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.