Italians Hold Their Liquor Better Than Swedes [Science]

By Kristen Philipkoski Oct 14, 2011 4:00 PM 8,038 23

It's science! And it's not just Swedes who Italians can drink under the table. It's also Latvians, Lithuanians, and Estonians.

A Swedish behavioral researcher studied 1,000 imbibers from each of the afore-mentioned countries and found that in the Baltic countries and Sweden, drinking led to both social (such as violence) and health (such as liver disease) problems much more often than in Italy.

Jonas Landberg, a researcher at the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs at the Stockholm University found (as he suspected) that people in Italy drink regularly but more slowly. It's part of normal life and people aren't usually drinking with the goal of getting plastered. In the other countries, people more often drink to get drunk. So at the end of the day folks might drink the same amount, but people in Italy are less frequently wasted.

One potentially confounding factor in the study is the Italian attitude towards drinking's influence over their lives as compared with the other countries.

"For example, in a country like Sweden, where drinking is seen as problematic, alcohol often gets blamed for problems when someone has been drinking, while on the other hand, people may be less likely to blame problems on alcohol in a country like Italy, where alcohol is not regarded as problematic, but rather as a part of day-to-day life," said Landberg said in a press release.

The results will be published in the January 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Just in case that's not on your regular reading list, I've hit up Dr. Landberg with some questions. Yes, I will inquire about the Irish, stop asking! And we already know Americans drink to get hammered, but I'll ask him about our antics as well. [Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research; Image: Shutterstock/Mira Bavutti Deganello]

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Hanging with Tutu, Science in Space, and Other Stories We Didn't post [Video]

By Brian Barrett Oct 10, 2011 8:00 PM 1,745 6

So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn't possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn't worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case.

Lenovo accepting submissions from high schoolers for its Space Lab contest; the winning science experiment will be blasted off into space and performed on YouTube. Which, from what I remember about every science fair I've ever seen in movies or television, can only mean one thing: BAKING SODA VOLCANOS IN SPPPAAAAAACCCCCEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Microsoft employees have started changing their employment statuses on LinkedIn to the "next-gen console" department, which means that, yes, Microsoft isn't going to sit on the Xbox 360 for the next five years. Related: Apple has people working on iPad 3, Microsoft has people working on Windows 9, and Starbucks has people working on serving a Quaranta that won't cause massive heart failure. [Kotaku]

It's easiest to spread a message of peace in a place where there's no one around to fight. [The Next Web]

That seemed to be the reaction in certain corners of the web today, when it became apparent that Audible was flying in the face of Apple by including a link to an external content store in its app. Or! They just decided to suck it up and tithe 30% of purchases. That sounds more likely, right? Right. [9to5Mac]

Left Behind is our daily collection of chaff we didn't think was quite good enough to post on its own, and why. Related Stories

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You Can Detect Radiation with a Freaking iPhone Now [Science]

By Casey Chan Oct 10, 2011 10:54 AM 6,047 23

Scosche's RDTX is a radiation detector for your iPhone. Seriously, it turns your iPhone into a Geiger counter—you just attach the wand to your iPhone and the RDTX will tell you the radiation levels around you.

Once attached to your phone, the RDTX displays results in a digital scale or classic green/yellow/red analog needle on your iPhone. The radiation detector can even average out how much radiation you expose yourself to, find out the total dosage, ring an alarm if it gets too high and even update Twitter/Facebook/Google Maps (to map out radiation levels). It's only out in Japan right now (and for good reason, obv) but could be extremely anywhere nuclear disasters may happen. [Scosche via DVICE]

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Smoking Pot Will Make You Sad If You Have the Wrong Genetics [Science]

By Kristen Philipkoski Oct 10, 2011 4:20 PM 17,952 84

The results of a 5-year study of adolescents in The Netherlands shows that young people with a certain gene variant are more vulnerable to depression when they smoke pot.

Until now, the link between smoking marijuana and depression was suspected, but evidence was weak. Roy Otten at the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud at Nijmegen University has published the first definitive association between smoking herb and depression, but specifically in young people with a specific genetic variant. He published his work in the journal Addiction Biology.

Otten and his colleagues collected data from 310 adolescents over four years. Each year the kids answered questions about their behavior and mood. The researchers also tested for a serotonin gene called 5-HTT, which is associated with increased vulnerability to developing depression. Then they also collected data from the group's younger siblings and saw the same results.

Otten says the results are robust and that he took into consideration other factors that could have contributed to depression, including alcohol use, upbringing, personality and socio-economic status. He also accounted for the possibility that the depression came first, and that the study subjects were self medicating. "In the longer term, that is definitely not the case," Otten said it a press release.

Stay tuned to find out whether these results will be duplicated in future studies, and whether the same will be true for adults. Perhaps individual genetics are another reason why the effects of smoking marijuana are so unpredictable.

[Science Daily, Addiction Biology; Image: Shutterstock/ejwhite]

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What It Feels Like To Get Hit By Falling Space Junk [Science]

We know that at least one person has been hit by space junk. Her name is Lottie Williams and she was hit by a piece of a Delta II rocket that fell to earth in 1997.

Her encounter with space debris happened in a park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was walking with some friends late at night, admiring the fireball that streaked across the sky. Shortly afterwards, she felt a tap on the shoulder and heard something hit the ground behind her.

That "something" was a small piece of fabric-like metal that weighed as much as an empty soda can. Analysis by several independent laboratories confirmed it came from a falling rocket. [Fox News]

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U.S. Forest Service, Science Save Baseball Spectators from Broken Bat Schrapnel [Science]

When MLB spectator Susan Rhodes was struck by a broken bat at a Dodgers game in 2008, it broke her jaw and set off an investigation into the alarming number of bats (750 in 3 months) that shattered that season.

The investigation was headed up by the U.S. Forest service and cost a relatively cheap $500,000 to complete. The results, nevertheless, were pretty profound.

Two things were to blame for the brittle bats used in the 2008 MLB season: Maple wood and the cut of the grain. In previous seasons, ash was the preferred wood, and 2008 represented the year the MLB switched over to more maple than ash. Ironically, maple was selected over ash because it was deemed to be more durable.

As for the grain, the lines are supposed run along the shaft in a straight top to bottom fashion. When they don't the mistake is easily spotted and addressed—so long as the wood is ash. With maple the discrepancy is extremely hard to spot.

In the wake of the report, the MLB has required all maple bats include a black dot on the handle. The ink allows the manufacturer to see any grain discrepancies with the angle of the grain. In the 2009, the year the mandate took effect, broken bat incidents were down 30 percent, and have decreased each season to the present.

Now all they have to do is partner with someone who can help investigate why the games are so long and boring. [Discover]

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Laser Can Detect Roadside Bombs From a Distance [Science]

Scientists have a new laser sensor they say can detect roadside bombs, the cause of more than half the soldier deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A team at Michigan State University published their research in the scientific journal Applied Physical Letters - but only in so much detail. Because of the laser's sensitive nature, they won't explain exactly how it works.

What they will say is that the laser and the method were originally developed for microscopes. And they told the BBC the laser detects the vibration of molecules inside an improvised explosive device from a distance.

The technique is called "coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy," and it's sensitive enough to detect low concentrations of explosives from a distance of one meter. It can also tell the difference between explosives and things that might seem like explosives but are harmless - which is good for preventing needless evacuations.

Currently, the approach for protecting soldiers from IEDs is defensive. Radio frequency jamming devices disrupt the cell phone signals used to trigger the bombs. NIRFs, or neutralizing improvised explosive devices, emit a high-frequency radio pulse to deactivates IED electronics - microwave-pulsing devices do the same by frying the wires. The current research falls under the category of LIBS, or laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

Of course all of the non-laser techniques require knowing a roadside bomb is out there. So let's hope this latest work provides an preventive, life-saving detection system.

[BBC; Image: Shutterstock/JustASC

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How Do You Shut Down the Second Most Powerful Particle Accelerator? [Science]

The Tevatron shut down yesterday. Before its duties were taken up by the the Large Hadron Collider, it accelerated highly charged particles through 4 miles of electromagnetic coil and vacuum tubes to discover the secrets of the universe. How do you turn a beast like that off?

Two buttons, both specially designed for the express purpose of saying goodbye to this once-great monster machine. The first, labeled BEAM, shut down the particle beam, and the second, labeled RAMP, killed the power. Surprisingly simple. [Slate]

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Deadly Progression of ALS Reversed in an Amazing Stem Cell First [Science]

Last May, 39-year-old Ted Herada was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's one of the worst diagnoses anyone could get.

He and his doctors expected his health to have severely declined by now. But thanks to an experimental stem cell treatment, he has tossed his cane and is once again playing in the pool with his three kids.

"Every day is a good day for me right now," Herada told me. "I've made some quantum leaps after the surgery and... I'm maintaining the drastic improvements I've made."

The prognosis for ALS is likely death in fewer than three years after gradually losing your ability to move, speak and breathe. Herada got exactly that horrible news after losing strength in his left leg and feeling short of breath after just a few stairs or walking to the mailbox. His hands became too weak to open a Ziploc bag.

Then his neurologist told him about an experiment at Emory University that was recruiting ALS patients to test a stem cell treatment.

The surgeons told Herada that injecting the stem cells into his spine likely would not help him personally, and might even cause harm. But the study would hopefully help scientists find an effective treatment in the future. Herada had nothing to lose and expected nothing - he became study subject number 11 and underwent surgery on March 9.

It's incredibly moving to hear Herada talk about his recovery, which he knows might be temporary.

"I've always been the kind of dad to wrestle on the floor with my kids and tickle them and make them giggle, and that was going away before," Herada told me. "Now when we get in the pool and they want to play Marco Polo, I can do that."

The Emory surgeons injected 1 million neural stem cells into 10 locations in Herada's and 11 other patients' spines. All of the cells came from a single voluntarily aborted and donated two-month-old fetus. Using technology developed by Neuralstem, scientists multiplied the cells and created enough of them to treat all of the patients in this trial and beyond.

"We took one small part of the spinal cord and isolated one million stem cells which are now going to, we hope, treat millions of people around the world," Dr. Carl Johe, chief scientific officer at Neuralstem told me.

Going into the study, expectations were low. As a safety precaution, the FDA forced the researchers to inject only one-quarter the number of stem cells they originally planned to use. The investigators hoped to show the cells were safe to use, but anticipated little more.

Two of the 12 patients died during the trial, one after a heart attack and another because of progress of his ALS. The other eight patients' conditions have remain unchanged.

The researchers hope the Food and Drug Administration will approve the second phase of clinical trials with five more patients and with the goal of proving the treatment works. Neuralstem is also awaiting approval to begin the first phase of a fetal stem cell trial in chronic spinal cord patients.

Unregulated stem cell outlets, such as the one promoted by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, claim success treating ALS and just about every other disease you can imagine. But they haven't gone through the painstaking methodology required to run an FDA-approved human clinical trial, which demands reams of data with the goal of assuring safety and eventually proving efficacy. Such trials can also help convince insurance agencies to cover the treatments. Otherwise, rogue outlets will continue charge up to 10s of thousands of dollars for treatments.

"We go through the FDA process, which is excruciatingly slow, but we do that because it's what the law says we have to do," Johe said.

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See the Amazing Killifish Jump From Its Mud Puddle Habitat [Science]

The killifish is a weird little critter that lives in muddy puddles that cars and trucks drive right through, and no one knows how they don't get crushed. Some people are completely obsessed with them.

Take Mateuz Herczka, a Swiss artist at the Verbeke Gallery in Antwerp (also home to Eduardo Kac, creator of the controversial glowing GFP bunny). A few years ago, Herczka crossed paths with a retired, killifish-obsessed Dutch couple who spend their free time collecting and tracking the fish in muddy puddles in South America. The encounter inspired Herczka's own obsession. He proceeded to build his own giant, artificial mud puddle killifish habitat in the gallery. It's a huge cube made of glass and metal filled with water. A truck wheel rolls through the middle.

Killifish are known for jumping from puddle to puddle, which seems necessary, as puddles typically don't last forever. Some survive the leap, for others it's a kamikaze endeavor. (But their name, if you're wondering, has nothing to do with the English word "kill." It's derived from the Dutch word "kilde," meaning small creek or puddle.)

Herczka caught some pretty cool stills of the fish jumping (for more of where the above came from, check out this PDF). He also created a digital simulation, showing a tire tearing through a virtual puddle.

But the killifish apparently don't jump out of the way of cars. Herczka reports that they jump in the middle of the night when it's quiet and no one's around. So how they survive remains a mystery. The theories include:

1. The truck tires press the water out of the way and the fish with it
2. The fish are pressed into the soft mud at the bottom and survive
3. Some fish are run over and killed every time a truck drives through, but
enough survive to keep the population growing
4. The fish somehow sense and evade the tires

Since the artist doesn't really say his goal was to solve the mystery, but to examine how "the killifish have infiltrated culture, and are now part of the cultural evolution rather than the biological," I suppose he succeeded. But I want to know how they survive those goddamn truck tires! I guess we'll have to wait for an actual science experiment to figure that one out.

[We Make Money Not Art; Image: Verbeke Gallery]

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Our Holographic Future Will Debut In The Back Seat Of A Car [Science]

Imagine being 8-years-old again and on a long car trip. Instead of whining "Are we there, yet?", you pick up a controller and play with your holographic animals. It sounds like science fiction, but it could be reality someday.

Researchers at the Games and Experimental Entertainment Laboratory (GEELab) in Australia are developing a holographic entertainment system for the car. The system will display 3D images for rear passengers who'll be able to interact with the images using a wireless controller much like the Kinect. Not just for games, the holographic system could be used to display travel information, maps, or even become a 3D virtual office.

The team is working with Audi and hopes to get a prototype up and working soon. [IEEE Spectrum; Image from Kzenon/Shutterstock]

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Another Benefit of Smoking Weed? It Might Be Able to Cure PTSD [Science]

There's such a long list of awesome things about smoking weed that I'm starting to lose track of all the benefits. One thing I'm pretty sure I never heard of before though: marijuana might be able to cure post-traumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious psychological disease that can flip lives upside down. So if smoking a little ganja can possibly prevent it, shouldn't we issue it to soldiers right away? Well, it's still in its early stage of testing as scientists have only proved that it works on rats.

According to Dr Irit Akirav, the leader of the study, there's a "critical window of time after trauma, during which synthetic marijuana can help prevent symptoms similar to PTSD in rats". That "window of time" is within 24 hours of the trauma happening. That's a pretty tight timeframe (especially given the work the army does) but according to the study, the rats that were administered marijuana within 24 hours didn't exhibit any PTSD symptoms after while those who didn't use marijuana or used marijuana 48 hours after trauma, still had signs of PTSD.

Whenever they're ready to test on humans, I'm sure they'll have a ton of volunteers willing to try it out. All in the name of science, right? [AFP via Death and Taxes Mag, Image Credit: Jason Swarr/Shuterstock]

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Breathing Heavy And Sweating After An Earthquake May Save Your Life [Science]

Earthquake rescues are difficult. Rescuers try to listen for victims, spot them with cameras and use dogs to sniff them out. Someday, they may use metabolite sensors to pick up their stench.

Developed by researchers in the UK, metabolite sensors detect ammonia and carbon dioxide produced by victims when they breathe, sweat and urinate. They are sensitive and let rescuers detect small amounts of these compounds in the air pockets of a collapsed building.

Rescue dogs also detect these metabolites but the sensor technology is better. Dogs, like people are limited physically. They get hungry, tired and distracted. And the search itself can be dangerous to both the animal and its handler. Sensors, well, they just keep processing data without stopping for food or water until they die from battery depletion.[Australian Geographic]

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Google Earth Reveals Strange Nazca-Like Ruins in Saudi Arabia [Science]

Chalk another one up for Google Earth seeing everything we can't. Australian armchair archaeologist David Kennedy simply fired up the app and managed to rediscover the ancient ruins of structures that rival the Nazca lines in southern Peru.

The lines were originally discovered by British RAF pilot Percy Maitland in 1927, but this is the first time they've ever been seen in all their glory. Kennedy used Maitland's photos with Google Earth to pinpoint their locations. And Google offers really the only high resolution glimpse at them that can be seen by the ordinary viewer. The structures are known to the local Bedouin tribes as being created by "the old men", and are about 2,000 years old. Similar structures, all resembling kites and wheels, have been discovered in Jordan and Yemen—some dating back as far as 9,000 years—and, while scientists aren't certain just what the hell these ruins were for, some conjecture that at least the kite-like ones could have been traps for game animals.

What the rest were for? Who knows. One of the few known civilizations that committed the energy to creating such geoglyphs was the Nazca culture, and their Nazca Lines are the most famous of all. Archaeologists still argue to this day as to the purpose of these designs, some resembling monkeys and others men, some believing that they were creating out of worship for their gods. And sure. Others like Swiss crackpot Erich von Däniken believe they're runways for alien vessels. It's unlikely that these ruins are the work of extra-terrestrials—but then again, who really knows right?—but it'll likely be unclear for years to come.

I wonder how long it'll take to find the alien structures. [Saudi Aramco World, New Scientist via Geekosystem]

Images via Google

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Gamers Crack Code That Could Lead to New AIDS Treatments [Science]

Scientists spent a decade trying—and failing—to map the structure of an enzyme that could help solve a crucial part of the AIDS puzzle. It took online gamers all of three weeks.

The enzyme in question is the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus retroviral protease, and researchers have been seeking ways of deactivating it as a way of developing new anti-HIV drugs. Unfortunately, the conventional efforts of computers and scientists have come up short for years.

Enter: Foldit. Foldit was developed in 2008 as a means of discovering the structures of various proteins and amino acids—something computers can't do very well—by turning it into a game. By inputting the experimental coordinates for the monkey virus enzyme, gamers—most of whom didn't have a background in molecular biology—were able to accurately predict the structure of the protein, allowing scientists to pinpoint locations to stop the virus' growth.

The study, published in Nature Structure & Molecular Biology, details how incredible a step this is towards developing more effective therapies for HIV/AIDS patients. It's also an important precedent that lays the groundwork for scientists and lay people to work together to solve new problems and save lives. Which is very exciting. [Sydney Morning Herald via The Next Web]

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A 5-Year-Old Girl Dug Up a 160 Million Year Old Fossil [Science]

Emily Baldry, an adorable 5-year-old girl from the UK, was doing what a normal kid her age would be doing: Hanging out at with her family and digging. Unlike other normal kids though, she found a 160 million year old fossil. She called it Spike.

It's an absolutely amazing and rare discovery that happened by complete chance: Emily was just using a plastic spade to dig around on her first organized digging trip at Cotsworld Water Park in the UK with her dad. Little did she know what would come out of it: the Rieneckia odysseus fossil—which is like a gigantic mollusk from the Jurrasic period—16-inches in diameter and completely intact, other fossilized ammonites in the UK have all been fragmented into little pieces.

Emily actually made the discovery last year (so she's now 6) but only got to see Spike this past week because geologists had to restore the fossil (it originally looked like a mud block). Emily was thankful for that and said:

It is so exciting to see him. I was very happy when I first saw him and now he looks very shiny.

I hope she keeps digging. [Daily Mail]

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Rick Perry Doesn't Care if You Die? [Science]

We already know that Texas Governor and U.S. presidential candidate Rick Perry is hostile towards science. Did you know he also doesn't give a rat's ass about your health?

Perry is flouting the scientific process and public safety by pushing Texas authorities to be lenient with their oversight of "adult stem cell" therapies. Does that make you think Rick Perry cares about patients and that he's pro-medicine? It absolutely should not and here's why:

1. Supporting ADULT stem cell research is a way for Perry to appeal to his pro-life constituents who are against embryonic stem cell research because they think it kills babies.

2. The vast majority of the treatments he's advocating have not been tested or proven scientifically to successfully treat anything. And they carry dangerous risks including tumors and death.

3. Outfits that offer these therapies (using either adult or embryonic stem cells) are often scams perpetrated by assholes preying on desperate patients. There are more than 200 such clinics worldwide.

Perry received an adult stem cell therapy himself in August for his bad back from his friend Dr. Stanley Jones. Jones runs a clinic in conjunction with Korean RNL Bio, which is under investigation by Korean authorities because two recipients of their adult stem cell therapy died.

And with the FDA threatening the crack down on the unregulated therapies, Jones is sending snippy emails to the Texas Medical Board: "Please don't make this difficult, as Governor Perry has really gone all out personally to make stem cells available to people in need of them in Texas," Jones wrote. "He is incidentally not against a challenge from any government agency that wants to impede us in Texas."

And now Texas state Representative Rick Hardcastle, who has multiple sclerosis and is also set to undergo treatment from Jones, is also pushing for leniency from the Texas Medical Board regarding adult stem cell treatments.

Don't be a sucker like Mark Halperin, a political analyst with MSNBC who said on Hardball: "[Perry] just had back surgery with an experimental stem cell treatment. He obviously believes in science to some extent." (1:13)

No, having the treatment doesn't mean that at all. We should totally question his relationship with science vis-a-vis his back treatment, because it means flouting the scientific process is A-OK with him. It's also cool with him to endanger himself (OK, fine) and others (not fine) who now might be encouraged to have similar treatments.

Perry dumped $7.5 million into adult stem cell research in Texas. It's is his answer to those who accuse him of not supporting science. Don't accept it.

Read the piece below for a litany of reasons from respected scientists on why Rick Perry's push for adult stem cell therapies is dangerous and irresponsible.

[Nature News; Image: Office of the Governor Rick Perry]

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Study Says Babies Make Men Less Masculine, More Nurturing [Science]

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests men's testosterone levels fluctuate when they have children.

The study measured the testosterone levels of 600 participants when they were 21-years-old and then again when they were 25. Men with high testosterone levels were more likely to find a mate and father a child. After having a child, though, their testosterone levels dropped significantly. And the more time these fathers spent with their children, the lower their testosterone level was. Single men, however, had a steady level of testosterone after four years.

The researchers suggest this physiological reaction is beneficial to the father as he needs to be more nurturing and less aggressive after having a child. Though he may not like the idea of losing some of his testosterone-fueled manhood, these changes may help him become a better father. [Scientific American; Image from AnnaKostyuk/Shutterstock]

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Prune Fingers May Help You Hold Onto Things [Science]

Scientists know a lot about the body, but they don't know everything. Take, for example, the pruning that occurs when you spend too much time in the water. Scientists don't know why these wrinkles occur only on the hands and feet.

A recent study in Brain, Behavior and Evolution suggests these wrinkles are there for a reason - they may help you grip things. The wrinkles all have the same basic pattern of grooves that move apart from each other as they extend away from the fingertips. These grooves let water drain from your hands and could provide additional surface area to improve your grip in wet conditions. [ Brain, Behavior and Evolution via NYT; Image from Afronova/Shutterstock]

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Eat Up Everyone, Chocolate Is Good For You [Science]

Good news! Another study suggests chocolate may be good for you. And the more you eat, the better off you are.

A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge surveyed seven studies that examined the effect of chocolate consumption on the health of 114,000 participants.

The results suggest there's a beneficial relationship between chocolate consumption and cardiovascular disease. Those with the highest level of chocolate consumption had a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and 29% reduction in stroke. So grab that box of Russell Stover Assorted Creams and indulge yourself for a while. [British Medical Journal via Gizmag]

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