Wendy Science

One in nine Americans aged 65 and older has Alzheimer's disease, a fatal brain disorder with no cure or effective treatment. Therapy could come in the form of new drugs, but some experts suspect drug trials have failed so far because compounds were tested too late in the disease's progression. By the time people show signs of dementia, their brains have lost neurons. No therapy can revive dead cells, and little can be done to create new ones. So researchers running trials now seek participants who still pass as cognitively normal but are of decline. These “preclinical” Alzheimer's patients may represent a window of opportunity for therapeutic intervention. How to identify such individuals before they have symptoms presents a challenge, however. Today most Alzheimer's patients are diagnosed after a detailed medical workup and extensive tests that gauge mental function. Other tests, such as spinal fluid analyses and positron-emission tomography (PET) scans, can detect sig...

Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Ongoing (general admission: children ages three to 11, $14.50; adults, $18.50) Lights flash as you scramble through a two-story maze of netting. The netting, which represents our neural pathways, lets you experience your brain on a microscopic level: from the perspective of a neurotransmitter passing from a neuron's axon to its dendrite. With each flash, you know that the neuron in which you are clambering has fired. As you scale this jungle gym—the Franklin Institute's Neural Climb—you are becoming acquainted with the way information travels through the brain. This interactive structure is a highlight of the institute's new permanent exhibit, Your Brain, which opened last June. Neural Climb is one of a series of displays on how the brain works. Hands-on activities allow visitors to move a model of a brain scanner to view MRI images of the brain and to launch Ping-Pong balls in a demonstration of neurotransmitters rushing from a neuron when...

Gates Foundation CEO Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Scientific American Editor-in-Chief Mariette DiChristina talk about the Foundation set forth in its recently released annual letter. Part 2 of... -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Gates Foundation CEO Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Scientific American Editor-in-Chief Mariette DiChristina talk about the Foundation set forth in its recently released annual letter. Part 1 of... -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

By Janice Neumann (Reuters Health) - Moderate-intensity exercise, or even just walking, can improve quality of life for depressed middle-aged women, a large Australian study suggests. January 30, 2015 | By Janice Neumann (Reuters Health) - Moderate-intensity exercise, or even just walking, can improve quality of life for depressed middle-aged women, a large Australian study suggests. Women who averaged 150 minutes of moderate exercise (golf, tennis, aerobics classes, swimming, or line-dancing) or 200 minutes of walking every week had more energy, socialized more, felt better emotionally, and weren't as limited by their depression when researchers followed up after three years. They also had less pain and did better physically, although the psychological benefit was greater. With depression so prevalent, "there is an urgent need" to identify treatments, including non-medical options that people can do themselves, said Kristiann Heesch, who led the study. Heesch, senio...

The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World Viking, 2015 (($28.95)) Why didn't electric cars win the race for vehicular dominance at the beginning of the 20th century? After all, they were cleaner and easier to use than cars burning gasoline. The answer, in a word, is batteries. Now, in the early years of the 21st century, the electric car is making a comeback of sorts, but the challenge remains the same—how to get more juice out of battery chemistry. Journalist LeVine examines the race to develop a better battery at Argonne National Laboratory and provides a history of battery design in recent decades. With the pace, if not quite the payoff, of a thriller, he also reveals how the very human foibles of scientists and entrepreneurs, as well as fundamental physics and chemistry, stand in the way of such efforts, which, if successful, could result in a new global industry and attendant jobs. Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank. This entry passed through the...

"United States Capitol - west front" by Architect of the Capitol - aoc.gov. The U.S. Senate yesterday voted 62 to 36 to build the controversial that would bring oil from tar sands in Canada down through the U.S. are one of the dirtiest forms of oil and expansion of their use would ensure too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, helping climate change wreak even more havoc. Yet this prospect is exactly what many of the same Senators who approved the pipeline voted to avoid, philosophically at least, just last week. How can that be? And who are these legislators? Let’s go the Venn diagram. A cavalcade of votes occurred in the last few weeks. First, the U.S. Senate voted 98 to one that and is happening now. A bit later, however, the Senate split 50-49 in favor of the proposition that (though that fell 10 votes short of the 60 needed to ensure the amendment was included in the final bill) as shown in yellow. And yesterday 62 Senators , shown in blue. So that means that 14...

It’s not easy to get a glimpse of the critically endangered Saharan cheetah (), the rarest of the six cheetah subspecies. Only about 200 to 250 of these nocturnal cats are thought to survive in remote pockets of Algeria, Niger, Togo, Mali, Benin and Burkina Faso, making them the rarest—and at the same time the most widely distributed—large predator on the planet. But now a team of scientists working in Algeria has managed to capture not just an image of a single Saharan cheetah, but more than two dozen. In the process, the team has gathered the first real scientific information about these big cats. “This is the first time we have been able to collect scientific data on the rare Saharan cheetah, as in the past we have had to rely on anecdotes and guesswork,” lead author Farid Belbachir from Laboratoire d’Ecologie et Environnement, Université de Béjaïa, Algeria, said in a prepared statement. “We hope that this important carnivore does not follow the path to extinction like other Alger...

Over the summer, I decided it would be fun to look back through all the mail kids sent me during the 2014-2015 school year. I've picked out some of my favorites and will be posting one every Friday. They truly are inspiring.

Saltwater is shrinking Bangladesh’s arable land, but a simple approach of planting crops in containers shows surprising success January 30, 2015 | | KHULNA, BANGLADESH—The soil in Knolkhol village in southwest Bangladesh has become increasingly salty because of incursions of seawater. The situation became particularly acute in the in 2009, which brought storm surges that and flooded farmland. After 2009 vegetable crops planted in the ground there yielded only meager returns—if they didn’t fail completely. But for the past three years hundreds of villagers have enjoyed the bounty of so-called vertical gardens—essentially crops grown in a variety of containers in backyards and on the rooftops of their humble homes. Despite their modest size, these gardens produce quite a bit. Shakuri Rani Debnath, a 30-something resident of Knolkhol, says hers generated nearly 200 kilograms of vegetables this summer, including pumpkins, squash, cauliflower, tomatoes, spinach and chili peppers. As a...

West Africa will be lucky to wipe out Ebola this year, as some locals remain suspicious of aid workers, especially in Guinea, the Red Cross said on Friday January 30, 2015 | By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - West Africa will be lucky to wipe out Ebola this year, as the local population remains suspicious of aid workers, especially in Guinea, the Red Cross said on Friday. The virus is "flaring up" in new areas in the region and not all infections are being reported, said Birte Hald, who leads the Ebola coordination and support unit of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "We are also seeing that in places like Sierra Leone and especially in Guinea that it is flaring up in new districts all the time, with small new chains of transmission, which means that it's not under control and it could flare up big-time again," Hald told a news briefing in Geneva. "I think that we should consider ourselves lucky and fortunate if...

See Inside Scientists have concocted mental fitness regimens to strengthen weak thinking skills in students—in effect, making kids smarter By A mop of light brown hair shakes as a slender nine-year-old boy named Jack bangs furiously at his keyboard. Jack's eyes are fixed on a clock with six hands, which denote the month, day, hour, minute, second and 60th of a second. As soon as he types 10:28:2:14:56:32, a new clock appears, and he hammers out another set of numbers. An affable 14-year-old student named Marti had just taught me the exercise, and I guessed I could have solved one of these clocks in a few minutes. Jack was finishing one every seven seconds. Jack's incessant clacking is virtually the only sound in this small classroom of eight- and nine-year-olds. The others work silently. One or two wear an eye patch, copying symbols onto grids. A dark-haired girl listens through headphones to a list of words she must memorize and repeat to a teacher. One boy stares at a Norman...

Even with the physics sorted out, questions remain January 29, 2015 | | Plenty of professional and Monday-morning scientists have taken to the Web to offer their own analyses of Deflategate. Physicist Wanted: On Monday a law firm helping the National Football League investigate the New England Patriots for possible cheating brought out the big scientific guns, calling for Columbia University physicists’ help. They needed to determine the extent that the weather conditions at the American Football Conference Championship game on January 18 could have impacted a football’s internal pressure and whether it could be to blame for 11 of 12 Patriots footballs being suspiciously underinflated during their trouncing of the Indiana Colts. Apparently, , but plenty of professional and Monday-morning scientists have taken to the Web to offer their own analyses.The basic facts, of which I’ve been blissfully and willfully unaware until now: During the AFC championship game between the Patriots and...

Even with the physics sorted out, questions remain January 29, 2015 | | Plenty of professional and Monday-morning scientists have taken to the Web to offer their own analyses of Deflategate. Physicist Wanted: On Monday a law firm helping the National Football League investigate the New England Patriots for possible cheating brought out the big scientific guns, calling for Columbia University physicists’ help. They needed to determine the extent that the weather conditions at the American Football Conference Championship game on January 18 could have impacted a football’s internal pressure and whether it could be to blame for 11 of 12 Patriots footballs being suspiciously underinflated during their trouncing of the Indiana Colts. Apparently, , but plenty of professional and Monday-morning scientists have taken to the Web to offer their own analyses.The basic facts, of which I’ve been blissfully and willfully unaware until now: During the AFC championship game between the Patriots and...

See Inside A study that has tracked students exceptional in math for 40 years checks their accomplishments Jan 20, 2015 | | In the early 1970s researchers identified a large sample of U.S. 13-year-olds who were exceptionally talented in math—landing in the top 1 percent of mathematical reasoning scores on SAT tests. Forty years later those wunderkinder are now midcareer and have accomplished even more than expected, according to a recent follow-up survey. Researchers at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College published the update in the December 2014 issue of , writing: “For both males and females, mathematical precocity early in life predicts later creative contributions and leadership in critical occupational roles.” SOURCE: “LIFE PATHS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MATHEMATICALLY PRECOCIOUS MALES AND FEMALES FOUR DECADES LATER,” BY DAVID LUBINSKI, CAMILLA P. BENBOW AND HARRISON J. KELL, IN , VOL. 25, NO. 12; DECEMBER 2014 Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank. This entry passed th...

Scientists and their work have an important place in every major aspect of American life. Many hope that advances in science will improve people’s lives and enhance the economy. They are anxious to understand what innovations will disrupt existing daily activities and business routines. Policy arguments about science-related issues have held center stage in the Obama era, starting with the protracted arguments over medical care, insurance and the Affordable Care Act and extending into every cranny of energy and environmental concerns, policies around food, challenges created by digital technology disruptions, and whether educators are preparing today’s K-12 students for a future with greater requirements for science literacy and numeracy. A released today by the Pew Research Center, based on surveys of the general public and U.S scientists connected with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), finds powerful crosscurrents of the views of the two groups. On one h...

It's rare that a gleaming, azure legend on wheels fails to turn heads, but at the Detroit auto show earlier this month, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Shelby Cobra faced stiff competition for attention. Acura and Ford introduced their new supercars, while other automakers presented next-generation hybrids and electrics. Towering matte military fighting vehicles and shiny trucks vied for the eyes of more than 800,000 attendees. But in this showcase all about the future of the auto industry, the Oak Ridge Cobra, a throwback to 1967, was a harbinger of things to come. The polished paint and chrome belied bodywork that came out of a 3-D printer, making the roadster a victim of its own success. "People would walk by it and say, 'We don't get what's going on,'" said Lonnie Love, group leader for the manufacturing systems group at Oak Ridge. It wasn't until Love placed a sign on the windshield saying "Yes, it's a 3D printed car" that more p...

New research dispels the belief that the strength of the body’s defense system is genetically programmed January 29, 2015 | | Some people seem better than others at fighting the flu, and you might suspect they were born that way. A new study of twins, however, suggests otherwise. In one of the most comprehensive analyses of immune function performed to date, researchers analyzed blood samples from 105 sets of healthy twins. They measured immune cell populations and their chemical messengers—204 parameters in all—before and after participants received a flu shot. Differences in three fourths of these parameters depended less on genetics than on environmental factors, such as diet and prior infections. Genetics had almost no effect on how well individuals responded to the flu vaccine, judged by antibodies produced against the injected material. And among identical twin siblings, who have the same genome, immune system features differed more strikingly within older twin pairs than in yo...

The rule requires managers of the nation’s nearly 200 forests and grasslands to formally designate where snowmobiles can be operated on the 193 million acres of public land the agency oversees January 28, 2015 | By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The U.S. Forest Service adopted a rule on Wednesday that requires managers of the nation’s nearly 200 forests and grasslands to formally designate where snowmobiles can be operated on the 193 million acres of public land the agency oversees. The rule, which takes effect on Feb. 27, comes after years of legal fights between groups advocating for non-motorized winter sports like cross-country skiing on federal lands and organizations that promote snowmobiling. At issue in a court battle led by the Idaho-based Winter Wildlands Alliance was whether the Forest Service could continue to let supervisors of national forests and grasslands use discretion to decide whether to officially designate areas that may be used by snowmobiles and ot...

Experts worry that this winter may be the worst season ever documented for the marine mammals January 28, 2015 | By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - California sea lions - mainly pups - are turning up stranded and starved on Southern California beaches in record numbers this year, leaving experts worried that this winter may be the worst season ever documented for the marine mammals. The precise cause is not clear, but scientists believe the sea lions are suffering from a scarcity of natural prey that forces nursing mothers to venture farther out to sea for food, leaving their young behind for longer periods of time. Experts theorize that this winter's mild El Nino effect, which alters ocean currents and temperatures, may be compounding the shortage of fish that sea lions rely on for food, said Keith Matassa, executive director of the nonprofit Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. That group's pup rescues for the month are already running 20 percent above...

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

As reported almost everywhere, we lost Nobel Laureate Charles Townes at the age of 99. Oh how we we all are standing on the shoulder of this giant in physics. Zz.

The value of recycling depends on the material in question and whether all hidden costs and benefits go into the analysis. David Biello reports. January 28, 2015 | | At , discarded metal and plastic gets bulldozed into a large mound. The stuff is then scooped onto the first of a series of rising conveyor belts, from which the trash is sorted through means both mechanical and manual.All that effort produces a variety of salable products, from metals to paper fibers. But ?In the case of an aluminum can the answer is an unqualified yes. Such a be recycled endlessly with no loss of quality. And recycling a can uses less than five percent of the energy that it takes to refine bauxite ore into fresh aluminum. when it comes to all metals, though we're better at recycling aluminum than say . In principle it could work for plastic too. But because plastic is made from petrochemicals, low oil prices can make it cheaper to just dump old plastic and manufacture new. And plastics degrade...

See Inside A “vibrational” chemical bond predicted in the 1980s is demonstrated experimentally Jan 20, 2015 | | Chemistry has many laws, one of which is that the rate of a reaction speeds up as temperature rises. So, in 1989, when chemists experimenting at a nuclear accelerator in Vancouver observed that a reaction between bromine and muonium—a hydrogen isotope—slowed down when they increased the temperature, they were flummoxed. Donald Fleming, a University of British Columbia chemist involved with the experiment, thought that perhaps as bromine and muonium co-mingled, they formed an intermediate structure held together by a “vibrational” bond—a bond that other chemists had posed as a theoretical possibility earlier that decade. In this scenario, the lightweight muonium atom would move rapidly between two heavy bromine atoms, “like a Ping Pong ball bouncing between two bowling balls,” Fleming says. The oscillating atom would briefly hold the two bromine atoms together and reduce the...

SA Forum nterviews for the WEF by Katia Moskvitch. Antibiotics have saved millions of lives—but their misuse and overuse is making them less effective as bacteria develop . Despite scientists’ warnings, antibiotic prescriptions in many countries continue to soar. Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist based at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge, tells us about the importance of gaining a better understanding of the use and misuse of these wonder drugs. [] The world seems to be running out of antibiotics. In middle of the 20th century more than 20 new classes of antibiotics were marketed; since the 1960s only two new classes have reached the market. Why is that the case? But then it became a law of diminishing returns for the number of new compounds that could be effective. Being able to kill bacteria is not enough; you have to be able to make an antibiotic cheaply, and it has to be safe. So the number of really new compounds diminished an...

By Megan Brooks (Reuters Health) - Anti-obesity medications and surgery can be helpful adjuncts to lifestyle change for obese patients who have failed to lose weight with diet and exercise alone, obesity experts say in a new guideline. The guideline notes that many medications used for comorbid conditions such as diabetes, depression, and other chronic diseases have weight effect and advises clinicians to choose those with favorable weight profiles to help manage obesity, when possible. "The take-home message is treat obesity first, then treat comorbidities," Dr. Caroline Apovian, of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts, and chair of the guideline task force, told Reuters Health by email. Pharmacological Management of Obesity: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline is endorsed by the Obesity Society (TOS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. The guideline was published online January 15 and wil...

The brownbanded bamboo shark’s belated delivery almost doubles the previous record for sperm storage January 28, 2015 | | As a group, sharks have unusual and diverse reproductive strategies. A newborn brownbanded bamboo shark () hatched in the lagoon tank at Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco—almost four years after its mother was last in contact with a male! This finding is almost twice the previous sperm storage record of 843 days for sharks, which was held by the chain catsharks (). has added a new wrinkle to the already complicated field of shark reproductive biology. As a group, sharks have unusual and diverse reproductive strategies. Unlike many species of bony fish, which reproduce by releasing clouds of egg and sperm into the water, sharks and their cartilaginous relatives employ internal fertilization, as mammals do. Although sharks like the brownbanded bamboo are oviparous (lay eggs), many species are viviparous and give live birth. Still others have a combination of th...

See Inside Genes in the liver, pancreas and other tissues (not just the brain) keep the various parts of the body in sync. Timing miscues may lead to diabetes, depression and other illnesses By and Anyone who has ever flown east or west at 500 knots for more than a few hours has experienced firsthand what happens when the body's internal clock does not match the time zone in which it finds itself. Up to a week may be needed to get over the resulting jet lag—depending on whether the master clock, which is located deep inside the brain, needs to be advanced or slowed to synchronize when the body and brain want to sleep with when it is dark outside. Over the past several years, however, scientists have learned, much to our surprise, that, in addition to the master clock in the brain, the body depends on multiple regional clocks located in the liver, pancreas and other organs, as well as in the body's fatty tissue. If any one of these peripheral clocks runs out of sync with the m...