Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 18, 2013 Researchers are learning what surfaces geckos stick to best. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): What do geckos stick to? Science labs aren’t all about petri dishes and microscopes. ALYSSA STARK (University of Akron): So we kind of are sliding them across the surface, and trying to measure the actual force it takes to make them slip. HIRSHON: The lizards are interesting to scientists because they can run upside down on wet surfaces – so they’re strongly adhesive but easily detached. Researchers test the stickiness of gecko feet.
Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 17, 2013 Olympic-level athletes have some enhanced cognitive abilities. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Olympic-level thinking. Elite athletes have an enhanced mental agility that matches their physical prowess. ART KRAMER (University of Illinois): We also found benefits for a number of other tasks that measure aspects of executive control, things like planning, scheduling, dealing with ambiguity, and multitasking. HIRSHON: Many of these abilities obviously apply to volleyball. Elite athletes may get cognitive benefits from their training. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 16, 2013 Each carnivorous pitcher plant contains a unique food web, depending on what falls in. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): The world inside a pitcher plant. Carnivorous pitcher plants are more than just interesting oddities.
BEN BAISER (Harvard Forest): The plants produce new leaves every spring and when each leaf opens, they’re completely sterile, they fill with rainwater, and then an insect comes and falls in. Tiny flies shred the insects, allowing bacteria to break them down. The northern pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 15, 2013 Energy drinks and red meat contain carnitine, a substance that promotes heart disease with the help of gut bacteria. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Artery-clogging energy drinks? Diets high in red meat can contribute to clogged arteries. STANLEY HAZEN (The Cleveland Clinic): Chronic exposure to dietary carnitine can shift your intestinal microbe composition and make you more likely to generate TMAO, this metabolite in the blood that very strongly tracks with risk for heart attack, stroke and death.
But red meat isn’t the only culprit. And a typical energy drink will have as much carnitine in it as a whole steak. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society. Energy drinks promise to make you a better athlete, but could some be bad for your heart? Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 12, 2013 Despite its reputation, cholesterol may be useful for treating several medical conditions. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Another side of cholesterol. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update. We know cholesterol as that fat that circulates in the blood, one type of which can form a dangerous coating of plaque in our arteries. In other cholesterol news, Washington University scientists report in the journal Cell Metabolism that they’re developing cholesterol-reducing eyedrops to treat age related macular degeneration, or AMD. Cholesterol, despite ts bad rap, is essential to many biological processes.
Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 11, 2013 New research suggests that young children understand the concept of fairness, but desire gets in the way of sharing. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): The development of sharing. Anyone who has raised young children knows that sharing doesn’t come easy. CRAIG SMITH (Universty of Michigan): The youngest kids we studied all the way through the 8-yer-olds seemed really clear that when people are equally deserving, things should be divided equally. But when the researchers gave them the opportunity to share stickers with other children, the three to six-year-olds hoarded them for themselves. Whereas the younger kids seemed to get sucked a bit more into thinking more about just their own desires.
This suggests that kids may not be able align their behavior with their ethics before age seven. New research shows that small children do understand the concept of fairness, but can't yet put it into practice. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 10, 2013 Inspired by animals, researchers have created robots that can traverse sand. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Off-road robots. Inspired by lizards and insects, researchers at Georgia Tech have designed a six-legged robot that can walk efficiently over sand. DANIEL GOLDMAN (Georgia Tech): Something that looked very close to a perfect “c” but not exactly a perfect “c”, seemed to be the leg which allowed the robot to generate the most lift to keep itself high out of the ground and also to generate a lot of thrust to push itself forward with each step.
The research, which appears in the journal Science, could improve the design of mobile robots, including future Mars rovers. Daniel Goldman and Chen Li show off their robot that can walk on granular surfaces. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 9, 2013 Mysterious “fairy circles” on African plains are caused by termites, which destroy patches of grass but help the surrounding grass thrive. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Fairy circles’ cause and effect. On the edge of the Namibian desert, mysterious so-called “fairy circles” appear. NORBERT JUERGENS (University of Hamburg, Germany): The termites create a permanent water store, and a permanent plantation of grasses.
HIRSHON: These perennial grasses also attract other insects and small mammals. "Fairy circles" in Namibia's Marienfluss valley. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 8, 2013 Using frozen DNA, researchers have created early-stage embryos of an extinct frog. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Undoing extinction.
In the future, extinction may not always be final. MICHAEL ARCHER (University of New South Wales, Australia): So we thought we’d give a go, using a distantly related living frog to provide the host eggs, and the nuclei from this frozen tissue. After several attempts, the extinct DNA revived, and the single cell developed into an early-stage embryo of the lost species. Researchers have created a live embryo of the extinct gastric-brooding frog, which converted its stomach into a uterus and gave birth through its mouth. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 5, 2013 A new study suggests that mindfulness training can help people stay focused on tasks. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): New techniques for staying focused. You’re trying to focus on work or a test, but you keep thinking about an argument you had yesterday, or about your plans for next Saturday. In other news, in a study of 600 corporate executives, researchers at McMaster University found that women executives out-performed men in many areas of business decisions: they were less rigid and rule-bound in their thinking, and were more likely to use cooperation and consensus-building strategies.
This Amazing, Zoomable Universe-In-A-Browser Puts Everything In Perspective. From nanoparticles to galaxies, we can understand a lot about how our universe works--but it's hard to keep things in context. Can you really grasp how far you'd have to travel to reach Mars? Or wrap your head around the infinitesimally small size of a virus? A couple of awesome animations will help. The first one, from London-based designers David Paliwoda and Jesse Williams, is an effective way to see just how far away Mars really is.
It's shrunk down to a 100-pixel scale. Click here to open the animation. When you've got Mars down, look at this incredible Flash tool created by Cary and Michael Hwang. You can scroll with a mouse or touchscreen, but I recommend using the slider at the bottom, because then you won't miss any of the lovely animated gifs--from wriggling worms to pulsating Cepheid stars. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 4, 2013 New robots are learning how to handle objects by watching humans. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Highly observant robots. A good assistant can learn a lot about a job just by watching. ASHUTOSH SAXENA (Cornell University): For example, if something contains a liquid, it would not tilt it when moving it around.
HIRSHON: The robots track people’s movements with Microsoft Kinect, a motion sensor used in home games. After watching a person making cereal (left), this robot knows it's time to put the milk away (right). Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 3, 2013 Researchers have developed an implantable blood testing sensor that can monitor blood glucose levels and chemotherapy drugs, among other things. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Remote blood testing. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update. Scientists have invented a tiny, implantable device that analyzes the concentration of chemicals in the blood. SANDRO CARRARA (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne): The idea of this device is to develop a general platform in order to monitor the human metabolism.
These could monitor blood glucose concentrations in diabetes patients, for example. Watch a video of how the sensor works. This implant measures about 14mm and comprises five sensors, a coil for wireless power as well a miniaturized electronics for radio communication. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 2, 2013 Deficiency in a key protein may strongly contribute to cognitive impairments in Down Syndrome.
Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): A major culprit in Down Sydrome. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update. The lack of a single protein may drive the mental impairments seen in Down Syndrome. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. April 1, 2013 Mummies from a variety of different cultures show signs of heart disease. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): Ancient heart disease. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update. People often associate atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, with the modern Western lifestyle. GREG THOMAS (Long Beach Memorial Medical Center): What was most striking was that atherosclerosis was seen in all four different cultures with all different diets.
This suggests that hardening of the arteries may be an inevitable part of aging. A CT scan of a fortysomething female Egyptian mummy, princess Ahmose Meyret Amon, showing clogged arteries. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Graphene supercapacitors: Small, cheap, energy-dense replacements for batteries. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS.
Lockheed Martin Desalination Graphene Filters. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Voyager Solar System 'exit' debated. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS.
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Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Red Cross news and views from Oregon and beyond: Understanding Earthquakes and Volcanoes... with snack foods! (Part 1) Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Now you can read all that scientific research you pay for. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS.
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Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Astronauts on ISS to shoot the breeze in Google+ Hangout, answer your questions. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS. Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS.
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