User:Cap'n Refsmmat/ScienceNewsArchive

New hope for diabetics--April 10th, 2005

A new medical treatment means that diabetics may not have to live with insulin shots all of their lives. Instead, their blood cells can be "reconfigured" to create insulin.

Scietists had earlier managed to create insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells. While this works well, there is no way to obtain these cells from each patient specifically, so patients would be forced to stay on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives while their immune system tries to attack the foreign cells.

So several scientists from the University of Kiel in Germany tried a new approach. They exposed human white blood cells to the same chemicals they used to make the embryonic stem cells create insulin. And it worked! The white blood cells now created insulin, and when injected into diabetic mice, it lowered the mice's blood sugar level to normal.

Because the white blood cells can be obtained from the patient themself, they should not be rejected by the immune system, meaning one shot could last many years without needing constant blood sugar testing and insulin injections.

This is one discovery that has the potential to change many people's lives.

Homeopathy might actually work--April 8th, 2005

Homeopathy has many skeptics in the scientific community. The idea that a medicine can be diluted so much and still have a healing effect is ridiculed by many, but supported by others.

So one woman set out to prove it wrong for once and for all. Madeleine Ennis decided to do her own test of homeopathy, completely independent of others. A histamine solution was diluted many times, and its effectiveness was then tested versus an undiluted solution.

In a surprising result, the homeopathic solution was just as effective as the real stuff. Madeleine Ennis isn't happy, especially after four labs all replicated the results, but she admits that it is possible that homeopathy is actually right. However, she would like others to help her in her investigation, as homeopathy is in violation of many laws of chemistry.

Homeopathy supposedly works because as the solution is diluted, the particles of the actual medication leave an "imprint" on the water molecules. To most, this seems ridiculous. And in clinical trials, homeopathy has proven no more effective than a placebo. But Ennis's tests show that something squirrely is going on. Keep watching to see what turns up.

Rats are smarter than you think--January 12th, 2005

A two part series, about rats.

Rat—the Fighter Pilot

Now, you’re probably saying “What?” But seriously, rat bits can pilot an airplane—actually, an F-22 Raptor.

Scientists placed 25,000 rat neurons in a dish and inserted an electrode array connected to the simulator. The cells then receive electrical pulses which indicate the angle of the plane’s nose above or below the horizon. The neurons’ response controls the airplane.

At the start, the plane was zooming up and down. After a while, the rat brain managed to “learn” and began to pilot the airplane steadily.

Don’t worry; rats won’t be taking over the Air Force any time soon.

Source: Discover Magazine

Rat—the Linguist

That’s right. Rats can also, among their many talents, determine the difference between several languages.

Researchers trained rats to respond to Dutch or Japanese (some rats did one, the other rats did the other language) and then get a treat.

The rats were then separated into several groups, where they listened to the language either by a native speaker, a synthesized voice, both languages, or finally, either one backwards. The rats did not respond to the opposite language or either language backwards.

Source: MSNBC News

Maybe that’s why rats are so hard to get rid of. They’re smarter than we thought.

Turkey Power

A new power plant in Minnesota aims to bring new meaning to the words "bio fuel."

The power plant will, seriously, run on turkey dung. Lots of turkey dung. Enough turkey dung to power 55,000 homes, and probably raise quite a stench.

There are already three plants of the type in England, but this is the first major plant in the USA.

Turkey dung is apparently much better than cow or pig dung, because it is drier. In burning the dung produces phosphorus and nitrogen, which is then used as fertilizer. It also does not emit any more waste than the dung would in naturally decaying.

Quite an idea.

Source: [1]

Missile defense failure

The US missile defense shield has failed in another critical test--the missile is nearly in service. Early this morning (December 15th), in the test range in Alaska, the target missile took off with instruments and a dummy warhead. The "interceptor" missile was to launch a few minutes later. But a few minutes before the planned launch, the missile experienced "an unknown anomaly" (government speak for "a problem) and automatically shut down, stopping the test.

This is one of many times this month the attempted test was aborted, other times due to weather or other mechanical failures. It is also the first time the missile was flying with the intended booster rocket (in earlier tests a substitute was used).

Source: [2]

New hope for patients with brain tumors

A new drug has been proved to double the median survival rate of brain cancer patients. The problem is, brain cancer is different from other cancerss: tiny tentacles of cancerous cells spread through the brain, making physical removal impossible. Normal drugs cannot eliminate the tumor easily, and there aren't many other options.

That's where IL-3 comes in. IL-3 is a new drug which kills the cells quickly and without harming normal, unharmed cells. IL-3 is admitted into the cells via receptors which are typically only on immune system cells, and not on any brain cells. Then the drug destroys the cancerous cell, quickly and easily removing the tumor.

Because IL-3 is too large to get to the brain through the blood, it is pumped into the patients brains via catheter (ouch). The patients are awake, and can walk around with the drug on an IV stand.

Studies show that the drug doubles the median survival rate to about 44 weeks, and 35% of patients had their tumours reduce in size or disappear completely. Several are still living, three years later.

I say, good luck to the patients!

Clouds on Mars!

Yes, that's right. The Mars rover Opportunity has snapped some amazing pictures of what appear to be Martian cirrus clouds, and it's not seeing hallucinations. Scientists theorize that these clouds are only produced when Mars is at its farthest point from the Sun, when it receives much less sunlight. The clouds are believed to be made of, yes, frozen water. Martian wind is moving them along at a nice speed of 20 miles per hour.

This comes along the same time that Spirit found some interesting rocks on Mars. A mineral called [w:goethite|goethite]] (never before found on Mars) was in one rock, and another had an amazing chemical structure.

Those rovers have certainly turned up more than we thought they would.

Source: [3]

Watch your pants

A bit of scientific history for you...

In the 1920s and 30s, New Zealanders faced an interesting problem. A nasty plant called ragwort was infesting their farms and lands, and ragwort is extremely poisonous. Animals would die from eating it, and no pesticide was found for it.

Until sodium chlorate, that is. The government began advocating the use of sodium chlorate on ragwort, not realizing how potentially dangerous it is. Sodium chlorate forms an explosive compound on contact with some organic materials, including cotton, which was sensitive to touch and heat. The farmers, of course, got the stuff all over their trousers. Then, suddenly,

BOOM!

go the trousers, when a match gets near them, or someone hits them. Some people died, and others had rather scorched personal regions from the experience.

Watch your trousers!

Source: [4]