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Upper Atmosphere Facilitates Changes That Let Mercury Enter Food Chain

By Guest PostJanuary 5, 2012Environmentaquatic ecosystems, atmosphere, bacteria, bangor, broomfield, chemical reactor, climate conditions, coal burning in asia, daniel jaffe, ecosystem impacts, Europe, food chain, humans, lower stratosphere, maine, mercury, mercury contaminated fish, mercury emissions, metallic element, methyl mercury, North America, oxidation, oxidized mercury, research aircraft, seth lyman, southwest united states, university of washington bothell, upper atmosphere, upper troposphere, vapor

Humans pump thousands of tons of vapor from the metallic element mercury into the atmosphere each year, and it can remain suspended for long periods before being changed into a form that is easily removed from the atmosphere.

New research shows that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere work to transform elemental mercury into oxidized mercury, which can easily be deposited into aquatic ecosystems and ultimately enter the food chain. (more…)

Scientists Use Animal-Free Reagents to Create Clinical-Grade Neurons from Skin Cells

By Guest PostDecember 11, 2011Scienceanimal based reagents, clinical grade cells, clinical use, derivation and differentiation techniques, embryonic stem cells, gmp, good manufacturing practices, human skin cells, human use, humans, induced pluripotent stem, ips, kim irwin, mouse feeder cells, neural precursor cells, neurons, pluripotent stem cells, process, protocols, saravanan karumbayaram, stem cell, ucla, william lowry

Using a specially designed facility, UCLA stem cell scientists have taken human skin cells, reprogrammed them into cells with the same unlimited property as embryonic stem cells, and then differentiated them into neurons while completely avoiding the use of animal-based reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process.

Generally, stem cells are grown using mouse “feeder” cells, which help the stem cells flourish and grow. But such animal-based products can lead to unwanted variations and contamination, and the cells must be thoroughly tested before they can be deemed safe for use in humans. (more…)

Research Sheds New Light on Body Parts’ Sensitivity to Environmental Changes

By Guest PostNovember 23, 2011Sciencealexander shingleton, beacon, blood sugar levels, body parts, brain, changes in nutrition, energy, evolution in action consortium, fruit flies, glucose, humans, insulin, malnutrition, michigan state university, nongenetic, normal size, sensitive to environmental change, sensitivity to environmental issues, type 2 diabetes, variety of diseases, zeroing, zoology

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Research by a team of Michigan State University scientists has shed new light on why some body parts are more sensitive to environmental change than others, work that could someday lead to better ways of treating a variety of diseases, including Type-2 diabetes.

The research, led by assistant zoology professor Alexander Shingleton, is detailed in the recent issue of the Proceedings of the Library of Science Genetics. (more…)

A Tailored Pair of Genes

By Guest PostNovember 22, 2011Scienceagriculture, alfalfa like legume, ancestor of legumes, ancestral genes, ancient plants, asteroid, backbone of protein, bacteria, beans, cretaceous period, crop plants, demise of the dinosaurs, dinosaurs, disaster, earth, eggs, fertilizers, genes, genetically engineer legumes, genomes, humans, legumes, living together, major nutrient, medicago truncatula, model, nevin young, nitrogen, nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen fixing bacteria, nonsynthetic nitrogen fertilizer, peanuts, peas, sequencing genome, soybeans, sperm, synthetic fertilizer, university of minnesota

*For ancient plants, two genes were definitely better than one*

In the wake of the disaster that killed the dinosaurs, the ancestors of today’s crop plants reinvented themselves.

They doubled their genomes, and in that single act set the stage for feeding the world 60 million years later.

In a study published in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Nature, researchers from the University of Minnesota and other institutions recount how sequencing the genome of a model, alfalfa-like legume revealed the monumental benefits that flowed when the ancestor of legumes acquired an extra copy of every gene. (more…)

NASA Develops New Game-Changing Technology

By Guest PostNovember 19, 2011Science, Technologyadvanced compound semiconductor materials, ames research center at moffett field, commercial product lines, cryogenically cooled infrared sensors, ethiraj venkatapathy, extreme environments, game changers, game changing technology, high operating temperature infrared sensor, humans, infrared detector, jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena, lightweight aircraft, missions to mars, nasa california centers, next generation of human missions, planets, sarath gunapala, saturn, Space, space aged technologies, spacecraft heatshield applications, transport robots, us textile industry, venus, woven thermal protection system, woven tps

Two NASA California centers have been selected to develop new space-aged technologies that could be game-changers in the way we look at planets from above and how we safely transport robots or humans through space and bring them safely back to Earth.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will use advanced compound semiconductor materials to develop new technologies for the High Operating Temperature Infrared Sensor Demonstration. The higher the temperature at which an infrared detector can operate, the less power is required to cool it. Reduced power needs can translate into operational cost and system weight savings. If successful, this sensor technology could be used in many future NASA Earth and planetary science instruments, as well as for U.S. commercial and defense applications. (more…)

“PARKINSONIAN” Worms May Hold The Key to Identifying Drugs for Parkinson’s Disease, Says Scientist

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2011Health, Scienceadela ben yakar, alzheimers, andres vidal gadea, c elegans worms, degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, dopamine deficient worms, dopaminergic systems, early dementia, early symptoms, genetic structure, humans, jon pierce shimomura, layla young, nervous system, neurobiology, neurodegenerative diseases, parkinsonian, parkinsons disease, potential drugs, potential therapeutic, professor, simple test, stephen topper, terrible time, university of texas at austin, worm model

AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have devised a simple test, using dopamine-deficient worms, for identifying drugs that may help people with Parkinson’s disease.

The worms are able to evaluate as many as 1,000 potential drugs a year. The researchers have received federal funding that could increase that to one million drug tests a year. (more…)

Bird Song Yields a New Understanding of Cooperation

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2011Nature, Scienceecuador, eric fortune, humans, johns hopkins university, neuroscientist, site of a volcano, slopes of antisana volcano, tango

*A bird duet springs forth from each bird’s knowledge of the entire song*

The site of a volcano isn’t the first place one might think of to study cooperation. But neuroscientist Eric Fortune of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues went to the slopes of Antisana volcano in Ecuador to study cooperation as it plays out with a very special songbird, the plain-tailed wren. Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the researchers report their observations in the Nov. 4, 2011, issue of Science.

Rapidly alternating their singing back and forth, female and male wrens cooperate to sing a duet that sounds as if a single bird sang it. The researchers assumed that the brain of each bird would have a memory of its own part of the duet, and also have a memory of the cues from its partner. They were surprised to find that both brains had a record of the complete duet–a performance that neither bird can do by itself. (more…)

Book Traces Long Trail of Global Warming Scholarship

By Guest PostSeptember 24, 2011Environmentcarbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide emissions, climate simulations, co2 data, computer simulations, crystalline substances, david archer, earth climate, foundations of global-warming science, geophysical sciences professor, global warming, global warming and climate change, global warming class, greenhouse effect, humans, impact on climate, infrared intensity of moonlight, louis block professor, methane hydrates, nobel laureate, oceanic sediments, ray pierrehumbert, rising temperatures, svante arrhenius, the smoking gun

Geophysical Sciences Professor David Archer polled the 200 students in one of his Global Warming classes about whether they believed that humans have had an impact on climate. Approximately 90 percent of the students responded “yes,” reflecting the lessons of climate simulations that Archer had shared earlier with the students.

Those computer simulations are able to reproduce the trend toward rising temperatures, but only when they include data on rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. Simulations that omit the CO2 data do not accurately reproduce the changes. Archer says the link helps reveal carbon dioxide emissions as “the smoking gun” behind global warming and climate change. (more…)

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