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CRISPR Alert!!, Vaccination Reactions, Free Will Ish, Jumping Moths, Wild Lizard Trainers, Handy Limpets, Re-Engineered Ants, Epigenetic Aging, Jazz Your Head, King Kong Couldn’t, How Catch Mosquitoes?, The Periodic Table, IQ Genes, Robo-Locusts, Waiter Weight, Wild Fig Story, And Much More!
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Welcome to TWIS! LIVE from STEM Fest 2016 in Manhattan!
Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!
The following hour of programming is brought to you by…
the good people of science.
Reminding you…
that Science is awesome.
And by the Highest IQ’s in the room fund –
Smart people supporting education outreach
“Because we’re smarter than everybody and that gets boring after awhile”…
And by the men and women with curious minds in society…
Who have no idea what the show is about, but can’t wait to find out…
Special mention also goes out to the Mainstream Media…
Who have so passionately failed to cover science news…
Most of the country remains ignorant of the progress that is taking place…
And last but not least…
thank you to the listening audience…
Without you there truly wouldn’t be any
This Week In Science…
Coming Up Next…
CRISPR Alert!!
The gene-editing technique has reduced symptoms in mice with a disease similar to Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy.
Vaccination Reactions
In an analysis of people who received the H1N1 flu vaccine in 2009 it was discovered that age did not determine likelihood of a poor response, but that those who did report negative side-effects after receiving the vaccine showed higher levels of certain B-cells both before and after the event. This suggests that we might be able to determine which individuals are more likely to have adverse reactions before they actually happen.
Free will after all…
I have the will to NOT come up with a summary because Justin refuses to write his own. Thank you, conscious brain.
Holy jumping cocoons, batman!
Wasp larvae inside their cocoons will jump into favorable conditions, making our human babies seem even more helpless…
Training wild lizards, to cover our mistakes
Researchers are teaching wild monitor lizards in Australia that invasive toads are yucky. By feeding them young toads, they simply lose their lunch, and their taste for toad, instead of kicking the bucket.
Hands-on limpets more receptive to sex changes
Limpets respond to direct contact, and not chemical cues, to find out when to transition from male to female. This means limpet courtship may be more complicated than we thought…
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Re-Engineered ants…
Biologists were able reprogram ants using very simple epigenetic controls. Are humans next?
Telomeres And Age
A study on birds links older parents to shorter telomeres in offspring.
Epigenes From Dads
Evidence suggests that tRNAs that hitch a ride on sperm as they travel down the epididymus alter protein expression in offspring and affect metabolism.
The intelligence genes have been discovered…
Can you imagine a world populated by intelligent people?
King Kong Couldn’t
The inability to adapt to changing environmental conditions meant the end of the giant ape around 100,000 years ago.
Robot locust springs up to new heights
Researchers in Israel have designed a small, fairly cheap robot that could revolutionize search and rescue. Who doesn’t want to be saved by a locust?!
Trying to lose weight? Avoid that chubby waiter
A new study has shown that when being served by overweight restaurant staff, we are more likely to drink more, and order dessert. Will we soon only see XL+ waiters and waitresses at the Applebees??
How Catch Mosquitoes?
Use bait that smells like people. Scientists presenting at the SICB meeting this week found a species of orchid that emits compounds that are also contained in human body odor, potentially to attract Tiger mosquitoes for pollination purposes.
The Periodic Table
The 7th row of the periodic table has been completed with the acceptance of four new short-lived, heavy elements by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry: 113 – ununtrium, 115 – ununpentium, 117 – ununseptium, and 118 – ununoctium. Official names for the elements have not yet been determined, and ideas are being solicited. There is currently a petition on Change.org to name 117 Octarine, the color of magic, in honor of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.
Playing jazz…
it’s all in your head…
Don’t Eat Wild Figs
Why? Well, it’s complicated… and involves worms. Tiny roundworms hitchhike to wild figs on the backs of fig pollinating wasps. Once there, it’s been found, they exploit different niches within the fig though a diversity of mouth shapes: differently shaped mouths allow them to feed on either bacteria, yeast, or other roundworms within the fig. The proportion of certain mouth shapes responds to changes in food availability within this intricate fig ecosystem.
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