Science 2012

My goal for 2012 is to read 18 issues of Scientific American: the last 6 of 2011 and all of 2012. That's not enough for multiple threads, so let's see what happens with this single thread. There's been occasional mumbling about Science News too, thus the generic title. Anyone is welcome to chime in.

January 2011
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011

July 2011

The Limits of Intelligence by Douglas Fox
Brain size is proportional to the 3/4 power of body mass. When plotted on a logarithmic scale, most animals fall nearly along a straight line, with humans deviating further above than any other. As brains get bigger, they tend to get more modules with specialized functions. Specialization was thought to be a mark of intelligence, but may instead simply be a way to maintain the speed of connections between the increasing number of neurons. Could humans be smarter? Four tweaks could increase intelligence, but all have tradeoffs. (1) Add neurons. But the connecting axons would have to be longer, which makes them slower. (2) Add links between neurons. But this requires more energy and occupies more space. (3) Increase axon thickness to increase connection speed. But this also requires more energy and occupies more space. (4) Decrease axon thickness or neuron size to pack more into the same space. But with existing chemistry, too much misfiring could occur.
Podcast: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=brain-web-exclusive

The Periodic Table of the Cosmos by Ken Croswell
The Hertzsprung-Russel diagram, plots the luminosity and temperature of stars, turned 100 years old in 2011. As stars were plotted, patterns emerged. The main sequence stars are along a diagonal line, with both luminosity and temperature determined by mass; these stars all generate light by converting hydrogen to helium. Giants, above the main sequence on the graph, are former main sequence stars that have exhausted they hydrogen and resort to other fuel such as helium. White dwarfs, below the main sequence on the graph, are no longer able to generate energy.
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=croswell-beasts-of-the-stellar-...

The Best Medicine by Sharon Begley
Randomized controlled clinical trials to compare effectiveness of medical treatments can take years and cost millions of dollars. The cost is significantly reduced by using data from electronic medical records, which has another advantage: more realistic data, not skewed by the constraints and demands of clinical trials, which tend to include people who are younger, healthier, more compliant, and closely monitored by doctors, and to exclude people at higher risk such as children and pregnant women. Scientists are developing techniques to ensure statistical validity.
Health Care Myths: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=health-care-4-common-myths-test...

The Last Great Global Warming by Lee Kump
About 56 million years ago, in an period known as the Paleocen-Eocene Thermal Maximum, global temperature rose about 5 degrees Celcius. Pangaea was breaking up, the earth crust was tearing, molten rock and intense heat were rising and baking carbon-rich sediments near the surface, releasing carbon dioxide and methane. And that was just the first phase, which set off a chain of thawing, of methane hydrate buried in the ocean, and organic material in permafrost. The gist has been known for decades, and now details have been filled in, thanks to sediment cores preserved by a geologist for a mining company. The PETM occurred over thousands of years, so its relatively benign consequences to life are not reassuring now, when a similar temperature increase is occurring over mere decades.
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climate-change-researchers-seek...

Underground Railroad by Anna Kuchment
New York is constructing a new subway line. The tunnel boring machine is 700 feet long and 22 feet high. This is a "feature article" that consists of a large photo and a few paragraphs of text.
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=subway-second-avenue-photo-tour

Evolution of the Eye by Trevor Lamb
Soft tissue rarely fossilizes, but the evolution of the eye can be traced by studying embryonic development and comparing genes and features across species. The type of eye common to vertebrates evolved from a simple light sensor for circadian and seasonal rhythms about 600 million years ago to a complex organ about 500 million years ago. About a billion years ago, multicellular animals diverged into two groups, one with radial and one with bilateral symmetry. About 800 million years ago, the bilateral group diverged into two groups, one whose descendents are most of the invertebrates and one whose descendents include the vertebrates. In the Cambrian explosion between 540 and 490 million years ago, two types of eye arose: the compound eye and the camera eye. Compound eyes occur in adult insects, spiders, and crustaceans. Camera eyes of squids and octopuses superficially resemble vertebrate eyes, but have the same photoreceptors as insect eyes. Camera eyes of jawed vertebrates have two types of photoreceptors, cones for day and rods for night. Jawed vertebrates appeared about 420 million years ago, and share a common ancestor with jawless vertebrates from about 500 million years ago. The lamprey is a living representative jawless vertebrate. Its eye, like ours, is a camera, with lens, iris, muscles, a retina with three layers and photoreceptors that resemble our cones, but no rods. The genes for various components of vision are similar to the genes for the same components in jawed vertebrates. There are no living representative animals from the diverging lineages of 50 million years preceding. There is, however, the hagfish, a vertebrate with an eye lacking a cornea, lens, iris, muscles, a retina with only two layers, the entire eye buried under translucent skin. The hagfish is virtually blind, but it shares a common ancestor with the lamprey, and its eye is presumably a degenerate form of a previously more advanced form. Why didn't it degenerate further, as is typical of other animals, found in caves for example, that no longer need to see? Also, maybe the hagfish eye degenerated by failing to develop, and represents and earlier evolutionary state. In a retina with three layers, the bipolar cells of the middle layer process information from photoreceptors and communicate to output neurons. In the hagfish retina with two layers, the bipolar cells are missing and the photoreceptors connect directly to the output neurons. This wiring resembles the vertebrate pineal gland, which modulates circadian rhythms. Embryonic development supports the idea that the ancestral eye of 550 to 500 million years ago was nonvisual and later evolved visual capabilities. A larval lamprey is blind, with a simple eye under skin, like the hagfish. As the lamprey develops a cornea, lens, muscles, and a retina with three layers appear, and the eye erupts above the skin. A mammal retina also begins much as a hagfish, but over a period of weeks bipolar cells insert between the photoreceptors and output neurons. The photoreceptor cells are another investigation. There are two main types: ciliary and rhabdomeric. In most organisms, ciliary cells sense light for non-visual purposes such as circadian rhythms, and rhabdomeric cells sense light for vision. The compound eye of arthropods and the camera eye of mollusks use rhabdomeric cells for vision. The camera eye of vertebrates uses ciliary cells for vision. In the human eye, the rhabdomeric cells have been modified form the output neurons. So, how did the eye evolve? There are clues in embryonic development: a neural structure bulges to form two vesicles, each folds into a C-shaped retina, a lens forms in the empty space and separates. A proto-eye of 500 to 550 million years ago may have been similarly C-shaped, with a retina of ciliary cells on the exterior and output neurons derived from rhabdomeric cells on the interior. The advent of the lens is not known, but with it the eye had significantly increased ability to gather information, which favored improvements in signal processing. Some developing ciliary cells were modified to become bipolar cells. (The article includes an evolutionary tree with diagrams.) --- TMI? But this stuff is INTERESTING.
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lamb-evolutions-eyes-slide-show

Hacking the Lights Out by David Nicol
Computers control the electrical grid, and computers are vulnerable. In 2012, Stuxnet virus did not need the internet; it was put on a USB drive and passed to an unsuspecting technician in a nuclear enrichment facility in Iran, where its target was PLCs. The article conveniently provides a diagram of the electrical grid and describes how it could be attacked.
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lights-out-when-hackers-knocked...

Scent of a Human by John Carlson and Allison Carey
Mosquitos use smell to find blood. Different mosquito species prefer different animals, and some prefer different individuals within a group. A possible way to reduce the incidence of malaria is to mask odors or jam the mosquito's olfactory radar. To do this, it is necessary to know exactly what smells the mosquitoes are seeking. Unfortunately, mosquitoes are not easily bred in a laboratory. Fruit flies, however, are. And the genetics of the olfactory systems of mosquitoes and fruit flies are similar. A fruit fly with a particular mutation lacks a specific gene, and as a result has an empty smell neuron. One by one, fly genes encoding smell receptors were transplanted into the empty neurons, and tested to determine which chemicals evoked a response. Each receptor responds to a limited set of odorants, and different odorants activate different combinations of receptors so there is no need to have a receptor dedicated to each possible smell. (Other animals, including humans, operate similarly.) The next step was to try inserting mosquito genes into flies in the same manner, an experiment, because mosquitoes and flies are separated by 250 million years of evolution. It worked, for 50 of the 79 genes attempted. The main interest was receptors that respond strongly to a narrow range of odors, and several such were found. (The article includes a gorgeous image of a mosquito.)
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=carlson-how-malaria-mosquitoes-...

Bad Boy of Physics by Peter Byrne
Interview with Leonard Susskind. "Physicists almost never talk about reality. The problem is that what people tend to mean by 'reality' has more to do with biology and evolution and with our hardwiring and our neural architecture than it has to do with physics itself... So I say, let's get rid of the word 'reality'. Let's have our whole discussion without the word 'reality'. It gets in the way. It conjures up things that are rarely helpful. The word 'reproducible' is a more useful word than 'reality'." String theory was going to explain reality, but now it gives multiple universes. There is no coherent argument against this model, but nobody can make predictions either. "So we've gone from what looks like a very compelling picture on the one hand to absurdly trying to measure an infinity of probabilities."

Kudos on the eye precis -- it's really good and very very comprehensible. I've wondered at idle moments about how the eye evolved, - amazing to think about -- this ever more and more sensitive pair of receptors on the skin surface..... Brain size and global warming were interesting also.

SciAm does a really nice job w/ brief overview and graphics, and the eye article was quite coherently written. Still... I could've read half a novel in the time I spent summarizing the five pages, which I have to do or I'll forget it all. I am in awe of the patience and detail of the people who figure out this stuff; each sentence probably represents multiple people over years.

I'm working on balancing that factor out too -- the time spent here, both writing up books and reading other threads...... On the whole even if I read a little less I think what I am reading means more to me and sticks in my head better and is thus more useful.... that's the rationale anyhow..... although..... somewhere I've read recently about how we humans can rationalizing our way out of or into almost anything!

You are a very bad person -- making me add one more magazine to the list I cannot read regularly as it is.

August 2011

Does the Multiverse Really Exist? by George Ellis
I'm positively disposed toward this article because the author, a cosmologist, shares my very amateur skepticism about the multiverse. The term "multiverse" covers a range of concepts. The observable universe has a radius of 42 billion light years. It is plausible that the unobservable universe contains other domains that are basically similar, with variations in the distribution of matter but the same laws of physics. Beyond this are speculations. In our universe, the precise values of physical constants allow for life as we know it, while minor deviations from these values would not. If all possible universes exist, then the one that we happen to be in is not so remarkable. Otherwise, it raises questions. We do not have alternative answers, but we also have no way to test this one. And maybe different physics is not the same equations with different values, but different equations. "String theory has moved from being a theory that explains everything to a theory where almost anything is possible." There is no proof whatsoever that it is correct. Quantum mechanics inspired the idea that all possibly laws apply somewhere, but there is no framework or organizing principle of what is possible. Tests have been proposed: seek remnants or traces of other universes in cosmic microwave background radiation, seek variations in physical constants, determine the shape or topology of the shape of the observable universe. So far, a few claims have been made, but all are disputed. To be accepted, a theory must be confirmed by observation, or "we weaken the core reason for the success of science over the past centuries".
Counterargument: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=multiverse-the-case-for-paralle...

The Evolution of Grandparents by Rachel Caspari
Grandparents provide support and transmit information, and their presence may have been key to human evolution. When did grandparents become common? Teeth, fortunately, tend to be well preserved, and their growth and wear indicate age (though with some uncertainty). Analysis of four groups, from Australopithecines to modern humans, indicates that the proportion of older to younger adults increased significantly. Why? Biology? Environment? Culture? Biologically different groups of Neandertals and modern humans in a relatively milder climate of Asia had statistically similar age proportions. Neandertals in the harsher climate of Europe had a lower proportion of older adults, and modern humans in a the same climate had a higher proportion of older adults. So it seems the change was cultural.
Examples: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=caspari-neandertals-and-the-fir...

How to Build a Better Learner by Gary Stix
How do an infant's abilities to process sounds and images, and to remain focused, correlate with learning in later years? This is the realm of "neuroeducation". For example, a tone of a particular frequency is played repeatedly. Then a tone of another frequency is included. An EEG of brain activity indicates the "aha!" moment when the new tone is noticed. A delay in response time at age six months predicts language issues at age three to five years. Another skill is number sense. Trouble judging group size and comparing small numbers of items predicts trouble with arithmetic later. Games have been devised to help train young children. And research is occurring in "executive function", e.g. attentiveness and delayed gratification, which are increasingly considered to be teachable, and can be improved by playing a musical instrument.
Video: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=benasich-baby-brains-signal-lat...

The False Promise of Biofuels by David Biello
Biofuels are not commercially viable. Why not? This article describes four possible routes, and the hurdles that need to be overcome. (1) Corn ethanol has grown to commercial scale because of government subsidies, but it is not energy efficient and thus not carbon neutral. The corn itself requires lots of land and water, and distilling requires lots of energy, and in the end, a gallon of ethanol has 2/3 the energy of a gallon of gasoline. The entire corn production of the US could replace only 18% of US gasoline consumption, and leave none for feeding people or livestock. (2) Cellulose is waste, and would not impact the food supply, but it is difficult to break down. Researchers are investigating leafcutter ants and termites and cows in hopes of mimicking their digestive processes. Another possibility is encoding the necessary enzymes genetically, to be set off by an industrial trigger. A question though is the environmental impact of removing corn stover from fields, where it is typically left to decompose and improve soil fertility. (3) Algae is more efficient than corn at turning sunlight into energy, can be grown on unarable land, and fed with undrinkable water or sewage. All US transportation fuels could be replaced by an algae farm about the size of Maryland, as compared with a corn farm about the size of the entire continental US. However, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are expensive, and the energy required to tear cell walls can equal or exceed the energy of the oil inside. Algae produces oil, and grows slowly, under stress. How can it be engineered to produce oil and also grow quickly? From 4000 strains of algae, 20 have been selected from for experimentation. Currently the way to make money with algae is to sell omega-3 fatty acids as nutritional supplements. (4) A remaining possibility is to modify the genes of other organisms, such as E. coli or yeast, to produce oil. There have been successes, but at low volume and high cost, and a major challenge is finding an ideal combination of genes among hundreds with unknown functions.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=biello-turning-trash-into-biofu...

Treasure in the Trees by Nina Bai
Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds that Built Them by Sharon Beals is photographs of bird nests in museums. The article shows nine. The web site shows six more. They are gorgeous.
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nests-from-museum-collections

A Breath of Fresh Air by Steven Rowe, J. P. Clancy, Eric Sorscher
Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary disease, caused by a defective gene that was discovered in 1989. The hope was that providing normal copies of the gene would enable cells to make healthy versions of its protein, but efforts so far have not been successful. Meanwhile, expected lifespan has increased significantly by treating symptoms. An alternative approach is to understand the structure and function of the protein, and the ways it is broken by different mutations. The protein is the CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator), which spans the cell membrane and moves chloride atoms out of the cell. Normally, as chloride atoms accumulate, water diffuses out of the cell and and hydrates the mucus on the cell surface. When the protein is defective, the chloride atoms are trapped inside, and the mucus thickens, interfering with breathing and digestion, and providing a breeding ground for bacteria. Cystic fibrosis can result from any of 1600 different mutations, which have been categorized. Three types are most studied. (1) The most common cause of CF is a missing amino acid. Although the cell builds a channel that could function normally, it recognizes the defect and destroys the channel. A goal is to understand when and how the cell determines the defect, and tweak the system. This could be beneficial for other diseases with similar trouble. (2) About 10% of CF is caused by a truncated channel, because the mutation tells the protein synthesis to stop. Again, a solution might be beneficial for other diseases. A drug that gets protein synthesis to continue through the stop instruction is in clinical trials. (3) About 5% of CF is caused by a channel that is put in place but doesn't open. A drug that boosts its function to half normal level has gone through clinical trials.
Video: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cf-video-patients-explain-lving...

How New York Beat Crime by Franklin Zimring
During the 1990s, crime rates decreased in the US, but New York City crime rates decreased significantly more. Why? There were no changes in demographics or economy that would account for this. The usual social ills remain, and incarceration rates have gone down while the nation's have gone up. What changed was policing: more police, with more aggressive tactics in areas with more crime. The "broken windows" campaign was more rhetoric than reality, and would have shifted resources to marginal areas. Instead, the focus was on "hotspots". CompStat identifies and displays crime density, police presence is increased, more eyes are on the scene and anyone who appears suspicious is stopped and frisked. Contrary to expectations, crime doesn't simply move elsewhere. But: "Police aggressiveness is a very regressive tax."
Data Analysis: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=crime-new-york-city-20-years-de...

Why Math Works by Mario Livio
Is math invented or discovered? Both: "humans invent mathematical concepts as a way of abstracting elements from the world around them", and "then go on to discover the connections among those concepts", so "our mathematics is ultimately based on our perceptions and the mental pictures we conjure, and examples abound of abstract ideas for which applications were later found. Over time, "only the best models survive", and scientists tend to choose problems that "are amenable to mathematical treatment".
Slide Show: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=livio-the-unreasonable-beauty-o...

Guardian of the Pharaohs by Jeffrey Bartholet
Interview with Zahi Hawass, archaeologist and Egyptian minister of antiquities. In the political chaos, looters broke into the Cairo museum and stole artifacts. Most have been recovered.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=hawass-return-of-stolen-egyptia...

Loved the summary of the multiverse piece! Great that research is being done on grandparents -- those 'elders' -- I read somewhere a long time ago how families with helpful g-parents thrive compared to those without and I totally believe it, having had to go the distance with not much in the way of that kind of support (because they were ill and died, not lack of interest and desire on their part!).

September 2011

Special issue on cities.

Summaries pending.

Do I understand correctly that this is a general thread to discuss science magazines that we've read?

Yup. I'm sure not going to fill it with Scientific American. :-) You're welcome to add what you've read here, or start another thread as you prefer.

I've finished reading October 2011 SciAm, but I'm too brain dead these days to report.

>11 The_Hibernator: This is a good place to report on sciency things or you can report on the monthly thread which is open to any magazine you wish to report on, or you could make your own mag. thread -- the possibilities are endless....... hope that doesn't confuse??? No rules here, just what works best for you.

New Scientist ed. 25Feb - 2Mar 2012

New Scientist is a weekly science news magazine much like Science News, except that New Scientist targets scientists, not lay readers. Science News is short and could be understood by an intelligent teenager pretty easily. New Scientist is sort of like the reading level of Scientific American--except that New Scientist has only a couple feature-length articles and is mostly little blurbs as a weekly update.

I don't have the time to make lengthy notes on everything, but here's what I found interesting:

*Someone hacked into the Heartland Institute (a Libertarian think-tank) and leaked a bunch of their plans to push for a more "balanced" review of the climate change controversy in schools. New Scientist is a British magazine, and they lean quite a bit to the left. They were horrified at the idea that US kids might have to sit through lectures about a non-existent controversy. Personally, I feel that they don’t give enough credit to our kids. If our kids are never taught both sides of the argument, they won’t feel like they came to their own conclusions. Furthermore, if they’re exposed to the arguments of the opposition, they will be more prepared to address these arguments in a real-life situation.

* About 166 million years ago the Y chromosome had a little accident so that it could no longer recombine with X during meiosis. Since Y almost never comes into contact with another Y chromosome, it has collected mutations and shrunk. It is generally believed that Y will just shrink out of existence in another 4.6 million years (after donating all its important genes to other chromosomes). There is, in fact, a species of rat that has no Y chromosome at all. However, a recent finding shows that the human Y chromosome matches very closely to the macaque Y chromosome, suggesting that it has not changed for the past 25 million years—so maybe it’s safe after all.

*The feature article about stem cell research in the heart suggests that the hope in the healing power of non-specialized stem cells in healing the heart after injury is fizzling out. The stem cells will merge to the heart, but they won’t beat in the correct rhythmic pattern or with enough strength. However, new research has found stem cells on the outer layer of the heart which have the potential of becoming useful heart cells.

Discover ed. April 2012

Target Audience: Discover's reading level is a little easier than Scientific American, but above Science News. I'd say an intelligent high schooler could probably read it without too much difficulty.

Again, I’m just commenting on some of the articles that I thought were particularly interesting. There’s lots more!

*There were a couple articles on the brain (I believe March is Brain Awareness Month). One of them was about Sabastian Seung’s project to use computer graphics to map all of the synapses in a brain. He’s doing it by obtaining ultrathin slices of brain and systematically staining each one and digitizing an image. Then, lucky grad students and post-docs go through each picture and color the neurons so that they can follow each neuron’s axons as it progresses through a sequence of pictures. Once the entire brain is finished, they’ll have a map of every synapse. Unfortunately, this process takes a very long time, so he’s trying to get the help of the general public by making an internet game out of it. Such a feat would be amazing progress in the neuroscience field, since in the future we might be able to distinguish between the synapses of a healthy brain vs. a schizophrenic brain (for instance).

*The other article was about memory. The elusive engram has finally been located in the brain. The word engram was coined in 1904 in Richard Sermon’s book The Mneme. An engram is a “permanent change wrought by a stimulus.” For instance, a mouse can be taught to fear black tiles because it has learned that it will get shocked if it steps on one. This fear response in the mouse is the result of an engram. Teams of researchers have located the black-tile-engram by quantifying the uptake of CREB in neurons (an indication of an activated memory). They then specifically killed those neurons using a rather elegant approach. Viola! The fear response to the black tile disappeared. This research has potential for development of a PTSD treatment (though much work would have to be done to develop in a human model).

Personal note: I originally came across the word engram in Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard. I always thought it was a Scientology term. It amuses me to learn that he merely adopted it (with correct meaning) into his religion, which centers around using psychotherapy to remove engrams created by awkward life events (starting at conception…maybe even before conception?).

*There was an interesting article about a rare surgery in which a heart is removed, its tumor was extracted, the wall of the heart was repaired using bovine tissue, and the heart was put back in again. This is more dangerous than a transplant because during a transplant, the replacement is ready to throw in the moment the damaged heart is removed.

Good stuff here - loved the Y chromosome piece -- the ending seemed very typical somehow of many articles -- this could happen......or not! ha ha! Scared you! Scientist runs away laughing maniacally!

15: One of them was about Sabastian Seung’s project to use computer graphics to map all of the synapses in a brain.

Well that was intriguing enough to search for: http://eyewire.org/instructions/. Seems they've got as many game players as they can handle at the moment. Sez the web site: "Due to high demand we are gradually accepting new users."

>17 qebo: I had the impression from the article that this thing with the public is rather new. In order to keep it scientific, I'm sure they'll have to be really careful how they monitor the public's usage. Getting a monitoring system up and running will take time. :)

New Scientist ed. 10Mar - 16Mar 2012

*There was an interesting article about the electrical forces that are natural within our bodies. For instance, bone has a piezoelectric field (possibly to sense force and stimulate bone formation or resorption), the spinal cord and skin have a pyroelectric field (possibly to sense temperature for purposes of thermoregulation), and arteries have a ferroelectric field (possibly to help dissapate heat in response to the mechanical stretch of blood pumping through).

*Of course there were a couple of articles on nuclear power--a theme that is very popular for the week of March 10 due to the anniversary of the crisis in Japan. I didn't really spend much time reading them because nuclear power doesn't interest me and I've read too much about it this week.

*One powerful limiting factor to the amount of memory future computers will have is the amount of heat that is released due to deletion of data. Silicon technology is expected to reach its limit in 20-30 years.

*XXY mice and mice with two X chromosomes and the Y genes incorporated into other chromosomes are more sexually active than their XY or X_ (with Y genes incorporated) counterparts. This suggests that the "inactivated" X extra chromosome isn't fully inactivated and probably has an impact on expression of genes from the Y chromosome. Apparently, this could explain why XXY men get more action. If they can determine how the extra X chromosome is affecting the Y chromosome, this might prove useful for libido-increasing treatments.

*Bonobos will go out of their way to rescue an injured male from a trap, whereas most ape species will desert injured males. This could be because Bonobos are a matriarchal species—and the females rely on males to help them raise their young. Most ape species are patriarchal.

*A grizzly bear was filmed using a rock as a tool to comb off its molting fur. It was clear the bear knew what it was doing, because it picked up a rock, turned it around in its paws, dropped it, picked up another rock, turned it around in its paws, and then started combing itself. The rocks had barnacles attached that would have helped remove molting fur and scratch the itchy skin beneath. This is the first example of a bear using a tool.

*Snakes on a sloping plane Snakes can keep traction on a plane by changing the angle of each scale individually.

* David Bainbridge wrote the article about middle age based on his new book Middle Age: A Natural History. His thesis is that middle age is an evolutionarily developed stage of life that is vital to our survival and culture. Humans are the only animals with such a long post-reproduction phase (although orcas undergo menopause as well). Middle age may have developed with our advanced intelligence and culture. In hunter-gatherer societies as well as modern societies, middle aged individuals are necessary to teach the young adults. Effectively, they run the world. That’s good, because (if all goes well) I’ll be middle aged in 10 years, and I want my chance to run the world.

*A 13th century bishop by the name of Robert Grosseteste had a very modern perception of color. Whereas most early writings on color portray it as a linear change (like a rainbow), Grosseteste had already determined that color is actually a three-dimensional concept with three prime colors that could combine under different hues and saturations to create the seemingly infinite variety that we perceive on our high definition 70” flatscreens. Apparently the dark ages weren’t so dark after all.

I don't think Grosseteste made it into the Hannam...... he would have been a good addition.

The latest Science weekly (whatever it calls itself now) has a great piece on the latest research on the frozen fella in the Alps. His closest rellies live in Corsica and Sardinia. 46. Brown hair and eyes. Even details of his last meal.... Looks like a biker. Definitely murdered which is creepy. That is the story we'll never know.

20: Yes he did! I recognized the name because of Hannam. Teacher of Roger Bacon.

19: I want my chance to run the world.
I am not running the world. What's wrong?

Was the stuff about color there??? Uh oh if it was, no memory of it.

>22 qebo: Hmmm, either you're not really middle aged or the hypothesis just failed!

>23 sibylline: I don't remember the stuff about color, either. He was probably mentioned for his other scholarly attributes.

October 2011

Summaries pending...

New Scientist ed. 17Mar - 23Mar 2012
*Neuroscientists are studying the navigation system of mice by looking at how the neurons fire while the mice navigate a virtual reality “maze.” The maze isn’t very complicated yet. :)

*A small amount of alcohol consumption increases people’s speed and accuracy while performing a test which involved linking groups of words with a single concept. This study supports the idea that people who are less focused on a task are better able to make creative connections, as described in the new book Imagine: How Creativity Works, by Jonah Lehrer (a book which I hope to read sometime this year!).

*There was an interview with Noam Chomsky, whose work I have always been fascinated with even though I’ve never read any of his books. :( But this interview made me more eager to get on the ball!

*An article listed a bunch of particles quantum physicists are currently looking for, and briefly described what each one was. Do we really believe all these particles exist? It seems like they make them up to fit some weird mathematical quirk in their wave equations.

*About half of this edition was about “The God Issue.” There were 4 feature-length articles about science and religion and one interview.

-The first article was about Justin Barrett’s theory that humans are born with an instinctive belief in supernatural explanations. This is because we have a tendency to explain events we don’t understand with “agents,” (things that act upon their surroundings). So, for instance, if a ball goes flying through the air, a child will assume that someone acted upon the ball to make it move. This “agent” explanation continues throughout life, but as we get older we tend to explain things with rational thought rather than intuitive thought. Barrett has a book out called Born Believers: The Science of Children’s religious belief which goes into depth about this theory. I’ll probably try to read it sometime.

-The second article was about Ara Norenzayan’s theory that organized religion developed as small hunter-gatherer groups banded together in larger, non-nomadic cities. Hunter-gatherers tend not to have moralistic religions because they are in small groups with which they share many genes (and therefore have genetic push towards altruism). According to Norenzayan, moralistic religions developed when groups of people became so large that each individual was exposed mostly to people who were not related. Since the genetic push for altruism no longer worked in this society, they needed a moralistic (organized) religion to keep people playing nice with one another. This theory is described in a book which is soon to come out The Making of Big Gods, which I will try to read as soon as it’s released.

-The third article was Robert McCauley’s idea that humans are naturally inclined to religion because the intuitive explanation is easier to come by than a rational explanation. Science is more difficult than religion because it requires a rigorous explanation of things that can often not be explained. Theology is kind of like science because it takes religion out of its intuitive state and tries to create rational explanations that often don’t make sense or contradict themselves. His new book is Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not.

-The fourth article is by a scientist who seems to think that because science has not proven that God exists that God must not exist. It wasn’t really that interesting to me because it seemed a little meaningless.

-The interview was about Alain de Botton’s new book Religion for Atheists which is about why humans need religion and what aspects of religion atheists should try to adapt to their own philosophies in order to benefit from this essential need. I am definitely going to read this book soon, too.

The 'God' piece of this issue is fascinating! I'll read the de Botton w/ you if we can time it right!

Yeah, I thought it was a very good coverage of religion. I DO enjoy a good scientific/anthropological discussion of the origins of religion, as long as it's not an excuse for a longwinded God-doesn't-exist essay. :) I don't know why they had to include that one...it's not very good science to claim that since experiments designed to prove the existence of God yield negative results, the negative results prove God doesn't exist. *shrug* I've had plenty of experiments with negative results. If that proves that the opposite is true, then I've made some pretty awesome negative discoveries! I'd better get those published! I suppose they HAD to have one anti-religion article though... *sigh*

Sure, we can read Religion for Atheists together. It’s getting interestingly positive reviews from the secular humanists. I haven’t seen any reviews from the religious sector yet, though. :) It would have to be after May…maybe July or August? I’m flexible, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of already planned group-reads. It's possible that the religion, history, and science group would like to read it, I suppose I could suggest it and see if anyone bites.

27,28: I'd be interested... but not until summer.

Yeah, I'm really not in any position to sign up for group reads, but I do it anyway, of course!

I have two group reads tugging on my conscience at this very moment. With the two of you, as it happens...

New Scientist ed. March 31 - April 6

*There were three articles in this edition about antibiotic use. The first mentioned that the FDA has now banned the use of some farmyard antibiotics, and is undergoing pressure to expand the ban to include all non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics. The concern is that antibiotic resistant bugs will develop in farm animals and then jump to humans.

*The second article was about how a gradual change in gut bacteria over generations in US might be partially responsible for the rise in obesity. Modifying the gut bacteria in mice with antibiotics increases the weight of the mice. A study following babies in Denmark showed that children that had received antibiotics in the first 6 months were more likely to be overweight, regardless of the weight of the parents. Since gut bacteria are likely picked up from the mother during birth and from the hospital environment immediately following birth, increased sterility and use of antibiotics might have led to a gradual change in gut bacteria to a more unhealthy set than we originally evolved.

*The third article was about bacteria that have developed the ability to go into hibernation when antibiotics are present. The fact that they are not replicating makes most antibiotics useless on them in this hibernation state. Then, when the antibiotics are gone, the bugs wake up again. This phenomenon has been recognized for over a decade, but the hibernating bugs are difficult to study because they can’t be grown on plates with antibiotics (which is how antibiotic resistant strains are studied), and if their environment is modified by scientific manipulation, they just wake back up again. However, a new drug that kills bacteria by attacking their ribosomes, or a drug which wakes the bugs back up again are being developed.

*Global warming is helping (rather than hurting) the endangered killer whale (Orca). Because there is less ice in the Arctic regions, they are better able to travel around. They are, however, further endangering other marine life in the area, because they are predators.

Fascinating stuff about the antibiotics - esp about obesity. I've been reading bits and bobs along those lines - sounds like this issue was really trying to put some pieces together.

Terrifying idea -- hibernating bugs!

>33 sibylline: Yeah, the whole probiotic issue seems popular this year.

>28 The_Hibernator:&26 I whined in these posts about the article by Stenger, who claimed that because science has not proven that God exists, God must not exist. I thought I’d post this letter-to-the-editor:

Stenger confidently states that prayers have not been shown to have been answered. For some time now, I have been praying for other people’s prayers not to be answered. Could this explain these findings?

I am so thrilled that I’m not the only one who found this article ridiculous! :) There are a few other complaints, but I thought that one was pretty funny.

In his article, Stenger’s main proof that God does not exist is that a study to determine whether interventionist prayers help recovery of surgery patients had non-significant data. Like the writer of the letter, I was amused that Stenger came to such strong conclusions based on non-significant data from one study. This is not good science. I was even more amused because the first time I heard about these studies was in a book called The Spiritual Brain, by Mario Beauregard. Beauregard claimed the same exact studies were indicative that God DID exist. He pointed out that there was a (albeit non-significant) data trend, and talked around experimental design and data analysis jargon to make himself sound more convincing. Isn’t it amusing that two scientists find their own personal beliefs so important to them that they take exactly the same study and (unconsciously) twist it to help them prove contradictory points?

Because of human errors exactly like these, I have long felt that science was rather like a religion—perhaps it is impossible for emotional humans to stick rigorously to the scientific method?

Here are some elements that science and religion have in common, as far as I’m concerned:

Indoctrination/faith: we start out learning and accepting a set of “facts” laid out by those older and wiser than us (teachers/professors). Sometimes these “facts” are rather difficult to stomach—like an object that can move from point A to point B without moving anywhere in between??? (electron tunneling)

Ideology: We (hopefully unconsciously) twist the experimental design or data analysis in order to fit our personal hypotheses. This type of interpretation is unfortunately natural to humans and generally not a purposeful act, but it happens all the time.

Heretics: We ostracize other people from the scientific community if they suggest a hypothesis or provide data which is contrary to widely accepted (dogmatic) beliefs. These people sometimes turn out to be right, but generally after it’s too late for their ruined careers.

I greatly insulted one of my friends by telling her this. She takes science dogma very literally. I’m by nature a skeptical person and am perfectly happy believing that some (or maybe all) of the dogma will eventually turn out to be untrue or more complicated than originally assumed. :)

New Scientist ed. 7Apr - 13Apr

*The UK Biobank has collected half a million DNA samples and medical record from volunteers to help pinpoint causes of disease. These data can be combined with data from a similar project in China.

*It turns out that the ages previously determined for the oldest rocks are off by millions of years. This could affect how fossil records are interpreted.

*A team led by Van Wedeen of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston had developed a model for brain circuitry suggesting that the folds in the brain structure make the wiring look much more complex than it really is. In their model, once the folds have been straightened out, the nerve fiber paths appear to be an organized grid. Some neuroscientists are skeptical, and others say "maybe, let's wait and see."

*Robin Dunbar writes an article comparing the social networks of monkeys/apes to classical human social networks to internet social networks. She says as the number of grooming partners (monkeys) or close friends (humans) an individual has increases, the individual’s immune system becomes stronger and stress levels drop. She also points out that internet social networks have not changed the number of close friends a person has, it has simply enabled people to keep in touch with less close friends and to connect with people around the world. She says that although the number of close friends has not changed, it may be detrimental to people’s mental health to communicate with these close friends mainly by internet—facial expression, tone of voice, touching, etc are required for the full benefit of friendship. It’s also possible, as far as I’m concerned, that our brains will rewire themselves to find internet social networks rewarding in a way that physical social networks are not. After all, our brains have apparently changed the way we process and recall information to better suit our internet resources. Why can’t our social needs change as well?

*The amount of phytoplankton in the sea may be decreasing due to global warming. Since phytoplankton are the major planetary contributors of photosynthetic energy, this could lead to world doom. Other scientists are skeptical. Global warming? A conspiracy!

New Scientist ed. 14Apr - 20Apr

*Babies are born with gut bacteria! (Not really news.) It was previously thought that babies were born sterile because bacteria should not cross the placenta. However, it now looks like bacteria probably do cross (more research to be done here). Pilar Francino and colleagues at the University of Valencia in Spain collected the first poo of babies (called meconium). There were two populations of gut bacteria, those that produce lactic acid like lactobacillus, and enteric bacteria such as Escherichia coli. She checked up on the volunteer babies at 1 and 4 years of age and found that infants born with more lactic acid bacteria were significantly more likely to develop asthma-like symptoms, while those born with enteric bacteria were at greater risk of eczema. Women with university education (or who ate organic foods) were more likely to bear lactic-acid-bacteria children, and poorer women were more likely to bear enteric bacteria children. One might wonder if university educated women raised their children in an environment which increased chances of asthma, and that the bacteria had nothing to do with it. Just a thought. Also, after reading the March 31st edition of New Scientist (the article about how insufficient gut bacteria may increase obesity), I suggested to my father that perhaps the increasing rate of autism diagnosis in children might not JUST be an increased consciousness about autism among doctors—It could be due to something seemingly unrelated like our gut bacteria. Not that I really thought that our gut bacteria affected neurological development…I was just throwing out silly ideas. However, this edition of New Scientist made the same passing comment. Now I’m going to have to be skeptical of that! ;)

*Ants are able to fight off deadly skin fungus by licking their infected buddies to develop resistance. Ewww.

*The London subway system could be used to monitor the well-being of neighborhoods. More travel = healthier neighborhood. Faster and easier than a census.

*A computer program has been written which can recognize a memorable one-liner from a movie compared to forgettable lines in the same scene. It analyzed sentence structure, word combinations, uncommon words, etc. Now, perhaps, people writing books or movies can use the program to analyze their lines. Or, more efficiently, slogans from political campaigns could use the help of this computer program.

*New technologies are developing to increase the child-bearing age of women. This is a social revolution for working women. However, how will it impact the children?

November 2011

Summaries pending...

Once again, I've finished the reading, but when, oh when, will I write?

34: Stenger confidently states that prayers have not been shown to have been answered. For some time now, I have been praying for other people’s prayers not to be answered. Could this explain these findings?
LOL!

This is all great stuff! Amusing and illuminating. Esp about the Stenger. I've been puzzled for ever so long about why so many scientists get so wild and indignant when someone comes along with a new idea..... I've thought the whole point of science is that nothing is sacred. And yet.

I just read somewhere that maybe the universe really is two-dimensional and that three-dimensionality etc. is an illusion....... oh yeah..... some project going on at Fermilab. Now that is enough to blow the lid off my head!

>39 sibylline: Some people don't like being told they're wrong. :)

Snort. Of course, I've never had that experience since I'm always right.....

How far behind am I in recording SciAm? Urgh. 3 months. The plan for June is to get those off the to-do stack (an actual physical thing on my desk), and read and 4 more issues, though March 2012. Let's just see how this goes... It's the first day of the month and already I'm worried...

December 2011

Summaries pending...

Now that I've fulfilled the obligation of two Early Review books, next up is the backlog of Scientific Americans. I have been reading but not writing, and I will have to reread in order to write...

A week later...

January 2012

A New Path to Longevity by David Stipp
In 1964, a team of scientists arrived on Easter Island to take samples of flora and fauna, anticipating disturbance by an airport in the planning stages. Among the samples was a tube of soil, which was given to Ayerst Laboratories because pharmaceutical researchers had been finding antibiotics in other soil since the 1940s. Ayerst extracted rapamycin (Easter Island is locally known as Rapa Nui), a yeast inhibitor, and expected to develop it for treatment of yeast infections. In experiments, however, it was discovered to inhibit immune cells, and was developed to prevent immune rejection of transplant organs, receiving FDA approval in 1999. The ability to inhibit growth of both yeast and human cells suggested that rapamycin targets an ancient growth-regulating gene, conserved in the billion years of evolution between yeast and humans. Simplifying and compressing decades of research: The gene was identified and named TOR. TOR encodes an enzyme that combines with other proteins to form the TORC1 and TORC2 complexes, which in turn supervise a number of growth activities in cells. TOR has different effects at different life stages and under different conditions. In early life: If food is abundant, insulin and other growth factors are produced, TORC1 is activated, stimulates synthesis of proteins and fats and cell division, inhibits autophagy (breakdown of damaged cell components). If food is scarce, TORC1 quiets, cell growth and division decrease, autophagy increases to provide materials for cell maintenance and repair. In later life: If TORC1 remains active after maturity, undesirable cell types may proliferate, cells may stop dividing and grow abnormally large, cells may accumulate abnormal proteins or damaged material. If TORC1 is inhibited, these effects may be reduced and slow aging.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-new-path-to-longevity

Goldilocks Black Holes by Jenny Greene
Most large galaxies have at their core an immense black hole whose mass is millions to billions times the sun's. How did the black holes form? Small black holes can form from dying stars, but with mass only a few to a hundred times the sun's, and could not grow big enough quickly enough to be seeds for the immense black holes, unless possibly a cluster of small black holes merged. Alternatively, middleweight black holes might form from the collapse of primordial gas clouds, and these could grow big enough quickly enough.
Galaxy patterns: elliptical with immense black hole at its center, disk galaxy with bulge and immense black hole at its center (e.g. Milky Way), disk galaxy without bulge. The size of the ellipse or bulge correlates with the size of the black hole, suggesting a relationship between them that is not yet understood. Most bulgeless disk galaxies do not have black holes at the center, but there was an anomaly noted in 1989: NGC 4395. Determining the mass of its black hole was not simple, but it is now thought to be middleweight. Since then, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has revealed 19 other similar galaxies (others may exist but not be detected). An estimated 5-25% of bulgeless disk galaxies have middleweight black holes at their center, with only weak correlation between the masses of galaxies and their black holes. Both the relative rarity and uncorrelated masses suggest formation from gas collapse. A theory explaining the tight correlation between elliptical and bulged galaxies and their black holes is that such galaxies form when disk galaxies merge; gravity stirs up the disks so stars move around in a ball, gas clouds collide and are drawn toward the center, triggering star formation, and the black holes merge, so bulges and black holes evolve together.
(Urgh. This took waaay too long, and I don't even care.)
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=goldilocks-black-holes

The Compass Within by Davide Castelvecchi
It's been established that a variety of species sense magnetic force, but not how any other than bacteria do it. Some bacteria contain strings of microscopic magnetite particles that align with each other and with the magnetic inclination to orient the bacteria downward toward muddy seafloors. Rainbow trout have bundles of magnetite particles in cells lining the nasal opening. It seems that when the direction of the trout's head changes in relation to the magnetic field, and thus to the direction of the particles, channels in the cell membrane open and ions pass through, triggering a signal to the brain. Homing pigeons may have structures lined with magnetite and maghemite nanoparticles in the skin of their upper beaks, near dense nerve endings, but details are unclear and uncertain. The pigment protein cryptochrome, discovered in the retinas of mammals, helps with adjustment to day-night cycles, and is affected by magnetic fields. It has recently been found in the retinas of birds also. The proposed mechanism is this: Electrons orbit as pairs with spins aligned in an anti-parallel state. When a photon hits, it kicks one of the electrons to another site in the molecule. The two electrons can now be either anti-parallel or parallel. When the bird is flying north, the two electrons tend to be in the anti-parallel state, and the displaced electron can return to the stable paired state. When the bird is flying in another direction, the two electrons tend to be in the parallel state, and the displaced electron can be carried away by a chemical reaction, alerting the bird that it has strayed.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-compass-within

The Patient Scientist by Katherine Harmon
Ralph Steinman won the Nobel Prize for his work on the role of dendritic cells in the immune system. The announcement was made three days after his death from pancreatic cancer. He had participated in several clinical trials of treatments based on his work, and lived four and a half years after the diagnosis; 80 percent of people with the same diagnosis die within a year. Dendritic cells catch intruders and carry them to T cells. The immune system kills most cancerous cells, but some slip through, tricking the immune system into accepting them. Experiments attempt to train dendritic cells to recognize tumor cells. Dendritic cells are extracted from the patient and exposed either to proteins from the target type of cancer, or to genes from a patient's tumor. The cells are stimulated into their mature state of presenting antigens, and injected back into the patient. If all goes well, helper and killer T cells respond by seeking and attacking tumor cells.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-patient-scientist

Five Hidden Dangers of Obesity by Christine Gorman
Images (from TheVisualMD.com) of internal trouble.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=five-hidden-dangers-of-obesity

The Department of Pre-Crime by James Vlahos
Predictive policing uses computers to analyze data from police reports and other events, find patterns, and present probabilities of what crimes could happen where in the near future, so police can be deployed accordingly or preventive measures can be taken. Does this reduce crime? It seems to...
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-department-of-pre-crime

The Science of the Glory by Moyses Nussenzveig
A glory is a halo of rainbow-colored light around the observer's shadow on a cloud, made of light bouncing back from water droplets in the clouds, at nearly the direction it came from, different colors at slightly different angles. The physics is not as straightforward as it might seem, and has to do with wave tunneling. (I am not sufficiently interested to summarize more completely.)
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-science-of-the-glory

More Food, Less Energy by Michael Webber
About 10% of the US energy budget is for food production. 10 units of fossil energy go into 1 unit of food energy. How to reduce the ratio? Eating locally may not help; shipping food thousands of miles can be more energy efficient than growing non-native crops that require chemicals and and irrigation. And big agriculture, with fields leveled by laser to reduce runoff and tractors equipped with GPS to optimize fuel use, can be more energy efficient than small distributed farms. Steps to take: * Use corn kernels for food, not ethanol, and use the stover for fuel. This will require enzymes to break down the cellulose. * Convert agricultural waste into power. The manure produced by large animal operations exceeds local demand and is expensive to ship, so will require anaerobic digestors and turbines for conversion into electricity. * Use carbon dioxide from coal plants to grow algae. * Improve agricultural practices: drip irrigation instead of sprinkler irrigation, no-till agriculture, laser-leveled fields, GPS-guided tractors.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=more-food-less-energy

Dust Up by Brendan Borrell
Interview with Jayne Belnap, who studies desert crust. Desert soil is covered by cyanobacteria, either free-living or partnered with fungi as lichens, which are responsible for nitrogen fixing. The crust thickness depends on the type of soil. Cyanobacteria need light to photosynthesize, and light penetrates further in sand than in clay, up to a centimeter. The cyanobacteria produce a polysaccharide starch, which holds water and nutrients, and also holds the sand grains together. The crust gets damaged by compression, people stepping or vehicles rolling over it, and recovery can take 50-100 years. With the decreased rainfall of climate change, recovery takes longer. And damage to the crust contributes to climate change. With fewer lichens, the surface is lighter and more reflective, and dust in the atmosphere is increased. Damage could be reduced by sharing information among oil and mineral companies instead of each sending its own vehicles to explore, arranging solar and wind farms to share roads and power lines, designating places and times for livestock grazing and recreation.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=dust-up

I took a break from writing about them because it got to be a little much after a while. Maybe I'll pick back up again in a while. I just read a really fascinating article in New Scientist about the various gastric surgeries for weight loss. I guess it's not news that this surgery works not ONLY by decreasing the amount you can eat and the absorption of nutrients, but it also affects the appetite hormones like leptin and ghrelin. The changes in this hormones suppress appetite, but they also have unexpected effects on the brain. People have experienced increased cognitive function, but they have also had hallucinations and have some memory loss because of a shrunken thalamus. I'm not sure if the increased cognitive function is in some patients and decreased cognitive function in other patients...or if the increased cognitive function precedes decreased cognitive function. They were unclear on those details because more research needs to be done.

Isn't it fascinating that gastric bypass can affect cognitive function? It reminded me that I read a scientific article once that suggested that ghrelin was protective after spinal cord injury. So these hormones that we ASSUME only affect our appetites can have much more profound impacts on our health. I'm glad I'm not obese and faced with the choice of drugs or surgery. It must be a difficult decision to make.

Great stuff! I appreciate you summaries very much. My husband has done some work in this area, no he's not a doctor, but trained in a couple of alternative therapies and he's done some serious pre-med stuff as well. I read this to him and he was saying that expressions like 'gut feelings' mean more than we 'think' - that something, not quite cognition, exactly, but not unrelated does go on in there..... that we've become so brain oriented we don't give credence or weight to other forms of 'knowing'.

"gut feelings" ha! That's an excellent point!

45: I took a break from writing about them because it got to be a little much after a while.
Glad I'm not the only one. But I have to write or I'll forget entirely. I don't remember what I've written either, but if I read what I've written it triggers memory.

Isn't it fascinating that gastric bypass can affect cognitive function?
Yeah, we're a bunch of chemicals.
It must be a difficult decision to make.
I'd expect terribly difficult, especially surgery that can't be undone. I'd assume one avenue of research is how to get similar effects without such drastic intervention.

We are also a bunch of bacteria! There was a very interesting article in the NY Times science section yesterday about the bacteria in our bodies, that alludes at the end a possible method for weight loss that I would be embarrassed to describe here!

49: Simultaneously cool and creepy...

Yeah, those transplants are a VERY hot topic in immunology research right now. :) I've also read articles that suggest a link between gut bacteria and brain development/personality, and there are some stirrings to suggest that the change in gut bacteria in America (caused by over-use of antibiotics and over-cleanliness) might even be one reason why we have so many more ADHD and autism spectrum children. It's amazing what a gut bacteria can do.

I admit, that I use probiotic pills and foods even though I haven't the foggiest clue if they do me any good. They do, at the very least, help my digestion when I eat fiber-rich foods. :)

I must admit that after I read that article I'll have to be at death's door before I take antibiotics!

I read another interesting article about gastric bypass surgery in the 26May issue of New Scientist. It said that people who have gastric bypass surgery (but not the two other weight loss surgeries) have a reduced appetite for alcohol as well as a reduced appetite for food. Scientists think think this is because when alcohol reaches the large intestine a protein called GLP-1 is released to signal the brain to reduce appetite. Alcohol doesn't usually reach the large intestine because it is absorbed by the stomach and small intestine first. Because gastric bypass surgery reduces the size of the stomach and small intestine, more alcohol reaches the large intestine, and GLP-1 is released. They are thinking of GLP-1 as a drug target for alcoholics now.

Oookay, done recording January 2012. I was hoping to get through March 2012 this month. Obviously not going to happen. I don't know how to speed up the process.

I'm always impressed at how thorough your reviews are. :)

55: Takes. For. Ev. Er.

I managed to squeak in another this month. Read, not recorded...

And, a week later, recorded:

February 2012

Is Space Digital? by Michael Moyer
Craig Hogan thinks he can determine whether space is digital and jittery with the Holometer, which resembles the apparatus used for the Michelson-Morley experiment 125 years ago. It'd take me an eternity to understand this well enough to compose a paragraph, so if you care, follow the links.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-space-digital

The Great Prostate Cancer Debate by Marc Garnick
Since the 1990s, the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test has become routine, but studies are indicating that it may do more harm than good. PSA may increase for a variety of reasons including cancer. A followup biopsy can determine cancer or not, but not how dangerous it is, and both surgical and radiation treatment are risky. So doctors are shifting from immediate treatment toward "active surveillance" with periodic PSA screening and biopsies.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-great-prostate-debate

Swept from Africa to the Amazon by Jeffrey Bartholet
Dust gets around. 75-80 percent of the dust that falls on Florida is from Africa. 1930s American Dust Bowl dust has been found in Greenland glaciers. Dust affects the climate, absorbing and reflecting radiation, tending to warm lighter areas and cool darker areas, acting as condensation nuclei to the moisture that forms clouds, fertilizing the ocean with iron. The effects are complex, and geoengineering is tempting, but too little is known. So dust is now a focus of study.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=swept-from-africa-to-the-amazon

Sleeping with the Enemy by Kenneth Haynes
This article is best read in a sterile room in broad daylight. It begins with a photo of a bed bug that fills a page. Bed bugs were once seasonal, and began to extend into the entire year with central heating in the early 1900s. In the 1940s, DDT reduced the numbers, but in the 1970s it was taken off the market. Now bed bugs have returned, and they've begun evolving resistance to pyrethroids, just as they'd begun evolving resistance to DDT. A female lays about two eggs per day, and about 150-500 eggs per lifetime, and bed bugs can survive for six months without food. Bed bugs are attracted to heat and carbon dioxide, and aggregate in reponse to chemical signals. Traps that incorporate these things can be used for detection. Elimination is more difficult. A sustained temperature of 50 degrees C will do it. Other methods in investigative and experimental stages involve studying bed bug behavior and focusing on associated chemicals.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sleeping-with-the-enemy

All Hands on Deck by Kalee Thompson
The Old Weather project enlists volunteers to transcribe logbooks in order to improve historical climate data. The original set was WWI-era ships, and those are nearly complete. Next up is Arctic expeditions.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=all-hands-on-deck

The Future of Chocolate by Harold Schmitz and Howard-Yana Shapiro
Theobroma cacao is threatened by pests and fungal infections and climate change. It originated in what is now Ecuador, was domesticated by the Olmec, and brought to Africa and Asia by the Portuguese and Spanish. It is a single species with ten major varieties that can be easily crossbred, so if one variety is susceptible to a disease, the typically the others are also. It grows only within about 18 degrees of the equator, in regions where weather extremes seem to be intensifying. The genome of one variety has been sequenced, and is being studied for resistance to disease, efficient use of nutrients and water, adaptability to environmental conditions. The Cocoa Livelihoods Program works with farmers to improve agricultural techniques and economic efficiency.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-future-of-chocolate

The Collision Syndrome by Jeffrey Bartholet
Bashing your head repeatedly isn't good for you, and it happens in sports such as football. Indications are that it may cause a type of ALS, or a condition that resembles ALS called CTEM (chronic traumatic encephalomyelopathy). In healthy neurons, axons are supported by microtubules held together by tau proteins, and TDP-43 proteins in the nucleas regulate gene activity. In CTEM, the tau proteins detach and clump, the microtubules disintegrate, and TDP-43 proteins move to the cytoplasm and aggregate. The result is impaired cell function and possible neuron death.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-collision-syndrome

Fetal Armor by Claudia Kalb
The blood vessels of the placenta deliver oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. It may also be responsible for providing serotonin, and thus be more influential in brain development than previously supposed.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fetal-armor

The Brittle Star's Apprentice by Gareth Cook
Interview with Joanna Aizenberg, bioengineer who collaborates with biologists to study the natural materials of creatures that might be replicated for useful purposes. Examples: The brittle star skeleton is composed of lenses, and could lead to a roof element that collects light. The deep-sea sponge has a skeleton of glass that is somehow manufactured in low temperatures. The pitcher plant has a slippery surface that insects can't climb.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-brittle-stars-apprentice

What better to do in my air-conditioned cocoon, outside temperature 101 degrees, than document a Scientific American so I can move on...

Just be glad you have electricity! I can't imagine dealing with this heat with no air-conditioning like some people! Thanks for the great summary!

I am indeed grateful. The backup would be the basement, which is cool, but it's a bit creepy in the the dark.

Yes indeed bashing your head repeatedly isn't good for you!!

I quailed reading your Cacao summary, I'm not sure where I'd be without chocolate.

New Scientist magazine - 16 June 2012

You may carry cells from your siblings aunts and uncles, by Linda Geddes
• Cord blood from 23 newborn girls was tested for the presence of Y chromosome. Of 12 girls with older brothers, 11 had cells with Y chromosome in their cord blood. This suggests that cells from fetuses cross over the placenta into the mother, and can then cross from the mother to future children.

Neutrinos don't outpace light, but they do shapeshift, by Lisa Grossman
• After the whole neutrinos-travel-faster-than light!-Ooops,-no-they-don't,-we-just-had-leaky-fibers debacle, OPERA has announced that the have captured neutrinos oscillating from muon- to tau-type. That was the original purpose of the OPERA experiment, anyhow, so let's just forget about the whole light speed thing, shall we?

Why haven't bald men gone extinct?, by Rob Dunn
• This was an interesting article which summarized the biological reasons men go bald. Contrary to previous beliefs, baldness is not a sex-linked trait. You can blame both your mom and your dad for your baldness. The baldness is due to the effects of testosterone on the stem cells in hair follicles. Bald men have follicles that are more highly receptive to testosterone. Similarly, follicles on the temples and top of the head are more sensitive than hair on the back of the head--thus male pattern baldness. The article then asks why baldness survived as a trait? Hair protects the head from the sun and cold. Dunn proposed that baldness could be a sign of dominance (more testosterone). It's apparently easier to tell bald men are angry because their pates turn red? But then it points out that if THAT were the case, why do most of our popular politicians have a full head of hair? And why did Ceasar invent the comb-over? Personally, I suspect that it might be linked to a useful trait, much like sickle cell anemia and malaria resistance. Dunn suggested that baldness may confer an as-of-yet undiscovered superpower. Perhaps that's what he meant.

Hmmm, do I suspect that Robb Dunn might be a shiny pate himself?

He does indeed. :)

March 2012

What Makes Each Brain Unique by Fred Gage and Alysson Moutri
Jumping genes were discovered in the 1940s by Barbara McClintock, who observed them in corn. Under stress, regions of the genome can migrate and turn genes on and off in the new location. She studied transposons, which cut and paste a stretch of DNA. Recent research has focused on retrotransposons, which copy and paste. Retrotransposons can move around during development or later in life, and in laboratory experiments with mice this occurs more often in brain cells than in other tissue. The result is that identical twins may have genes in different patterns of activation.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-makes-each-brain-unique

The Far, Far Future of Stars by Donald Goldsmith
The article includes two cool illustrations: a timeline of the universe, and a chart of lifecycles of different star types. In the interests of focusing attention on things that I care about more, I give you a link to pursue on your own.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-far-far-future-of-stars

Dinosaurs on the Lost Continent by Scott Sampson
70-90 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period, North America was split by a sea. The eastern part was Appalacia. The western part was Laramidia, extending from Alaska to Mexico. It has been observed for decades that the northern and southern regions of Laramidia had different communities of dinosaurs and other animals, but this semeed doubtful, maybe an artifact of fossil samples, because the total number of large species exceeds expectations. Perhaps further sampling would show that the two communities lived in different times. In fact, further sampling has supported a theory that the two communities coexisted, separated by a climate gradient. So now a question is how could such a small region support so many giant dinosaurs, 17-20 in excess of a ton? Africa, in comparison, has 6 giant herbivore mammals. During the Pleistocene, Africa supported about 16 giant herbivore mammals, in an area five times that of Laramidia. Did the dinosaurs need less food than mammals, or did the environment produce more food?
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=dinosaurs-of-the-lost-continent

Gather the Wind by Davide Castelvecchi
The sun doesn't shine at night, and the wind doesn't blow continuously. How can energy be stored?
Pumped Hydro: Pump water uphill, then pass it through turbine blades on the way down. It's efficient and reliable, but some places are too flat, and large reservoirs may damage the ecosystem.
Compressed Air: Inject air into an underground cavern, then pass it through turbine blades on the way out. It's a tested method, but air heats when it is compressed and cools when it expands, and may be so cold that it freezes whatever it touches, so it may have to be warmed by burning natural gas.
Batteries: They're efficient and reliable, but expensive. One design being developed is a cylindrical vat filled with two molten metals separated by molten salt, all with different densities so as to naturally form layers. Another design that is more developed is the flow battery.
Thermal Storage: Fluid can be heated or cooled for later use, but it is difficult to hold for long periods.
Home Hydrogen: Electricity can split water into oxygen and hydrogen, and a hydrogen fuel cell can generate electricity. The challenges are efficient splitting of water and burning of hydrogen. One avenue of research is using sunlight instead of electricity from the power grid, with photosynthesis as the model. Another is to find less expensive catalytic materials for fuel cells.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gathering-the-wind

Blocking HIV's Attack by Carl June and Bruce Levine
HIV enters the helper T cells of the immune system by latching onto the CCR5 protein at the surface of the T cells. It is not initially harmful, but when when a T cell is activated to fight an infection, it produces copies of the HIV. Eventually HIV kills the T cells. Some people are resistant to HIV because of a mutation in the gene that codes for CCR5. So what about deliberately disabling the gene? There may be a way. Zinc finger proteins, which occur naturally during gene transcription, can be constructed to bind to any DNA sequence of interest. An enzyme called a nuclease can cut DNA strands. If two zinc finger nucleases cut the two ends of a section of DNA, natural cell repair mechanism reconnect the broken DNA strand. In a safety trial, not designed to determine whether or not treatment is effective, HIV positive volunteers were infused with the modified T cells, and T cells increased. The next step, proceeding cautiously with close monitoring, is to stop anti-HIV medication.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=blocking-hivs-attack

The Shadow Web by Julian Dibbell
The internet was designed to be decentralized, but most people connect to it through relatively few ISPs. The Egyptian government seems to have cut off most access within a few minutes with directives to four ISPs. An alternative is a mesh network, in which each connected computer can not only send and receive information, but also relay it along many possible paths, and so route around a damaged node. Resilience depends on a critical mass of users, which in turn depends on user friendly technology. Two projects toward this goal: Commotion and FreedomBox.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-shadow-web

Lifting the Black Cloud by Robin Marantz Henig
Antidepressants are far from ideal; they may not ease symptoms for weeks, may not work at all, may work for awhile then stop, may have serious side effects. And some large pharmaceutical companies are not developing new antidepressants because of the expense and risk of poor results. Some government and academic laboratories, and small pharmaceutical companies, are focusing research on drugs that act more quickly than SSRIs. One such drug is ketamine, the street drug Special K. Which can cause hallucinations, so it's not a viable candidate for medication, but it lifts mood quickly and the question is how. Within hours of a ketamine injection, rats increase production of proteins that help build synapses in the prefrontal cortex. Within 24 hours, rats grow synaptic spines along dendrites, which receive signals from other neurons. More synaptic spines correlate with less depressive behavior. Research has shown that ketamine stimulates the enzyme mTOR, which is involved in growing synaptic spines, by blocking NMDA receptors on the surface of neurons. So now the search is on for other compounds that block NMDA receptors. This is one example of several described in the article.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lifting-the-black-cloud

Hit Them with the Hockey Stick by David Biello
Interview with Michael Mann. The famous "hockey stick" graph, of average temperatures in the northern hemisphere going back to the 1400s, was an afterthought, and not interesting, because it averages spatial patterns.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=hit-them-with-the-hockey

New Scientist 23Jun - 29Jun

Stealthy virus that robs years of life could be beaten, by Jessica Hamzelou

• Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpes-like virus related to the chicken-pox. About 70% of people in the UK over the age of 65 are infected. CMV was previously thought to be harmless in healthy adults, but it is now clear that the virus can cause damage to the immune system that can take years off a person's life. CMV hijacks the immune system so that 40% of the T-cells are trained to attack CMV, leaving only 60% of them to manage all other infections. It is possible that a regimen of antivirals could be used to wrest back those years of life. Studies are underway.

•Researchers can use CMV's unique hijacking ability to attack cancer cells. They have modified a melanoma protein just enough that the immune system will attack it, but it will still be recognized for the human protein it is. They stuck the gene for their modified protein into CMV virus, and infected cancer-riddled mice. The modified-CMV-infected mice survived for as long as they were monitored (2 months). "This is huge for mice," says Qiu, one of the scientists involved with this study.

•I was tested for CMV a few years back when I had tonsil-rot, but came up negative. Luckily, tonsillectomy fixed the tonsil-rot and all was well again. :)



What a way to go: Prehistoric turtles died during sex, by Michael Marshall

•The picture says it all.

Cruel cuts: Is breast cancer surgery necessary?, by Tiffany O'Callaghan
• In the past few decades, technology has greatly enhanced our ability to find tiny, potentially harmless, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) tumors in breasts. Because of our new ability to detect these tumors early, the number of preventative lumpectomies and mastectomies has increased (with a corresponding decrease in radical mastectomy, a deforming surgery which removes not only the breast, but quite a bit of the underlying tissue); however, we have not seen a corresponding drop in the rate of invasive breast cancer (except in 2002, when hormone replacement therapy became less popular). It is possible that the rate of invasive breast cancer does not depend upon DCIS tumors, and that women are undergoing unnecessary surgeries. Or, it's also possible that the rate of breast cancer would have increased during this period irregardless of treatment, thus skewing our data to suggest that early treatment isn't useful.

• How do we ethically test whether the lumpectomies are preventative or not? Such a change in breast cancer treatment would have to be a movement among the women, not among the physicians. The patients would have to choose between risking a possibly unnecessary surgery and risking metastasis of untreated tumors. Then, of course, the woman who chooses against treatment may be from a different demographic than the woman who elects surgery. How would we analyze such data?

•You can find a fascinating description of the evolution from radical mastectomy to lumpectomy in Siddhartha Mukherjee's Pulitzer Prize winning book The Emperor of All Maladies, which I reviewed on my blog here.

April 2012

First of Our Kind by Kate Wong
A standard hypothesis has been that Australopithecus afarensis (until 3 million years ago) gave rise to Homo habilis (from 2 million years ago) in East Africa, but fossil evidence for the intervening years and the intervening traits has been sparse. But in 2008 in South Africa, Lee Berger found 2 million year old fossils of four individuals, male and female in a range of ages, with traits that include a heel more primitive than Australopithecus afarensis and a hand more modern than Homo habilis. These Australopithecus sediba fossils may shift the branches in the human family tree.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-of-our-kind

Quantum Gravity in Flatland by Steven Carlip
One approach to unifying quantum mechanics with general relativity is to simplify the problem by considering 2-dimensional space. Turns out this isn’t so easy either.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=quantum-gravity-in-flatland

This is Your Brain in Meltdown by Amy Arnsten, Carolyn Mazure, Rajita Sinha
The prefontal cortex is responsible for executive function. It is the most recently evolved part of the brain, and under normal circumstances it sends regulatory signals to older parts of the brain. Under stress, the amygdala commands production of excess norepinephrine and dopamine, which flood receptors which open channels which disconnect the links between prefontal neurons.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=this-is-your-brain-in-meltdown

Bound for the Moon by Michael Belfiore
The Google Lunar X PRIZE will give $20 million to the first non-government team that can land a robot on the moon and get it to travel a half mile and send high definition video back to earth by 2015. Another $10 million will be divided among teams that achieve other goals. The top contender is the team of William Whittaker, professor at Carnegie Mellon and founder of Astrobotic Technology.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bound-for-the-moon

Polio’s Last Act by Helen Branswell
The injected polio vaccine uses completely inactivated viruses and is relatively expensive. The oral polio vaccine uses weakened viruses of three strains, is inexpensive and easy to administer, and because the viruses are shed, elicits an immune response in unvaccinated children too. As a consequence of a global campaign using the oral vaccine, polio has been nearly eradicated, but not entirely. One strain of polio no longer exists in nature, but in rare cases the weakened virus can cause paralysis. The original plan had been that once polio was gone, all countries would simultaneously stop using the oral vaccine. Now this is considered too risky. The focus now is on removing this one strain from the vaccine, but what if it is still circulating undetected?
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=polios-last-act

Birth of a Cold War Vaccine by William Swanson
The polio vaccine of Jonas Salk used inactivated viruses and was injected. The polio vaccine of Albert Sabin used weakened viruses and was taken orally. After tests of nearly 2 million children in the US, the Salk vaccine was approved in 1955. The Sabin vaccine had to be tested on an equivalent number, but that number of unvaccinated children no longer existed in the US. Meanwhile, the incidence of polio was rising in the Soviet Union. In 1956, two Soviet virologists traveled to the US to meet with Salk and Sabin, and later that year Sabin traveled to the USSR (Salk did not, for reasons not entirely certain). In 1959, the oral vaccine was tested on 10 million children in the USSR.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=birth-of-a-cold-war-vaccine

Time Traveler by Richard Milner
The paleoart of Charles R. Knight.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=time-traveler

The Limits of Breath Holding by Michael Parkes
What causes the break point in breath holding, when a person gasps for air? It’s not the concentration of oxygen or carbon dioxide in the blood. It’s not the expansion of the lungs. The going hypothesis is that it’s the contraction of the diaphragm, which sends signals to the brain about duration, and about its reaction to decreased oxygen and increased carbon dioxide.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-limits-of-breath-holding

May 2012

Loops, Trees, and the Search for New Physics by Zvi Bern, Lance Dixon, David Kosower
Feynman’s technique for predicting the outcome of particle collisions is reaching the limit of usefulness for modern experiments. If precise predictions can’t be made for known laws, then it’s impossible to determine whether anything new has has been seen. The authors have developed a the unitarity method. I don’t have the knowledge to describe it, or the interest to try. So you’re on your own. The gist is that it consolidates multiple Feynman diagrams, revealing features that had been lost in clutter and complexity. It is now being used to reevaluate supergravity. ”If you ply us with fine wine, you might catch us speculating that some version of it might be the long-sought quantum theory of gravity.” One revelation is that the interaction of three gravitons is mathematically similar to the interaction two copies of three gluons.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=search-for-new-physics

Tomorrow’s Medicine
Five promising medical devices. (1) An inexpensive gene sequencer that could personalize medicine. If only we knew more about relevant gene patterns. (2) A bionic eye with synthetic photoreceptors. (3) Nanoparticles that can find a single cancer cell, long before a tumor can be detected. (4) Wireless monitors that receive and assess data such as heart patterns or glucose levels. (5) Blood tests for biomarkers of specific mental illnesses.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tomorrows-medicine

Triumph of the Titans by Kristina Curry Rogers, Michael D’Emic
The sauropods were once considered unfit for land or sea, and supposed to have declined at the end of the Jurassic period 145 million years ago. Recent discoveries extend their duration another 80 million years and a wider geographic range. The secret to their success was a mixture of reptile-like and mammal-like features. The bone structure indicates growth rates faster than reptiles and closer to mammals. Studies of snout shape and wear patterns on teeth and neck posture indicate different food for different species, some generalists and some specialists, some reaching high and some reaching low. Sauropods diversified in the Cretaceous, along with flowering plants. Sauropod vertebrae resemble bird vertebrae with internal cavities and external hollows, which significantly reduces weight and may have contained an air sac system to improve oxygen intake. Some species have osteoderms, bony plates embedded in the skin, which hollowed out with age and may have provided minerals in hard times.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=triumph-of-the-titans

Erasing Painful Memories by Jerry Adler
How can the effects of traumatic memories be reduced? Long Term Potentiation (LTP) is the process by which two neurons firing simultaneously become permanently associated. The responsible chemical agent is the protein kinase PKMzeta. The biochemical compound ZIP counteracts the effects, and if it is injected into a rat’s hippocampus, the memory of aversive training is erased. But ZIP is not selective. The drug propranolol, which is used to treat hypertension and stage fright, lowers the level of epinephrine and can interfere with long term memory formation if taken immediately after an event such as an auto accident. The idea is to keep the memory without the extreme emotional connection, but for ethical reasons this has been difficult to study. What about extinguishing memory? A dog that learns to associate a bell with food, will learn not to if the bell is no longer followed by food. In PTSD though, each mental reliving of the original trauma reinforces the memory. The trick to extinction is to replace the old memory with a new one, during a window of opportunity in recall and reconsolidation. This process may be sped up by using the drug D-cycloserine, a “biochemical coincidence detector”, to consolidate benign memories more quickly.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=erasing-painful-memories

What a Plant Smells by Daniel Chamovitz
Some plants can respond odors released by other plants. The Cuscuta (dodder), for example, is a parasitic vine that, experiments demonstrate, sense odor chemicals of tomato plants. Trees attacked by caterpillars emit gasses that nearby trees can sense. Lima beans attacked by beetles emit chemicals, both from leaves that have been eaten and leaves that have not; neighboring plants pick up the signal too.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-a-plant-smells

Telltale Hearts by Ann Chin
Photographs of hearts from a morgue.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=telltale-hearts-what-autopsies-...

A Better Eye on the Storm by Jane Lubchenco, Jack Hayes
Three ways to improve weather prediction: (1) Satellites with higher resolution, which could increase warning time for hurricanes by several days. (2) Computers that can process more data more quickly. (3) Imprved radar. Dual-polarization radar provides information about particle size and shape, helping to differentiate between type and amount of precipitation. Phased-array radar sends out multiple beams simultaneously, so can scan multiple levels of the atmosphere in less than a minute; current technology scans one level then tilts to scan another level, which can take four to six minutes.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-better-eye-on-the-storm

Nature’s Color Tricks by Philip Ball
The colors of birds and butterflies and fish are often produced not by pigment but by geometric patterns of nanostructures that reflect only certain wavelengths of light. Not much is known about how they evolved, but increasingly more is known about their formation: layers, bowls, fibers, sponges, matrices. One goal is synthetic materials.
More: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=natures-color-tricks

Professional Seer by Larry Greenemeier
Interview with Brian David Johnson, official futurist of Intel.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=professional-seer-intel-futuris...

I was particularly gripped, of course, by the article on storing captured wind/solar energy. I am so deeply aware, after two years of fully living off the grid of the drawbacks and limitations.

June 2012

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July 2012

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August 2012

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September 2012

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October 2012

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The good news is that I'll be caught up by the end of the year. The bad news is I'll forget it all unless I get my act together and record what I read.

November 2012

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December 2012

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I'm caught up with Scientific American! For the first time in forever. I have seven issues to summarize by the end of the year, and chances of this happening are pretty near zip, but maybe I can manage highlights. Next year of course I will be more disciplined. :-)

Of course. :-) But impressive anyway that you're caught up.