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Research

U=(N/T)M*G: Overload

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To quote one of the science articles I found on this week’s topic: “Biology is really one big horror story.” And some of the links you find herein are pretty damn creepy, too. From the voodoo Queens of New Orleans to the always classic Night of the Living Dead, zombies are a science fiction and horror staple. And I know what you’re going to say. “Tabitha, what do zombies have to do with science? Because that’s crazy talk.” That is sorta true, after a fashion. It depends on what part of science one looks at. Shambling, rotting, undead husks of … Read more

SCIENCE: Sheep Grown in Artificial Wombs

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Lamb Artificial Womb

Eight fetal lambs were successfully developed to term in artificial wombs at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, in a study whose results were published last week in the journal Nature Communications. They were equivalent in human terms to 22 to 24 weeks of gestation at the start of the experiment, providing a potential template for the care of extremely premature infants, who represent about 6 percent of premature births in the United States, which make up about 10 percent of all births. The remarkable feat was accomplished through the use of “Biobags” that mimic the natural conditions of … Read more

Where No Gay Has Gone Before: Fashionistas in Space!

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When many of us hear the word ‘fabrics’, we immediately think of avant-garde, haute couture dresses, the latest fashions from Paris, or ‘who-is-wearing-who’ on the Red Carpet.  In space exploration, however, fabrics have more applications than for just snazzy clothes, like antennas, spacesuits and shields for spacecraft. Raul Polit Casillas, a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is the son of a fashion designer from Spain, so he grew up familiar with fabrics.  Now he is applying his knowledge and skills to develop woven metal fabrics for applications in space. The fabrics that Polit Casillas and … Read more

SCIENCE: Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events

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Jet-Stream-NASA

The Polar jet stream carries weather systems around the northern hemisphere. New research finds that warming in the atmosphere due to carbon pollution is disrupting its flow and contributing to dangerous extreme weather events. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio President Donald Trump may be trying to scrub his predecessor’s initiatives to fight climate change from just about every corner of the federal government — Exhibit A being this week’s executive order aimed at undoing Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan — but the reality of the climate crisis is not going away. And the dangers we’re facing may … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Plague

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You say the word plague, and most people’s eyes light up with horror or interest. Because, despite numerous plagues over the course of human history, only one really springs to mind with that one word. One that doesn’t need an introduction. I’m talking about the Black Plague. The Black Death, in and of itself, has had its day in a wide variety of books of both fiction and nonfiction types, even stretching into urban legends to this day. The horror of this disease is well known and used to great effect. As Ducky in NCIS once told us “The infected … Read more

SCIENCE: If An Asteroid Target’s Earth, We’re…

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asteroid - pixabay

It’s the stuff of science fiction: Scientists discover that an asteroid is heading for Earth, and we don’t have any measures in place to prevent the space rock from hitting us. But this scenario is actually more plausible than many people realize.= There are about 15,000 asteroids in our immediate galactic neighborhood. On March 2, astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spotted a 10-foot-wide space rock that passed Earth, “diving in closer than many communications and weather satellites,” Space.com reports. The asteroid came within 9,000 miles of Earth, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. The moon, by comparison, is about 239,000 miles … Read more

SCIENCE: 83 Genetic Mutations That Help Determine Your Height

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height pixabay

Ever wonder how much of your height you inherited from your parents? A large-scale genetic study published recently in the journal Nature is helping shed some light on the factors that determine whether a person grows to be 6-feet-1 or 5-feet-2. While scientists already had a good idea of the most common genetic factors that contribute to height, the new findings uncover a number of rare genetic alterations that can play a surprisingly major role in human growth. Using data from the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits consortium (a group also known as GIANT), scientists from the Broad Institute at … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: NPS

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Something pretty awesome happened a couple of weeks ago. Well, it started with something very bad, and led to awesome. And I never thought I’d see the day. Donald Trump gagged scientists working for the government. I don’t mean he put a hold on any official statements from departments that did scientific research until he could get a handle on what was going on n those areas. I mean he gagged the individual scientists. That’s the bad part. Ordering scientists to without information, especially when it’s taxpayer funded data, is unprecedented in this country to my knowledge. But a few … Read more

New Discoveries Day

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New Discoveries Day

Hey all, Welcome to New Discoveries Day – a day once a month (usually on the last day of the month) when we discuss recent discoveries that fascinate us and that could spawn plot bunnies (or plot squirrels or plot mongeese – your plot animal of choice). So chime in and let us know about any new discoveries you ran across in the last month – links are always appreciated. Thanks to Freddy MacKay for the great idea! –Scott Come Join the Chat!

U=(N/T)M*G: MDMA

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Yeah, I wrote those ridiculous letters for this post, knowing full well what they mean. And yes, I also know that knee-jerk reaction I had when I first read those letters in conjunction to anything having to do with medicine. For those that don’t know, MDMA is more commonly known as Ecstasy. I personally know of it’s short, sordid history as a party drug because my sister and a couple of my friends. I especially remember a party out in the desert of my junior year where I babysat a boy not much older than me while he was rolling. … Read more