9
POPS68 Molecules that hold the key to all Cellular Life Currently, the vast majority of medical research looks to the human genome and proteome for answers, but those answers remain elusive, and perhaps for good reason. “We have now found instances where the pathogenesis of widespread and chronic diseases can be attributed to a change in the glycome, for example, in the absence of definable changes in the genome or proteome,” Marth said, adding that, as biomedical researchers, “we need to begin to cultivate the integration of disciplines in a holistic and rigorous way in order to perceive and most effectively manipulate the biological mechanisms of health and disease.” Marth believes that biology should become more integrative both in academic and research settings. “I’m one who believes that we don’t need to sacrifice breadth of knowledge in order to acquire depth of understanding.”
10
POPSBacteria-human communication I think this double face of the pim gene, points to cellular levels where bacteria and human cell communicate and regulate co- benefitial existence. some say that the importance of this connection goes even beyond mere protection and peaceful co existence. interesting...
18
POPSPalin, aside from being a woman... Obviously a lot has been said about the fact that McCain picked a woman as his VP. That is no doubt an interesting fact that can be interpreted in a few different ways. But putting that aside, i think the facts that matter most are those in this clip. These come from a comment by debbyski and i think they represent the reasons people will or won't support her. I would certainly be shocked if anyone who voted for Hillary would support Palin based on these specific differences in beliefs and policies.
12
POPSSubliminal learning. "The researchers collected scans of the brain, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, to investigate the specific brain circuitry that is linked to subliminal instrumental conditioning. "The ventral striatum responded to subliminal cues and to visible outcomes in a manner that closely approximates our computational algorithm, expressing reward expected values and prediction errors," says Dr. Pessiglione. "We conclude that, even without conscious processing of contextual cues, our brain can learn their reward value and use them to provide a bias on decision making."
2
POPSHeard on the Hill: Rollcall News: Senator Chris Matthews? Saying What Holly-wouldn’t. Sunday’s screening of the Hollywood-goes-conservative film “An American Carol” brought out some of the movie’s principals, including Kevin Farley (brother of the late “Saturday Night Live” funnyman Chris Farley), Jon Voight and producer David Zucker, for some conservative laughs. Actor and outspoken Republican Kelsey Grammer, who plays Gen. George Patton in the film, appeared in a video to address the crowd. Grammer, who recently had a heart attack, got applause from the audience when he told them that “against doctor’s orders, I watched a little of the coronation coverage. I mean convention coverage,” referring to the Democrats’ Denver confab in which they named Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) their main man.
14
POPSResearchers turn one form of adult mouse cell directly into another Joan Brugge, Chair of the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, said the new study "provides exciting new insights into yet another aspect of cell plasticity that was not appreciated previously and that offers great potential therapeutically. Direct reprogramming represents a more straight-forward strategy to treat diseases involving loss of function of specific cell populations than approaches requiring an intermediate embryonic stem cell," she said.
4
POPSNot Seen on CNN: Denver Police Gitmo Tactics They took us in an elevator that went up to a jail cell, and we were told to watch a video of a judge telling us our rights, through the bars. It was surreal, like being in a futuristic movie, like "1984" or "A Clockwork Orange." They'd keep us for long periods of time in one cage, and then re-handcuff us and move us to another cell, as if something was about to change, but it didn't. It was all psychological.
15
POPSThe Secret Of Fast Complex Brain Restructuring Up to now, it had been assumed that nerve cells can only exchange information via the synapses which are special contact points. However, synapses require up to two days to become fully functional - a waste of time and energy if the contact is to be broken down again. The brain could take almost 1000 years to develop if a synapse had to mature at each cell contact. It appears that nerve cells can also obtain information about their neighbours even without a synapse. Neurobiologists Christian Lohmann and Tobias Bonhoeffer from the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology have now explained how they do that. The secret to how the information is exchanged: local calcium signals very quickly transmit all the necessary information to the cell. A synapse only actually develops when the cell and the contact point prove to be suitable candidates for long-term contact.
8
POPSLaw and Order in the virtual universes i think it is interesting the way a community is being built. from the article: "In 2006, Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, canceled Marc Bragg's account for violating the world's policies on real estate deals. Bragg sued Linden, saying he legally owned the content he created in Second Life, including land and businesses. The suit was eventually settled, and Bragg's avatar was restored. Authorities also have intervened in crimes committed in online worlds. In the Netherlands, for example, a teenager was arrested for stealing more than $5,000 worth of virtual furniture in a world called Habbo. "This is such a nascent area when it comes to the law," said Sean F. Kane, a partner in the law firm Drakeford & Kane. "If a certain world allows you to be a thief, is it a crime or just an aspect of the game? Should real-world law apply?" there is much thinking to do, involved...
4
POPSScientists identify childhood cancer gene They are beginning to find genes that are believed to be involved in a number of types of cancer. The study of these genes may not only tell us how they work, but why they are there, and how they are related to some essential, and regular metabolic functions, what exactly can turn a regular/benign cell cancerous, so potential sufferers can be Identified early.
18
POPSMIT Team Use Viruses to Build Nex-Gen Batteries Bio-battery technology could open up a whole new field of science with exotic new applications. The study was partly funded by the Army Research Office Institute of Collaborative Biotechnologies, and the Army Research Office Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies, which suggests that the Army has some interest in this type of research. One can only imagine the strange and/or nefarious possibilities of fusing batteries into living organisms. However, Belcher diffuses any excitement over possible cyborg applications.
10
POPSScientists Say We Can See Sound Recordings from 49 neurons responsible for the earliest stages of visual processing, researchers found activation that mirrored the behavior. That is, when the sound was played, the neurons reacted as if there had been a stronger light, at a speed that can only be explained by a direct connection between the ear and eye brain regions, said researcher Ye Wang of the University of Texas in Houston. The study presents the first evidence that a sensory cell can process an alternative sensation, said head researcher Pascal Barone of the Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France, who discovered a contender for the anatomical connection in 2002.
1
POPSAnother Blow For Cancer Vaccines An independent committee stops a study of Cell Genesys' GVAX because more patients died with the therapy than without. Cell Genesys shares drop below $1. This is yet another blow to a field that has been beset by trouble. Still in the game: the controversial Dendreon, with another ongoing study in prostate cancer, and GlaxoSmithKline, which has a huge cancer immunotherapy effort.
3
POPSIt's Biden You heard it here last folks. The text was sent pretty late, so I was long gone into dreamland. I woke up, turned on CNN, and caught the news. It wasn't much of a shock. Good choice, bad choice? Dunno. He could've done much worse and I don't think anyone in the running would be any better. There really wasn't a hit it out of the park choice available. Radical Clintonistas won't be happy, but at this point there are about 10 of them. Biden's Wikipedia bio is here . Obama got a lot of coverage out of his text message VP story -- which, let's face it, was a gimmick. But it was a very successful gimmick that sucked up all the oxygen in the newsroom for the past few days. Score one for Obama in the media war. The good news for me is that this frees up one of my dream cabinet members -- Bill Richardson for Secretary of State. Now, if we can just get people to start talking about Attorney General Russ Feingold, I'll be happy as a god
10
POPSRobin Hanson on the "Great Filter" there is a "Great Filter" along the path between simple dead stuff and explosive life. The vast vast majority of stuff that starts along this path never makes it. In fact, so far nothing among the billion trillion stars in our whole past universe has made it all the way along this path.... ne or more of these steps is much more improbable than it otherwise looks. If it is one of our past steps, such as the development of single-cell life, then we shouldn't expect to see such independently evolved life anywhere within billions of light years from us. But if it is a step between here and a choice to explode that is very improbable, we should fear for our future.... Optimism (as defined here) regarding our future is directly pitted against optimism regarding the ease of previous evolutionary steps. To the extent those successes were easy, our future failure to explode is almost certain...
18
POPSSwitching it up: How memory deals with a change in plans The answer is "both," according to researchers at The Johns Hopkins University, who have learned that two different areas of the brain are responsible for the way human beings handle complex sets of "if-then" rules. "This discovery may eventually lead to enhanced understanding of psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit disorder, all conditions in which a person's ability to remember and change such rules is impaired," "This indicates that different parts of our brains store different kinds of memories and information," Courtney said. That, she said, "provides clues about how the human brain accomplishes complex, goal-directed behaviors that require remembering and changing abstract rules, an ability that is disrupted in many mental illnesses."
2
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update