Science News Digest 12th April 2010
In the science news this week, we take a look at the latest edition to the periodic table, the genetic gift from sushi, the latest developments in avatars, new research on the effects of crowds and finally….. self shearing sheep
Something fishy going on?
In the BBC this week, researchers who have discovered a new enzyme, porphyranase, which makes seaweed digestible in marine bacteria, are claiming that a traditional Japanese diet (consisting largely of sushi) has transferred the genes of these enzymes into the human gut allowing us to begin producing them ourselves.
Their theory is that people eating sushi wrapped in the seaweed have ingested the marine bacteria along with the genes that code for the digestive enzyme. Their research involving a study of Japanese people showed that all 13 people they analysed haD this enzyme or a version of it, whereas a group of Americans tested for this enzyme all came back negative.
Dr Mirjam Czjzek from Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) in Paris said; "Five out of the 13 people had this same gene [in their gut bacteria]. And the rest had similar genes that coded for enzymes with a similar function - to break down the algal cell wall."
"When we looked at a [genomic] study of the gut bacteria of a group of American people, none of them had the gene."
This research demonstrates how the type of food and the method of preparation have the potential to influence the ‘microbial environment in our digestive system.
--------------------------------------
That’s Elementary!
The blank space in the periodic table between 116 and 118 has finally been filled thanks to the creation of element 117, temporarily called ‘Ununseptium’ (referring to its atomic number).
The superheavy element has been labelled a nuclear ‘missing link’ by scientists and could point towards a future of more massive and stable elements, enabling the creation of new materials.
The team comprising of physicists from Russia and America created six atoms of ununseptium by smashing berkelium atoms into calcium using a particle accelerator.
Element 117 is unstable and therefore lasts for only a fraction of a second before self-destructing in a cascade of lighter elements and particles.
Team member Dawn Shaughnessy from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory told The New York Times that these new super-heavy stable elements could one day be used to generate an array of strange new materials with as yet unimagined scientific and practical uses.
Read more in the Daily Mail
--------------------------------------
Two’s company…
Anyone having to combat the London Underground network at rush hour will be able to sympathise with the need for this research published in ScienceNOW this week.
Crowd physicists have devised theories on bottlenecked entrances, duelling streams of pedestrian traffic and even ‘turbulence’ in shoulder to shoulder mobs, however, criticisms of research to date show that these models tend to treat people on an individual basis.
New research from the University of Toulouse in France has shown that up to 70% of people in crowds tend to form groups of two or more. Making matters worse, these groups then go on to form ‘un-aerodynamic’ shapes, such as ‘V’ or ‘U’ formations.
Mehdi Moussaid, a behavioral scientist at the University of Toulouse videotaped two types of posses in Bordeaux, France, from above: the weekday rush and the weekend stroll.
His findings show that the weekday crowds turned out to be about half individuals and half groups (of two or more), whereas weekend footage showed that 70% of people were in groups.
Apparently groups slowed crowd traffic down by about 17%. Moussaid says, "We're not so different from sheep when it comes to crowding."
For those of us in a rush in the morning, apparently we’re only making things worse, as those who break formation cause the whole system to break down.
------------------------------------
Eye robot.
Following the phenomenal success of the movie Avatar, we are one step closer to achieving realistic, lifelike virtual copies of ourselves thanks to some new developments made by a team from University College in London.
The researchers have managed to find a way to make avatars replicate the eye movements of the user, by using eye-tracking glasses to track their blink rate, direction and length of gaze, and pupil dilation.
When a group of participants were asked to watch some video clips and decide if the avatars were lying or telling the truth. The participants were able to detect 88% of truths from avatars with eye movement enabled compared to 70% without and spotted 48% of lies, but only 39% without.
The eyes can help people decide on whether people are telling the truth or lying, with people telling the truth tending to maintain eye contact for longer and people telling lies having more dilated pupils as there is a greater cognitive load required for deception.
The hope is that this new technology could help avatars feel more trustworthy than online video communication, as only the relevant visual cues need to be displayed.
Read more in New Scientist
--------------------------------------
And Finally......
You can’t pull the wool over their eyes…
Farmers from Devon have successfully created a supersheep that doesn’t need shearing, is more resistant to gut worms and need less chemical treatments through selective breeding.
This new breed, Exlana (so called because this is Latin for ‘used to have wool’) moult their woolly coats when the weathers hots up.
Their wool is shorter and more sparse the traditional British sheep and yields just 500g compared with 9kg produced by normal sheep.
As well as being kinder on the environment due to a need for fewer chemicals and medicines, they are also economically favourable, saving an estimated £8 per sheep per year.
Breeder Peter Baber, winner of Sheep Farmer of the Year 2007, said: 'It's totally changed the way we work. It is the most forward-thinking step in British sheep farming for a long time.
'We used to have normal, woolly sheep at the farm and had to spend hours shearing them in the spring. But the value of wool has reduced so much recently that it's no longer economically viable to produce.’
The animals will soon be available to buy for around £100 per lamb and £150 pounds per ewe.
Read more in the Daily Mail
Something fishy going on?
In the BBC this week, researchers who have discovered a new enzyme, porphyranase, which makes seaweed digestible in marine bacteria, are claiming that a traditional Japanese diet (consisting largely of sushi) has transferred the genes of these enzymes into the human gut allowing us to begin producing them ourselves.
Their theory is that people eating sushi wrapped in the seaweed have ingested the marine bacteria along with the genes that code for the digestive enzyme. Their research involving a study of Japanese people showed that all 13 people they analysed haD this enzyme or a version of it, whereas a group of Americans tested for this enzyme all came back negative.
Dr Mirjam Czjzek from Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) in Paris said; "Five out of the 13 people had this same gene [in their gut bacteria]. And the rest had similar genes that coded for enzymes with a similar function - to break down the algal cell wall."
"When we looked at a [genomic] study of the gut bacteria of a group of American people, none of them had the gene."
This research demonstrates how the type of food and the method of preparation have the potential to influence the ‘microbial environment in our digestive system.
--------------------------------------
That’s Elementary!
The blank space in the periodic table between 116 and 118 has finally been filled thanks to the creation of element 117, temporarily called ‘Ununseptium’ (referring to its atomic number).
The superheavy element has been labelled a nuclear ‘missing link’ by scientists and could point towards a future of more massive and stable elements, enabling the creation of new materials.
The team comprising of physicists from Russia and America created six atoms of ununseptium by smashing berkelium atoms into calcium using a particle accelerator.
Element 117 is unstable and therefore lasts for only a fraction of a second before self-destructing in a cascade of lighter elements and particles.
Team member Dawn Shaughnessy from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory told The New York Times that these new super-heavy stable elements could one day be used to generate an array of strange new materials with as yet unimagined scientific and practical uses.
Read more in the Daily Mail
--------------------------------------
Two’s company…
Anyone having to combat the London Underground network at rush hour will be able to sympathise with the need for this research published in ScienceNOW this week.
Crowd physicists have devised theories on bottlenecked entrances, duelling streams of pedestrian traffic and even ‘turbulence’ in shoulder to shoulder mobs, however, criticisms of research to date show that these models tend to treat people on an individual basis.
New research from the University of Toulouse in France has shown that up to 70% of people in crowds tend to form groups of two or more. Making matters worse, these groups then go on to form ‘un-aerodynamic’ shapes, such as ‘V’ or ‘U’ formations.
Mehdi Moussaid, a behavioral scientist at the University of Toulouse videotaped two types of posses in Bordeaux, France, from above: the weekday rush and the weekend stroll.
His findings show that the weekday crowds turned out to be about half individuals and half groups (of two or more), whereas weekend footage showed that 70% of people were in groups.
Apparently groups slowed crowd traffic down by about 17%. Moussaid says, "We're not so different from sheep when it comes to crowding."
For those of us in a rush in the morning, apparently we’re only making things worse, as those who break formation cause the whole system to break down.
------------------------------------
Eye robot.
Following the phenomenal success of the movie Avatar, we are one step closer to achieving realistic, lifelike virtual copies of ourselves thanks to some new developments made by a team from University College in London.
The researchers have managed to find a way to make avatars replicate the eye movements of the user, by using eye-tracking glasses to track their blink rate, direction and length of gaze, and pupil dilation.
When a group of participants were asked to watch some video clips and decide if the avatars were lying or telling the truth. The participants were able to detect 88% of truths from avatars with eye movement enabled compared to 70% without and spotted 48% of lies, but only 39% without.
The eyes can help people decide on whether people are telling the truth or lying, with people telling the truth tending to maintain eye contact for longer and people telling lies having more dilated pupils as there is a greater cognitive load required for deception.
The hope is that this new technology could help avatars feel more trustworthy than online video communication, as only the relevant visual cues need to be displayed.
Read more in New Scientist
--------------------------------------
And Finally......
You can’t pull the wool over their eyes…
Farmers from Devon have successfully created a supersheep that doesn’t need shearing, is more resistant to gut worms and need less chemical treatments through selective breeding.
This new breed, Exlana (so called because this is Latin for ‘used to have wool’) moult their woolly coats when the weathers hots up.
Their wool is shorter and more sparse the traditional British sheep and yields just 500g compared with 9kg produced by normal sheep.
As well as being kinder on the environment due to a need for fewer chemicals and medicines, they are also economically favourable, saving an estimated £8 per sheep per year.
Breeder Peter Baber, winner of Sheep Farmer of the Year 2007, said: 'It's totally changed the way we work. It is the most forward-thinking step in British sheep farming for a long time.
'We used to have normal, woolly sheep at the farm and had to spend hours shearing them in the spring. But the value of wool has reduced so much recently that it's no longer economically viable to produce.’
The animals will soon be available to buy for around £100 per lamb and £150 pounds per ewe.
Read more in the Daily Mail
search this section
