Home Page of Steven Brandt
What I'm reading...
| 10/27/2009 09:15 AM |
| Clean Smells Promote Ethical Behavior |
Shared by StevenA recent study is suggesting that moral behavior may be encouraged with nothing more than clean smells. The Brigham Young University professor found a "dramatic improvement in ethical behavior with just a few spritzes of citrus-scented Windex." "The researchers see implications for workplaces, retail stores and other organizations that have relied on traditional surveillance and security measures to enforce rules. Perhaps the findings could be applied at home, too, Liljenquist said with a smile. 'Could be that getting our kids to clean up their rooms might help them clean up their acts, too.' The study titled "The Smell of Virtue" was unusually simple and conclusive. Participants engaged in several tasks, the only difference being that some worked in unscented rooms, while others worked in rooms freshly spritzed with Windex." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
| 09/21/2009 08:58 AM |
| Dead Salmon's "Brain Activity" Cautions fMRI Researchers |
Shared by StevenAthanasiusKircher sends in a Wired writeup on what should surely be a contender in the next Improbable Research competition: wiring a dead salmon into an fMRI machine and showing it pictures of humans designed to evoke various emotions. "When they got around to analyzing the voxel... data, the voxels representing the area where the salmon's tiny brain sat showed evidence of activity. In the fMRI scan, it looked like the dead salmon was actually thinking about the pictures it had been shown. ... The result is completely nuts â but that's actually exactly the point. [Neuroscientist Craig] Bennett... and his adviser, George Wolford, wrote up the work as a warning about the dangers of false positives in fMRI data. They wanted to call attention to ways the field could improve its statistical methods. ... Bennett notes: 'We could set our threshold [of significance] so high that we have no false positives, but we have no legitimate results.... We could also set it so low that we end up getting voxels in the fish's brain. It's the fine line that we walk.'" The research has been turned down by several publications, according to Wired, but a poster is available (PDF). Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
| 08/26/2009 11:18 AM |
| Scientist Aims to Genetically Manipulate Chicken Embryos to Create Dinosaur Traits possibly leading to a Chickenosaurus |
Shared by Steven  Macleans, canadian newsmagazine, has coverage on "the quest to build a dinosaur" Larsson is experimenting with chicken embryos to create the creature Horner describes: a âchickenosaurus,â they call it. If he succeeds, Larsson will have made an animal with clawed hands, teeth, a long, dinosaurian tail and ancestral plumage, one that shares characteristics with âthe dinosaur we know thatâs closest to birds, little raptors like the velociraptor,â Horner says. Physorg reports that Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chair in Macro Evolution at Montreal's McGill University, said he aims to develop dinosaur traits that disappeared millions of years ago in birds. Larsson believes by flipping certain genetic levers during a chicken embryo's development, he can reproduce the dinosaur anatomy, he told AFP in an interview.  From Macleans The Larsson lab website is here The dinosaur called an Oviraptor is also called the "scary chicken". It was about 6 feet tall. This is not like Jurassic Park where prehistoric DNA is revived, but rather like a new genetic sculpture using manipulation or DNA to create something that looks like something else. It is like taking a new car and making it look like a Model T. A replica car is created. Hans Larrson was interviewed by the CTV (Canadian Television) "We should be able to regenerate or essentially make the genetic program mimic the way it was at say, 150 million years ago, and grow a longer tail, change its plumage to something a little bit more primitive, have three-clawed fingers, some teeth," he said.           
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| 07/29/2009 03:56 PM |
| Why we learn more from our successes than our failures |
Shared by StevenIf you've ever felt doomed to repeat your mistakes, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory may have explained why: Brain cells may only learn from experience when we do something right and not when we fail. |
| 07/23/2009 08:46 AM |
| Anti-poverty Devices: Smart-phone microscope with Fluorescent Imaging and a Combo Stove/Refridgerator/Electricity Generator |
Shared by Steven   1. Itâs a cooker, a fridge and a generator in one â and it could have a huge impact on the lives of people in the worldâs poorest communities. Two billion people use open fires as their primary cooking method. These fires have been found to be highly inefficient, with 93 per cent of the energy generated lost. And when used in enclosed spaces, smoke from the fires can cause health problems. The unit would be capable of converting heat into acoustic energy and then electricity, for around one hourâs use per kilogram of fuel. The cost target for the generator is £20 [USD33] per household. Score Technical Targets: - Cost: target (£20) per household in 1 million quantities, weight: 10-20kg, power output: 150 W (electrical), 1.6 kWth for cooking and 0.75 kWth for simmering. - Fuel: consumption 1 kg/hour, wood, dung and other bio-mass. 2. From MIT Technology Review: The Cellscope uses a blue-light LED and filters for fluorescence imaging. The sample is inserted next to the metal focusing knob.  The contraption--a tube-like extension hooked onto the cell phone with a modified belt clip--works just like a traditional microscope, using a series of lenses that magnify blood or spit samples on a microscope slide. To detect TB, for example, a spit sample is infused with an inexpensive dye called auramine. An "excitation" wavelength is emitted by the light source--a blue light-emitting diode (LED) on the opposite end of the device from the cell phone--and absorbed by the auramine dye in the spit sample, which fluoresces green to illuminate TB bacteria.      
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| 06/15/2009 04:55 PM |
| How Does Our Language Shape The Way We Think? |
Shared by Steven Seems like its been a while since we last grated our linguistic experts. From How Does Our Language Shape The Way We Think? by Lera Boroditsky, the age-old discussion gets reopened: Such a priori arguments about whether or not language shapes thought have gone in circles for centuries, with some arguing that it's impossible for language to shape thought and others arguing that it's impossible for language not to shape thought. Recently my group and others have figured out ways to empirically test some of the key questions in this ancient debate, with fascinating results.Being the Programming Languages weblog, issues surrounding languages in general are somewhat tangential. Unlike the linguists, it is generally accepted that programming language syntax and semantics does have a significant effect on design and construction of programs. But like liguistics, one would be hard pressed to isolate the language from the community (culture). My take would be that a large measure of the benefit of looking at new PLs derives from being exposed to differing communities - not just in learning the details of a language. |
| 05/12/2009 11:13 AM |
| Major Breakthroughs Towards Cellulostic Biofuel: Updated |
UPDATE: MIT Technology Review provides coverage fo the Mascoma Cellulostic biofuel advances and provides an estimate of the cost improvement. Mascoma, a cellulosic biofuels company based in Lebanon, NH, reports significant advances in its goal of simplifying the cellulosic ethanol process by skipping the use of costly enzymes, which could potentially reduce cellulosic ethanol's production costs by 20 to 30 percent.Existing technology to produce ethanol from cellulosic sources involves a multistep process: plant material such as paper pulp and switchgrass are first pretreated, to separate cellulose from the rest of the plant matter. Cellulose is then mixed with enzymes that break it down into sugars. Yeast then takes over to ferment the sugars into ethanol.  Mascoma Corporation today announced that the company has made major research advances in consolidated bioprocessing, or CBP, a low-cost processing strategy for production of biofuels from cellulosic biomass. CBP avoids the need for the costly production of cellulase enzymes by using engineered microorganisms that produce cellulases and ethanol at high yield in a single step. "This is a true breakthrough that takes us much, much closer to billions of gallons of low cost cellulosic biofuels," said Michigan State University's Dr. Bruce Dale, who is also Editor of the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefineries. "Many had thought that CBP was years or even decades away, but the future just arrived. Mascoma has permanently changed the biofuels landscape from here on." Consolidated bioprocessing, or CBP, harnesses the power of natureâs best cellulose utilizing and ethanol fermenting microbes and allows nature to do the majority of the work resulting in a simpler process consisting of a mild pretreatment followed by the introduction of microbes that both hydrolyze and ferment the sugars into ethanol; Thermophilic Bacteria -- Production of nearly 6% wt/vol ethanol by an engineered thermophilie, an increase of 60% over what was reported just a year ago; -- The first report of targeted metabolic engineering of a cellulose-fermenting thermophile, Clostridium thermocellum, leading to a reduced production of unwanted organic acid byproducts; and -- Selected strains of C. thermocellum that can rapidly consume cellulose with high conversion and no added cellulase, and grow on cellulose in the presence of commercial levels of ethanol. Recombinant, Cellulolytic Yeast -- 3,000-fold increase in cellulase expression; -- A significant 2.5-fold reduction in the added cellulase required for conversion of pretreated hardwood to ethanol; and -- Complete elimination of added cellulase for conversion of waste paper sludge to ethanol. In February 2009, Mascoma announced that its pilot facility in Rome, NY had begun producing cellulosic ethanol. The demonstration facility, which was constructed with the generous support from the State of New York through the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, has the flexibility to run on numerous biomass feedstocks including wood chips, tall grasses, corn stover (residual corn stalks) and sugar cane bagasse. The facility will provide process performance engineering data sufficient to support construction of 1/10th scale and commercial scale biorefineries in Kinross, MI, with support from the Department of Energy and State of Michigan. Mascoma Corporation has the worldâs largest research team focused on the commercial development of Consolidated Bio-Processing or CBP. We are harnessing the power of natureâs best cellulose-utilizing and ethanol-fermenting microbes; simplifying the process and allowing nature to do most of the work. CBP is widely recognized as the simplest, lowest cost configuration for producing cellulosic ethanol.           
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| 05/07/2009 07:34 AM |
| Estrogen controls how the brain processes sound |
Shared by StevenScientists at the University of Rochester have discovered that the hormone estrogen plays a pivotal role in how the brain processes sounds. They found that increasing estrogen levels in brain regions that process auditory information caused heightened sensitivity of sound-processing neurons, which encoded more complex and subtle features of the sound stimulus. In addition, by blocking either the actions of estrogen directly, or preventing brain cells from producing estrogen within auditory centers, the signaling that is necessary for the brain to process sounds essentially shuts down. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news160765483.html) |
| 05/01/2009 11:13 PM |
| Lithium In Water "Curbs Suicide" |
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SpuriousLogic writes "Drinking water which contains lithium may reduce the risk of suicide, a Japanese study suggests. Researchers compared levels of lithium in drinking water to suicide rates in the prefecture of Oita, which has a population of more than one million. The suicide rate was significantly lower in those areas with the highest levels of lithium, they wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry. And I was only worried about fluoridation affecting my precious bodily fluids before ..." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
| 04/30/2009 08:35 AM |
| Folic acid may help treat allergies, asthma |
Shared by StevenFolic acid, or vitamin B9, essential for red blood cell health and long known to reduce the risk of spinal birth defects, may also suppress allergic reactions and lessen the severity of allergy and asthma symptoms, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. |
| 04/28/2009 08:37 AM |
| Our Sun: A Little Slow On the Uptake for Cycle 24 |
Shared by StevenA very recent article carried by the BBC called, 'Quiet Sun Baffling Astronomers' sent me in a twitter of research activity. The BBC article's head notes include "The Sun is the Dimmest It Has Been for Nearly A Century" and a suggestion we could be possibly looking at another Maunder Minimum which occurred in the mid-seventeenth century and lasted some 70-years which some believe led to a mini ice age causing havoc throughout North America and Europe. |
| 04/23/2009 01:32 PM |
| A major breakthrough in generating safer, therapeutic stem cells from adult cells |
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The new technique solves one of the most challenging safety hurdles associated with personalized stem cell-based medicine because for the first time it enables scientists to make stem cells in the laboratory from adult cells without genetically altering them. This discovery has the potential to spark the development of many new types of therapies for humans, for diseases that range from Type 1 diabetes to Parkinson's disease.
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| 04/21/2009 02:52 AM |
| Yeast and bacterium turned into gasoline factory |
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University of California, San Francisco researchers have developed a low-temperature, low-cost, carbon-neutral process for producing gasoline more cheaply than oil.
They use A. fermentans bacteria to convert cellulose into acetate, which is converted into methyl halides by the genetically engineered yeast. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16989-yeast-and-bacterium-turned-into-gasoline-factory.html)
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| 04/08/2009 08:38 AM |
| New Discovery May End Transplant Rejection |
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mmmscience writes with this excerpt from the Examiner: "Big news in the medical world: scientists in Australia have found a way to stop the body from attacking organ transplants, greatly decreasing the possibility of organ rejection. ... When a new tissue is introduced, one's immune system kicks into overdrive, sending out cells known as killer T cells to attack and destroy the unknown tissue. ... Professor Jonathan Sprent and Dr. Kylie Webster from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research focused on a different type of T cells â known as regulatory T cells (Treg) â in this study. Tregs are capable of quieting the immune system, stopping the killer T cells from seeking out and attacking foreign objects." Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
| 03/31/2009 02:02 AM |
| Microbes turn electricity directly to methane |
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Methanogenic microorganisms can take electricity and directly convert carbon dioxide and water to methane, producing a portable energy source with a potentially neutral carbon footprint, according to Penn State engineers. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news157651388.html)
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| 03/30/2009 08:45 AM |
| Why Toddlers Don't Do What They're Told |
Shared by StevenHugh Pickens writes "New cognitive research shows that 3-year-olds neither plan for the future nor live completely in the present, but instead call up the past as they need it. 'There is a lot of work in the field of cognitive development that focuses on how kids are basically little versions of adults trying to do the same things adults do, but they're just not as good at it yet. What we show here is they are doing something completely different,' says professor Yuko Munakata at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Munakata's team used a computer game and a setup that measures the diameter of the pupil of the eye to determine mental effort to study the cognitive abilities of 3-and-a-half-year-olds and 8-year-olds. The research concluded that while everything you tell toddlers seems to go in one ear and out the other, the study found that toddlers listen, but then store the information for later use. 'For example, let's say it's cold outside and you tell your 3-year-old to go get his jacket out of his bedroom and get ready to go outside,' says doctoral student Christopher Chatham. 'You might expect the child to plan for the future, think "OK it's cold outside so the jacket will keep me warm." But what we suggest is that this isn't what goes on in a 3-year-old's brain. Rather, they run outside, discover that it is cold, and then retrieve the memory of where their jacket is, and then they go get it.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot. |
| 03/25/2009 12:32 PM |
| Could Life on Earth Have Come From Ceres? |
Shared by StevenThe dwarf planet Ceres is rarely mentioned as a candidate for habitability, but the possible presence of an ocean and hydrothermal vents suggests it is plausible. If life developed on Ceres long ago, could it have seeded the young Earth? |
| 03/05/2009 02:01 AM |
| Could Life on Earth Have Come From Ceres? |
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The dwarf planet Ceres is rarely mentioned as a candidate for habitability, but the possible presence of an ocean and hydrothermal vents suggests it is plausible. If life developed on Ceres long ago, could it have seeded the young Earth?
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| 03/23/2009 05:43 PM |
| Scientists create new enzymes for biofuel production |
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Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and world-leading gene-synthesis company DNA2.0 have taken an important step toward the development of a cost-efficient process to extract sugars from cellulose--the world's most abundant organic material and cheapest form of solar-energy storage. Plant sugars are easily converted into a variety of renewable fuels such as ethanol or butanol.
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| 03/16/2009 04:43 PM |
| Laser Mosquito Zapping |
Shared by Steven   The Wall Street Journal reports on an update to the bug zapper, lasers to add 100 feet or so of range to mosquito zapping. Malaria remains a major global public-health threat, killing about 1 million people annually. Scientists around the world are testing ways of thwarting mosquitoes with microwaves, rancid odors, poisoned blood and other weapons that disrupt the sense of sight, smell and heat mosquitoes use to find their prey. * A regular PC runs the system * Maglite flashlights * a zoom lens from a 35mm camera * and the laser itself
         
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