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NASA’s WISE Mission Captures Black Hole’s Wildly Flaring Jet

By Guest PostSeptember 21, 2011Sciencea w blain, accretion disks, astronomers, black hole called gx 339 4, black holes, blazing jets, center of our galaxy, d m russell, extreme environments around black holes, flaring black hole, gamma rays, gravity, infrared observations, japan aerospace exploration agency, jaxa, jets, magnetic field, NASA, neowise, peter eisenhardt, physics of jets, poshak gandhi, radio waves, s markoff, speed of light, ultra dense collection of matter, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise, xrays

PASADENA, Calif. — Astronomers using NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have captured rare data of a flaring black hole, revealing new details about these powerful objects and their blazing jets.

Scientists study jets to learn more about the extreme environments around black holes. Much has been learned about the material feeding black holes, called accretion disks, and the jets themselves, through studies using X-rays, gamma rays and radio waves. But key measurements of the brightest part of the jets, located at their bases, have been difficult despite decades of work. WISE is offering a new window into this missing link through its infrared observations. (more…)

Origin of Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Remains a Mystery

By Guest PostSeptember 21, 2011Scienceamy mainzer, asteroid belt between mars and jupiter, asteroids, baptistina, baptistina family, demise of the dinosaurs, dinosaurs extinction, earth, greatest mysteries, gulf of mexico, huge asteroid, jet propulsion laboratory, joseph masiero, jpl, lindley johnson, NASA, nasa headquarters in washington, near earth object, neo, neowise, pasadena, visible light data, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise

PASADENA, Calif. — Observations from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission indicate the family of asteroids some believed was responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs is not likely the culprit, keeping open the case on one of Earth’s greatest mysteries.

While scientists are confident a large asteroid crashed into Earth approximately 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and some other life forms on our planet, they do not know exactly where the asteroid came from or how it made its way to Earth. A 2007 study using visible-light data from ground-based telescopes first suggested the remnant of a huge asteroid, known as Baptistina, as a possible suspect. (more…)

CT Study of Early Humans Reveals Evolutionary Relationships

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2011Sciencea africanus, a boisei, a robustus, africa, anatomy of the face, anterior pillars, australopithecus, bony columns, brian villmoare, classic evolutionary puzzle, convergence, ct scans, east africa, facial features, fossil skull, hollow columns of bone, key ancestor of modern humans, parallel evolution, South Africa, william kimbel

CT scans of fossil skull fragments may help researchers settle a long-standing debate about the evolution of Africa’s Australopithecus, a key ancestor of modern humans that died out some 1.4 million years ago.

The study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explains how CT scans shed new light on a classic evolutionary puzzle by providing crucial information about the internal anatomy of the face. (more…)

This Beetle Uses Eggs as Shields Against Wasps

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011Sciencebeetle larva, beetles, charismatic organisms, cocoon, eggs, joseph deas, m amicus, martha hunter, mesquite and acacia trees, mimosestes amicus, national science foundation, novel discovery, palo verde, parasitic wasps, parasitoids, red eyes, seed beetles, southwestern us, trees of tucson, university of arizona, uscana semifumipennis, wasp

*New UA research has discovered that seed beetles from the desert Southwest shelter their broods from attacking parasitic wasps under a stack of dummy eggs.*

They lead modest lives among the palo verde, mesquite and acacia trees throughout the Southwestern U.S., laying their eggs on seed pods and defending the survival of their offspring against the parasitic wasp species that attacks their eggs before their young can develop.

They are the seed beetles Mimosestes amicus, living all around us in the trees of Tucson, and yet remaining all but invisible to our eyes – or nearly so. (more…)

Of Mice and Men

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Sciencebret payseur, chromosomes, diseases, DNA, dna sequences, evolution of disease, evolutionary relationships, genetic codes, genomes, genomic information, identification of genes, madison, mice and humans, michael white, mouse strains, national science foundation, strains of common lab mice, university of wisconsin

*The genomes of 17 common strains of lab mice were sequenced to advance genetic studies of human diseases*

Scientists have sequenced the genomes (genetic codes) of 17 strains of common lab mice–an achievement that lays the groundwork for the identification of genes responsible for important traits, including diseases that afflict both mice and humans.

Mice represent the premier genetic model system for studying human diseases. What’s more, the 17 strains of mice included in this study are the most common strains used in lab studies of human diseases. By enabling scientists to list all DNA differences between the 17 strains, the new genome sequences will speed the identification of subsets of mutations and genes that contribute to disease. (more…)

Look Ma, No Hands: Yale Engineers Invent a Magnetic Fluid Pump with No Moving Parts

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Scienceadvertising industry, ferrofluids, ferrohydrodynamic pumping mechanism, hollywood, hur koser, leidong mao, liquid, liquid fuels, magical materials, magnetic, magnetic fields, magnetic nanoparticles, markus zahn, microfluidic devices, nasa scientists, national science foundation, non mechanical, outer space, shihab elborai, xiaowei he

Used in Hollywood and the advertising industry to create exotic special effects, ferrofluids are seemingly magical materials that are both liquid and magnetic at once. In a study published today in Physical Review B, Yale electrical engineering professor Hur Koser and colleagues from the University of Georgia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrate for the first time an approach that allows ferrofluids to be pumped by magnetic fields alone. The invention could lead to new applications for this mysterious material.

Developed in the 1960s by NASA scientists seeking a non-mechanical method for moving liquid fuels in outer space, ferrofluids are made up of magnetic nanoparticles suspended in liquids such as oil, water, or alcohol. Though numerous industrial, commercial, and biomedical applications for ferrofluids have since been created, the original goal-to pump liquids with no machinery-remained elusive, until now. (more…)

Chemical in Spice Turmeric Kickstarts Cancer-Killing Mechanisms in Human Saliva

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Health, Scienceanti aging agent, anti inflammatory effects, cancer enhancing cytokines, curcumin, enzyme, eri srivatsan, head and neck cancer, hpv virus, human saliva, ikk, India, kappa β kinase, marilene wang, medicinal properties, menstrual cramps, nfκβ, not toxic, nuclear factor kappa β, oral cancers, poultice, pro inflammatory cytokines, signaling molecules, south asian and middle eastern cooking, spice turmeric, transcription factor, turmeric, wound healing

Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The inhibition of the pathway also correlated with reduced expression of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines, or signaling molecules, in the saliva that promote cancer growth, said senior study author Dr. Marilene Wang, a professor of head and neck surgery and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. (more…)

UF Study Names New Ancient Crocodile Relative from The Land of Titanoboa

By Guest PostSeptember 17, 2011Scienceacherontisuchus guajiraensis, age of dinosaurs, alex hastings, ancient crocodile, ancient crocodyliform, asteroid impact, atlantic ocean, caribbean, carlos jaramillo, catastrophes, cerrejon mine of northern colombia, changes in climate, christopher brochu, colombian coal mine, crocodiles, diversity of animals, dyrosaurid, ecological changes, environmental changes, fossils, freshwater environments, greek mythology, jonathan bloch, largest snake, oldest known rainforest ecosystem, open pit coal mines, palaeontology, Paleocene, river acheron, species, the river of woe, titanoboa, university of florida, warmer climate

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Did an ancient crocodile relative give the world’s largest snake a run for its money?

In a new study appearing Sept. 15 in the journal Palaeontology, University of Florida researchers describe a new 20-foot extinct species discovered in the same Colombian coal mine with Titanoboa, the world’s largest snake. The findings help scientists better understand the diversity of animals that occupied the oldest known rainforest ecosystem, which had higher temperatures than today, and could be useful for understanding the impacts of a warmer climate in the future. (more…)

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