Helium Voice

Why does your voice change when you inhale helium? Watch the video and give your thoughts on the explanation.

I Don't Believe In Evolution

I don't believe in evolution. It is not a matter of faith. One should or should not believe in it. Working with evolution demands understanding how it explains the development of new species.

Do you have a strong belief one way or another about evolution? If so, do you understand what evolution is? Please post comments telling what your belief is if you have one and what evolution is as you understand it.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a registered trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Dating The Andes

So how old is a mountain? How would you go about finding out? The age of the Andes in South America is interesting to scientists in lots of ways. Biologists could use the date to figure out speciation events, and geologists want to know about the seismic activity in the region.

Scientists have looked at isotopes in soil to determine the age of the mountain chain. However recent research casts doubt on that estimate.

Click here to read original research.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a registered trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Forecasting Monsoons

The monsoons are famous for blowing across the Indian Ocean changing direction every six months. Their impact has affected human civilization from the beginning. Indian culture flourished under the monsoon's influence. Frankincense trees grow in the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula watered by mist from the monsoons that condenses in the mountains of Dhofar.

The intensity of the the monsoons directly affects nearly one third of the world's population. Predicting variation from year to year is difficult. It has been hard to establish patterns in the monsoon, because it is such a complex weather phenomena. Using tree ring and historical data researchers have established some factors that may aid in future monsoon studies.

Click here to read original research.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Learning To Read

Learning to read seems very complicated, yet most people are able to acquire the basics by a very early age. Although we have formal instruction in school, young children are primed for literacy by imitating those around them. For example infants raised in families with people who read will pick up books and move their eyes from left to right.

Click here to read original research.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Learning Factors

Grammar, structure, and argumentation are identified as the three main aspects of a scientific article. Are these three all inclusive? What other factors are necessary? How about style?

Click here to read original research.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Simplifying Lignin

Biology is not all about altering genes. Gene tinkering to make a new product is engineering. It uses research to achieve its goal. Many people think of this as being science. Biology is the study of life. Its focus is to understand what is going on. Manipulating life is not the purpose. Biology as all science "when it comes down to it . . . is just trying to quantify the complications of the puzzle" to quote Wit.

The research covered in this episode compares the lignin synthesis pathway in Arabidopsis to that in Lycophyta. Arabidopsis is the main plant used in genetic research. It is a flowering plant. Lycophyta and the flowering plants diverged before plants started making seeds. They have very different reproductive strategies.

Most genetic research is conducted on plants perceived to be economically important. A lot of times scientists have to solicit funding based on what financial advantage will be gained and not on the pure knowledge that will be learned. This study of the genetics of the Lycophyta lignin pathway was indicated as being helpful in learning how to make flowering plant by-products easier to deal with in industry.

Click here to read original research.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Ancient Roman Booty

Found things are great! Imagine coming across sunken treasure. Mostly we would want it to contain gold. It would be disappointing to discover it held a cargo of lead.

The lead found in an ancient Roman ship actually has an unexpected value. It is less radioactive than lead found on the surface today. This allows it to be used in quantum research.

Those Roman sailors could not have known their cargo would be more valuable because of the shipwreck.

Click here to read more.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Salmonella and HIV

Our immune systems are amazing. They keep us from being attacked by outside invaders and our own cells that have gone rouge. Those with HIV have special concerns, because the virus makes their immune systems we are still trying to understand.

This research into those infected with HIV and Salmonella gives insight into unusual immune inhibitions that can make people really sick.

Click here to read original research.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Transcendence

Transcendence is a state of mind. Could it also be a "state of brain"? Researchers detect part of the cortex explains our transcendent feelings.

Click here to read more.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Stuttering Gene

A metabolic cause of stuttering may have been identified. Those who stutter seem to share mutations in 3 genes that control part of their metabolism. This research strengthens the case that stuttering is a biological and not a behavioral condition.

Click here to read more.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Sharing Food

Sharing is a simple idea we teach children, but how many of us actually practice it ourselves? False killer whales have been observed sharing food with other whales and on occasion humans after hunting.

Considering that the whales' habitat is threatened by human activity, we should consider learning a lesson in sharing with these creatures.

Click here to read articles by the researcher.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Fatigue

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a silent disease. Those who have it suffer, but no cause is known and there are no visible symptoms. It is hard for a lot of people who don't have it to understand what it's like to have CFS.

Recently it was proposed that a mouse virus was the cause. This attracted attention, because it having a target gave hope for a treatment and there would be something tangible to understand about the illness. Research now shows that XMRV (the mouse virus) is not likely the cause of CFS. The search for what this illness is continues.

Click here to read article.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Elephant Walk

Elephants don't do jumping jacks or skip, but they can run fast and walk across a continent. Elephant legs are designed to help them migrate long distances and carry up to 5 tons. Watching an elephant walk one can imagine they are gliding. They distribute weight differently from us with each step. Research recently confirmed that they step more lightly than us (relatively speaking in terms of percent of body weight). To do the research the elephants had to be video taped using motion capture, and each step had to be measured using a very large scale. The attached article should have a photograph of the set-up.

Click here to read original article.

Brain Research

A lot of people are afraid of going to the doctor. Fear of doctors and medical research is impairing scientists' ability to conduct brain studies in China. Some have sought to relax the rigor demanded of scientific articles before they can be published. Others are trying to piggy-back brain research on patients seeking treatment for other conditions.

What information should doctors be allowed to share about their patients for medical research?

Click here to read article.

Antibiotics

Finish your antibiotics!

Not taking the complete course gives bacteria the chance to become resistant to treatment. Scientists finally know how this happens.

When bacteria are exposed to non-lethal doses of antibiotics they release reactive oxygen into their cells. This causes mutations in the DNA. Some of these mutations provide the bacteria protection against the drugs.

Doctors prescibe doses of antibiotics that will kill the infecting bacteria. When we don't take all the medicine as prescribed our bodies contain just enough of the drugs to cause the mutations but not enough to clear ourselves of the infection.

Do yourself and the rest of humanity a favor and take your doctor's advice. These resistant bacteria can spread to other people and endanger their lives.

Click here to read more.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Whales and Diatoms

Whales are the worlds largest animals and diatoms are single celled organisms. Despite their small size, diatoms have had a big impact on whales. Filter feeding whales siphon diatoms out of sea water and eat them. In their feeding quest, whales follow diatom blooms. Population habits of diatoms make whales adjust to get the best meals. Overtime whales have evolved to best exploit diatom patterns.

Click here to read the first research abstract and here to read the second research abstract.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Wireless Regulation

What does asking who owns the wireless networks have to do with science? The way the government regulates who can own them determines the return on investment those owners get. This affects quality of service, because a more competitive market should make the most successful be those providing the best service. Economic researchers looked at market data before and after regulation changes in the secondary market (resale of network rights.) The findings are consistent with theory.

Click here for research abstract.

Copyright 2010 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Human Routes

Privacy is defined anew by each generation. We become comfortable with revealing personal information depending on the demands of social norms. Whether it is idyll gossip or shopping habits being tracked at the grocery store, other people try to predict what we will do by studying what we appear to have done.

If we look closely at what it is people can learn about us, we see that we actually share lots of details about our activity. This study shows that knowing simple facts about the members of a population's current location can be used to predict future actions. This work can be applied to understanding daily movements and spread of infectious diseases.

Click here to read research abstract.

Copyright 2009 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Wait Stop Go

How do you think DNA makes us who we are? And how does it make organisms different from each other?

Recent research suggests that DNA controlling when our genes turn on and off have greater effect in speciation than mutations.

Click here for original article.

Y No Chromosome?

How functional is the Y chromosome? It is regarded as fractured X chromosome by many.

Research suggest that mutations in the Y chromosome have had dramatic effects on human evolution.

P.S. My apologies to chimpanzees for suggesting they are disgusting.


Click here to read research abstract.

Crazy Dogs

Some dogs exhibit a behavior called Canine Compulsive Disorder (CCD). It is similar to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in humans. The dogs suffering from CCD may harm themselves and annoy their owners.

A recent study looked for the underlying genetic markers that are associated with CCD. Knowing this allows for future genetic research into CCD that may give insight to OCD in humans.

So what do you think? Can a dog be crazy?

Click here to read original article.

ß-Thalassemia Gene Therapy

Gene therapy has gotten one step closer to being used regularly in main stream medicine. A teenager has received a gene that produces a protein to correct the effects of thalassemia. Two years on he is still benefiting from the transfusion. There is an indication of increased growth signals. These may create problems in the future.

Manipulating genes for medicine has good intentions. What are your thoughts on the use and development of this technology?







Click here for summary.

Exoplanets

Extra-solar planets or exoplanets are planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. Even though science fiction has explored their existence for decades, the first one was only identified in the 1990's. The first one's discovered are large gas planets like Jupiter.

Exoplanets are difficult to detect, so astronomers have to get information in indirect ways. A common technique for looking for them now is to observe what kind of wobble the planets cause their star to have. Just as the Sun's gravity keeps Earth in orbit, the Earth's gravity is pulling not quite as hard on the Sun.

This study found (for the first time) planets within the region of other stars that would allow for temperatures at which water could exist. The densities of the exoplanets was also determined.

Click here to read research abstract.

Abiotic Sugar

Sugar powers life. Our cells use sugar to create ATP. ATP is what we use as energy.

This study describes possible mechanisms for sugars to form in an abiotic (or pre-life) Earth.

How do we know something is alive? As humans we have an understanding of what it means to be alive and we recognize it when we see it. However we are unable to describe or define it in precise terms. What is your understanding of life? How do you know something is alive?

Click here to read research abstract.

Alligator Lungs

A new understanding of how alligators breathe informs what we think about dinosaur physiology. It has been know for some time now that birds have a unique unidirectional method of breathing. They inhale through their mouths or nostrils like us, but what happens next is different. Our lungs expand and contract with a single opening the way a balloon inflates or deflates. Birds lungs once they take in air move it through unidirectional tubes. There is no reversing of air flow.

It has been assumed that birds developed this trait in response to the aerobic demands of flying. The recent study of alligator lungs indicates that the trait probably appeared in an earlier ancestor from which both birds and alligators evolved. That indicates that dinosaurs likely had unidirectional lungs, since it is thought they also developed from the same predecessor as birds and alligators. Lungs are soft tissue, so they are not well preserved in the fossil record. Scientists would not previously had evidence about unidirectional lungs for dinosaurs.

Click here to read original abstract about alligator lungs.

Dry Ice Rivers On Mars

Erosion and shifting large boulders have been observed occurring on Mars. The patterns indicate there are seasonal rivers in the areas where this is happening, but there is no direct observation of flowing water. By watching these areas over time and using data about temperature scientists think there are crusts of dry ice forming. These crusts grow so large and heavy as to shift the soil beneath it. This causes the patterns that look like river beds.

Click here to read a summary of the article.

Exporting Crazy

Ethan Watters in his book Crazy Like Us asserts that the United States is exporting ideas about mental health, and in the process is redefining people in other cultures as ill.
Basically he's saying the US is forcing its culture on other countries and is motivated by drug companies that make a big profit off of new markets. Watters says that physicians are treating patients with an American paradigm when it doesn't fit. A lot of mental illness apparently is defined by social norms, so a doctor needs to be culturally aware of the patient's background.
What do you think? Have you read the book?
Click here to find Crazy Like Us on Amazon.

Parasitic Wasps Decoded

We are all familiar with wasps and fear their painful sting. Bugs have more to fear from the sting of a wasp than we do. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs in other insects bodies. The eggs hatch, and the larva feed on the host insect eating it from the inside out. Often the unfortunate bug that has the babies wasps inside die. After feeding the young wasps mature to adulthood, break through the exoskeleton of the host, fly off, mate and continue the cycle.

Agriculturalists have found parasitic wasps useful in getting certain pests out of their fields. Wasps that lay their eggs in other insects generally target certain species, so it is important to understand the relationship to best utilize wasps as pest control.

Scientists with the Nasonia Genome Working Group have decoded the DNA of three species of parasitic wasps in the genus Nasonia. These species are closely related. That means the DNA can be used to understand evolutionary differences between the wasps and how the differences came about. This information will be useful to Agronomists trying to make better use of parasitic wasps as well as geneticists trying to understand the mechanisms that factor into evolution.

Click here to read the research abstract.

copyright 2009 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Peopling Asia

Current understanding of human evolution is that people originated in north Africa and migrated all around the globe. This is opposed to the belief that people originated in several different locations. What ancient routes were taken can be teased out by looking at several factors. As people spread out languages developed. Their structure can be analyzed for relationships that might hint at their origin. Cultures and traditions that developed can also show similarities.

DNA is being used to look at genetic relationships between and within populations. By looking at variation in highly conserved regions of our genome, the HUGO Pan Asian SNP Consortium determined that Asia was people by a distinct migration out of the Middle East through India.

This study laid a foundation to answer more intricate questions: what is the origin of the native Australians and when did these migrations take place.


Click here to read research article.

Darwin's Lumpers Vs Splitters

The tree of life has many branches on it. The argument about how many branches it should have is between the lumpers and the splitters. Lumpers want fewer branches, and Splitters want more. Delineating the divisions is not clear cut. Morphology, anatomy, genetics, and other characteristics are difficult to tease apart.

Currently there is disagreement on where archea should be placed. The archea are generally described as a third division of life with the other two divisions being bacteria and eukaryotes. archea are prokaryotic like bacteria (meaning they do not have membrane bound nuclei) but have other characteristics similar to eukaryotes.

However some biologists think archea should be placed in a group that includes eukaryotes. Evidence about similarities in lipid (fat) synthesis support this placement. The terminology biologists use to describe this is "archea should be placed basally in a clade with all eukaryote organisms." This means that in the tree of life archea would be a twig sprouting near the base of the eukaryote branch. While compelling, this view has yet to be embraced by mainstream biology.


Click here to read an article about Darwin and Lumpers & Splitters.

Mushroom Virsuses! Who Knew?

DNA changes in several ways. Most often we will think of mutation (if we think about DNA change at all. However there are some other ways DNA can change. Some viruses can insert their own genes, and scientists can genetically alter DNA or bio-engineer the genome.

Scientists at SUNY Buffalo have found evidence of another mechanism used to change DNA. Some viruses "borrow" the machinery from other viruses. What is surprising about this is that the infected cells then used the new DNA to make useful proteins.

If you have a strong opinion about genetic engineering, does knowing this occurs in nature influence what you think? These viruses are using these techniques to their own advantage.

Chickenpox and Herpes viruses insert their genes into human cells. If you have been infected by either one do you consider yourself genetically altered?

Click here to read the original research article.

copyright 2009 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.

Prosperity Vs Wealth

Click here to read research abstract

Wealth and prosperity are valued differently by cultures and individuals. This study looks at some of the factors that influence how those living in rural communities view their economic status.

How do you see your own situation? Do you live the life you desire?

Click here to see how the IRS breaks down the top wealth holders for selected years. They estimate the wealth of the living population using the Estate Multiplier technique.


copyright 2009 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.