Category Archives: Science

Top Science Podcasts: Persistent Antibiotic Resistance And Modeling Hot Cities (Nature)

Nature PodcastResearchers have identified how Salmonella ‘persister’ cells can spread antibiotic resistance genes in mice intestines. 

Cities are generally hotter than their surroundings, but what are the causes of these ‘heat islands’?

In this episode:

00:46 Antibiotic resistance reservoirs

Researchers have identified how Salmonella ‘persister’ cells can spread antibiotic resistance genes in mice intestines. Research article: Bakkeren et al.

08:12 Research Highlights

Bright barn owls stun prey, and the evolution of dog brains. Research Highlight: Zip-lining owls reveal what really scares their preyResearch Highlight: A dog’s breed is a window onto its brain

10:13 Urban heating

Cities are generally hotter than their surroundings, but what are the causes of these ‘heat islands’? Research Article: Manoli et al.

16:54 News Chat

A cryptic Russian radiation spike, and India’s moon mission gets closer to touchdown. News: How nuclear scientists are decoding Russia’s mystery explosionNews: ‘The most terrifying moments’: India counts down to risky Moon landing

 

Memory Research: Ability To Forget Is Crucial To How The Brain Works

From a Nature.com online article:

Nature Outlook The Brain“What is memory without forgetting?” asks Oliver Hardt, a cognitive psychologist studying the neurobiology of memory at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. “It’s impossible,” he says. “To have proper memory function, you have to have forgetting.”

A growing body of work, cultivated in the past decade, suggests that the loss of memories is not a passive process. Rather, forgetting seems to be an active mechanism that is constantly at work in the brain. In some — perhaps even all — animals, the brain’s standard state is not to remember, but to forget. And a better understanding of that state could lead to breakthroughs in treatments for conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and even Alzheimer’s disease.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02211-5

Top Scientific Podcasts: Carbon-Based Computing And Depleting Ancient-Human Genomes (Nature)

Nature PodcastA nanotube microprocessor: Scientists are looking beyond silicon, by constructing a computer chip using carbon nanotubes.

Using ancient-human remains conscientiously: While genetic sequencing of ancient-human remains is providing more information than ever, these remains must be safeguarded, warn researchers.

In this episode:

00:45 A nanotube microprocessor

Scientists are looking beyond silicon, by constructing a computer chip using carbon nanotubes. Research article: Shulaker et al.News and Views: Nanotube computer scaled up

08:38 Research Highlights

Weighing neutrinos, and discovering a hidden Zika epidemic. Research Highlight: Lightest neutrino is at least 6 million times lighter than an electronResearch Highlight: Cuba’s untold Zika outbreak uncovered

10:29 Using ancient-human remains conscientiously

While genetic sequencing of ancient-human remains is providing more information than ever, these remains must be safeguarded, warn researchers. Comment: Use ancient remains more wisely

17:21 News Chat

The discovery of a 3.8-million-year-old hominin skull, and using CRISPR to make ‘smart’ materials. News: Rare 3.8-million-year-old skull recasts origins of iconic ‘Lucy’ fossil; News: CRISPR cuts turn gels into biological watchdogs

Research: UC Berkeley Announces First Large Scale Study Of Healthy Lifestyle On Aging Brains

From a Berkeley News online article:

UC Berkeley Helen Wills Neuroscience“A healthy diet and lifestyle are generally recognized as good for health, but this study is the first large randomized controlled trial to look at whether lifestyle changes actually influence Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes,” said Susan Landau, a research neuroscientist at Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, and principal investigator of the add-on study.

UC Berkeley was awarded a five-year grant expected to total $47 million from the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA) to incorporate advanced brain imaging into an Alzheimer’s Association-led study to explore whether lifestyle changes can protect memory in those at risk of developing dementia.

The expanded study will be the first large-scale investigation of how lifestyle interventions, which include exercise, diet, cognitive stimulation and health coaching, affect well-known biological markers of Alzheimer’s and dementia in the brain.

To read more click on following link: https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/07/29/47-million-grant-to-explore-how-a-healthy-lifestyle-changes-the-aging-brain/

50th Anniversary Of Apollo 11: “The Moon Miracle” By Thom Gibbs Is A Spectacular Chronology

From a Telegraph.co.uk online article by Thom Gibbs:

The Moon Miracle by Thom Gibbs The Telegraph Chronology 2The first question is often ‘why haven’t we been back?’ Fifty years since humans stepped onto the surface of a foreign planetary body there has not been another event to rival it. Not in space, nor back here on Earth.
There have been enormous leaps forward. The Large Hadron Collider, the internet, the fidget spinner, but there is no match for the romance of our first moonshot. It is quite possibly the only achievement of our time which will be remembered centuries from now.
The audacity and aesthetics of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins’s journey still resonate. Their mission was so perilous that Richard Nixon had a speech drafted in the event the astronauts did not come home. “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the Moon to explore in peace will stay on the Moon to rest in peace,” it read. “These brave men… know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.”
The Moon Miracle by Thom Gibbs The Telegraph Chronology

Medical Devices: Heartbeat-Powered Pacemaker Successfully Tested In Living Pigs

“The development of these battery-free technologies will revolutionize implantable devices,” says Ramses Martinez, a researcher in industrial and biomedical engineering at Purdue University, who was not involved in either study. “Soon traditional rigid implants will evolve into conformable systems capable of harvesting the energy they need to function from the patient.”

Scientific American Heartbeat-Powered Pacemaker

Current pacemakers have batteries that last less than 10 year and require expensive surgery to replace them. Harini Barath (Scientific American, May 28, 2019) reports that the pig’s heart generated ample energy to power a human pacemaker. Read more below:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-pacemaker-harvests-energy-from-the-heart/