Thu, 10 October 2013
Researchers have discovered the mechanism behind the link between blue-green algae and ALS, a type of motor neuron disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Dr. Rachael Dunlop is lead author of the paper, and she joins us to talk algae, Guam, fruit bats and General "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf. The foramen magnum is the hole in the base of your skull that the spinal cord passes through on its way to the brain. But it's position can tell a lot about how you - and your ancestors - walked. Bacteria can absorb fragments of DNA from the environment around them. This ability could be a previously ignored mechanism of evolution. A devastating earthquake in Pakistan created a new 'island', exciting geologists around the world. And it's already been littered with trash. A company in the UK has developed a plant that produces both tomatoes AND potatoes. So of course, they’ve called it the "TomTato". |
Tue, 1 October 2013
A new form of exposure therapy could treat people's phobias - while they sleep. Can pasta make you drunk? A case study of a man with auto-brewery syndrome. Curiosity rover finds much less methane than expected, crushing hopes of finding life on Mars. A British team claims to have found evidence of extra-terrestrial life. They haven't. The life story of a blue whale has been mapped, with information from an unlikely source. |
Thu, 26 September 2013
The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements that first make us laugh, then make us think. We take a look atthis year’s winners: from dung beetles to penis amputations! MEDICINE PRIZE PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE JOINT PRIZE IN BIOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE SAFETY ENGINEERING PRIZE PHYSICS PRIZE CHEMISTRY PRIZE PEACE PRIZE PROBABILITY PRIZE PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE |
Sat, 21 September 2013
On Friday 13 September 2013, Dr. Pamela Gay gave a talk at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia about CosmoQuest.org and the need for citizen science. There were also some questions about black holes and supernovae. Our thanks to Swinburne University for hosting this lecture, and our apologies for the audio quality. |
Wed, 11 September 2013
Fish expert Phil Kent joins us to talk more about the pacu, the alleged testicle-eating fish allegedly found off the alleged coast of Denmark. University of Washington researchers have sent a signal from one scientist's brain over the internet to control the hand motions of another researcher. The NSA is paying close attention. NASA has discovered one of the largest canyons in the world underneath the ice sheet that covers most of Greenland. The ice sheet is 3km thick in some parts, and scientists are surprised it hasn't worn away the canyon that was carved out four million years ago. The conventional understanding that babies are born sterile is being overturned in the face of growing evidence that mothers 'seed' their fetuses with bacteria from early on in the pregnancy. Babies can learn words while in the womb, and can remember those words after being born. By monitoring the brain waves of newborns, scientists have discovered the babies recognised 'pseudowords' they heard in the womb. A fish experiment suggests that leadership is an innate quality. 'Leader' fish could be taught to follow other fish, but 'follower' fish struggled to become leaders. Fish have more personality than you might think. |
Thu, 5 September 2013
In a town with no previously recorded earthquakes, more than a hundred were recorded in one year. It's thought they were triggered by the disposal of waste water from fracking. A new world record has been set for the smallest sequenced genome, and it belongs to a symbiotic bacteria living in leafhoppers. Mother gibbons teach their daughters to sing, using a kind of 'baby talk'. And ancient 'bog body' has been found with the skin intact. The body may be that of a king, killed in a ritual sacrifice. Because axes. 'Chronic excreters' could be the big obstacle preventing the global eradication of Polio. A scientist jokes about a testicle-eating fish, and cable news anchors panic. And giggle. |
Mon, 26 August 2013
Mighty Maggots v Flesh Nom Bugs was a Pozible campaign that raised $9,970 for a trial. The trial aims to assess the ability of maggots to improve the rate of healing for people with Bairnsdale Ulcer lesions. A new malaria vaccine has a 100% success rate in a small study. While promising, there are a lot of obstacles that need to be dealt with before this could be a viable Real World treatment. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has admitted that radioactive water has been leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. A material inspired by the cactus plant cleans tiny particles of oil from water. 100,000 adventurous people have signed up for a one-way trip to Mars. But did they read the timeline before signing on the dotted line? |
Sun, 18 August 2013
Scientists have made "teeth-like structures" from stem cells generated from urine. Mark Post, a Dutch researcher has made a hamburger from cow muscle grown in a lab. The Cultured Beef was cooked at a PR event in London and tastes "close to meat". Brochosomes are tiny 'soccer-ball' structures secreted by leafhoppers that protect them from rain, spider silk and... their own waste. A new technique developed by the CSIRO uses X-Rays to find gold in ore samples. Fewer boys than girls were born in the months after the huge earthquake struck Japan in March 2011. |
Sun, 11 August 2013
Dr. Pamela Gay is an astronomer and assistant research professor at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. She is the co-host of AstronomyCast, one of the longest running astronomy podcasts and Project Director for CosmoQuest.org. CosmoQuest is a non-profit organisation trying to engage people in both learning and doing science. In this conversation we talk about her research on variable stars, as well as her involvement in citizen science and amateur astronomy. We discuss science education and funding, how AstronomyCast began and Pamela's inspirations. You can find Pamela at her blog, StarStryder.com You can learn more about CosmoQuest at CosmoQuest.org You can listen to AstronomyCast at AstronomyCast.com |
Wed, 7 August 2013
It was thought that the many eyes on a peacock's tail feathers were what impressed peahens. But a new - and really cool! - study suggests that when it comes to wooing peahens, size does matter. It's not the number of the eyes, but the width of the tail. Do dolphins use names? Well, sort of. They may use names to refer to themselves, but we don't know if they use names to refer to each other. Scientists at MIT have developed a technique to insert false memories into mice. Three new studies have uncovered the genetic mechanism which controls regeneration in flatworms. Researchers at the University of Tokyo say they have created electronics thin and flexible enough to be considered “imperceptible.” Their first prototype, a touch sensor, is 30 times lighter than printer paper and one-fifth the thickness of sandwich wrap. |