Remote Camera

These photographs were taken by Anup Shah using a remote camera.  They are gorgeous!

See more here!  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2252061/Anup-Shah-Close-photographs-African-wildlife-stunning-light.html

Ooooh.

Christmas Eve Eve is like this guy staring at a ladybug.

The Bounty Sinks!

I'm way behind on this story, but I figured most people hadn't heard about this, either.  Or maybe I was too drawn into the disasters of Northern NJ and NYC to really notice Sandy problems further south.  Regardless, let's take a moment to look back again on a beautiful replica ship.

The story of Mutiny on the Bounty is one of my favorites.  I've read many testimonies about William Bligh and Fletcher Christian and continue to get really excited when I see research (and more research!) coming out of the populations from Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands.  If you aren't familiar with the story, read the trilogy (which is a fictional account, but will hook your interest to read so much more!)

Unsurprisingly, the Bounty itself did not survive the mutiny.  The mutineers, lead by Fletcher Christian, ran the ship ashore at Pitcairn Island and then burned it so no trace of their crime would be left behind.  For the 1962 film starring Marlon Brando, a replica of the Bounty was built for filming.  Since then, this beautiful ship (see below) was used in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, for rentals and tours.  Unfortunately, the Bounty ran into trouble during Hurricane Sandy and sunk off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on October 29th, 2012.  All but two crew members were saved by the Coast Guard.

CNN.com news story: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/29/us/sandy-bounty-ship/index.html

Here are a few pictures of the Bounty!

A reason for exercise

Last week's Nature magazine had a series of articles on aging.  One article (LINK!) says that with all the research, most scientists agree on two things:

1. Just about everyone will experience mental decline, typically in memory, by age 60.
2. Aerobic exercise delays/slows mental decline.

Go outside and run!

Meth.

I've debated putting a post up about this new anti-drug campaign, but in the end I decided to do it.  I warn you, the links that I attached to this post show some rather striking images of people's faces before and after taking methamphetamine.  If this doesn't turn kids off of taking meth, then I'm not sure what in the world would.  The poster also explains the tell-tale signs of meth-abusers, including "meth mouth," sunken cheeks, scabs on their faces and premature aging.

In full disclosure, one of the early comparison pictures shows a young woman who clearly has scars from facial burns.  This woman was involved in a meth lab explosion leading to a debate whether this could be classified as "due to taking meth."  I argue that it does.

Yes, the campaign takes the more horrifying pictures to make a point.  No, not every person who takes meth will end up with such terrible changes to their appearance, but it certainly makes a dramatic point.  If it scares even one kid away from taking this highly addictive drug, then it has served its purpose.

LINK to Meth poster: http://i46.tinypic.com/2ef3hiv.jpg

LINK to article discussing the poster: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2244031/The-horror-Meth-Before-pictures-reveal-shocking-transformation-faces-users-hooked-deadly-drug.html#comments

LINK to the MethProject for more information on its dangers: http://www.methproject.org/

I think we need to bring out the classic Anti-Drugs commercial for this post's picture:

116 Years Old!

Here are some highlights from the year 1896:

- Utah becomes the 45th U.S. state (January 4th)
- Opening Ceremonies for first modern Olympics are held in Athens (April 6th)
- Queen Victoria becomes the longest reigning monarch in Britian (September 22nd)
- William McKinley is elected president of the United States by defeating William Jennings Bryan (November 3rd)

You know what else happened?  Besse Cooper was born.  She joined the women's suffrage movement at age 24.  She married in 1924, had four children and was widowed in 1963.  She became a school teacher during World War I.  She also claims eleven grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and amazingly two great-great granchildren!

In January 2011, Guinness World Records gave her the distinction of the oldest living human.  She died peacefully on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012, aged 116.

What an amazing life!!

LINK to her story on CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/04/us/georgia-oldest-person-dies/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

LINK to her story on ABCNews: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/05/15690486-worlds-oldest-woman-besse-cooper-dies-at-116-in-georgia-nursing-home?lite

Not quite Old Tom Parr, but her story is one for the record books!

Serengeti Story

I have a thing for books.  It's tragic, really - I'll spend $50 in Barnes and Noble without batting an eye.  This is why Viggle and their B&N gift cards are excellent.  Look into it.

Anyway, I caught this synopsis for "Serengeti Story: A Scientist in Paradise" in last week's Nature magazine.  Now, I want it.  The book is written by Anthony Sinclair who has spent 50 years studying this area of East Africa.  The book covers its ecological, social, political and economic history.

One day, I'm going to the Serengeti.  Absolutely.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Serengeti-Story-scientist-paradise-ebook/dp/B009SNGLDK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354635237&sr=8-1&keywords=serengeti+story

Serengeti's Official Website: http://www.serengeti.org/

Happy Birthday!

I missed it, but Mini-Amedeo turned one on November 16th.  I was probably knee-deep in some beers due to my papers finally being sent out.  That, and it was a Friday.

Thanks for reading!!

Giant Sequoias

National Geographic is publishing some majestic pictures of the 3,200 year old and second largest Giant Sequoia 'President' in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. 

Link, The Daily Mail summary: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2235452/Giant-sequoia-National-Geographic-pictures-giants-forest-Sierra-Nevada.html

Link, National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/quammen-text

Preview Shot:

Walking Again

::waves::  I'm back from a short blogging break.  I have three manuscripts in various levels of review/publication so I was very focused on that work for the past few weeks.  But, I'm back now!  Just in time for Thanksgiving!

I recently listed to a podcast on exoskeletons ("Stuff You Should Know").  As science minded as I am, I originally thought they were going to tell me how crustaceans and bugs made their hard skins, but exoskeletons also refers to the design of robotics to help human achievement.  These are machines that a human would physically wear while doing work.  DARPA recently asked for designs that will help soldiers carry heavier loads for longer periods, walk faster, and jump higher. 

One area they are truly amazing is helping those with paralysis to walk again.  Their muscles no longer respond to their central nervous system due to the severing of their spinal columns, but the robotics, acting as bones and muscle, can respond to other cues, such as leaning forward.  Here's an article from the New York Times about their progress.  Fascinating.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/technology/wearable-robots-that-can-help-people-walk-again.html

See ya, Sandy.

Sandy roared ashore between Sea Isle City and Avalon, NJ at 8pm last night as a Category 1 storm (maximum sustained winds of 80 mph).  This is 5 miles south of Atlantic City (pictures below) and just a few towns south of Ocean City, NJ (pictures below).

We made it through!  We didn't even lose power (but we did lose internet until this afternoon).  I went out to see the Schuylkill River cresting and was surprised to see it was much lower than last year's Hurricane Irene.  Unfortunately, many many places were not so lucky.


Ocean City, NJ High School:

Long Beach Island, NJ:

Ocean City, NJ (10th St):

Atlantic City, NJ (that's a piece of the boardwalk floating there):

World Trade Center / Freedom Tower construction site in NYC:

Stay safe during the clean up.  Be patient.  Some people, especially those along the Jersey shore and the people affected by the fire in Queens, were impacted deeply by this storm.
 

More Sandy...

       Well, I fail as an arm-chair meteorologist.  I've been watching Sandy's wind speed and central pressure over the past day.  Her winds were down to 75 mph and pressure was climbing well into the 900s mb.  I figured that the cooler waters up here would decrease the storm's strength, dropping it to a tropical storm before making landfall.  Mother Nature ruined that plan.  The storm is 205 miles from Atlantic City and packing 90 mile an hour winds.  That's a strong category 1 storm!

Sandy at ~ 8am:

Sandy at ~ 11am:

Oh, Sandy.

The sun is barely peaking out from behind the thick white and gray clouds right now.  I know this is the last of it for awhile!  The wind is picking up, but nothing really to write home about yet.

Here's an updated picture.  Look how big this storm is.  We're still not sure what to expect, but don't worry - Sandy's path takes her directly through Philadelphia.  I'll be sure to find out.

Villanova University, University of Delaware, and The University of Pennsylvania have been declared closed Monday and Tuesday.  No, I haven't heard any plans to shut down our transportation system like NYC already announced.

EDIT: SEPTA (Philadelphia's public transportation system) has announced it will suspend all bus, trolley, subway, and rail service starting at 12:30am Monday.  It is expected to last at least the majority of Monday.

Hurricane Sandy

As a citizen in the City of Brotherly Love, apparently I'm also a target for Hurricane Sandy.  Her 5-day prediction cone is centered squarely on Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.  The hospital I work at sent out a multi-page, power-point-esque document yesterday outlining their emergency preparedness.  They've never done that before, which made me wonder just how big this storm was (quite honestly, I'd barely heard a blip about Hurricane Sandy before 3pm yesterday).

I love the names that are coming out about it right now.  Superstorm!  Diane Sawyer broke into local news last night to light up Philadelphians' ears with that one.  Today, CNN is calling it "Frankenstorm."  Very clever - that whole hurricane merging with cold front right around Halloween angle.  "Perfect Storm" was also bandied about on CNN this morning - saying it was twenty years later than originally suspected.  I'm not sure I understand this reference?

Anyway, since I'm sitting in the bulls-eye, I'll be sure to pass along some fun pictures like I did for Hurricane Irene.

Until then, here's a snapshot of Sandy right now.

Sleepwalking

Have you ever sleepwalked?  I have.  It's also called somnambulism.  Yikes.

It's more common in children and thought to be due to lack of sleep, tiredness/fatigue and anxiety.

It's far less common in adults and is usually associated with alcohol, sedatives, sleep medication, seizures and mental disorders.

I can easily blame my child sleep walking on anxiety and the adult sleepwalking on alcohol (doh!).  What I find interesting is that scientists are currently finding links between migraines and sleepwalking.  Migraines are a neurological disorder (not just a bad headache).  Fascinating that it all could be linked together!

Info on sleepwalking: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001811/

Sleepwalking and migraines: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleepwalking/DS01009/DSECTION=causes

Element 113

Let's be real, after plutonium (element #94) on the periodic table, the names of the elements get really weird.  Americium?  Einsteinium?  Nobelium?  Do you see a theme here?  They sound so silly (sorry, element namers of the world). 

It's hard work to identify a new element and it's even harder to gain the right to name it.  Japanese researchers recently made their third atom of element 113 (meaning an atom that has 113 protons in its nucleus).  They are not the first to make the element (Russians and Americans have already done it), but they are the first to do it three times.  This means that they might be able to name it!

Please let them pick a cooler name than ...Curium?  I'm all for honoring awesome scientists but these names are crazy.

Facebook Hugs

I was reading a message board thread this morning where the original poster was going through a hard time.  Lots of the responses were "hugs," which I feel is a little sad and empty in this internet age.  However, the folks at MIT (yes, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology came up with this gem), have invented a new coat that will give you a squeeze whenever someone on Facebook "likes" something you posted.  It's a merging of the virtual world and reality. 

No, it's not coming on the market any time soon, but you can read about this latest product here.  http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/like-a-hug-jacket-receive-a-hug-for-every-facebook-like-2012107/

Here's the coat.  Very puffy and impractical for summer, but perhaps good for those cold Bostonian autumns and winters!

Imagine if it "poked" you instead?  That would be really annoying.  Does Facebook still even have the "poke" option?

JoVE

I literally don't know what to make of this "journal."  I'm only putting it in quotes because the format is not focused on words but rather videos.  I'm not sure if this is entirely accurate, but the idea of the journal grew from a frustrated scientist who couldn't reproduce another lab's protocol.  He read and read what the laboratory had published, but eventually went to the lab to watch how they did it.  Apparently that made all the difference.

I have a lot of thoughts on how science and technology should be integrated, but I'll save that for another post on Amedeo.  Until then, check out this YouTubed-out journal that my institution is currently mulling over buying a subscription to.

http://www.jove.com/ <-- Link!

^^ Roman God Jove ^^

National Geographic Photography

More entries are posted on the website for National Geographic's Photography contest.

Here's my new favorite:

Water droplets on plants after the rain.  They look like champagne glasses.  Absolutely beautiful!

This reminds me that I've recently seen advertisements for Nikon's Small World Gallery.  It's nearing time to see more of the microscopic world through the eyes of scientists, beautiful colors, and fascinating lenses.  More info from Nikon here: http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/.

Bacteria. Millions of bacteria.

See if you can read this without your eyes bugging open...

"...birth exposes the newborn to the microbiota of the mother, setting in motion the colonization of mucosal tissues in the digestive, respiratory, and urogenital tracts, and the skin by a diverse microbiota, which we coexist with throughout our lives.  The complex and dynamic interaction between the microbiota and its human host is the culmination of nearly half a billion years of co-evolution with vertebrates that has reciprocally shaped the repertoires of the microbiota and the immune system, such that microbiota inhumans is normally restrained and well-tolerated.

"Estimated at approximately 100 trillion organisms, most of which are bacteria..., the microbiota numbers about ten times the total cells in the human body with the greatest density populating the distal ileum and colon."

Maynard et al. Nature 489 pg 231 - 241 = LINK

Yup.  These few words summarize how we are born into a world of bacteria, how it comes to colonize certain areas of our body, and how that co-existence is a mutually beneficial prospect for both the bacteria and its human host (you). 

This harkens back to a previous post I put in Mini-Amedeo about all the different bacteria living in and on our bodies.  Scientists are studying the cross-sections of these microbes to understand why some people develop diseases, particularly Crohn's, inflammatory bowel syndrome, and cancer, but others do not.  Nature has several articles dedicated to current updates; it is fascinating.  LINK

Stunning.

National Geographic is currently accepting submissions for its annual photography contest (LINK!)  First prize is $10,000 and a trip to NG Headquarters to participate in a photography symposium.

The website also has galleries up to the view the submitted photographers and so many them are breathtaking.  Check them out!

Here's one of my favorites:

HPV, The Human Papillomavirus

Last week's Nature magazine dedicated several news articles to the human papillomavirus.  Please check out the articles here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7413/index.html#nf

Fact: "88% of the 275,008 women who died in 2008 from cervical cancer lived in developing countries."  This quote comes directly from this article: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7413_supp/full/488S7a.html


Currently, the HPV vaccine is an expensive three dose treatment that isn't a reasonable option outside of developed countries.  Scientists are currently working on designing vaccines that are cheaper, cover more HPV strains, and would need less doses.  Win for every women on the planet who is susceptible to this very preventative form of cancer.


Keep this map in mind:

Map from this article: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7413_supp/full/488S2a.html

Want to read more about HPV?  http://www.amedeo-amedeo.com/search/label/Series%3A%20Henrietta%20Lacks

Tropical Storm Leslie Live!

It seems like many of my posts are about hurricanes right now... it gets that way in late August/early September!

My husband and I married at this resort in Bermuda.  They are currently waiting to be hammered by Tropical Storm Leslie and have decided that a live webcam is the way to show off the storm.  Beautiful resort (The Reefs, www.thereefs.com) and it looks like a nice sharp picture if you want to see the craziness that happens.

I hope for no major damage at that hotel and that everyone stays safe on one of my favorite islands!

Webcame link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chasercam-live

Naming Lunar Plains, Martian Mountains

In the spirit of Neil Armstrong, I recently reread some information about the Apollo missions and the moon itself.  The names of the seas (aka "maria") are so ethereal: Tranquillitatis (tranquility), Frigoris (cold), Humorum (Moisture), Imbrium (Showers) and Ingenii (Cleverness).  What I did not appreciate until today was that all maria on the moon are named for either states of the mind (tranquility, cleverness) or water (moisture, showers).  Who knew?  Not me!

Since we are currently moving beyond the moon in space exploration, scientists are needing to name aspects of more distant heavenly bodies.  Luckily, the International Astronomical Union has rules in place!

Mercury mountains are given names meaning "hot." = ex. Caloris Montes (mountains of heat)

Venus canyons are named in honor of goddesses. = ex. Ishtar Terra (Ishtar is the Babylonian goddess of love), Aphrodite Terra (Aphrodite being the Greek goddess of love and beauty)

Mars craters get their names from villages on Earth.  = ex. Ada (Oklahoma), Ajon (Russia), Bombala (Australia)


Read more about the tales of woe surrounding these naming philosophies here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7412/full/488429b.html

Naming is always a fun task for scientists.  Read here about the funny names we give proteins.

Hurricane Isaac

It made it.  I knew it had a chance once I saw that the prediction cone went over Key West, Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico.  The warm waters there help strengthen storms.

As of 1 pm EDT, Hurricane Isaac has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and its minimal pressure central pressure is 976 MB.

SETI at Home; Folding at Home

Want to help out science on a daily basis just by using your computer?  These are two options that are available to you - I find both to be great causes!

SETI, or the "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence," has been collecting and analyzing radio signals from all over skies since the 1960s in the hunt for other intelligent life in our cosmos.  Unsure where exactly to point the telescopes or what frequency to find information on, SETI has more data than it can possibly go through.  Instead of filling up the processing capabilities on a few computers, these scientists have decided to spread out the information on many computers across the world.  Your computer, which will still functions normally while performing SETI analysis in the background, can be one!  Look it up, sign up, and check it out here: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

Biological scientists study proteins every single day.  Each one is created as a string of amino acids, but then folds up on itself to create a 3-dimensional structure capable of fulfilling some function (Lost?  Check out my Central Dogma post!)  Each string of amino acids folds into a shape that is specific, but we still don't understand many of the links between amino acid sequence and final, 3-dimensional shape.  Programs exist to model protein folding, but they require large processing capabilities.  Much like SETI@home, Folding@home also works by breaking down a large job into many smaller jobs capable of being run in the background on your home computer.  The information gained from these models can be helpful for future treatments in all sorts of human diseases.  Find out more on their website: http://folding.stanford.edu/English/HomePage

Isaac and Joyce

While both tropical storms, Isaac and Joyce are churning down in the Atlantic, I jumped over to www.nhc.noaa.gov to check out the pictures!  Unfortunately, I expected something more grand.  Neither storm has the lovely cloud swirls yet and are instead more like cloud clusters.

Tropical Storm Isaac has a chance to turn hurricane before hitting the Domincan Republic and Haiti.  The storm's current pressure (as of Advisory #10) is 1003 MB.  As a hurricane strengthens, its central pressure drops, the eye becomes more well formed, and the hurricane takes on its classic cyclone shape. 

Check for updated pictures of the storms every 30 minutes here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/satellite.shtml (Atlantic views, GOES-East, Atlantic Wide View, Visible link)

Advisories, predictions, current stats of the storms can be found here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Here's a post I did last year on my main blog about hurricanes in the past:  http://www.amedeo-amedeo.com/2011/08/hurricanes.html



 

Aristotle or Plato?

Scientific American sent me a short, special report addition to their magazine this week.  Apparently, physics predicts upwards of four different levels of parallel universes and this pamphlet was going to explain it to me.  It didn't.  All it really did was make me have this face:

However, I did learn something interesting about myself and I now want to pose the question to you.

Are you Aristotelian or Platonic?

Aristotelian: "Physical reality is fundamental and mathematic[s] is ... a useful approximation."

Platonic: "Mathematics is the true reality and observers perceive it imperfectly."

So, which do you believe?  Our reality of gravity, planetary movement and energy is something math will only be able to approximate (Aristotelian) or that we are all governed by math, but we don't completely understand it all yet (Platonic)?

I am Platonic.


Reference: Tegmark, Max. "Parallel Universes: A Scientific American Special Report." Scientific American (2009).
PDF Copy: http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/PDF/multiverse_sciam.pdf

Twitter

I've joined Twitter.

With some things in my life winding down and other things just beginning, I've decided it's time to up my readership.  Twitter seems to be a good way to go about it.

Check me out at @AmedeoBlog.

Mice and Rats

Oh my god, Bill Bryson. I love your writing and aspire to be you one day, but I will never write such a frightening section of a book unless it deals with flesh eating viruses. 

Here's what Bill taught me today:

- "Two mice, breeding prolifically, could theoretically produce a million descendants in a year."

- "Each mouse voids about fifty pellets a day... Because of the impossibility of achieving perfection in storage, hygeine regulations in most places allow up to two fecal pellets per pint of grain."

- "Rats are smart and work cooperatively.  ...one rat would embrace an egg with all four legs, then roll over on his back.  A second rat would then drag the first rat by its tail to their burrow..."

- "It is commonly written that there is one rat for every human being in a typical city, but studies have shown that to be an exaggeration.  The actual figure is more like one rat for every three dozen people."

Why am I reading this??  I just wanted to learn about why a study exists in a home!

Anyway, all of this excellent info comes from Bill's newest book "At Home," which is wonderful, if not a little unsettling about all the things in your home.

I had to find the cutest picture of a rat ever after reading all this this morning.  I succeeded.

Skara Brae

I have never heard of this place!  I've even been to Scotland, saw Edinburgh Castle and an entirely unsettling stage show in Glasgow, but missed out on St. Andrews and, apparently, a pre-historic village.

Uncovered during a horrible storm in 1850, Skara Brae is all that is left from an ~ 2000 B.C. settlement.  At nearly 5,000 years old, the buildings are older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Egypt. 

I would love to go see it.  Next time I get over the pond!

Info from Scotland's Tourism site:  http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_244&PropName=Skara%20Brae%20Prehistoric%20Village

Birds are Astronomers

Exactly how animals are able to migrate across the Earth with accuracy and precision is still a somewhat murky topic.  Some use geographical markers (like lakes or land masses) while others rely on the Earth's magnetism the way compasses do and still more use devices that we have not yet uncovered.  They seem to just know.

One particular animal, the Indigo Bunting, uses stars.  A series of experiments showed that baby birds in the nest are watching the night sky and how the stars rotate around Polaris, or the North Star.  From this, they learn which way is due north are able to fly accordingly during migration.

A set of experiments placed baby Indigo Buntings in a planetarium and rotated the stars around Betelgeuse instead of Polaris.  When the birds were released, they flew as if Betelgeuse were the North Star.  It seems they are learning the pattern of star rotation before they can even fly.  Further support has found that Indigo Buntings have difficulty with direction on cloudy evenings.

Very interesting!

More Info: http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_10_99.html

Near-sightedness Research

Myopia, or near-sightedness (or short-sightedness), is when eyes can focus on objects close by but vision of far away objects remains blurry.  This condition occurs due to the formation of the eye.

Anyone who reads my main blog Amedeo will know that I'm simply fascinated by the story of The Bounty, William Bligh and Fletcher Christian (link!).  Recently, I wrote a post concerning migraine research among a group of the Bounty mutineer descendents on Norfolk Island.  It seems this genetic pool is also being used for research on near-sightedness!

In an article on The Daily Mail, researchers say that Norfolk Island residents suffer from myopia at half the rate of the general population.  Since this condition is genetic, scientists are looking into the DNA to see what genes are present and absent.  Hopefully, this will shed new light on myopia and potentially lead to new therapies.

Daily Mail Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2177576/Surprise-Bounty-Mutineers-descendants-lowest-rate-short-sightedness--DNA-hold-key-cure.html

Poor Little Lion

Look at this lion.  Look at him.  Aw..

This picture comes from an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel (clicky) that discussed a recent procedure at that the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.  Tsavo is an 11 year old, 360 pound lion who has cancer.  This is his second round of radiation therapy; the first round successfully shrunk his 10 cm tumor down to 6 cm.  Vets are hoping it will continue to shrink, but are prepared to do surgery if it does not. 

The article is reasonably in depth about cancer treatment for animals and carries lots of Tsavo pictures!  Definitely read it if you have a chance.  Also, had the cancer spread to other areas of his body, the vets wanted it to be known that they would have put him down rather than suffer.  Since his chances of recovery are excellent, this course of treatment was decided. 

Link to article: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jul/08/ut-uses-targeted-radiation-to-tackle-lions-tumor/

Color Changing Nails!

While in Puerto Rico, my husband and I stumbled upon a store in Old San Juan that looked suspiciously like a store I stumbled upon in Venice Beach, Florida.  Okay, so we failed a little at finding unique souvenirs, but they were at least cool souvenirs!

The store, Del Sol, sells articles that change color in the sunlight.  Yes, think back to those Hypercolor days!  They have a large assortment of t-shirts, but also sunglasses (the frames change!), hair clips, earrings, and sandals.  Even the bag we put our purchases in changed from white to pale pink in the sunlight.

However, my most favorite product: color changing nail polish.  This store had a large variety and I finally settled on a pale pink that turned a more mauve-y pink in the sunlight.  Very fun.  I nearly bought a silver glitter polish that became bright red glitter outside.

Del Sol website: www.delsol.com

Icebergs for drinking water?

When pieces of glaciers break off and venture into open sea on their own, they are called icebergs.  While they are floating in a salty sea, icebergs and glaciers alike are made from frozen snow (or freshwater) meaning that it is drinkable water if melted.  Icebergs can range in size from a small car (growler) to a something larger than three football fields (very large).  Instead of wrecking ships or migrating southward to melt into the salty ocean, it has been proposed that icebergs should be utilized as a fresh drinking water supply.

The process isn't so straightforward and seems to mostly be a hypothesis at this point, but the idea has been floated (hehe, good pun!)  Icebergs could be wrapped in plastic to keep them from melting and somehow pushed/hauled/coaxed to an appropriate processing area.  It's something that companies are looking into further!

Article about icebergs for drinking water: http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/13-08-icebergs-for-drinking-water.htm

Phosphorescent Bays

My husband and I are currently traveling in Puerto Rico.  I desperately want to go zip-lining in the rainforest; he wants to show me the phosphorescent bays (also called bioluminescent bays).  We may not make it there this trip, but I have spent some time reading about them.  Holy amaz-a-balls.  They are gorgeous!

The protist dinoflagellate lives in the bays and upon a drop in pH (more easily defined on tours as "agitation of the waters") a molecule binds to a protein in the organism and emits a blue light.  These little creatures can use this to scare their predators - very cool.  For humans, the mechanism is beautiful to watch. 

A few of these bays exist in Puerto Rico and are really popular destination spots.  You can read more about them here:

Article on the bays: http://suite101.com/article/bioluminescent-bays-of-puerto-rico-a12954

Website for one of the bays: http://www.biobay.com/

Here are a few pictures:

Touch Screen Braille

With the advent of touchscreen phones, typing messages without the benefit of a tactile keyboard meant that the blind had an infinitely harder time typing.  Yes, a keyboard comes up on an iPhone, for example, but there's no raised markers to properly orient the fingers or edges of keys to be sure what buttons they are hitting. 

A new application called BrailleTouch has recently been released that allows the blind to type in Braille code quickly and efficiently.  They are able to send text messages as quickly as sighted people.  Of course, those who understand the Braille alphabet are also able to send text messages now without looking at their screens...

This video is excellent at demonstrating how it works - I was having a hard time visualizing how the phone should be held and where the fingers need to be placed.

Supertasters

The compound 6-n-propylthiouracil (also known as PROP) elicits three different reactions in people: no flavor, unpleasantness, or intense bitterness.  Those in the "intense bitterness" category are labeled supertasters and are quite sensitive to certain foods.  In fact, they "taste" differently than the majority of the population.  For example, coffee and hoppy beer might also be quite bitter.  Scientists have linked this supertasting ability to the gene TAS2R28, a taste receptor protein found in our cells.

Read more!   http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/taste4.htm

Henna Heals

This isn't strictly science, but it deals with women's baldness from either alopecia or cancer treatments.  Sometimes it's good for scientists to take a step back and see the more human side of the diseases they study.

Henna Heals is an organization started by Frances Darwin.  Artists use the bald scalp as a canvas for intricate and gorgeous Henna designs, then photographers capture the beauty of the woman.  These henna crowns bring life back to an area of the body where effects of the disease are most apparent and hopefully restores some confidence in its victims. 

Here is the Henna Heals website with more information: http://hennaheals.ca/about-us/

Here is an article that provides an overview and some stunning photographs: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2149916/The-stunning-henna-crowns-helping-cancer-victims-come-terms-hair-loss.html

Here is a slideshow of their work:  http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/05/henna-crowns-cancer