The Science News Digest - 3 April 2009
In the science news this week: scientist robots, an equatorial enigma, and research that shows you shouldn’t judge a dog owner by their dog...
Scientists from Aberystwyth University and the University of Cambridge have developed a robot able to make scientific discoveries for itself. The machine, named Adam, is not only able to carry out experiments on yeast metabolism but is also capable of reasoning about the results and planning the next experiment, reported the Independent.
’On its own it can think of hypotheses and then do the experiments, and we’ve checked that it’s got the results correct,’ said project leader Ross King, a computational biologist. He added that while Adam’s results were modest, they were real: ‘It’s certainly a contribution to knowledge. It would be publishable.’
New Scientist revealed that Adam actually consists of a small roomful of lab equipment, including four personal computers acting as a brain, robot arms, cameras, liquid handlers, incubators and other equipment. Eve, the group’s next robot, will have greater brain power and will be given the task of searching for new medicines.
King added: ‘People have been working on this since the 1960s. When we first sent robots to Mars, they really dreamt of the robots doing their own experiments on Mars. After 40 or 50 years, we’ve now got the capability to do that.’
The work was published in the journal Science alongside a second paper from Cornell University scientists that described a computer program able to work out the fundamental physical laws behind a swinging double pendulum, without any prior instruction in physics.
One of the researchers, Hod Lipson, told reporters he didn’t think robots would make scientists obsolete any time soon, but could help with routine lab work: ‘One of the biggest problems in science today is finding the underlying principles in areas where there are lots and lots of data. This can help in accelerating the rate at which we can discover scientific principles behind the data.’
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BBC News reported that scientists might have found evidence of the dark matter thought to make up 23 per cent of the Universe. The invisible matter can only be detected through its effects on ‘normal’ matter. In this case, a satellite-based experiment known as Pamela (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) and launched in June 2006 has recorded an unexpected high ratio of positrons to electrons.
The scientists, who reported their observations in the journal Nature, are clear that the mysterious positron signal needs to be investigated further before they know if they have in fact ‘discovered dark matter’. The positrons could instead come from pulsars – rapidly rotating, super-dense, dead stars that release lots of energy.
Professor Piergiorgio Picozza of Italy’s University of Rome Tor Vergata, one of the authors of the research, explained: ‘Many leading theoreticians think this signal must come from dark matter. But I don’t think this data alone is enough to claim that discovery. What we have found is another primary source of positrons.’
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope should help to clarify this. Launched in June 2008, it is already taking measurements from pulsars. Professor Picozza also believes the particles thought to consitute dark matter could be reproduced in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. If the new signal doesn’t match the Fermi data and LHC experiments support the dark matter theoreticians, ‘then we could then say we have discovered dark matter,’ he said.
-------------------
A study has lent weight to the potential for using carbon capture and sequestration to reduce the impact of burning fossil fuels. It found that the greenhouse gas could be safely stored underground for thousands of years without leaking into the atmosphere.
The research, published in Nature, analysed helium and carbon dioxide isotopes in a number of natural underground gas reservoirs that have filled with carbon dioxide for thousands of years as a result of deeper volcanic activity or heating of carbonate rocks. The isotope ratio can reveal whether carbon dioxide has seeped out during the time the underground sites have filled up with gas.
Dr Stuart Gilfillan from the University of Edinburgh told the Independent: ‘The study shows that naturally stored carbon dioxide has been safely stored for millions of years, which means that these sort of storage timescales should be achievable for the deliberate sequestration of the gas.
’It suggests that the underground storage of carbon dioxide, in the correct place, should be a safe option to help us cope with emissions until we can develop cleaner sources of energy not based on fossil fuels.’
-------------------
Also in the Independent: the probability of giving birth to a girl rather than a boy increases the closer the mother lives to the equator, according to research published in the journal Biology Letters this week.
Using data on the birth rates of 202 countries around the globe, compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency, Dr Kristen Navara found a clear link between latitude and a skewed birth sex ratio. Even when countries known to have a culture of sex-specific abortion were excluded, Dr Navara still observed a statistically significant difference.
’We found that this difference was independent of other cultural variables, including socio-economic status. It was an over-arching pattern and this effect remained despite enormous cultural variations between the countries we looked at,’ she said.
Dr Navara hypothesised that the difference could reflect an ancient evolutionary mechanism to deal with more varied food resources in northerly regions compared to the tropics. When food is in short supply it should in theory be advantageous to give birth to males because females require more energy when producing eggs and being pregnant.
’This study really reminds us of our evolutionary roots,’ she commented. ‘Despite enormous cultural and socio-economic variability, we continue to adjust reproductive patterns in response to environmental cues, just as we were originally programmed to do.’
-------------------
A team at the University of British Columbia in Canada have created a tiny yeast-powered fuel cell that can generate power from a drop of human blood. The development brings the prospect of a living source of power able to regenerate itself a step closer. Such fuel cells could be particularly useful for internal devices implanted in areas where it’s difficult to replace the battery – such as intraspinal microelectrodes for treating paralysis.
In another study, published in Science, researchers reported on their use of viruses to help build batteries. The process has environmental perks as it doesn’t use harmful or toxic materials. It’s also likely to appeal to industry as it is quick and relatively cheap. The virus used in the process is a common bacteriophage that infects bacteria and is harmless to humans.
You can read more about the yeast research in New Scientist, while BBC News has further details about the virus battery.
-------------------
If you’re interested in getting involved in some research yourself, here’s your chance. Evolution MegaLab will ask people to submit data online about the shell colour of banded snails in their garden and local green spaces to see how the creatures have evolved over the past 40 years to reflect changes in temperature and predators. The Open University says the Europe-wide study that will run from April to October will be one of the largest evolutionary studies ever undertaken. Find out more at BBC News.
-------------------
Fruit fly research has added weight to the idea that a good night’s sleep is important for consolidating the day’s memories and getting rid of unnecessary mental rubbish, reported the Independent.
US scientists analysed fruit flies – thought to be good models of sleep in humans because they also need six to eight hours sleep a night and suffer physically and mentally if they don’t get enough. Flies raised in crowded conditions and those kept active with ‘mental workouts’ sleep longer than those kept alone or unstimulated.
The latest study went further than previous studies showing sleep promotes learning and memory in animals by showing that brain nerve cell connections are built up during the day and are pruned back after a good night’s sleep.
The researchers found that sleep-deprived flies had a build-up of the proteins that connect one nerve cell to another. After sleeping, the level of these proteins had dropped, indicating nerve connections had become weaker or eliminated.
Professor Paul Shaw, one of the authors of the paper published in Science, said: ‘There are a number of reasons why the brain can’t indefinitely add synapses, including the finite spatial constraints of the skull. We were able to track the creation of new synapses in fruit flies during learning experiences, and to show that sleep pushed that number back down.’
-------------------
And finally...
There is some truth in the theory that owners look like their dogs, a psychologist from Bath Spa University concluded this week, but a particular dog choice isn’t a good predictor of the owner’s personality.
Dr Lance Workman and colleagues asked 70 people to match 41 dog owners (often photographed in their homes) to their breeds – either poodles, labradors or Staffordshire bull terriers. The team, who presented their findings at the annual British Psychological Society conference, found people guessed correctly 50 to 60 per cent of the time, when chance would predict a 33 per cent success rate.
Clothes and build were among the physical factors that suggested which dog someone would own, said Dr Workman. ‘If you are a robust build you will probably have a more robust dog so that you can get lots of exercise. If you are more slight you may want a poodle as you think that they need less exercise.’
However, volunteers also wrongly predicted the owner’s personality based on their choice of breed, reported the Telegraph – judging bull terrier owners as less intelligent than the others and labrador and poodle owners as nicer.
Dr Workman said: ‘When we tested the dog owners’ personalities, we found no strong links between any particular personality trait and choice of dog breed, so any shared qualities are only skin deep. What this study shows is that you shouldn’t judge a person by their dog, but we all do.’
Scientists from Aberystwyth University and the University of Cambridge have developed a robot able to make scientific discoveries for itself. The machine, named Adam, is not only able to carry out experiments on yeast metabolism but is also capable of reasoning about the results and planning the next experiment, reported the Independent.
’On its own it can think of hypotheses and then do the experiments, and we’ve checked that it’s got the results correct,’ said project leader Ross King, a computational biologist. He added that while Adam’s results were modest, they were real: ‘It’s certainly a contribution to knowledge. It would be publishable.’
New Scientist revealed that Adam actually consists of a small roomful of lab equipment, including four personal computers acting as a brain, robot arms, cameras, liquid handlers, incubators and other equipment. Eve, the group’s next robot, will have greater brain power and will be given the task of searching for new medicines.
King added: ‘People have been working on this since the 1960s. When we first sent robots to Mars, they really dreamt of the robots doing their own experiments on Mars. After 40 or 50 years, we’ve now got the capability to do that.’
The work was published in the journal Science alongside a second paper from Cornell University scientists that described a computer program able to work out the fundamental physical laws behind a swinging double pendulum, without any prior instruction in physics.
One of the researchers, Hod Lipson, told reporters he didn’t think robots would make scientists obsolete any time soon, but could help with routine lab work: ‘One of the biggest problems in science today is finding the underlying principles in areas where there are lots and lots of data. This can help in accelerating the rate at which we can discover scientific principles behind the data.’
--------------------
BBC News reported that scientists might have found evidence of the dark matter thought to make up 23 per cent of the Universe. The invisible matter can only be detected through its effects on ‘normal’ matter. In this case, a satellite-based experiment known as Pamela (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) and launched in June 2006 has recorded an unexpected high ratio of positrons to electrons.
The scientists, who reported their observations in the journal Nature, are clear that the mysterious positron signal needs to be investigated further before they know if they have in fact ‘discovered dark matter’. The positrons could instead come from pulsars – rapidly rotating, super-dense, dead stars that release lots of energy.
Professor Piergiorgio Picozza of Italy’s University of Rome Tor Vergata, one of the authors of the research, explained: ‘Many leading theoreticians think this signal must come from dark matter. But I don’t think this data alone is enough to claim that discovery. What we have found is another primary source of positrons.’
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope should help to clarify this. Launched in June 2008, it is already taking measurements from pulsars. Professor Picozza also believes the particles thought to consitute dark matter could be reproduced in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. If the new signal doesn’t match the Fermi data and LHC experiments support the dark matter theoreticians, ‘then we could then say we have discovered dark matter,’ he said.
-------------------
A study has lent weight to the potential for using carbon capture and sequestration to reduce the impact of burning fossil fuels. It found that the greenhouse gas could be safely stored underground for thousands of years without leaking into the atmosphere.
The research, published in Nature, analysed helium and carbon dioxide isotopes in a number of natural underground gas reservoirs that have filled with carbon dioxide for thousands of years as a result of deeper volcanic activity or heating of carbonate rocks. The isotope ratio can reveal whether carbon dioxide has seeped out during the time the underground sites have filled up with gas.
Dr Stuart Gilfillan from the University of Edinburgh told the Independent: ‘The study shows that naturally stored carbon dioxide has been safely stored for millions of years, which means that these sort of storage timescales should be achievable for the deliberate sequestration of the gas.
’It suggests that the underground storage of carbon dioxide, in the correct place, should be a safe option to help us cope with emissions until we can develop cleaner sources of energy not based on fossil fuels.’
-------------------
Also in the Independent: the probability of giving birth to a girl rather than a boy increases the closer the mother lives to the equator, according to research published in the journal Biology Letters this week.
Using data on the birth rates of 202 countries around the globe, compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency, Dr Kristen Navara found a clear link between latitude and a skewed birth sex ratio. Even when countries known to have a culture of sex-specific abortion were excluded, Dr Navara still observed a statistically significant difference.
’We found that this difference was independent of other cultural variables, including socio-economic status. It was an over-arching pattern and this effect remained despite enormous cultural variations between the countries we looked at,’ she said.
Dr Navara hypothesised that the difference could reflect an ancient evolutionary mechanism to deal with more varied food resources in northerly regions compared to the tropics. When food is in short supply it should in theory be advantageous to give birth to males because females require more energy when producing eggs and being pregnant.
’This study really reminds us of our evolutionary roots,’ she commented. ‘Despite enormous cultural and socio-economic variability, we continue to adjust reproductive patterns in response to environmental cues, just as we were originally programmed to do.’
-------------------
A team at the University of British Columbia in Canada have created a tiny yeast-powered fuel cell that can generate power from a drop of human blood. The development brings the prospect of a living source of power able to regenerate itself a step closer. Such fuel cells could be particularly useful for internal devices implanted in areas where it’s difficult to replace the battery – such as intraspinal microelectrodes for treating paralysis.
In another study, published in Science, researchers reported on their use of viruses to help build batteries. The process has environmental perks as it doesn’t use harmful or toxic materials. It’s also likely to appeal to industry as it is quick and relatively cheap. The virus used in the process is a common bacteriophage that infects bacteria and is harmless to humans.
You can read more about the yeast research in New Scientist, while BBC News has further details about the virus battery.
-------------------
If you’re interested in getting involved in some research yourself, here’s your chance. Evolution MegaLab will ask people to submit data online about the shell colour of banded snails in their garden and local green spaces to see how the creatures have evolved over the past 40 years to reflect changes in temperature and predators. The Open University says the Europe-wide study that will run from April to October will be one of the largest evolutionary studies ever undertaken. Find out more at BBC News.
-------------------
Fruit fly research has added weight to the idea that a good night’s sleep is important for consolidating the day’s memories and getting rid of unnecessary mental rubbish, reported the Independent.
US scientists analysed fruit flies – thought to be good models of sleep in humans because they also need six to eight hours sleep a night and suffer physically and mentally if they don’t get enough. Flies raised in crowded conditions and those kept active with ‘mental workouts’ sleep longer than those kept alone or unstimulated.
The latest study went further than previous studies showing sleep promotes learning and memory in animals by showing that brain nerve cell connections are built up during the day and are pruned back after a good night’s sleep.
The researchers found that sleep-deprived flies had a build-up of the proteins that connect one nerve cell to another. After sleeping, the level of these proteins had dropped, indicating nerve connections had become weaker or eliminated.
Professor Paul Shaw, one of the authors of the paper published in Science, said: ‘There are a number of reasons why the brain can’t indefinitely add synapses, including the finite spatial constraints of the skull. We were able to track the creation of new synapses in fruit flies during learning experiences, and to show that sleep pushed that number back down.’
-------------------
And finally...
There is some truth in the theory that owners look like their dogs, a psychologist from Bath Spa University concluded this week, but a particular dog choice isn’t a good predictor of the owner’s personality.
Dr Lance Workman and colleagues asked 70 people to match 41 dog owners (often photographed in their homes) to their breeds – either poodles, labradors or Staffordshire bull terriers. The team, who presented their findings at the annual British Psychological Society conference, found people guessed correctly 50 to 60 per cent of the time, when chance would predict a 33 per cent success rate.
Clothes and build were among the physical factors that suggested which dog someone would own, said Dr Workman. ‘If you are a robust build you will probably have a more robust dog so that you can get lots of exercise. If you are more slight you may want a poodle as you think that they need less exercise.’
However, volunteers also wrongly predicted the owner’s personality based on their choice of breed, reported the Telegraph – judging bull terrier owners as less intelligent than the others and labrador and poodle owners as nicer.
Dr Workman said: ‘When we tested the dog owners’ personalities, we found no strong links between any particular personality trait and choice of dog breed, so any shared qualities are only skin deep. What this study shows is that you shouldn’t judge a person by their dog, but we all do.’
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