, biosynthetic alternative, bisabolane, ca, chemical compounds, cofactors, d2 diesel fuel, emeryville, enzyme, evolutionary heritage, flavorings, fragrances, grand fir, green energy, inhibitors, jay keasling, jose pereira, masood hadi, microbes, microbial based production, pamela peralta yahya, paul adams, precursor, protein, protein crystal structure, renewable alternative, resolution, ryan mcandrew, synthases in plants, terpene class, terpenoid synthases, three dimensional crystal structure, trucking industry, united states, x ray crystallography

*Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Identify Key Enzyme Structure*

The recent discovery that bisabolane, a member of the terpene class of chemical compounds used in fragrances and flavorings, holds high promise as a biosynthetic alternative to D2 diesel fuel has generated keen interest in the green energy community and the trucking industry. Now a second team of researchers with the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has determined the three-dimensional crystal structure of a protein that is key to boosting the microbial-based production of bisabolane as an advanced biofuel.

The JBEI research team, led by bioengineers Paul Adams and Jay Keasling, solved the protein crystal structure of an enzyme in the Grand fir (Abies grandis) that synthesizes bisabolene, the immediate terpene precursor to bisabolane. The performance of this enzyme – the Abies grandis α-bisabolene synthase (AgBIS) – when engineered into microbes, has resulted in a bottleneck that hampers the conversion by the microbes of simple sugars into bisabolene. (more…)

At 10-Year Milestone, Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Initiative More Important than Ever

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2012Technologymicrosoft products, microsoft software, trustworthy computing, windows error reporting

Industry collaboration critical to helping businesses, governments and citizens realize safer computing experiences.

REDMOND, Wash. – Ten years ago this week, during a time when security problems were threatening trust in software products, Bill Gates sent an email to all Microsoft full-time employees announcing the creation of the Trustworthy Computing (TwC) initiative. A pivotal moment in the company’s history, Gates defined the key aspects of Trustworthy Computing, stating the company must make this initiative the highest priority. (more…)

Gut Microbe Networks Differ From Norm in Obese People, Systems Biology Approach Reveals

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2012Healthbowel disease, gut microbiome, metabolic potential, obese microbiomes, obese people, supra organism

For the first time, researchers have analyzed the multitude of microorganisms residing in the human gut as a complex, integrated biological system, rather than a set of separate species. Their approach has revealed patterns that correspond with excess body weight. (more…)

A Scarcity of Women Leads Men to Spend More, Save Less

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2012Cultureandrew delton, andrew e white, behavior, credit cards, economic decisions, Economics, engagement rings, expenditures, financial behavior, financial consequences, iceberg, impulsive, joshua m ackerman, joshua tybur, local population, men and women, news articles, perception, photo arrays, products, psychology, sex ratio, theresa robertson, twin cities of minneapolis, university of minnesota, us cities, valentine gifts, violence and survival, vladas griskevicius, women

*University of Minnesota Research Finds Sex Ratios Influence Financial Decisions*

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL — The perception that women are scarce leads men to become impulsive, save less, and increase borrowing, according to new research from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

“What we see in other animals is that when females are scarce, males become more competitive. They compete more for access to mates,” says Vladas Griskevicius, an assistant professor of marketing at the Carlson School and lead author of the study. “How do humans compete for access to mates? What you find across cultures is that men often do it through money, through status and through products.” (more…)

MU Researchers Find Unique Protein Organization in Arteries Associated with Cardiovascular Disease

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2012Health, Science3 d microscopic imaging technology, amount of protein, artery, artery functions, blood vessels, cardiovascular disease, cause of death, circulatory complications, diabetes, disorders, elastin, elastin production, factor, gerald meininger, high blood pressure, human arteries, michael hill, minute structural elements, molecular biologists, stiffening, stiffening process, tissue replacement proces, united states, university of missouri

*Knowledge could assist in tissue replacements, treatments for high blood pressure and diabetes*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Human arteries – some smaller than a strand of hair – stiffen as a person ages. This stiffening is a factor in cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, because it contributes to the circulatory complications in disorders such as high blood pressure and diabetes. University of Missouri researchers have now used advanced 3-D microscopic imaging technology to identify and monitor the proteins involved in this stiffening process. These findings could eventually help researchers and physicians understand and treat complications associated with cardiovascular disease. (more…)

Stars Pop Onto the Scene in New WISE Image

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2012Scienceamerican astronomical society, astronomers, bubbles, cosmic clouds, dave leisawitz, gas and dust, milky way galaxy, mosaic, NASA, natal clouds, nebulae, new star birth, newborn stars, public astronomy, radiation, space telescope, specimens, star formation, star forming clouds, triggered star formation, triggered star formation theory, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise, wise mosaic, xavier koenig

PASADENA, Calif. — A new, large mosaic from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) showcases a vast stretch of cosmic clouds bubbling with new star birth. The region — a 1,000-square-degree chunk of our Milky Way galaxy — is home to numerous star-forming clouds, where massive stars have blown out bubbles in the gas and dust.

“Massive stars sweep up and destroy their natal clouds, but they continuously spark new stars to form along the way,” said WISE Mission Scientist Dave Leisawitz of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Leisawitz is co-author of a new paper reporting the results in the Astrophysical Journal. “Occasionally a new, massive star forms, perpetuating the sequence of events and giving rise to the dazzling fireworks display seen in this WISE mosaic.” (more…)

IBM Research Determines Atomic Limits of Magnetic Memory

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2012Technologyantiferromagnetism, atomic limits, magnetic atoms, magnetic bit, magnetic memory, magnetic storage

*IBM scientists create the world’s smallest magnetic memory bit using only 12 atoms.*

*First-ever demonstration of engineered atomic-scale structures storing information magnetically at low temperatures.* (more…)

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