So MIT announced some kick ass new catalysts for making electrolysis more efficient… which is cool from a fuel production point of view. But what i wonder is whether or not we can use the O2 part of the equation to make artificial gills? Maybe creating a honey comb of the catalyst… your time under water would then be limited by your battery. I suspect a tank of compressed air is probably a more efficient way of spending an hour under the waves. But actually swimming like a fish, that’d be cool.
Research has shown that the micro anatomy of the endometrium in sufferers is different to that of normal patients. Now researchers in Australia have used this as a starting point to try to identify proteins that are affected by the onset of endometriosis.
Sara ten Have and colleagues affiliated with the University of Sydney (Australia) have performed a proteomic study on the eutopic endometrium removed during routine surgery from six women diagnosed with endometriosis. They then compared the results with those from 12 women without the disease. All samples were collected during the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle.
This paper was released recently by the US National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine:
How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with which they are more comfortable.
In the book Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a group of experts assembled by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine explain the fundamental methods of science, document the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, and evaluate the alternative perspectives offered by advocates of various kinds of creationism, including “intelligent design.” The book explores the many fascinating inquiries being pursued that put the science of evolution to work in preventing and treating human disease, developing new agricultural products, and fostering industrial innovations. The book also presents the scientific and legal reasons for not teaching creationist ideas in public school science classes.
Mindful of school board battles and recent court decisions, Science, Evolution, and Creationism shows that science and religion should be viewed as different ways of understanding the world rather than as frameworks that are in conflict with each other and that the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. For educators, students, teachers, community leaders, legislators, policy makers, and parents who seek to understand the basis of evolutionary science, this publication will be an essential resource.
Physicists in Israel have invented a neat method of making elaborate 3D structures from flat 2D discs. The trick is to pre-treat a gel disc half the size of a beer coaster with a monomer solution “blueprint” that selectively shrinks when heated. The technique, which cleverly demonstrates the link between 2D and 3D geometry, could be used by engineers to create self-assembling prototypes (Science 315 1116).
Many chimpanzees trim twigs to use for ant-dipping and termite-fishing. But a population of savannah chimps (Pan troglodytes verus) living in the Fongoli area of south-east Senegal have been seen making spears from strong sticks that they sharpen with their teeth. The average spear length is 63 centimetres (25 inches), says Jill Pruetz at Iowa State University in Ames, US, who observed the behaviour.
And the method of procuring food with these tools is not simply extractive, as it is when harvesting insects. It is far more aggressive. They use the spears to hunt one of the cutest primates in Africa: bushbabies (Galago senegalensis).
This is an amazing observation that raises a whole bunch of questions… some of them a little spooky.
From the “common sense now backed with data” file:
SAN FRANCISCO—A small-scale, regional nuclear war could disrupt the global climate for a decade or more, with environmental effects that could be devastating for everyone on Earth, researchers have concluded.
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The lingering effects could re-shape the environment in ways never conceived. In terms of climate, a nuclear blast could plunge temperatures across large swaths of the globe. “It would be the largest climate change in recorded human history,” Alan Robock, associate director of the Center for Environmental Prediction at Rutgers’ Cook College and another member of the research team.
