Late Nights And Disease

From Science News:

It took only one night of too little sleep to change blood levels of an inflammation-causing protein in women volunteers

Staying up late makes for a swell time, but not in a good way.

A finding appearing in the Sept. 15 Biological Psychiatry offers more evidence that lack of sleep can lead to inflammation and disease.

After one night of too little sleep, women volunteers in a study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles had higher levels of a chemical that triggers inflammation than after a full night of sleep.

Previous research with animals has shown that staying up all night can trigger stress reactions, including elevating some markers of inflammation. Inflammation can lead to disease. But people usually experience milder sleep deprivation, missing out on a few hours of sleep each night.

The increase in markers of inflammation after mild sleep deprivation shows how stressful even this more common sleep loss is, comments Amita Sehgal, a neuroscientist and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of Pennsylvania.

“The fact that this happens in a scenario that more commonly is experienced by people indicates that this is more of a health concern than previously thought,” Sehgal says.

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Strongest Material Ever Tested

From Technology Review:

Graphene, praised for its electrical properties, has been proven the strongest known material.

Materials scientists have been singing graphene's praises since it was first isolated in 2005. The one-atom-thick sheets of carbon conduct electrons better than silicon and have been made into fast, low-power transistors. Now, for the first time, researchers have measured the intrinsic strength of graphene, and they've confirmed it to be the strongest material ever tested. The finding provides good evidence that graphene transistors could take the heat in future ultrafast microprocessors.

Jeffrey Kysar and James Hone, mechanical-engineering professors at Columbia University, tested graphene's strength at the atomic level by measuring the force that it took to break it. They carved one-micrometer-wide holes into a silicon wafer, placed a perfect sample of graphene over each hole, and then indented the graphene with a sharp probe made of diamond. Such measurements had never been taken before because they must be performed on perfect samples of graphene, with no tears or missing atoms, say Kysar and Hone.

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Earth At Night

(Click To Enlarge)

Cities At Night, An Orbital Tour Around The World

Migraine Science

Why Migraines Strike -- Scientific American

Biologists finally are unraveling the medical mysteries of migraine, from aura to pain

For the more than 300 million people who suffer migraines, the excruciating, pulsating pain that characterizes these debilitating headaches needs no description. For those who do not, the closest analogous experience might be severe altitude sickness: nausea, acute sensitivity to light, and searing, bed-confining headache. “That no one dies of migraine seems, to someone deep into an attack, an ambiguous blessing,” wrote Joan Didion in the 1979 essay “In Bed” from her collection The White Album.

Historical records suggest the condition has been with us for at least 7,000 years, yet it continues to be one of the most misunderstood, poorly recognized and inadequately treated medical disorders. Indeed, many people seek no medical care for their agonies, most likely believing that doctors can do little to help or will be downright skeptical and hostile toward them. Didion wrote “In Bed” almost three decades ago, but some physicians remain as dismissive today as they were then: “For I had no brain tumor, no eyestrain, no high blood pressure, nothing wrong with me at all: I simply had migraine headaches, and migraine headaches were, as everyone who did not have them knew, imaginary.”

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Cancer Stem Cells -- The Root Of All Evil?

From The Economist:

Cancer may be caused by stem cells gone bad. If that proves to be correct, it should revolutionise treatment

MUCH of medical research is a hard slog for small reward. But, just occasionally, a finding revolutionises the field and cracks open a whole range of diseases. The discovery in the 19th century that many illnesses are caused by bacteria was one such. The unravelling of Mendelian genetics was another. It now seems likely that medical science is on the brink of a finding of equal significance. The underlying biology of that scourge of modern humanity, cancer, looks as though it is about to yield its main secret. If it does, it is possible that the headline-writer’s cliché, “a cure for cancer”, will come true over the years, just as the antibiotics that followed from the discovery of bacteria swept away previously lethal infectious diseases.

The discovery—or, rather, the hypothesis that is now being tested—is that cancers grow from stem cells in the way that healthy organs do. A stem cell is one that, when it divides, produces two unequal daughters. One remains a stem cell while the other multiplies into the sorts of cells required by its organ. This matters for cancer because, at the moment, all the cells of a tumour are seen as more or less equivalent. Therapies designed to kill them do not distinguish between them. Success is defined as eliminating as many of them as possible, so those therapies have been refined to do just that. However, if all that the therapies are doing is killing the descendants of the non-stem-cell daughters, the problem has not been eliminated. Instead of attacking the many, you have to attack the few. That means aiming at the stem cells themselves.

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Could Life Evolve On The Internet?

From Wired:

If principles of life are universal, could life emerge on the internet?

I posed the question to evolutionary dynamicist Martin Nowak of Harvard University, developer of a mathematical model of evolution's origins, the period during which unique chemical structures experienced mutation and selection that guided them toward replication -- and thus to life.

Though Nowak's focus is biological life, the principles seem broadly applicable, perhaps even to configurations of electrons coursing through the Internet's silicon and fiber-optic substrate.

"Computer viruses are some form of evolution," said Nowak.

"Viruses fulfill replication, mutation and selection -- but people don't consider them to be alive, because they think life has to be made of chemicals," said Irene Chen, a Harvard systems biologist who specializes in early biomolecules.

"We can definitely make things in a computer that fulfill the criteria for life that NASA uses, except it's not chemical," she added, and cited the AVIDA program at Michigan State.

Indeed, computer viruses and e-mail spam have arguably displayed evolutionary characteristics. But Nowak was more interested in the forms of social life produced by the internet. "It's already an interesting phenomenon that allows people to function in a different way," he said. "It leads to very different properties than what were out there before."

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Explosion From Edge of Universe Seen

From Space.com:

An explosion originating near the edge of the universe has been seen by an orbiting NASA telescope. The burst of gamma rays is the farthest such event ever detected.

The blast, designated GRB 080913, arose from an exploding star 12.8 billion light-years away. It was detected by the Swift satellite and announced today.

"This is the most amazing burst Swift has seen," said the mission's lead scientist Neil Gehrels of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "It's coming to us from near the edge of the visible universe."

The universe is thought to be 13.7 billion years old. Seeing something so far away is effectively like looking back in time. The burst took 12.8 billion years to reach Earth and so is a snapshot of activity from when the universe was just one-seventh its present age.

"This burst accompanies the death of a star from one of the universe's early generations," says Patricia Schady of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, who is organizing Swift observations of the event.

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Emergence Of Agriculture In Prehistory Took Much Longer, Genetic Evidence Suggests

A new mathematical model shows how plant agriculture actually began much earlier than first thought. It also shows that useful gene types could have actually taken thousands of years to become stable. (Credit: iStockphoto/Tomas Bercic)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2008) — Researchers led by Dr Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick’s plant research arm Warwick HRI have found evidence that genetics supports the idea that the emergence of agriculture in prehistory took much longer than originally thought.

Until recently researchers say the story of the origin of agriculture was one of a relatively sudden appearance of plant cultivation in the Near East around 10,000 years ago spreading quickly into Europe and dovetailing conveniently with ideas about how quickly language and population genes spread from the Near East to Europe. Initially, genetics appeared to support this idea but now cracks are beginning to appear in the evidence underpinning that model

Now a team led by Dr Robin Allaby from the University of Warwick have developed a new mathematical model that shows how plant agriculture actually began much earlier than first thought, well before the Younger Dryas (the last “big freeze” with glacial conditions in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere). It also shows that useful gene types could have actually taken thousands of years to become stable.

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Astrophysicists 'Weigh' Galaxy's Most Massive Star

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2008) — Theoretical models of stellar formation propose the existence of very massive stars that can attain up to 150 times the mass of our Sun.

Until very recently, however, no scientist had discovered a star of more than 83 solar masses. Now an international team of astrophysicists, led by Université de Montréal researchers from the Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ), has found and "weighed" the most massive star to date.

Olivier Schnurr, Jules Casoli and André-Nicolas Chené, all graduates of the Université de Montréal, and professors Anthony F. J. Moffat and Nicole St-Louis, successfully "weighed" a star of a binary system with a mass 116 times greater than that of the Sun, waltzing with a companion of 89 solar masses, doubly beating the previous record and breaking the symbolic barrier of 100 solar masses for the first time.

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Who Discovered The Telescope?

Controversy Over Telescope Origin -- BBC Science

New evidence suggests the telescope may have been invented in Spain, not the Netherlands or Italy as has previously been assumed.

The findings, outlined in the magazine History Today, suggest the telescope's creator could have been a spectacle-maker based in Gerona, Spain.

The first refracting telescopes were thought to have appeared in the Netherlands in 1608.

But the first examples may actually have been made for Spanish merchants.

The inventor, according to historian Nick Pelling, could have been a man called Juan Roget, who died between 1617 and 1624.

The idea subsequently travelled north to the Netherlands, where, in 1608, three separate individuals claimed the invention as their own.

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Futurologist Predicts The Trends That Will Shape The Next 50 Years

From The Telegraph:

What's going out and what's coming in?

2010
Going out: • Letter writing • The idea of 'normal' weather • Personal privacy • Ashtrays • Milkmen

Coming in: •Truth sensors • Wearable computers • Dream machines

2015
Going out: • Getting lost • Thank-you letters • Landline telephones

Coming in: • A human settlement on the moon • Disposable mobile phones • Intelligent cosmetics • Hotels just for sleeping

2020
Going out: • Post offices • Free parking • Survivors of the First World War • Unfenced beaches • Secretaries • DVDs • Democracy in Russia • Telephone directories • The idea of a proper retirement • An independent Taiwan • State pensions •

Coming in: • Surgery carried out by robots • Artificial eyes

2025
Going out: • Proper spelling • Driving on the road for free • Desktop computers • Work-free weekends • The Maldives • Paris Hilton

Coming in: • Hydrogen-based fuel stations • Offshore prisons • 'Mindwipes' to remove the memory of a bad day at the office • Sensory internet

2030
Going out • Reality TV • The Great Barrier Reef • Trade unions • Inheritance tax • Taking a proper lunch • Wrinkles, thanks to cosmetic surgery

Coming in • Robots to take care of young children • Virtual holidays • A ladder into space • Artificial memory enhancers • Self-driving cars • Artificial bacteria

2035
Going out: • Children playing without supervision • Coins • Oil • Microsoft • The middle class • Low-cost travel • Bangladesh

Coming in: • Self-repairing roads • Diets based on your individual genome • 3-D printers • Virtual reality windows

2040
Going out: • Banknotes and wallets • Petrol engines • Addiction and deafness - both will be cured • National currencies • Free public spaces • The idea of saying 'sorry' • The European Union

Coming in: • Factories in space • A single global currency • Wallpaper that plays videos • Countries used entirely as prisons

2045
Going out: • Any remaining monopolies • Ties • The British monarchy • Natural childbirth

Coming in: • Individual taxes based on the amount you pollute • Invisibility cloaks • A man on Mars

2050
Going out: • Household chores • Belgium as a unified country • Incurable blindness • Google • Any survivors of the Second World War

Coming in:

• Tiny robots for pest control • Brain transplants • Downloading of memories • Global ID cards, elections and taxes • Warp drive • Robot policemen

and beyond...

Going out: • The idea of ugliness • Nation states • Death - unless you want it

Coming in: • Artificial brains • Mining asteroids • Web 4.0 • Clothing that monitors and controls your stress levels

Where Is Human Evolution Heading?

From U.S. News And World Report:

The race's DNA is changing faster than ever; what it means for our descendants

If you judge the progress of humanity by Homer Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Girls Gone Wild videos, you might conclude that our evolution has stalled—or even shifted into reverse. Not so, scientists say. Humans are evolving faster than ever before, picking up new genetic traits and talents that may help us survive a turbulent future.

Much remodeling has gone on since the dawn of agriculture about 10 millenniums ago. "People who lived 10,000 years ago were much more like Neanderthals than we are like those people," says John Hawks, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin. "We've changed."

Hawks is among a growing number of scientists who are using whole-genome sequencing and other modern technologies to zero in on just how we've changed. Their research is helping illuminate not only how humans became what we are but also where we might be headed. For instance, some scientists speculate that changes in human mating patterns may be contributing to the increase in autism. Others track how humans have morphed in response to changing circumstances, including enhanced abilities to metabolize sugar and fight disease. Some people are genetically more resistant to the HIV virus, for instance, and that trait should become more common in the future, as those people are more likely to survive and have children who are resistant. Yet for some people, the makeover isn't big enough or fast enough. Some parents have started using DNA testing to choose the genetic makeup of their children, rejecting embryos with inherited flaws or embracing those with desired traits—such as being the right sex.

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Why Presents Become Less Exciting As You Get Older

From The Independent:

The reason children tear open their Christmas presents in a frenzy of dawn excitement while grandparents leave theirs until after lunch comes down to how the ageing brain handles rewards. Scientists have discovered that a chemical in the brain governing the delivery and feeling of reward is altered physically as a person grows old, which explains why opening presents becomes less exciting.

When young people are involved in receiving prizes their brains become highly activated before and after being given them. This contrasts with the chemical activation in the brains of older people, said researchers at the US National Institute for Mental Health .

"Knowing how key brain circuits change as we get older may help us to rise to the public health challenge of ageing successfully," said Karen Berman, whose study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Meet Wilma: The Face Of Neanderthal Woman Revealed For The First Time

From The Daily Mail Online:

Artists and scientists have created the first model of a Neanderthal based in part on ancient DNA evidence.

She has been put together using analysis of DNA from 43,000-year-old bones that had been cannibalised.

The model has been nicknamed Wilma after she was found to have red-hair like the Flintstones character.

The findings had suggested that at least some Neanderthals would have had red hair, pale skin, and possibly freckles.

Created for an October 2008 National Geographic magazine article, Wilma has a skeleton made from replicas of pelvis and skull bones from Neanderthal females.

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CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Broke Down Last Week -- An Investigation By AP Broke The Story For The Public To Know

Transformer Glitch Shuts Down Biggest Atom Smasher -- AP

GENEVA (AP) — The world's largest particle collider malfunctioned within hours of its launch to great fanfare, but its operator didn't report the problem for a week.

In a statement Thursday, the European Organization for Nuclear Research reported for the first time that a 30-ton transformer that cools part of the collider broke, forcing physicists to stop using the atom smasher just a day after starting it up last week.

The faulty transformer has been replaced and the ring in the 17-mile circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border has been cooled back down to near zero on the Kelvin scale — minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit — the most efficient operating temperature, said a statement by CERN, as the organization is known.

When the transformer malfunctioned, operating temperatures rose from below 2 Kelvin to 4.5 Kelvin — extraordinarily cold by most standards, but warmer than the normal operating temperature.

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Excellent commentary from Greg Laden's Blog.

CERN: Damage To New Collider Forces 2-Month Halt

In this file photo dated May 31, 2007, part of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is seen in its tunnel at the CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research) near Geneva, Switzerland. The world's largest atom smasher, which was launched with great fanfare earlier this month, has been damaged worse than previously thought and will be out of commission for at least two months, its operators said Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini, File)

From Yahoo News/AP:

GENEVA - The world's largest atom smasher — which was launched with great fanfare earlier this month — has been damaged worse than previously thought and will be out of commission for at least two months, its operators said Saturday.

Experts have gone into 17-mile (27-kilometer) circular tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border to examine the damage that halted operations about 36 hours after its Sept. 10 startup, said James Gillies, spokesman for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

"It's too early to say precisely what happened, but it seems to be a faulty electrical connection between two magnets that stopped superconducting, melted and led to a mechanical failure and let the helium out," Gillies told The Associated Press.

Gillies said the sector that was damaged will have to be warmed up well above the absolute zero temperature used for operations so that repairs can be made — a time-consuming process.

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More News On CERN

Atom-smasher out of action for two months: CERN -- AFP
CERN: Damage to new collider forces 2-month halt -- San Francisco Chronicle
Fault shuts Large Hadron Collider for two months -- The Guardian
Hadron Collider forced to halt -- BBC
CERN delays atom-smashing over magnet fault -- Times Online

Video - On Dancing Air: The Story of Wind Power

A very cool video from Live Science. The link is here.

Can 'Small Wind' Reap Big Rewards?

From CNN:

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Micro wind turbines are beginning to pop up all over our urban and rural landscapes. But is it worth investing your hard-earned cash in your very own wind machine? In short, it depends. Take a look at our quick guide to see if "small wind" could help you reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint.

What is available?

There are plenty of small wind turbines on the market. Most are the more traditional horizontal axis -- which have two or three blades. But some are vertical-axis which look a bit like the beaters on a food mixer. Micro turbines can be as small as 100 to 500 watts and can be mounted on the side of a building. Larger models -- 2.5 kilowatts to 50 kilowatts -- need to be mast-mounted.

How much do they cost?

Prices vary a lot. One kilowatt models range from $1500 to $3000. More powerful models will cost considerably more. A six kilowatt machine will set you back $45,000 and 15 kilowatts a hefty $70,000. Prices generally include installation but other essential kit -- you will need a battery and an inverter if you are off grid --may not be included. With regular maintenance, turbines can last over 20 years.

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Planet Is Running Out Of Clean Water, New Film Warns

From CNN:

(CNN) -- One sixth of the world's population does not have access to clean drinking water. More than 2 million people, most of them children, die each year from water-borne diseases.

Water-related problems aren't restricted to the developing world. A harmful pesticide, banned by many European countries, remains widely used in the United States, where it runs into rivers and streams.

And one expert estimates California's water supply will run out in 20 years.

These sobering statistics come from "FLOW," a new documentary film about the world's dwindling water supply. The filmmakers and their sources argue a combination of factors, including drought and skyrocketing demand, have created a looming global crisis that threatens the long-term survival of the human race.

After premiering in January at the Sundance Film Festival, "FLOW" opened September 12 in New York and Los Angeles, California, and expands to more cities this week. The New York Times called the documentary "less depressing than galvanizing, an informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests."

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