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• Smoke And Miracles

  Even tobacco is doing good now. Wired reports a discovery that is the very definition of irony: the nicotine-rich tobacco plant could potentially treat cancer, viruses, and genetic disorders. Holy vaccine!
  
  William Bentley, the University of Maryland professor leading the charge, reveals that the plant’s tubular “mosaic virus is literally a nano-sized syringe,” one that can be hollowed out and stuffed with “small interfering RNA” (or siRNA) molecules. Once injected, these siRNA molecules can program cells to destroy disease-causing proteins. A few scientists even opine that siRNA is the most significant development in medicine since the discovery of vaccines. There are still a few stumbling blocks before this can all be done in practice, of course, but we wish these pioneers luck.
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  • Date: Sep 04 2008
  • Posted by Jason Jude Chan

• Seis Matters

  Not that New Yorkers aren't accustomed to the ground shaking—especially in cheap apartments near the J train. But the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America has effectively reminded us that the 125th St. fault line isn't a cross-town express. New research illuminates that the area around NYC is a braid of small fault lines, the added risk of which is greater than previously thought. Scientists say a major quake every century is likely—the last major event was a magnitude 5.2 quake occurred in 1884, off the shore of Far Rockaway, which brought chimneys down and shook the ground Virginia to Maine. But in the past 120 years, only smaller quakes (a handful of 2.0s on the Richter scale) have shaken the city. Unlike the seasoned neighbors of the San Andreas in L.A., the infrastructure in NYC isn't intentionally quake-proof, so rattling the Big Apple could really bring the house down. It could also shake things up at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, just north of the city, which, it turns out, was built on a newly-identified seismic zone. Hard to imagine sheer acts of nature shaking the nation's biggest metropolis, but after—as unlikely as it seemed— a tornado went tearing through Brooklyn last summer, this earthquake talk might have New Yorkers bracing themselves. Via BLDG Blog
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  • Date: Aug 25 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m

• Stem Cell Tooth Fairies

  A team of Japanese scientists say they have found a new way to obtain stem cells: from extracted wisdom teeth. The research dovetails off last year’s finding that stem cells could be produced from human skin—but, as is the case with that research, it will take years before it can be used practically. It also inspires speculation about the real motives behind these guys' operation:
  
  
  
  Via Drudge.
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  • Date: Aug 22 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• Read My Lips (And Eyebrows And Chin)

  Trustworthiness. Passivity. Aggression. You can see it in a guy's eyes. (And his cheekbones... And the width of his face...)
  
  A study of Canadian hockey players recently revealed that the proportions of the face are directly linked to the aggressiveness of the player. Also, if the player is making a mean, gnarling, growly face at his opponents, that can also be construed as an indicator that he is aggressive.
  
  A man is also judged by his face when it comes to trustworthiness. And great con men master the aesthetic elements of reliability—the certain eyebrows and sympathetic forehead. But of course, we've learned from some of history's most infamous con men—and perhaps some members of the current political administration—that just because you have a friendly face, doesn't mean anyone should necessarily trust you.
  
  Image: Graphic tying eyebrow slope and chin thickness to outside perception of personality. (Via Boing Boing)
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  • Date: Aug 21 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m

• Just For The Smell Of It

  You know those hypothetical "would you rather" scenarios people like to bandy about? Or, how about this: "If you had to lose one of your five senses, which one would it be?" Many people would probably say they'd part with the sense of smell before another. It's not a crazy answer, but according to this piece from Scientific American, the sense of smell is far more vital (and powerful) than most of us realize—it's a guiding mechanism for our interactions with people and the world. Link.
  
  Also worth reading is this much-linked-to piece on the science behind free will and determinism.
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  • Date: Aug 20 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• The Fabulous Mystery Of Gay Genes

  One of the classic, politically charged "mysteries" of evolutionary biology (along with questions about the evolution of the female orgasm) is how genes for homosexuality propagate in a population. Gay sex, after all, doesn't lead to procreation. So genes for gayness should be on the short list for extinction, right? Explain that, Darwin! Gayness can't be genetic.
  
  Well, here's one novel explanation: The same genetic factor that makes men like men might also make women like men (more). When this factor is expressed in men, they're more likely to be gay. When it's expressed in women, they're "hyper-heterosexual." They're really attracted to guys and end up having more kids. And they pass on to those kids, male or female, this gene for attraction to males. Boom. New Scientist has the details.
  
  Photo: Ad for gay jeans from GOOD 002.
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  • Date: Aug 19 2008
  • Posted by Andrew Price

• More Dystopian/Utopian Future Blogging

  You might have noticed that we've been really into science fiction/reality lately—what with our nods to robots, mind control, and advances in time travel, eternal youth, and the invisibility cape. Well, here's some fuel to further fan the flames of futurism: Frozen embryos can make healthier babies than fresh ones. Does that mean it's time for fist-raising reactionary fear-mongering about the evils of inevitable state-owned baby farms? That all depends on which reductive prefix you add to -topian.
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  • Date: Aug 15 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• An Unforgettable Blow

  According to the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at the University of Cambridge might have found a way to help rid coke-fiends of their addictions: by making them forget what it's like to be high. It appears that by administering a drug that stops a memory-forming chemical from activating in the brain, memories can essentially be erased. So far, it's worked in getting rats to quit the Colombian devil's dust.
  
  It could be a quite a breakthrough for the treatment of addiction. But mind control for the betterment of the species is still mind control. One wonders what authoritarian-future-fearing authors like Philip K. Dick, Ayn Rand, or George Orwell might think about this. They, however, are all dead.
  
  Story at Wired News.
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  • Date: Aug 12 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• News Flash: All Impossibilities Now Possible

  Here's a little update on the status of time travel, eternal youth and the invisibility cape. For the first time, scientists at Yeshiva University in New York City have halted the aging process in an entire organ, in this case, a mouse liver. The ability to stave off deterioration of organs is especially relevant for neurodegenerative disorders, like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. In the longrun, though, we're aiming for more of a Holy Grail effect. And perhaps you've read about major progress on the invisibility front? In 2006 Duke University previewed a metamaterial electromagnetic cloak that refracts microwave frequencies, which was pretty awesome, but there were still some wrinkles to iron out. Now, we're seeing some real breakthroughs in the development of metamaterials—materials that can bend light the wrong way—which is a step in the right direction, but let's not get ahead of ourselves: a researcher told Reuters, "We are not actually cloaking anything... I don't think we have to worry about invisible people walking around any time soon. To be honest, we are just at the beginning of doing anything like that." Just the beginning, fine, but no one's hiding the desire to eventually rock it like Harry Potter. Re: time travel, Russian scientists speculated a few months ago that it may be on the table as soon as this summer. How? Just a little experiment nuclear scientists are working on in underground tunnels beneath Geneva which could potentially "create a rift in the fabric of the universe" ... A 1985 Delorean may or may not be involved.
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  • Date: Aug 12 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m

• Olympic Obstacles

  Since your earliest memories of the family-traditional Thanksgiving day football game with your uncles, you've heard a fantastic array of excuses for missing the mark: It was the sun. It was the wind. It was the scotch. This is totally inappropriate footwear.
  
  Olympic athletes are 1000 times more skilled at sports than anyone we've ever scrimmaged with personally, and they're also 1000 times more skilled at pinning down the most excellent excuses: It was the sun. It was the wind. It was the referee's biased judgment of my aggressive performance based on his perception of the color of my uniform.
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  • Date: Aug 12 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m