Science – Page 179 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

“Blue Dot” – die Erde mit Alexander Gersts Augen sehen

By Guest PostFebruary 17, 2014Sciencealexander gerst, astronaut reid wiseman, blue dot, die erde, die reise, dlr, esa astronaut, internationalen raumstation, iss, maxim surajew, NASA

Die Uhr tickt: In 100 Tagen wird der deutsche ESA-Astronaut Alexander Gerst zur Internationalen Raumstation ISS starten – gemeinsam mit seinen Kollegen, dem NASA-Astronaut Reid Wiseman und dem russischen Kosmonauten Maxim Surajew.

An Bord einer Sojus-Trägerrakete werden 274 Tonnen Treibstoff sie auf 28.000 Stundenkilometer beschleunigen. Damit werden Sie den orbitalen Außenposten der Menschheit in weniger als sieben Stunden erreichen. Der für den 28. Mai 2014 geplante Start ist der Beginn von Alexanders sechsmonatiger Mission “Blue Dot” als Teil der ISS Expedition 40/41. (more…)

Fruit flies – fermented-fruit connoisseurs – are relentless party crashers

By Guest PostFebruary 17, 2014Sciencealgorithm, controlling robotic systems, dickinson lab, fermented fruit connoisseurs, floris van breugel, fruit flies, genus drosophila, glass of cabernet, mental map, michael dickinson, neurons, robot, university of washington, visual exploration

That fruit fly joining you just moments after you poured that first glass of cabernet, has just used its poppy-seed-sized brain to conduct a finely-choreographed search, one that’s been described for the first time by researchers at the University of Washington.

The search mission is another example of fruit flies executing complex behaviors with very little “computational” power, their brains having 100,000 neurons compared to house flies with 300,000 neurons and humans with 100 billion. (more…)

Mathematical beauty activates same brain region as great art or music

By Guest PostFebruary 16, 2014Sciencebrain region, cauchy riemann equations, fmri, great art, leonhard euler, mathematical beauty, mathematical formulae, mathematicians, music, musical beauty, neurobiological basis, plato, pythagorean identity, semir zeki, srinivasa ramanujan, university college london, visual

People who appreciate the beauty of mathematics activate the same part of their brain when they look at aesthetically pleasing formula as others do when appreciating art or music, suggesting that there is a neurobiological basis to beauty.

There are many different sources of beauty – a beautiful face, a picturesque landscape, a great symphony are all examples of beauty derived from sensory experiences. But there are other, highly intellectual sources of beauty. Mathematicians often describe mathematical formulae in emotive terms and the experience of mathematical beauty has often been compared by them to the experience of beauty derived from the greatest art. (more…)

Within tarantula venom, new hope for safe and novel painkillers found

By Guest PostFebruary 16, 2014Scienceboyi liu, function, inflammation, junhong gui, michael nitabach, neuropathic pain, pain killing drugs, painkillers, peruvian green, spider toxins, surface of neurons, tarantula venom, trpa1, velvet tarantula, yale researcher

Screening more than 100 spider toxins, Yale researchers identified a protein from the venom of the Peruvian green velvet tarantula that blunts activity in pain-transmitting neurons. The findings, reported in the March 3 issue of the journal Current Biology, show the new screening method used by the scientists has the potential to search millions of different spider toxins for safe pain-killing drugs and therapies.

The researchers note that they tested the spider toxins on only one of a dozen suspected human pain channels. (more…)

New scientific field looks at the big picture

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2014Sciencebig data, big picture, carol fergus, data intensive science, data mining experts, dave schimel, environmental problems, field of ecology, geographic information system, john wingfield, macrosystems ecology, michigan state university, new scientific field, nsf, pang ning tan, patricia soranno, statistical modeling, tools

Big data is changing the field of ecology. The shift is dramatic enough to warrant the creation of an entirely new field: macrosystems ecology. (more…)

Researchers find brain’s ‘sweet spot’ for love in neurological patient

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2014Health, Scienceanterior insula, Argentina, argentinian heterosexual men, biological drive, blas couto, brain, fmri, heterosexual male, john cacioppo, love, lucas sedeno, motor control, neurological patient, sexual desire, stephanie cacioppo, sweet spot, university of chicago

A region deep inside the brain controls how quickly people make decisions about love, according to new research at the University of Chicago.

The finding, made in an examination of a 48-year-old man who suffered a stroke, provides the first causal clinical evidence that an area of the brain called the anterior insula “plays an instrumental role in love,” said UChicago neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo, lead author of the study. (more…)

New Research Revises Conventions for Deciphering Color in Dinosaurs While Suggesting Connection between Color and Physiology

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2014Nature, Scienceanchiornis, ancient maniraptoran dinosaurs, austin, chang fu zhou, change, china university, cold blooded, color in dinosaurs, crocodiles, deciphering, dinosaur physiology, diverse melanosomes, diversity, ectothermic, endothermic, evolutionary emergence, evolutionary role, julia clarke, ke qin gao, lizards, matthew shawkey, microraptor, paravians, protofeathers, pycnofibers, quanguo li, sinosauropteryx, turtles, university of akron, university of texas, warm blooded

AUSTIN, Texas — New research that revises recently established conventions allowing scientists to decipher color in dinosaurs may also provide a tool for understanding the evolutionary emergence of flight and changes in dinosaur physiology prior to the origin of flight.

In a survey comparing the hair, skin, fuzz and feathers of living terrestrial vertebrates and fossil specimens, a research team from The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Akron, the China University of Geosciences and four other Chinese institutions found evidence for evolutionary shifts in the relationship between color and the shape of pigment-containing organelles known as melanosomes, as reported in the Feb. 13 edition of Nature. (more…)

Bausteine des Lebens für den Saturnmond Titan gefunden

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2014Sciencebausteine des lebens, ethan, johannes leitner, maria firneis, methan, regina hitzenberger, saturnmond titan, sonnensystem, universitaet wien, washington state university, wasser, wasser ammoniak gemisch

Es muss nicht immer nur Wasser sein

WissenschaftlerInnen der Universität Wien ist es gemeinsam mit US-amerikanischen KollegInnen von der Washington State University erstmals gelungen, die Synthese der Bausteine des Lebens auf dem urzeitlichen Saturnmond Titan im Labor nachzustellen. Das Team um Johannes Leitner konzipierte dafür ein Experiment, welches bereits die Entstehung von Aminosäuren auf der Erde erklärte. Dazu schufen sie eine hypothetische urzeitliche Titanatmosphäre und verwendeten als besonderen Clou nicht Wasser, sondern ein alternatives Lösungsmittel. Der Erfolg des Experiments, basierend auf einem Gemisch aus Wasser und Ammoniak, stellt auch gleichzeitig einen weiteren Beweis dafür dar, dass es nicht immer nur reines Wasser sein muss, um Lebensbausteine entstehen zu lassen. (more…)

Category Archives: Science