Showing posts with label researchers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label researchers. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Researchers are close to discover the factor that determined the evolution of life on Earth

Credit: klss/Shutter Stock
Modern science has advanced significantly over the last couple of decades. We’ve managed to answer several of the world’s most long-standing questions, but some answers have continued to elude today’s scientists, including how life first emerged from Earth’s primordial soup.

However, a collaboration of physicists and biologists in Germany may have just found an explanation to how living cells first evolved.

In 1924, Russian biochemist Alexander Oparin proposed the idea that the first living cells could have evolved from liquid droplet protocells.

He believed these protocells could have acted as naturally forming, membrane-free containers that concentrated chemicals and fostered reactions.

Aleksandr Oparin (right) and Andrei Kursanov in the enzymology laboratory, 1938 Credit: wikipedia

In their hunt for the origin of life, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems and the Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, both in Dresden, drew from Oparin’s hypothesis by studying the physics of 'chemically active' droplets (droplets that cycle molecules from the fluid in which they are surrounded).

Unlike a 'passive' type of droplet - like oil in water, which will just continue to grow as more oil is added to the mix - the researchers realised that chemically active droplets grow to a set size and then divide on their own accord.

This behaviour mimics the division of living cells and could, therefore, be the link between the nonliving primordial liquid soup from which life sprung and the living cells that eventually evolved to create all life on Earth.

"It makes it more plausible that there could have been a spontaneous emergence of life from nonliving soup," said Frank Jülicher, co-author of the study that appeared in the journal Nature Physics in December.

It’s an explanation of "how cells made daughters," said lead researcher David Zwicker. "This is, of course, key if you want to think about evolution."


Add a droplet of life

Some have speculated that these proto-cellular droplets might still be inside our system "like flies in life’s evolving amber".

To explore that hypothesis, the team studied the physics of centrosomes, which are organelles active in animal cell division that seem to behave like droplets.

Zwicker modelled an 'out-of-equilibrium' centrosome system that was chemically active and cycling constituent proteins continuously in and out of the surrounding liquid cytoplasm.

The proteins behave as either soluble (state A) or insoluble (state B).  An energy source can trigger a state reversal, causing the protein in state A to transform into state B by overcoming a chemical barrier. 

As long as there was an energy source, this chemical reaction could happen.

"In the context of early Earth, sunlight would be the driving force," Jülicher said.

Odarin famously believed that lighting strikes or geothermal activity on early Earth could’ve triggered these chemical reactions from the liquid protocells.

This constant chemical influx and efflux would only counterbalance itself, according to Zwicker, when a certain volume was reached by the active droplet, which would then stop growing.

Typically, the droplets could grow to about tens or hundreds of microns, according to Zwicker’s simulations. That’s about the same scale as cells.

The next step is to identify when these protocells developed the ability to transfer genetic information.

Jülicher and his colleagues believe that somewhere along the way, the cells developed membranes, perhaps from the crusts they naturally develop out of lipids that prefer to remain at the intersection of the droplet and outside liquid.

Credit: Lucy Reading-Ikkanda/Quanta Magazine
As a kind of protection for what’s within the cells, genes could’ve begun coding for these membranes. But knowing anything for sure still depends on more experiments.

So, if the very complex life on Earth could have begun from something as seemingly inconspicuous as liquid droplets, perhaps the same could be said of possible extraterrestrial life?

In any case, this research could help us understand how life as we know it started from the simplest material and how the chemical processes that made our lives possible emerged from these.

The energy and time it took for a protocell to develop into a living cell, and the living cells into more complex parts, until finally developing into an even more complex organism is baffling.

The process itself took billions of years to happen, so it’s not surprising we need some significant time to fully understand it.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Sciencealert . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Earth is Flat, Vaccines are bad and Global Warming is a myth. What makes people reject scientific research?

Credit: JooJoo41/Pixabay
A lot happened in 2016, but one of the biggest cultural shifts was the rise of fake news - where claims with no evidence behind them (e.g. the world is flat) get shared as fact alongside evidence-based, peer-reviewed findings (e.g. climate change is happening).

Researchers have coined this trend the 'anti-enlightenment movement', and there's been a lot of frustration and finger-pointing over who or what's to blame. But a team of psychologists has identified some of the key factors that can cause people to reject science - and it has nothing to do with how educated or intelligent they are.

In fact, the researchers found that people who reject scientific consensus on topics such as climate change, vaccine safety, and evolution are generally just as interested in science and as well-educated as the rest of us.

City climate change Credit: NASA Climate Change

The issue is that when it comes to facts, people think more like lawyers than scientists, which means they 'cherry pick' the facts and studies that back up what they already believe to be true.

So if someone doesn't think humans are causing climate change, they will ignore the hundreds of studies that support that conclusion, but latch onto the one study they can find that casts doubt on this view. This is also known as cognitive bias. 

"We find that people will take a flight from facts to protect all kinds of belief including their religious belief, their political beliefs, and even simple personal beliefs such as whether they are good at choosing a web browser," said one of the researchers, Troy Campbell from the University of Oregon.

"People treat facts as relevant more when the facts tend to support their opinions. When the facts are against their opinions, they don't necessarily deny the facts, but they say the facts are less relevant."

This conclusion was based on a series of new interviews, as well as a meta-analysis of the research that's been published on the topic, and was presented in a symposium called over the weekend as part of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual convention in San Antonio.

The goal was to figure out what's going wrong with science communication in 2017, and what we can do to fix it. 

The research has yet to be published, so isn't conclusive, but the results suggest that simply focussing on the evidence and data isn't enough to change someone's mind about a particular topic, seeing as they'll most likely have their own 'facts' to fire back at you. 

"Where there is conflict over societal risks - from climate change to nuclear-power safety to impacts of gun control laws, both sides invoke the mantel of science," said one of the team, Dan Kahan from Yale University.

Instead, the researchers recommend looking into the 'roots' of people's unwillingness to accept scientific consensus, and try to find common ground to introduce new ideas.

So where is this denial of science coming from? A big part of the problem, the researchers found, is that people associate scientific conclusions with political or social affiliations.

New research conducted by Kahan showed that people have actually always cherry picked facts when it comes to science - that's nothing new. But it hasn't been such a big problem in the past, because scientific conclusions were usually agreed on by political and cultural leaders, and promoted as being in the public's best interests. 

Now, scientific facts are being wielded like weapons in a struggle for cultural supremacy, Kahan told Melissa Healy over at the LA Times, and the result is a "polluted science communication environment". 

So how can we do better? 

"Rather than taking on people's surface attitudes directly, tailor the message so that it aligns with their motivation," said Hornsey. "So with climate skeptics, for example, you find out what they can agree on and then frame climate messages to align with these."

The researchers are still gathering data for a peer-reviewed publication on their findings, but they presented their work to the scientific community for further dissemination and discussion in the meantime.

Hornsey told the LA Times that the stakes are too high to continue to ignore the 'anti-enlightenment movement'.

"Anti-vaccination movements cost lives," said Hornsey. "Climate change skepticism slows the global response to the greatest social, economic and ecological threat of our time."

"We grew up in an era when it was just presumed that reason and evidence were the ways to understand important issues; not fear, vested interests, tradition or faith," he added.

"But the rise of climate skepticism and the anti-vaccination movement made us realise that these enlightenment values are under attack."

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Sciencealert . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Professor Jorge Rocca offer a new path to creating the extreme conditions found in stars, using ultra-short laser pulses irradiating nanowires

Representation of the creation of ultra-high energy density matter by an intense laser pulse irradiation of an array of aligned nanowires. Credit: R. Hollinger and A. Beardall

The energy density contained in the center of a star is higher than we can imagine -- many billions of atmospheres, compared with the 1 atmosphere of pressure we live with here on Earth's surface.

These extreme conditions can only be recreated in the laboratory through fusion experiments with the world's largest lasers, which are the size of stadiums. Now, scientists have conducted an experiment at Colorado State University that offers a new path to creating such extreme conditions, with much smaller, compact lasers that use ultra-short laser pulses irradiating arrays of aligned nanowires.

The experiments, led by University Distinguished Professor Jorge Rocca in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics, accurately measured how deeply these extreme energies penetrate the nanostructures. These measurements were made by monitoring the characteristic X-rays emitted from the nanowire array, in which the material composition changes with depth.

HPLSE editorial tribute to Professor David Neely


OPN Talks with Jorge Rocca photo: Optics & Photonics News

Numerical models validated by the experiments predict that increasing irradiation intensities to the highest levels made possible by today's ultrafast lasers could generate pressures to surpass those in the center of our sun.

J. J. Rocca's research works Colorado State ResearchGate

The results, published Jan. 11 in the journal Science Advances, open a path to obtaining unprecedented pressures in the laboratory with compact lasers. The work could open new inquiry into high energy density physics; how highly charged atoms behave in dense plasmas; and how light propagates at ultrahigh pressures, temperatures, and densities.

Creating matter in the ultra-high energy density regime could inform the study of laser-driven fusion -- using lasers to drive controlled nuclear fusion reactions -- and to further understanding of atomic processes in astrophysical and extreme laboratory environments.

A strategy to achieve ultrahigh power and energy density in lithium-ion batteries Tech Xplore

The ability to create ultra-high energy density matter using smaller facilities is thus of great interest for making these extreme plasma regimes more accessible for fundamental studies and applications. One such application is the efficient conversion of optical laser light into bright flashes of X-rays.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Sciencedaily. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Monday, December 26, 2016

Earth's mantle cools more quickly than was previously thought

Oceanic crust newly formed thinner than the old one, according to research. This indicates that the shell thinning earth cooled more quickly than was previously supposed

Studies have shown that the thickness of the newly volcanic crust has thinned over the last 170 million years. At a symposium of the American Geophysical Union, the researchers noted that this newly formed crust cooled two times faster than was previously thought.

From Earth's deep mantle, scientists find a new way volcanoes form Phys.org

This process provides valuable information about how the tectonic plates moderates internal temperature of the planet, according to Harm Van Avendonk, co-author of the study and a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin.

The discovery is fascinating, although more information is missing because oceanic crust thickness measurement requires seisimice studies. It also may explain why such supercontinents Pangea broke.

The upwelling of material deep in Earth's mantle can produce Earth.com

The shell is made up of rock earth hot (500-900 ° C at the top), under high pressure. When this material rises to the earth's surface, the pressure drops and rock begins to melt. This material may ascend to the surface by ocean rifts and build new crust. When the jacket temperature is higher, thicker crust is formed.

Comparing now the crust of 170 million years ago it was noticed that the old one is thicker by 1.7 km. The chemical analysis shows the lava rocks in that the mat formed was cooled to 6-11 degrees per 100 million years in the past 2.5 billion years. But the average Jurassic (170 mil. Years), mantle cooled by an average of 15-20 degrees Celsius per 100 million years.

The Structure of the Earth Marcellus Community Science e-education.psu.edu


Researchers have hypothesized that the tectonic plates causes this cooling. By forming new crust and sinking tectonic plates, coat loses heat. It has been found that the mantle beneath the Pacific Ocean (area with little tectonic activity) was cooled to 13 degrees Celsius per 100 million years, and the sheath in the Atlantic was cooled to 37 ° C per 100 million years.

An important factor in temperature variation of the shell is the supercontinent. Atlantic and Indian Ocean have occurred due to breakage Pangaea. Before this process, the mantle underneath has been able to keep high temperature, due to the high thickness of continental crust. When breaking, ocean crust mantle beneath the newly cooled quickly, while lowering the temperature of the mantle beneath the Pacific Ocean remained constant.

Earth - The outer shell Britannica

Also, the accumulation of heat beneath the continental crust (as if Pangaea) in a long time, breaking them. Laurent Montesi, a scientist at the University of Maryland, says that "this may explain why a continent breaks after 100 million years."

Facts About Pangaea the Most Recent Supercontinent Geology In



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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Cellular reprogramming has been used to reverse ageing

Models of Premature Aging Based on Cellular Reprogramming: Progeroid Syndromes photo: cell.com
For the first time, scientists have used cellular reprogramming to reverse the ageing process in living animals, enabling mice with a form of premature ageing to live 30 percent longer than control animals.

Induced-Pluripotent-Stem-Cells

The technique involves the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which lets scientists reprogram skin cells to a base, embryonic-like state. From there, iPSCs can develop into other types of cells in the body – and now researchers have shown that reprogramming cells can also rejuvenate living creatures, in addition to winding back cells.

"In other studies scientists have completely reprogrammed cells all the way back to a stem-cell-like state," says researcher Pradeep Reddy from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.


photo: cell.com

"But we show, for the first time, that by expressing these factors for a short duration, you can maintain the cell's identity while reversing age-associated hallmarks."

The iPSC technique was developed by Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka in 2006, when he discovered that differentiated cells could be wound back to embryonic-like stem cells by inducing the expression of four genes now known as the Yamanaka factors.

But while reprogramming cells to such an embryonic-like state sounds like it might make organisms younger, it also introduces dangerous complications. Research in 2013 and 2014 found that introducing iPSCs in living animals was fatal, resulting in cancerous growths or organ failure from adult cells having lost their identity.

Genes that Control Pluripotency News-Medical.Net

"Obviously there is a logic to it," epigenetics researcher Wolf Reik from the University of Cambridge in the UK, who wasn't involved with the study, told Hannah Devlin at The Guardian

"In iPS cells you reset the ageing clock and go back to zero. Going back to zero, to an embryonic state, is probably not what you want, so you ask: where do you want to go back to?"

That kind of thinking led the Salk researchers to attempt partial reprogramming. Rather than inducing the expression of the Yamanaka factors for up to three weeks – which leads to pluripotency – they only induced the genes for two to four days.

This means the cell retains its differentiation – ie. a skin cell stays a skin cell, not being wound back all the way to a stem cell – but it effectively becomes a younger version of itself.

At least, that's the hypothesis, and the researchers suspect that partial reprogramming removes the build-up of what's called epigenetic marks in our cells – the wear and tear that builds up in our genome in response to environmental and external factors.

Over time, these marks become more and more pronounced, degrading cell efficiency and contributing to what we experience as ageing. The researchers liken the process to a manuscript that's become illegible due to too many hand-written edits.

"At the end of life there are many marks and it is difficult for the cell to read them," one of the team, Izpisua Belmonte, told Nicholas Wade at The New York Times.

While that remains a hypothesis for now, the researchers' experiments suggest they're onto something.

In mice with progeria – a rare genetic disease that brings about premature ageing – animals that received a partial reprogramming treatment lived for 24 weeks on average, while untreated animals with the same illness lived for just 18 weeks.

"It is difficult to say specifically why the animal lives longer," one of the team, Paloma Martinez-Redondo says in a press release.

"But we know that the expression of these factors is inducing changes in the epigenome, and those are leading to benefits at the cellular and organismal level."

Paloma Martinez-Redondo Revista digital del colegio privado Engage

In addition to a longer lifespan, the treated animals' health also received a boost, with the mice showing improved cardiovascular and organ functions.

When the treatment was applied to healthy mice without progeria, they too showed improved organ health – but it's too early to say whether their longevity was also affected, as the animals are still living.

While these results are promising, it's still early days for this research – especially to the extent that it could one day be applied to humans.

We've only seen these results in mice so far, but the researchers are hopeful that a selective inducement of the Yamanaka factors might produce similar effects in people.

"Obviously, mice are not humans and we know it will be much more complex to rejuvenate a person," says Belmonte.

In vivo Reprogramming of Adult Somatic Cells to Pluripotency JoVE

"But this study shows that ageing is a very dynamic and plastic process, and therefore will be more amenable to therapeutic interventions than what we previously thought."

The team now intends to look into the development of molecules that may be able to mimic the Yamanaka factors, with a focus on the rejuvenation of specific tissues and organs.

These medicines won't be available tomorrow, but on the other hand, it doesn't sound like they're too far away either.

"These chemicals could be administrated in creams or injections to rejuvenate skin, muscle, or bones," Belmonte told The Guardian.

"We think these chemical approaches might be in human clinical trials in the next 10 years."


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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

After millennia, Harvard researchers appear to have finally discovered the origin of forming consciousness

Photo: earth-matters.nl
Researchers have tried millennia to discover the origin of consciousness. Despite advances in neuroscience, still is not sure where it came from.

However, some of them claim to have found finally its origin after they have identified a link between three specific areas of the brain that appear to be crucial in terms of the emergence of consciousness.

Consciousness is made, it is believed, of 2 components: arousal and awareness. Researchers have shown already that the excitation is controlled by the part of the brain that are in contact with the spinal cord. Regarding awareness, the answer is elusive. It is believed that it originated somewhere in the cortex, the outer layer of the brain, but nobody was able to say that it is certainly there.

But the team of researchers from Harvard have identified not only the region that is closely connected with excitement, but also two regions of cortex that together seem to form consciousness. In order to reach a clear conclusion, the team started a study on 36 patients who had brain injuries, 12 of them being in a coma. This study concluded that this small region of the brain is responsible for the emergence of consciousness, but to discover what part of the brain is closely related to this, the researchers produced a map of the brain. Thus, they identified two areas in the cortex that after some previous studies have concluded that they have a close connection with excitement and awareness, but it is the first time that has to do with the center of the brainstem.

The team needs to confirm the result before being sure that the connection that exists between those three areas of the brain is, in fact, the origin of consciousness. Moreover, they are hoping to find a viable treatment for treating people in a coma or in a vegetative state who have brain healthy but have no conscience.

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Source: Science Alert

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Researchers have revealed how Lucy, the oldest human ancestor, died


The known fossil of an ancestor is known by the name of Lucy. The new details about how he died were published in a study.

By using CT researchers have evaluated the fossil fractures of 3.81 million years ago. Lucy fractures by comparing with those of chimpanzee medical cases, experts have found that fractures are similar to those produced by the fall from the tree. A number of fractures of the upper right arm were the best indicator of a fall from the tree. Lucy probably tried to mitigate the fall before putting his arm. Other fractures were found in the left hip, left knee and left pelvis.


,, Death is one of the things that allow us to create a bridge between us and others. By discovering that I was more aware of it as an individual, '' said study author John Kapplerman, of the University of Texas.


Study fuels debate on how the members of the species Australopithecus afarensis lived in trees. Lucy probably lived mostly on land, but would have climbed the tree to protect from predators, suggested Kappleman.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by TIME  . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Researchers were able to find out the secret of a papyrus 1,800 years old What is the connection to the Bible?

An ancient papyrus written in Hebrew, 1,800 years ago, was brought back to life thanks to modern technology.

In 1970, Israeli archaeologists have conducted research in a synagogue in the vicinity of the village En-Gedi, on the west coast of the Dead Sea. Written on parchment made from animal skin, the manuscript survived on a boat when a fire destroyed the village around 600 AD Archaeologists have discovered over more than a millennium later. Papyrus of En Gedi, was burned pretty at first, I did the researchers to believe that it was originally a piece of coal.

Inquisitive scholars have wondered what is written on papyrus, but its opening by the classical method would destroy the rural carbonized papyri. In 1970 there was no type of technology which may examine the manuscript without destroying it. So, En-Gedi papyrus from which measurements of carbon-14 dated it as Century III or IV d.Hr, remained untouched, its contents remain a secret.



Decades later, upgrading technology offered researchers a chance to look at some parts of papyrus. Israeli researchers have heard of the existence of a computer program called ,, Volume Cartography '' conducted by researcher at the University of Kentucky, W. Brent Seales. Through the program, the papyrus could be conducted virtually ,, '' for researchers to be able to decode.

Skeptical, Pnina Shor, project manager Dead Sea, called papyrus to be scanned by micro-CT scanner, which is generally used for cancer patients. The image was sent from Israel to Kentucky for examination. Without noticing the original artifact, Seales and his team of researchers have processed image to flatten the manuscript.

After this process, all the lyrics on the five învelituri text could be read ,, Discovery En-Gedi text amazed us, '' said Shor of a teleconference.

,, I was amazed by the image quality since the text was unreadable, '' added Michael Segal, professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.


What researchers have discovered is En-Gedi first two chapters of Leviticus, a passage from the Bible which ironically refers to the burning of offerings. Because vowels were not developed until the ninth century, the text consists only of consonants. Experts say that writing is remarkable because it is identical to the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible version.



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Source: History

Sunday, September 25, 2016

The mystery of the famous '' Alien '' Atacama continues in 2018

Researchers have made a breakthrough in the mysterious Atacama desert in Chile in 2003

Ata is the common name given to the 6-inch (150 mm)-long skeletal remains of a human that were found during 2003 in a deserted Chilean town in the Atacama Desert, hence the abbreviated name. The remains have been placed in a private collection in Spain. 

According to a local Chilean newspaper, La Estrella de Arica (es), Ata was found in northern Chile by Oscar Muñoz, who later sold the remains; their current owner is Ramón Navia-Osorio, a Spanish businessman.

Experts have discovered a small skeleton that looked like that of a human, except for some features that have made the researchers think. After the image appeared on the Internet, many people said it could be an alien. But experts have conducted tests to discover the identity of abnormal skeleton, nicknamed Ata.



The skeleton has only 15 centimeters long at first glance many said they could be the skeleton of a premature baby, others said it could be just a hoax. Ata's size is not the only thing that has amazed scientists, the skeleton show physical deformities. For example, humans have 12 ribs, but the skeleton has only 10, and head shape sharp as conferred by turicefalie. Deformation of the face and jaw gave him a look that is not earthly.

The skeleton was part of a private collection until 2009, when he was brought in a symposium in Barcelona. In autumn 2012, researchers have been offered the chance to study it on Ata x-rays and genetic samples. 

The images could be seen carried lungs and heart of the individual. Preliminary studies have shown that this is matter of human origin, but 9% of material not matched the reference genome. Mitochondrial DNA study revealed that Ata's mother was originally from the same place where the skeleton was discovered.









One of the most impressive findings from the analysis was that Ata was not a fetus. It had teeth like those of a grown man, and the bones were well developed as those of a child between 6 and 8 years. How could a 6 year old to have only six centimeters?





Some of the explanations as dwarfism, progeria (premature aging) or mummification a fetus.

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Friday, September 23, 2016

25 years after the discovery of Otzi new information came to light

Following a three-day conference that there were new theories about human mummy Otzi the ice. Researchers were able to learn both how he died, and the voice he had when Otzi lived.

After celebrating 25 years since the discovery of the Ötztal Alps iceman, researchers presented new findings about the mummy from 5,300 years ago.

With the latest generation of criminological methods, it was discovered how Otzi died. According to the analyzes, it was not thrown off a cliff to escape enemies. Otzi was resting when he was surprised by the attacker, who fired an arrow behind the Iceman.

,, In terms significant for science, is not just a mummy Otzi. He may be the European model of ancient times, and why he lived alone, '' said Albert Zink, director of the Institute for Mummies EURAC.

The conference was presented countless aspects about iceman, and that he died at the age of 45, had arthritis was lactose intolerant, and atroscleroză suffered from periodontal problems. Also, the man was infected with Helicobacter pylori, which causes diseases such as gastritis.

Inspector Alexander Horn, Department of Criminology in Munich, Germany, tried to solve the mystery murder Iceman. Horn began by examining the facts place at 19 September 1991 found near a glacier that melted. He reconstructed the crime scene using objects that were found in its vicinity. Horn said: ,, It does not try to escape, but he wanted to rest. The man seated next to him quiver and has enjoyed a good meal '.


According to Horn, the arrow was launched from a distance quite large, taking him by surprise on Otzi. At the crime scene was found a copper ax, Otzi was probably killed because the killer to steal items, Horn said.



Another group of scientists has managed to recreate the human voice ice

Through a CT scan, the researchers were able to measure the structure of the vocal cords, throat and mouth mummy. Researchers at Bolzano General Hospital in Italy were able to reconstruct how his voice sounds Otzi, while ruling voice in Italian.

,, We can not say that I rebuilt the original voice of Otzi because we lack crucial information about the mummy, '' said researcher Rolando Fustos.

Another researcher, Franco Avanzini, added:,, Of course, we do not know what language the man spoke 5,000 years ago, but we can recreate stamp with vowels pronounced it ''.


Based on information discovered, researchers have claimed that Otzi had a deep voice and you can hear in the video below.


Source: Science Alert

Monday, September 19, 2016

Water existed on Mars billions of years before scientists about the phenomenon Consider Possible

The new evidence provided by NASA spacecraft, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have revealed that the entire network of lakes and streams fed by melted snow on Mars existed much earlier than it imagined researchers.

Based on the new images taken on ancient region, north of Mars, researchers said there was a considerable amount of water ,, '' with about a billion years before the '' wet Age '' of the red planet to end. This indicates that the planet was suitable for microbial life for much longer than estimated by the researchers.

,, I discovered valleys carrying water to lake basins, '' said a team member, Sharon Wilson, of the Smithsonian Intitutului. ,, Some of the lakes filled pools indicates that there was a considerable amount of water in those times, '' she added.

Wilson and his team analyzed images recorded in the northern area of ​​Mars called Arabia Terra (an extremely eroded known as one of the oldest areas of the planet)

Researchers were able to identify signs of water evaporated long ago. ,, One of the lakes in the region can be compared with the amount as Lake Tahoe, '' Wilson said. The researcher explained that this lake was fed by a Martian valley south out of bed in the north and pouring a large pool called Heart Lake.


Heart Lake is part of the whole system of lakes and valleys that stretch 150 kilometers along the northern planet. The team estimated that the lake could support a quantity of 2,790 cubic kilometers of water. Based on information gathered from 22 craters in the area, the team concluded that these lakes there were two or three billion years. Meanwhile melted snow each season could supply all water areas.


Researchers said they found such formations in other parts of Mars, but the north and south of the equator humid regions were much more extensive.

Source: Science Alert

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Researchers have created anti-aging guide

Researchers have identified new distinctive signs of aging that have major repercussions on cellular metabolism. Of course there are certain techniques that the beneficial effects of metabolism can be enhanced to improve the life of people.

One thing unites all people in the world probably that age. While some accept the changes of aging, others try to avoid.

In the study published in the journal Cell, researchers explain how people get older and strategies by which they want to increase longevity. According to researchers, development and maturation are caused by metabolism, the process by which food is converted into energy. When the body ages, becomes slower metabolism, the DNA degrading, causing dysfunction of cells.

But aging is inevitable, especially irreversible. But being linked to metabolism and nutrition may be ways in which aging can be slowed.

Researchers have identified what they call Western lifestyle ,, '' as an accelerator of aging. This phenomenon is characterized by high calorie foods with excess fat and protein and excessive sedentary.

Aging complicates the maintenance of homeostasis of the organism matabolice and therefore favors the metabolic imbalances. All anti-aging procedures can operate in the context of metabolic reprogramming efficiency that could provide nutrients that increase resistance to stress.

Researchers say that a combination of exercise and a proper diet may delay the progression of the distinctive signs of aging. Of course, a diet should be customized and implemented by a nutritionist.



Source; Futurism

Saturday, August 13, 2016

IBM developed the first artificial artificial neurons brains






















Updated 08/05/2020

Made of conventional materials and readily miniaturized to nanometer scale for the future composition "artificial brains", created by IBM researchers neurons can be grouped into networks capable of transferring electrical signals in a manner similar biological brain.


Designing artificial brains can help us learn more about real ones The Conversation


The experiment conducted at a research center in Zurich included a network of artificial neurons 500, connect to simulate the interactions that normally occur in the brains of animals. But the real challenge was miniaturization artificial neurons on a microscopic scale without losing functionality and finding ways of getting to use only materials and processes well known.

According Go4It, while organic neurons use membranes acting as gateway to electrical signals, requiring a certain level of energy for activating version artificial suggested by IBM researchers replace this item with a barrier made of a mixture called GST (germanium-antimony -teluriu), already used as an ingredient in the production of optical discs. GST barrier function by phase change from the amorphous state (insulator) in the crystal (elctricitate conductor), and is started by heating that occurs at the application of electrical signals.


New technique follows single neurons from birth to brain circuit Spectrum 


Similar biological analogue, provided with artificial neurons are activated when the GST barrier electrical load exceeds a predetermined minimum level, then self-resets to its original state non-conductors of electricity. Crucial to duplicate the functionality of a real brain, artificial neurons were designed to have a certain level of unpredictability in the sense that no barriers GST never return to exactly the same configuration after activation. Thus, interactions between neurons can never be fully predictable, the same "thought" processed by the neural network leading to "conclusions" vary by state in which the brain is artificial and previously processed information.


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With these neurons, IBM researchers hope to create computers capable of mimicking how efficient parallel processing in the brain of living organisms encountered. Once overcome this obstacle, a greater challenge would be to create a "software" proper functioning parallel with unpredictable results not just compatible with existing programming languages.


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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Go4it . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.