Category: News
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A Tankful of Sugar
Remember those toy trucks, the 18-wheelers (tractor-trailers) that gas companies manufactured? If you grew up in the 80’s, and were a boy or had a brother, or just loved trucks, your dad probably bought one for Christmas. My brother and I would build towns out of Lincoln Logs and Legos and we would wait for…
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The Devil’s Technology
Biotechnology is rarely considered to be good for the environment. In fact, environmental campaigners frequently claim that genetically modified organisms represent a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. However, the study of the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour disease (DFTD) using genetic technologies is an example where biotechnology has been used to create a definite environmental…
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Sonification of the Higgs Boson – the Sound of Particle
The July 4 achievement and the discovery of Higgs Boson particle, created new possiblities for the researchers who have “sonified” the data from the Atlas experiment, by turning these scientific findings into music using data sonification. Working from results supplied by the Atlas experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), researchers have created melodies that make the results…
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America in the time of AIDS
This week the world descends on Washington DC, to discuss, evaluate, and get the state of the art of what is probably the disease of our times: HIV/AIDS; as the city prepares to host the International AIDS Conference (AIDS2012). It marks the first time in 20 years the conference has been held in the US…
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The extinction that is yet to come
By 2050 they will all be gone. The worst is yet to come. The Amazon rainforest contains a wider variety of plant and animal life than any other biome in the world. The region in its entirety is home to roughly 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and…
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Plastics Make it… Problematic
The American Chemistry Council sponsors an initiative “Plastics Make it Possible.” While there is no debating the fact that plastics have completely transformed modern life, from lifesaving medical devices to cellular phones to food storage to sports equipment, to well, you name it; we owe a lot to this accidental creation of Hans von Pechmann:…
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BioGrid Australia links data to show bowel cancer screening is making impact on patient survival rate
BioGrid Australia links data to show bowel cancer screening is making impact on patient survival rate. Victorian researchers have been able to confirm that the national bowel cancer screening program is making a major impact on patient survival. Using data made available through BioGrid Australia, the researchers have shown that patients diagnosed as a result…
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The smoking guns of dying stars
The ancient Greeks once believed that the heavens were immutable. A vast starry vista, eternally unchanging above our heads. But we now know this to be untrue in the slightest. A lot has changed since then, however, and over the past few hundred years, astronomers have unfurled ever increasing knowledge of the lives of stars. Look…
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A brand new boson?
It’s official. As was the subject of a press conference here in Europe this morning, the LHC has discovered a new particle. Is it the much talked about Higgs boson? Evidently it’s far too early to say with certainty. But whatever it is, it’s a brand new subatomic particle, it’s consistent with a Higgs boson signature,…
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Who Doesn’t Love a (Penguin) Parade?
It’s not just 5-year old children who get excited by the sight of penguins; on no, penguins have been “all the rage” in movies and on television these past few years, delighting all ages. These magnificent, peaceful flightless birds are a key indicator to the health and environment rating of our planet. But I’ll get…
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Mr Boson, I presume…?
When Peter Higgs steps out onto the tarmac at an airport near the franco-swiss border, it will probably be with equal parts trepidation and elation. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and the world’s leading laboratory for particle physics, is to hold a scientific seminar on July 4th, with Peter Higgs in attendance, to…
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The clues to human uniqueness
Over 2 million years ago, before the emergence of the genus Homo, within the rift valleys and savannah grasslands of Africa during the Pliocene period, a unique event took place. One that, with some hyperbole, admittedly, shaped the course of human evolution. The event was on a molecular scale but had its bearings on what…
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Steven Burrill: A Leading Force in the Advancement of Science and Technology
Steven Burrill is a well recognized name in the field of science and technology, and has been actively involved in various aspects of these fields. As a founder and CEO of Burrill & Company, his influence and contributions to science and technology has been far reaching, and is responsible for great strides made in various…
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The EMBO Meeting 2012 – Call for Participation
EARLY REGISTRATION & ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: 12 JUNE 2012 ON-LINE REGISTRATION: 4 SEPTEMBER 2012 UPDATE: Late abstract deadline 12 August 14:00 CEST (Berlin) SUBMIT ABSTRACT | REGISTER http://www.the-embo-meeting.org/ This annual conference attracts 1,500 scientists working in the life sciences. Featuring an impressive line-up of more than 120 world-class scientific…