Zach Weiner of SMBC Comics fame just tweeted out the most beautifully nerdy string of “Yo mama” jokes I’ve ever seen.
The number of places in our solar system that could have ever supported life now stands at 2!
The first, of course, is Earth, because … well, us. According to an awesomely exciting announcement today by NASA and JPL, we can add Gale Crater to that list!
What they found: Curiosity’s rock drill recently uncovered clay-like minerals below Gale Crater’s rusty red surface. These muddy minerals, pictured above, hint at a “Gray Mars” era, when Gale Crater and the ancient stream bed it holds could have been home to intermittent lakes. When the onboard instruments scanned the chemical makeup of the clay, it found carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur compounds, a group of elements known as “CHONPS” that have to exist in order to create life as we know it. Most importantly, the minerals were pretty neutral in pH and were found in forms that point to a possible chemical energy system (another key ingredient for life).
What remains unknown: This does NOT mean that anything ever actually lived there. But it is the first time that the ingredients for the evolution of microbial life, and the correct conditions to support it, have been directly observed beyond Earth. Mars still has water frozen at its poles, and once had quite a bit of water above and below the surface. The rover will poke around this site, called Yellowknife Bay, for a while longer before heading toward the mountainous center of Gale Crater. There, it will study the multiple layers of rock present on the hillside in order to piece together an even clearer picture of Gale Crater’s muddy, moist, maybe* microbial Martian past.
*Maybe. Just want to emphasize that part.
(via nnichaelpatrick)
(via nerdoutandproud)
“What SHOULD We Be Worried About?”
That was the question posed to a gaggle of the world’s smartest people by Edge.org. Great thinkers from all disciplines weigh in with everything from “Chinese eugenics” to”out of control nanotechnology” to “the fall of science journalism”. What do you think of their ideas?
Guaranteed to be the most intelligent thing you read for the rest of the week, at least.
Bioprinting… A few years ago my dad invested in several 3d printing companies, and now we have bioprinting… wow!
The DNews channel has launched! And we kick off with some space awesomeness. All yours Anthony!
The DNA Replication Complex, an assembly of proteins that synthesizes new DNA before cell division. It consists of Helicase, Primase, Single-strand binding proteins, and DNA polymerase III. Because DNA strands can only be copied in one direction, the complex must pull out loops of one strand and replicate it in fragments. At this moment there are hundreds of trillions of these molecular machines in constant activity within your body.
be sure to check out Drew Berry’s full DNA animation here, it will rock your genetic socks off. He also gave a fine TED talk about how he animates the unseeable world of biology.
In humans, this process is happening at the staggering speed of 3,000 DNA bases per minute. And in bacteria? Would you believe 30,000 bases per minute?!? That’s 500 nucleotides per second!!!
Ultrasound Video Captures Fetuses Yawning … Why Do They Do It?
Yawning is a behavior that everyone is aware of, and we all take part in it, yet no one knows the precise reason why we do it. There’s a ton of theories: A need to rapidly get oxygen into the blood, a way to remain alert for possible danger, imbalances in neurotransmitter levels, and even regulating brain temperature. None of them have been completely proven right or wrong.
The social aspect of yawning is much better understood. It is likely a way for social animals to synchronize their mood and sleep schedules, as well as communicate empathy. Of course, a fetus can’t communicate with anyone (except via kicking), so why would they need to yawn?
New research (check out the paper in PLOS One) suggests that it could be part of brain maturation. As the fetal brain develops, the neural cycles that will later become sleep and wakefulness are kicking in. It could even be as simple as a way to exercise the jaw movements that will later be necessary in nursing and crying. Whatever the reason, we now have visual proof of certifiable yawns kicking in long before birth, and it’s kind of freaky looking. More research (in adults, children and prenatal infants) will be needed to get at the “why”.
By the way, if you yawned while reading this, you aren’t alone. About 60% of people reading or thinking about yawning will yawn.
(GIF adapted from video by Wolfgang Moroder)
The Science of ‘Morning Wood’
Hey folks, I’m here to point you to all the hard science. Wood you say you are firm in your post-slumber erectile understanding? Bone up on your biology with AsapSCIENCE!!!
I love this blog.
A coloured honeycomb from a beehive is seen in Ribeauville near Colmar, Eastern France. Bees in the area have been producing honey in mysterious shades of blue and green. Beekeepers now believe residue from containers of sweets - brightly coloured M+Ms at a nearby Mars plant - is to blame.Picture: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
Interesting…
(via fuzzpup)
My religion teacher, a nun in her 60s, is pro gay marriage
| Nun: | People who claim homosexuality is a sin because of their knowledge of the Scriptures need to, excuse my French dear children, need to get their heads out of their asses. |
|---|---|
| Nun: | The Scriptures were written long ago, when science had not discovered what we know today about sexuality. |
| Nun: | We have evolved to a different time, and people who are prejudice against gays and lesbians should grow up. |
File this under things I did not know: There are species of bacteria that will eat calcium-rich food and excrete limestone. I knew that certain plankton left coastlines full of their chalky skeletons behind when they died, but this bacterial talent is news to me. Not only is it a pretty nifty trick, but human engineers are trying to exploit it to create self-healing concrete.
Long before concrete structures fail in massively destructive ways (like crumbling apart), they can be weakened by invisible micro-cracks. And it doesn’t take much space for concrete’s greatest enemy, water, to seep in.
Dutch researchers are testing a “self-healing” concrete that is impregnated with dormant spores of those limestone-excreting bacteria. When water seeps in, they can come to life, ingest the hydrated calcium from their environment, and secrete concrete “glue” to repair those micro-fractures before they become mega-fractures.
An amazing thought: One day our buildings and roads may be more “alive” than we ever thought possible.
(via BBC News)
Our Story in 1 Minute
You’re going to watch this about a hundred times. It’s everything that got us here, from Big Bang beginnings to biological branchings, and it’s beautiful. Good night, good day, and be well.
(by melodysheep)
Robin Williams, comedic genius.
See more leading men of comedy from the pages of Vanity Fair.
Photograph by Herb Ritts
science + comedy?! brilliant!
