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September 15th 2008 16:02
Everyone is interested in renewable, alternative sources of energy currently. No one wants to continue to pay high gas prices or spend exorbitant amounts of money for electricity. While a combination of alternative energy sources seems to be the answer, one company is trying to increase the efficiency and output of wind energy.
Wind turbines have their own set of problems, like everything else. One is that even though the blades of the turbines are supposed to catch the wind to turn the turbine to create energy, they don’t always do so. Sometimes, if the wind fails to move across the blades in the correct way, the blades can’t catch it and they slow or stop. This is slightly similar to a tire on a wet or icy road. If the tire has no tread, it tends to slide across the road rather than drive on it. If the tire is new and has lots of tread, the tire can grip the road and allow the driver a modicum of control. By looking at whales and how their fins are formed, scientists have developed a new way to form the blades for wind turbines.
Whales, in order to control their movement through the water, have large bumps on their fins. This forces the water to move across their fins differently, allowing them a type of “grip”. Wind blades can be fashioned in a similar way, by creating, not slick, but bumpy blades. These, so far, have been proven to catch the wind better and allow the angle of the blade to be increased by 40 degrees if necessary before they begin to slow or stop. Although the first prototypes are going to be made for ceiling fans which will be 24 feet across, the turbine blades will need to be 400 feet across. If the ceiling fan prototype works as scientists expect, new wind turbine blades will be next on the market. Although some doubt much more efficiency will be gained by these new blades, they may be surprised, and even a small increase in efficiency could be worth it financially.
Source: Discover, September 2008
September 15th 2008 15:00
Antibodies' recognition of and attachment to cell proteins
City of Hope - Link
It seems these days that cancer has become a pervasive and uniquely devastating disease. While many new treatments are being researched, chemotherapy and radiation remain at the fore of treatment options. Although still in clinical trials, City of Hope is attempting to circumvent the use of these devastating treatments with a better one: immunotherapy. This technique is elegant in that it pushes the body to do what it should be doing on its own, fight the cancer. The immune system is usually triggered when it recognizes something different, or foreign in the body. These foreign objects, whether bacterial, viral proteins or something else, are marked as “non-self”, or not natural to the human body, and are destroyed. Unfortunately, what makes the immune system so effective also causes its downfall when it comes to cancer. Since cancer is caused by the body’s own cells losing control and replicating nonstop, nothing is foreign. There is nothing to trigger the immune system to say, “this doesn’t belong”. The cells do belong, there are just too many of them, allowing the defense system to remain dormant.
Immunotherapy tries to correct this by forcing the immune system to recognize and attack the unruly proliferation of cells. Although there are several ways to accomplish this, one way uses antibodies developed specifically to a protein made only by cancer cells. Once a patient has been given these antibodies, they circulate through the body and are drawn, like magnets, to the cancer cells and the proteins they make. Like magnets of opposite polarity, the antibody and protein latch on to one another. In essence, this marks the cancer cell and stimulates the body’s immune system. This antibody marking allows the immune system to finally “see” the cancer cells. When this occurs, the cancer cells can be destroyed exclusively, without harming adjacent healthy, normal cells.
While several immunotherapy techniques of this sort are still in clinical trials, the possibility of a cancer-cure seems closer than ever. Within a few years or the next decade, cancer may become a domesticated problem rather than a feral beast.
Source: Scientific American Special Edition, September 2008, Vol 18, Num 3
September 15th 2008 14:00
In fall of 2001, letters coated with anthrax spores were mailed to two U.S. Senators and others. This killed five people and injured more. Since then, the FBI has been trying to uncover who mailed the letters. On July 29, 2008, their latest suspect, Army researcher Bruce Ivins, died from an overdose of Tylenol. After months of questioning and investigation by the FBI, Ivins, who retained his job, is thought to have committed suicide due to guilt. Several people have claimed his unstable mental state, both recently and in 2001, may be why someone who had worked on an anthrax vaccine to save people for decades suddenly decided to infect and kill people across the U.S.
The real question is “Does the FBI finally have it right?” In 2002, they thought they had a culprit in Steven Hatfill. Hatfill worked with Ivins and was named a “person of interest” by ex-Attorney General John Ashcroft. Hatfill, by the way, just won $5.8 million for the damage sustained to his career by the false association of his name with the Anthrax case.
Currently, the FBI believes Ivins to be the guilty party since the DNA of the anthrax spores sent through the mail match the DNA of the anthrax spores Ivins worked on in his lab. While many believe this to be solid evidence of guilt, it does not seem quite so solid to this writer. Who else had access to this type of anthrax? Could someone have gained access inappropriately? Not only this, but there was a second DNA type (or strain) of anthrax mixed with the one that Ivins worked with. What about that? Finally, even if the anthrax came from Ivins lab, how do you answer the point that Ivins probably could not have made the fine powder that the anthrax spores were mixed with to lace the envelopes? Ivins may have been guilty, but more concrete evidence is needed to prove that.
So what exactly is anthrax and why do people care? Anthrax, like many serious pathogens, can kill someone within a very short time frame and with virtually no warning. When inhaled, anthrax can cause symptoms akin to the common cold such as a sore throat and fever. This is one reason it is so dangerous, people are sick so often with the common cold that they think nothing of being sick. Unfortunately, the symptoms do not simply go away but intensify. In only a few days, anthrax produces “severe breathing problems and shock”, according to the CDC website. Although anthrax is not contagious, there is little way to know if you have it. The CDC does note that victims of anthrax usually do not have the runny nose typically associated with the common cold. The common cold, however, is going to usually be guilty for causing cold-like symptoms, unless you have inhaled strange white powder of an unknown origin which caused you to fall ill.
Scientists have become concerned by these events since they could directly affect their ability to work with such organisms. Also, the possible actions of Ivins, who received awards of thanks for his research, has caused almost everyone to wonder if he is truly guilty, why he would commit such a heinous act and how the government will stop similar problems in the future.
September 12th 2008 16:00
Poor little beavers, they thrive and die by the will of the Argentinian government, so it seems. In the 1940s, 50 beavers were introduced into Argentina from Canada to create a fur industry. At the time, Argentina was trying to cash in on the expensive beaver pelts to generate export revenue for their country. Unfortunately, fur went out of style and the beavers were released from monitored beaver farms into the wild.
Beavers have never populated Argentina and therefore, they have no natural predators. Because of this, the beavers reproduced at an unchecked rate and now there are 100,000 of them. This has led to the unrestricted destruction of the country’s rivers and forests, creating eyesores and an eco-disaster. So far, 16 million hectares have been destroyed and there isn’t any hope that the trees will revive. Unlike North American trees, when trees in South America are chopped down by a beaver, they don’t grow back.
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September 12th 2008 15:00
If you just can’t get that “get up and go” feeling, you’re not alone. There has been a consistent rise in adult and child obesity over the past decades. In fact, 66% of the U.S. population is considered overweight. Fortunately, a new pill has been created which could help make your muscles more efficient, allowing more calories to be burned while doing nothing more than sitting on the couch.
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September 12th 2008 14:00
Video of Mind-Controlled Arm - Link
According to a November 2007 Popular Mechanics article linked above, DARPA is funding scientists such as Dr. Stuart Harshbarger to develop a human-like mechanical arm. An arm such as this can actually “feel” what it is touching through 80 sensors in the prosthesis’s fingers and palm. The brain can then interpret this to make decisions on the grip strength necessary as well as other complex yet normal adjustments that most people make every day. This mechanical arm and hand also have a full range of movement plus some. Furthermore, this prosthetic, unlike others, is elegantly designed with fingers and grasping abilities that closely mimic a normal hand. This prosthetic is much different than the ones normally used today in that it is a sleek and elegant design and easily a vast improvement over the clumsy designs available today.
Harshbarger, who works at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, is hoping to “hard-wire” the prosthetic into patients by connecting it directly to their nerve fibers. This “mind-controlled” prosthesis would allow patients to simply think of an action and cause their prosthetic to move. Since the device would be wired to their nerves, their brain would send an electrical impulse down the nerve fibers and into the connections of the prosthesis, causing movement. For anyone who uses or knows someone who uses a prosthetic, this would be a major breakthrough in restoring independence and natural ability to those who have lost a limb.
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September 11th 2008 16:00
People often rail against the U.S. for not helping the starving people of the world enough. Some even go so far as to say it is the U.S.’s fault that those overseas are starving. Many of these people, however, rarely list off facts of what the U.S. is actually doing and how much of our tax dollars are pouring out of the U.S. to help those in need. In an attempt to respond to this, I have done a bit of research and found some interesting numbers.
On July 16, 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture issued a press release stating that the U.S. donates around 58% of the total monies given to global food aid. This means the U.S. alone contributes more than all the other countries in the world combined. As of 2007, this equaled more than $1.78 billion. In 2008, $1.53 billion was earmarked with an extra $1.2 billion appropriated. Thus, in 2008 alone, Americans will donate $2.73 billion of their tax dollars to help those in foreign countries.
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September 11th 2008 14:00
Boston Dynamics Big Dog Robot In Action - Link
Every day science seems to be racing toward a more complex, more technologically driven future. The current attempts to create a humanoid robot with artificial intelligence capabilities has shown remarkable progress of late. Most people have probably seen Asimov, the walking, psuedo-human robot shown in the car commercials on television. While this is a great advance, Boston Dynamics (BD) has recently contributed something significant as well, if a little different.
As shown on BD's site, linked above, they have created a machine that looks at first glance, to move more like a deer through the forest. This machine moves like a creature that is truly alive and if one didn't know better, it seems to think for itself. It is sturdy, allowing it to withstand a direct kick without falling over, even on ice. It is able to regain its balance, again on ice, by using movements that seem much too real for a mere machine. It can even carry 340 pounds while climbing over tricky piles of simulated rubble. One can't help but imagine a future where an ememy hears nothing and sees nothing until 200 of these machines carrying an automatic weapon comes over the hill allowing soldiers to remain far behind enemy lines and out of harms way. If you really want to amaze yourself, take a look at the other robots BD has engineered.
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September 11th 2008 13:33
Many girls and women who are struck with ovarian cancer lose their ability to have children due to a hysterectomy surgery or the intense treatment they undergo. Dr. Jacques Donnez has now found a way to preserve the ovarian tissue of these young girls and women before their ovaries are destroyed.
Typically, the tissue itself won’t survive the freezing that must occur to preserve the tissue unless it has been fertilized by a male. This is often not an option for women without a partner or girls who are already traumatized by their disease and upcoming treatment. Donnez, however, has found a way to sample the ovarian tissue without fertilization, freeze it and re-implant the tissue years later, when the patient has recovered.
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September 10th 2008 18:22
Welcome,
Welcome to the Science Stat forum. I hope for this to be particularly relevant to two groups: the student and the professional researcher
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Comment by R.C. Anderson
on Anesthetics and Post-Op Pain
Young Green
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