Amazing Facts – Page 105

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Cell Gatekeepers: Diverse, Complex, Accurate

December 2, 2007

Cargo moves around rapidly and ceaselessly in every cell. Some moves in and out of the external membrane, and some moves in and out of organelles and the nucleus. In a system of protected domains surrounded by impermeable membranes, how does the cell control what should pass? Details of the amazing gatekeeping mechanisms embedded in […]

Amazing Facts

Dealing with Light at the Extremes

November 28, 2007

“Light is the most important variable in our environment,” wrote Edith Widder, a marine biologist. The inhabitants of two different ecosystems have to deal with either too little or too much. Let your light so shine: A thousand meters below the sea surface, all sunlight is extinguished. Yet for thousands of meters more, creatures live […]

Amazing Facts

Nature Inspires Useful Products

November 16, 2007

Some day soon you may be able to extract water out of thin air, decorate your walls with detachable wallpaper, read street signs clearly in fog, and employ reusable tape underwater. These are some of the innovations coming from biomimetics – science inspired by nature’s designs. Venus flytrap: Alex Crosby at University of Massachusetts was […]

Amazing Facts

Photo: Earthrise 2007

November 15, 2007

The Japanese Kaguya spacecraft has taken a series of “Earthrise” photos from lunar orbit, including this sequence. The complete set of new hi-resolution photos is available at Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. (Due to the orbital path of the spacecraft, Antarctica is at the top.) “Earth-rise is a phenomenon seen only from satellites that […]

Amazing Facts

More Cell Codes and Authentication Mechanisms

November 13, 2007

Here are more “cool cell tricks” that ensure a smoothly-functioning system inside the cell that can adapt to changes while protecting assets. Ribosome code: Why don’t all ribosomes look alike? Perhaps they know a secret code. Another possible coding mechanism has been found in ribosomes, those important organelles in the cytoplasm that translate messenger RNA […]

Amazing Facts

Winged Migration Grows Up

November 5, 2007

Scientists used to rely on metal bands on birds’ legs to find out how they got from here to there. Now, they can glue tiny radio transmitters to their shoulders and follow them in real time. What happened when Princeton scientists hijacked 30 white-crowned sparrows and took them from Seattle to New Jersey? Age has […]

Amazing Facts

Developing Ear May Have Tuning Fork

November 3, 2007

What tunes up an embryo’s ears before it hears its first sound? A new study suggests that support cells in the cochlea, long thought to be inert, have a role in tuning up the hair cells during development. Experiments by Dr. Dwight Bergles and a team at Johns Hopkins suggest that cells in a tissue […]

Amazing Facts

Fall Colors Have a Function

October 27, 2007

Deciduous trees have an investment decision to make when fall chill sets in: do they send their sunlight-produced nutrients to the roots early, and so risk damage to the leaves from autumn sunlight, or should they spend more energy creating a sunscreen that allows them to produce nutrients longer, and thereby increase food storage in […]

Amazing Facts

Cilia Are Antennas for Human Senses and Development

October 26, 2007

The little hair-like projections on cells, called cilia, have more functions than previously believed. A press release from Johns Hopkins University said that researchers found cilia are important for the sense of touch – particularly, for heat sensation. In fact, cilia are implicated in at least three of the five traditional senses. The […]

Amazing Facts

Mega-Dinosaur Found in Argentina

October 18, 2007

Check out this dinosaur: 105 feet long, 43 feet tall, having a neck 56 feet long. The spinal column alone probably weighed 9 tons. That’s Futalognkosaurus dukei, one of the largest dinosaurs ever found, recently reported from Argentina (see BBC News and PhysOrg). A single vertebral bone was nearly 3 feet long. National Geographic called […]

Solar System

New Horizons at Jupiter

October 15, 2007

New Horizons, a spaceship bound for Pluto, took a good look at the Jupiter system on Feb 28, 2007.

Amazing Facts

Inner Ear More Complex than Thought

October 13, 2007

Another level of complexity has been added to the mystery of hearing. Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that another membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear, once thought to be passive, is actively involved in transmitting sound waves to the hair cell receptors. Their work was published in PNAS.1 […]

Amazing Facts

Make Your Face Sparkle With Diatoms

October 10, 2007

Human engineers may join forces with cellular architects to produce the next generation of paints, cosmetics and holograms, reported Science Daily. Scientists are finding ways to harness the rapid growth of diatoms. Manufacturing consumer products with these properties currently requires energy-intensive, high-temperature, high-pressure industrial processes that create tiny artificial reflectors. But farming diatom shells, which […]

Amazing Facts

Crow Cam Lets Scientists See Intelligence at Work

October 7, 2007

Ever want to fly like a bird? Now you can do the next best thing: get a tail-feather view of what it is like to fly from branch to branch. University of Oxford scientists attached a small video camera to the underside of a New Caledonian Crow to watch it in the wild, reported PhysOrg. […]

Amazing Facts

Bacteria and Plants Know Network Tech

October 1, 2007

An article on Science Daily says, “plants have their own chat systems that they can use to warn each other.” Many herbal plants such as strawberry, clover, reed and ground elder naturally form networks. Individual plants remain connected with each other for a certain period of time by means of runners. These connections enable the […]

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