Archive for April, 2007

The possibility of extraterrestrial life is a topic that is endlessly fascinating. Every since the confirmed discovery of the first exoplanet, or extrasolar planet in 1995, every single discovery fell victim to the “Goldilocks Problem”. This means that they were either too hot, too cold, or giant gas planets like Jupiter.

This all changed this week when astronomers at the European Southern Observatory announced the existence of “581 c” a planet that lies within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star called Gliese 581. This means the 581 c is just the right distance from the Gliese 581 “sun”.

There are many unanswered questions about this planet that may diminish the chances for life, but this is a major step in this field. After all, Mars falls within the hospitable zone of the Sun and it’s not thriving with life. As a counterpoint, it should be noted that there is a growing possibility that Mars has life below the surface or was inhabited in the past.

With that note of caution out of the way, what would life be like on 581 c?

- Probably a rocky surface like Earth, but might be a giant iceball with pools of water. Either way there is decent chance that 581 c has a lot of water based on the theories of planetary formation.

- Average temperature is believed to be 32-104 degrees F (0-40 degrees C)

- Gravity is about 1.6 times stronger on Earth, so multiply your weight times 1.6 and that would be your weight on 581 c.

- The sun, Gliese 581 c, is very close because a red dwarf star is much cooler than our Sun. A sunny day on 581 c results in a giant red sun in the sky that would be twenty times bigger than the Moon in our sky.

- Your birthday would be every 13 days.

- There might not be a sunrise or sunset. The astronomers have concluded that it probably doesn’t rotate (not a confirmed fact, though), so the light side of the planet could be an optimal place for life to prosper under a giant red “charcoal ember” in the sky.

This is definitely one of the most exciting stories I’ve heard in a long time, so stay tuned for more on this story as scientists try to confirm the presence of water and what atmosphere this new planet has. Also, the existence of a planet of a red dwarf star (let alone a potentially Earth-like planet) was somewhat of a surprise for scientists and they have spent more time on more Sun-like stars in the past, so there’s a good chance of hearing about more Earth-like planets in the future. This adds further excitement to the story because 80% of the stars relatively “close” to Earth are red-dwarfs….so cool.

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On a lighter note, a sign of how significant this story is can be found in reports from our good friends across the big pond in England. Upon the news of 581 c, bookmakers have lowered the odds of extraterrestrial life from 1000-1 to 100-1!

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On a more romantic note, scientists at SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life Institute) quickly made plans to focus more attention on 581 c in hopes of hearing what’s playing on the radio stations on 581 c. Wouldn’t that be something, eh?

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

Sources:
1. “Extrasolar planet”, Wikipedia entry.

2. “Potentially Habitable Planet Found” by Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press.

3. “Scientists find most Earth-like planet yet”, very similar AP report to the above Washington Post source (the introduction is different).

4. “Bookies give alien life good odds”, Peter Sorel-Cameron for CNN

As we are in the midst of the peak season for tornadoes in the southern half of the United States (the peak season for the southern states is March-May and the late spring-early summer in the northern states), I thought a good article would be a discussion of tornado myths.

Myth: Rivers, lakes, and mountains are safe from tornadoes.
Truth: No place is safe from tornadoes, Yellowstone National Park was hit by a tornado that did extensive damage to a 10,000 foot mountain

Myth: Highway overpasses are good shelters from tornadoes
Truth: Absolutely not. Overpasses can be extremely dangerous because there is little protection from flying debris. Plus, in the event of the direct hit, you would most likely be blown out of the overpass shelter and would in the midst of the deadly wind of debris moving 100-200 miles per hour.

Myth: You should also take cover in the southwest portion of your basement.
Truth: You are far better off hiding in a place where there is sturdy table or stairwell, no matter what part of the basement of the house. In general, hiding in a basement will protect you from injury in any situation. This myth came into being because tornadoes often approach from the southwest and it was assumed that storm would force debris towards the northeast and away from you. Actually, the southwest corner is often the least safe because most tornadoes only shift houses off their foundations in a northeast direction. The unsupported part of the house then might collapse in the southwest part of the basement where you thought it was safest! The few deaths that have occurred in basements were caused by collapse portions of the house that were ripped from the foundations, not debris from the wind which the myth was based on. As mentioned above, location doesn’t matter all that much if you can hide under the stairwell or a sturdy table.

Myth: This is by far the most common myth: opening your windows will lessen damage. If you can equalize the pressure between the interior and vortex of the tornado, your home won’t “explode”.
Truth: Even the most powerful storms have a pressure drop that a typical building can vent in mere seconds. However, your home is already destroyed by the time the maximum pressure drop reaches you. There is also zero evidence that opening windows strategically to allow wind to vent through the house will do any good. Bottom line: get to the basement and forget the windows. If you have a powerful tornado bearing down on your house, nothing will prevent catastrophic damage but being in the basement will save your life.

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Because it never hurts to refresh your memory, here are tornado safety guidelines from the National Weather Service:

- In a home or building, move to a pre-designated shelter, such as a basement. If an underground shelter is not available, move to a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor and get under a sturdy piece of furniture. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside.

- Stay away from windows.

- Get out of automobiles. Do not try to outrun a tornado in your car; instead, leave it immediately for safe shelter. If caught outside or in a vehicle, lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.

- Be aware of flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries.

- Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes. You should leave a mobile home and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy nearby building or a storm shelter.

- Finally, if you live in a rural area that doesn’t have tornado sirens – you should definitely get a NOAA weather radio with alarm tone and battery backup. They are sold in many stores and some even have crank devices that allow you to charge cell phone batteries during long-term power outages (this is especially useful if you live in a hurricane prone area).

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

Sources:
1. “Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Lightning” – Weather Safety Guide from The National Weather Service – PDF file
2. “Overpasses are tornado death traps”, by Chris Cappella, USATODAY.com
3. Myths and Misconceptions about Tornadoes, The Tornado Project – not a rock-solid source like a newspaper or the National Weather Service but from what I can tell, the author(s) have done their homework as they mention interviews with structural engineers so I think it’s a credible source.

Using cutting edge technology, researchers recently analyzed amino acid sequences of a 68-million year old Tyrannosaurus rex femur bone and found a remarkable similarity to between T. Rex and modern day chicken collagen fibers (a protein that gives cells structure).

This new technique uses mass spectrometry at an unheard level of sensitivity to analyze amino acid sequences (amino acids are the component of protein – DNA determines the way in which the 20 different amino acids are combined to make protein). Mass spectrometry is a technique that analyzes charged particles by comparing the amount of charge vs. the mass of the various atomic elements.

While providing more valuable evidence to further support the link between dinosaurs and birds, this new technique opens a new door to understand evolutionary relationships. Because DNA degrades after a few tens of thousands years, researchers didn’t have a way of confirming ancient evolutionary relationships but since, in the right conditions, amino acids can last for millions of years this should prove to be a valuable technique for determining the evolutionary family tree. For example, the movement of life from ocean onto land required new types of respiratory tissues and this new kinds of amino acids sequences

Another interesting about this story is that it demonstrates a movement in the scientific community towards inter-disciplinary research. The combination of molecular biology in the lab and paleontology in the mountains of Montana, but that’s where science is going as the gaps in knowledge are steadily filled.

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

Source:
“Protein Analysis of T. Rex Bone Finds Link to Chickens” by Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer

I want to share one of the most interesting articles I’ve read in a long time. The article had this question: how would Washington D.C. rush hour commuters react to a really good street performer? I mean, a really, really good performer like Joshua Bell, one of the world’s greatest violinists. Instead of playing in front of well-dressed classical music ticketholders, how would Bell do on a lesser-know music venue…how about the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station?

One of things that grabbed me about this article was that I have a Joshua Bell album on my iPod and he’s amazing. It made me wonder if I would have taken time out of my commute to listen to him playing a multi-million dollar Stradivarius violin.

There is a interesting section on how the human mind values things in context, so there is some science in this article. However, that’s just one section: the whole article is fascinating.

Here’s the link to the article and some hidden camera video of the subway performance: “Pearls Before Breakfast” by Washington Post staff writer Gene Weingarten.

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

One of my coworkers is expecting a child later this year and we got to talking about what color her child’s eyes would be. Nobody could remember the rules of eye color inheritance, so here’s the answer for my co-worker and others interested.

For starters, it’s quite complex. There are three genes called EYCL1, EYCL2, and EYCL3 that play a large role in determining the three main phenotypes brown, green, and blue. (Phenotype is a descriptive term used to define the manifestation of genetic and environmental factors.) These three phenotypes combine to make the six main eye colors: blue, grey, yellow, hazel, light brown, and dark brown.

There are also a number of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms, pronounced “snips” that regulate the main genes. SNPs are changes in one single nucleotide letter of the DNA that affect gene expression.

These SNPs are located near genes for responsible for all sort of traits like eye and hair colors. For example, a recent study a few months ago talked about SNPs near the OCA2 gene that had effects on eye color. As the paper’s author Dr. Richard Strum told the BBC, “to use an analogy, one of the changes is like switching the light on and off, while the other is like changing the light bulb from brown to green.”

All these genes and SNPs come together to determine eye by regulating the amount of pigment produced. The main pigment in human eyes is called eumelanin. Brown eyes (the most dominate eye color in the world) contain high amounts of brown colored eumelanin. Another pigment that plays a role is the yellow colored lipofuscin.

Here’s a breakdown of eye colors and pigments:
Brown – high amounts of eumelanin
Amber or yellow – lipofuscin
Blue – a little yellow and little to none brown
Green – a lot of yellow and some brown
Hazel eyes – a combination of eye pigments that change with the amount of sunlight and clothing.
Gray – little to none of both yellow and brown
Albino eyes – gray is the color of eyes in people with complete albinism. The red eye feature that many people associate with albinos is due to the blood vessels that add a red tint. This tint can easily be augmented in the photographs because of the red eye effect.

As you can see, eye color genetics is far from straightforward. While eye color tends to run in families, it’s not unheard of two brown-eyed parents to have a blue-eyed child. To answer the original question that my expecting co-worker has: I found an interesting website that will take a shot at predicting the eye color of your future child. It’s called “What Color Eyes Would Your Children Have?”. I doubt they updated their formula for the recent discovery of the SNPs near the OCA2 gene (plus you would probably need to upload maternal and paternal DNA sequences for the SNPs), but it’s still an interesting little web application that will give you some decent odds.

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

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Sources:
1. Sturm R.A. and Frudakis T.N. “Eye color: portals into pigmentation genes and ancestry.” Trends Genet. 2004 Aug;20(8):327-32. PMID: 15262401. PDF Link
2. “Genetics of eye colour unlocked”, Paul Rincon, Science reporter, BBC News
3. “Eye color”, Wikipedia entry
4. “What Color Eyes Would Your Children Have”