Daily Popular
- Hoogsteen base pairs: An alternate structure in DNA
- Histones: DNA packaging and much more
- Enhancer RNA (eRNA): More powerful than previously thought
- Sci-Fi movie review: Splice
- Stem cell injection improves aging cells in mice
- Can culture change the genome?
- Loricifera: Larger life without oxygen
- Four-letter codons: A new synthetic biology playground
- Augmented Reality really goes mobile
- The MIM diode: Another challenger for the electronics crown
Popular Posts
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Category Archives: Impact
Epigenetics in the brain: Evidence of methylation beyond cell division
Methylation is not a gasoline additive process or nor does it have anything to do with amphetamines. I mention this because methylation is proving to be significant. It is something that happens to your DNA and despite not being very well known by the public, research is showing it to be far more important than [...]
Posted in Impact: Epigenetics Tagged DNA, epigenetic regulation, epigenetics, methylation, neuron, neuroscience, Song Leave a comment
Have some neutrinos broken the law?
You know the old joke, “The speed of light: it’s not only the limit, it’s the law.” I used to think the joke was really lame, because if the speed of light were like a human law, then it could be changed. But the speed of light is a universal constant, invariant, and one of [...]
Posted in Impact: Nuclear Physics Tagged CERN, Einstein, Gran Sasso, neutrinos, OPERA, particle physics, Sagan, speed of light, Super Proton Synchrotron Leave a comment
A keystone discovery: Proteins and synaptic vesicles
It happens quite a lot in neuroscience that something can be described without really knowing why it’s doing something. Bear with me a bit, as what I’m about to describe is probably unfamiliar to most people and also very much concerns the nitty-gritty of how the cells (neurons) of the brain and nervous system work. [...]
Posted in Impact: Neuroscience Tagged Edwards, nerve pulses, neuron, neuroscience, neurotransmitter, proteins, synapse, UCSF, v-SNARE, VAMP7, vesicle 1 Comment
Supersymmetry: SUSY still has no data
Even physicists get that sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach that something you’ve relied on for most of your life may be wrong, or at least not as right as you thought. If you’re a good scientist, you question and examine – your own thinking and whatever it is that has shaken you [...]
Posted in Impact: Nuclear Physics Tagged cosmology, Lepton-Photon Conference, LHC, particle physics, Standard Model, superparticle, superpartners, supersymmetry, SUSY, Tevatron Leave a comment
Synthetic biology: Making new proteins with E. coli by adding DNA
Sometimes big advances in science happen without much public notice. That’s often because at the time they didn’t look like big advances in science, or just as likely, they were considered marginally workable, so nobody wanted to highlight them. Here’s one such case to consider: Researchers at Yale University (Connecticut, USA) and publishing in the [...]
Posted in Impact: Synthetic Biology Tagged biochemistry, DNA, E. coli, epigenetics, phosphorylation, phosphoserine, protein, synthetic biology, Söll 1 Comment
IBM doesn’t call it a brain chip
IBM calls it a neural core, not a ‘brain chip’ or a ‘thinking chip.’ The recently announced development involves two prototype chips that contain circuitry inspired by biological components of the brain – neurons, synapses and axons. The chips are the earliest building blocks of what IBM hopes to develop into a more complete system [...]
Posted in Impact: Artificial Intelligence Tagged AI, artificial intelligence, brain chip, cognitive computer, DARPA, IBM, Modha, neural core, synapse Leave a comment
Memflector: Neuron-like computer component
I try not to put too much weight on very early advances in technology. This is particularly true of computer technology because there are so many relatively new avenues of research, all clamoring for attention: Quantum computing, DNA computing, optical computing…etc. On the other hand, computing has become so vital, especially for science and business, [...]
Posted in Impact: Computer Power Tagged brain-like, chalcogenide, computer, computer power, memflector, memristor, neuron, PCM, phase-change material, synapse Leave a comment
Neuroscience: Memory tied to a specific protein complex
At times it must seem to neuroscientists that the enigma of memory reveals its secrets to them as if they were the proverbial blind men describing an elephant. “Ah yes, it has a hose, a very thick hose, so thick it’s almost like a tree trunk!” If only it were as easy to get the [...]
Posted in Impact: Neuroscience Tagged axon, CaMKII, memory, memory formation, neuron, neuroscience, NMDAR, protein, protein complex, synapse 1 Comment
Graphene ICs: IBM builds graphene transistors into a circuit
About one week before IBM celebrated its 100th year, IBM researchers published in the journal Science [10 June 2011, paywalled, Wafer-Scale Graphene Integrated Circuit] and publicly announced the design of a high speed graphene circuit. Since there are announcements about this or that new application of graphene just about every week, it would be easy [...]
Posted in Impact: Computer Power Tagged FET, graphene, IBM, IC, integrated circuit, Nobel, silicon replacement, transistor, Watson Research Center Leave a comment
IBM at 100
Today (June 16, 2011) is the 100th birthday of IBM. There will be parties, almost all of them provided by IBM for employees. I suppose a few competitors, past and present will raise a thought for IBM. I’ve seen a few articles about IBM’s 100th in prominent publications. A few bloggers will have their say. [...]
Posted in Impact: Computer Power Tagged birthday, computing, corporation, IBM, IBM Labs, one hundred years, Watson Leave a comment
DNA Computing: Advances in organic circuits
DNA logic gate components……Credit: Royal Publishing Society Let’s come at computers from a different angle for a moment. An alien species lands on earth. Their spaceship doesn’t look like a spaceship. It looks like a very large blob, of sorts. It’s a blob because the whole thing is organic, not a scrap of metal on [...]
Posted in Impact: Computer Power Tagged biochemistry, DNA computing, logic gates, nanotechnology, organic, Qian, synthetic biology, Winfree Leave a comment
Finally, a self-powered wireless nanoscale sensor
Nanogenerator system……….Credit: NanoLetters, American Chemical Society One day the world may well be blanketed with sensors (metaphorically). If so, it will be the result of advances in nanotechnology. Perhaps it will be derived from the work of Zhong Lin Wang and his group of ambitious researchers at The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, Atlanta, [...]
Posted in Impact: Sensor Technology Tagged nanogenerator, nanopiezotronics, nanotechnology, piezoelectric, RFID, sensor technology, sensors, Zhong Wang Leave a comment
Protein complexity could be our demise
Did you know that badly folded proteins could be the cause of our species’ destruction? Neither did I. I know about nuclear bombs, climate change, asteroid strike and even pandemic as possible doomsday scenarios. I’m aware of predictions that in the not too distant future mankind might be overpowered by or merge with artificial intelligence [...]
Posted in Impact: Proteomics Tagged Alzheimer’s, DNA, folding, gene-pool, genetic drift, genetics, natural selection, pandemic, Parkinson’s, prions, proteins 1 Comment
Arctic Council: Getting serious about making money from global warming
Oh the irony. On the one hand there is the well propagandized denial of global warming, which is so effective in some countries (the United States chief among several) that politicians of all (yellow) stripes dare not mention its name. On the other hand there is this: Secret US embassy cables released by Wikileaks show [...]
Posted in Impact: Climate Change Tagged Arctic, Arctic Council, Arctic ice, global warming, Greenland, icecap, natural gas, Northwest Passage, oil, sea level rise Leave a comment
Harm from video game violence: Weighing the pedigree of the evidence
There are many issues in the modern world for which arguments can be made on both sides (assuming a two sided issue). Courts deal with some of these issues and judges too must find a way to wade through enormous stacks of studies and briefs for one side and the other. (Legal systems generally take [...]
Posted in Impact: Virtual/Augmented Reality Tagged Bushman, EMA, gaming, Gruel, impact on teens, Millett, psychology, Schwarzenegger, Supreme Court, video games, violence, VR Leave a comment
Breast cancer study: 50 women, 1700 genetic mutations
It isn’t always true for science, but it sure seems like the more we learn, the more complicated the knowledge becomes. Take breast cancer for an example. Every few months a new study is published that announces the discovery that this that or another gene is ‘linked to breast cancer.’ Likewise there is a stream [...]
Posted in Impact: Major Disease Cures Tagged breast cancer, cancer, cancer study, DNA, Ellis, genetic mutation, genome, MAP3K1, personalized therapy, sequencing 2 Comments
Fuel cell technology: Fuel from an ‘artificial leaf’
Visions of catchy titles danced in my head: “Alternative energy turns over a new leaf,” for example. It sounds like a perfect story for a world growing ever more skittish about the future of energy. (As Fukushima continues to radiate danger and fuel prices head into economy busting territory.) The idea is to produce energy [...]
Posted in Impact: Alternative Energy Tagged alternative energy, artificial leaf, catalysts, cobalt, fuel cell, hydrogen, nickel, Nocera, photosynthesis, Tata Leave a comment
The scale of radiation dosage
The impact of radiation dosage – scaled…………………Credit: xkcd.com (public domain) In case you haven’t seen this somewhere else: The brilliant (if obscurely warped) mind of xkcd has strayed from the comic realm into the realm of information display – with remarkable results. Go to the source, check it out, enlarge the original, print: Paste it [...]
Fukushima Meltdown
As I write this, daylight has overtaken Japan on Tuesday morning, there has been a third explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant; this time in the second reactor. It appears that some kind of core containment breach has occurred, which will mean at minimum more released radioactivity. The staff has been evacuated, at least [...]
Posted in Impact: Alternative Energy Tagged alternative energy, Chernobyl, core meltdown, earthquake, Fukushima, nuclear energy, Three Mile Island, tsunami 1 Comment
Part of what makes us human may be what’s missing
Here’s one of those scientific questions that contains a highly suggestive fact: Why is it that the tiny water flea (Daphnia pulex) has a record 31,000 genes and the human – the infinitely more complex human – has only 23,000 genes? Here’s another similar question: How is it that the human species is so different [...]
Posted in Impact: Epigenetics Tagged biogenetics, Daphnia, DNA, epigenetics, evolution, gene, genetics, genome, junk DNA, Kingsley, missing DNA, penis spines Leave a comment
Update: Who’s afraid of Watson?
Not long ago a computer assembled by IBM, named Watson, whupped a couple of good-old-boys and all-time-winners at the game of Jeopardy! This garnered a good deal of attention, mainly with the notion that computers are becoming as smart as people. No, I said, in an essay titled “Who’s afraid of Watson?” [SciTechStory: Who’s afraid [...]
Posted in Impact: Artificial Intelligence Tagged AI, artificial intelligence, computer power, IBM, Jeopardy!, Krugman, Watson, white-collar jobs Leave a comment
Paleogenetics: Unlocking the secrets from DNA of long ago
Eighth in a series of posts inspired by ten topics in ‘Insights of the Decade’ from the December 17, 2010 special issue of Science Magazine The topics are: Inflammation, climatology, tricks of light, alien planets, the microbiome, cell reprogramming, Martian water, the DNA time machine, cosmology and epigenetics. The original articles are now behind a [...]
Posted in Impact: Decoding DNA Tagged dinosaurs, DNA, fMRI, Frankenstein, gene sequence, Jurassic Park, Neanderthal, paleobiology, paleogenetics, Splice, STM Leave a comment
Mars water: What’s all the fuss?
Seventh in a series of posts inspired by ten topics in ‘Insights of the Decade’ from the December 17, 2010 special issue of Science Magazine The topics are: Inflammation, climatology, tricks of light, alien planets, the microbiome, cell reprogramming, Martian water, the DNA time machine, cosmology and epigenetics. The original articles are now behind a [...]
Posted in Impact: Exogenous Life Tagged astrobiology, exogenous life, life, Mars, origin of life, planet, rovers, solar system, water, water-ice Leave a comment
The Global Warming controversy is ended…