Science 'n Shtein

[methdeez]

Some of you are going to get to talk to cops more often.

Nidhi Subbaraman of MIT Review reports that scientists are working on infrared facial recognition algorithms that will map the heat along the surface of the face.
Drunks, it turns out, have certain patterns of heat along their faces. As Liat Clarke of Wired put it, the scientists found that "when inebriated, an individual's nose tends to become warmer while their forehead remains far cooler."

I don't think cops need a $10 million machine to recognize drunks. It's really not that hard, especially when they roll down a window to a car full of thier own fumes.

[General_Failure]

All that time spent hiding from the sun was completely wasted.

It turns out that redheads may be vulnerable to more oxidative DNA damage, even if they stay out of the sun: the researchers found several indicators of DNA damage—lipid peroxide and two cyclopurine levels—were much higher in mice that produced large amounts of pheomelanin.  This DNA damage, in turn, contributes to the development of malignant melanoma.

[General_Failure]

Fairy wrens teach secret passwords to their unborn chicks to tell them apart from cuckoo impostors

When Colombelli-Negrel recorded the chicks after they hatched, she heard that their begging call included a single unique note lifted from mum's incubation call. This note varies a lot between different fairy-wren broods. It's their version of a surname, a signature of identity that unites a family. The females even teach these calls to their partners, by using them in their own begging calls when the males return to the nest with food.
These signature calls aren't innate. The chicks' calls more precisely matched those of their mother if she sang more frequently while she was incubating. And when Colombelli-Negrel swapped some eggs between different clutches, she found that the chicks made signature calls that matches those of their foster parents rather than those of their biological ones.  It's something they learn while still in their eggs.
This also explains why bronze-cuckoos don't make the same calls. The female bronze-cuckoo tends to deposit her eggs while a fairy-wren's clutch is around 12 days old. At this point, they're just a couple of days away from hatching. "The cuckoo embryo appears to have insufficient time to correctly learn the password note," says Sonia Kleindorfer, who led the study.

[General_Failure]

Synthetic molecule could stop acute allergic reactions

The first time that a potential allergen enters the body, some people's systems react by creating what are known as IgE (Immunoglobulin E) antibodies. These antibodies remain in the body even after the allergen has cleared out, where most of them proceed to link with Fc receptor molecules, which are found on the outer surface of mast cells.

When that same allergen is introduced to the body again, it binds with the antibodies clinging to the mast cells, causing those cells to release "inflammatory mediators" such as histamines – the result is a nasty allergic reaction.

What the scientists discovered was that an engineered protein-inhibiting molecule by the name of DARPin E2-79 is able to quickly strip the IgE antibodies from the Fc receptors. In practical terms, this means that "an interaction that normally lasts for hours or days in terms of its stability is stripped off in a matter of seconds," according to Stanford's Dr. Ted Jardetzky, senior investigator on the study. In other words, it should stop an acute reaction in its tracks.

[hbionic]

Synthetic molecule could stop acute allergic reactions

The first time that a potential allergen enters the body, some people's systems react by creating what are known as IgE (Immunoglobulin E) antibodies. These antibodies remain in the body even after the allergen has cleared out, where most of them proceed to link with Fc receptor molecules, which are found on the outer surface of mast cells.

When that same allergen is introduced to the body again, it binds with the antibodies clinging to the mast cells, causing those cells to release "inflammatory mediators" such as histamines – the result is a nasty allergic reaction.

What the scientists discovered was that an engineered protein-inhibiting molecule by the name of DARPin E2-79 is able to quickly strip the IgE antibodies from the Fc receptors. In practical terms, this means that "an interaction that normally lasts for hours or days in terms of its stability is stripped off in a matter of seconds," according to Stanford's Dr. Ted Jardetzky, senior investigator on the study. In other words, it should stop an acute reaction in its tracks.

IN.

[General_Failure]

Touch-Sensitive Plastic Skin Heals Itself

Nobody knows the remarkable properties of human skin like the researchers struggling to emulate it. Not only is our skin sensitive, sending the brain precise information about pressure and temperature, but it also heals efficiently to preserve a protective barrier against the world. Combining these two features in a single synthetic material presented an exciting challenge for Stanford Chemical Engineering Professor Zhenan Bao and her team.

Now, they have succeeded in making the first material that can both sense subtle pressure and heal itself when torn or cut. Their findings will be published on November 11 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

[hbionic]

Now I can have some foreskin implanted. For UV ray protection of course.

[General_Failure]

Ticks are turning victims into vegetarians

A bite from the lone star tick, so-called for the white spot on its back, looks innocent enough. But researchers say saliva that sneaks into the wound might trigger a reaction to meat agonizing enough to convert lifelong carnivores into wary vegetarians.

"People will eat beef and then anywhere from three to six hours later start having a reaction; anything from hives to full-blown anaphylactic shock," said Dr. Scott Commins, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

[Munson]

African teen girls 'invent' urine powered generator


Bunch of wiz kids

[Sgt PSN]

Yellow energy?

[General_Failure]

Scientists Identify Depression and Anxiety Biomarker in Youths

The test for the unique cognitive biomarker, which can be done on a computer, could be used as an inexpensive tool to screen adolescents for common emotional mental illnesses. As the cognitive biomarker may appear prior to the symptoms of depression and anxiety, early intervention (which has proven to be one of the most effective ways of combatting mental illness) could then be initiated.
For the study, 15-18 year old participants underwent genetic testing and environmental assessment, an exercise which would currently be too expensive and take too long to use as a widespread method of screening. The adolescents were then given a computer test to gauge how they process emotional information. The test had the participants evaluate whether words were positive, negative or neutral (examples included 'joyful' for positive, 'failure' for negative, and 'range' for neutral).

[General_Failure]

The SMS text message is 20 years old today. Here's an article that explains why they went with a 160 character limit.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/05/invented-text-messaging.html

[Eagaholic]

160 seems to be the number of the day. Just saw an article that said $160,000 is the minimum amount of yearly income people thought they need to have the most happiness in life (international study, I think generally 1st world).

[hbionic]

Because $120,000 just won't cut it.

[Eagaholic]

not if you want to buy an Eagles PSL it won't
(and nothing screams happiness like an Eagles PSL)