sagan|sense

Benefits Of Bike Riding When they invented the bike for the...

inspirement — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:30:48 -0400

Benefits Of Bike Riding

When they invented the bike for the first time, they had no idea that a time will come when it will have all these benefits, otherwise its price would have been too high to afford! — Here is my new infographic on the “Benefits Of Bike Riding”…

➤ Runs on Fat Not Fuel
➤ Reduces Stress
➤ Reduces Risk of Diabetes
➤ Reduces Risk of Blood Pressure
➤ Increases Muscle Tone
➤ Gives You Legs of Steel
➤ Helps You See The World Differently
➤ Unlimited Free Parking
➤ Faster & Easier Than Walking
➤ Zero Emission
➤ No Noise Pollution
➤ It Feels Like Flying
➤ It Carries Your Goodies Home
➤ Whizzes Past Traffic Jams
➤ Puts A Big Fat Smile on Your Face
➤ Bye Bye Spare Tire
➤ Reduces Roadkill & Saves Animals

Enlarge This Graphic : http://is.gd/FSF6R8

These photographs document several of the various types of mould...

inspirement — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:30:39 -0400

These photographs document several of the various types of mould which can be found growing on your average loaf of bread, given enough time and neglect. I am interested in the inherent contradiction of finding aesthetic beauty in something almost universally perceived as disgusting. I was also fascinated by the extraordinary structure and microscopic nature of these life forms, something that those of us not involved in the biological sciences are probably only vaguely aware of.

Desert ‘fairy circles’ mystery solved Termites appear to be...

inspirement — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:30:44 -0400

Desert ‘fairy circles’ mystery solved

Termites appear to be feeding on the grass roots to create the characteristic rings, but scientists aren’t sure why termites are eating in circles.

Periodial Cicadas Coming to U.S. East Coast This...

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:31:12 -0400

Periodial Cicadas Coming to U.S. East Coast This Spring

Periodical cicadas (Magicicada septendecim), the cousins of katydids and crickets, have a unique breeding schedule, and after 17 years of living underground, a large group of them are preparing to fill the skies along the U.S. East Coast, from North Carolina up to Connecticut.

Normally, periodic cicadas spend their lives in complete darkness underground, sucking the fluid out of the roots of trees and shrubs. At the end of their life, they emerge, breed, and almost instantly die, completing a lifecycle that humans have studied for centuries….

Cicadas are easy to anticipate because of their extremely consistent mating behavior. Every 13 or 17 years, depending on the population, species of periodic cicadas will emerge as part of a specific brood in order to look for a mate.

The group expected this spring, known as Brood 2, are the offspring of cicadas last seen in 1996. If they follow the same tracks as their parents, they’ll emerge in Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

The genetic mechanism that prompts periodical cicadas to emerge kicks in every 17 years (or every 13 years for other broods) when the ground warms up to 64°F (18°C).

Some researchers think the timing of a brood’s emergence is a defensive mechanism—appearing at infrequent intervals means that it’s harder for would-be predators like birds and squirrels to anticipate when the insects will be available to eat.

Others suggest that the 13- and 17-year cycles, prime numbers in mathematics, help cicadas avoid parasites. A 2004 study from the University of Campinas in Brazil suggested that a cicada with a 17-year cycle and a parasite with a two-year cycle, for example, would meet only twice each century.

But not all cicadas breed on this multiyear cycle. Some, like the tibicen cicadas, work on an annual rotation, leaving them more susceptible to predators like the cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus).

The wasps know exactly when to expect the annual cicadas in late summer or early fall. The wasp lays its eggs on the cicadas, and the larvae slowly kill the cicada and feed off its carcass.

(Read more)

Yep. I’ve grown up with cicadas all of my life. I’ll be looking forward to this. I’ll probably retrieve one or two, along with their shells/skin they shed away in order to look at it and photograph it with my Celestron Digital Microscope.

TSA: perplexed, talking to another agent TSA:...

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:22:57 -0400

TSA: *perplexed, talking to another agent*

TSA: “….it’s not a threat” *tilts head*

me: “is that my bag?”

TSA: “yeah, what is that?”

me: “it’s a telescope”

TSA: “a telescope, ohh, it’s the whole thing…”

me: “yeah, just without the tripod”

TSA: “how powerful is that telescope?”

me: *laughs* “it’s only a few mirrors, ma’m”

Me when those around me don't share my excitement about science

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:15:58 -0400

astrogasmic:

Communication & posts may be slowed or sporadic until June...

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:18:38 -0400

Communication & posts may be slowed or sporadic until June 1st. Unless I end up in a wormhole…you’ll never even know I was gone :)

Keep it sciencey everyone.

Ad Astra*

Photo

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:45:06 -0400

The science of how your mind-wandering is robbing you of...

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:44:58 -0400

The science of how your mind-wandering is robbing you of happiness.

New Insights on How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Arms Spiral...

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:44:53 -0400

New Insights on How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Arms

Spiral galaxies are some of the most beautiful and photogenic residents of the universe. Our own Milky Way is a spiral. Our solar system and Earth reside somewhere near one of its filamentous arms. And nearly 70 percent of the galaxies closest to the Milky Way are spirals.

But despite their common shape, how galaxies like ours get and maintain their characteristic arms has proved to be an enduring puzzle in astrophysics. How do the arms of spiral galaxies arise? Do they change or come and go over time?

Read More.

New clues about how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)...

inspirement — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:44:41 -0400

New clues about how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) develops

Role of cells other than motor neurons much larger than anticipated

Johns Hopkins scientists say they have evidence from animal studies that a type of central nervous system cell other than motor neurons plays a fundamental role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal degenerative disease. The discovery holds promise, they say, for identifying new targets for interrupting the disease’s progress.

In a study described online in Nature Neuroscience, the researchers found that, in mice bred with a gene mutation that causes human ALS, dramatic changes occurred in oligodendrocytes—cells that create insulation for the nerves of the central nervous system—long before the first physical symptoms of the disease appeared. Oligodendrocytes located near motor neurons—cells that govern movement—died off at very high rates, and new ones regenerated in their place were inferior and unhealthy.

The researchers also found, to their surprise, that suppressing an ALS-causing gene in oligodendrocytes of mice bred with the disease—while still allowing the gene to remain in the motor neurons—profoundly delayed the onset of ALS. It also prolonged survival of these mice by more than three months, a long time in the life span of a mouse. These observations suggest that oligodendrocytes play a very significant role in the early stage of the disease.

“The abnormalities in oligodendrocytes appear to be having a negative impact on the survival of motor neurons,” says Dwight E. Bergles, Ph.D., a co-author and a professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “The motor neurons seem to be dependent on healthy oligodendrocytes for survival, something we didn’t appreciate before.”

“These findings teach us that cells we never thought had a role in ALS not only are involved but also clearly contribute to the onset of the disease,” says co-author Jeffrey D. Rothstein, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins and director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Brain Science Institute.

Scientists have long believed that oligodendrocytes functioned only as structural elements of the central nervous system. They wrap around nerves, making up the myelin sheath that provides the “insulation” that allows nerve signals to be transmitted rapidly and efficiently. However, Rothstein and others recently discovered that oligodendrocytes also deliver essential nutrients to neurons, and that most neurons need this support to survive.

The Johns Hopkins team of Bergles and Rothstein published a paper in 2010 that described in mice with ALS an unexpected massive proliferation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in the spinal cord’s motor neurons, and that these progenitors were being mobilized to make new oligodendrocytes. The researchers believed that these cells were multiplying because of an injury to oligodendrocytes, but they weren’t sure what was happening. Using a genetic method of tracking the fate of oligodendrocytes, in the new study, the researchers found that cells present in young mice with ALS were dying off at an increasing rate in concert with advancing disease. Moreover, the development of the newly formed oligodendrocytes was stalled and they were not able to provide motor neurons with a needed source of cell nutrients.

To determine whether the changes to the oligodendrocytes were just a side effect of the death of motor neurons, the scientists used a poison to kill motor neurons in the ALS mice and found no response from the progenitors, suggesting, says Rothstein, that it is the mutant ALS gene that is damaging oligodendrocytes directly.

Meanwhile, in separate experiments, the researchers found similar changes in samples of tissues from the brains of 35 people who died of ALS. Rothstein says it may be possible to see those changes early on in the disease and use MRI technology to follow progression.

“If our research is confirmed, perhaps we can start looking at ALS patients in a different way, looking for damage to oligodendrocytes as a marker for disease progression,” Rothstein says. “This could not only lead to new treatment targets but also help us to monitor whether the treatments we offer are actually working.”

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named for the Yankee baseball great who died from it, affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. The nerve cells waste away or die, and can no longer send messages to muscles, eventually leading to muscle weakening, twitching and an inability to move the arms, legs and body. Onset is typically around age 50 and death often occurs within three to five years of diagnosis. Some 10 percent of cases are hereditary.

There is no cure for ALS and there is only one FDA-approved drug treatment, which has just a small effect in slowing disease progression and increasing survival.

Even though myelin loss has not previously been thought to occur in the gray matter, a region in the brain where neurons process information, the researchers in the new study found in ALS patients a significant loss of myelin in one of every three samples of human tissue taken from the brain’s gray matter, suggesting that the oligodendrocytes were abnormal. It isn’t clear if the oligodendrocytes that form this myelin in the gray matter play a different role than in white matter—the region in the brain where signals are relayed.

The findings further suggest that clues to the treatment of other diseases long believed to be focused in the brain’s gray matter—such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease—may be informed by studies of diseases of the white matter, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Bergles says ALS and MS researchers never really thought their diseases had much in common before.

Oligodendrocytes have been under intense scrutiny in MS, Bergles says. In MS, the disease over time can transform from a remitting-relapsing form—in which myelin is attacked but then is regenerated when existing progenitors create new oligodendrocytes to re-form myelin—to a more chronic stage in which oligodendrocytes are no longer regenerated. MS researchers are working to identify new ways to induce the creation of new oligodendrocytes and improve their survival. “It’s possible that we may be able to dovetail with some of the same therapeutics to slow the progression of ALS,” Bergles says.

Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

ScienceCasts: Collision Course? A Comet Heads for MarsA comet is...

inspirement — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:30:46 -0400

ScienceCasts: Collision Course? A Comet Heads for Mars
A comet is heading for Mars, and there is a chance that it might hit the Red Planet in October 2014. An impact wouldn’t necessarily mean the end of NASA’s Mars program. But it would transform the program along with Mars itself.

via ScienceAtNASA

Photo

inspirement — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:57:51 -0400

Thoughts of a New World

inspirement — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:54:57 -0400

Thoughts of a New World: At the moment, people use money as a means of evaluating the world...

“A sense of wonder is not our only starting point. It can...

inspirement — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:40:30 -0400

“A sense of wonder is not our only starting point. It can also be our destination.”

Sharman Apt Russell | Anatomy of A Rose: Exploring the Secret Life of Flowers

I took the above photographs inside the nature center at...

inspirement — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:16:00 -0400

I took the above photographs inside the nature center at the wall of York, PA geology. More about the nature center below:

Nixon Park Nature Center is nestled in a stream valley about 5 miles south of York city. Secluded, yet nearby, this 181-acre park is the only one within the York County Park system set aside solely for wildlife and education allowing only foot traffic on the trails. The property offers habitats ranging from oak dominated dry hillsides to stream side forests to meadows and old fields. Three clear flowing streams and two small ponds add to the landscape. These aquatic habitats attract their own special animals from stunningly colored wood ducks to lumbering snapping turtles. A system of loop marked trails, offers a combination of habitats, topography and totals 6 miles.

Nixon Park’s centrally located 14,000 square foot Nature Center is rivalled by few other County Park systems. The combination museum and nature center has something for every nature lover. Housing a fine collection of stuffed, taxidermy mounts, the displays revolve around the nature of York County and animals from Africa, Northern Rockies and the Arctic. Built in two sections (1978 and 1992) the focuses are divided between the two wings. Anyone from outdoors person, to animal lover, to animal planet and discovery channel junky, from pre-schooler to senior learner will find something to suit their tastes.

The original center (1978) houses displays on York County Wildlife. With 80 bird mounts, including 28 waterfowl, 20 birds of prey and 32 songbirds, visitors can get a close look at many of the species that inhabit or visit York County throughout the year. The 20 mammal mounts show past and present inhabitants of the county. Additionally there are displays about: honey bees including a working observation hive, insects, reptiles including several live specimens, local Native American artifacts, mans role in preserving habitat, geology and soil. Housed in a building made to resemble a York County barn there truly is something for everyone’s interests. Seven large windows look out on the nature center’s feeding stations, stream and woods beyond. During the fall and winter the feeders attract 35 different species per year. Included in this portion of the nature center is the touch room whose revolving themes help young learners explore a habitat or animal group through hands on activities, puppet shows, a dress up box as well as a reading nook.

The main display room (1992) presents a collection of game mounts from around the world. Grouped into three main regions the displays focus on African, Northern Rocky and Arctic wildlife. Primarily the collection of William Koller, a York businessman, a visitor can stare in awe at a Polar Bear or a Kodiak Brown Bear both standing eight feet tall, as well as marvel at the smallest antelope from Africa or peer at a Hippopotamus exploding from its watering hole. The museum quality mounts are dramatically displayed in dioramas with fully painted backgrounds. These scenes depicting plant life, geology, climate and landscapes give the visitor’s eye a true feel of these diverse habitats. Display panels containing information about the individual animals as well as different ecological topics surround each diorama. Additional displays throughout this portion of the building include something for all ages. Visitors can learn more about specific animals or groups of animals, young visitors can measure themselves to life size animal drawings, work on their numbers or test their knowledge on the animal alphabet. The soaring dinosaur mural lets you look back at life from a bygone age.

Must Watch: Neil deGrasse Tyson Moderates a Debate on...

inspirement — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:30:00 -0400

Must Watch: Neil deGrasse Tyson Moderates a Debate on Nothingness

Its been said that something cannot come from nothing, but is “nothing” even conceivable?

If you’ve got two hours to kill on nothing, this is the video for you.

From How Space Stations Work: On May 14, 1973, NASA launched its...

inspirement — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:57:51 -0400

From How Space Stations Work:

On May 14, 1973, NASA launched its first space station — Skylab 1 — into orbit. During the launch, the station was damaged. A critical meteoroid shield and one of the station’s two main solar panels were ripped off and the other solar panel was not fully stretched out. That meant that Skylab had little electrical power and the internal temperature rose to 126 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius).

The first crew, Skylab2, was launched 10 days later to fix the ailing station. The crew consisted of Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Paul Weitz and Joseph Kerwin. The Skylab 2 astronauts stretched out the remaining solar panel and set up an umbrella-like sunshade to cool the station. With the station repaired, the astronauts spent 28 days in space conducting scientific and biomedical research.

Modified from the third stage of a Saturn V moon rocket, Skylab had the following parts:

Orbital workshop - living and working quarters for the crew

Airlock module - allowed access to the outside of the station

Multiple docking adapter - allowed more than one Apollo spacecraft to dock to the station at once (However, there were never any overlapping crews in the station.)

Apollo telescope mount - contained telescopes for observing the sun, stars and Earth (Keep in mind that the Hubble Space Telescope had not been built yet.)

Apollo spacecraft - command and service module for transporting the crew to and from the Earth’s surface

Skylab was manned by two additional crews. Skylab 3 consisted of Commander Alan Bean and astronauts Jack Lousma and Owen Garriot. They spent 59 days in space. The final crew, Skylab 4, consisted of Commander Gerald Carr and astronauts William Pogue and Edward Gibson. This crew spent 84 days in orbit, conducted experiments and photographed comet Kohoutek.

Skylab was never meant to be a permanent home in space, but rather a workshop where the United States could test the effects of long-duration space flights (that is, greater than the two weeks required to go to the moon) on the human body. When the flight of the third crew was finished, Skylab was abandoned. Skylab remained aloft until intense solar flare activity caused its orbit to decay sooner than expected. Skylab re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned over Australia in 1979.

Learn more about Skylab over at NASA’s mission hub. Image credit: NASA.

Lanzamiento del Skylab (NASA).

inspirement — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:54:35 -0400

Lanzamiento del Skylab (NASA).

Zombie Worms Mate Inside of Whale Bones by Carrie Arnold When it...

inspirement — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:30:00 -0400

Zombie Worms Mate Inside of Whale Bones

by Carrie Arnold

When it comes to the creepy factor, Osedax worms—nicknamed “zombie worms”—beat out even the goriest movies.

A recent study reveals that these faceless, mouthless worms enjoy making sweet, sweet love inside decomposing whale skeletons that have fallen to the bottom of the ocean floor.

Originally discovered off the coast of California in 2002, Osedax—whose name is derived from the Latin for “bone eating”—got its name for its peculiar living quarters: the bones of a decomposing gray whale. These deep-dwelling worms secrete acid to bore through the hard outer bones of whales and other large vertebrate skeletons to reach the nutritious oils within.

The weirdness doesn’t stop there. Unlike many species of animals, female Osedax worms are much larger than the males—so much larger, in fact, that 50 to 100 males can live inside the female in one of nature’s most bizarre harems…

(read more: National Geo)

(photo: Norio Miyamoto/Naturwissenschaften)

sagan|sense

Benefits Of Bike Riding When they invented the bike for the...

These photographs document several of the various types of mould...

Desert ‘fairy circles’ mystery solved Termites appear to be...

Periodial Cicadas Coming to U.S. East Coast This...

TSA: *perplexed, talking to another agent* TSA:...

Me when those around me don't share my excitement about science

Communication & posts may be slowed or sporadic until June...

Photo

The science of how your mind-wandering is robbing you of...

New Insights on How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Arms Spiral...

New clues about how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)...

New clues about how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) develops

ScienceCasts: Collision Course? A Comet Heads for MarsA comet is...

Photo

Thoughts of a New World

“A sense of wonder is not our only starting point. It can...

I took the above photographs inside the nature center at...

Must Watch: Neil deGrasse Tyson Moderates a Debate on...

From How Space Stations Work: On May 14, 1973, NASA launched its...

Lanzamiento del Skylab (NASA).

Zombie Worms Mate Inside of Whale Bones by Carrie Arnold When it...

TSA: perplexed, talking to another agent TSA:...