A new type of device that responds to a liquid’s surface tension can be used to reveal hidden messages or to distinguish among different classes of liquids
Gut coils with help from its elastic neighbor
Mathematicians and biologists at Harvard explain why vertebrate intestines are so predictably loopy
Cambridge, Mass. - August 10, 2011 - Between conception and birth, the human gut grows more than two meters long, looping and coiling within the tiny abdomen. Within a given species, the developing vertebrate gut always loops into the same formation—however, until now, it has not been clear why.
Using a combination of experimental observations, biological and biophysical manipulations, theory, and computation, researchers at Harvard have shown that a “simple” balance of forces determines the form of the gut.
The finding may shed light on how the gut has been able to evolve to accommodate changes in diet.
The interdisciplinary research, published in the August 4th issue of Nature, demonstrates that differences in growth rates between the gut tube and the neighboring mesenteric tissue force the tube to coil, regardless of the space constraints….
In Search Of Misfolded Proteins
“The researchers have already used the technique to detect misfolded protein aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid from Alzheimer’s patients (PLoS One, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0015725). They now plan to test the diagnostic usefulness of the assay in larger groups of patients with Alzheimer’s and other diseases.”
The “decline effect” in the process of publishing scientific research and an interesting method by Jonathan Schooler to mitigate the problem.
Bacteria may be able to exchange large molecules — including those that confer antibiotic resistance — via microscopic tubes, but some researchers are skeptical
Read more: Trading resistance via nanotubes? - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57991/#ixzz1EF9dpMK7
Watch some cool luminescent organic molecules glow brighter as they crystallize!!
“That old coffee ring on your desk may be an eyesore but some researchers see in it an analytical technique.”
Researchers are Punks: The fields of science and punk rock share some surprising similarities, according to the people who love both
“Also, anything by Minor Threat is essential.”
Read more: Researchers are punks - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57984/#ixzz1DfvKLEVE
This synthetic element is no longer naturally found on earth as the entire universe was created from the products of its decay.
