More Groovy Science 3

Another science extravaganza! Here are some recent interesting studies:

• Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure


• Anxiety May Be at Root of Religious Extremism


• Brain Differences Found Between Believers In God And Non-Believers


• Honey as an Antibiotic: Scientists Identify a Secret Ingredient in Honey That Kills Bacteria


• Honey Bee Venom May Help Design New Treatments to Alleviate Muscular Dystrophy, Depression and Dementia


• How Fast Can Microbes Break Down Oil Washed Onto Gulf Beaches?


• Bicycling, Brisk Walking Help Women Control Weight


• Nano-Sized Advance Toward Next Big Treatment Era in Dentistry


• Complex, Multicellular Life from Over Two Billion Years Ago Discovered


• Cocoa Flavanols Improve Vascular and Blood Pressure Measures for Coronary Artery Disease Patients


• Road Surface Purifies Air by Removing Nitrogen Oxides


• Cell Phone Microscope Poised to Begin Trials in Africa


• Tibetan Adaptation to High Altitude Occurred in Less Than 3,000 Years

More Groovy Science 2

Here is more research to interest you:

• Scientists Capture Very Moment Blood Flow Begins


• New Evidence That Drinking Coffee May Reduce the Risk of Diabetes


• Trekking-Poles Help Hikers Maintain Muscle Function While Reducing Soreness


• Caffeine Reduces Pain During Exercise


• First Large-Scale Formal Quantitative Test Confirms Darwin's Theory of Universal Common Ancestry


• How Smarter School Lunchrooms Increase Fruit Sales


• Tibetans Developed Genes to Help Them Adapt to Life at High Elevations


• Tissue Engineering Technique Yields Potential Biological Substitute for Dental Implants

Scientists Capture Very Moment Blood Flow Begins: By capturing movies of both the blood and vasculature of zebrafish embryos, each less than two millimeters long, researchers have been able for the first time to see the very moment that blood begins to flow. The observations show that the earliest blood flow, involving what appear to be hundreds of cells, begins all at once. Remarkably, that onset of life-giving circulation takes more than a beating heart. In fact, red blood cells remain stuck to the blood vessel wall initially, even after the heart starts to beat.

New Evidence That Drinking Coffee May Reduce the Risk of Diabetes: Scientists are reporting new evidence that drinking coffee may help prevent diabetes and that caffeine may be the ingredient largely responsible for this effect, in this animal study. The scientists fed either water or coffee to a group of laboratory mice commonly used to study diabetes. Coffee consumption prevented the development of high-blood sugar and also improved insulin sensitivity in the mice, thereby reducing the risk of diabetes. Coffee also caused a cascade of other beneficial changes in the fatty liver and inflammatory adipocytokines related to a reduced diabetes risk. Additional lab studies showed that caffeine may be "one of the most effective anti-diabetic compounds in coffee," the scientists say.

Some Recent Scientific Studies

As you may have guessed, I love science. I thought I'd share some studies that have been recently published that seem interesting.

First, we'll start with Norway. They took a novel approach to dealing with staph infections. They drastically reduced their use of antibiotics. Some time ago I talked a bit about refraining from using antibacterial soaps which are harmful to you and those you love. Anyway, Norway is now the most infection-free country in the world. And they did it by reducing their use of antibiotics.

Midday Naps boost your learning capacity! Good news for those of us able to catch a few ZZZ's during the day. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that an hour's nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power. Indeed, the findings suggest that a biphasic sleep schedule not only refreshes the mind, but can make you smarter.

Few professionals keep current with what's going on in their field. This is disturbing but not surprising.

Nanotechnology creates a way to cheaply and efficiently make lightweight paper and fabric batteries, store energy, and still be stretchable!  (I love me some nanotech)  These are known as eTextiles. Imagine energy-storing wallpaper, charging your portables on the go by plugging them into your shirt. How about moving display clothing, high performance sportswear and wearable power for soldiers? Groovy!

Biogas may be even better than previously thought. Biogas from refuse produces 95 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline, according to a new research report. With a few simple improvements to the biogas plants, the figure can rise to 120 per cent -- i.e. biogas becomes more than climate neutral. This can be compared with the standard figures used today, which indicate that biogas produces 80 per cent lower emissions than gasoline.

An inexpensive, fast, accurate DNA test that reveals a person's risk of developing certain diseases is expected to become a reality. Scientists have developed a method of pinpointing variations in a person's genetic code at critical points along the DNA chain. The technique could be used to analyze DNA in a drop of saliva.

Liquid Glass Is Groovy!

Happy Darwin Day everyone! Today is Darwin's birthday and in honor of him, I thought I'd post this article about Liquid Glass, which could possibly be the coolest nanotech material I've seen in some time. I think it's so cool mainly because of its versatility and the fact that it's already in use in Germany, the UK and Turkey.

Why am I talking about nanotech on Darwin's birthday? If you think about it, without evolution, we wouldn't be able to manipulate our world so deftly and with such finesse. About 195,000 years ago homo sapiens first appeared in the fossil record. We started leaving Africa about 70,000 years ago, and migrated as far as the Americas 14,500 years ago.

A mere 10,000 years ago, we were mostly hunter-gatherers in nomadic groups. The first proto-states were developed only 6,000 years ago. Think of that! Look how far we've come in such a short time!

Think of how we lived just 100 years ago in 1910.

• By 1910 many suburban homes were wired up with power and new electronic gadgets.


• Vacuum cleaners and washing machines had just become commercially available, though still expensive for middle class folks


• The telephone was new, and millions of American homes were connected by manual switchboard


• People relied on the paper for their news, but radio technology was in its infancy


• The age of the airship was in full swing. Only 7 years previously, the Wright brothers had flown at Kitty Hawk


• Henry Ford introduced the Model T 2 years before and sold about 10,000 of them this year


• Advances in the use of gases meant the first electric refrigerators and air conditioning units.


• Neon lighting was debuted in Paris


• Inventions included: escalators, teabags, cellophane, instant coffee and disposable razor blades


• Women still had another 3 years of corsets

Things they didn't have in 1910:

Amazing Futuristic Materials

Stumbling around the web, I found this article on Futuristic Materials. This stuff is just amazing, so I wanted to share it with you. Just think where we'll be in 10 years if these materials go into products that are mass produced? I say it that way because I know there must be secret flying cars and robots that fold laundry out there, but still, I am driving my little old Subaru and folding my own laundry. And it's the 21st century!

Anyway, enjoy these groovy new materials. They have awesome potential to change our world. And it makes me think, if I never imagined this stuff, what will they think of next!? Woot!

1. Aerogel: also called "Frozen Smoke"