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NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 2012Sciencecarbon dioxide, data, david kass, dry ice, frozen, ice, jpl, mars, mars climate sounder, martian air, martian atmosphere, NASA, particle, paul hayne, phoenix lander, polar caps, reconnaissance orbiter, red planet, residual cap, snow, snow cloud, snowfall, solar system, water

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data have given scientists the clearest evidence yet of carbon-dioxide snowfalls on Mars. This reveals the only known example of carbon-dioxide snow falling anywhere in our solar system.

Frozen carbon dioxide, better known as “dry ice,” requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius), which is much colder than needed for freezing water. Carbon-dioxide snow reminds scientists that although some parts of Mars may look quite Earth-like, the Red Planet is very different. The report is being published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. (more…)

Importance of Gene-Gene Interactions Shown in Study

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 2012Scienceepistatic effects, epistatic networks, gene gene interactions, genetic variation, quantitative genetics

Gaining more insight into predicting how genes affect physical or behavioral traits by charting the genotype-phenotype map holds promise to speed discoveries in personalized medicine. But figuring out exactly how genes interact has left parts of the map invisible. (more…)

Beacons Light up Stem Cell Transformation

By Guest PostSeptember 12, 2012Sciencealpl, bglap, biotechnology, bone cell, bone specific, brown university, chathuraka jayasuriya, differentiation, DNA, eric darling, fluorescence, gene, gene col1a1, gene expression, glowing, green spot, hetal desai, indu voruganti, medicine treatment, messenger rna, mg 63, milestone, molecular beacon, mrna, qian chen, regenerative, stem cell, tissue

In a new study, Brown University researchers demonstrate a new tool for visually tracking in real-time the transformation of a living population of stem cells into cells of a specific tissue. The “molecular beacons,” which could advance tissue engineering research, light up when certain genes are expressed and don’t interfere with the development or operation of the stem cells.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A novel set of custom-designed “molecular beacons” allows scientists to monitor gene expression in living populations of stem cells as they turn into a specific tissue in real-time. The technology, which Brown University researchers describe in a new study, provides tissue engineers with a potentially powerful tool to discover what it may take to make stem cells transform into desired tissue cells more often and more quickly. That’s a key goal in improving regenerative medicine treatments. (more…)

UA Professor Uses Aerospace Materials to Build Endless Green Pipeline

By Guest PostSeptember 11, 2012Sciencecarbon fiber fabric, fixing existing pipes, green pipe, infinite pipe, infinitpipe, lightweight underground pipe, pipeline technology

Carbon fiber fabric and lightweight honeycomb materials, plus a mobile manufacturing platform, make infinite pipeline technology cheaper and greener while boosting local economies.

Mo Ehsani, professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of Arizona, has designed a new, lightweight underground pipe he says could transform the pipeline construction industry. (more…)

Face to Face

By Guest PostSeptember 10, 2012Scienceadult, african, ann manser, anna grant, asian faces, asian infants, brian larue, canada, caucasian faces, caucasian infants, China, concept formation, cristin, daily live, dayna damico, delaware, elise coopersmith, Europe, face, face to face, facial recognition, female face, fundamental challenge, gender, infant, laurie yarzab, mckenna larue, paige valeski, parent, pathway, paul quinn, process, race, south asian, university

Research finds infants classify faces by gender, race

Long before babies can talk — even before they can sit up on their own — they are mentally forming categories for objects and animals in a way that, for example, sets apart squares from triangles and cats from dogs, psychologists say.

Now, research conducted by the University of Delaware’s Paul Quinn, professor of psychology, and others indicates that babies as young as 3 months are also classifying faces by race and gender, showing a visual preference for the category they see most often in their daily lives, and that by 9 months they have difficulty recognizing the faces of people from less-familiar races. (more…)

First Stars, Galaxies Formed more Rapidly than Expected

By Guest PostSeptember 9, 2012Scienceanalysis, anisotropy probe, Antarctica, astronomer, background, Berkeley, california, christian reichardt, cmb, cosmic microwave, cosmological evolution, data, earth axis, electron, Epoch, Galaxy, geographic, herschel satellite, high resolution, hydrogen atom, image, john carlstrom, kavli foundation, microwave, millimeter wavelength, national, neutral, neutral gas, oliver zahn, period, plasma, polar plateau, proton, radiation, reionization, s chandrasekhar, science foundation, south pole, star, telescope, ultraviolet light, universe, university, wilkinson

Analysis of data from the National Science Foundation’s South Pole Telescope, for the first time, more precisely defines the period of cosmological evolution when the first stars and galaxies formed and gradually illuminated the universe. The data indicate that this period, called the epoch of reionization, was shorter than theorists speculated — and that it ended early.

“We find that the epoch of reionization lasted less than 500 million years and began when the universe was at least 250 million years old,” said Oliver Zahn, a postdoctoral fellow at the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the study. “Before this measurement, scientists believed that reionization lasted 750 million years or longer, and had no evidence as to when reionization began.” (more…)

That Giant Tarantula Is Terrifying, But I’ll Touch It

By Guest PostSeptember 8, 2012Sciencedomestic violence, emotional experience, giant, intuition, katharina kircanski, macbeth, malcolm, matthew lieberman, michelle craske, psychology study, returning, Shakespeare, soldier, stressful time, tarantula, ucla, victim, war

Expressing your emotions can reduce fear, UCLA psychologists report

“Give sorrow words.”

—Malcolm in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”

Can simply describing your feelings at stressful times make you less afraid and less anxious?

A new UCLA psychology study suggests that labeling your emotions at the precise moment you are confronting what you fear can indeed have that effect.

The psychologists asked 88 people with a fear of spiders to approach a large, live tarantula in an open container outdoors. The participants were told to walk closer and closer to the spider and eventually touch it if they could. (more…)

Scientists Dramatically Reduce Plaque-Forming Substances in Mice with Alzheimer’s Disease

By Guest PostSeptember 8, 2012Sciencea beta peptides, ajaya kunwar, alzheimer's disease, amp kinase, ampk, amyloid beta, amyloid precursor protein, app, chemical reaction, chhavy tep, cognitive decline, compound, cycle, dong ju park, endoplasmic reticulum, enzyme, er, fat, genetic manipulation, glucose, jae cheon ryu, jnk3, metabolism, mice, mouse brain, mtor pathway, ohio state university, proteins, reduction, rna expression, sung ok yoon, symptom, tae hee lim, type 2 diabetes, yong jae shin

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have found that eliminating an enzyme from mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease leads to a 90 percent reduction in the compounds responsible for formation of the plaques linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

That is the most dramatic reduction in this compound reported to date in published research.

The compounds are amyloid beta, or A-beta peptides; peptides are proteins, but are shorter in length. When A-beta peptides accumulate in excessive amounts in the brain, they can form plaques, which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. (more…)

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