Friday 29 April 2011
Tuesday 1 March 2011
Saturday 12 February 2011
Fossil find puts 'Lucy' story on firm footing
New fossil evidence seems to confirm that a key ancestor of ours could walk upright consistently - one of the major advances in human evolution.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12412662
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12412662
Sunday 6 February 2011
Chernobyl
We were talking about the effects of the Chernobyl disaster, and today I came across these articles...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9387000/9387395.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11023530
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016862
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6946210.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7949314.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9387000/9387395.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11023530
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016862
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6946210.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7949314.stm
Thursday 25 November 2010
Extended Childhood: a recent development
"Teeth are remarkable time recorders, capturing each day of growth much like rings in trees reveal yearly progress," says Tanya M. Smith, assistant professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard.
"Even more impressive is the fact that our first molars contain a tiny 'birth certificate,' and finding this birth line allows scientists to calculate exactly how old a juvenile was when it died."
It had been found that the rate of growth of Neanderthal teeth was significantly faster than those of modern humans, even those humans that left Africa 100 000 years ago. As the growth rate of teeth is used to map overall development, this indicates that the extension of childhood is a relatively new development in hominids.
Humans' extended maturation may have allowed additional learning and complex perception, possibly giving early Homo sapiens an advantage over their Neanderthal cousins
"Even more impressive is the fact that our first molars contain a tiny 'birth certificate,' and finding this birth line allows scientists to calculate exactly how old a juvenile was when it died."
It had been found that the rate of growth of Neanderthal teeth was significantly faster than those of modern humans, even those humans that left Africa 100 000 years ago. As the growth rate of teeth is used to map overall development, this indicates that the extension of childhood is a relatively new development in hominids.
Chemotherapy Cancer Breakthrough?
Chemotherapy usually relies on cells to take in drugs by diffusion across the cell membrane, but sometimes this doesn't work effectively as some cells just pump the drug molecules back out.
But researchers at the University of Ulm have found that cells absorb the drugs more readily if they are exposed to pulsed red light. The wavelength of this light decreases water density and pushes water out of the cell. Then, when the red light is taken away, the cell return to it's previous high density state and water, and any other molecules (including drugs) from the surrounding area are drawn into the cell by simple diffusion.
This process was tested for one minute on human cervical cancer cells surrounded by common anti-cancer drugs. Even though it was only a short period of exposure to the red light, it was enough to kill off 70% of the cancer cells. When compared with a control experiment, in which cancer cells weren't exposed to red light, only 31% of cancer cells were killed.
This research will hopefully help to produce more effective cancer treatments
But researchers at the University of Ulm have found that cells absorb the drugs more readily if they are exposed to pulsed red light. The wavelength of this light decreases water density and pushes water out of the cell. Then, when the red light is taken away, the cell return to it's previous high density state and water, and any other molecules (including drugs) from the surrounding area are drawn into the cell by simple diffusion.
This process was tested for one minute on human cervical cancer cells surrounded by common anti-cancer drugs. Even though it was only a short period of exposure to the red light, it was enough to kill off 70% of the cancer cells. When compared with a control experiment, in which cancer cells weren't exposed to red light, only 31% of cancer cells were killed.
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