New Breast Cancer Indicator

We all know that in the case of cancer the earlier the diagnosis the better. So it should come as no suprise that scientists and researchers are always trying to find early indicators of cancer. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center believes they have found a potential indicator in EGFR, epidermal growth factor recptor, levels. EGFR sends a signal for cells to grow,divide, and multiply.
Scientists took the blood samples of two groups of 688 women each controlled for ethnicity, race, and age for the study. One group of women had developed cancer and one group did not. Women that had the most EGFR in their blood sample were three times as likely to develop breast cancer than those who had the smallest amounts of EGFR. The risk for cancer was even higher for women on therapy medication for menopause such as estrogen pills. These women were nine times as likely to develop breast cancer.
The presence of elevated EGFR can help doctors to prescribe medicines that can fight antibodies specifically tied to the growth stimulant. The study shows that increased levels of proteins can signal tumors that would otherwise remain in hiding until much later. Doctors are hesitant to say the EGFR can stand alone as a sole indicator of breast cancer. They do believe that in combination with history of cancer or other indicators it can be very helpful in diagnosis. People may say that the results of the study arent largely signifcant. Though the study may not point out the cure for cancer, it is a step in the right direction. Sometimes cures and solutions come in multiple stages. Future scientists can later build on this study to add to the general body of knowledge. Doctors could be one step closer to the cure.

Flight tutorials from insects

Scientists recently decided to take a closer look at how insects are able to fly so well. Their mastery of aerodynamics is impressive and a lot can be learned from it. In this case scientist wanted to apply the way fruit flies fly to new technology for better flying robots.
The general question researchers wanted to answer was if fruit flies beat their wings faster than neurons can fire how much of the flight process are they in control of. They placed fruit flies inside of box where they then subjected them to LED projections that made them dizzy and fly in u-turns. What was recorded on cameras was later analyzed to look at wing posistions. The final consensus from the study was that fruit fly wings operate in two ways. Their wing motions are similiar to "oars" and similiar to "wind up toys". The oar motion happens when the fly turns. They discovered with as little as a 9 degree difference between wings a change of direction can be accomplished. The article compared this to when a rower pulls harder on one oar to turn the boat. The wind up toy analogy helps explain how vital the flies unique joints are to flying. The joint acts like a spring that is triggered by one muscle to create a certain wing tilt.
All of these discoveries have the potential to substantially influence they way engineers think about designing things that fly. This could be anything from a robot to an airplane. These technologies that function on being light weight and very aerodynamic can lead to higher efficiency. I think the whole idea of art imitating nature's phenomenon is once again seen here and you can thus see how important it is to science and advancement.

Clean water for everyone may be possible

I have always been interested in how access to clean water is something millions of people do not have. I have been amazed by the fact that the basic need for water has left a large part of the world's population debilitated by cholera, typhoid, and dysentry. Water purification plants are just too expensive for the people in third world countries where most of the clean water issues are. LifeStraw technology has offered a solution to the problem. They have devoloped a drinking straw that purifies water as it is being sucked. Another similiar technology is Steripen that uses UV light to purify gathered water. I plan to use these two new technologies to introduce revolutions in clean water technology. I want to talk about how engineers and scientists are using cutting edge research to address global health concerns in innovative ways.

Blog #7 Weisman chapters 2&3

I found the writing by Weisman super interesting. I think it really captured the power of nature. I think that sometimes people underestimate natural forces only to remember them with massive hurricanes,tsunamis and earthquakes. So, the way the article depicted nature as something that human innovation competes with on a daily basis is very refreshing. Though erosion, corrosion, and overgrowth don't produce effects in one day,over a long period of time they can completely destroy the strongest and newest of structures.The example with the New York subway system's daily competition with water erosion was a really good example of nature's dominance. The sense that nature has only temporarily allowed for humans to develop what they please could be an interesting concept for engineers and developers to consider in the future. They can't design beyond the limits of nature without dangerous consequences.There is only so much we can build before nature decides to take back its claim and leave humans utterly defenseless. That thought should always be in the back of our minds.

Radio wave groceries

What if someone told you that you would never have to wait in a long line at the grocery store ever again. Most people would be thrilled to find out more. In todays times people look to technology to make everyday things in life faster and more effiicient. Inventors and engineers seem to have responsed to this desire yet again with the creation of a radio frequency identification tag.
This super fancy bar code uses ink made with carbon nanotubes to print electronic information on paper or plastic. The ink is a semiconductor and is thus able to store electric charge.Being a semiconductor and not a full conductor is the only way to make sure that information is able to be stored without filitering out. The research done James tour allowed for the creation a coating for the nanotubes to make sure that they are semiconductors. For everyday people this means in a grocery line someone could just run their cart through some kind of scanner and the cashier would instantly have all the information about the groceries within the cart.
The tags have already been proven to be effective as seen in their widespread use on library books and passports. However this are silicon tags with the frequency technology. The ones that will hopefully revolutionize grocery shopping researchers were able to create on paper. With the ability to store 1 bit of information at 3cents compared to 50cents for silicon tags the new invention will be really affordable for food packagers. This could also mean that implementation may not be to far into the future.

The time it takes to do the right thing

I came across a article about the difference between the Lusitania and the Titanic ship wrecks. Scientist now believe that more women and children suvived the Titanic simply because the Titanic took more time to sink. The Titanic sank in 2 hours and 40 minutes however the Lusitania went down in 18 minutes. Australian scientist analyzed the two ships survival records. They were able to properly compare the two ships because although the ships sank for different reasons they had similiar numbers and types of passengers. To me this reflects responsible research where scientists compare situations and that can actually be prepared.

Scientists analyzed the data on surviving passengers based on age, sex, and cabin class. They found that on the titanic women were 50% more likely to survive than on the Lusitania. The cabin class also meant differing things for the Lusitania and the Titanic. On the Lusitania whether or not the passenger was first class had no effect on survival. On the titanic however first class passengers were 44% more likely to survive. Much like in the Titanic movie women and children were put in the lifeboats first. This explains the study's findings that 31% of the children survived on the Titanic, much more than those on the Lusitania.

The study concluded that in emergency situations were time is a huge factor people think about themselves first rather than trying to create organized safety plans. The general consensus being that "coordinating social norms takes time." This study can prove to be important in understanind social behaviors in all kinds of disaster situations. These understandings can apply to anything from terrosit attacks to natural disasters. The study said that social norms take time. With this knowledge evactuation and safety techinques can be created to optimize the most amount of social norms in the least amount of time. This can lead to a totally new way of handling crisises and potentially saving a lot more lives.

Copernicum: Element 112

After 14 years of research and testing scientists have now created the heaviest element on record. The element has an atomic mass of 278 and is named after famous scientist and astronomer Copernicus.

To create the new element German scientist had to break the repulsive electrostatic force. After doing this they could get to the heart of the atom where the attractive forces are. With the combination of the repulsive and attractive forces scientist were able to fuse two nuclei together. With careful tracking of steps scientist then try to classify what element they actually created. Uranium is actually the heaviest element that can actually be found naturally with an atomic mass of 92. It will be placed on the periodic table near transition metals and may possibly have similiar properties to other elements in that group such as zinc and mercury.

I thought this article was really interesting because it shows how science often pushes limits and dares to create things never imagined possible. I think that as long as scientist keep striving for higher heights of scientific discovery then solutions to practical problems will continue to be possible. I have a feeling that scientist wont stop at copernicum. The periodic table will continue to expand and maybe a stable wonder element can be created that will give significant benefits to mankind.

Article: Genetic Diversity

There is an immense amount of beatuy in the diversity of human beings. We are so different that each one of us has our own unique value. These differences meant that we don't all think the same way or believe the same things but we have something innately original to bring to the table. Diversity allows humans to work together to create the functioning societies that make the world what it is.

I came across the article " Decoding Diversity in Bushmen " in Science News magazine and it spoke about the science behind the diversity of hte human species. A reseach group sought out to decode the genetics of Bushmen in southern Africa. What was discovered provides a beatuiful story of genetic diversity but also has seriously beneficial implications. They found 1.3 million variations fo genes that could unlock many mysteries behind human diseases. This information in disease research could mean isolating genes that seem to work with certain diseases and thus their source.

One of the implications is also that pharmaceutical compaines could use this data to research better drugs that genetically sensitive. From this article I learned that a lof of drugs work better for people of European ancestry than for Africans. The article pointed out that this is possibly due to the fact that those of European ancestry were majorly the test subjects. So, the study hints that changes made in the medical world should be centered around a greater sensitivity to genetic diversity. We all are human beings with different personalities of course, but most importantly with genes just as different. The medicines today should reflect that as we continue to increase our knowledge base with research.

"Two Bushmen who live within wlaking distance of each other might habve mor genetic differenes betwewen them than a European and an Asian," says Stephan Schuster, a geneticsit at Pennsylvania State University. I found this statement really cool because it put the findign of the research into perspective. The article gives a techinical explanation about genetic codes and SNP and genetic variants but the quote simplified all of that information. It also piqued my interest because people often lump Africans together genetically because they live on one continent. So , to find out that African Bushmen are more gentically diverse than people of Europen ancestry is really interesting. This is especially true since European ancestry is a broad and varying category by defintion.

The fact that a study done on 5 Bushmen can reveal tons of information about a subjuect is complicated as genetic codes says a lot about scientific researach. This article increased my respect for the scientific process. The idea that you can start with a question asnd research a solution that can have a lot of positive implications that can postively affect a lot of people is worth cherishing and celebrating.

polymers are forever

This article made me realize how trash has so much more significance than people give it. We may throw a plastic bottle away not contemplating its final destination just knowing that its out of our lives is sufficient. We never consider that its journey on earth is just beginning and will possibly continue long after our time on earth has passed. Our thought process seems to end at the trash can.

The use of plastic as a material for many products has revolutionized the way Americans live their lives. However, this has come at a major cost to the environment and to the animals that call earth their home. It was sad to hear the article say the worlds marine life, already threatened by major issues like global warming, has been dealt another blow due to tiny plastic polymers.

snail inspired body armor?

I came across this article entitled "Snail in Shining Armor" by Lisa Grossman in ScienceNews magazine. The article introduces to the world why a deep sea snail called the scaly-foot gastropod is so unique and thus perfectly poised to allow for new technology. Scientists believe that tough materials needed for armor and helments can be modeled from the gastropod's shell. Scientists believe in the durability of the shell because of all the snail endures on a day to day basis.

The snail is able to survive in the high pressure, high acidity, and variable temeperatures provided by the deep sea. The gastropod shells also disperses the force from crab attacks through the shell so that numerous hits just provide surface cracks. All of these are important standards used to design any form of protective gear.

Researchers have also found the shape of the shell inspirational. The curvy shell minimizes stress on the snails inner layers. Its curve proves that geometrics are an important part of engineering.

I found this article very interesting because I think it addresses how collaborative science fields can be. The fact that what the scaly foot gastropod has accomplished through evolution can somehow benefit humans is a pretty cool concept. If things that are naturally created in the enviroment can inspire engineers there will be many helpful products of nature's genius in the future.

The Future of Reading?

The article was one of those descriptions of a sad truth. I knew that television had significantly changed how people today read because I had fallen susceptible to the addiction myself. I have rountinely choosen American Idol over a good book. Once an avid reader I have felt myself drift farther and farther away from reading. Other than the mandatory textbooks and school assigned articles, I identify with the the other wise non -reading young person mentioned in the article.I enjoyed that I had first hand experience with the content of the article. I also thought the article was really cool in that it addressed the psychological aspect behind reading. The idea that there are "orals" and "literates" is an interesting concept explored in conversations with Uzbekistan peasants.

The notation system was helpful because I was able to make clear distinctions about what I felt about the major themes of the article. Whether or not I was confused, interested, or opinionated I could isolate that feeling and apply to what I was reading.

How did I become interested in engineering

I knew that high school classes that weren't math or science related I found uninteresting. I wanted to pick a major where there would be direct applications for the things I would be learning. Engineering is very structured in that you use math and science principles that are pretty concrete but there is room for creativity. Knowing math and physics is helpful but the best engineers create things that no one else ever has. I found the ability to take hard facts and turn them into innovative products that significantly affect the lives of people not only exciting but challenging. An engineer can make practical products like washing machines but can also entertain the masses with ipods and the newest game systems. However, what I like the most about engineering science is its versatility. Engineers design anything from missles used in warfare to clean water systems in third world countries. Science and technology can also help with some of the worlds biggest problems.I like how today's engineering science is becoming responsive to the issue of creating a healthier planet earth. Innovation is moving towards efficiency and conservation and science is making it all possible.