Comment Re:Animal Cruelty (Score 3, Interesting) 155
Nanoparticles make everything taste like chicken. That is the power of nanoscience. Anyway, research animals should be eaten if the substances which were used on them are safe.
Submission + - China Plans to Leapfrog US with Nano Investments (wired.com)
SoyChemist writes: Sociologists at the AAAS annual meeting have reported that China is making major investments in nanotechnology. Their aim is to 'Leapfrog' past the United States in technological development by focusing on long-ranging scientific goals. So far, the Chinese government has poured about $400 million into the hot field of research. Considering the low cost of equipment and labor over there, that is a very large sum of money. Singapore and Russia have similar programs.
Submission + - Speedy DNA Test for 12 Viruses Approved by FDA (wired.com)
SoyChemist writes: "Last week, the FDA approved a test that can check for twelve viruses at once. The device is made by Luminex which has a long history of building instruments that can check for almost anything — bacteria, viruses, antibodies, disease genes. In this case, doctors can simply swab their patient's nose or throat then send the sample to a lab where the viral genetic material is copied and stuck down to color-coated beads. Each type of bead recognizes a different virus. A scanner reads off which beads have DNA on them — thus identifying the pathogens. The new test can detect several types of influenza, but not H5N1, and is the first system approved to detect human metapneumovirus. It is a good step towards taking the guesswork out of medicine, which is desperately needed since viral infections are extraordinarily hard to diagnose, and antiviral medications like Tamiflu only work on some types of virus."
Submission + - Microfluidic Chips made with Shrinky Dinks
SoyChemist writes: "When she started her job as a new professor at UC Merced, Michelle Khine was stuck without a clean room or semiconductor fabrication equipment, so she went MacGyver and started making Lab-on-a-Chip devices in her kitchen with Shrinky Dinks, a laser printer, and a toaster oven. She would print a negative image of the channels onto the polystyrene sheets and then make them smaller with heat. The miniaturized pattern served as a perfect mould for forming rounded, narrow channels in PDMS — a clear, synthetic rubber."
Submission + - New Nerve Gas Antidotes (wired.com) 1
SoyChemist writes: Scientists from Korea and the Czech Republic have discovered new drugs that can counteract the chemical overload caused by nerve gas. All of the experimental medications belong to a family of chemicals called oximes. Those molecules reactivate the enzyme that is damaged by the chemical weapons. Last year, the FDA approved the first combined atropine and oxime auto-injector for use by emergency personnel. Israel has been providing them to their citizens since the first Gulf War.
Submission + - Email Threats Less Crazy than Snail Mail (wired.com) 2
SoyChemist writes: Psychologists at the University of Nebraska have read 300 threatening letters and 99 angry emails to members of congress. They concluded that the authors of the electronic messages show less signs of serious mental illness, but they are more profane and disorganized. The report was published in the September issue [subscription] of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.
Submission + - Using Old Medications to Defeat Tuberculosis
TastesLikeCoughSyrup writes: Antibiotic resistant tuberculosis is spreading like wildfire in the developing world. While many researchers are looking for new drugs to combat the disease, those efforts could take years to bear fruit. Meanwhile, two scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have learned how the drug clavulanate can destroy the defenses of tuberculosis, making it vulnerable to medications in the penicillin family. The best part: it has already been approved by the FDA so doctors can start using it immediately.
Submission + - Forty Years of LOGO
SoyChemist writes: Forty years ago, LOGO, a derivative of LISP, was born. Several years later, it became the cornerstone of educational software that simultaneously taught geometry and how to think like a coder. With a plethora of high-end educational software packages to choose from, each with flashy multimedia and trademarked characters, parents and teachers may find the humble turtle a bit outdated. Thankfully, several LOGO programs are available for free through a variety of websites, but perhaps 3D programming environments like Alice will be the wave of the future.
Submission + - Fish Poison Makes Hot Feel Cold and Cold feel Hot (wired.com)
SoyChemist writes: "Ciguatoxin causes bizarre neurological symptoms including temperature reversal, a burning sensation, and an imaginary feeling of loose teeth. It is produced by algae and accumulates in the fatty flesh of tropical fish. While traveling to the tropics, a man from England ate some bad seafood that contained the unusual poison. His story, and the tale of some unfortunate sailors that suffered the same affliction, appeared in the current issue of Practical Neurology and was summarized on the Wired Science Blog. Both the Wired blog and the peer-reviewed journal neglected to mention that the potent neurotoxin has been made from scratch by organic chemists."
Feed Wired: Last Gasp for Al Gore Fans (wired.com)
Submission + - Boeing Dreamliner Concerns are Specious (wired.com)
SoyChemist writes: On the most recent edition of his new show, Dan Rather reported that the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft may be unsafe. Since then, dozens of news agencies have jumped on the bandwagon. Most of them are reporting that the carbon fiber frame may not be as sturdy as aluminum. Few have bothered to question Rather's claims that the composite materials are brittle, more likely to shatter on impact, and prone to emit poisonous chemicals when ignited. While there is a lot of weight behind the argument that composite materials are not as well-studied as aircraft aluminum, the reasoning behind the flurry of recent articles may be faulty. The very title of Rather's story, Plastic Planes, indicates a lack of grounding in science. Perhaps the greatest concern should be how well the plane will hold up to water. Because they are vulnerable to slow and steady degradation by moisture, the new materials may not last as long as aluminum. Testing them for wear and tear will be more difficult too.
Journal Journal: Stem Cells in Adult Testes Provide Alternative to Embryonic
Easily accessed and plentiful, adult stem cells found in a male patient's testicles might someday be used to create a wide range of tissue types to help him fight disease -- getting around the need for more controversial embryonic stem cells. That's the promise of a breakthrough study in mice led by a team from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, who report their findings in the September 20 issue of Nature. Usi
Submission + - An Aerosol Spray to Identify Bombing Suspects (wired.com) 1
RedHanded writes: Forensic chemists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a color-changing spray that can identify people suspected of making or planting bombs. The chemical turns from yellow to bright red when it comes into contact with urea nitrate, an explosive residue that may be left behind on the hands of someone who has handled an improvised device.
Submission + - Girl's heart regenerates due to artificial assist (www.cbc.ca) 1
Socguy writes: "A 15-year-old girl has become the first Canadian to have an artificial heart removed after her own heart healed itself.
Doctors at the Stollery Children's hospital implanted the Berlin Heart, a portable mechanical device that keeps blood pumping in an ailing heart, so she could survive until a transplant became available.
But over the next few months, Melissa's overall condition improved dramatically, and her heart muscle regained much of its strength. After 146 days on the Berlin Heart, Melissa underwent surgery to have the device removed.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/08/28/ artificial-heart.html"
Doctors at the Stollery Children's hospital implanted the Berlin Heart, a portable mechanical device that keeps blood pumping in an ailing heart, so she could survive until a transplant became available.
But over the next few months, Melissa's overall condition improved dramatically, and her heart muscle regained much of its strength. After 146 days on the Berlin Heart, Melissa underwent surgery to have the device removed.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/08/28
Submission + - Winnie Wrote a Math Book
SoyChemist writes: Hollywood is not known for providing a wealth of positive female role models. Danica McKellar, the actress that played Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years and Elsie Snuffin on The West Wing, has written a math book for teenage girls. Math Doesn't Suck is in the style of a teen magazine. It even includes a horoscope, cute doodles of shoes and jewelry, and testimonials from attractive young career women that use math at work. It focuses on fractions and pre-algebra and uses mnemonics like calling a reciprocal a "refliprocal", because you just take the fraction and flip it upside down. Wired interviewed McKellar about the new book and her crusade to eliminate the achievement gap between boys and girls in math courses. McKellar graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA. While studying there, she co-authored a proof and presented it at a conference. After she and Mayim Bialik — star of Blossom and a PhD in neuroscience — appeared in a 20/20 episode about intellectual actresses, several literary agents came knocking on her door.
