Yesterday was my very first trip to the Napa Valley. It was well worth the visit as we had a pleasant day visiting wine country. Our light lunch (above) at Domaine Chandon was a highlight.
Orac is the nom-de-plume of a doctor who debunks the claims of non-evidence-based medicine (also known as "woo") on Respectful Insolence. His latest is a posting on the value of acupuncture based on recent scientific studies [Sham acupuncture is better than "true" acupuncture!]. Here's how Orac begins ...Believe it or not, there was a time when I didn't consider acupuncture to be a form of woo.None of us have time to investigate every form of superstition and irrational thinking. Sometimes we have to rely on trusted experts to do the required homework. Orac is one of those.
I know, I know, it's hard to believe, given the sorts of posts I've done recently on acupuncture, but it's true. Certainly, I didn't believe the whole rigamarole about needles somehow "restoring the flow of qi" or anything like that, but I did wonder if maybe there was some physiologic mechanism at work behind acupuncture that produced real benefits in terms of pain relief above that of placebo. Sure, I may have dismissed homeopathy as the pure magical thinking that it was, but acupuncture I wasn't so sure about.
Obviously, that's changed.
The reason my opinion has changed and now I place acupuncture firmly in the "woo" category is that I've actually been reading the scientific literature on acupuncture over the last year or so....
Test Your Evolutionary Knowledge at Bayblab. The blog is run by a bunch of anonymous bloggers but it's pretty good anyway!
Roderick MacKinnon (1956 - ) was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the the structure and mechanism of action of the potassium (K+) channel. MacKinnon shared the prize with Peter Agre who discovered water channels.Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the days of Alfred Nobel, the learned academies used to entertain and educate the public by holding open demonstrations explaining the latest scientific advances. This tradition has been largely – and perhaps unfortunately – forgotten. So let us try to revive the public demonstration of science, if only for a brief moment.
The demonstration I have in mind is a simple one, and only requires that you do something that is in any case particularly fitting for a Nobel Prize ceremony: to think. But only for exactly 5 seconds!
So, please start thinking, for 5 seconds ... Thank you!
Let us now reflect briefly on what has just happened, in each and every one of us. First, a sudden increase in the activity of the brain when you started to wonder what this is all about – should I really think at this point in the ceremony? – then, cascades of nerve signals when you were actually thinking, and finally a return to the normal resting state. And all this thinking ultimately relied on one of the simplest chemical compounds you can imagine: ordinary salt – sodium, potassium and chloride ions – streaming back and forth across the walls of your nerve cells, thereby generating the signals that activated your mind. And not even very much salt – a rough estimate is that the total amount of salt spent during these five seconds in each one of us was no more than a few grains. Only a fistful of salt to set a whole Concert Hall thinking!
And while all this brain activity was occupying our minds, our kidneys worked on quietly, as they always do, reabsorbing water from the urine to the blood. But in this case, the volumes of water transported are too big, even during five seconds, to be suitable for a demonstration from the podium.
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is all about salt water, and the biochemical mechanisms that control where, when, and how often ions and water are let into or out of the cells in our body. Mechanisms that the two Laureates – Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon – have elucidated down to the atomic level.
Agre's was a "serendipity discovery": while working on a completely different problem, he stumbled across a protein in red blood cells that he could soon show was the water channel researchers had been looking for in vain for well over a century. His unexpected discovery opened a whole new field of study.MacKinnon, on the other hand, decided at an early stage that he should try to do what was then thought impossible: to determine the three-dimensional structure of ion channels at atomic resolution. He bet his career on this vision – and succeeded to an extent that probably surprised even himself.
There is a lesson here, I believe: There is no one way to do science, and our support system must be sufficiently well funded and versatile to prepare the ground for both unexpected serendipity and focused, often risky, attacks on central scientific problems.
Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon stand for decisive contributions to the biochemistry of cell membranes, but their discoveries also have an almost tangible aesthetic component. Their work has uncovered an amazing "economy of design" in the atomic structures of the water and ion channels that is breathtaking in its simplicity and perfection. Indeed, after seeing these molecular machines, you find yourself thinking, "Of course, this is how it must be, this is how it must work!" What more could we ask of science?
Professor Agre, Professor MacKinnon, your fundamental discoveries concerning water and ion channels are singular achievements that have made it possible for us to see these exquisitely designed molecular machines in action at the atomic level. The biochemical basis for the transport of water – the most abundant and primordial substance of life – and ions – these tiny, mundane and yet absolutely essential constituents of the living world – can now be understood in unparalleled detail. On behalf of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, I wish to convey to you our warmest congratulations, and I now ask you to step forward to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry from the hands of His Majesty the King.
A couple of scientists at the University of Colorado have modeled what might happen if there was a nuclear war between India and Pakistan [Regional nuclear conflict would create near-global ozone hole, says CU-Boulder study].A limited nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and India using their current arsenals could create a near-global ozone hole, triggering human health problems and wreaking environmental havoc for at least a decade, according to a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.Wow! That sounds really bad. By the way, they forgot to mention one other nasty little detail—about 100 million people will die in the blasts and of radiation poisoning in the aftermath of the attacks.
The computer-modeling study showed a nuclear war between the two countries involving 50 Hiroshima-sized nuclear devices on each side would cause massive urban fires and loft as much as 5 million metric tons of soot about 50 miles into the stratosphere, said CU-Boulder Research Associate Michael Mills, chief study author. The soot would absorb enough solar radiation to heat surrounding gases, setting in motion a series of chemical reactions that would break down the stratospheric ozone layer protecting Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, said Mills.
According to a report in ScienceDaily, there has been progress in understanding how the Bombardier beetle can eject such a powerful spray [The Bombardier Beetle, Power Venom, And Spray Technologies].The bombardier beetle, found mainly in Africa and Asia, is remarkable in that it can fire a powerful jet of hot, toxic fluid to fight off predators such as birds and frogs. While the chemical reaction that makes the venom has been understood for some time, the actual power behind the venomous squirt, which can travel as far as 20cm, has been cause for speculation.Note, there isn't a problem understanding the chemical reaction and how the beetles control it. That's been well understood for several decades. You can watch a young Richard Dawkins debunking the standard creationst claims in a video posted on Genomicron [Bombardier beetles].
Quantities of hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide gases build up in the beetle’s abdomen but, when necessary for defence, get mixed together in a connected ‘combustion chamber’ to produce toxic benzoquinone. This hot fluid is then fired off at force in the face of enemy predators.
[Photo Credit: Institute of Physics]
People go into academic life in large measure because they're frightened people. They want a kind of sanctuary and uh ... so when they're attacked, or questioned even, they react very, very strongly. They're scared people, and they're really scared of Intelligent Design [Creationism] because if Intelligent Design [Creationism] is true, and if, in fact, Darwinism is ... only goes so far and only covers a small amount of the territory, all kinds of threat to their power and status arise.Hmmmm ... I wonder why we call them IDiots?
[Hat Tip: Evolution News & Views]
Matt Nisbet has tried to defend his attacks on PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins with a posting that promotes Paul Kurtz as a "reasonable" atheist [Paul Kurtz: The Local Leader Who Happens to Be an Atheist]. I've been very active in communicating why my research is worth the money and I have done it very effectively.Here's the problem. Matt Nisbet is promoting the concept of framing science. This is his field and he has every right to do that. I don't buy it and neither do many other scientists who think that framing is too close to "spin."
-->I've done close to three dozen presentations over the past year and talked face-to-face with several thousand scientists, policymakers, other academics, students, and lay citizens.
-->I regularly post here on the relevance of framing to a range of topics. The top tabs of the blog explain in depth the nature and application of research to science communication.
-->I've done about 40 media interviews on issues related to science communication and/or framing.
-->I followed the Science article with an article at the WPost, a longer cover feature at The Scientist, both articles I link to as PDF copies free for reading. I have also done extended interviews on the topic at the Point of Inquiry podcast.
-->I advise and consult with a range of nonprofits, organizations, and government agencies.
-->I engage almost every serious minded blog post and comment with a respectful, and usually detailed reply.
[Photo Credit: Worst Birthday Cake .. Ever!]
This is a very important protein. Most living organisms on this planet could not survive if this protein didn't do its job. 
[Hat Tip: Friendly Atheist]
