2007 May - REALscience

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Climate, Environment, Global Warming, Podcast, SciClips on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

Hot Bugs

courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net It seems global climate change could have a huge affect on insects. There will likely be more of them as the world warms, according to most biologists. Some garden variety bugs could start producing millions of offspring (instead of a couple hundred thousand)...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Backyard Science, Biology, Podcast, SciClips on 05 30th, 2007 | No Comments

Song Heard

courtesy of University of Washington Baby birds can learn their songs from adults other than their parents. The same may hold true for human infants. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2612', {src: 'http://www.realscience.us/blog/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/FlowPlayerClassic.swf', width: 320,...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Podcast, SciClips, Space on 05 29th, 2007 | No Comments

Dark Energy

courtesy of James Wadsley, McMaster University For years scientists have theorized about what makes up most of the universe. Astronomers call it dark energy because it can’t be directly seen and also because they know so little about it. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2613', {src: 'http://www.realscience.us/blog/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/FlowPlayerClassic.swf',...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biochemistry, Podcast, SciClips on 05 25th, 2007 | No Comments

Prozac Pup

Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net Birds get it. Dogs get it. And people get it. Depression is a biochemical abnormality that is found in animals. Now a new drug similar to a commonly prescribed human anti-depressant is showing signs of hope for dogs with the blues. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2614', {src:...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Anthropology, Around the Americas, New Species, Podcast, SciClips on 05 24th, 2007 | 3 Comments

Clovis Comet

Douglas Kennett Jon Erlandson A controversial new theory about the disappearance of Clovis man and 35 North American animal species is making waves in geology circles. Two University of Oregon anthropologists are part of a group of 26 who think a comet crashed into Earth 13,000 years ago, causing...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Nanotechnology, Podcast, SciClips on 05 23rd, 2007 | No Comments

Positron Possibility

Courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory Scanning for cancer gets more sophisticated all the time. Positron Emissions Tomography is one of the best and most widely used methods to find tumors when they are small enough to cure patients. An old idea is bringing high-energy physicists and radiologists...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Math, Podcast, SciClips on 05 22nd, 2007 | No Comments

Math Whiz

Courtesy of Kathy Sauber, UW Two undergraduate math teams took home the top math modeling prize after beating out other top flight schools. They came up with the simplest way to divide a state into congressional districts based on population rather than politics. They solved the complex math problem...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Geology, Podcast, SciClips on 05 18th, 2007 | No Comments

Volcanic Revelations

Courtesy of USGS On the 27-year anniversary of Mt. St. Helens we look back to the big eruption and measure how far science has come–especially when it comes to understanding the role of volcanoes in climate change. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2618', {src: 'http://www.realscience.us/blog/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/FlowPlayerClassic.swf',...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Climate, Environment, Geology, Marine Science, Podcast, SciClips on 05 18th, 2007 | No Comments

Ocean Space

Courtesy of University of Washington What goes on beneath the waves is just about as unexplored as outer space. But that is about to change. The University of Washington just got the greenlight to start imagining a one-of-a-kind underwater laboratory to study our own oceanic inner space. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2619', {src:...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Biotechnology, Consumer Safety, Health and Medicine, Plants, Podcast, SciClips on 05 16th, 2007 | No Comments

Boiled Again

courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net Broccoli is generally viewed as a good veggie to eat to prevent cancer. Brussel sprouts, cauliflower and green cabbage contain similar properties. But scientists recently discovered that boiling them destroys much of the health benefit. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2620', {src:...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Genetics, Health and Medicine, Podcast, SciClips on 05 15th, 2007 | No Comments

Chewy Bacteria

Most people spend a lot of time and energy trying to kill bacteria–especially the ones in our mouths. Most of the 600 types of bacteria are helpful but some help destroy our teeth. Now dentists are trying to use new DNA knowledge to identify bad bacteria that can do more than just rot teeth. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2621', {src:...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Environment, Oceanography, Podcast, SciClips on 05 14th, 2007 | No Comments

Whale Workers

Narwhals near Greenland Odd looking sea creatures that look like they were plucked from mythology are being put to work below the icy north Atlantic Ocean. These tusked creatures are called narwhals and are the latest tool for capturing information about water temperature and salinity in one of the...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Marine Science, Oceanography, Podcast, SciClips on 05 11th, 2007 | No Comments

Black Smokers

blacksmoker.mov Movie courtesy of Tim Crone, University of Washington Deep in the dark ocean, hot minerals are bubbling out of the Earth’s crust, superheating the water. The hottest of the hydrothermal vents are called black smokers and they are not quite as quiet as scientists thought. Podcast:...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biochemistry, Diseases, Environment, Health and Medicine, Podcast, SciClips on 05 10th, 2007 | No Comments

Pathological Protein

What happens when good proteins go bad? Well, disease, of course. Mad cow disease is probably the most familiar involving clusters of bad proteins called prions. They can jump across species and turn perfectly good proteins into microscopic miscreants. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2624', {src:...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Climate, Environment, Global Warming, Podcast, SciClips, Weird Weather on 05 9th, 2007 | No Comments

Supercell Summer

Video courtesy of Brian in Greensburg, KS A spate of spring storms is leaving many people wondering if this summer will be a brutal one. Scientists won’t make predictions about severe storms, hurricanes or heat waves. But if disaster strikes a new system develeoped from research at the San Diego...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Math, Podcast, SciClips on 05 8th, 2007 | No Comments

Math Angst

George Hood Getting a math problem right doesn’t just help students. Sometimes good math helps in the real world, too. An Illinois man is out of the running…uh biking…for the Guiness Book of World Records thanks to a few too many math errors. pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2626', {src:...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Health and Medicine, Podcast, SciClips on 05 7th, 2007 | No Comments

Word Soup

Autistic kids can learn, a new study says. Researchers at University of Washington found that toddlers can distinguish between common words and unfamiliar words. And, autistic kid brains react in a similar way to typical kid brains when it comes to hearing those words in reverse. From this so-called...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Environment, Geology, Global Warming, Podcast, SciClips on 05 4th, 2007 | No Comments

Ice Hole

Ross Ice Shelf at Bay of Whales Scientists just unlocked a time capsule buried in the Antarctic ice. An international team drilled through snow, ice, rock and mud to retrieve a climate history of the icy continent going back 10 million years. It will take decades to uncover the secrets hidden in the...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biofuels, Climate, Energy, Environment, Podcast, SciClips on 05 3rd, 2007 | No Comments

Cloudy Future

Jet engines roar above Earth all day long, creating long, white trails of water vapor. Scientists have determined that these contrails are creating cirrus clouds but the effect on climate change still remains a bit cloudy. Cloudy Future pp_flashembed( 'powerpress_player_2629', {src: 'http://www.realscience.us/blog/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/FlowPlayerClassic.swf',...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Endangered Species, New Inventions, Podcast, SciClips on 05 2nd, 2007 | No Comments

Elephant Detector

TrailGuard Picture elephants walking past invisible metal detectors–much like herds of people at airports. Instead of rushing off to their flights, these pachyderms are merely roaming their favorite trails. The invisible TrailGuard is designed to help protect endangered species from poachers....

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Health and Medicine, Physiology, Podcast, SciClips on 05 1st, 2007 | 1 Comment

Blood Pressure Plant

Wild Garlic courtesy of Dr. Irene Mackraj Plants have been a mainstay in traditional African medicine. Now a group of scientists has taken 16 common South African plants and discovered that eight of them have properties that reduce blood pressure. They are: Spleen Amaranth (Amaranthus dubius) Smooth...

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