Tardinrades, the original E.T. ?

Water bears, known formally as tardigrades, are speck-sized things, less than 1.5 millimeters long. The invertebrate creatures endured 10 days in space, and upon return to Earth, scientists found that even some of those exposed to solar radiation had made it through.

Neanderthals ~ a life not unlike our own, explored

There has been a great deal of news about Neanderthals over the past few weeks. Firstly, I noticed a few articles on the Neanderthal diet and then it was the imagination inspiring National Geographic's special the Neanderthal Code that intrigued me. So, with interest and imagination bursting from the seams of my consciousness, I started dreaming. Dreaming of a day in which I could have said, Hi- to my fellow man... A day in which our people would not be able to boisterously exude superiority over all other life, as someone could have argued their case. I can feel the reality of a day when a fellow 'success of evolution' shared my path and was possibly so close an evolutionary cousin that we could have bred. It is so stimulating to read about Neanderthal's and their affiliation or integration with Homo sapiens. With each new discovery, more questions are raised. Thankfully, others are just as passionate and the information is beginning to flow. The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and 454 Life Sciences are the facilitators of the Neanderthal Gene sequencing project. ; Through the discovery of a rarely well preserved femur bone that was luckily full of wonderfully dense Neanderthal DNA, we may soon have more answers than we were looking for…

Alcohol & Perception ~ Computing Fractions Naturally ~ Known Protein Found in New Profession

Interesting article from Scientific American about the affects of moderate alcohol on ones perception and the psychological aspects of behavior in social situations under these conditions.

Thought provoking article on the natural capacity of the mind to compute fractions.

An intriguing role for a well known protein has recently been discovered to have a significant effect on cognitive function; could lead to treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

KAS

Intelligence Among Species, White Brain Matter, Glial Cells

What do you think about when pondering the intellectual capacity of brains in other species? An article in Scientific American discusses how the brain of a Sperm Whale is larger than the brain of a Human; it is nearly five times the size of ours. Does size reflect intellectual capacity? Or, is it the complexity of the brain's structure? If it's complexity, how might you go about making judgments; perhaps through tests that might reflect activity or firing of neurons? hmmm.

I have thought on this significantly prior to reading this article . and have independently come to the conclusion that different species have different types of intelligence. Whereas our intelligence has lead to advances in our social applications; like communication and expression and we have the biological ability of fine motor skills; I think that other species have abilities and strengths that we lack. I certainly witness intellectual capacity in my two cats that after some affiliation is obvious. It is apparent in other species as well; like Elephants, Big Cats, Bears and Monkeys. Dogs have a social intelligence factor as well, in my opinion, in their abilities to interact so successfully.

But, past the assumptions and on to the facts; there are different ratios to take into account in this thought process; absolute size (or weight) and brain size vs. body size ratios. "The lemming. (Kicrostonyx groenlandicus), for example, has a higher ratio than man." American Naturalist. And, "The brain of a sperm whale is about 60% larger in absolute mass than that of an elephant. Furthermore, the brains of toothed whales and dolphins are significantly larger than those of any nonhuman primates and are second only to human brains when measured with respect to body size." Plos one.

Mercury ~ Why the drama?

This weekend was wonderful. I enjoyed Saturday night in Boston at Improv Asylum on the North end, followed by unauthentic pizza that was deliciously greasy and ended at a nearby hookah bar with a glass of amaretto. It was fantastic. As I recently have been trying to legitimately heal an unstable relationship with the person I enjoyed this with, this was all particularly beneficial.


I know this has nothing to do with Mercury :)

Mercury; well, I know that a friend of mine, Eric, has a small jar of Mercury. He broke a bunch of thermometers as a teen and compiled the element into a rather impressively large blob of liquid metal. Very cool to look at and manipulate by rotating the jar.

Yes, I am aware now that I should not have been turning a jar of Mercury around in my palms, reveling is such a dangerously toxic element's beauty.

Mercury is interesting for numerous reasons. It is one of only six liquid metals and is the only one that remains a liquid at room temperature, which makes it uniquely variable in it's uses. Mercury was named after a planet, but it's chemical name is Hg which is derived from the Latin hydrargyrum (meaning watery & silver). It has one of the narrowest temperature ranges in it's liquid state and is worth discussing because it is a really beautiful element. cont...

Children's Science Books - other than 'everyone poops'

Over at Cocktail Party Physics is an incredible list of children's science books anyone one with little people would just love!!!

James Woodward, Religion and Suicide Bombs-

Jim Woodward video, on if religious belief actually does account for suicide bombings and the like, via the ever active blog evolving thoughts!! 

Utterly engaging, worth a watch. 

RNA ~ post grew from 'A Simpler Origin for Life' (Scientific American; Feb. 12th, 2007)

I started my exploration tonight on something I had heard a few weeks back about the origin of life and how prior to DNA / RNA world of today, that life was likely all RNA based. Additionally, there are theories into a more simplistic age in which life was based on something that was neither RNA nor DNA; but, that is for another post…

When I think about DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid); what comes to mind is programming. That DNA is like the playwright of life. The intricacies of ourselves that these DNA programs control, not only outline what we are, but also explain how we are. We start out in life, depending on how you look at it, as two pieces; one peace being the Ovum (ironically the largest cell in the human body)the other being the Sperm. Each providing data, pre-programming and the materials necessary to begin the production; together they complement and initiate the replicable genetic programming that is necessary to make a new human.

What makes a Human - Human? (Philosophical)

What makes a human, human?

A human is what? Well, humans are mammals, or more specifically a bipedal primate species called Homo sapiens. We have a large brain cavity and an intellectual ability that allows us to reason abstractly, communicate in complex manners and to learn and expand on knowledge progressively (primarily through the communication of learnt or discovered information.) Humans are also emotional, creative, and singularly talented. As group behavioral aspects go; we are by far the most cooperative creature in known existence, at least in regards to information. We operate in societal structures with powerful factors such as religious collective belief and instruction; government influenced behavioral guidelines and rules, learned morals and mannerisms to dictate social behavior and regulated perceptions. This combination of forces influencing humans’ communication and coexistence is a powerful contributor to our progression. If we cared little to share or corroborate; growth in collective knowledge and discovery would be far more difficult. Our mind has not changed in size since the first known modern human (est. 200,000 yrs ago.) We had the same brain mass, but much less knowledge. Hence the benefit of information sharing… Without information already discovered – to learn, we would appear to be much less intelligent. But, we aren’t (at least compared to our earthly counterparts.) Many other species on earth show signs of intelligence. Some other animals show learned behaviors, teaching and problem solving. So, if animals have a mind capable (even minimally) of the analytical capability to problem solve (as dolphins and chimpanzees have shown) they do not lack in the intellectual ability department. As my theory goes… The ingredient lacking is the sharing of information. Many animals communicate; but can any share learned information? If so, even minimally, I would argue that it is not the mind that differentiates humans from other animals.

If it is not the mind then, is it the body?

As this article about chimps barter ability.
Or this article on a court proceeding regarding classifying another primate as human for the purpose of taking caretaking custody shows, no.

KAS

Missing Matter Mystery (partially) solved!

Great news for Science! Astronomers have made a huge advance in our understanding of the Universe, by finding 'lost matter'. This discovery is paramount in not only supporting the hypothesis (of additional matter being available to find); but, also by expanding our field of understanding. This discovery is supported by the Big Bang Theory and the hypothesized amount of matter distributed by the initial expansion/i.e. big bang. The problem is that our estimates of all galaxies collectively considered, only barely make a dent in what scientists believe was dispersed. This 'missing matter' is what has now been (1/2) found.

Macaque Monkey, killed for suburban convenience??

in this article about killing Macaque monkeys for infringing upon our domestic comforts, I saw another unfortunate example of the restriction of another life forms, for our self centered gain. (And the monkey was or is...) As a distant cousin (approximated at branching 25 million years ago - what was Lucy... 2.5 million and the Taung child around 7 million?) far closer in genetic relation, then the feline I coddle on a daily basis. The Macaque Monkey is noted as the most widespread strain of primate (other than ourselves, of course,) am I really reading of extermination or 'culling' for the purpose of such convenience. Ughh… Then of course, testing comes into mind; a subject I attempt to regularly exercise ignorance about – as it obviously infuriates my sensitivities (as a life form and all.) So, I read and read... and find this article about a famous infantile Macaque Monkey saved from testing named Britches. Something along the lines of testing for the progression of the lives of blind humans. Oh dear...

Photon Transfer by Cells used to exchange information?

While perusing what new listings have come out in PLoS ONE, I came across a few understandable gems. The most intriguing being "Cellular Communication through Light" that is, Photon transfer by cells which contain information for communication. What form is the information in, how does it get in transport and how it it received (physically and interpretively) I wonder?

Another article of interest is "A Novel Method for Detection of Phosphorylation in Single Cells by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) using Composite Organic-Inorganic Nanoparticles (COINs)" A newly progressed technology allowing for more precise detection of a cell's components with the use of (my favorite) nano technology.

They say "it's all in the blood"... in this article on The European Dynastys' blood line and the proposed results of a such an exclusive blood line having vastly consisted of inter-breeding is discussed in "The Role of Inbreeding in the Extinction of a European Royal Dynasty"

KAS

pi

Again, I am surprised by my new found ignorance of pi... .But, what is time anyways, I didn't know then, but know it now- making the subject regardless. So, early this morning, I was 'off to the races' to explore this new term, this new bit of information about an odd, interesting and as I perceived it unnatural number.

Unnatural, you might ask? Well, it's only strange that a number might not end because.. a number is a measurement of something. Quite obviously, a number cannot be a representation, if it is incomplete. This number is so very, very long that in decimal form- it's been measured to millions of digits of decimal numbers after the number 3. A common approximation is 3.14159...but, it never ends (at least to the extent it is currently understood.)

Let me explain. pi is the ratio of the circles radius to the circumference. It doesn't matter the size of the circle, it is always the same. O.k.,,, makes sense. I can comfortably shake that about my globe. But, at some point, doesn't a number hit 3.2? So, the number should, rationally, end! Imagine, if you will, ten lines between the number three and the number four. Imagine again that there are also ten smaller lines between each of those ten lines (and so on...) If 3.1 is one line and 3.2 is another- pi must lie on some line somewhere in between. Where it lies, must be rigid.. no?