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Comment by Dallas (on hiatus) on November 6, 2010 at 4:35pm

Glia: The new frontier in brain science

The current issue of the journal Science (November 5) marks a turning point in research on the brain. This event is fascinating not only for the wealth of new information about how the brain functions and how it fails in mental and neurological illness, but equally as a rare display of a field of science changing course. Such transitions are the lore of scientific history, but rarely do we have the opportunity to witness such pivotal moments in real time.

The journal Science is a premier international journal covering all areas of science, and this issue contains a special section on glia. Glia, in contrast to neurons, are brain cells that do not generate electrical impulses, and there are a lot of them—85 percent of the cells in the brain. Yet, these cells have been largely neglected for 100 years. I call this new frontier of neuroscience "The Other Brain," because we are only now beginning to explore it. The new findings are expanding our concept of information processing in the brain. They are leading rapidly to new treatments for diseases ranging from spinal cord injury to brain cancer to chronic pain, and Alzheimer's disease. And they are overturning a century of conventional thinking about how the brain operates at the most fundamental level.

In the past, glia were understood to support neurons; to feed them and clean up after them, and to respond to brain injury. But these functions were regarded as peripheral to the exciting functions that neurons perform in processing information and storing memories. Consequently, research on glia did not fare well in the fierce competition for the limited grant funding for brain research. Neuroscientists were not trained in glial science, and the standard texts cover glia superficially, if at all. Editors at major journals were not well versed in these odd and very complicated brain cells. As a consequence, glial research was rarely published in high-impact scientific journals. These forces dragged on glial researchers for decades. Now all of this is changing.

Read the rest on Scientific American.

Comment by Dallas (on hiatus) on November 6, 2010 at 3:58pm

Humans' Big Brains Tied To Chimps' Immunity?

It's a provocative — even astonishing — hypothesis: Could the same set of genes that explains why chimpanzees are protected from some diseases also explain why humans have big brains?

That's what researchers at Stanford University are suggesting.

The genes in question control a type of white blood cell known as natural killer cells, or NK cells.

"They can make a big difference as to whether you get sick, or you don't get sick," says Peter Parham, a professor of cell biology at Stanford. Parham has been studying the genes that control NK cells. And it's not a simple picture — there are a lot of genes involved.

Read the rest of this short article on NPR.

Comment by Dallas (on hiatus) on October 28, 2010 at 2:22pm

though they are all being read.

Maybe that's a good indication that it is a worthwhile book. : )

Comment by Mrina on October 28, 2010 at 2:07pm

Thanks DG, it looks super fun :D My local library even has copies of it, though they are all being read.

Comment by Dallas (on hiatus) on October 28, 2010 at 1:44pm

I have not read this. I'm just passing it along. - DG

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

Science magazine reporter Kean views the periodic table as one of the great achievements of humankind, "an anthropological marvel," full of stories about our connection with the physical world. Funny, even chilling tales are associated with each element, and Kean relates many. The title refers to gallium (Ga, 31), which melts at 84ËšF, prompting a practical joke among "chemical cognoscenti": shape gallium into spoons, "serve them with tea, and watch as your guests recoil when their Earl Grey ˜eats™ their utensils." Along with Dmitri Mendeleyev, the father of the periodic table, Kean is in his element as he presents a parade of entertaining anecdotes about scientists (mad and otherwise) while covering such topics as thallium (Tl, 81) poisoning, the invention of the silicon (Si, 14) transistor, and how the ruthenium (Ru, 44) fountain pen point made million for the Parker company. With a constant flow of fun facts bubbling to the surface, Kean writes with wit, flair, and authority in a debut that will delight even general readers.

Comment by Jake Farr-Wharton on September 21, 2010 at 7:17pm

I've just writeen this: http://imaginaryfriendsshow.com/?p=144 "Science Verifies Ancient Religious Claim!" about the new studies on the 'biblical exodus'.

Science, comedy... got to loves its!

Comment by Dallas (on hiatus) on September 13, 2010 at 6:03pm

This was posted on another site, so I'm crossposting here.

These chickens are male on one side of their bodies, and female on the other. They're called gynandromporphs.

Here is one science blog explaining the phenomenon, and here is a follow up post. Below is a short video.

Here is an excerpt from the articles (discussing the bird pictured above):

The animal on the right is no ordinary chicken. Its right half looks like a hen but its left half (with a larger wattle, bigger breast, whiter colour and leg spur) is that of a cockerel. The bird is a ‘gynandromorph‘, a rare sexual chimera. Thanks to three of these oddities, Debiao Zhao and Derek McBride from the University of Edinburgh have discovered a truly amazing secret about these most familiar of birds – every single cell in a chicken’s body is either male or female. Each one has its own sexual identity. It seems that becoming male or female is a very different process for birds than it is for mammals.


Here is another photo I found:

And somewhat related, here is an entry on Parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction in which female insects and animals reproduce without male fertilization, producing another female offspring.

Interesting stuff.

Comment by Dallas (on hiatus) on September 13, 2010 at 1:57pm

Thanks Mrina. I've passed that along.

Comment by Mrina on September 13, 2010 at 1:48pm

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7312/full/467133a.html

We are going backwards in America and it is painful to see. Soon it'll be like the Dark Ages...

Comment by Dallas (on hiatus) on August 30, 2010 at 1:50pm

Video: 30 Years of Asteroid Discoveries



This animation using data from observatories and amateurs around the world plots the positions of all the known asteroids in the solar system in 1980, and adds new ones as they are discovered. The pace and patterns of asteroid discovery give a neat visual illustration of the history of solar system exploration.

New asteroids appear in flashes of white, to make them easy to pick out. The final color codes for how close the object comes to Earth: Asteroids that cross Earth’s orbit are shown in red, “Earth approachers” that come to 1.3 times the Earth-sun distance are yellow, and all others are green. The bunches of new asteroids follow Earth in its orbit, usually in the region directly opposite the sun (that is, in the Earth’s night sky). Some clusters appear on the line between Earth and Jupiter, the side effects of surveys looking for Jovian moons.

In the mid-1990s, the pace of discovery picks up, showing the results of automated sky surveys. By 2001, the area just outside the orbit of Mars is filled in by a bright green ring of asteroids, and it keeps getting denser.

The beginning of 2010 brings a new pattern of discovery, with new asteroids fanning out on either side of the Earth. This new pattern is thanks to the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer, an infrared space telescope that is expected to find hundreds of new asteroids by seeking their heat rather than their light.

According to the YouTube notes, “Currently we have observed over half a million minor planets, and the discovery rates snow no sign that we’re running out of undiscovered objects.”

The video was created using the ‘astorb.dat‘ data created by astronomer Ted Bowell of the Lowell Observatory and colleagues.

CORRECTION: The original version of this article attributed the data to the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. It actually came from observatories all over the world, and was compiled by the Minor Planet Center and the Lowell Observatory.

Video Credit: CORRECTION: Scott Manley / Armagh Observatory / YouTube syzyg

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