Science News Digest- 22nd February 2010
In the science news this week, we take a look at speech therapy for stroke patients, great news for food allergy sufferers, a new solar panel that can be fitted to your clothes, how dolphins could hold the answer to diabetes and finally, how placebos could be the next miracle cure.
Now you're talking.
At the annual meeting of our sister organisation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, some exciting research has been revealed that may hold the key to helping stroke victims regain their speech.
By using therapy that involves singing, the scientists believe they can ‘rewire’ the brain. Singing uses a different part of the brain than speech, so if the ‘speech centre’ is damaged by the stroke, the patients can be taught to use the ‘singing centre’ instead.
Neurology professor Gottfried Schlaug who led the trial said; "Music might be an alternative medium to engage parts of the brain that are otherwise not engaged,"
In the trial, the team used "melodic intonation therapy" to illicit a response from the brain, and while this is already an established method of rehabilitation for stoke patients, Professor Schlaug’s team were the first to combine this therapy with brain imaging to show what’s happening in the brain as patients learn to sing their words.
He noted that as patients learn to put their words to melodies, the crucial connections form on the right side of their brains, where the speech centre is located.
After just one session, patients who could not form any words learned to say “I am thirsty” by combining the syllables with the notes of a melody.
Read more at the BBC.
-----------------------------------
Power Trip.
In New Scientist this week, a team a researchers from the California Institute of Technology have unveiled a new gadget that allows you to charge your devices on the move. A new bendy solar cell made from an array of microwires encased in a clear flexible polymer seems to be the answer to this much sought after technology.
Furthermore, it only uses 1% of the silicon used in a regular solar cell with the same output, making it much cheaper to produce and just 5% of the size.
To produce these cells, the team ‘grew a forest of micrometre-wide silicon wires on a silicon base.’ As the wires grew, they were exposed to chemicals that produced concentric junctions between the semiconductors, allowing each wire to convert light into electricity.
The wires were covered in a clear silicon polymer and cut the wires away from the base leaving them with a flexible solar cell.
-------------------------------------
Flipper findings
Another story from the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science reported in the Guardian this week, involves dolphins giving us a clue on how to cure diabetes.
Scientists studying bottlenose dolphins have noticed that they have the ability to switch themselves into a diabetic state without suffering any ill effects. During the night they put themselves into the state to keep a constant supply of blood sugar, but they switch back into a normal state in the morning when they feed.
The researchers hope that by uncovering their secret, they may be able to locate a similar genetic pathway in humans and develop drugs to switch off diabetes in humans, which currently contributes to 5% of all deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.
Stephanie Venn-Watson, director of clinical research at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego said "It is our hope that this discovery can lead to novel ways to prevent, treat and maybe even cure diabetes in humans,"
Her team analysed 1,000 blood samples from 52 dolphins during their feeding and fasting cycle. During the latter, the dolphins' metabolism changed dramatically and showed characteristics similar to those of people with type 2 diabetes.
Dr Venn-Watson went on to say; "What's interesting about this is when you look at dolphins fed in the morning, they revert back to a non-diabetic state, indicating that these animals may have a genetic fasting switch that can turn diabetes on and off,"
---------------------------------
Great research in a nutshell.
More news from the annual meeting of the AAAS in San Diego, California reported in the Telegraph has given great hope for food allergy sufferers.
A British researcher, Dr Andrews Clark, and his team from Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, have conducted a study on children with a nut allergy to try and rid them of the condition. By giving them small doses of peanut flour every day and gradually increasing the dose as a ‘desensitisation treatment’, the team have slowly increased the tolerance of the children to the nuts.
Rather than injecting peanut extract or oil as per previous experiments which resulted in serious allergic reactions, the team simply mixed the peanut flour with yogurt that was eaten by the children.
Dr Clark said;"The families involved in this study say that it's changed their lives,”
The next step for this research is to conduct a new study with 104 children commencing next month.
---------------------------------
And finally.....
A bitter pill to swallow.
With placebos curing up to 85% of patients in some reputable clinical trials, the Times has asked the controversial question ‘Do we really need so many powerful drugs?’
Rheumatologist Professor Michael Doherty from the University of Nottingham claims that placebos now usually outstrip any individual treatment in arthritis trials and scientists are giving credence to ‘self-healing’ based on the power of belief.
Professor Doherty went on to say that “the optimisation of such responses, through enhanced care, could greatly benefit people”.
The way that placebos work according to a study in China, is that when the patients heard they were being giving pain relief the expectation of this caused the release of dopamine in the brain, altering their experience of the pain.
Furthermore, research from Italy has suggested that many drugs ‘may only be boosters to the placebo effect.’
These comments are bound to divide the science community and those hoping to harness the power of placebo should note that it does not work on everyone and it often fades. As articulated by the Times; “Embracing placebo power conjures a deep paradox: if we accept that many drugs work mostly on sham, then we lose faith in drugs — our expectations plunge, and with them the placebo effect. For it to work, we may have to conveniently forget that much of mainstream medicine, in effect, involves faith-healing.”
Now you're talking.
At the annual meeting of our sister organisation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, some exciting research has been revealed that may hold the key to helping stroke victims regain their speech.
By using therapy that involves singing, the scientists believe they can ‘rewire’ the brain. Singing uses a different part of the brain than speech, so if the ‘speech centre’ is damaged by the stroke, the patients can be taught to use the ‘singing centre’ instead.
Neurology professor Gottfried Schlaug who led the trial said; "Music might be an alternative medium to engage parts of the brain that are otherwise not engaged,"
In the trial, the team used "melodic intonation therapy" to illicit a response from the brain, and while this is already an established method of rehabilitation for stoke patients, Professor Schlaug’s team were the first to combine this therapy with brain imaging to show what’s happening in the brain as patients learn to sing their words.
He noted that as patients learn to put their words to melodies, the crucial connections form on the right side of their brains, where the speech centre is located.
After just one session, patients who could not form any words learned to say “I am thirsty” by combining the syllables with the notes of a melody.
Read more at the BBC.
-----------------------------------
Power Trip.
In New Scientist this week, a team a researchers from the California Institute of Technology have unveiled a new gadget that allows you to charge your devices on the move. A new bendy solar cell made from an array of microwires encased in a clear flexible polymer seems to be the answer to this much sought after technology.
Furthermore, it only uses 1% of the silicon used in a regular solar cell with the same output, making it much cheaper to produce and just 5% of the size.
To produce these cells, the team ‘grew a forest of micrometre-wide silicon wires on a silicon base.’ As the wires grew, they were exposed to chemicals that produced concentric junctions between the semiconductors, allowing each wire to convert light into electricity.
The wires were covered in a clear silicon polymer and cut the wires away from the base leaving them with a flexible solar cell.
-------------------------------------
Flipper findings
Another story from the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science reported in the Guardian this week, involves dolphins giving us a clue on how to cure diabetes.
Scientists studying bottlenose dolphins have noticed that they have the ability to switch themselves into a diabetic state without suffering any ill effects. During the night they put themselves into the state to keep a constant supply of blood sugar, but they switch back into a normal state in the morning when they feed.
The researchers hope that by uncovering their secret, they may be able to locate a similar genetic pathway in humans and develop drugs to switch off diabetes in humans, which currently contributes to 5% of all deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.
Stephanie Venn-Watson, director of clinical research at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego said "It is our hope that this discovery can lead to novel ways to prevent, treat and maybe even cure diabetes in humans,"
Her team analysed 1,000 blood samples from 52 dolphins during their feeding and fasting cycle. During the latter, the dolphins' metabolism changed dramatically and showed characteristics similar to those of people with type 2 diabetes.
Dr Venn-Watson went on to say; "What's interesting about this is when you look at dolphins fed in the morning, they revert back to a non-diabetic state, indicating that these animals may have a genetic fasting switch that can turn diabetes on and off,"
---------------------------------
Great research in a nutshell.
More news from the annual meeting of the AAAS in San Diego, California reported in the Telegraph has given great hope for food allergy sufferers.
A British researcher, Dr Andrews Clark, and his team from Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, have conducted a study on children with a nut allergy to try and rid them of the condition. By giving them small doses of peanut flour every day and gradually increasing the dose as a ‘desensitisation treatment’, the team have slowly increased the tolerance of the children to the nuts.
Rather than injecting peanut extract or oil as per previous experiments which resulted in serious allergic reactions, the team simply mixed the peanut flour with yogurt that was eaten by the children.
Dr Clark said;"The families involved in this study say that it's changed their lives,”
The next step for this research is to conduct a new study with 104 children commencing next month.
---------------------------------
And finally.....
A bitter pill to swallow.
With placebos curing up to 85% of patients in some reputable clinical trials, the Times has asked the controversial question ‘Do we really need so many powerful drugs?’
Rheumatologist Professor Michael Doherty from the University of Nottingham claims that placebos now usually outstrip any individual treatment in arthritis trials and scientists are giving credence to ‘self-healing’ based on the power of belief.
Professor Doherty went on to say that “the optimisation of such responses, through enhanced care, could greatly benefit people”.
The way that placebos work according to a study in China, is that when the patients heard they were being giving pain relief the expectation of this caused the release of dopamine in the brain, altering their experience of the pain.
Furthermore, research from Italy has suggested that many drugs ‘may only be boosters to the placebo effect.’
These comments are bound to divide the science community and those hoping to harness the power of placebo should note that it does not work on everyone and it often fades. As articulated by the Times; “Embracing placebo power conjures a deep paradox: if we accept that many drugs work mostly on sham, then we lose faith in drugs — our expectations plunge, and with them the placebo effect. For it to work, we may have to conveniently forget that much of mainstream medicine, in effect, involves faith-healing.”
search this section
