Swine Flu on Twitter

I'll admit it, I've been getting a little worked up about this possible Swine Flu pandemic. So it's probably not a good idea for me to keep track of the action using social networking sites, but I just can't resist.

So I started 'following' the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Twitter. And that's how I found out there are now 2 confirmed cases of swine flu in my state (Massachusetts).

I can then go to Facebook and join one of the dozens of 'Swine Flu' members and groups out there (some funny, some serious, some just down right ridiculous).

Luckily I can then go to You Tube and watch a CDC podcast with a calm looking doctor telling me the facts (and in my mind, not to panic).

So maybe there is something to this social networking, after all (at least something more than telling me - or worse showing me - what my cousin had for breakfast this morning).

A Fungus Among Us

A researcher at UC Riverside has named a newly discovered species of lichen after President Obama. Dubbed 'Caloplaca obamae,' the orange-colored lichen is actually a cross between a fungus and an algae. The discoverer, Kerry Knudsen, collected the final samples of the lichen during the last weeks of the Obama campaign and he finished the paper announcing the discovery on Inauguration Day. According to scientific protocol, it's up to the person who discovers a new species to name it. Wonder if he had to get the President's permission. I suppose it could have been worse - he could have found a slime mold, instead.

Batman's secret

Bats have a PR problem, according to Boston University's resident bat expert, Tom Kunz. From Vermont to Virginia, bats are falling victim to a mystery illness, but does the public care? No. According to the Boston Globe,

The researchers say they are learning a harsh truth about the public's desire to save animals: Cuteness rules.

And to that, I say: Guilty as charged. Here at XXXX, our subjects are almost always easy on the eyes (adorable chimps, beautiful butterflies, and those baby seals and sea lions that make me want to get up and hug my TV). If they aren't cute, they're classic creepy-crawlies (ants, more ants, and swarms of rats). Poor bats just can't catch a break.

So biologists think that bats need a publicist, "a kind of public relations batman - to give bats an image makeover and educate people about the night creatures' ecological benefits." But I think one fact could change how people--or, women, at least--feel about bats, and here it is:

Male bats lactate.

Okay, not all or them. Just two species, so far, wild fruit bats in Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, in which Kunz and a colleague discovered "well-developed and lacteriforus ducts and underlying mammary tissue similar to that found in lactating females."

Did the boy bats evolve this ability? Or could some pathology or exposure to female hormones be to blame? The researchers aren't sure yet.

But here's something else I didn't know: Human men can lactate, too, though it's typically brought on my drug- or malnutrition-induced hormonal imbalances. Not exactly nature's way.

What, if anything, does this add anything to the ongoing debate over breast vs. bottle? Could future humans evolve a similar natural ability? Or are we just as likely to start flying and locating our insect-meals via echolocation?

Scorpion venom + nanoparticles = Good for you?

Scorpion venom with nanoparticles slows spread of brain cancer. That's the irresistible headline topping a University of Washington press release out yesterday.

It turns out that researchers have known for a while now that scorpion venom--or, more precisely, a peptide called chlorotoxin which is contained in the venom--could be a cancer-fighter. It's in human trails right now.

But adding nanoparticles to the mix makes the venom peptide twice as potent, cutting the spread of malignant cells by 98%--at least, that's how it worked on lab-grown brain cancer cells. Nanoparticles aren't totally new to the cancer-fighting arsenal (they've also been combined with chemotherapy drugs), but this application is unique because it stops the spread of cancer rather than killing cells directly.

Next, the experimental treatment will be tested out on mice.

What We're Watching: Tweenbots

Are they art? Are they science? Who cares when they're so darn cute!

Tweenbots are smiley little robots that need your help to complete a task. Kacie Kinzer, a grad student at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, sets her Tweenbots loose on the streets of New York to see if regular New Yorkers will help them reach their destination. (The destination is written on a "help me!" flag sprouting out of the Tweenbot. Like I said, adorable.)

In this video, watch New Yorkers come to the aid of a Tweenbot trying to cross Washington Square Park. It's like On The Street meets R2D2.

And if you're wondering how a paper bag on wheels got so cute, it's all explained here.

Creepy or Not Creepy: Arm Implanted with Ear

Photo credit: NYTimes, Nina Sellars

The New York Times reported today on an Australian artist known as Stelarc who has been working on implanting an artificial, Bluetooth-enable ear in his arm. It's all part of his art exhibit that looks at the blurred lines between the living human form and its artificial extensions.

Stelarc has had to undergo a number of surgeries to implant the ear and has had to endure many infections along the way, delaying his 'art.' He plans to have a microphone installed in the ear on his arm, which will post all the sounds it records on the web.

I would say that this whole 'exhibit' is without a doubt 'creepy.'

What We're Watching - The Next Segway

It looks like the folks at Segway haven't just been sitting around waiting for the profits of their original people-moving invention to come in (who wouldn't want to Tour DC, Paris or even Budapest by Segway?)... They've actually been working on the next Segway - Project P.U.M.A (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility).

According to their blog, the vehicle can expand to hold up to two people in a seated position, runs on lithium ion batteries, goes at a speed of up to 35 mph and runs for up to 35 miles per charge.

You can check out their sleek YouTube video here.

What We're Watching - Evolution of Cuteness

A key part of researching a story for television is, well, the visual element. If there's nothing to see, it doesn't belong on TV. So it's probably not surprising that we spend a lot of time watching things on the web.

Take this Popular Science video posting on the evolution of cuteness, for example. It's actually cobbled together from YouTube home videos. Now tell me, who doesn't love to watch cuteness? We're talking instant television success (why do you think AFV is still on the air?)!

Creepy or not creepy: Robot scientist

UK researchers have created a "Robot Scientist" which, they believe, is the first robot to "discover new knowledge" using the scientific method. The robot, named Adam (of course), posed an original hypothesis about a strain of baker's yeast, devised and executed an experiment to test that hypothesis, and interpreted the results.
The work (written up by the human scientists, not the robot one) is published this week in Science.
Creepy or not creepy?

Heirloom Tomatoes - Genetic Freaks

Heirloom tomatoes are the ultimate symbol of the small, local farmer. We think of these many-colored oddly-shaped tomatoes as some of the more flavorful varieties that only come around once a year. You would think with all its many shapes and colors, this type of tomato would have enormous genetic variety. But unfortunately you'd be wrong. Heirlooms are actually a highly inbred species due to many failed breeding experiments throughout the ages.

One problem with all this inbreeding is that it has made heirlooms more susceptible to damage from its environment - the tomatoes crack more easily and tend to have less protection from many pests. So now researchers are selecting for certain genes from the tomato genome and inserting them into the heirlooms to make them more resilient without changing their taste or familiar heirloom shape. Researchers are also looking in to making regular tomatoes tastier by looking at what makes heirlooms so good - again, it's not all in their genes. It's actually more that heirloom plants grow fewer tomatoes on each vine, allowing them to have a more consolidated flavor. Who knew there was so much we could learn from an old frumpy-looking fruit?
-GR

Creepy or not creepy? Kleptomania drug

Sometimes, science fills us with awe and wonder.

Sometimes, it just creeps us out.

Remember when scientists grafted an ear on to a mouse's back? Or when a monkey operated a robot using only its mind?

It's not that these weren't great moments in science. But they carried some heavy heebie-jeebie baggage.

So, with that in mind, we're introducing a new feature called Creepy or not creepy? in which we present research that's walking that delicate line between forward-looking science and mad-scientist freak-out. Which is which? You be the judge.

Today's entry: Suppressing the compulsion to steal.

I think we're all in agreement that, aside from those Jean Valjean-stealing-a-loaf-of-bread-to-feed-his-starving-family-type situations, stealing is probably a bad thing. But it sure seems to make kleptomaniacs happy. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine have given self-described kleptomaniacs a drug called naltrexone, which kills the "rush" compulsive stealers get from a good pilfer.

So is this the sweet relief kleptomaniacs (and other addicts) have been waiting for, or something more sinister? And who gets to decide which "thrills" are acceptable and which should be medicated away?

The heart of the (anti)matter

One of the pleasures of life as a researcher is that you can spend an afternoon curled up with a good book and call it work. Today's good read: Antimatter by Frank Close. It's a little book packed with big ideas about the nature of the "stuff" (and anti-stuff) that makes up our universe.

Despite his first-class credentials (Professor of Physics at Oxford, former head of Communications and Public Education at CERN), Close isn't above taking on the cultish conspiracy theories buzzing around antimatter, subjects I suspect other writers might deem unworthy their highly-educated attention. Good for him: That's the fun stuff, the stuff that makes readers pick up the book in the first place.

Plus, Close has sympathy for poor antimatter. Hopelessly outnumbered by normal matter, just-born antimatter particles are thrust into existence only to be annihilated split-seconds later when they have the misfortune to run in to ordinary matter.

Now, back to reading. I'll let you know if there's a happy ending.