Science is Cool....

[Fish]

This is a repository for all cool scientific discussion and fascination. Scientific facts, theories, and overall cool scientific stuff that you'd like to share with others. Stuff that makes you smile and wonder at the amazing shit going on around us, that most people don't notice.

Post pictures, vidoes, stories, or links. Ask questions. Share science.

Why should I care?:

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Not exactly 'cutting edge' science, but a very satisfying meditation on how and why we came to know so much about the universe



Check out his channel, other videos available.

Very cool...

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Fish

Where Saturn gets its rings....

The outermost ring anyway.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Fish

I'd like to see a snake in 0 G

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I'd like to see a snake in 0 G

Snakes on a Space Station

Starring Samuel L. Jackson?

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I'd like to see a snake in 0 G

Rep applied...

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I'd like to see a snake in 0 G

#nohomo

[aturnis]

Tee'd that one up. Lol.

[Fish]

So... King Tut. He actually had a space knife. How cool is that?

King Tut's dagger blade made from meteorite, study confirms



A famous dagger found in the wrapping of Egyptian King Tutankhamun's mummy was made with iron from a meteorite, a study confirms.

An analysis of the dagger's blade led by Daniela Comelli, a professor of materials science at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy, showed that it contains 10 per cent nickel and 0.6 per cent cobalt, the researchers report in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

The analysis was conducted using a technique called X-ray fluorescence, which identifies different elements from the characteristic colours of X-ray light they give off when hit with higher-energy X-rays. Then they compared the composition of the dagger's blade with that of 11 metallic meteorites and found it to be very similar.

The dagger was found by archeologist Howard Carter in 1925, three years after he discovered King Tut's tomb. The dagger was in the wrapping surrounding the right thigh of the boy king's mummy. It had a decorated gold handle with a pommel of rock crystal, and the iron blade was protected with a gold sheath decorated with a pattern of lilies on one side, feathers on the other, and a jackal's head, the researchers reported.

The dagger dates back to the 14th century BC and is one of very few iron artifacts ever found from the ancient Egyptian culture, which isn't thought to have developed iron smelting until the 8th century BC — later than neighbouring countries, Comelli told CBC News in an email.

'High manufacturing quality'

"The problem with iron working is related to its high melting point (1,538 C). Because of it, early smiths couldn't heat ore enough to extract iron and couldn't forge the iron into weapons," she wrote.

Earlier iron objects were typically ornamental or ceremonial and made of meteoritic iron that was considered more valuable than gold, the researchers wrote.

It was shaped by hammering, Comelli said. King Tut's dagger had been suspected to have been made with that type of iron, but it had not been confirmed.

"In this context, the high manufacturing quality of Tutankhamun's dagger blade is evidence of early successful iron smithing in the 14th C. BCE," the researchers wrote in their paper.

They added that the finding also provides insight into Egyptian descriptions of iron that appeared around 100 years later, which use the term "iron of the sky."

"The introduction of the new composite term suggests that the ancient Egyptians … were aware that these rare chunks of iron fell from the sky already in the 13th C. BCE," the authors wrote.

[Fish]

Take this with a YUGE grain of salt. The science is really interesting, but temper expectations...

Universal cancer vaccine on horizon after genetic breakthrough

A universal cancer vaccine is on the horizon after scientists discovered how to rewire immune cells to fight any type of disease.

The potential new therapy involves injecting tiny particles of genetic code into the body which travel to the immune cells and teach them to recognise specific cancers.

Although scientists have shown previously that is it is possible to engineer immune cells outside the body so they can spot cancer it is the first time it has happened inside cells.

And because the genetic code could be programmed for any cancer, it means the technique could be universal. All doctors would need is the genetic profile of the tumour to make a custom-made vaccine which as well as fighting the disease, would prevent it ever returning

Test in mice showed that the vaccine triggered a strong immune response while trials in three skin cancer patients demonstrated that the treatment could be tolerated.

“The vaccines are fast and inexpensive to produce, and virtually any tumour antigen can be encoded by RNA,” said lead author Prof Ugur Sahin, managing director of Translational Oncology at the University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.

“The approach introduced here may be regarded as a universally applicable novel vaccine class for cancer immunotherapy.”

The team focussed on a class of immune cells call dendritic cells which are constantly on the look-out for foreign invaders in the body. Once a dendritic cell spots a rogue cell like cancer, it captures molecules from the surface and presents it to killer T-cells to instruct it to begin fighting the disease.

However cancer cells look very similar to normal cells and so the immune system often avoids them.

The new technology involves placing a small piece of genetic code in a nanoparticle and giving it a slightly negative charge so it is drawn to dendritic immune cells in the spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow.

Once there it orders the creation of a cancer molecule – known as an antigen – which is then used as a biological mugshot so that immune cells know what to look out for.

The authors proved that it triggers a strong T-cell response and starts fighting tumours.

Dr Aine McCarthy, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information officer: “By combining laboratory-based studies with results from an early-phase clinical trial, this research shows that a new type of treatment vaccine could be used to treat patients with melanoma by boosting the effects of their immune systems.

“Because the vaccine was only tested in three patients, larger clinical trials are needed to confirm it works and is safe, while more research will determine if it could be used to treat other types of cancer.

The research was published in the journal Nature.

Response from fellow scientists on why you should be very skeptical but intrigued:

http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/ex...ancer-vaccine/

[Fish]

**** you Ms. Fizzle...

[Fish]

More awesome: https://www.instagram.com/bindox_85/

[Fish]

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Fish

Speaking of, I know you read about that supposed super-bacteria that's completely resistant to antibiotics.

Talk to me Fish. Soothe my fears.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Speaking of, I know you read about that supposed super-bacteria that's completely resistant to antibiotics.

Talk to me Fish. Soothe my fears.

Yeah, it's been making the rounds. Mostly fear mongering...

No, this isn’t the start of the antibiotic apocalypse, just bad reporting
New drug-resistant infection is cause for measured concern, but let’s get the facts straight.

Over the next day or so, you may see headlines and reports about a “nightmare” “superbug” that has been detected for the first time in the US.

So far, the Washington Post reports:
“The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S.”
And the article starts with: “For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort.”

CNN had a similarly alarming but distinct headline:
“'Nightmare' drug-resistant bacteria CRE found in U.S. woman”

And NBC News ran:
“'Nightmare Bacteria' Superbug Found for First Time in U.S”

There are some truths and cause for concern here, but a lot of errors and hype as well. Let’s sort it out.

Here’s what really happened

Researchers reported Thursday that a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman was found to be infected with an E. coli strain that’s resistant to the last-resort antibiotic colistin. Upon DNA analysis, researchers determined that the E. coli is resistant to colistin because it carries a colistin resistance gene called mcr-1 on a circular piece of DNA called a plasmid. The study appears in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

As Ars previously reported, mcr-1 was first discovered in bacteria late last year in China. The discovery of the gene quickly raised concern because of its placement on a plasmid, which bacteria can easily share with their neighbors. Colistin resistance had been reported before in other bacteria—including in bacteria found in the US—but their colistin resistance genes resided on bacterial chromosomes, which aren’t shareable. Experts feared that the new plasmid-based colistin resistance would easily spread among bacteria, potentially to ones that are already resistant to other last-resort antibiotics.

Since the initial report, mcr-1-toting bacteria have been discovered on every continent. And the infected PA woman, who was suffering from a urinary tract infection, had not traveled in the last five months.

But this may or may not be concerning. It’s important to note that we don’t know exactly how long mcr-1 has been hanging around in bacteria or where it first came from. It may have spread around the globe in months or been lying low and spreading quietly for years. Either way, it was inevitable and expected that mcr-1-carrying bacteria would pop up in the US. (Although, in weeks of testing other bacteria from the Pennsylvania clinic where the patient was identified, no other mcr-1-carrying bacteria have been found.)

While concerns still stand, the alarmist headlines are unnecessary—and so are the errors.

Here’s what you can ignore

First, the “first” bit. The first line of the Post’s article states: “For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort.”

Nope—this isn’t even close to true. This is absolutely not the first time a person in the US has been found with a bacteria resistant to a last-resort antibiotic. There are several last-resort antibiotics, and many bacteria over the years have shown up with resistance to them—including colistin.

For instance, way back in 1991, a hospital in Brooklyn suffered an outbreak of bacteria resistant to vancomycin, a last-resort antibiotic. In 2009, several Detroit medical centers suffered an outbreak of bacteria that were resistant to both colistin and carbapenem—another last resort antibiotic. And not even the National Institutes of Health has been immune to bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics. In 2011, an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant bacteria at the NIH’s clinic sickened 18, killing 11.

The only real first in this case is that it’s the first time mcr-1-based colistin resistance has shown up in a US patient.

While, again, this isn’t exactly good news, it’s not catastrophic. There are several last-resort antibiotics, and doctors can try different combinations and strengths of prescriptions before an infection may be deemed untreatable.

Next is the confusing CRE connection

The CNN headline, which has now been updated, initially incorrectly identified the colistin resistant bacteria as a CRE. Other articles have brought this term up as well.

CRE stands for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The Enterobacteriaceae are a big family of bacteria that include some harmless ones and some notable pathogenic ones, including Salmonella, E.coli, Klebsiella, and Shigella.

Carbapenem resistance is a big concern because it has been rising steadily in recent years, and CRE infections can lead to death 50 percent of the time. For this reason, CRE infections have been dubbed by some as “nightmare” cases.

However, the bacteria reported today is not a CRE. While it is an E. coli strain, it’s in the Enterobacteriaceae family and has a whopping 15 types of antibiotic resistance genes—genes for carbapenem resistance were not among them. There were several other antibiotics that the strain was still sensitive to as well.

Here's the quick take-away

Thursday’s report of a mcr-1-based colistin-resistant bacterial infection in a US patient is concerning, but unsurprising. The plasmid based resistant gene threatens to spread to other bacteria, potentially to ones that are already resistant to last resort drugs, such as CRE. However, the trajectory of mcr-1's emergence and its contribution to drug resistant infection trends is not yet clear. For now, the case serves mostly to highlight the ongoing crisis of rising antibiotic resistance and furthers the need for better stewardship of old antibiotics and development of new ones.

[Baby Lee]

Found footage of a fascinated detail of rocket booster physics.

Who can name [without peeking] what is happening at the midpoint of this clip?

Spoiler!

transition of exhaust from sub to supersonic