Homely Scientist

 We all know that spit carries stuff like DNA, germs, and other goodies, but it turns out that spit might also have proteins in it that are markers for diseases like cancer and autoimmune disorders.  I was reading Wired last week and saw the article headline.  I thought, hmm, okay, let’s see.  The science is pretty straightforward.  For many diseases there are protein markers that reveal the presence of the disease even if there is no pathogen.  Think of it this way.  When you have a cold, the cold virus is everywhere in your body.  Taking a sample of your spit …read more

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Yes I know you can make solid hydrogen by getting it cold enough.  That’s not really effective for a lot of applications is it?  Takes a lot of pressure to make it happen.  Anyway, some smart cookies at UNB Fredericton have figured out how to make a stable form of solid hydrogen that can be tapped into whenever you need a little H2 gas:
Researchers at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton have made a breakthrough in hydrogen storage. They have successfully condensed hydrogen gas into a usable solid under mild conditions.
“The challenge is to find a safer, more efficient …read more

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I have a friend named Toby so I could resist the title.  Anyway, this is rather cool.  It seems that for a small streatch of the ocean floor the Earth’s crust didn’t form!  Instead the mantle is exposed!
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Canary Islands (AP) — British scientists have embarked on a mission to study a huge area on the Atlantic seabed where the Earth’s crust is mysteriously missing and instead is covered with dark green rock from deep inside the planet.
The 12-member expedition to take an unprecedented peek at Earth’s mantle left the Canary Islands on Monday with a new …read more

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I’m a big supporter of alternative fuels for vehicles.  I’ve tried biodiesel for an old car I had.  I’d use ethanol fuel if I could get it.  One of the big potential fuel sources is methane.  Easy to make, heck our landfills already make tons of it.  Problem has been that methane needs to be kept at high P.S.I. to be useable and that means huge tanks with think walls.  Not very practical for your average (or any) car.  That may have changed:
Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City have devised a way to change all that, however, by using corncob …read more

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I love it when some new key to the past is found.  Recently NPR talked about an Ice Age era cave discovered in Missouri.
The cave itself is interesting, but it was what was found inside that really makes the find unique. Apparently a whole host of vertebrate and invertebrate fossils have been found. Some of the finds are of turtles (the common box turtle as well as an older, unknown species believed to be ancestral to the box turtle), snakes, rodent tracks, peccary (important because previously it was believed that peccary only entered caves when they were carried in by …read more

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From Engadget:
It works by processing images from the camera and wirelessly transmitting them to a receiver implanted in the eye, which in turn sends signals to a series of electrodes that stimulate the retina, sending the information to the brain, all of which happens in real time. While it won’t restore full sight, the researchers say patients should be able to detect light and distinguish objects from one another. Source: Researchers set to test bionic eye implant – Engadget
While not a complete cure, this combination of a camera and neural connections to the retina itself, has been shown to …read more

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Raise your hand if you like to get injections.  Okay, you go get some help.  Doesn’t matter why you need to have an injection, it hurts.  Transdermal injection systems are being worked on all over the place, but here’s an interesting one:
NanoPass Technologies is working to develop its “proprietary intradermal drug delivery technology,” which supposedly deliver injections without the painful side effects by actually not reaching the nerve endings of the skin. Based on MicroPyramids, which are manufactured by MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), the pure silicone crystals are used in extremely diminutive microneedles for intradermal injections, and the tip of the …read more

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 Quantum computing?  Isn’t that from like Minority Report or Back to the Future?  No, it’s for real and available now.
A Canadian manufacturer today unveiled what it called “the world’s first commercially viable quantum computer.” D-Wave Systems, Inc., “The Quantum Computing Company,” during a much ballyhooed rollout at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., hailed the new device as a big step toward the age of quantum computing, decades earlier than scheduled.Source: Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: First “Commercial” Quantum Computer Solves Sudoku Puzzles — Quantum computing company banks on a long-shot form of quantum computing

So …read more

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We’re a step closer to bionics, cyborgs, etc.  A thought-controlled arm is being tested that is getting some great results.
it appears that Claudia Mitchell has regained her sense of movement using a slightly different apparatus. Touted as wearing the “world’s first” bionic arm controlled by thought alone, she now has the ability to carry out simple, albeit quite critical tasks again such as cutting up food. Doctors have re-routed the nerve endings in her arm to “a patch of skin on her chest,” essentially enabling her prosthetic arm to respond to her thoughts concerning movement. Furthermore, a recent study of …read more

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How about this, a portable device about the size of a small moving van that can take garbage, turn it into biofuels, then power an electrical generator.  Now that’s a good use of science!  Okay, okay folks at Purdue developed it for the military first, but they say initial trials were much better than expected and this puppy is about ready to go!  Here’s the scoop:
The tactical biorefinery first separates organic food material from residual trash, such as paper, plastic, Styrofoam and cardboard. The food waste goes to a bioreactor where industrial yeast ferments it into ethanol, a “green” …read more

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