Why Didn't I Evolve Sooner!?-Blame the Bacteria

Sometime after an event slightly elevating atmospheric oxygen and the already present simple life forms scattered about on Earth...nothing happened. For a billion years.

WTF happened?

Researches now theorize that bacteria utilizing sulfur is to blame. It is theorized that the oceans back then were mostly sulfur, not oxygen allowing these microbes to thrive. Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria do not produce oxygen, which kept the Earth stuck at simple life forms for a while.

However, something must have shifted in order to jump start evolution such as iron being introduced into the oceans by continental shift. About 600 million years later, multicellular lifeforms showed up and eventually evolved to.....Starbucks drinking, twittering, facebook using humans.

WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE: "Space radiation hits record high"

Space is filled with crazy crap, both real and theoretical, that can kill us. Whether it be asteroids, aliens or the possibility of the universe collapsing on itself (seriously), a lot of things are out of our control.

One real problem is space radiation. NASA has a particularly huge problem with the radiation reeking havoc on electrical equipment, ruining future and current space missions. With us humans, it can mutate DNA, causing cancer (this pretty much happens with skin cancer). However, we are shielded by magnetic fields, which....are failing.

For some reason, there has been an increase of about 19% in incoming cosmic rays (we don't know where these rays come from exactly).

The sun's own shield protects the solar system and is spread outwards by solar winds. However, we are at the low point of the sun's 11-yr magnetic activity which weakens the shield and on top of that, the pressure driving the winds are at a 50-yr low.

The influx of rays coupled with the sun slacking results with us baking a little bit more intensely in radiation galore. What does that mean for the climate here? I'm not necessarily sure, but I'm definitely investing in some SPF 100.

From the NO, REALLY?!?!?! files: "High Heels Lead to Foot Pain"

Questions: Do you wear heels?

If you answer is yes to the above, then you can stop reading right now because I am only going to tell you what you already know.

A study of 3,330 men and women found that about 64% of older women experience hind-foot pain from wearing heels, sandals or pumps at some point in their lives.

Really, scientists? I thought that aching feeling was what awesomeness on my feet feels like.

Its well documented the problems of heels:

• Heeled women have smaller calf muscles
• They force pressure onto the balls of your feet
• Risk of foot curving inward
• Toes are smashed together

Some women know these medical risks and have turned to cosmetic surgery to shave down their toe bones (wtf, Hobbit feet) or Botox the muscles.

However, heels are not the only problem. Flip-flops, our glorious everywhere go-to shoe, has been shown to change the way a person walks if worn all the time. This can cause ankle, heel and sole problems.

To drive the point further, researches grouped footwear into the following categories:

Poor: sandals, heels, pumps

Average: hard, rubber-soled shoes/ work boots

Good: casual/athletic sneakers

All I have to say is do you think sneakers go with this dress? Or skirt? Or jeans? OR OUTFIT?! No. They do not. Can I wear workboots to the club? No. So, thanks but not thanks. I like my heels, they are wonderful. As for the pain..., that's what insoles are for (and back up flats in the purse).

The true question researchers should be asking is:

Are you gellin'?

I don't need knitting needles, I just need spiders.

Maybe not exactly science related....

The only spider silk woven tapestry in the world is currently on display at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC.

Simon Peers, a textile maker who lives in Madagascar, conceived the project. Weaving spider silk is not traditional there; a French missionary dreamed it up over a century ago but failed at it. The only known spider silk tapestry was shown in Paris in 1900 but then disappeared.

Peers researched previous attempts, then teamed up with fashion expert Nicholas Godley to hire local weavers to try the near-impossible.

"They did think we were insane," Godley says. "It was actually hard to find people who were willing to collect and work with spiders. I think most people are arachnophobes. I mean, I am, and they bite."

The task of silking a spider starts with a small machine — designed centuries ago when the first attempts to silk spiders were begun — that holds the spider down.

"The spiders are harnessed ... held down in a delicate way," Godley says, "so you need people to do this who are very tactile so the spiders are not harmed. So there's a chain of about 80 people who go out every morning at four o'clock, collect spiders, we get them in by 10 o'clock. They're in boxes, they're numbered, and then as they get silked, about 20 minutes later, they get released back into nature."

A Difficult Task.

"It's called dragline silk," he says. "A spider can produce up to seven different types of silk. The dragline is what frames the web; it's the thicker silk on the outside. Also, it's extremely strong. The first panel that we wove, we were quite stunned by the fact that it sounded a bit like guitar strings, pinging like metallic guitar strings. I mean, it is a very, very unusual material."

A very careful person simply pulls the thread out of each spider and wraps it on a spindle. It's then put on a hand loom and woven.

The main threads consist of 96 twisted silk lines. The brocaded patterns in the tapestry — stylized birds and flowers — are woven with threads made up of 960 spider silk lines.

Peers says they never broke a single strand, yet the tapestry is as soft as cashmere.

Peers and Godley say they spent a half-million dollars of their own money to make the tapestry, which is on display at the museum for several months.

Beat your kids, beat their brains: Spanking lowers IQs

Spare the rod, spoil the child...and keep their IQ?

Proponents of corporal punishments on children are taking hit as a recent study shows that the IQs of 2-4 yr olds that were regularly spanked over 4 years were lowered more than 5 points than the unspanked.

Previous studies have shown that children who have been hit show lesser gray matter in their brains (less neurons) therefore have slower cognitive development.

In 1986 a previous study measured the IQ of 1510 2- to 9-year olds and also noted how often their mothers meted out corporal punishment. The researchers repeated the IQ tests four years later. The figures revealed that 93 per cent of mothers had spanked 2- to 4-year-olds once or more per week, whereas only 58 per cent had turned to physical discipline with the older kids. Nearly half of toddlers' moms had spanked their children three or more times per week, Straus and Paschall found.Four years later, younger children who had never felt their mother's palm had gained an average of 5.5 IQ points compared with kids who had suffered corporal punishment, while older unspanked children had gained 2 IQ points, on average.

Although spanking is related to lowered IQ, the biggest difference in the intelligence of a child is whether or the parents provided adequate cognitive stimulation. The study shows that cognitive stimulation is more important that corporal punishment.

From the No, REALLY?!?!?! files: Even Medical Students Use Facebook!

It turns out most medical students do not think that facebook is included in the Hippocratic Oath.

A survey shows that 13% of U.S. medical schools reported students leaking confidential information onto social networking sites or blogs.

Although students did not post names, they revealed enough information that made patients identifiable by family or doctors, which could violate confidentiality policies.

Med students also posted "risque" photos, alcohol and drug use and inappropriate language at 60% of 78 participating medical schools. Administrators worry that such actions damage student's and the schools reputation.

Would you want a future doctor drinking some absinthe, smoking cigarettes and reporting your colonscopy results on twitter?

Maybe not. But then again, maybe you can be facebook friends.

It's Official: Harry Potter Is Being Scientifically Studied

From NCBIROFL:

Harry Potter and the curse of headache.

Sheftell F, Steiner TJ, Thomas H.

The New England Center for Headache, Stamford, CT, USA.

"Headache disorders are common in children and adolescents. Even young male Wizards are disabled by them. In this article we review Harry Potter's headaches as described in the biographical series by JK Rowling. Moreover, we attempt to classify them. Regrettably we are not privy to the Wizard system of classifying headache disorders and are therefore limited to the Muggle method, the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition (ICHD-II). Harry's headaches are recurrent. Although conforming to a basic stereotype, and constant in location, throughout the 6 years of his adolescence so far described they have shown a tendency to progression. Later descriptions include a range of accompanying symptoms. Despite some quite unusual features, they meet all but one of the ICHD-II criteria for migraine, so allowing the diagnosis of 1.6 Probable migraine."

Clearly there is nothing left to discover in science.

Canadian Loch Ness Monster May Exist

The world is full of animals that are undiscovered and/or the subject of myths and folklore. The yeti (not found), Bigfoot (not found), Mothman (not found) and the Loch Ness monster (not found) have been the subject of rumors and blurry photographs. Others like the coelacenth, which everyone thought was extinct til holy crap, they found in off the coast of South Africa in 1938. The question is ultimately, are they real and elusive or are people trippin' off LSD in the woods?

Well, "Cammy" can now be added to maybe-sorta-exists list. People in Canada have reported to seeing a long, dark monster in Cameron Lake starting in 2004. Fish finder equipment suggested that there is a large thing down there and attempts to send down an underwater camera was lost (eaten?). The search was called off.

The British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club says its most likely an giant eel or sturgeon.


.......Or is it?

(cue X-files music)

Watch the New Music Video about The Periodic Table of Elements

Boing Boing Video proudly debuts "Meet The Elements," a new animated music video from They Might Be Giants. This animated, upbeat ode to the periodic table of elements and how they form our world, appears on the new TMBG kids' album "Here Comes Science." Video directed by Feel Good Anyway.

Snake with Foot Found in China

At the risk of this being photoshopped, I decided to post it for it's wtf-ness rating alone.

From the UK Telegraph:

Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night.

"I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw," said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China.

Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol.

The snake – 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger – is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China's West Normal University in Nanchang.

Snake expert Long Shuai said: "It is truly shocking but we won't know the cause until we've conducted an autopsy."

A more common mutation among snakes is the growth of a second head, which occurs in a similar way to the formation of Siamese twins in humans.

Such animals are often caught and preserved as lucky tokens but have very little chance of surviving in the wild anyway, especially as the heads have a tendency to attack each other.

Literally Showering In Germs?

From NewScientist.com:

"Run your shower for a minute or so before you get in, otherwise you'll get a face full of bacteria." That's the advice of microbiologist Norman Pace, who has had the unenviable task of analysing the film of microbes that builds up within shower heads at 45 sites in the US.

Pace and his team from the University of Colorado, Boulder, found significant loads of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), particularly Mycobacterium avium, at levels 100 times as high as those found in drinking water.

M. avium is responsible for a type of pulmonary disease more prevalent than TB in developed countries, cases of which have risen in parallel with the rise in showering, says Pace. "For most people, taking a shower is not dangerous, but if you are immune compromised, such as the elderly or pregnant, it could be," he says.

His advice is to not use shower heads made of plastic. "If it has little crusty deposits, throw the sucker away. Have a bath."

NTM expert Joseph Falkinham of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg says this type of data is needed to prepare a risk assessment, but we also need to know how many NTM of each species and type are needed to cause disease. "That is unknown for humans and not well established for laboratory animals either," he says.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0908446106

Cows Must Diet to Curb Flatulence

We all have heard about how livestock are one of the worse culprits of global warming. Cows produce up to 250-500 liters of methane a day, which warms the earth 20x faster than carbon dioxide. Also, as one can imagine, there is a lot of energy used in releasing this gas which makes the animals less efficient. The sheer number of livestock in the world plus their extreme gassyness requires some sort of solution before the world is warm and/or stinky from cow farts.

One solution is eat less meat. Yeah right.

Another way is put them on a diet by adding oil or a compoung called tannin to feed which lessens methane formation. "Mootral" is an additive that reduces bacteria essential to methane formation and is being commercially developed.

Although this would help reduce global warming, produce better cows and more profitable farms, there are several obstacles:

1. The various populations of livestock in the world require different additives based on where they are located and their food source.
2. Legislation and regulation of feed additives. There are already bans on antibiotic and hormone use in certain countries.

Hopefully some kind of solution will pass to produce a cooler and less stinky world.

Scientists Finally Take Future Zombie Attacks Seriously.

Scientists in Canada (because they have nothing else to do up there) are using zombie attacks as a model for how infectious diseases are spread through the human population.

Like many video games and movies, the researchers asked the question: "If there was a battle between the living and the dead, who would win?"

They modeled a program based on the more "classical" biology of zombies; ie that they are slow and dumb, then calculated the various outcomes. They concluded that they only way to really survive is to "hit them hard and hit them often."

Professor Ferguson went on to joke: "The paper considers something that many of us have worried about - particularly in our younger days - of what would be a feasible way of tackling an outbreak of a rapidly spreading zombie infection.

"My understanding of zombie biology is that if you manage to decapitate a zombie then it's dead forever. So perhaps they are being a little over-pessimistic when they conclude that zombies might take over a city in three or four days."

"Nerd Love: Solve for i"

see more Funny Graphs

Hey Boo Boo, Where Is My Pic-a-nic Basket?

Researchers with the South Central Florida Bear Project have been baiting with bears with stale doughnuts and pastries in efforts to attach a GPS collar to them. Every 15minutes, the collar text messages a cell phone letting researchers know where the bear is.


(Note to Self: Avoid solo brownies with whipped cream in the woods of Florida.)

Tracking the animals allows the project to see where the population goes and which habitats are important for conservation. Bears used to wander all over Florida, breeding with different bear populations. Human development has reduced this causing isolated bears who run the risk of inbreeding, lowering their genetic diversity.

When bears are caught, they are tranquilized and measured. They are also scanned for microchips to see if they have already been previously identified by scientists. A fur sample is also taken to see if the animal is related to any others that were caught. If they are old enough, they are fitted with a collar.

From the NO, REALLY Files: "Houseplants Make Air Healthier"

As reported from LiveScience.com:

Houseplants can absorb harmful ground-level ozone and break it down internally. Scientists placed three common houseplants in chambers filled with 10 the normal amount of ozone and timed how long it took for the plants to reduce the ozone to 3% of the initial amount. The plants did so in 50minutes while it took empty chambers 75minutes for the ozone to dissipate.

I in yo office, eetin yo ozone. Nom nom nom.

Ozone high up in the atmosphere forms the ozone layer which prevents us from getting burnt to a crisp from UV-light. Ground-level ozone is harmful and is a component of smog.

Although this is a bigger problem in developing countries because of poor ventilation, offices have copier machines and printers that increase indoor ozone concentrations. In the future, researchers hope to hold more realistic studies by testing how many plants you would need to have a significant reduction and which plants are more efficient at breaking down the ozone.

Forget D.C., Giant Rats Found In Rainforest.

Remember The Princess Bride? Westley and Buttercup had to make their way through the dense forest and encountered these giant M.F-ers?

Well, get ready kids, because this is reality:

Once again, proving if you want some scary sh!t you will go to a rainforest. Scientists found this giant rodent in a remote area of Papua New Guinea. Nose to tail, it is 32.2in and about 3.3lbs. Along with finding a rat "the size of a cat," the researchers from BBC Natural History Unit found about 30 new species including frogs, bats and insects. Although technically the largest rodent in the world is the capybara, which looks like a giant guinea big, I think this one is more traumatizing. Let's hope they can't swim to the mainland.

Tetris Increases Brain Matter

A new excuse to play videogames: BMC Research Notes finds that playing Tetris for 3months increases the brain's gray matter and efficiency.



Fifteen adolescent girls played Tetris for 3months, on average for 1.5hrs a week. (Girls were used since boys' tendency to have increased videogame experience might skew the results). MRI scans showed that their brain's gray matter, which is used for information processing, became thicker. These regions included the temporal and frontal lobe which is thought to be involved in information integration and planning complex movements.However, other parts of their brains had reduced activity compared to initial readings when monitored during gameplay. The control group who did not play the game at all showed no difference at all.

Scientist theorized this reduced activity may be because the brain is learning which regions are less important during Tetris. Another is that different parts are beginning to communicate with one another, to become more streamlined.

"Seizure Makes Woman Mistake Herself For A Man"

We all know that brain and head injuries can cause drastic personality change in people. The most of which being Phineas Gage.

That looks like it stings.

Gage was a railroad worker who had a 1.25in diameter metal rod blasted into his head. Surprisingly, he was quite conscious and capable right after the accident, although he literally vomited some brain out. The rod was successful taken out and he lived, but it was well-documented that Gage had a significant personality change.

In a more recent case, a 37 yr old woman had been admitted to an epilepsy clinic in Germany. She had no previous mental health problems . She had reported feelings of fear, nausea as well as delusions she was a man. She reportedly felt her voice becoming deeper like a man and that she saw her own arms as male with male hair growth.

She saw the same thing among other woman; that they appeared to change into men before her eyes. An MRI scan showed a tumor linked to her seizures, located in the amygdala, of which is linked to one's sense of identity "including aspects like familiarity, emotional state, and sex, and past studies revealed that electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe triggered doubt about sexual identity." Anticonvulsive drugs prevented furture delusions and seizures.