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Salon.com Technology | How mushrooms will save the world |
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| Topic: Science |
10:25 pm EST, Dec 11, 2002 |
How mushrooms will save the world
Cleaning up toxic spills, stopping poison-gas attacks, and curing deadly diseases: Fungus king Paul Stamets says there's no limit to what his spores can do... "Diesel oil had contaminated the site, which the mycoremediation team inoculated with strains of oyster mycelia that Stamets had collected from old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. Two other bioremediation teams, one using bacteria, the other using engineered bacteria, were also given sections of the contaminated soil to test.
Lo and behold. After four weeks, oyster mushrooms up to 12 inches in diameter had formed on the mycoremediated soil. After eight weeks, 95 percent of the hydrocarbons had broken down, and the soil was deemed nontoxic and suitable for use in WSDOT highway landscaping.
By contrast, neither of the bioremediated sites showed significant changes. "It's only hearsay," says Bill Hyde, Stamets' patent attorney, "but the bacterial remediation folks were crying because the [mycoremediation] worked so fast." " Salon.com Technology | How mushrooms will save the world |
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Dino-mummy shows some skin |
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| Topic: Science |
11:20 am EDT, Oct 15, 2002 |
"A mummified dinosaur, unwrapped from the rocks of Montana, has revealed how the creature looked and how it lived 77 million years ago â down to the texture of its skin and the contents of its stomach, scientists say." Dino-mummy shows some skin |
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BBC News | HEALTH | Ecstasy 'relieves Parkinson's Disease' |
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| Topic: Science |
12:15 pm EDT, Sep 29, 2002 |
Tim Lawrence has found a drug that is far more effective at controlling the symptoms of his Parkinson's Disease than any prescribed by a doctor. The only problem is that it is Ecstasy, the illegal and dangerous stimulant much favoured by night-club ravers. His discovery could overturn 30 years of medical thought, and eventually lead to a new treatment for Parkinson's. BBC News | HEALTH | Ecstasy 'relieves Parkinson's Disease' |
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Ananova - Bees trained to find landmines |
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| Topic: Science |
8:01 pm EDT, Sep 26, 2002 |
"Researchers in Montana say they have been training honeybees to sniff out landmines. They say bees have a very refined sense of smell, live in packs of thousands, are quicker than dogs and can learn within days. The method could provide an effective way of finding the estimated 110 million unexploded landmines around the world." Cool. Now if the U.S. would just stop planting them (and other unexploded ordnance) and assisting others in planting them maybe we could roll this mess back a bit. Ananova - Bees trained to find landmines |
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| Topic: Science |
6:14 pm EDT, Sep 26, 2002 |
Awesome. Life on Venus! I hope so. Life on Venus? |
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No Smoke: Tobacco Used in Vaccine |
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| Topic: Science |
4:49 pm EDT, Sep 18, 2002 |
"For many people, tobacco represents a death sentence -- inflicting nicotine addiction, lung cancer and other ills. But for millions of women in the developing world at risk for cervical cancer, tobacco could eventually be a lifesaver.
University researchers are working on genetically engineering tobacco plants to produce an experimental vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can lead to cervical cancer" Ironic, isn't it? No Smoke: Tobacco Used in Vaccine |
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Molecular evolution of FOXP2, a gene involved in speech and language |
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| Topic: Science |
3:23 pm EDT, Aug 15, 2002 |
Language is a uniquely human trait likely to have been a prerequisite for the development of human culture. The ability to develop articulate speech relies on capabilities, such as fine control of the larynx and mouth, that are absent in chimpanzees and other great apes. FOXP2 is the first gene relevant to the human ability to develop language. Subscription required for full text. Molecular evolution of FOXP2, a gene involved in speech and language |
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| Topic: Science |
5:05 pm EDT, Jul 27, 2002 |
[A great transcription of Richard Hamming's 1986 talk on what it takes to do great work. All I can say is: wow. I'm doing lots of thinking on this now, having read this. Speaks very deeply to my mind of things involved in the work I do. Brilliant paper. - dnm] [I highly recommend this paper as well ... it's very cool. (of course..I am a researcher, so it speaks to me....and it may very well speak to you too) - Nanochick:)] Yes! Excellent. Outstanding. Superb. "More, please." You and Your Research |
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Scientists and Terrorists |
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| Topic: Science |
3:33 pm EDT, Jul 22, 2002 |
To the Editor: Terrorists and torturers read the scientific literature in order to learn new ways of inflicting pain and avoiding prosecution. The scientists who created polio virus in their laboratory and published the results (front page, July 12) have played into the hands of state-sponsored perpetrators who have the intention of developing instruments of mass destruction. The United States and the international community need a system of governance and public debate to monitor, curtail and punish those scientists who engage in this type of reckless behavior. RICHARD F. MOLLICA, M.D.
Boston, July 14, 2002
The writer is director, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Massachusetts General Hospital. The new U.S. federal guidelines for proper and legal thought will be published next Wednesday... Scientists and Terrorists |
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