Tag Archives: Reviews

Science Podcast: Inside A Proton, Cold Genes & Growing Small Intestines

The surprising structure of protons, and a method for growing small intestines for transplantation.

In this episode:

00:45 Probing the proton’s interior

Although studied for decades, the internal structure of the proton is still throwing up surprises for physicists. This week, a team of researchers report an unexpected imbalance in the antimatter particles that make up the proton.

Research Article: Dove et al.

News and Views: Antimatter in the proton is more down than up

07:08 Research Highlights

How an inactive gene may help keep off the chill, and Cuba’s isolation may have prevented invasive species taking root on the island.

Research Highlight: Impervious to cold? A gene helps people to ward off the chills

Research Highlight: Marauding plants steer clear of a communist-ruled island

09:48 A new way to grow a small intestine

Short Bowel Syndrome is an often fatal condition that results from the removal of the small intestine. Treatment options are limited to transplantation, but donor intestines are hard to come by and can be rejected by the body. Now researchers may have developed a method to grow a replacement small intestine using stem cells and a small section of colon.

Research Article: Sugimoto et al.

15:50 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the landing of Perseverance on Mars, and the researchers speaking with lucid dreamers.

Nature News: Mars video reveals Perseverance rover’s daring touchdown

Nature News: Touch down! NASA’s Mars landing sparks new era of exploration

Reviews: ’10 Best Electric Bikes Under $2,000′ (Video)

Looking for the best electric bikes for under $2000? Beginning only a fun fad and an interesting twist on the humble bicycle, electric bikes have seen a considerable rise in popularity over the past decade. Improved designs, high-capacity batteries, and fast charging capabilities have transformed the electric bike into a multi-billion-dollar industry. So, let’s check out our picks for the 10 best electric bikes in 2021, highly-rated and affordable, between $600 and $1699.

Review: ‘Pocketalk S Voice Translator’ – Better Than Learning New Language?

Can a device replace the need to learn a new language? WSJ asked Alex Rawlings, author of “How To Speak Any Language Fluently,” and an expert in over 15 languages, to test out the new Pocketalk S Voice Translator on the streets of Barcelona.

Covid-19 Vaccines: ‘What Can You Trust?’ (Video)

Factual and reliable information is vital to creating trust in vaccines and to overcoming the pandemic. Ed Carr, The Economist’s deputy editor, and Natasha Loder, our health policy editor, answer some of the big questions about the global vaccination drive.

Chapters 00:00​ – Challenges in vaccinating the world 00:45​ – Trust in vaccines 02:30​ – mRNA vaccines 03:23​ – Impact of variants on vaccination 04:29​ – Time between vaccine doses 06:09​ – Mandatory vaccines for travel?

Covid Vaccination Spots: ‘Disneyland To Vacci’Bus’ Around The World (Video)

As the rollout of #Covid​-19 vaccinations gathers pace, the mammoth task of inoculating billions of people across the globe has seen a number of unusual sites and buildings converted into #vaccination​ centres, from Disneyland in California, to an ancient UK cathedral and a bus converted into a mobile vaccination unit.

Design: 20 Ft. Wide ‘Pencil Tower Hotel’ In Sydney

An improbably narrow, six meter wide site is envisaged for a 100m tower in the downtown area of Sydney near its central station. 

Our proposal embraces this extraordinary attenuated quality, proposing a ‘column’ tower on a low scale podium. 

The podium references the delicacy and detail of its heritage neighbours, using the language of grand arching brickwork. A three story urban room houses multiple levels of lobby, cafe & lounge, visible through a large scale keyhole window. A walled courtyard garden for shared use overlooks the street. 

The tower simulates the compression and extension of a column, through a continuous abstraction of the elements of a column: base, shaft and capital.
 

The facade begins with compressed horizontal screening, slowly transforming into exaggerated verticals at the top. Horizontals begin wide and flush with the outside frame, slowly thinning and receding at the height of the tower. Each horizontal is at the height of the slab, handrail and door head height. 

The capital is joyfully expressed as a flying balcony and shell curves of a rooftop sundeck, pool and “hammam” spa. The soffit of the curved ceiling  is brightly tiled, visible from both the street below and the city beyond.
 
Each floor houses compact hotel rooms, gathering light from the street, rear court or internal shapely voids. The voids are tiled to reflect light and colour into the rooms. Key hole windows provide a framed vignette of the seamless tiled surface.

Testing the boundaries of construction and design, the ‘pencil’ tower adds both a generous street room and  a heroic skyline to its neighbourhood.

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Science Podcast: Social Costs Of Carbon & The Chirps Of Mole-Rats

On its first day, the new Biden administration announced plans to recalculate the social cost of carbon—a way of estimating the economic toll of greenhouse gases. Staff Writer Paul Voosen and host Sarah Crespi discuss why this value is so important and how it will be determined.

Next up, Alison Barker, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, talks with Sarah about the sounds of naked mole-rats. You may already know naked mole-rats are pain and cancer resistant—but did you know these eusocial mammals make little chirps to identify themselves as colony members? Can these learned local dialects make naked mole-rats a new research model for language learning?