The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

Born when Shakespeare wrote, killed by scientists last year.

Found mention of this on reddit and on PhysOrg. Researchers from Bangor University dredged up a clam that appears to be 400 years old, making it the oldest living thing ever discovered.

A team of scientists from Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences believe they have found an animal which did just that, a quahog clam, Arctica islandica, which was living and growing on the seabed in the cold waters off the north coast of Iceland for around 400 years.

Of course, they found this out by killing it and counting rings in its shell.

It is very likely that longer lived individuals of the species remain to be found. Although Icelandic waters seem to provide the ideal conditions for extreme longevity, clams with lifetimes well in excess of 200 years have been found both in the Irish Sea and the North Sea.

Entered on 31 October 2007 at 6:24 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

Old, stinky sex.

With plants!

New Scientist reports on a sordid study of the pulsing, fetid origins of life as scientists plunge into an ancient plant’s hot, stinky sex life. It involves rancid odors and bugs called “thrips”:

For approximately four weeks a year, cycads go through a pollination period. During this time, male cones use energy stored within them to raise their temperature every morning. For four hours, their temperatures can rise by as much as 12 °C.

As they heat up, the odour increases. The tiny thrips desert the cones en masse, returning only after the smell-fest has ended.

There’s video at the link showing the process of pollination-by-thrip-expulsion. Thankfully, it doesn’t come with a smellifier attachment. I’m curious about two things: One – Is this where pollination could have come from? Cycads predate flowering plants, so this stinkbomb probably precedes the birds and the bees. Two – the article refers to cycad eggs. Eggs? Plant eggs? What?

Entered on 30 October 2007 at 6:18 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

The Happy Brain.

New Scientist discusses a joyous discovery inside our skulls – the bits of the brain responsible for optimism:

Elizabeth Phelps at the New York University, US, and colleagues measured how optimistic 15 volunteers were using a standard questionnaire. The researchers then asked these subjects to lie in a brain scanner and reflect on one of a number of potential scenarios.
…
Brain scans obtained using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed that reflecting on both past and future events activated the amygdala and the [rostral anterior cingulated cortex] (rACC) areas, both of which sit deep in the middle of the brain. However, positive events – and particularly those imagined in the future – elicited a significantly bigger brain response in these regions than reflecting on negative events.

These same parts of the brain – the amygdala and rACC – are involved with chronic depression, so figuring out how they modulate emotions – how they make people feel happy – could lead to all sorts of new therapies. Or, if I have my way, big joy buzzers.

Entered on 29 October 2007 at 6:47 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

Science Art: Meridiani Water, 27 Feb 2006

^{Click for larger image}

For the last of our month-of-Sputnik space art posts, here’s more imagery of the hematite plains of Mars.

This false-color infrared image from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter shows the presence of hematite – a kind of iron oxide indicating the presence of water – on a section of Meridiani Planum, about 400 kilometers northeast of where the rover Opportunity landed.

Credit: Christensen, P.R., N.S. Gorelick, G.L. Mehall, and K.C. Murray, THEMIS Public Data Releases, Planetary Data System node, Arizona State University.

Entered on 28 October 2007 at 6:39 in the Science Art file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

HIV defeated?

Science Daily reports that AIDS might finally be on the way out:

With the latest advances in treatment, doctors have discovered that they can successfully neutralise the HIV virus. The so-called ‘combination therapy’ prevents the HIV virus from mutating and spreading, allowing patients to rebuild their immune system to the same levels as the rest of the population.

It’s a combination therapy, and for it to work, patients have to follow the course faithfully from beginning to end. But it works.

Entered on 26 October 2007 at 6:39 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

China Moon

Reuters reports that China is taking its next step into space with the Chang’e One lunar orbiter launch this week:

The launch of the Chang’e One orbiter is set for Wednesday at 1000 GMT but could take place on the two days after then, depending on conditions, spokesman for the China National Space Administration, Li Guoping, told a news conference.

Li said the orbiter would circle the moon for over a year, mapping and analyzing its surface.

“It’s implementation will lay a technological foundation for our country’s development of deep space exploration activities,” Li said of the launch.

They’re also looking forward to a moon rover expedition by 2012.

Entered on 25 October 2007 at 6:23 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

Biofuel from a bush.

Nature brings news of a potential fuel for tomorrow growing wild in Africa and India. It’s called jatropha, and it could possibly be ideal for cultivation – oil that grows on trees, in other words:

The use of Jatropha as a potential Biodiesel feedstock in Egypt is the focus of an ongoing US-Egypt joint investigation. “Biodiesel Fuel from Nonedible Vegetable Oils” is a collaborative project of the UNH Biodiesel group and the National Research Center (NRC), Cairo. Jatropha crop has low production costs, and high biomass yield (around 1550 kg oil per hectare).

More about ongoing research (and, erm, advocacy) at www.jatrophafuel.net.

Entered on 24 October 2007 at 6:23 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

SONG: Something in the Air

SONG: “Something in the Air” _{(To download: right-click & “Save As”)}

ARTIST: grant. Hello there.

SOURCE: “Lap dancers ‘in heat’ are the ones to watch”, New Scientist, 11 Oct 2007, as mentioned in the post “Stripper Experiment Finds Invisible Mating Signals.”

ABSTRACT: I chose this scientific discovery because duh, hello. Invisible sex signals? Why did I take up a guitar in the first place if it weren’t for invisible sex signals?

If I could have a wish granted by my colleagues in rock, it’d be to have The Postmarks cover this. Mostly to replace my voice* with something ethereal and torchy, but also because they’re experts at that 60s Euro-pop sound I was striving for – something a French girl would sing in the middle of a Godard film. It’s a cha-cha! Let’s dance!

*Yeah, and I’m still using 10-year-old software on an 11-year-old computer. I’ve almost given up on ever regaining the Powerbook, but have started snooping around a sexy-looking piece of Windows shareware called Reaper. Maybe in time for the next song….

Entered on 23 October 2007 at 6:18 in the Songs file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

Sputnik DIY

The BBC has published directions for building your own history-making satellite:

In simple terms, the Sputnik satellite was a metal sphere almost 2ft (61cm) in diameter, containing a radio transmitter. It also had a battery; equipment to measure temperature; barometric and temperature activated switches; and a fan to stop it getting too hot.

It sent its famous “beep beep” radio signals to earth, altering the transmission to indicate changes in temperature or a sudden drop in pressure caused by a puncture in the satellite’s case. And that’s about it.

You could probably find most of these components lying around your home.

In fact, they’re having a contest for doing just that.

You up for the challenge?

Entered on 22 October 2007 at 18:22 in the Science file | Care to make an observation? |  Print

Science Art: Opportunity on Meridiani Planum, 8 May 2005

The dusty hematite plains of Mars, as seen by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

This is, more or less, the place where Opportunity found evidence of water.

Entered on 21 October 2007 at 6:33 in the Science Art file | 1 Observation |  Print