Tech Xplore - Hands-on model helps students understand genetic engineering A team of faculty and undergraduate researchers have created a physical, interactive model to teach students about genetics and biological processes at the cellular level. "By creating an analogue between a biological system and a physically engineered system, we think we can help students grasp the concepts behind genetics, cellular metabolism and genetic engineering," says Cranos Williams, an expert on biological systems modeling and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) at NC State. The researchers are seeking partners in nonprofit or private sectors to make the tool more widely available for use in K-12 and undergraduate classrooms. The Big Idea "We recognized that it is difficult for people to understand what's happening in a mathematical model, so we wanted to see if it would be possible to create a physical model in which electronic circuits mimic what's happening in cellular metabolism. How It Works In the EzMC, electricity stands in for mass.
Cancer cells cast a sweet spell on the immune system Shrink yourself small enough to swoop over the surface of a human cell, and you might be reminded of Earth’s terrain. Fats, or lipids, stay close to the surface, like grasses and shrubs. Proteins stand above the shrubs, as mighty oaks or palm trees. If proteins are the trees, sugars are the mosses that dangle from the branches or, perhaps, the large fronds of the palm. The sugars that attach to cell-surface proteins and lipids often take on elaborate structures. Not Bertozzi. Much of the current optimism about fighting cancer focuses on immune therapies — drugs that awaken the body’s defenses to attack tumors (SN: 12/27/14, p. 8). Story continues below slideshow Cancer cells have surface proteins and sugars that link with immune cells to quiet their reaction to the cancer. Source: V.H. But so far these drugs, called checkpoint blockers, work only against some cancers, such as melanoma, kidney cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, and not for all patients. Clever disguise H. VH. .E.
Discovery Of Early Dinosaur “Cousin” Does Not Look Like Scientists Thought Paleontologists have got some things not quite right about dinosaurs throughout the years and understandably so – they’re working with dust, sap, and bones from millions of years ago. But now, a once-in-a-lifetime discovery changes the very look and history of early dinosaur relatives. "Surprisingly, early dinosaur relatives were pretty profoundly not dinosaur-like," said co-author Ken Angielczyk, The Field Museum’s associate curator of fossil mammals, in a statement. The 6-foot (1.8-meter) carnivore had a long neck and an even longer tail, with a weight that clocked in at 20-65 pounds (9-30 kilograms). This might sound like a typical dinosaur, but it’s actually not the gait of dinosaurs or birds as we know it. This is an incredible find as it thwarts previous assumptions about the family tree of dinosaur relatives. Life reconstruction of the new species Teleocrater rhadinus, a close relative of dinosaurs. Image in text: A simple tree to illustrate where Teleocrater rhadinus belongs.
Naked female scientist tries to tame beluga whales in the arctic By Daily Mail Reporter Created: 23:47 BST, 15 June 2011 Braving sub-zero temperatures, she has thrown caution — and her clothes — to the wind to tame two beluga whales in a unique and controversial experiment. Natalia Avseenko, 36, was persuaded to strip naked as marine experts believe belugas do not like to be touched by artificial materials such as diving suits. The skilled Russian diver took the plunge as the water temperature hit minus 1.5 degrees Centigrade. The beauty of nature: Like a scene from a classic pre-Raphaelite painting, naked Natalia Avseenko swims with beluga whales in the Arctic Belugas are famed for the way in which their faces are able to convey human-like expressions. The taming of the whales happened in the Murmansk Oblast region in the far north-west of Russia at the shore of the White Sea near the Arctic Circle branch of the Utrish Dophinarium. The average human could die if left in sub-zero temperature sea water for just five minutes.
This Abandoned Hornet's Nest Is Creepy As Hell Has science found the fossilized remains of an Ent from Middle-Earth or the spirit of nature incarnate? Well, not quite. Actually, not at all. This strange sight is, in fact, the remnants of a hornet wasp nest. As for the creepy face, "CountBubs" posted the image on Reddit a couple of years ago, explaining that the hornet's nest had fused to a wooden mask, purely by chance. Luckily the nest was abandoned, as most species tend to use their nests for just one season, after which their worker populations perish in winter and their fertilized female overlords shelter until the spring. Hornets build communal nests by chewing wood to make a homemade cement made up of their saliva and wood pulp. Nature, man. Courtesy of CountBubs via Reddit
La découverte du plus vieux fossile humain redessine l’arbre généalogique de l’Homme Ledi-Geraru, le site sur lequel la mâchoire a été découverte, était une région de prairies et d’arbustes il y a 2,8 millions d’années, autrement dit très similaire au Serengeti d'aujourd’hui d’après un papier rédigé en parallèle par Erin DiMaggio et ses collègues de l’Université d’Etat de Pennsylvanie. Les espèces animales présentes à cette même époque indiquent que l’habitat naturel est devenu plus ouvert et aride, ce qui corrobore la thèse d’un changement climatique qui aurait déclenché certaines évolutions au sein de nombreuses lignées animales du moment. « On constate que cette aridité survenue il y a 2,8 millions d’années a eu une incidence sur la faune locale de Ledi-Geraru », reconnaît Kaye Reed, directeur du projet Ledi-Geraru à l’Institute of Human Origins. « Mais il est encore trop tôt pour avancer que ce changement climatique est responsable de l’apparition du genre Homo. » Renaissance d’un spécimen
Research unlocks molecular key to animal evolution and disease The dawn of the Animal Kingdom began with a collagen scaffold that enabled the organization of cells into tissues. This key innovation, which made possible the rich diversity of life on earth, is found in the most ancient of currently living animals - the ctenophore, Vanderbilt University Medical Center scientists report today in the online journal eLife. Ctenophores, commonly called comb jellies, are marine invertebrates known for their translucent, globe-like bodies that refract light into dazzling rainbow-like colors. They have one thing in common with all animals - rope-like collagen IV molecules that assemble into scaffolds outside of the cell. Understanding how collagen IV scaffolds bridged the transition from unicellular to multicellular animal life sheds light on diseases as diverse as kidney failure and cancer, said senior author Billy Hudson, Ph.D., the Elliott V. "The fundamental principles of tissue development are present in ancient animals," Hudson said.
The Possibility of Silicon-Based Life Grows Science fiction has long imagined alien worlds inhabited by silicon-based life, such as the rock-eating Horta from the original Star Trek series. Now, scientists have for the first time shown that nature can evolve to incorporate silicon into carbon-based molecules, the building blocks of life on Earth. Artist rendering of organosilicon-based life. As for the implications these findings might have for alien chemistry on distant worlds, “my feeling is that if a human being can coax life to build bonds between silicon and carbon, nature can do it too,” said the study’s senior author Frances Arnold, a chemical engineer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Carbon is the backbone of every known biological molecule. Still, researchers have long speculated that alien life could have a completely different chemical basis than life on Earth. Carbon and silicon are chemically very similar in that silicon atoms can also each form bonds with up to four other atoms simultaneously.
Paleontologists identify new 507-million-year-old sea creature with can opener-like pincers Paleontologists at the University of Toronto (U of T) and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) have uncovered a new fossil species that sheds light on the origin of mandibulates, the most abundant and diverse group of organisms on Earth, to which belong familiar animals such as flies, ants, crayfish and centipedes. The finding was announced in a study published today in Nature. The creature, named Tokummia katalepsis by the researchers, is a new and exceptionally well-preserved fossilized arthropod - a ubiquitous group of invertebrate animals with segmented limbs and hardened exoskeletons. Tokummia documents for the first time in detail the anatomy of early "mandibulates", a hyperdiverse sub-group of arthropods which possess a pair of specialized appendages known as mandibles, used to grasp, crush and cut their food. Tokummia lived in a tropical sea teeming with life and was among the largest Cambrian predators, exceeding 10 cm in length fully extended.
La fellation c’est pas simplement fun, c’est aussi très sain! Voici la preuve! Fellation rime avec santé de plomb ? Ce qui ressemble à un titre digne des magazines Entrevue, Choc et de la presse à scandale, a été prouvé par une étude scientifique ! Deux scientifiques autrichiens ont longuement recherché le secret de la longévité et l’ont finalement trouvé. Et, non d’une pipe, c’est le sperme ! L’amour, c’est bon pour la santé et ça vous rend plus jeune : Frank Madeo et Tobias Eisenberg, les chercheurs de l’université Karl Franzens à Graz en détiennent finalement la preuve. Imgur Le mot magique est la SPERMIDINE ! Twitter Jusqu’à maintenant, la science avait seulement prouvé que l’éjaculation d’un homme était riche en vitamines et protéines. Twitter Selon Tobias Einsenberg : “C’est comme si les scientifiques venaient de trouver le Saint Graal dans la recherche contre le vieillissement. Bonne nouvelle pour les tourtereaux : l’amour est et restera la meilleure des médecines ! Le fait que l’amour permette de rester jeune et frais a toujours été connu.
Morning glory seeds are tough enough for an interplanetary trip | Science | AAAS Natural sunscreens help morning glory seeds survive doses of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that would burn most humans to a crisp, according to a new study. The hardy seeds of the common flowering plant would probably even survive a voyage between planets, say the researchers. This might help researchers decide which species to send on future missions to Mars, a place that is bombarded with UV light because of its thin atmosphere. It also validates the concept of panspermia, the idea that life might have hopscotched through our solar system—or others—by hitching a ride on asteroids or comets. “These results add to the fast-growing body of evidence showing that panspermia is not only possible, but absolutely inevitable,” says Chandra Wickramasinghe, director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study. But the scientists wanted to see just how much abuse a seed could withstand.
52 foods that boost penis health, supercharge libido, and increase pleasure To boost the health of one of your favorite body parts and ensure it stays at its prime, you must first consider what’s hurting your penis. From stress to sleep deprivation to alcohol consumption, and even a bad attitude, there are a number of things that harm your sperm, testosterone production, and crush your desire to get busy. However, upping your intake of specific foods can actually have the opposite effect. That's right, you can eat to boost your sex life. Whether you can’t get a hard-on, or just want your sex drive to surge, you can fuel your body (and your penis) with foods that make everything run smoothly. Une découverte sans précédent : les plantes savent quand elle sont en train d’être mangées Restez curieux. Suivez nous ! Amis végétariens, vous êtes prévenus : non seulement, les plantes peuvent sentir qu’elles sont sur le point d’être mangées, mais en plus, elles sont capables de réagir pour se défendre de cette « attaque ». Des plantes intelligentes Depuis plusieurs années, les chercheurs se penchent sur la question de l’intelligence supposée des plantes. Pour cette étude rapportée par le Business Insider, les scientifiques se sont intéressés à l’Arabidopsis, une plante de la famille de la moutarde qui est particulièrement utilisée dans les expériences scientifiques. Des plantes capables d’entendre ? De précédents travaux ont déjà montré que lorsque cette plante est sur le point d’être attaquée, elle sécrète un produit chimique pour repousser son prédateur. Ils ont alors pu constater que l’Arabidopsis sécrétait la même substance que lorsqu’elle est en contact direct avec son agresseur. Utiliser les sons pour améliorer l’agriculture
Scientists Used CRISPR to Put a GIF Inside a Living Organism’s DNA - MIT Technology Review The promise of using DNA as storage means you could conceivably save every photo you’ve ever taken, your entire iTunes library, and all 839 episodes of Doctor Who in a tiny molecule invisible to the naked eye—with plenty of room to spare. But what if you could keep all that digital information on you at all times, even embedded in your skin? Harvard University geneticist George Church and his team think it might be possible one day. They’ve used the gene-editing system CRISPR to insert a short animated image, or GIF, into the genomes of living Escherichia coli bacteria. The researchers converted the individual pixels of each image into nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA. They delivered the GIF into the living bacteria in the form of five frames: images of a galloping horse and rider, taken by English photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who produced the first stop-motion photographs in the 1870s. Erlich says one benefit of hosting data in living cells like bacteria is better protection.