tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339808022012-01-30T14:18:05.292-05:00A blog full of sophistry and cant, science and sarcasm. Here lie the thoughts of a vagabond scientist who has drifted through many of the life sciences, in search of not answers, but questions.Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.comBlogger1231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-84232400237420599462009-12-01T10:21:00.002-05:002009-12-01T10:24:52.367-05:00

Coral soaks up the UV rays to protect the reef citizens.UV has a habit of zapping DNA and triggering thymine dimers, pretty much irreversible snags in the flowing template of life. Apparently that calcium carbonate isn't just for swanky-looking underwater condominiums, it can protect in any form right down to ground up slurry.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com85tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-9382928210252682442009-11-30T20:05:00.002-05:002009-11-30T20:07:52.001-05:00

Zapping cancer cells with magnetic nanodiscs.Reminds me of this obscure JLA character named Pulse 8, who could drop attach these discs to people magnetically and then increase the weight exponentially.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-75743951226503053552009-11-28T08:59:00.001-05:002009-11-28T09:00:51.973-05:00

Hammerheads have 360 degree vision.Guess there's no sneaking up these guys.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-17108991206278311872009-11-23T14:19:00.005-05:002009-11-23T22:21:32.672-05:00

I always remember a Seinfeld episode where Jerry and George become addicted to playing with an antique toy collection belonging to Jerry's girlfriend, and use wine and turkey to drug her into naps. What's that thing in turkey that makes you sleepy, George and Jerry? Tryptophan!So it hazards a chance that sometime after your family Thanksgiving meal, when the kids have long left the table and the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-75470802461372560912009-11-17T10:51:00.000-05:002009-11-17T10:53:07.949-05:00

New study finds meditation cuts down heart attack risk.Sorta reminds me how the Dalai Lama can apparently surge his stem cell count through sheer thought.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-60007187970985273082009-01-05T20:13:00.002-05:002009-01-05T20:32:21.566-05:00

Via Pharyngula:15 Evolutionary Gems: A body of evidence published in the last decade that flexes the considerable intellectual muscle of Evolutionary Theory.1. The discovery of Indohyus, an ancestor to whales.2. The discovery of Tiktaalik, an ancestor to tetrapods.3. The origin of feathers revealed in creatures like Epidexipteryx.4. The evolution of patterning mechanisms in teeth.5. The

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-49460549766354641142008-06-17T22:06:00.004-04:002008-06-17T22:29:37.841-04:00

Sometimes you just need that extra oomph to get through the day.Today's NY Times had an interesting article about the smell of coffee and how that scent alone can have a gene-activating effect on the brain. The reality is the vast majority of our genes are almost always mothballed away, tightly bound to inhibit and regulate their expression by methyl groups and G-C rich zippers. However, get the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-68158215266316874982008-02-15T13:11:00.004-05:002008-02-15T20:35:28.793-05:00

Enjoy here the bizarre and outright wild stylings of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, a group that generates its music exclusively from specialized produce they pick up from the grocer the day of the show. The instruments require occasional lubrication during the performances, as the hot lights of a stage performance will begin to dry the raw plants, and that can apparently change the sound

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-82708544953630138972008-02-12T13:32:00.001-05:002008-02-12T13:43:08.442-05:00

I'm sure many readers are aware of the X Prize for various goals reached in commercializing the space race, as illustrated by the landmark (spacemark?) achievement by SpaceShipOne in 2004. But did you know there are X Prizes for cell crushers too?There's another cool 10 million bucks out there for the ability to cut the cost of genomic sequencing into the affordable range, that is, to sequence

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-7862714242391410382008-02-11T13:08:00.000-05:002008-02-11T13:22:42.509-05:00

I'm sure you've heard of the news last month of UFO sightings in Stephenville, Texas. One of my colleagues queried me if I felt there was any legitimacy to the story - could the UFO actually be some intelligent and advanced alien life? Unfortunately, my answer is a dull almost certainly no. I feel there is plenty of good evidence to suggest life as we know it could arise independently across the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-84411856884177587372008-02-08T15:21:00.000-05:002008-02-08T15:31:57.129-05:00

A research team unveils a device that convert leg energy into electrical energy. In principle its exactly how hybrid cars can use the deceleration of a car by braking as a harvest point for gathering up some extra electrical juice. As the team reports tomorrow in Science, the braces produced 5 watts of power--enough to run 10 cell phones. Now we're talking. I'd love to have a little bioelectric

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-63450353011906917972008-02-07T16:12:00.000-05:002008-02-07T16:16:57.315-05:00

Atlantis lifted off this afternoon despite threats both from gloomy weather and a faulty fuel sensor. This is a huge mission as the Atlantis shuttle is taking up the Columbus science lab, a five billion (with a BUH) dollar module built by ten European nations. The lab is going to more than double the amount of science that can be done on the international space station once the Atlantis crew gets

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-38959844947387302892008-02-06T13:33:00.000-05:002008-02-06T13:43:59.482-05:00

In Korea a research team has built a really tiny robot. This robot, with six crab legs and being no thicker than a fingernail, is powered by rat cardiomyocytes, heart cells coated over its body. When the cells contract, the legs are pulled together, and the mini-cyborg inches forward, averaging about 100uM a second and close to 50 meters in a week. The robot is fabricated the same way we mold

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-29632753600424784862008-02-05T12:47:00.000-05:002008-02-06T13:32:23.723-05:00

A fantastic new book out, the Fattening of America attempts to get a real headlock on the hard questions as to why and how Americans have become so alarmingly obese. This is the first book I've read that takes a moment to ask a question most books gloss right over: Is a big Fat America a bad thing? In the book, Eric Finkelstein, a health economist argues that our economy, with its massive

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-46175413095193813142008-02-04T13:03:00.000-05:002008-02-04T13:52:51.734-05:00

Today marks the beginning of Just Science 2008! The Sequel! To kick things off at the Ripsaw, we're delving into a crossover of some of the work I currently research as well as one of my favorite topics, signal tranduction. Organization within a multicellular body like ourselves or sea cucumbers means we have a lot of cells that all need to be coordinated together, which if you try to think about

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-91131758319110836052008-01-29T22:38:00.000-05:002008-01-29T22:48:13.262-05:00

We at the Ripsaw enjoy a strong, punch-in-the-face type cup of coffee in the morning, be it Sumatran, Ethiopian or plain or Starbucksy Arabica Breakfast Blend. Indeed, caffeine is often hailed by yours truly as a brain enhancer, a focus accelerant and an all around answer to life in the early hours of the day.=New research, however, shows there is a darker side to caffeine, and it's not all

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-29013652848099861002008-01-28T20:19:00.000-05:002008-01-28T20:22:46.642-05:00

America's Funniest home videos wacky science papers.I'm not sure how farts keep one's personality together, but I'm listening.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-59083490098242305832008-01-27T20:52:00.000-05:002008-01-27T22:07:10.151-05:00

Stem cells give a peak into a possible melanoma breakthrough. This is actually follow-up research on another breakthrough, the demonstration of a group of receptors, the, yes - ABC family - are key markers for tumor cells. In essence, this can be a unifying tag on the surface of tumor cells that set them apart from the rest of the normal, noncancerous cells in the body. Based on that tag, a

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-42801705896427581362008-01-23T13:25:00.000-05:002008-01-23T13:30:46.852-05:00

New preliminary research out of UC-Irvine shows the discovery of a creator gene responsible for differentiating cells into brain tissue. This is a key element in creating a stem cell line of cells that could be used to regenerate brain tissue in patients with diseases like Alzheimer's. These genes are highly selective, and likely only operate in a small window of time during early development. It

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-65813486286930525592008-01-17T21:56:00.001-05:002008-01-17T22:03:16.838-05:00

Hey there!Between a rush of holiday activity and a near month of malaise the Ripsaw had gone dark. Hopefully I'll be able to bring you the tasty science news you desire in the future. In the meantime, the world of stem cells has been all a quiver...Human heart tissue grown from stem cells. A real great leap given the times, this is the leap from mere bits of progenitor cells towards something

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-90061077558221852562007-11-20T21:14:00.000-05:002007-11-20T21:38:23.164-05:00

Two research groups form human embryonic human stem cells from somatic tissues.The actual data can be found here and here.Woooo boy. This is potentially a big jackpot for science, as it would have a twofold effect. One, the techniques described are fairly simple where any cell lab with tissue culture facilities could likely generate these lines. Two, it would probably get the religiously outraged

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-10826393414638954722007-11-09T21:42:00.000-05:002007-11-09T21:55:28.921-05:00

Scientists construct a stem cell scaffold from seaweed products.Now, as compared to yesterday's antics, this kind of technology is taking a credible step towards legitimate therapeutic applications. Stem cells in culture are notoriously picky; they typically like to be fed only from one side, need to have their media changed routinely and need to be grown on special membrane substrates.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-41862903231912416752007-11-08T22:21:00.000-05:002007-11-08T22:49:59.658-05:00

Hey, Ladies.Are you worried your monthly miracle is going down the drain? Literally? C'elle to the resuce! For a mere $1500 a year this company will take your glorious discharge and all its potential stem cells and keep it nice and safe in the event you might want it back, to, uh....well really, there's nothing you can do with it right now. Honestly, this venture is long on optimism and short on

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-88894405593453571792007-11-07T21:50:00.000-05:002007-11-07T22:10:04.520-05:00

Stem cells may secret brain repair substance. What happens when you take a deficient rodent brain and inject it with stem cells? Brain rescue, at least in Alzheimer's-like mice models. This is a more elaborate variation on seminal work from last year.Rather, the group speculates that the transplanted cells secreted protective neurotrophins, proteins that promote cell survival by keeping neurons

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-59792023147458362202007-10-22T23:23:00.000-04:002007-10-22T23:33:24.414-04:00

Perhaps we overhyped reseveratrol.Not that it's going to stop me from a leisurely glass of wine with dinner or my philosophical ruminations, but the article makes a good point: the mouse model can only carry us so far before we really can't corroborate effects on to us. Reveratrol has been hailed for all sorts of indications, from cancer to diabetes to just plain old being plain old. All that

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-13259911823295778122007-10-18T19:08:00.001-04:002007-10-18T19:09:37.419-04:00

Ever want to be a doctor? Take your shot at being a VR Orthopedic Surgeon.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-28939823974038494672007-10-10T21:48:00.000-04:002007-10-10T21:55:26.215-04:00

People in the future will talk like morons.Well, not quite. Despite all the valuable lessons the seminal film Idiocracy taught us, the new batch of articles in Nature looking at the evolution of language suggests a phasing out of irregular verbs that don't get used too often. There's actually some powerful mathematics being leveled behind this research despite the deceptive fluffy feel to the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-46580435234928607672007-10-09T22:37:00.000-04:002007-10-09T22:47:22.961-04:00

New evidence explains Saturn moon's black and white nature.Basically it's a freeze-thaw action:The new observations add support to a two-part explanation for Iapetus' appearance. First, as Iapetus treks around Saturn, its leading edge scoops up a thin coating of dark material, which amplifies sunlight absorption.Sounds like my truck's windshield in winter. That kind of ramscoop effect can really

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-3696748324050389892007-10-08T21:41:00.000-04:002007-10-08T21:48:18.330-04:00

Certain genes might lead to suicidal tendencies. Insert rock lyric here.This is a nice story to point to because it illustrates the active scientific process. An early finding seems to be on stable ground, so the next step is to see if that finding can be supported or corroborated by expanded testing in multiple platforms. This is both the beauty and strength of the discipline. For this study,

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-62607794821417688152007-09-27T21:54:00.000-04:002007-09-27T22:03:11.284-04:00

In the realm of totally awesome science, I skipped across this story on my morning drive, and indeed, doctors are now using maggots as part of diabetes treatment. I am beside myself with joy.While the actual mechanism as to how the beastly little critters work is somewhat nebulous, the basic conceit is thus: Maggots are applied, caged in a series of bandages on the dying tissue, typically on the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-26922746457394948102007-09-24T21:24:00.000-04:002007-09-24T21:33:12.229-04:00

There have been a number of research papers touting a connection between certain women's attraction to male sweat, but there appears to be better genetic validation over this phenomenon. As it turns out, there just might be some women out there who find the musky rancor from overclocking men to smell like a breezy spring day. There's a joke in there somewhere, but I'll let you go fish out your

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-78909932866088074492007-09-09T22:00:00.000-04:002007-09-10T23:52:12.785-04:00

Moray eel stirs up truly Gigerlicious ideas with second set of jaws.One of those amazing biological wonders that has gone unchecked, it's now known that moray eels have a second set of functioning jaws deep in their throats that snap forward to drag prey further down its gullet.I love science.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-9199207335977255042007-08-22T23:43:00.000-04:002007-08-22T23:52:51.371-04:00

This paper recently rolled off the presses touting p53 - that notable universal tumor suppressor gene that must be neutralized for cancer to proceed - actually has not only its usual cancer-resistance abilities, but potentially have youth-preserving ability when paired with a stabilizing protein, Arf. This is pretty much counterintuitive to conventional wisdom; It's generally been accepted that

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-27082077666428245832007-08-07T06:28:00.000-04:002007-08-07T06:46:02.881-04:00

Angier weighs in on fat's defense.This is an excellent example of a mechanism that got me interested in physiology in the first place. Fat should not be reviled, it is the amazing energy warehouse of the body, able to store more reserves that would otherwise tear our vital organs apart in a metabolic storm of fury.Indeed, evolutionary biologists have proposed that our relative plumpness compared

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-1769272237416050552007-07-31T23:44:00.000-04:002007-07-31T23:46:26.819-04:00

Dispatches from the cephalapod wars.I'm far too amused that one of the squid experts is named Dr. Zeidberg.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-42215658760171964162007-07-27T00:13:00.000-04:002007-07-27T00:17:47.337-04:00

Mule gives birth, biologists neenered and hounded.I myself got stuck somewhere between the nutshell and the voluminous truth about how an alleged sterile mule might give birth, but suffice it to say, the genetic code of organisms is more plastic than our narrow familiarity with the animal wing of life may suggest. Bacteria, fungi and plants routinely run afoul of convention genetic understanding,

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-23731479749436866142007-07-25T12:49:00.000-04:002007-07-25T12:50:46.045-04:00

Giant squid launch shock and awe campaign.The Monterey Bay Aquarium is like heaven on earth, I can see why they'd attack there first.That is all.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-33277323471434453592007-07-25T09:56:00.000-04:002007-07-25T09:59:54.494-04:00

Protein patch shown to regenerate heart tissue.With heart disease still reigning supreme as the top killer of Americans, this kind of research ought to pick up some steam if it shows to carry its therapeutic effects from the rodent to man. Heart attacks basically cause veins of tissue to die in the heart, and the healing process produces less useful scar tissue. If this protein patch can address

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-44658694315667811112007-07-24T12:49:00.000-04:002007-07-24T12:54:04.435-04:00

Angier has a new take on lab's best friend.I've always had a soft spot for rats, which is why I raised many as pets during my college years. The heaps of rat anecdotes I possess are legion, but the most amusing could possibly be when Goya, my favored albino, had a staring match with my wife. Unfortunately, she didn't care for the fact the little furball knew how to get out of her cage. Rats have

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-2022825364959501672007-06-15T14:56:00.000-04:002007-06-15T14:58:44.298-04:00

Natalie Angier waxes philosophic on Dad's genetic contribution.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-27603043467462454492007-06-13T12:51:00.000-04:002007-06-13T13:00:57.446-04:00

New reports are giving more information in the molecular cascade that leads to beta-amyloid plaques, and now certain genes have been identified as being predisposed to that condition. The team said that the cell death caused by a brain injury such as a stroke or head injury enhances formation of brain-clogging amyloid plaques by means of a molecular chain reactionIn a series of experiments, they

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-60286137335857742752007-06-12T13:33:00.000-04:002007-06-12T13:46:09.323-04:00

Being angry helps in decision making.These kind of experiments I find a bit cagey with the use of college students. Throw in a few dock workers, teenagers and DMV employees and lets see what shakes out. Still, I like some of the theory:Once again, they found that the angry subjects were better able to discriminate between strong and weak arguments than the ones who were not angry—suggesting that

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-50136901544556837842007-05-31T10:49:00.000-04:002007-05-31T11:08:38.141-04:00

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.Of course, I'm a bit distracted these days by my favorite fantasy robots as the merch/media juggernaut has begun to pick up speed. The NBA playoffs are now peppered with spots of comparing

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-43466731092075655382007-05-30T10:37:00.000-04:002007-05-30T10:48:36.937-04:00

Why some adults resist science and biased kids.A great article over at Edge.com gives some insight to why so many American adults resist scientific facts. There are two common assumptions about the nature of this resistance. First, it is often assumed to be a particularly American problem, explained in terms of the strong religious beliefs of many American citizens and the anti-science leanings

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-32705415954349673902007-05-11T12:53:00.000-04:002007-05-11T13:20:47.517-04:00

An unpleasant new study suggests sunblock just isn't enough to prevent skin cancer. This likely comes as a shock to you, as most folks polled aren't that worried about sun damage.Sunscreen itself works because it contains chemical groups known as carbonyls. These bonds have the ability to absorb damaging ultraviolet rays and release that energy as lower wavelength emissions in the form of heat or

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-64936448504089648122007-05-09T12:27:00.000-04:002007-05-09T12:28:27.987-04:00

Bear kills Moose in Alaska Driveway.She tore apart the chest cavity, ripped out the heart and ate it," Gary said. "It was like she knew that's what kept it alive.Oh my Science, Colbert was right.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-74730561673270517062007-04-28T10:36:00.000-04:002007-04-28T10:38:50.568-04:00

Indian men generally too small for condoms. “As per international standards, most condoms are 150 mm to 180 mm in length and 44 to 56 mm in width. But data collected in Mumbai till 2001 showed that 60% of the participants measured 126 to 156 mm in length and 30% between 100 and 125 mm,’’ said a city researcher, pointing out that there was a difference of at least 5 cm in length.No wonder they

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-36044528143891867532007-04-25T10:10:00.000-04:002007-04-25T10:20:48.375-04:00

Earth-like planet found a mere 20 light years away.One of those things that we have always predicted in our models finally materializes in objective reality. Still, a 13 day year sounds pretty wild. I'd be 858 years old by now, and would likely still vote for Kodos.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-16073204634019010862007-03-29T23:34:00.000-04:002007-03-29T23:37:27.889-04:00

Human brain hardwired for distraction.They say the average American filters 3000 advertisements a day. I have trouble remembering how I was going to construct this sentence a few seconds back. I'm pretty sure I would have failed in an illiterate society.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-32848190753377802262007-03-28T00:07:00.000-04:002007-03-28T00:09:00.105-04:00

Woman attempts to smuggle three crocodiles strapped to body.Woman was said to appear 'Strangely Fat.'

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-6845545804058358172007-03-22T16:34:00.000-04:002007-03-22T16:41:57.460-04:00

Fishermen net ultra-rare Colossal Squid. I recall as a youth that while occasional parts of these beasts washed up on shore or were found in the bellies of Sperm Whales, no person had ever seen one live. Over the years we've gotten the occasional peak, but this really takes the cake as a thousand pound squid was caught by chance. At the time it was caught, O'Shea said it would make calamari rings

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-79439091775617348802007-03-21T16:38:00.000-04:002007-03-21T16:46:39.220-04:00

A great article over at the NY Times about the biological basis for morality. It would seem much like our use of tools, sophisticated language and sociable nature, our primate cousins show the building blocks of what humans carried forth into a set of moral ideas. Religion can be seen as another special ingredient of human societies, though one that emerged thousands of years after morality, in

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-27330121661145476832007-03-21T09:27:00.000-04:002007-03-21T10:01:21.885-04:00

In late January this report ran announcing the Bush administration's intentions to cut the NIH budget by one percent, making 2008 the fifth year the NIH budget has languished in mediocrity and failed to keep up with the rate of biomedical inflation. While fears and smoke boasted the slash could go as high as ten percent, indeed, the jury is out: Once again the NIH budget will receive a meager

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-85018513249487517752007-03-20T09:56:00.000-04:002007-03-20T10:02:09.624-04:00

The brain gets scared by seeing other brains get scared. A pretty useful evolutionary adaptation, this one is pretty easy to see, a 'no-brainer', if I might use the term in an absurd manner. “You learn by observing other people’s emotional expressions, and what we are showing is that that can be as effective as having those direct experiences yourself,” Olsson said. “That’s probably one of the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-42533248547016162612007-03-19T15:46:00.000-04:002007-03-19T15:50:52.446-04:00

Fossil gives insight to evolution of ear.I love the name of the creature, by the way. Yanoconodon - that just rolls off the tongue. I have a love of words that cram tons of syllables into a word by alternating vowels and consonants....like consonants or manufacturer. I'll have to figure out how to work 'Yanoconodon' into as many conversations as possible. Oh right, the science. This adds another

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-64191479676642680532007-03-18T22:53:00.000-04:002007-03-20T11:24:42.867-04:00

I have excessively robust salivary glands in my lower jaw, which leads to a buildup of tartar behind my lower incisors. Despite all my dental machinations, I end up having two valleys of fossilized plaque scraped out every six months. Unlike tooth plaque, however, brain plaque is neither as innocuous nor so easily removed. A recent study showed that common inhaled anesthetics can speed up the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-10702000366642673702007-03-17T11:02:00.000-04:002007-03-17T10:02:25.750-04:00

Even on St. Patrick's Day, we here at the Ripsaw find you the best green boards to cut up for science digest.The NY Times ran an article last week suggesting the various sects on the British Isles have a lot more in common than anyone wants to believe:In all, about three-quarters of the ancestors of today’s British and Irish populations arrived between 15,000 and 7,500 years ago, when rising sea

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-12130912375773563852007-03-16T08:47:00.000-04:002007-03-16T09:08:17.628-04:00

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.Good pal Obsequiosity brings us news of this boss motorized chair. For some reason, it seems it should come with some Ninja Turtles. And once you've got your sitting all robotocized, it's

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-29851080416574151392007-03-13T16:59:00.001-04:002007-03-14T16:34:10.832-04:00

I'm all about ensuring your mate isn't cheating on you, but some species to ridiculous ends.When a male wasp spider discovers a potential partner, he turns her on by shaking her web. The female thereupon supports herself on her long legs on the web so that the male, who is much smaller, can then creep under her body. The rest works hydraulically: the tip of a transformed leg filled with sperm is

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-52031070729208214862007-03-13T10:16:00.000-04:002007-03-13T10:18:45.461-04:00

High resolution photographs of insects massacred by windshields. Marvelous how the exoskeleton body plan really magnifies the modular design, no? Of course, we humans are just as modular, if not more so given new research suggesting how pliable and adaptive every one of our cells are. Still, you'd think these glorious deaths would be a bit more....juicy.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-42957568357067077202007-03-12T12:57:00.000-04:002007-03-12T13:07:01.639-04:00

See here a new US effort to open Federal Waters for aquaculture. This is being received with a lot of apprehension. There's the depletion aspect as well as the fact a lot of our terrestrial pollutants end up right in that area. 'Mining' a resource usually refers to the idea of exploiting all there is to take and then moving on as quickly as possible, which certainly should be a concern with this

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-35988652462155882802007-03-06T10:50:00.000-05:002007-03-06T11:32:48.506-05:00

A fantastic article in the NYT magazine from this weekend on the study of belief. There's all the bluster that Richard Dawkins and his ilk are pushing, sort of a dismissal of religion as 'misfiring', which is an awfully loaded word for a scientist to be throwing around. Beyond that is a layer of amazing cognitive biological studies that Scott Atran terms 'folkpsychology':Folkpsychology, as Atran

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-9324697831375961642007-02-26T09:50:00.000-05:002007-02-26T10:00:43.169-05:00

From today's NY Times, the story of the gyroball has crossed from the sports page to the science page. Parum-pum.A quick recap of events. This past off season there was a major pursuit of a hot new pitching star from Japan by the name of Daisuke Matsuzaka, who ultimately went to the Boston Red Sox, who showered him with a cement truck full of money. Of the scrubble to percolate around his arrival

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-89930268469250325942007-02-18T22:13:00.000-05:002007-02-19T17:47:24.747-05:00

Global Warming is not a new topic by any stretch of the imagination, but the events of the past 12 months probably give it a new resurgence. Last year Al Gore's seminal work An Inconvenient Truth brought the story back to the forefront with huge cinematic presence. The iconic image of a swirling hurricane storm system rising from an industrial smokestack dredged up sickening memories of the 2005

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-26639680034621777212007-02-16T16:16:00.000-05:002007-02-16T18:25:24.288-05:00

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.The question I get more often than anything else is "Lish, all these robots are great, but what about my personal needs?" Look no further, because now you can build your own robot slave for

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-89173415043444938282007-02-09T13:30:00.000-05:002007-02-07T23:39:35.211-05:00

A review of the American Museum of Natural History in New York is covering their new Human Origins exhibit. I particularly like the idea of bringing together the fossil and molecular evidence, because doing so is both powerful and essential to really get a clear understanding of both history and mechanism of the process. I think a trip to NYC is warranted.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-31216706994372059262007-02-07T23:32:00.000-05:002007-02-07T23:39:16.444-05:00

Following up the recent articles about its role in smoking, the insula is making news again, this time with some interesting commentary.All mammals have insulas that read their body condition, Dr. Craig said. Information about the status of the body’s tissues and organs is carried from the receptors along distinct spinal pathways, into the brain stem and up to the posterior insula in the higher

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-82021316284665615702007-02-06T23:32:00.000-05:002007-02-07T00:04:05.742-05:00

In the last two days I've had two people independently ask me about the catching of colds in the Winter months. The Northern part of the States has taken a chill pounding over the past week, and you can expect a rise in sore throats and Kleenex sales. The battle with the rhinovirus - the virus responsible for most colds - is one of an exponential arms race. With each new defense the body can

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-14214898241016123602007-02-06T11:26:00.000-05:002007-02-06T11:28:52.172-05:00

Delicious Cellular Animations!I always wondered if Coolio was an Asimov fan.Hat tip to Retrospectacle.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-74139275708706620002007-02-05T13:45:00.000-05:002007-02-05T15:35:06.194-05:00

Ah, fireflies - or 'Thunderbugs', as I idiomatically referred to them as a child. They are a staple of Summertime nostalgia, and a gateway insect for children to be drawn into the wonderful world of life science. A creature that can eat and create its own light source is something so alien and wonderful to us we are still exploring the science behind it. That said, Luciferase, the principle

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-60041619888626835792007-02-04T22:59:00.000-05:002007-02-04T23:17:54.375-05:00

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.Alright, I spent far too much time in my chilly, chilly garage keeping my vehicles functioning in the stone cold of Winter. Perhaps I'll find some help amongst my mechanical friends!The big

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-12636958600789527732007-01-26T23:00:00.000-05:002007-01-26T23:08:17.446-05:00

With the significant changes to the political landscape this month, it's now finally possible to see what is in store for science in general with the Democrats at the rudder.As noted here, the Science and Technology committee was heading in a very different direction under the previous Republican oversight. Some of the claims the Executive administration used distorted the scientific findings in

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-9112450963233092852007-01-25T09:44:00.000-05:002007-01-25T09:49:54.688-05:00

The NYT has a neat interview with a sperm scientist. From the article:Q. What are some of the underappreciated attributes of sperm?A. I’m fascinated by how determined they are. Sperm — each one seems an individual in the way they move. When they change from one motion to another, it’s fascinating.Moreover, they have the ability to do much more than most other human cells: they crawl long

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-67364185369069828972007-01-24T22:41:00.000-05:002007-01-24T22:57:58.613-05:00

When I was younger my brother had a Faith No More B-sides album that we played a lot. It only contained four songs, but between a cover of The Commodores 'Easy' and the disturbingly quirky 'Das Schutzenfest', it got a lot of play time between the two of us.I was immediately reminded of such a great disc when I read about a glorious rhino birth. Artificial insemination is nothing new, but the fact

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-57745452489392061722007-01-24T09:46:00.000-05:002007-01-24T10:06:24.826-05:00

I'll be accepting the Science Challenge from the folks over at Just Science, which should send stunning shockwaves through the readership. I'll be attempting to bring some focused relevance to some of the work I'm currently involved in, but I also thought I'd solicit ideas from you, gentle reader. I'd be interested in fielding any general question about the Life Sciences or specific questions in

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-6956407976535908802007-01-23T22:25:00.000-05:002007-01-24T08:58:55.994-05:00

Scientists find two-headed fossil.While a reptile, Hyphalosaurus was not a dinosaur. Instead, it belonged to a diverse group of primitive aquatic and semi-aquatic creatures called choristoderes. Some choristoderes looked like lizards or crocodiles, while others resembled miniature versions of plesiosaurs, ancient marine reptiles with barrel-shaped bodies, short tails, paddle-like limbs and, in

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-21654202177279534372007-01-20T22:43:00.000-05:002007-01-20T23:02:28.523-05:00

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.The last couple days has been abuzz with China's new test of an anti-satellite weapon, which threatens to turn our atmosphere from a realm of commerce and research into an active new

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-56241658927779981532007-01-19T23:26:00.000-05:002007-01-20T07:34:44.222-05:00

Condoms themselves appear to have quite a rich and awesome history.But here at the Ripsaw we're always cutting towards the future, and even in the realm of prophylactics, there's new science to be found. First off is this 'molecular condom' research coming out of Utah. It's a rather clever piece of biomedical engineering, using hydrogel polymers that can switch from liquid (for application) to a

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-10409510577988564222007-01-18T11:12:00.000-05:002007-01-18T14:47:26.748-05:00

Control robots with your mind. I'm not sure I need to say anything else. That's awesome.Runner-up - From Omni Brain: The Robot Fish.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-69461088412623036842007-01-18T08:33:00.000-05:002007-01-18T08:36:01.546-05:00

The newest edition of the blog carnival, Tangled Bank is up. Head on over to The Voltage Gate for a delightful dose of science, history and hilariously out of fashion powdered wigs.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-69719687871790557382007-01-17T15:51:00.000-05:002007-01-17T16:10:30.410-05:00

Thought I'd toss a few thoughts up here regarding the latest news on stem cells, as there's been a bunch. I'm sure most have seen the big splash in the Washington Post about amniotic stem cells. This is because adult stem cells are fairly limited in what they offer for research and embryonic stem cells have all sorts of political issues surrounding their fair use in science. Prior to that report

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-69626760926682235422007-01-04T23:51:00.000-05:002007-01-04T23:55:31.638-05:00

Check it: Scientists use nanoparticles to combat tumors.This truly is akin to aiming a ray gun at a patients and torching the tumors with these mightily manufactured particles. There appear to be a number of folks in the patent race, so this therapeutic may come to life sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed! Particles too!

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-32702373245618138752007-01-03T23:33:00.000-05:002007-01-04T00:32:09.553-05:00

As mentioned in this space earlier, the ongoing trial in Libya of five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor has worsened. Death sentences were handed out late last year, some excerpts of the best editorial available can be found here.This kind of gross distortion of those who would practice medicine shows how very far science and democracy have to go in parts of the world.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-40476958281354773232007-01-02T11:52:00.000-05:002007-01-02T11:55:46.149-05:00

Happy New Year!Enjoy a quick and fun article on the science of saffron. A most expensive spice, despite how much you pay for cardamom at the supermarket. Apparently one can cut one's stash with turmeric, most likely to turn a little extra profit. If you have some coffee filters and bleach, though, you can out these charlatans!On a quick aside, I rarely see such wonderfully water soluble molecules

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-68547778692037053652006-12-13T22:37:00.000-05:002006-12-13T22:40:50.067-05:00

US Military looks into modifying soldier mindset.An amazing and powerful concept, this kind of product is nothing new, rather the delivery system has just become efficient and invisible. The idea of an isolated 'fear gene' sounds a bit too science fiction for my tastes, but that aside, the ethical implications of breeding 'fearless' people is pretty shady at best and outright destructive

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-38530742606643978242006-12-07T13:23:00.000-05:002006-12-07T13:28:40.878-05:00

Over at Rice University scientists have hit upon a new target in the flu wars. Antiviral research is a dense field, given that most screening isn't target specific, mostly because we know so few targets. Identifying this pocket is just the first step, though. Finding a molecule that can get down in there and disrupt the pocket as a viable drug is a whole other flu-tainted enchilada. Still, it's a

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-10860444039432532172006-12-05T10:12:00.000-05:002006-12-05T10:14:54.371-05:00

Butterfly as the hammer of Intelligent Design.This lovely vignette shows just how awesome nature can be in complexity yet still be without an intelligent purpose. One supposes the IDer claims this is all God's plan, as is his usual finicky and chaotic nature. As usual, God's actions are a mystery that are not to be discovered but to be worshipped.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-23477477379866961692006-12-04T15:21:00.000-05:002006-12-05T09:26:08.301-05:00

As you might have heard, Pfizer yanked torcetrapib out of the pipeline this weekend, just two days after the brass had hailed the new lipitor/torcetrapib hybrid as the crown jewel of the new product profile. The ramifications are unsettling to say the least. With Lipitor set to come off patent next year, there's a huge gaping hole in Pfizer's portfolio and there appear to be few projects with the

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-23608431831033963632006-12-04T09:54:00.000-05:002006-12-04T10:00:13.572-05:00

Take a look over at New Scientist where they asked 70 scientists what the next big breakthroughs will be over the next 50 years. Some of my favorites: Machine-Brain interfaces, Unified Particle Theories and Conquering the Fear of our Mortality.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-59788060433691338372006-12-03T14:31:00.000-05:002006-12-04T09:19:51.027-05:00

Check out this awesome video from the Planet Earth series showing a variety of parasitic fungi. At one point, I wanted to be a mycologist. These species were a primary reason for that interest.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-80584965451797037972006-12-02T16:42:00.000-05:002006-12-04T15:32:16.304-05:00

Scientists have been using modern technology to examine The Antikythera Mechanism, generally regarded as the world's first computer.Abstract of ongoing research.Much like in the natural world, we often see bits of technology developed independently, and it appears here once again we see a second, albeit eventually aborted genesis of computing technology. Makes me wonder what else might have been

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-57241690894617622722006-12-01T09:19:00.000-05:002006-12-01T09:25:03.116-05:00

TSA testing out backscatter X-ray security.Seems like a leap into the movies, but as the article states, this technology has been around for quite a while. Biologists have been using X-rays to characterize protein structure for almost 50 years now, going back to when John Cowdery Kendrew won a Nobel Prize for having characterized the structure of myoglobin, the key protein that binds oxygen in

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-54899075707347850822006-11-29T22:19:00.000-05:002006-11-29T22:33:55.842-05:00

Team builds Robot SnailThis really intrigues me as this idea of locomotion is getting closer and closer to a true biomechanical style robot. Snails and other gastropods don't exactly have the most efficient means of getting around - a good 70% of their energy is put into making that slimy trail, but I guess it beats sitting in one place. I'm told the V 2.0 that's soon to be unveiled can climb

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-80795724580195201542006-11-28T22:46:00.000-05:002006-11-29T12:39:08.296-05:00

Scientists engineer edible cottonseeds.This idea, of course, is nothing new. Humans have been pacifying the awesome chemical arsenal of plants for tens of thousands of years. Many of the great foods we eat today - tomatoes, almonds, all sorts of peas and mints originate from highly poisonous wild types. The real implication is cotton is a plant grown in many third world nations with agrarian

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-62804874213856500242006-11-26T11:16:00.000-05:002006-11-29T12:39:25.642-05:00

Spokes of Saturn a product of lightning. I'm reminded of a hundred 'artist interpretations' of the various planets in my childhood, and the 'expert' who claimed they were authentic photographs. Still, it's cool to see the planets appear to be much wilder than any rendering we previously envisioned.

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-65050168966039388512006-11-17T11:03:00.000-05:002006-11-17T11:12:05.795-05:00

This Slate article outlines some great points about the Sensationalism of Science in the mainstream media. In essence, the New York Times reported on what is becoming a trend of MRI scans to determine if there's some correlation between various observed neural patterns and various behaviors, in this case, speaking in Tongues, or the idea of being puppeted by God. Much like Engber, I'm rather

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-76679040084547973262006-11-15T16:50:00.000-05:002006-11-15T16:57:22.258-05:00

Component of human saliva may have powerful analgesic properties.This is the kind of compound Big Pharma would love to get their hands on, that is, if they hadn't already tried to get their hands on it. It's an area that's been rooted to death for pharmaceuticals. Still, it's a neat surprise to see a channel blocker like this turn up right under our noses, so to speak.Maybe we need to start

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-925368790363530392006-11-15T09:53:00.000-05:002006-11-29T12:39:47.460-05:00

O'er at Nature there's a great article on ...wait for it... The Origin Life. Practically an ultimate question in itself, the article suggests that our known data points towards Life as we know it being inevitable in the progression of our universe. In essence, in order to bleed off a lot of free energy, life needed to form to consume it. I'm simplifying it even beyond what the article already has

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-46057865225966096482006-11-14T16:37:00.000-05:002006-11-29T12:40:15.182-05:00

Check out the Cloaca machines. An amazing setup of metal and plastic to mimic what evolution gave us millions of years ago. Part art, part engineering, this kind of device has a beauty of its own. From there, as pointed out by Jonah at The Frontal Cortex we see scientists taking the idea one step further for application research. Sounds like it will contribute to all sorts of medicinal research

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980802.post-1163516530961194862006-11-14T09:55:00.000-05:002006-11-14T14:26:30.150-05:00

Check out this article showing that spider venom may interact with ion channels the same way the key molecules in hot sauce do. These molecules, called capsaicins, have been known to cause that delightful burning sensation when you consume the seeds of various peppers like jalapenos, scotch bonnets and the ultimate Scoville-metering habaneros. If you go into any neuroscience or ion channel lab

Lishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991712547531436286noreply@blogger.com1