Tag: science

Growth Factor I, insulin sensitivity, life extension

Posted on November 8, 2008 by ellen

Andrzej Bartke, a researcher in geriatrics, and his colleagues at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, are closing in on the genetic basis for and biochemical/endocrine prevention of aging in mammals .

For years it has been observed that calorie restriction could enhance longevity in rats and other animals (research history) but the mechanisms behind this effect were unknown.

In a 2006 article in the Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences , they write

“there is considerable evidence that reduced secretion of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin are among the mechanisms that mediate the effects of Calorie Restriction (CR) on aging and longevity in mammals.”

Update on Autism research

Posted on October 14, 2008 by ellen

Although repeated studies show little or no correlation between vaccination with the MMR vaccine and the onset of autism, there is a lot of popular support for the idea that there is some causal link. Originally the use of mercury in the form of thiomersal in vaccines was suggested as the culprit, but this seems less likely since mercury was removed from vaccines in North America and Europe by 2001 and the incidence of Autism continued to rise

Still many people remain unconvinced there is NO link between vaccination and autism, despite all the negative results, so other ideas have been floated. These include:

Some children’s immune systems may be predisposed to be overwhelmed by the combination vaccines, and they develop high fevers and sometimes febrile seizures which cause or contribute to the onset of autism.
Continue reading

Imitation Behavior in Fish

Posted on November 7, 2005 by ellen

One of the more amazing characteristics of fish is their ability to learn by imitation. I’ve noticed imitative behaviors in all of my fish, including goldfish, parrot cichlids, convict cichlids, severums and oscars. Although they come out of the egg already knowing how to swim, how to eat, and how to hide, they add new behaviors as they grow.

Learning attitude: Parrot Cichlids
When young parrot cichlids are put in a tank by themselves, they will usually remain shy for weeks or months. They will hide behind anything they can. If there is nowhere else to hide, they will hover at the top corner of the tank tipping downward slightly, pretending to be part of the filter. However, if they are put into a tank with adult parrot cichlids who have no fear of humans, they get over their shyness very quickly! When we got one of our younger parrots, “Baby,” she immediately adopted the oldest parrot cichlid Winston (a female) as her “mother.” She would follow Winston around, and generally imitate everything she did, and as a result showed very little fear of us.

But most of our newly acquired parrot cichlids spend at least a day or two hiding, during which they peek out from a secure spot to observe what’s going on in the tank.

How we die

Posted on February 28, 2004 by ellen

Remember all those sci-fi stories where people learn the date and cause of their own death? “Life-Line” by Robert Heinlein is one that pops to mind, but there are many others.

Well, you may not be able to tell when you will die, but you can make a pretty good guess what you may die of, based on age-related statistics published by the CDC. The latest final statistics are for 2001, so this is based on those numbers. The complete report can be found here: Leading causes of death for 2001

Note for clarity: percentages given in the samples
below are the percent of the total people in a given age group
that actually died in 2001, not the percentage of all people
in that age group.

Note 2 : 2001 data includes the 3028 deaths they
were certain of by the publish date of the statistics caused by the terror
attacks on September 11. Of these, 2,922 are classified as homicides and 4
as suicides. Only residents of the United States are counted in these statistics.

This Year’s Flu Vaccine

Posted on December 20, 2003 by ellen

Well, unlike previous years, I can officially say that this year’s flu vaccine did not work on me. I had the shot about 5 weeks ago, and yesterday came down with a full-blown case of

Applied Origami

Posted on November 9, 2003 by ellen

Examples of origami used in science and engineering: Ultra-cheap micromotor technology, allows cellphone cameras to zoom and focus. Folding makes a thin sheet of a piezoelectric ceramic material work like a motor. The micro-origami technique

Taming viruses to control introduced pest animals

Posted on October 3, 2003 by ellen

I found this interesting.

Australia has one of the most active research groups in the world in this area, since the Australian environment suffers from many pest animals that were introduced and have no natural predators.

New Scientist reports that Australian researchers have created a highly infectious rabbit virus (myxoma) that could wipe out the country’s rabbit pests by making them sterile. Infected female rabbits produce antibodies against their own eggs, a process called immunocontraception. The team has already applied for permission to carry out field trials with a similar virus that makes European mice infertile.

Glow in the Dark Fish!

Posted on August 5, 2003 by ellen

The Taikong Corp. has created a new fish from the Zebra fish and the DNA of jellyfish. MSNBC article. Model “TK-1”, currently in production, are green, but there will be other colors in the future.