Tag Archives: brown university

Selfish Gene may Undermine Genome Police

By Guest PostMarch 18, 2013Scienceaubergine, brown university, chromosomes, father of genetics, fruit fly, genome police, gregor mendel, humans, mammals, police gene, robert reeenan, sd, segregation distorter, selena gell, selfish gene, selfish genetic entity, sex cells, sperm, strings of biochemicals

Biologists have been observing the “selfish” genetic entity segregation distorter (SD) in fruit flies for decades. Its story is a thriller among molecules, in which the SD gene destroys maturing sperm that have a rival chromosome. A new study reveals a tactic that gives SD’s villainy an extra edge.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For a bunch of inanimate chemical compounds, the nucleic and amino acids caught up in the infamous “selfish” segregation distorter (SD) saga have put on quite a soap opera for biologists since the phenomenon was discovered in fruit flies 50 years ago. A new study, a highlight in the March issue of the journal Genetics, provides the latest plot twist. (more…)

‘Costs of War’ Project: Iraq War: 190,000 lives, $2.2 trillion

By Guest PostMarch 16, 2013Politicsafghanistan, boston university, brown university, catherine lutz, costs of war, democratic governance, international studies, Iraq, iraq reconstruction, iraq refugee crisis, iraq war, iraqi women, neta c crawford, Pakistan, political science, president eisenhower, project, security, trillion, united nations, us invasion, us military, violence, war in iraq, watson institute

More than 190,000 people have been killed in the 10 years since the war in Iraq began. The war will cost the U.S. $2.2 trillion, including substantial costs for veterans care through 2053, far exceeding the initial government estimate of $50 to $60 billion, according to a new report by scholars with the “Costs of War” project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. The 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is March 19, 2013.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, researchers have released the first comprehensive analysis of direct and indirect human and economic costs of the war that followed. According to the report, the war has killed at least 190,000 people, including men and women in uniform, contractors, and civilians and will cost the United States $2.2 trillion — a figure that far exceeds the initial 2002 estimates by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget of $50 to $60 billion. (more…)

Brown Unveils Novel Wireless Brain Sensor

By Guest PostMarch 9, 2013Scienceanimal model, arto nurmikko, brain machine interfaces, brain radio, broadband signals, brown university, computer cursors, copper coil, cortex, data, david borton, decision-making, electrodes, engineer, ghz, Houston, human neuroscience, infrared transmitters, international workshop, john donoghue, lithium-ion battery, mbps, ming yin, motor cortex, neural data transmission, neuroengineers, novel, paralysis control devices, parkinsons disease, real-time, recharging, robotic arms, sealed titanium can, signal processing system, translational motivation, wireless brain sensor, wireless radio, wriston professor

In a significant advance for brain-machine interfaces, engineers at Brown University have developed a novel wireless, broadband, rechargeable, fully implantable brain sensor that has performed well in animal models for more than a year. They describe the result in the Journal of Neural Engineering and at a conference this week.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A team of neuroengineers based at Brown University has developed a fully implantable and rechargeable wireless brain sensor capable of relaying real-time broadband signals from up to 100 neurons in freely moving subjects. Several copies of the novel low-power device, described in the Journal of Neural Engineering, have been performing well in animal models for more than year, a first in the brain-computer interface field. Brain-computer interfaces could help people with severe paralysis control devices with their thoughts. (more…)

A Long Distance Call: Astronaut’s Kids See Dad’s Office from Ladd

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2013Scienceadult kids, anthony, astronomer robert horton, brown, brown university, fast moving objects, heidi, heidi ford, international space station, kevin ford, ladd observatory, rhode islanders, sky, space station commander, telescope, ufo, valentines day greetings, watch dad fly

Space Station Commander Kevin Ford exchanged Valentine’s Day greetings with his adult kids Heidi and Anthony — he speeding by about 220 miles above Providence and they watching him fly past from Brown’s Ladd Observatory.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Rhode Islanders with their eyes skyward around 6 p.m. last Thursday might have noticed a curiously bright speck speeding across the evening sky. No, it wasn’t a UFO or an asteroid. It was the International Space Station, and for Providence resident Heidi Ford, it was dad’s office.

Heidi’s father Kevin Ford is currently the commander of the ISS. And with the help of Brown’s Ladd Observatory and astronomer Robert Horton, Heidi and her brother Anthony, who was visiting from Houston, got to see last week’s flyby close up while they talked to their dad on the phone. (more…)

Size of Lunch Dictates Force of Crunch

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2013Science3d, animal, animal bite force, animated computer model, biology letters, bite, bite strength relationship, brown university, co evolving foods, crush, crushing device, daily sustenance, ecology and evolution, ecosystem, elizabeth brainerd, eric lopresti, force, humans, jaw, length force relationship, maximum force, measure, muscle, muscle length, nicholas gidmark, nicolai konow, optimal value, phenomenon of physiology, piston activated, population, predators and prey, prey sizes, species, variable bite force, x ray markers, xray videos

Even in the same animal, not all bites are the same. A new study finds that because the force in a muscle depends on how much it is stretched, an animal’s bite force depends on the size of what it is biting. The finding has direct implications for ecology and evolution.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Many animals prefer food — snails, nuts, etc. — that must be cracked and crushed. Scientists have measured the maximum force of their impressive bites before, but a new study introduces a significant subtlety: bite force depends not only on the size and strength of the eater, but also the size of the eatee. That insight has important implications in the lives of predators and prey. (more…)

How the World’s Saltiest Pond gets its Salt

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2013Environmentboston university, brown university, chloride bearing salts, closed basins, dark streaks, data, david marchant, dead sea, deliquescence, don juan pond, dry valleys, flowing water, frozen desert, geologists, groundwater, high salt content, jay dickson, jim head, joseph levy, mars, mcmurdo dry valleys, moisture, oregon state, permafrost layer, present day mars, red planet, relative humidity, salinity of antarctica, salt, saltiest pond, snow, soil, temperature, time lapse photography, water tracks, world

Jay Dickson and Jim Head have gathered time-lapse photography and other data about the sustained salinity of Antarctica’s Don Juan Pond, the most saline natural body of water on earth. Their findings, published online in Scientific Reports, suggest that such ponds could be possible on Mars.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Antarctica’s Don Juan Pond might be the unlikeliest body of water on Earth. Situated in the frigid McMurdo Dry Valleys, only the pond’s high salt content — by far the highest of any body of water on the planet — keeps it from freezing into oblivion. (more…)

Death and dying 2000-2009: Hospice Use Rises; So Does Aggressive Care

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2013General, Healthadd-on, aggressive care, brown university, chronic, data, david goodman, death and dying, dying seniors, end of life, hospice use, icu utilization, joan teno, medical centers, obstructive pulmonary disease, pedro gozalo, physician culture, poor communication, regional differences, repeat hospitalizations, research team, susan miller, thomas scupp, trajectory

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association documents an increase in hospice use over the last decade but also finds more ICU utilization, more repeat hospitalizations, and more late health care transitions. The data raises concern about whether aggressive care and burdensome transitions at the end of life are consistent with the wishes of patients or those of their family members.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A study published Feb. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that while more seniors are dying with hospice care than a decade ago, they are increasingly doing so for very few days right after being in intensive care. The story told by the data, said the study’s lead author, is that for many seniors palliative care happens only as an afterthought. (more…)

Samoan Obesity Epidemic Starts at Birth

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2013Healthamerican samoa, birth, breastfeeding, brown university, early infancy, epidemiology, gain weight, macrosomia, nicola hawley, obesity, pacific island, pediatric obesity, polynesian populations, population, risk factor, samoan epidemic, samoan obesity epidemic, stephen mcgarvey, united states, us mainland, westernized

Born slightly heavy on average, a sample of hundreds of infants in American Samoa continued to gain weight quickly after birth, achieving high rates of obesity within 15 months. Breastfeeding slowed weight gain in boys. Findings may presage infant obesity in other populations where obesity is increasing population wide.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As some Pacific island cultures have “westernized” over the last several decades, among the changes has been a dramatic increase in obesity. Researchers don’t understand all the reasons why, but even a decade ago in American Samoa 59 percent of men and 71 percent of women were obese. A new Brown University study finds that the Samoan epidemic of obesity may start with rapid weight gain in early infancy. (more…)