The following is a clip from Cosmos, where the late Dr. Carl Sagan speaks about 4 billion years of evolution. In the background simple animations morph from one species to another illustrating the point.
Sagan on Evolution – YouTube]
BP and Dupont Developing New BioFuel
The next big thing in alternative fuels might be biofuel grown in farmers fields instead of taken from ancient oil reserves. Wired News writes about Biobutonal: The Next Alt Fuel.
BP and Dupont today announced that they will begin selling Biobutanol in the United Kingdom next year. The companies co-developed a fuel that can be combined with gasoline and ethanol. Biobutanol is superior to ethanol because it has a higher energy value and is less water soluble and evaporative than ethanol, so it is safe to transport via existing gasoline pipelines.
The other day I went kayaking with a masters student that works out at the research station near my house in Lethbridge. He works with a gene gun doing experiments on more efficient means to create genetically modified foods.
We were talking about the possibilities for biofuels to take over as the leading alternative fuel source, and, he added, there is a strong possibility that once it’s in use, researchers could genetically modify corn so that it yields higher and higher amounts of usable energy. Genetically engineering crops for food consumption entails a lot of government restrictions to make sure that new plants are safe to eat but given that these fuel based crops won’t be showing up on our dinner tables ever, the time it takes to produce such plants would be greatly reduced.
On the topic of genetically modified foods, he talked about how scientists have come along way in understanding how genes can be turned on and off under certain conditions. He also told me that there are certain genes that when a chemical is added to the plants can react with the plant creating interesting results. One idea was a kind of corn that when it needs watering, will activates a glow gene—the same gene we see in fireflies—so that a farmer could theoretically look out at his field at night and if it shines, he knows he needs to water.
I think it’s safe to say, nothing would turn people off genetically modified foods more than this particular modification. Still it’s a pretty neat idea.
Another Liger Image
Everybody loves the previous liger image, (I get many people coming to my site for it), so just for the fun of it — here is another one.
An Actual, Real Life Liger
Here is an actual liger!
“It’s pretty much my favorite animal. It’s like a lion and a tiger mixed… bred for its skills in magic.”
-Napoleon Dynamite
The cub is a cross between the female Bengalese tiger and an African lion. The animal resembled a lion cub except that it had stripes, and has been dubbed a “liger”, the Russian Information Agency Novosti reported.
“This was not the result of a scientific experiment,” Novosti quoted zoo director Rostislav Shilo as saying. “It’s just that the lion and the tiger live in neighboring caves in the Novosibirsk zoo, and got used to each other. It’s practically impossible in the wild.”
Here is another liger image.
Are 2D:4D Finger-Length Ratios Related to Sexual Orientation or Sexual Inclination?
I had heard what I considered to be an urban legend that the ratio of a woman’s index to ring finger indicates whether women are likely to engage in casual sex and the sexual orientation of men. Turns out the research has been done and maybe it’s not an urban legend after all. Oh and for those of you wondering, my ring finger is about 10mm longer than my index finger — could possibly explains why I’m such a fast sprinter.
Further reading:
- Are 2D:4D Finger-Length Ratios Related to Sexual Orientation? Yes for Men, No for Women
- Digit Ratio: A Pointer to Fertility, Behavior and Health
- 2nd reason found to check woman’s ring finger
- Is digit ratio (2D:4D) a biomarker for lactate? Evidence from a cardiopulmonary test on professional male footballers
Nano-transistor self-assembles using biology
In a major step towards developing nanoscale electronics, researchers have successfully coaxed DNA into acting as a self-assembling nanoscale transistors.
The key component in all modern electronics, transistors regulate current and act as switches or gates for electronic signals. The allure of DNA is that it can self-assemble into transistors far smaller than those used in conventional silicon-based chips.
Researcher Erez Braun and colleagues at Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa created the new nanotechnology:
Braun’s team began their manufacturing process by coating a central part of a long DNA molecule with proteins from an E. coli bacterium. Next, graphite nanotubes coated with antibodies were added, which bound onto the protein.
After this, a solution of silver ions was added. The ions chemically attach to the phosphate backbone of the DNA, but only where no protein has attached. Aldehyde then reduces the ions to silver metal, forming the foundation of a conducting wire.
To complete the device, gold was added. This nucleates on the silver and creates a fully conducting wire. The end result is a carbon nanotube device connected a both ends by a gold and silver wire.”
Look What Can Be Done In Only Two Short Weeks
Scientists have synthesized a virus from scratch and it has “become bioactive” (started reproducing).
Read more here.