Ageing does not have to bring…frailty http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11326136/Ageing-does-not-have-to-bring-poor-health-and-frailty-say-Kings-College-scientists.html Good #cyclists are as fit at 79 as 55 but how many are there at 79 HT @timjph
The Superorganism Revolution
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/num2/the-superorganism-revolution/1 The lack of distinction between ecological v evolutionary change for the #microbiome
QT:{{”
This distinction between ecological and evolutionary timescales appears fundamental, but may not apply when dealing with the microbiome. For many if not all members of the human microbial fauna, generation times are measured in hours or even minutes. These short generation times, coupled with the large population sizes of many bacteria, effectively elide the boundary between ecological and evolutionary time (this attribute also accounts for the fiendish ability of viruses to outrace both the immune system and efforts to combat viral infections).
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The Many Guises of Aromaticity
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2015/1/the-many-guises-of-aromaticity #Resonance is hyped; hence, many proposals for compounds w/ it that aren’t benchstable
QT:{{”
Today, an inflation of hype threatens this beautiful concept. Molecules constructed in silico are extolled as possessing surfeits of aromaticity—“doubly aromatic” is a favorite descriptor. Yet the molecules so dubbed have precious little chance of being made in bulk in the laboratory. One can smile at the hype, a gas of sorts, were it not for its volume. A century and a half after the remarkable suggestion of the cyclic structure of benzene, the conceptual value of aromaticity—so useful, so chemical—is in a way dissolving in that hype. Or so it seems to me.
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Bench-Stable, Bottleable
Computers made the determination of the structure of molecules in crystals easy—what took half a year in 1960 takes less than an hour today. They also made computations of the stability of molecules facile.
Whoa! What do you mean by stability? Usually what’s computed is stability with respect to decomposition to atoms. But that is pretty meaningless; for instance, of the four homonuclear diatomic molecules (composed of identical atoms) that are most stable with respect to atomization, N2,C2, O2, and P2, two (C2 and P2) are not persistent. You will never see a bottle of them. Nor the tiniest crystal. They are reactive, very much so. In chemistry it’s the barriers to reaction that provide the opportunity to isolate a macroscopic amount of a compound. Ergo the neologism, “bench-stable.” “Bottleable” is another word for the idea. A lifetime of a day at room temperature allows a competent graduate student at the proverbial bench to do a crystal structure and take an NMR scan of a newly made compound. Or put it into a bottle and keep it there for a day, not worrying that it will turn into brown gunk.
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In a #Jet Engine, Each Blade [is] a Single Crystal http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2015/1/each-blade-a-single-crystal Overcomes problem of weakness at grain boundaries, at high temp.
#Arsenic, the ‘King of Poisons,’ in Food & Water http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2015/1/arsenic-the-king-of-poisons-in-food-and-water Accumulates in rice husk; surprising amount of contamination in US
Also, in shellfish!
#Statisticians in World War II: They also served
http://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21636589-how-statisticians-changed-war-and-war-changed-statistics-they-also-served Developed quality controls & sequential methods HT @stodden
What Happens When We All Live to 100?
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/what-happens-when-we-all-live-to-100/379338 Will the 3month/yr increase in life expectancy plateau? Will it affect society?
QT:{{”
The university, a significant aspect of the contemporary economy, centuries ago was a place where the fresh-faced would be prepared for a short life; today the university is a place where adults watch children and grandchildren walk to Pomp and Circumstance. The university of the future may be one that serves all ages. Colleges will reposition themselves economically as offering just as much to the aging as to the adolescent: courses priced individually for later-life knowledge seekers; lots of campus events of interest to students, parents, and the community as a whole; a pleasant
college-town atmosphere to retire near. In decades to come, college professors may address students ranging from age 18 to 80.
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Root intelligence: #Plants can think, feel and learn… But on a slow timescale http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429980.400-root-intelligence-plants-can-think-feel-and-learn.html Memory & "brain" near end of roots
A tool to easily edit DNA transforms research, holds potential for medicine – The Boston Globe
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/30/tool-easily-edit-dna-transforms-research-holds-potential-for-medicine/X7srGGFardarsWBfCqEL2H/story.html
The technique has become so ubiquitous that it has entered the casual vernacular of science as a verb; people talking about “CRISPRing” genes they want to tweak or delete.
Cereal killer: Are you eating too much iron? http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429980.500-cereal-killer-are-you-eating-too-much-iron.html Too much from vitamins is potentially linked to heart disease, cancer &c