Scientists hampered by brain shortage

The decision to set up a UK network of brain banks will come as welcome news to researchers working on a wide range of neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and autism.

The simple fact is that not enough of us are donating our brains to medical research after we die.

As a result, scientists have been hampered by a shortage of human tissue to work on, and earlier this year some of the country’s leading neuropathologists held a press conference highlighting the problem. They warned that vital research could grind to a halt.

Professor James Ironside – the man chosen to head the MRC’s new brain bank network – was at that meeting. Now he’ll co-ordinate the provision of brain tissue, and help tackle the shortage of donations.

Speaking after his appointment this morning he said: “The availability of high quality brain tissue is critical to the success of research into devastating clinical conditions such as motor neurone disease and schizophrenia. My job is to build on the fantastic work that is already being done by the individual brain banks. Co-ordination is essential to give researchers access to what they need, when they need it.”

Part of the problem is that, because it can’t be transplanted, the brain is not included under the existing regulations governing organ donation – a separate consent process must be completed. That’s meant the organ is often overlooked by people who plan to leave their bodies to medical science.

Another problem, highlighted by Professor Margaret Esiri at Oxford University, is that people may be reluctant to donate their brain because they see the organ as the basis of their identity.

It’s a squeamishness she says must be overcome given the appalling social and financial costs associated with conditions like Alzheimer’s and autism.

via BBC – Today: Tom Feilden: Scientists hampered by brain shortage.

When I donated my brain to science 230 years ago, I never dreamed it would be used in the laboratory simulation of life that I am now experiencing.

Bacteria From The Deep Can Clean Up Heavy Metals

A species of bacteria, isolated from sediments deep under the Pacific Ocean, could provide a powerful clean-up tool for heavy metal pollution. Writing in the current issue of the journal, Microbiology, Professor Gejiao Wang and his colleagues from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, PR China describe how a particular strain of Brachybacterium, strain Mn32, proved to be highly effective in removing manganese from solutions, converting it into insoluble manganese oxides.

Not only did the bacterium directly oxidize the manganese but the resulting oxides themselves also absorbed the metal from the culture solution, making Brachybacterium sp Mn32 a potentially useful candidate for use in bioremediation and cleaning up pollution.

As well as removing manganese from its environment, the Brachybacterium also absorbed significant amounts of zinc and nickel. All of these metals are found as pollutants in water and soils contaminated by heavy industries such as steel-making.

Manganese oxides can be manufactured chemically and are known to absorb zinc and nickel; but the oxides produced by this bacterium absorbed two- to three- times more metal. Professor Wang’s team showed that the crystal structure of the bacterial manganese oxides is different to that of the chemically produced ones, with a greater surface area which enables more of the metal ions to be absorbed.

Describing the work, Professor Wang said, “The next stage of our research is to immobilize this bacterial strain into a bioreactor to test its ability to remove manganese and other heavy metals in such a system. If successful it could provide a more efficient way to clean up heavy metal pollutants.”

via Bacteria From The Deep Can Clean Up Heavy Metals.

How Adrenal Cancer Forms: Dysfunctional Telomeres Can Trigger Cancer Mutations

At the ends of chromosome are special pieces of DNA called telomeres. Think of it as the little tip that caps off a shoelace. The telomeres send signals to the cells to let them know it’s the end point, not a break that should be repaired.

Over time, as cells reproduce, the telomeres become shorter and eventually no longer do their job. The cells then have a higher risk of mutating into cancer.

But, a new study finds, if the telomere becomes dysfunctional at any point – regardless of shortening – it can trigger a cancer event. The study, by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, was done in mice generally prone to develop cancer. The mice that also had dysfunctional telomeres were particularly prone to develop the usually ultra-rare adrenocortical cancer. This is the first mouse model to specifically address this rare but lethal type of cancer.

“Usually when telomeres get short, they also seem to get deprotected. No one’s been able to say if it’s the shortening or the deprotection that causes cancer to arise. In this study, we were able to show that deprotection alone, even in the absence of a short telomere, is enough to trigger cancer.

via How Adrenal Cancer Forms: Dysfunctional Telomeres Can Trigger Cancer Mutations.

New Radar Detects Huge Waves In Atmosphere

Researchers have detected giant, fast-moving waves of air, caused by thunderstorms and other disturbances, above Poker Flat, Alaska, where a new radar is churning out the first three-dimensional images of upper atmospheric phenomena in the polar region.

“People have been envisioning doing this project for 40 years,” said Eric Donovan, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “There’s just a lot going on in this region that we don’t understand.”

The radar combines 4,096 small antennas, each with its own transmitter, on a single instrument, rather than one giant dish equipped with one powerful transmitter. Rather than physically rotating the radar to point in different directions, the steering is done electronically by slightly phasing each of the antenna elements differently.

The radar, which can be run remotely via the Internet, can be very quickly adjusted to pinpoint and track velocity, temperature and other changes in the upper atmosphere.

“All the previous systems would take half an hour to make measurements of a region that we’re interested in,” Donovan told Discovery News. “That’d be like keeping a camera’s exposure open for 30 minutes when you’re trying to take a picture of the finish of a race. All you’d see are streaks.”

“It has the ability to essentially take three-dimensional pictures of the ionosphere whereas traditional systems can only look in one direction because of steering limitations,” added Michael Nicolls, a research scientist with SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif.

“This allows us, for example, to see wiggles in the ionosphere, and say ‘Yes, these are atmospheric waves’ and, in addition, figure out where they are coming from, which is very unique,” Nicolls wrote in an email to Discovery News.

With the new capabilities, scientists hope to be able to trace atmospheric waves to their source, such as a thunderstorm or air slamming into a mountain.

“By building up this 3-D view showing the waves, we can see where the sources are,” said Craig Heinselman, the principal investigator of the Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar, or AMISR. “It’s the first time we’ve been able to look, especially at high latitudes, in multiple directions simultaneously.”

Scientists have identified a few types of waves, some of which rip through the region of the atmosphere known as the mesopause, about 60 to 90 kilometers above the planet, and others in the thermosphere, roughly 200 to 300 kilometers in altitude.

The waves can be hundreds of kilometers long and travel at half the speed of sound.

“They are really enormous,” Heinselman said.

Scientists will soon be expanding their view with a second AMISR system at Resolute Bay in Nunavut, Canada, which is within the polar cap.

via New Radar Detects Huge Waves In Atmosphere: Discovery News.

Scientists faking results and omitting unwanted findings in research

More than two-thirds of researchers said they knew of colleagues who had committed “questionable” practices and one in seven said that included inventing findings.

But when scientists were asked about their own behaviour only two per cent admitted to having faked results.

The findings, published in the journal Public Library of Science, are based on a review of 21 scientific misconduct surveys carried out between 1986 and 2005.

The results paint a picture of a profession in which dishonesty and misrepresentation are widespread.

On average, across the surveys, around two per cent of scientists admitted they had “fabricated” made up, “falsified” or “altered” data to “improve the outcome” at least once.

A further 34 per cent admitted to other questionable research practices including “failing to present data that contradict one’s own previous research” and “dropping observations or data points from analyses based on a gut feeling that they were inaccurate.”

In surveys that asked about the behaviour of colleagues, 14 per cent knew someone who had fabricated, falsified or altered data, and up to 72 per cent knew someone who had committed other questionable research practices.

Misconduct was reported most frequently by medical researchers, suggesting commercial pressures maybe putting extra pressure on them to have the right results.

- via Telegraph

Compare the rate at which scientists, who are somewhat subjected to peer review, do this, to the rate at which non-scientists ignore reality and I think the scientists still come out ahead.

Larry King CNN – The U.K. UFO Files

I don’t watch Larry King much, but he has some interesting topics. Here is a collection of his UFO topic shows.

Mysterious orange UFOs swoop across Britain’s skies

Darting silently in formation, the mysterious glowing orbs light up the night sky.

Some say these orange lights even weave in between each other with the precision of a synchronised flying team from some far corner of the universe.

Clusters of more than 100 have been spotted across Britain and even Holland, leaving onlookers with an eerie sense that, for all the mystifying beauty of the strange objects, they may have just witnessed an armada of invading UFOs.

The most recent sighting was on Sunday when they were seen in two locations, Merseyside and Lincoln. Days earlier a similar phenomenon was spotted over Cambridgeshire, where one witness claims each was as big as a house.

The sightings have prompted defence officials to check their logs and sent UFO fans into orbits of excitement. Engineer Paul Slight, 54, took photos on his mobile phone of the strange objects hovering over Lincoln at 10.30pm while he was cycling home after a day out with friends.

The top image is someone’s recreation, not the actual orbs. Here is a real photo:

Eerie: Witnesses reported seeing the lights flying in an apparent formation, dodging and darting around each other before disappearing

‘There were 26 of them at first, dodging and darting in between each other like they were playing a game,’ he said.

‘After that, seven more arrived and weaved through the crowd of lights like strange kinds of aircraft. After five minutes of moving around, they hung in the air for a second then shot off into the sky and disappeared.’

A spokesman for nearby RAF Cranwell said the base was closed at the weekend so the lights could not be attributed to its aircraft. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence is examining claims that the Merseyside lights were connected to an exercise involving HMS Daring, docked in Liverpool.

An ex-military source claimed the lights were dropped by jets to simulate the path of a missile in order to test the warship’s radar systems.

HMS Daring, which is currently docked at Liverpool, uses radar-activated guns. It is believed the lights seen may have been ‘counter-measures’ to test its defences

‘They were travelling 15 at a time and every six minutes more seemed to be coming over the horizon. They were not planes. They were not balloons.

Each one was the size of a building.’ Last night it emerged a woman has contacted her local newspaper to claim that the lights over Lincoln were Chinese lanterns – mini hot air balloons – set off at her wedding reception.

‘They looked amazing, hope you all enjoyed the spectacle,’ she said.

Nick Pope, the former head of the MoD’s UFO Project, supported the Chinese lantern theory.

‘I’m not disparaging the whole UFO phenomenon, but I’d say 99 per cent of UFO reports involving orange lights in the sky these days are attributable to these lanterns.’

via Mysterious orange UFOs swoop across Britain’s skies | Mail Online.

I found no video of them on Youtube, just some Chinese lantern videos from 2007. Seems like a military operation rather than Chinese lanterns based on the behavior described.  Too bad they are all blurry orbs. If they were really as big as a house I’m not sure why the military would be testing something so bulky.

Man, 93, and bride, 89, tie the knot in Florida

One Florida couple is starting married life with 182 years of experience between them. Ebenezer Rose, 93, wed 89-year-old Monica Hayden on Sunday in West Palm Beach. The couple said they decided to get married after a brief courtship. Rose said he told Hayden that “each of us is living a lonely life. Why not get married?”

The couple first met in church about 20 years ago.

Rose’s first wife died about four years ago after 58 years of marriage. Hayden is twice-widowed.

via Man, 93, and bride, 89, tie the knot in Florida – Yahoo! News.