This Week’s Science Word Videos Are Out!
I’ve published another set of Science Word videos… the science headlines in brief. Here’s the first of the set of four:
Hubble Space Telescope – What’s up in space, travels 5 miles per second, and has offered us an unparalleled view of our universe? The Hubble Space telescope, which just passed 100,000 times around the planet.
Size Doesn’t Matter – In nanotech, it’s apparently not the size of the particle that determines cell penetration, but the shape. Rods do much better than spheres.
Invisibility? – Harry Potter might have worn invisibility chain mail instead of a cloak if J.K Rowling had been paying attention to science. Researchers have created a new metal material that bends light backwards through electromagnetic interactions with the light istelf.
Large Hadron Collider – The Large Hadron Collider will officially begin operations on September 10th, but won’t get to full strength until sometime next spring.
Bicycle Saddles and the Police – The results are in… bike seats without noses keep bike cops frisky. Cops testing the special saddles had less genital numbing and better penile sensation.
Is Infertility Treatment Worth It? – Intrauterine insemination was only 6% more effective in producing a live birth than no treatment at all in a group of 580 women experiencing unexplained infertility. However, women who had insemination felt more reassured during the process.
Females Are The Same – Sexual harassment doesn’t just bother human females. It also bugs female guppies who tend to prefer the risk of being eaten to hanging out around pushy males.
Complete Neanderthal Mitochondrial Genome – The most complete and accurate Neanderthal mitochondrial genome to date was produced from a 38,000 year old fossil. Whether or not humans and Neanderthals ever got jiggy wid it is still in question.
A Pill For Alcoholics – Researchers in Oregon are testing a drug called CRF 154,526, which blocks all of the good, but none of the bad effects of alcohol– none of the euphoria, and the hangover’s still waiting. They say CRF is meant for treating hedonistic dysregulation.
Gene Link to Smoking Addiction –
People who say they got hooked on the first puff of a cigarette are likely to have a gene variant called CHRNA5.
You can find this video all these places:
YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, Google, DailyMotion, Blip.tv and Viddler
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Alzheimer’s drug ‘halts’ decline – A drug called Rember showed promise in treating patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Bees join hunt for serial killers – Scientists in England are tracking bumblebees in order to understand serial killers.
Gene flaws link to schizophrenia – Researchers have uncovered several genes involved in schizophrenia, but say predicting the disease from genetics will never be very likely.
Vitamin C jabs may combat cancer – Vitamin C injected into rats given aggressive human cancers by researchers was found to slow tumor growth. That doesn’t mean it’s proven to work in people yet.
Hungry seals ‘steer by the stars’ – Researchers taught seals how to use stars to navigate, and think they might do it naturally in the wild.
‘Fitness pill’ being developed – Mice given a new drug called AICAR ran 44% further on a treadmill without any training. Mice given GW1516 ran 77% longer with training than undoped mice. Athletes will be tested for the use of these drugs.
World’s smallest snake discovered – Barbados is the home of the world’s smallest snake.
SpaceX launch fails a third time – The SpaceX rocket, Falcon 1, failed its third attempt to reach orbit.
Firm claims first pet dog clones – A former beauty queen from California cloned her pet pitbull, named Booger, in South Korea. It made her happy.
Pet dogs can ‘catch’ human yawns – Dogs can catch a human yawn.
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First Star in Universe Grew Fast – Computer simulations suggest the first stars started small, but grew 100 times larger than our sun in just 10,000 years.
Duck-Billed Dinos Outgrew Predators – Best predator defense? Grow fast and make babies. That’s what the duck-billed hadrosaur did as it grew up to 4.4 tons in 2-3 years. Gives a new meaning to “eat my dust.”
Moss, Insect Fossils Evince Once-Living Antarctica – Researchers found freeze-dried moss, crustaceans, insects, and pollen trapped in the glacial ice. 14 million years ago Antarctica was much warmer.
Hostile-to-Life Substance Found in Martian Soil – NASA thought they could grow vegetables on Mars, but then discovered perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel, in one of their tests. They have decided to perform more tests.
Dark Energy’s Fingerprint Found in Distant Galaxies – Researchers have made one of the most statistically probable measurements of dark energy to date, but they still don’t know what it is.
X-rays reveal Van Gogh portrait – A particle accelerator was used to blast a Van Gogh painting with high intensity x-rays. A second painting was discovered beneath the outer surface of paint.
‘Laser jumbo’ testing moves ahead – The US Air Force has begun fuel tests of their Airborne Laser system, which is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles from the inside of a 747 aircraft.
The Science Word
I’m trying out something new, and hoping that it will compliment what we do on This Week in Science. Check it out!
If you’re interested in any of the stories referred to in The Science Word, here are the links:
The Cassini space probe confirmed that a lake on Saturn’s moon, Titan, is filled with pleasantly chilled liquid ethane and methane hydrocarbons, molecules thought to be building blocks for life.
NASA got past a sticky dirt problem, and identified water in the Martian soil.
After 30 years, the guitarist for Queen finished and published his doctoral thesis.
According to Australian research, playing outdoors might be good for a child’s developing eyes.
A US CDC study found that national annual HIV/AIDS rates are underestimated by 40%. Regardless of this new data, the director of the WHO, Kevin De Cock, still thinks current global estimates are good. Yes, he does.
A study doubled population estimates of the Western Lowland Gorilla, an endangered species. A report recently warned that human activity puts almost half of the world’s primate species at risk for extinction.
People weigh less in neighborhoods with sidewalks.
Opposites might attract, but Germans stay married if they are similarly agreeable and conscientious.
Blue sharks taste bad, but people are developing a taste for them because other fish are in short supply.
Hot, black smokers were found venting supercritical seawater on the bottom of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean.
Unlike freshwater turtles, the epaulette shark goes blind when oxygen levels go down.
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