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An old mathematical puzzle soon to be unraveled?

By Guest PostJanuary 21, 2014Sciencecryptography, logical reasoning, mathematical puzzle, prime numbers, twin primes, twin primes conjecture

It is one the oldest mathematical problems in the world. Several centuries ago, the twin primes conjecture was formulated. As its name indicates, this hypothesis, which many science historians have attributed to the Greek mathematician Euclid, deals with prime numbers, those divisible only by themselves and by one (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc.). Under this assumption, there exists an infinite number of pairs of prime numbers whose difference is two, called twin primes (e.g., 3 and 5), but nobody has been able to confirm this so far. (more…)

Mystery Solved: How Nerve Impulse Generators Get Where They Need to Go

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2014Health, Scienceankyrin g, axons, body, brain, cell, central nervous system, chen gu, disease, electrical signaling, joshua barry, key protein, kinesin 1, molecular motor, motor protein, multiple sclerosis, mystery solved, nerve cell bodies, nerve impulse, nerve impulse generators, neurological disorders, neuron, nodes of ranvier, ohio state university, parkinson's, peter jukkola, potassium ion channel, protein, sodium ion channel, spinal cord, symptom, yuanzheng g

Study identifies essential molecule for transport of protein from neuron cell body to axon

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have solved a longstanding mystery of the central nervous system, showing how a key protein gets to the right spot to launch electrical impulses that enable communication of nerve signals to and from the brain.

Nerve impulses are critical because they are required for neurons to send information about senses, movement, thinking and feeling to other cell types in the neural circuitry. And an impulse is not fired up just once; it is initiated and then must be repeatedly transmitted along axons – long, slender extensions of nerve cell bodies – to keep the nervous system’s messages stable during their rapid travel. (more…)

Microbial Murder Mystery Lands Two UA Students in Top 10 of Ocean Science Video Challenge

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2014Sciencemicrobial murder mystery, myo cyanophage, scientific research, sullivan lab, viral tagging

A three-minute cartoon video made by two UA graduate students is one of 10 finalists in the Ocean 180 Video Challenge, an outreach campaign designed to inspire scientists to communicate the meaning and significance of scientific research to a broader audience

A science video disguised as a cartoon murder mystery has landed two University of Arizona marine ecology students among the top 10 finalists in the Ocean 180 Video Challenge, an outreach campaign designed to inspire scientists to communicate the meaning and significance of scientific research to a broader audience. (more…)

Newly Discovered Receptors in Plants Help Them Recover from Environmental Changes, Pests, and Plant Wounds, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2014Scienceadenosine triphosphate, atp, cell, energy source, environmental changes, environmental events, extracellular atp signaling, gary stacey, insects, jeongmin choi, kiwamu tanaka, newly discovered, pests, plant wounds, receptors in plants, recover, university of missouri

Discovery could lead to herbicides, fertilizers and pesticides that naturally work with plants to make them stronger

COLUMBIA, Mo. – ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the main energy source inside a cell and is considered to be the high energy molecule that drives all life processes in animals and humans. Outside the cell, membrane receptors that attract ATP drive muscle control, neurotransmission, inflammation and development. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found the same receptor in plants and believe it to be a vital component in the way plants respond to dangers, including pests, environmental changes and plant wounds. This discovery could lead to herbicides, fertilizers and insect repellants that naturally work with plants to make them stronger. (more…)

Enormous scale of Nile ‘mega lake’ revealed

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2014Environment, Sciencedavid haberlah, east africa, eastern sahara desert, egypt, exposure, isotope beryllium 10, lake baikal, lake michigan, lake tanganyika, nile mega lake, shoreline deposits, Siberia, sudan, surface area, tim barrows, university of exeter, US, valley, white nile river

The eastern Sahara Desert was once home to a 45,000 km²freshwater lake similar in surface area to the largest in the world today.

A study led by the University of Exeter has revealed that the mega lake was probably formed more than one hundred thousand years ago in the White Nile River Valley in Sudan.

Dr Tim Barrows of the University of Exeter and colleagues used a dating approach based on exposure to cosmic rays to measure the amount of the isotope beryllium-10 in shoreline deposits. Its abundance can be used to calculate how long rocks or sediments have been exposed at the surface of the earth. (more…)

Studies in perception: At arm’s length: Plasticity of depth judgment

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2014Science3d, brown university, carlo fantoni, computer generated image, corrado caudek, depth judgment, depth perception, fulvio domini, iit, italy, john assad, journal of neuroscience, plasticity, robert volcic, smartphone, studies in perception, three rods, training exercise, triangle configuration, virtual 3d cylinder

People have a distance at which they are best able to judge depth. That distance, it turns out, is dictated by how long people understand their arms to be. Researchers showed this in the Journal of Neuroscience by tricking subjects with virtual reality into thinking their reach was longer than it really was. The result? Their accurate perception of depth via sight moved outward and touch became more sensitive.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — We need to reach for things, so a connection between arm length and our ability to judge depth accurately may make sense. Given that we grow throughout childhood, it may also seem reasonable that such an optimal depth perception distance should be flexible enough to change with a lengthening arm. Recent research in the Journal of Neuroscience provides evidence for these ideas with surprising findings: Scientists showed that they could manipulate the distance at which adult volunteers accurately perceived depth, both through sight and touch, by tricking them into thinking they had a longer reach than they really do. (more…)

Study: CT Scans Could Bolster Forensic Database to ID Unidentified Remains

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2014Sciencecraniofacial surgeons, ct scans, forensic database, reconstructive surgery, unidentified remains

A study from North Carolina State University finds that data from CT scans can be incorporated into a growing forensic database to help determine the ancestry and sex of unidentified remains. The finding may also have clinical applications for craniofacial surgeons. (more…)

Smart hydrogels

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 2014Scienceacs, americans, anti inflammatory activity, arthritis foundation, biomacromolecules, chandran sabanayagam, Chicago, darrin pochan, DNA, drug molecules, gel is biocompatible, high tension, hip joint, hyaluronic acid, knee, ligament tears, longxi xiao, mechanical force, osteoarthritis, ph, researchers, rush university, smart hydrogels, stimulate tissue regeneration, temperature, treatment efficacy, university of delaware, xinqiao jia, yingchao chen, zhixiang tong

UD-developed smart gels deliver medicine on demand

Researchers at the University of Delaware have developed a “smart” hydrogel that can deliver medicine on demand, in response to mechanical force.

Over the past few decades, smart hydrogels have been created that respond to pH, temperature, DNA, light and other stimuli. (more…)

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