| |
|
The
Weekly Science Talk Radio Program
With listeners in over 60 countries worldwide
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A Week of BIG News
Listen to it all Here!
Fermi finds antimatter...
The Fermi Space Telescope focused on Earth and spotted traces of antimatter in several lightning flashes emanating from two storms. Gamma rays and x-rays have been spotted previously, but never antimatter. This opens up a whole new question for scientists about the electromagnetic workings of lightning.
It's a novel nova!
First noticed in 2002, but classified as a Type 1a supernova, a white dwarf exploded with the light of billions of suns. Published in Science, research now reclassifies this dwarf as a .1a supernova, a type of supernova only theorized to exist a couple of years ago.
Genetics build a family tree for extinct island fox...
Using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from museum specimens, scientists pieced together the family tree of the Faulkland Island Fox, which went extinct over 140 years ago. Previously thought to have been introduced to the Faulkland Islands by humans, the evidence now suggests that it managed to get there itself over 70,000 years ago. And, that its island exile may have saved it from an extinction event during the late-Pleistocene.
Altruistic ants protect nestmates...
While ants can be quite vicious, when it comes to helping their nestmates they would risk their own lives. This study found that nestmates went out of their way to rescue a trapped ant, and that simple responses to chemical signatures can't explain all of their actions.
Virus surprises in the icy Antarctic...
In an icy lake in the Antarctic exists a thriving ecosystem, which ebbs and flows with the seasons. Surprisingly, the dynamics are tied to a varied population of DNA viruses, some never before known to scientists.
Uracil in the lab...In the lab, NASA scientists stuck pyrimidine (a polycylic aromatic hydrocarbon, which has been detected all over the universe) in ice and exposed it to the harsh conditions of outer space. They found that it doesn't break down as easily when in ice as in open space. In fact, it combines with other compound and forms uracil (a nucleic acid found in RNA, and also considered a building block for life), which suggests a pathway of how uracil could have been created in outer space.PreNatal Phonetics...French babies cry differently than German babies. Scientists compared 30 French and 30 German newborns. They found that the French babies cry with a rising melody contour, while the German babies with a falling melody contour. This matches speech patterns in the respective languages suggesting that they learned the inflections while in the womb. It's interesting to note that the sense of hearing is the first sense developed.Synthetic HIV solutions...Synthetic molecules were created to target HIV and prostate cancer. In rats, synthetic antibody recruiting molecules, ARMH and ARMP, were used to bind antibodies (segments of protein present in the blood stream). The molecules act as a big flag indicating the cells with HIV or prostate cancer. Whereas the immune system normally ignores the infected or cancerous cells, the synthetic molecules instigate an immune attack.Extreme Exposure to Food Advertisments...Researchers at UC Davis analyzed food advertisements watched by children. Out of 5724 commercials 1562 were food-related... overall, about 5 per hour. Junk food counted for more than 70% of the food-related ads. Children's networks had the highest percent, consisting mostly of ads for sugary cereals, sweets, and high fat foods. Saturday mornings had the most food-related ads with one every 8 minutes.TWIS Book Club is currently reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann-- scientific history of the Americas:
Donate to TWIS! We thank you for your support:   
Let us know what you think and follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki
Help Get The Word Out About TWIS!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig
current science news posted by bob at 11/10/2009 10:26:00 AM
Science News Archives
Info
on the This Week in Science Podcast
TWIS
- serving up cutting edge science on the radio since
2000 |
|
|
Scientists
& Engineers for America
RSS
