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PlanetQuest Update
2007-08-09 15:07:00
Another update from Dr. Laurance Doyle on the status of the PlanetQuest group: ...Our lack of progress at the moment is a funding issue which we feel could be solved if we can get initial funding to a point where we can finish the alpha test version of the software and thereafter sign folks up to be supporting-founding members of PlanetQuest. We do have sufficient astronomical data (stellar light curves) at present for a thorough test of the system and could accommodate perhaps up to 100,000 users for a year. This was previously my main concern. We have also carried the problem through from data acquisition to light curve model fitting (the transit detection algorithm) and therefore see no technical issues in the way of proceeding. Most of our personnel, however, are also extremely busy people working in other businesses and on other projects, and so PlanetQuest has not received the attention lately that it needs to move forward as quickly as it could, because it i...
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A Perfect Launch
2007-08-09 15:04:00
Endeavour's launch last night went off on-time and without any problems, which apparently only happens about 40% of the time for space shuttles.
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Endeavour Launches Tonight
2007-08-08 16:13:00
NASA's space shuttle Endeavour launches tonight at 6:36:36 PM EDT. Unfortunately, that will be 5:36 my time, and I will be at the gym, so I won't be able to watch it like I usually do. If you want to watch the launch, however, you can see it at Space.com. Since the last time it launched, Endeavour has undergone a major overhaul replacing most of the key systems and updating the shuttle with the latest technology. When it launches, it will be the most advanced shuttle NASA has ever sent into orbit.
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The Scientific Method
2007-08-02 20:35:00
You wouldn't think someone would have to define science, but in recent years, we've seen many things that pretend to be science which are not. Case in point: Intelligent Design. Supporters of ID think that ID should be taught in science classrooms alongside (or in place of) evolution. There's only one problem: evolution is science, and Intelligent Design is religion. My favorite definition of science comes from Merriam-Webster: a : knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method b : such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena The important part of that definition is the words "scientific method." If you're not familiar with the scientific method, it is this: Research (or Observation) Description of the Problem Hypothesis Expermintation Conclusion In other words, you observe something about the universe that puzzles...
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Clues to Why Exercise Helps You Live a Longer, Healthier Life
2007-07-20 15:49:00
Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have uncovered clues to suggest why living a healthier lifestyle will help you live longer. The answer, they say, is less insulin in the brain. In their experiments, the researchers sought to understand the role of the insulin-like signaling pathway in extending lifespan. This pathway governs growth and metabolic processes in cells throughout the body. The pathway is activated when insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 switch on proteins inside the cell called insulin receptor substrates (Irs). In earlier work, the researchers had found that knocking out both copies of one of the Irs genes, Irs2, in mice reduces brain growth and produces diabetes due to pancreatic beta cell failure. However, in the new study, when the researchers knocked out only one copy of the gene, they found the mice lived 18 percent longer than normal mice. Because reducing insulin-like signaling in the neurons of roundworms and fruitflies extends their ...
More About: Life , Exercise , Live , Clues , Heal

Defending Science
2007-07-16 15:11:00
As you well know by now, I am in favor of the responsible advancement of science and technology. But not everyone, it seems, shares my opinion. In particular, the current government administration in this country seems to put politics before scientific and technological advancement, and for that reason, the people at Defend Science are on the march. From their latest e-mail: No doubt you have heard of the recent testimony of former Surgeon General Richard Carmona to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on July 10, 2007. Dr. Carmona?s testimony was stunning exposure of the Bush Administration?s willingness to deny scientific truth in the pursuit of a political agenda. Defend Science is calling on people to voice their opinion to newspapers throughout the country with letters expressing outrage at not only the overt politicization of science to an unprecedented level, but its outright denial. As the Defend Science statement says, we must all ?insist on an atmosp...

Hey Buddy, Wanna Be an Astronomer?
2007-07-12 15:36:00
Thanks to Phil Plait for turning me onto a new opportunity for amateurs like me (and, presumably, you) to participate in scientific research. In the past several years, advanced astronomical telescopes have collected vast amounts of data--more than can be reasonably processed by astronomers. The solution, of course, was to use advanced pattern-recognition algorithms to analyze the images. That introduced a secondary problem... namely, that the most advanced pattern-recognition algorithms available today are still not advanced enough to catch everything. That's where amateurs, like me (and, presumably, you) come in. From the GalaxyZoo website: Why do we need you? The simple answer is that the human brain is much better at recognising patterns than a computer can ever be [EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't think this is acutally true... eventually computers will surpass our ability to recognize patterns, but certainly not anytime soon.] . Any computer program we write to sort our galaxi...
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Sufficiently Advanced Wireless
2007-06-27 04:43:00
Arthur C. Clarke once said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" (also known as Clarke's Third Law). That's obviously where the name of this blog comes from. A lot of technology in the modern era would pass as magic to someone from even several decades ago, let alone centuries. Take wireless phones, for instance. The ability to communicate with someone else--to hear their voice, see their pictures and videos, and read their e-mail messages--when you are on opposite sides of the planet would seem truly mystical to people not inured in our modern culture. With that in mind, thanks to the magic of modern technology, I'm happy to announce the launch of Sufficient ly Advanced Wireless , a new wireless phone company. The marvels of modern technology have allowed Creativity Resources to partner with Sonopia and Verizon to offer wireless service to the world at a reasonable rate. All calls travel across Verizon's network, which I have personally fou...
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NASA's Vision for Antarctic Exploration
2007-06-25 16:41:00
Monte Davis has an excellent guest post over at Space Cynics that compares space travel with the early explorations of Antarctica by Roald Amundsen.
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Moment of Truth
2007-06-21 15:25:00
C|Net's Michael Kanellos has an interesting article about how and why America is losing our scientific and technological edge over the rest of the world, and what we can do about it. It's definitely worth a read.
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Scramjet Tested at Mach 10
2007-06-15 16:13:00
Scientists and engineers from the U.S. and Australia successfully tested a supersonic combustion ramjet--or scramjet--aircraft high above the Australian outback, reaching speeds up to 11,000 km (6,835 miles) per hour, or 10 times the speed of sound. Flight data will be examined over coming weeks and compared to ground tests conducted in the United States, DARPA chief researcher Steven Walker said in a statement. Scramjet s, in the shorter term, will allow more powerful military aircraft. Eventually, they will allow faster civilian air travel and cheaper satellite launches.
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Blood Pressure Drug Offers Hope for Parkinson's Treatment
2007-06-11 17:36:00
Tests on mice at Northwestern University in Chicago showed isradipine, a drug commonly used to treat high blood pressure, can rejuvenate the brain neurons which are dying in Parkinson's patients. Isradipine is a calcium-blocker which is usually used to tackle high blood pressure, angina and stroke. But researchers at Northwestern University found mice, who had been engineered to develop a progressive Parkinson's-type disease, did not become ill when their condition was treated with the drug. Their dopamine neurons - cells which start to die in Parkinson's patients - appeared to revert back to their original, youthful form. Dopamine is a critical substance which affects the control of movement. When it is lacking, that movement becomes increasingly difficult and unco-ordinated. While these results are still very preliminary, and nothing has been tested in humans yet, isradipine is a medication that is currently on the market and readily available, with safety studies having ...
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IBM Releases Free Pandemic Modeling Tool
2007-06-08 15:28:00
IBM announced today that it is releasing its Spatiotemporal Epidemiological Modeler (STEM), software for public health scientists worldwide to forecast how diseases will spread in the same way meteorologists predict the paths of storms, free of charge. The program provides base information, such as road maps and macro-economics, and allows public health officials to "tweak" it with local details such as air traffic patterns. Information available from anywhere in the world can be added to customize programs that forecast how particular diseases will likely spread in local regions. IBM's open-source software, a refinement of a program released three years ago, is available to scientists, researchers and public health protectors worldwide through the nonprofit Eclipse Foundation.
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Atlantis to Launch Tonight
2007-06-08 15:25:00
Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch this evening at 7:38 PM EDT, and NASA expects only a 20% chance of inclement weather interfering with the launch. This launch, delayed three months by damage from a freak hailstorm, will be going to the International Space Station to attach two more pieces of structural framework and a new set of solar panels. The astronauts will also relocate an existing set of solar panels and install a rotary joint allowing the panels to track the sun.
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Stem Cells Without Embryos
2007-06-07 20:08:00
I've seen multiple reports in the past few days about lab work where scientists have turned adult tissue cells (usually skin cells from mice) into fully pluripotent stem cells, capable of differentiating into any type of cell in the body. Three separate articles, according to the journal Nature, a fairly simple process can be used to reprogram skin cells into fully differentiating stem cells. What?s more, these reprogrammed skin cells can give rise to live mice, contributing to every kind of tissue type, and can even be transmitted via germ cells (sperm or eggs) to succeeding generations. If this process can be applied to human cells (and so far, there's no proof that it can), it would be a major breakthrough for stem cell research. Those people who oppose embryonic stem cells on moral grounds--due to the destruction of embryos necessary for extracting the stem cells--will lose the basis for their arguments, allowing for greater research to be done than is being done now. And...
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The Pope Gets It
2007-06-06 19:57:00
The Vatican announced today that some Holy See buildings will start using solar energy, reflecting Pope Benedict XVI's concern about conserving the Earth's resources. The first building upgraded to solar will be the Paul VI auditorium which, starting next year, will have its 6,000-square-yard flattened vaulted roof, currently covered with aging cement tiles in need of repair, replaced with photovoltaic tiles that will be capable of providing heat, cooling, and light to the auditorium. When the building is not in use (which is most of the time), that power will be redirected to other buildings in Vatican City. The Vatican is considering the installation of photovoltaic cells on roofs of other Holy See buildings, although centuries-old landmarks like St. Peter's Basilica won't be touched. I'm happy to see a world leader, like the Pope, taking the initiative to drive installation of solar power. I would like to see other world leaders, and other governmental bodies, drive tow...

Global Warming "Is Three Times Faster Than Worst Predictions"
2007-06-05 16:34:00
An article in the UK's Independent newspaper highlights our difficulties in predicting global warming: ...emissions of carbon dioxide have been rising at thrice the rate in the 1990s. The Arctic ice cap is melting three times as fast - and the seas are rising twice as rapidly - as had been predicted. Not good news, and something we absolutely need to do something about, in spite of what NASA Administrator Mike Griffin seems to think.
More About: Global Warming , Global , Predictions , Times , Three

Advances in Cancer Research
2007-06-05 15:39:00
Some good news this week for people who are concerned about cancer (which is pretty much everyone, I would imagine). Over the past few days, a number of news articles have come out announcing the latest advances in treating and preventing cancer. An Apple a Day First, last Friday, researchers at Cornell University announced that they had found a dozen compounds, called triterpenoids, in apple peel that either inhibit or kill cancer cells in laboratory cultures. Three of the compounds had not previously been described in the literature. Brush on the Marinade, Hold Off the Cancer ous Compounds Then yesterday, the Food Safety Consortium at the University of Arkansas announced that seasoning grilled meat with certain combinations of marinades and spices could not only improve the flavor, but could help fight cancer. Marinades containing rosemary and thyme had the greatest effect on reducing Heterocyclic amines (HCAs), but two other marinades with different herbs seasonings were teste...
More About: Research , Cancer Research , Vance

A Kinder, Gentler NASA
2007-05-29 16:46:00
Reuters reports that NASA is more than willing to work with commercial partners when it comes to going to, and establishing a base on, the moon. "If we could be in a commercial relationship with somebody who has the capability that's fine because in many cases they can do it for less money than we can," said Neil Woodward, acting director of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, at the International Space Development Conference in Dallas. Woodward also suggested that NASA would be very interested in an orbital fuel depot, an idea pushed heavily by Jon Goff and others. "One thing that keeps getting batted around is a fuel dump in orbit, in low Earth orbit. If someone was to build one of those and said do you want NASA to be a customer we would say yes because if you do the math it turns out that it would be an advantage to us," Woodward said. "We're trying to help some commercial entities demonstrate that they can do low Earth orbit resupply to say the space station ...
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Hey Buddy, Wanna Be a Robot Designer?
2007-05-16 16:26:00
iRobo t Corporation, makers of the Roomba, Scooba, and a variety of bomb-defusing robots being used in Iraq right now, have announced the Create Challenge Contest, a new contest for robot hobbyists, developers and students that involves designing and assembling new robots for a chance to win $5,000. Beginning on May 16, entrants may submit descriptions and photos of their robot creation built on the iRobot Create robot platform at Instructables.com. The submissions will be posted publicly and will be judged based on merit. Final entries will be due Aug. 31, 2007. The grand prize winner will be announced in October. In addition, iRobot is offering a limited number of free scholarship robot packages for those who wish to enter the main contest, but do not have the ability to purchase an iRobot Create kit themselves. For detailed instructions and entry information, please visit Tom's Hardware. iRobot Create is an affordable, programmable robot designed for aspiring roboticists, adva...
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Are You Willing to Defend Science?
2007-05-14 17:29:00
Over the past several years, scientific progress has been hindered somewhat by a concerted attempt to hide scientific results that don't conform to some person's or group's religious ideology. For example, NASA public affairs official George Deutsch attracted much heat (and eventually lost his job) after ordering that NASA websites be amended to change all references to the Big Bang to include the word "theory". Deutsch's reason for ordering the change was pretty simple: it did not mesh with his religious views of Intelligent Design. Also notable in this debate was the 1999 vote by the Kansas State Board of Education to remove any mention of "biological macroevolution, the age of the Earth, or the origin and early development of the Universe", so that evolutionary theory no longer appeared in state-wide standardized tests. Over the past decade, these attempts to force religion on people by attacking science (in clear violation of the First Amendment prohibition against the g...
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Genetic Switch Fixes Damaged Hearts
2007-05-11 15:32:00
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered a genetic switch that allows mice to repair heart muscles damaged by heart attacks, and the research may be applicable to humans as well. Normally, heart cells in mice, and in humans, stop regenerating after birth. If the heart is damaged by a heart attack, it cannot create new cells to repair the damage and hearts become less efficient at pumping blood. The team at Columbia University Medical Center in New York found that by genetically manipulating a gene associated with cell growth--called cyclin A2--adult mice were able to make new cells to replace those damaged in a heart attack. The researchers engineered mice that continue to express cyclin A2 throughout their lives (normally it is only expressed in embryos). Later, they induced heart attacks in the mice. At three months, the mice whose cyclin A2 genes had been switched on had 77 percent better heart function than the other mice. Most of the mice that did...
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A Better Way to Deliver Chemotherapy
2007-05-10 20:06:00
Reuters reports on an article from the May issue of Cancer Cell Magazine about Australian company EnGeneIC's plans to more precisely target chemotherapy. The method involves using antibodies on their surface of bacteria-derived nano-cells to target and latch on to cancer cells. Once attached, the nano-cell is engulfed and the chemotherapy drug is released directly inside the cancer cell. This has the advantage of ensuring that the chemotherapy drugs don't affect any bodily tissues other than the tumor(s). The EnGeneIC delivery vehicles have proven safe in primate trials and resulted in significant cancer regression, and the company hopes to carry out human trials later in 2007 if it gained approval from Australian, U.S., European and Japanese regulatory authorities. This is good news for all cancer sufferers. Current chemotherapy techniques involve flooding the body with toxic chemicals, much of which poisons the healthy body tissues instead of the tumor. Additionally, curre...
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IBM Brings Nature to Computer Chip Manufacturing
2007-05-03 18:51:00
IBM has announced that it has developed a means of creating faster, more efficient computer processors by putting tiny holes in the chips, using the natural pattern-creating process that forms seashells, snowflakes, and enamel on teeth. In chips running in IBM labs using the technique, the researchers have proven that the electrical signals on the chips can flow 35 percent faster, or the chips can consume 15 percent less energy compared to the most advanced chips using conventional techniques. The IBM patented self-assembly process moves a nanotechnology manufacturing method that had shown promise in laboratories into a commercial manufacturing environment for the first time, providing the equivalent of two generations of Moore's Law wiring performance improvementsin a single step, using conventional manufacturing techniques. This new form of insulation, commonly referred to as ?airgaps? by scientists, is a misnomer, as the gaps are actually a vacuum, absent of air. The techniqu...
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Brewing a Sustainable Energy Solution
2007-05-02 23:11:00
The Queensland, Australia, Government's Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund has granted $140,000(AU) to the University of Queensland for a joint project between UQ and Foster's to turn beer wastewater into electricity. The project will use the waste water from the fermentation process--water that is rich with sugars, starches, and alcohol--to power fuel cells, generating energy and clean water in the process. The process won't generate much electricity--only about 2 kW. Basically it's a wastewater treatment system that also generates a small amount of free electricity. And while generating electricity using alternative energy methods is a worthwhile goal in and of itself, this process also allows for efficient recycling of wastewater in an area (Queensland) that has been hit with serious droughts for many years. ?Energy and water supply are among the biggest challenges we will face in the coming decades,? Dr Korneel Rabaey, a postdoctoral research fellow at UQ's Advanced Wa...
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Another Way You Can Contribute to Science (Maybe)
2007-05-02 20:43:00
I've blogged numerous times her about ways you can personally help advance science and technology, from tracking birds to looking for extra-solar planets to devoting your unused computing power. Those were all amateur opportunities, however. If you have experience in chemistry and/or the life sciences, you can help advance science and technology (and make a little bit of money) through a website called InnoCentive. The InnoCentive site allows businesses or non-profit organizations to post research "challenges" with a prize award. Registered users can view the details of the challenges and can attempt to solve them in order to win the offered prize (which, at this time, range from $10,000 to about a million dollars). Challenges include such things as: A method is needed to create a highly energetic crystalline polyethylene surface that has increased wettability properties. ($15,000) Identification of a non-animal base water insoluble material for use as a shell, and processes ...
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Another Simple Step to Help the Environment
2007-05-02 20:40:00
Thanks to this Reuters article, I've read about another very simple step you can take to help fight global warming. It was pretty obvious when I read about it, but sometimes the obvious things are the things we take most for granted. The suggestion was to put less water in your kettle. Any time you're trying to boil water for anything (like, say, making tea or boiling pasta), you use energy to boil that water. The amount of energy is directly proportional to the volume of water you are trying to heat. So, if you use less water, it takes less heat to make it boil. Again, it seems pretty obvious, but it's something I hadn't thought of. I don't make pasta very often (I'm on a diet and trying to lose about 30 more pounds), but when I do, from now on, I'll use less water to do it.
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Potentially Habitable Planet Found Around Another Star
2007-04-25 15:17:00
You've probably heard by now, but scientists at the European Southern Observatory have announced that they have found the smallest planet yet around another star (other than around pulsars, which would be completely inhospitable to life). It's still bigger than Earth, about five times our mass, which means it would have a surface gravity about 1.6 times ours. Most exciting, though, is that this planet is relatively temperate. It orbits a weak, red dwarf star (Gliese 581), that doesn't give off much heat. But it orbits close enough--about 6.7 million miles--to its parent star that its surface temperature is estimated to be between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius (32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit). It's too early to tell if the planet would be hospitable to life or--and how exciting is this?--if it already has life on it. All scientists know for sure is the planet's mass and distance from its parent star... the planet could be icy, with a much larger diameter and lower temperature. O...
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Stop the Nonsense
2007-04-23 16:05:00
Messenger RNA is used by the body to encode proteins based on the structure of certain genes. In mRNA as in DNA, genetic information is encoded in the sequence of four nucleotides arranged into codons of three bases each. Each codon encodes for a specific amino acid, except the stop codons that terminate protein synthesis. But what happens if the DNA of the genes mutates, or becomes corrupted? Sometimes it causes the wrong proteins to be encoded. Sometimes, the DNA mutates in such a way that the Messenger RNA is prematurely truncated. Example (thanks to Wikipedia): DNA: ATG ACT CAC CGA GCG CGA AGC TGA mRNA: AUG ACU CAC CGA GCG CGA AGC UGA Protein: Met Thr His Arg Ala Arg Ser Stop Now, suppose that a mutation occurs in the DNA: DNA: ATG ACT CAC TGA GCG CGA AGC TGA mRNA: AUG ACU CAC UGA GCG CGA AGC UGA The RNA derives from the DNA (where UGA derives from TGA) In this case, UGA is a stop codon, so the protein produced by this interaction looks like this: Prot...
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51 Things: No Left Turn
2007-04-19 17:22:00
Number 45 on TIME Magazine's list of 51 Thing s We Can Do to only make right turns while driving. It sounds strange at first, but when you think about it, it starts to make sense. How much time do you spend sitting at green lights waiting for your chance to turn left? While you sit idling, your car is burning fuel, which wastes your money and contributes wasteful carbon to the global warming problem. According to TIME, in 2004, UPS announced that its drivers would avoid making left turns. In metro New York, UPS has reduced CO2 emissions by 1,000 metric tons since January. Today 83% of UPS facilities are heading in the right direction; within two years, the policy will be adopted nationwide. So plan your routes ahead of time to avoid making left turns. You could save yourself some money and do your part to fight global warming at the same time.
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