Tag Archives: science

Alternative to Animal Testing?

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Cell-Based Alternative to Animal Testing? Genomic Biomarker Signature Can Predict Skin Sensitizers, Study Finds

New research demonstrates that the response of laboratory grown human cells can now be used to classify chemicals as sensitizing, or non-sensitizing, and can even predict the strength of allergic response, so providing an alternative to animal testing. (Credit: © Chee-Onn

ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2011) — European legislation restricts animal testing within the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries and companies are increasingly looking at alternative systems to ensure that their products are safe to use. Research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Genomics demonstrates that the response of laboratory grown human cells can now be used to classify chemicals as sensitizing, or non-sensitizing, and can even predict the strength of allergic response, so providing an alternative to animal testing.

to read more, go to:    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110807220534.htm

And now, The Science of Golf

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ScienceShot: Golf Is All About the X (and S) Factor

by Jon Cartwright on 29 July 2011, 3:00 AM
sn-golfswing.jpg
Credit: Jessica Rose

Golfers can spend years honing their swings, but now it seems there are just a few key traits that separate amateurs from the pros. Researchers used eight digital cameras to record 3D videos of 10 professional and five amateur male golfers in action. Then, they measured several parameters, including the “S factor” (tilt of the shoulders) and the elusive “X factor” (rotation of hips relative to the shoulders), which is considered vital for power generation. Compared with the amateurs, the pros had S and X factors that were greater—often by as much as 10 degrees—and more consistent. Although previous studies have examined the biomechanics of golf, this latest study, published online today in the Journal of Applied Biomechanics, is thought to be the first to analyze rotational biomechanics throughout the swing. According to the researchers, the results could help golfers strike balls harder, with less risk of injury.

to read more, go to:    http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/07/scienceshot-golf-is-all-about-the.html

The Math of Basketball

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The Mathematics of Basketball

by Ron Cowen on 2 August 2011, 1:04 PM |

To shoot, or not to shoot, that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler to try to score right away or wait for a better chance.

Professional basketball players face that quandary multiple times in every game. And in an article posted at arXiv.org on 29 July, Brian Skinner, a graduate student in theoretical physics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, provides some mathematical guidance for the best time to take aim.

Skinner, an avid basketball fan, was inspired to analyze the game when he heard a talk at an American Physical Society meeting in 2007 on the flow of traffic. Every driver tries to minimize his or her commuting time rather than reduce the average travel time of all drivers, resulting in a paradoxical situation: Closing a road may actually reduce congestion by forcing drivers to take a route many had avoided, speeding up the average commute.

That paradox reminded Skinner of the Patrick Ewing theory in basketball, named after the high-scoring player for the New York Knicks. Analysts had noticed that in games from which Ewing or other big scorers on a team were absent, that team was more likely to win. In addition, the diagrams and flow of players in basketball also resembled the traffic models Skinner had seen.

to read more, go to:    http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/08/the-mathematics-of-basketball.html?ref=hp

“Alien Fever” Strikes Hollywood

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Is Hollywood’s ‘Alien Fever’ Inspired by Real Science Finds?

by Mike Wall, SPACE.com Senior Writer
Date: 01 August 2011 Time: 03:30 PM ET
Cowboys and Aliens
Still of Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig in Cowboys & Aliens.
CREDIT: Photo by Zade Rosenthal/Universal Studios and DreamWorks II – © Universal Studios and DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC

Hollywood seems to have caught alien fever.

In the past few months, a slew of big-budget alien movies has hit theaters, from kiddie flicks (“Mars Needs Moms”) to comedies (“Paul”) to high-octane action films (“Battle: Los Angeles,” “Green Lantern”  and the just-released “Cowboys & Aliens,” among others). And many more such movies are on the way, both this year and next.

This glut of alien sci-fi films comes at a time when scientific discoveries are making the existence of life beyond Earth seem more and more plausible. And that might not be a coincidence, some experts say.

to read more, go to:    http://www.space.com/12498-alien-movies-extraterrestrial-life-real-science.html

Winners of Science Magazine 2010 Visualization Challenge

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Pretty Cool:

Special Feature: International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge 2010

International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge 2010

In the journal’s 18 February 2011 issue, Science, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, presents the winners and honorable mentions in the eighth annual International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge.

The articles linked on this page describe the accomplishments of the creative and gifted scientists, artists, and others who put the winning entries together, and an online slide presentation showcases the competition’s winners and honorable mentions.

In addition, a segment of the Science Podcast includes interviews with one of the competition’s judges and the creator of the winning entry in the informational graphics category. You can also hear the winners explain the processes, techniques, and thoughts behind their entries in a video courtesy of the National Science Foundation.

to see the images, go to:    http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/vis2010/show/index.xhtml

 

Episodic Memory Linking

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Neural Signature of ‘Mental Time Travel’: Memories Formed in the Same Context Become Linked, Evidence Shows

The research was conducted by professor Michael Kahana of the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences and graduate student Jeremy R. Manning, of the Neuroscience Graduate Group in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. They collaborated with Gordon Baltuch and Brian Litt of the departments of Neurology and Psychology at the medical school and Sean M. Polyn of Vanderbilt University.

Their research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Theories of episodic memory suggest that when I remember an event, I retrieve its earlier context and make it part of my present context,” Kahana said. “When I remember my grandmother, for example, I pull back all sorts of associations of a different time and place in my life; I’m also remembering living in Detroit and her Hungarian cooking. It’s like mental time travel. I jump back in time to the past, but I’m still grounded in the present.”

to read more, go to:    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110718171359.htm

Solar Static

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SOLAR STATIC: On July 7th, the sun produced a series of strong shortwave radio bursts. Click on the dynamic spectrum below to play a 21 MHz sample recorded by amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft in rural New Mexico. The action begins about 18 seconds into the 2 minute recording:

The roaring-static sound you just heard was a combo Type III-Type V solar radio burst caused by electron beams moving through the sun’s outer atmosphere. The source of the electrons could be an newly-emerging sunspot group in the sun’s southeastern quadrant, although this is not certain. The active region is crackling with C-class solar flares, and it could produce more radio sounds in the days ahead.

 

fr/spaceweather.com

 

Cold Fusion

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Cold Fusion – For Real?

© 2011 by Linda Moulton Howe

“Those who have persisted with cold fusion research have
seen a lot of energy coming from experiments.”    – Peter Hagelstein, Ph.D., MIT


2011 Lattice Assisted Nuclear Reaction/Cold Fusion (LANR/CF) Colloquium was held
at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 11 – 12, 2011, where two dozen scientists
discussed their experimental evidence that test tube nuclear fusion is
a real effect. Illustration © 2011 by Discovery News.

to read more, go to:    http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1872&category=Science

 

Physics of Tibetan Singing Bowls

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1 July 2011 Last updated at 04:41 ET

Tibetan singing bowls give up their chaotic secrets

By Jason PalmerScience and technology reporter, BBC News

Click to play

High-speed video of the bowls bears out how water begins its dazzling dance

Ceremonial Tibetan “singing bowls” are beginning to give up their secrets.

The water-filled bowls, when rubbed with a leather-wrapped mallet, exhibit a lively dance of water droplets as they emit a haunting sound.

Now slow-motion video has unveiled just what occurs in the bowls; droplets can actually bounce on the water’s surface.

A report in the journal Nonlinearity mathematically analyses the effect and could shed light on other fluid processes, such as fuel injection.

to read more, go to:   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13972556