Oct

10

Physics Nobel Prize 2010

October 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov “for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”.

Graphene is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new – not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it. Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again.

Geim and Novoselov extracted the graphene from a piece of graphite such as is found in ordinary pencils. Using regular adhesive tape they managed to obtain a flake of carbon with a thickness of just one atom. This at a time when many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable.

Since it is practically transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels, and maybe even solar cells.

When mixed into plastics, graphene can turn them into conductors of electricity while making them more heat resistant and mechanically robust. This resilience can be utilised in new super strong materials, which are also thin, elastic and lightweight. In the future, satellites, airplanes, and cars could be manufactured out of the new composite materials.

Some Posts on Graphene published on this blog:

  1. New Materials from Graphene
  2. Graphene Atomic-Scale Balance
  3. Another Stunning Graphene Experimental Surprise
  4. Graphene Oxide Paper
  5. Negative Refraction in Graphene

Andre Geim’s page at University of Manchester

Konstantin Novoselov’s page at University of Manchester

Wikipedia: Graphene

Oct

4

Ig Nobel Prizes 2010: Oil and Water Mixing, Preventing Winter Falls, Fellatio in Fruit Bats, Rollercoaster Asthma, Whale Snot and Swearing as a Response to Pain, Among Others, Awarded

October 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Ig Nobel Prizes 2010

Chemistry: Eric Adams of MIT, Scott Socolofsky of Texas A&M University, Stephen Masutani of the University of Hawaii, and BP [British Petroleum], for disproving the old belief that oil and water don’t mix.
Review of Deep Oil Spill Modeling Activity Supported by the Deep Spill JIP and Offshore Operator’s Committee, Final Report, Eric Adams and Scott Socolofsky, 2005.

Physics: Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams, and Patricia Priest of the University of Otago, New Zealand, for demonstrating that, on icy footpaths in wintertime, people slip and fall less often if they wear socks on the outside of their shoes.
Preventing Winter Falls: A Randomised Controlled Trial of a Novel Intervention, Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams, and Patricia Priest, New Zealand Medical Journal, vol. 122, 2009, pp. 31-8.

Biology: Libiao Zhang, Min Tan, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou, and Shuyi Zhang of China, and Gareth Jones of the University of Bristol, UK, for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit bats.
Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time, Min Tan, Gareth Jones, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou, Shuyi Zhang and Libiao Zhang, PLoS ONE, vol. 4, no. 10, e7595.

Medicine: Simon Rietveld of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Ilja van Beest of Tilburg University, The Netherlands, for discovering that symptoms of asthma can be treated with a roller-coaster ride.
Rollercoaster Asthma: When Positive Emotional Stress Interferes with Dyspnea Perception, Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest, Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 45, 2006, pp. 977–87.

Economics: The executives and directors of Goldman Sachs, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Magnetar for creating and promoting new ways to invest money — ways that maximize financial gain and minimize financial risk for the world economy, or for a portion thereof.

More details at the Ig Nobel Prize winners page of Improbable Research and at the Ceremony & Lectures page or you can also see:

Guardian Science: Ig Nobel awards go to slime mould and fruity bats.

NewScientist: Best of the Ig Nobel prizes 2010.

Nature News: Bat fellatio and slime molds take 2010 IgNobels.

National Geographic Daily News: Whale Snot, Cursing Away Pain Among 2010 Ig Nobels.

Oct

1

Bubbles and More Bubbles by Richard Heeks on Flickr

October 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Streaky Sky Birdtable Bubble

More photos like this at Richard Heeks’ outstanding photostreams on Flickr. See the Bubbles collections, specially All Bubbles.

All Bubbles Collection by Richard Heeks

Sep

27

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery

September 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment

This a guest post by Amanda who is a writer and blogger living in San Diego, CA. She writes on behalf of the San Diego Gamma Knife Surgery Center, and through this article, she hopes to spread the word about the benefits of Gamma Knife surgery for the treatment of brain tumors.

Brain tumors are a serious matter that affect more than 200,000 people in the U.S. every year. However, brain tumors do not discriminate against age or gender. Though brain tumors usually affect adults over 35 years of age, even children can get them. Although not all brain tumors are cancerous, benign tumors can still be life threatening which is why early detection and treatment is essential. Advances in technology have helped not only in the detection of brain tumors, but also to facilitate the creation of alternative brain tumor treatments that are non-invasive with little to no side effects. One such treatment, Gamma Knife radiosurgery, is becoming the most supported treatment for brain tumors and trigeminal neuralgia. Here is a look at how the Gamma Knife works.

Previous treatments for brain tumors often consisted of surgical resection of the tumor, or through the use of chemotherapy drugs which can have damaging side effects. However, Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a non-invasive brain surgery which allows many patients to be treated who would not have normally been able to survive an open brain surgery. Many of the common risks of brain surgery are reduced or completely eliminated, and the patient only needs one effective single session treatment. Long term studies have not shown that treating brain tumors with a gamma knife is unsafe or has any harmful side effects.

However, the Gamma Knife is not really a knife at all. Despite it’s name, the Gamma Knife is actually a non-invasive neurosurgical procedure that uses high doses of gamma radiation while leaving surrounding tissue intact. This type of stereotactic radiation, allows the beams of radiation to be focused on the tumor with extreme accuracy, thereby reducing the damage to healthy tissues. This method can be used in conjunction with surgical resection, to help improve the odds of survival for the patient.

Over 500,000 people have been treated with the Gamma Knife surgery and it is becoming the most widely used and accepting radiosurgery treatments in the world. Since it usually costs half that of open brain surgery and is often fully reimbursed by insurance, it is also considered one of the most financially cost effective treatments available as well.

The Gamma Knife is the only radiation therapy system approved by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) for irradiating brain metastases and there have been 2,500 peer reviewed clinical papers supporting Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for the treatment of brain tumors. Additionally, there are currently about 125 Gamma Knife Centers in the US, making it more widely available throughout the country.

Some of the advantages of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery are:

  • The Gamma Knife tools are designed specifically for surgeries conducted on the brain.
  • The accuracy of the Gamma Knife prevents damage to nearby tissues in the brain.
  • With a success rate of about 90%, the gamma knife radiosurgery has proven to be the most effective treatment for brain tumors and trigeminal neuralgia.
  • Compared to other brain surgeries, Gamma Knife Radiosurgery is a more cost effective treatment.
  • There is little pain or discomfort and the patient is not required to use general anesthesia, reducing the risk of some medical complications.
  • Since the Gamma Knife tools does not make any incision, there is no chance of hemorrhage or infection.
  • Hospitalization is very short and usually the patient can leave the hospital within five hours to resume their normal daily activities.
  • The gamma knife offers treatment options to patients who were once diagnosed as untreatable without having open skull surgery.

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery is most effective for the following conditions:

  • Intracranial tumors such as acoustic neuromas, pituitary adenomas, pinealomas, craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas, chordomas, chondrosarcomas, metastases and glial tumors.
  • Vascular malformations including arteriovenous malformations.
  • Functional disorders such as trigeminal neuralgia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

There are some risks associated with Gamma Knife surgery despite being seen as the safest, most effective treatment for brain tumors and AVMs. There are usually no immediate side effects of Gamma Knife surgery other than mild nausea or headache related to the application and removal of the guiding device. As with many new procedures, there is a possibility of delayed transient or persistent side effects, around 3 to 18 months after treatment, depending on the size and location of the tumor or AVM. Those side effects include problems such as numbness, weakness, imbalance, hearing loss, and worsening of vision. Nonetheless, the largest concern for patients is usually only the anxiety and nervousness leading up to the radiosurgery.

Sep

8

Cloud Computing in Gene Analysis

September 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed new software that greatly improves the speed at which scientists can analyze RNA sequencing data. RNA sequencing is used to compare differences in gene expression to identify those genes that switched on or off when, for instance, a particular disease is present. However, sequencing instruments can produce billions of sequences per day, which can be time-consuming and costly to analyze. The software, known as Myrna, uses “cloud computing”, an Internet-based method of sharing computer resources. Faster, cost-effective analysis of gene expression could be a valuable tool in understanding the genetic causes of disease. The findings are published in the current edition of the journal Genome Biology. The Myrna software is available for free download.

Read the full press release: Cloud Computing Method Greatly Increases Gene Analysis.