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Glowing bacteria could help locate landmines

Edinburgh researchers believe new custom chemical could provide a cheap and effective way of finding unexploded mines.

Scientists at Edinburgh University believe they have developed a way to spot undetected landmines.

Students at the institution have developed a custom-made bacteria which glows green when it comes into with the chemicals which leak from buried explosives.

Once mixed with other colourless liquids, the formula can be sprayed on the ground to identify dangerous areas.

The project used new technology, known as BioBricking, which enables bespoke bacteria molecules to be assembled for specific purposes.

Researchers say it could provide a cheap and reliable way of spotting hidden explosives. When sprayed from the air, the solution would offer an indication of areas to avoid within a few hours, without causing any harm to people or animals.

The charity Handicap International says landmines currently cause between 15,000 and 20,000 deaths each year.

Minefields have been discovered in 87 countries, including Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Experts currently use landmine sensors to identify unexploded ordnance, but the team behind the new chemical believes it could provide a safer and more cost effective alternative in future.

Dr Alistair Elfick of the University's School of Engineering said: “This anti-mine sensor is a great example of how innovation in science can be of benefit to wider society. It also demonstrates how new scientific techniques can allow molecules to be designed for a specific purpose.”

cientists at Edinburgh University believe they have developed a way to spot undetected landmines.

Students at the institution have developed a custom-made bacteria which glows green when it comes into with the chemicals which leak from buried explosives.

via Glowing bacteria could help locate landmines | Edinburgh and East | STV News.

Mystery ‘dark flow’ hints of another universe, a BIG one.

SOMETHING big is out there beyond the visible edge of our universe. That’s the conclusion of the largest analysis to date of over 1000 galaxy clusters streaming in one direction at blistering speeds. Some researchers say this so-called “dark flow” is a sign that other universes nestle next door.

Last year, Sasha Kashlinsky of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and colleagues identified an unusual pattern in the motion of around 800 galaxy clusters. They studied the clusters’ motion in the “afterglow” of the big bang, as measured by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The photons of this afterglow collide with electrons in galaxy clusters as they travel across space to the Earth, and this subtly changes the afterglow’s temperature.

The team combined the WMAP data with X-ray observations and found the clusters were streaming at up to 1000 kilometres per second towards one particular part of the cosmos (The Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol 686, p L49).

Many researchers argued the dark flow would not turn up in later observations, but now the team claim to have confirmed its existence. Their latest analysis reveals 1400 clusters are part of the flow, and that it continues to around 3 billion light years from Earth, a sizeable fraction of the distance to the edge of the observable universe (arxiv.org/abs/0910.4958). This is twice as far as seen in the previous study.

The dark flow appears to have been caused shortly after the big bang by something no longer in the observable universe. It has no effect today because reaching across this horizon would involve travelling faster than light.

One explanation for the flow would be the gravity of a huge concentration of matter, but this is very unlikely. Within the standard big bang picture, massive cosmic structures were “seeded” by random quantum fluctuations, so overall, matter should be spread evenly.

There could be an exotic explanation. Laura Mersini-Houghton of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, thinks the flow is a sign of a neighbouring universe.

via Mystery ‘dark flow’ extends towards edge of universe – space – 16 November 2009 – New Scientist.

Love and envy linked by same hormone, oxytocin

A new study carried out at the University of Haifa has found that the hormone oxytocin, the “love hormone,” which affects behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity, also affects opposite behaviors, such as jealousy and gloating. “Subsequent to these findings, we assume that the hormone is an overall trigger for social sentiments: when the person's association is positive, oxytocin bolsters pro-social behaviors; when the association is negative, the hormone increases negative sentiments,” explains Simone Shamay-Tsoory who carried out the research.

Previous studies have shown that the oxytocin hormone has a positive effect on positive feelings. The hormone is released in the body naturally during childbirth and when engaging in sexual relations. Participants in an experiment who inhaled the synthetic form of the hormone displayed higher levels of altruistic feelings, and it is supposed that the hormone plays an important role in the formation of relationships between people.

However, in earlier studies carried out by other investigators with rodents, it was found that the hormone is also related to higher levels of aggression. Therefore, it was decided to examine whether the hormone also affects negative social sentiments.

The present study, which was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, included 56 participants.

revious studies have shown that the oxytocin hormone has a positive effect on positive feelings. The hormone is released in the body naturally during childbirth and when engaging in sexual relations. Participants in an experiment who inhaled the synthetic form of the hormone displayed higher levels of altruistic feelings, and it is supposed that the horm

via Love and envy linked by same hormone, oxytocin.

I used this restroom today, but I had to think about it.

I had to go and it was there, so I used it, but I had to think about it first. What is a transgender friendly bathroom? Would someone see me coming out of this bathroom and think that I was not the gender I seem? Would I find someone inside who seemed to be a woman but wasn’t? I was a little nervous, but no one was in there.  What do you think about this?

Scientists prove that Hypnosis has a real brain effect

Hypnosis has a “very real” effect that can be picked up on brain scans, say Hull University researchers.

An imaging study of hypnotised participants showed decreased activity in the parts of the brain linked with daydreaming or letting the mind wander.

The same brain patterns were absent in people who had the tests but who were not susceptible to being hypnotised.

One psychologist said the study backed the theory that hypnosis “primes” the brain to be open to suggestion.

Hypnosis is increasingly being used to help people stop smoking or lose weight and advisers recently recommended its use on the NHS to treat irritable bowel syndrome.

It is not the first time researchers have tried to use imaging studies to monitor brain activity in people under hypnosis.

But the Hull team said these had been done while people had been asked to carry out tasks, so it was not clear whether the changes in the brain were due to the act of doing the task or an effect of hypnosis.

In the latest study, the team first tested how people responded to hypnosis and selected 10 individuals who were “highly suggestible” and seven people who did not really respond to the technique other than becoming more relaxed.

The participants were asked to do a task under hypnosis, such as listening to non-existent music, but unknown to them the brain activity was being monitored in the rest periods in between tasks, the team reported in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

Default mode

In the “highly suggestible” group there was decreased activity in the part of the brain involved in daydreaming or letting the mind wander – also known as the “default mode” network.

One suggestion of how hypnosis works, supported by the results, is that shutting off this activity leaves the brain free to concentrate on other tasks.

Study leader Dr William McGeown, a lecturer in the department of psychology, said the results were unequivocal because they only occurred in the highly suggestible subjects.

“This shows that the changes were due to hypnosis and not just simple relaxation. “Our study shows hypnosis is real.”

via BBC NEWS | Health | Hypnosis has ‘real’ brain effect.

Welcome to the Clone Farm

K.C., the first animal produced by cloning from a cell taken from a carcass, in an undated photo courtesy of the genomics services company Viagen.

To the untrained eye, Pollard Farms looks much like any other cattle ranch. Similar looking cows are huddled in similar looking pens. But some of the cattle here don't just resemble each other. They are literally identical — clear down to their genes.

Of the 400-some cattle in Barry Pollard's herd of mostly Black Angus cattle there are 22 clones, genetic copies of some of the most productive livestock the world has ever known.

Pollard, a neurosurgeon and owner of Pollard Farms, says such breeding technology is at the forefront of a new era in animal agriculture. “We’re trying to stay on the very top of the heap of quality, genetically, with animals that will gain well and fatten well, produce well and reproduce well,” Pollard told a reporter during a recent visit to his farm.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2008 approved the sale of food from clones and their offspring, stating the products are indistinguishable from that of their non-clone counterparts. Japan, the European Union, and others have followed suit.

The moves have stirred controversy about whether tinkering with nature is safe, or even ethical, prompting major food companies to swear off food products from cloned animals. But consumers are likely already eating meat and drinking milk from the offspring of clones, which are technically not clones, without even knowing it.

Farmers can now use cloning and other assisted breeding technologies to breed cows that produce bigger, better steaks or massive amounts of milk, and animals that resist diseases or reproduce with clockwork precision. Premier genes can translate to improved feeding efficiency, meaning the ability to convert the least amount of feed into the most meat or milk, which results in a smaller environmental footprint.

via NewsDaily: Welcome to the Clone Farm.

Welcome to the Clone Farm

K.C., the first animal produced by cloning from a cell taken from a carcass, in an undated photo courtesy of the genomics services company Viagen.

To the untrained eye, Pollard Farms looks much like any other cattle ranch. Similar looking cows are huddled in similar looking pens. But some of the cattle here don't just resemble each other. They are literally identical — clear down to their genes.

Of the 400-some cattle in Barry Pollard's herd of mostly Black Angus cattle there are 22 clones, genetic copies of some of the most productive livestock the world has ever known.

Pollard, a neurosurgeon and owner of Pollard Farms, says such breeding technology is at the forefront of a new era in animal agriculture. “We’re trying to stay on the very top of the heap of quality, genetically, with animals that will gain well and fatten well, produce well and reproduce well,” Pollard told a reporter during a recent visit to his farm.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2008 approved the sale of food from clones and their offspring, stating the products are indistinguishable from that of their non-clone counterparts. Japan, the European Union, and others have followed suit.

The moves have stirred controversy about whether tinkering with nature is safe, or even ethical, prompting major food companies to swear off food products from cloned animals. But consumers are likely already eating meat and drinking milk from the offspring of clones, which are technically not clones, without even knowing it.

Farmers can now use cloning and other assisted breeding technologies to breed cows that produce bigger, better steaks or massive amounts of milk, and animals that resist diseases or reproduce with clockwork precision. Premier genes can translate to improved feeding efficiency, meaning the ability to convert the least amount of feed into the most meat or milk, which results in a smaller environmental footprint.

via NewsDaily: Welcome to the Clone Farm.

‘Doomsday’ 2012 prediction explained: Mayan calendar was cyclical

Contrary to what the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie would suggest, the world will NOT end on Dec. 21, 2012, according to Ann Martin, a doctoral candidate in Cornell University’s department of astronomy. Her research focuses on the hydrogen content of galaxies in the nearby universe.

The Mayan calendar was designed to be cyclical, so the fact that the long count comes to an end in December 2012 is really of no consequence, according to Martin. Simply, it is the end of great calendar cycle in Mayan society, much like our modern society celebrated the new Millennium. It does not mean that the “world will end.” In fact, the Mayan calendar does not end then and there is no evidence to suggest that the Mayans — or anyone for that matter — has knowledge for the world’s demise.

For the past three years, Martin has been a volunteer with Cornell’s “Curious? Ask an Astronomer” service, a Web site founded by astronomy graduate students in 1997.

via ‘Doomsday’ 2012 prediction explained: Mayan calendar was cyclical.

I’ll still see the movie.

White deer hind caught on camera (photo)

 

A rare white deer hind has been filmed by a wildlife cameraman for the BBC Landward programme.

The animal’s location in the central Highlands has been kept secret by conservation bodies in an effort to protect it from poachers.

Cameraman Philip Lovel said the colouration was caused by a genetic condition that reduces the pigment in hair and skin.

Last year, a white stag was spotted on the west coast of the Highlands.

Mr Lovel said of the hind: “This white deer is very rare.

“I know of only one other wild white red deer at present in Scotland.

“Unfortunately their rarity can make them a target for poaching trophy-hunters, especially the stags.”

“A secret”

It was thought the hind was 10-years-old and deer stalkers have said her colour has got lighter with age.

Last February, a white stag was observed on the west coast of the Highlands.

The animal had been seen with other red deer by a member of the John Muir Trust, which kept its location a secret to protect it from poachers.

White deer are often mistakenly thought to be albinos.

Their unusual appearance is caused by a condition called leucism.

Unlike albinos who characteristically have red eyes, deer with leucism have normal colouring in their eyes.

via BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | White deer hind caught on camera.

Worms turned into hermaphrodites

 

With a surprisingly simple genetic tweak, scientists have transformed nematode worms into hermaphrodites.

They report in the journal Science that lowering the activity of just two genetic pathways produces the change.

Evolution from a species consisting of males and females into one consisting of only males and hermaphrodites happens naturally in many nematodes.

A team of US researchers says their experiment explains how this might take place.

They say it also provides a simple model helping scientists to work out the mechanism of evolutionary change.

The researchers chose to study the evolution of female worms into hermaphrodites because it was a “striking change” that occurred relatively recently.

Ronald Ellis, a biologist from the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey in the US, who led the research, said that most big evolutionary changes within species happened too long ago to study at the genetic level.

“But this dramatic change happened fairly recently and in a group of animals that we know a lot about… that's why we're studying it to find out how complex traits are created,” he told BBC News.

via BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Worms turned into hermaphrodites.