The dead want an iPhone?
Apple’s iPhone is so popular in China that even the dead want one! It’s the latest trend in burnt paper offering, a distinctly Chinese tradition where Hell Bank Notes, and paper items resembling cars, luxury villas, computers and so on, are burnt to send to the deceased…
Continue reading… “Paper iPhones as burnt offerings for the dead”
Isolation of MAP requires collection of infected white bloods cells from blood samples via centrifugation. For direct nPCR analysis, DNA directly isolated from white blood cells is purified in multiple steps prior to amplification and detection by gel electrophoresis. Meanwhile, culture-based nPCR requires the growth of MAP in specialized liquid media for 12 weeks, followed by DNA isolation before nPCR. Hybridizing magnetic relaxation sensors (hMRS) can detect MAP DNA in minimally processed blood samples via changes in magnetic signal (”¤2) in 1 hour, as opposed to 24 hours for direct nPCR and 12 weeks for culture nPCR.
Researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a novel technique that may give doctors a faster and more sensitive tool to detect pathogens associated with inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease.
The new nanoparticle-based technique also may be used for detection of other microbes that have challenged scientists for centuries because they hide deep in human tissue and are able to reprogram cells to successfully evade the immune system…
Continue reading… “Nanotechnology Used to Hunt for Hidden Pathogens”
Last night saw the announcement of the 2012 nominees for science fiction’s prestigious Hugo Award. It’s a particularly fine ballot, reflecting a record number of nominating ballots (wisdom of the crowds and all that). Included on the ballot are our own moderator Avram (as part of the team that publishes The New York Review of Science Fiction) and one of my all-time favorite books, Among Others. Also noteworthy: the much-deserved John W Campbell Award nomination (for best new writer) for the fabulous Mur Lafferty, a nomination for the indispensable Science Fiction Encyclopedia, Third Edition, a nomination for IO9’s Charlie Jane Anders’s story Six Months, Three Days, and a fourth nomination for much-favored Fables graphic novels…
Continue reading… “2012 Hugo Award nominees announced”
Distances are typically documented using specific measurement terms like inches, feet, and even miles. But when someone asks you how far it is to the mall, you’ll usually respond with a measurement of time instead of an exact number of miles…
Continue reading… “Why we often measure distances in time”
Harvard University
Harvard just set a record for low undergraduate admission rate. Only 5.9 percent of applicants for the class of 2016 were accepted.
Continue reading… “Why being accepted to Harvard is no longer an honor”
Don’t ya just wanna cuddle em?
Imagine a tyrannosaur weighing one and a half tons, completely covered in soft, downy plumage. Even its tail is fluffy with feathers. Though we’ve known for a while that many dinosaurs were covered in feathers, a group of Chinese researchers have now provided direct evidence that gigantic, deadly tyrannosaurs might have looked a bit like wuffly birds. Three nearly complete, well-preserved fossils give us a glimpse of tyrannosaurs the way we’ve never seen them before…
Continue reading… “Hard evidence that giant tyrannosaurs were cute”
Did you know that Splenda was born as an insecticide? It’s true!
Splenda is not natural; it is a chlorinated artificial sweetener. There have been no long-term human studies on the safety of Splenda; however, issues have been raised about Splenda in a new study from Duke University.
According to the study, Splenda “suppresses beneficial bacteria and directly affects the expression of the transporter P-gp and cytochrome P-450 isozymes that are known to interfere with the bioavailability of drugs and nutrients….
Continue reading… “The insecticide now known as Splenda”
The worlds biggest mouth doesn’t hold a candle to some of these crazy sex world records.
From an 82-year-old prostitute to a 500 people orgy and the world’s gang bang record, meet some of the weirdest sex world records you may not see in the Guinness Book…
Continue reading… “10 Bizarre Sex World Records”
This song does what it says in the title, and will make you laugh. It was meant as a study aid, but it didn’t help me memorize the elements at all. How about you?
Continue reading… “Periodic Table SYMBOLS in Order Song”
Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans.
Senior citizens are an unexpected demographic that is still burdened with paying for college and the student loans are wreaking havoc on their finances.
Continue reading… “Student loans still a burden on senior citizens”
When faced with pathogenic fungi, bees line their hives with more propolis – the waxy, yellow substance seen here.
Research from North Carolina State University shows that honey bees “self-medicate” when their colony is infected with a harmful fungus, bringing in increased amounts of antifungal plant resins to ward off the pathogen…
Continue reading… “Bees ‘Self-Medicate’ when infected with some pathogens”
Robo-readers are computers programmed to scan student essays and spit out a grade.
High school students in the U.S. are terrible writers, and one education reform group thinks it has an answer: robots.
Continue reading… “Robo-readers: new helpers for teachers in the U.S.”