Toxin-Free Cottonseed Engineered; Could Feed Millions, Study Says

A toxic chemical has been mostly removed from cottonseeds, potentially turning an underused agricultural product into a food source for hundreds of millions of people, according to a new study. "The world grows cotton for fiber not for seed," said Keerti Rathore, a researcher at Texas A&M University in College Station who helped spearhead the work. "Few realize, however, that for every pound [0.45 kilogram] of cotton fiber, the cotton plant produces 1.65 pounds [0.75 kilogram] of seeds that contain 21 percent oil and 23 percent of a relatively good quality protein." Now this is good because then companies or agribusinesses can get oil with all the cotton they farm.

I think this is good because yes the companies give us cheaper oil which is really good (for my mom).

DNA Varies More Widely From Person to Person, Genetic Maps Reveal

The genetic makeup of the human race is much more varied than previously believed, new research shows. Scientists say that surprisingly many large chunks of human DNA differ among individuals and ethnic groups. The research also suggests that humans have less DNA in common with chimpanzees, our closest living relative, than is widely supposed. The new findings, based on several studies, will have huge changes for research into deadly diseases, the researchers add.

This is not really good for us because then if we have less DNA then its not good also if we live now, soon enough we will create diseases far more complicated for scientists.

NASCAR Lab Tech on Pushing Limits of Speed, Safety

Gary Nelson, NASCAR managing director of research and development, supervises the center. His team uses a variety of means, including computer simulations and crash test dummies, in an endless quest to make a dangerous sport safer. One of your projects is a five-year plan to design "the car of the future." What does that involve? We've focused on the driver's space and what protects the driver: restraint systems, the seat, and the space around him. The [the size of a regulation NASCAR] car got a bit bigger. It looks the same, but just a few inches, from the driver's perspective, is a big deal. We fill that space with crushable material that absorbs some energy. If you think about passenger cars today, they have an air bag that acts as a pillow. There is no way to have an air bag that does what we need at racing speeds. But the theory of absorbing energy of the impact … would be a very good goal. Instead of a pillow between the driver and the wheel, we put protection [outside the cockpit] on the side, front, and back of the car. So when [the car] hits something, we're able to lengthen the time between [impact] and the car coming to a complete stop. It happens in an instant. We're talking about milliseconds. But if we can double the length of that instant, those extra milliseconds make a tremendous difference to what the driver feels.

I think its nice that there is someone who is trying to help the drivers when they crash because lots of people die because of this NASCAR racing (i like nascar).

For Dung Beetles, Monkey Business Is Serious Stuff

So the seeds of the Amazon's much-lauded biodiversity are spread around the rain forest, in many cases. And where there's monkey business, so too are dung beetles, according to Kevina Vulinec, an assistant professor of wildlife ecology at Delaware State University in Dover. The dung beetles, as their name suggests, make a living off other animals' waste. In the process they sow whatever seeds make it through the treasure-dropping animals' digestive tracts. "Dung beetles are essential to tropical biodiversity, and they may be more essential than we even know," said Vulinec, who studies the interactions between monkeys and dung beetles. His aim is to understand their roles in seed dispersal and thus tropical biodiversity. Of particular interest to Vulinec are the applications of this line of research to conservation efforts aimed at regenerating areas of the Amazon rain forest that have been cleared for agriculture and ranching.

I dont exactly believe that DUNG BEETLES are essential to the biodiversity its so dum. In the olden days dung beetles were destroying crops and the farmers didn't exactly get to do anything about it so it just isn't right.

Fruit Flies' Aerial Stunts Inspire Brain Study

Budding engineers often take apart common devices, such as toasters, and put them back together again to learn how the parts make up a working system. But budding biologists have a harder time using this approach—once a living organism is taken apart it usually can't be made to function again. Now, using modern genetic engineering techniques, researchers are able to turn biological components on and off, in effect removing parts to see how each one affects the whole system. "The more things you take apart, the more intuition you gain about the natural world," said Michael Dickinson, a professor of bioengineering and biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Dickinson studies fruit flies and how certain cells in their brains contribute to their ability to make rapid mid-air turns. The work, he says, has broader implications for understanding the complexities of the natural world. "In the end, you learn more than just how flies work," he said. "In figuring out how something as complex as a fly is put together, you gain insight into many complicated processes."

I think this is cool because if we can do this to ant brains then we might be able to do it to human brains and than we can create
a real human brain with all the stuff in it. Also we could use that process to make better eye site or make clogs in your brain to not become blogs.

New studies of Damascus swords are revealing that the legendary blades contain nanowires, carbon nanotubes, and other extremely small, intricate structures that might explain their unique features. Damascus swords, first made in the eighth century A.D., are renowned for their complex surface patterns and sharpness. According to legend, the blades can cut a piece of silk in half as it falls to the ground and maintain their edge after cleaving through stone, metal, or even other swords. But since the techniques for making these swords have been lost for hundreds of years, no one is sure exactly why these swords are so good.

I think this is cool because I bet the people who created the swords in those days they all probably didn't know that they were making something so small, sophisticated, and nano type.

Depleted Uranium

The military use of depleted uranium (Uranium is a naturally occurring heavy metal which is poisonous and weakly radioactive. Natural uranium is a mixture of three different forms of the chemical element) has generated considerable public controversy. DU is a chemically toxic and weakly radioactive substance. Its use on a battlefield can lead to it being spread over a wide area, and many have claimed that this has adverse health effects for those on the battlefield and those living or returning to live in an area where DU munitions have been deployed. In response to these concerns, the Royal Society convened an independent expert working group in 2000 to review the present state of scientific knowledge on the subject. The working group published reports in 2001 and 2002.

I think that this is bad because if the army or military keep on using it will get hurt and then because of that we could have a little crises in our hands.

Source: http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/

Genetics and health

It is hoped that advances in the field of genetics will help us understand how our genetic make up relates to the cause of human disease. In recent years the Society has been involved in a range of activities examining the role of genetics and human health, including public meetings and a national dialogue event. In 2005 the Society issued a report on pharmacogenetics, or personalised medicines, which is the study of how people's genetic makeup affects their responses to drugs. The study concluded that whilst they have a promising future but it will be another 15-20 years before their use is widespread because of the many gaps in our understanding of how genetics relates to the causes of disease.

It would be cool if we know how disease occurs from genetic stuff. I think if we find out how to do that then we will be able to save lifes.

Source: http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/

Nanotech: The Tiny Science Is Big, and Getting Bigger

After decades of hype, speculation, and multimillion-dollar laboratory research, the long-promised nanotechnology revolution is finally coming to a store near you. For proof, check out the transparent sunscreens, spillproof pants, and tennis rackets with extra pop now on sale. Nanotechnology gets its name from the nanometer, a unit of measurement that is one billionth of a meter. A human hair is about 20,000 nanometers thick. Scientists say materials and devices manufactured at the nanoscale promise to change life as we know it. "I'd say [nanotechnology] has the potential to be truly revolutionary," said Gregory Rorrer, a chemical engineer at Oregon State University in Corvallis. "That's why there's so much interest in it right now." Rorrer has a grant with the National Science Foundation of 1.3 million U.S. dollars. The grant is a small piece of the billions of dollars the United States government is funneling into research and development to spur the nanotechnology revolution.

I think this is amazing because then you can have really small mp3's or cellphones or even stuff like computers (which we kind of have already; imate) so i think this is going to be much much better.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Dolphin With Four Fins May Prove Terrestrial Origins

Japanese fishers have found an unusual bottlenose dolphin with an extra set of fins that could be an evolutionary throwback to the time when the marine mammals' ancient ancestors walked on land. The dolphin was captured alive off the southwestern coast of Japan on October 28. It was then shipped to the nearby Taiji Whaling Museum for study. "This is an unprecedented discovery, I believe the fins may be remains from a time when dolphins' ancient ancestors lived on land" says Seiji Osumi of Tokyo's Institute of Cetacean Research said in a weekend press conference. Scott Baker, associate director of the marine mammal program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, agreed, saying that "this certainly is direct evidence of evolution."

I think that its cool how water animals evolved from and. I also think that if the water animals or dolphins evolved from land then mabye before the stone age they were still there and the "cavemen" saw them.

In the picture Japanese fishers found a bottlenose dolphin with four fins instead of two. The extra hind fins (inset) are about the size of human hands and could be proof that the marine mammals first evolved from land animals.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Seafood May Be Gone by 2048, Study Says

According to the study, 29 percent of the seafood species humans consume have already crashed. If the long-term trend continues, in 30 years there will be little or no seafood available. The increasing pace of diversity loss, imperils the "ecosystems services" that many human populations depend on for survival. The research also found that biodiversity loss is tightly linked to less water quality, ocean dead zones, fish kills, and coastal flooding.

I think that this is bad because first we survive from coastel floods because of the fish and in the next 30 years I won't get any juicy fish.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com

Hubble Repair Mission Approved by NASA

NASA announced today that the U.S. space agency has found a way to safely service the aging telescope, which is famous for capturing spectacular images of the universe"We are going to add a service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to the shuttle's manifest to be flown before [the space shuttle] retires," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said at an agency-wide meeting at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The mission, likely to come in the spring of 2008, will also allow astronauts to upgrade the "eye in the sky" with new camera equipment.

I think that it is good that NASA is repairing the hubble telescope because mabye if they didn't the hubble telescope parts could fall on the world or the whole thing could, and the other reason is that its made lots of good dicoveries so we should keep it for pride and honor.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

"Cooler" Mice Live Longer, Study Finds

The newfangled mice are only slightly cooler than normal just 0.5 to 0.9 degree Fahrenheit (0.3 to 0.5 degree Celsius), an effect that occurs only during waking hours.But the temperature drop significantly increases the rodents' life spans, scientists say. They altered the male mice whic can now live 12 percent longer on average, while females can now live 20 percent longer than regular mice. To create the "cool mice," scientists used genetic engineering to fool the rodents' central thermostat, which is found in the hypothalamus region of the brain. By targeting a specific protein, the scientists caused a small cluster of neurons to heat up, duping the nearby thermostat to turn down the rodents' body heat. Despite lower body temperatures, the mice appear to be as physically active as, and eat the same amount of food as, normal mice.

Now I think this is cool because if the escientists could transfer this to the human brain then we could live 12 percent longer then our normal 70-80 years.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/