Science 2.0

Angiogenesis is a critical component for processes in wound healing and is defined as the formation of new capillaries from pre-existing blood vessels [1, 2]. Insufficient angiogenesis can result in impaired wound healing and chronic wound formation [4–8]. Electrical stimulation (ES) in its various forms has been shown to enhance wound healing by promoting the migration of keratinocytes and macrophages, enhancing angiogenesis, stimulating fibroblasts, and influencing protein synthesis throughout the inflammatory, proliferative and remodelling phases of healing [9–11].

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An exquisite fossil specimen of an Eusthenopteron Fordi from the upper Devonian (Frasnian), Eescuminac Formation, Miguasha Park, Bay of Heat, Gaspé, Quebec, Canadian Museum of Natural History, Miguasha Collection.

If you look closely at this specimen, you can see the remarkable 3-D and soft-bodied preservation. This fish specimen reminds me of the ray-finned fossil fish you see in carbonate concretion from Lower Cretaceous deposits in the Santana Formation, Brazil.

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Elon Musk has just tweeted about his "Nuke Mars to terraform it" idea. He talked about that some years back, in 2015 when many people responded with articles saying it is impossible. Now he is tweeting again.

This is surely just a joke. He can't be serious.

Here is his throwaway remark about it in 2015. It was reasonably clear he was not putting forward a serious worked out future plan for Mars. But is there any potential in the idea?

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Now they tell us. 

After 20 years of watching Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of our galaxy (that's right, no matter what astrology sign you pretend to be, we're all Sagittarius), in May astronomers saw something they'd never seen before.

Using the Keck Telescope at Mauna Kea in Hawaii (because it's 13,00 feet in the air, above 40 percent of the earth's atmosphere, it is great for infrared - this was before 2015 when mainland activists invaded to declare science was ruining a "sacred" place) they found the infrared imaging was much brighter. 

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Another two harmless asteroids being shared in the sensationalist press. I am getting PM's from some really scared people about these. To debunk:

• Asteroid warning: Space rock comparable to dinosaur killer is heading Earth’s way (Daily Express)
• NASA Detects Planet-Killer Asteroid That Might Hit Earth Next Year (Business insider)

There has been NO ASTEROID WARNING. You can check that here with my non techy interface to the NASA Sentry table.

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Every other month American journalists gleefully proclaim that communist China is spending more money (at least according to China) and producing more papers and that America is finished.

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In 2005, part of a hidden drawing beneath Leonardo Da Vinci’s "Virgin of the Rocks", commissioned for an altarpiece in 1483, was found, and scholars working on the National Gallery in London treasure have uncovered more.

Artist's reused materials, if there were errors, changes or they changed their minds, and now thanks to infrared and hyperspectral imaging plus X-ray fluorescence to find zinc in the drawings, we know something about what Da Vinci had originally planned. Using infrared reflectography in 2005, they discovered a preliminary drawing of the Virgin Mary - different from the final result.

And now they have revealed Leonardo’s earlier design for the angel and baby Christ.

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In 2010, to celebrate 50 years of Exobiology and Astrobiology research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) they commissioned a graphic history of the people and events that have shaped the science of nascent Exobiology and Astrobiology research.

Of course, how we came to be is not a new field, for as long as mankind was able to take a break from grinding out life we've wondered how it all came to be.

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A recent paper claims the ketogenic diet (basically the Atkins diet, except you can't sell new diet books using old names) will help with migraines.

Other more dangerous claims are that it will help with schizophrenia and epilepsy. The reality is that if the ketogenic diet could do any of those things, meal plans would be in double-blind clinical trials right now. Those diseases are a trillion dollar market. 

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With marijuana now increasingly legal, there is less and less use for the junk health claims about supposed benefits. Sure, it works for some, but any time a product is claimed anecdotally to work for dozens of different issues, it is just a placebo.

Companies want to move away from the marijuana stigma (and the tax - California couldn't wait to legalize it so they could slap 40 percent tax on it) so the supplement trend has been Cannabidiol (CBD) in the food and beverage industry, where almost anything goes when it comes to health and wellness claims. If you are willing to pay to claim it, someone is willing to pay to believe you.

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This is an interesting paper but it’s been misreported widely. Over the last decade the world has continued to get greener almost everywhere, especially so in India, many farmers now grow several crops a year in many areas instead of one, and in China because of its work on reafforestation, restoring degraded land and more intensive agriculture.

Only 5% of the Earth has a browning. So why does the map in this recent Nature paper seem to show the opposite?

Well it’s because it is a map of a change in the RATE of greening.

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High-volume hydraulic fracturing, colloquially called fracking, injects water, sand and chemicals under high pressure into petroleum-bearing rock formations to recover previously inaccessible oil and natural gas. While it was experimented with since the 1940s, it only became viable in the 1990s and early 2000s and it led to the current shale gas boom that started about 15 years ago. 

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George Luber, who ran the climate and health program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before only being allowed in the office accompanied by an armed guard since May, is touted as a climate scientist by Reuters, but he is an epidemiologist. He got his degree in anthropology, a social science.

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Teva Pharmaceutical, which once responded to price-fixing allegations with ‘polite f-u’ letters’ now doesn't have the cash flow to pay off $4.2 billion of debt that matures in 2021.

Refinancing maturities is not usually a big deal but Teva and Mylan and Heritage Pharmaceuticals became the poster children for Big Pharma arrogance - even though they are all genetic companies, and were somehow wrapped in an ethical halo compared to their original product predecessors. 

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If something is free, do you use it more? It seems so, in New York City ambulance usage for minor injuries (abrasions, minor burns, muscle sprains) rose by 37 percent after the Affordable Care Act was implemented.

An ambulance for a scrape? Yes, nearly 3,000 more of them, and that is just in one city. All paid for by everyone whose premiums went up.

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Baby Boomers, the generation that gave us rampant alcoholism, divorce, over-medicated American culture, and denial of science to protect the environment, are now being targeted by marketing groups with claims you don't need medicine, you can cure disease with...food.

I'm not being mean to baby boomers, they also were the first generation to have a polio vaccine and they ended Smallpox. They paid the taxes that funded an optimistic War On Cancer and the successful moon landings and Medicare. I was just noting that if you are in the spin business, you can frame broad demographics, especially tens of millions of people, any way you want.

And that is being done with a report saying baby boomers thinks food - specifically organic food -is medicine.

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In America, FOIA documents show lots of emails with partisan journalists, allied academics, and organic industry trafe groups colluding to promote each other's articles opposing science like pesticides and biotechnology.

And documents show biotech companies like Monsanto doing the same. But an investigation into a supposed controversy claimed by trade groups like US Right To Know and their sister sites like Sourcewatch led to nothing.

"We couldn't find anything special or unusual about the lists - it was mostly information that you could find in a public place with a bit of research."

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This is a plan for a wind turbine hub in the North Sea on Dogger Bank, that could up to 180GW by 2045 in time to help Europe achieve net zero emissions. The “Dogger Bank”, is the sunken Doggerland, a region of the North Sea that used to be above the sea in the last ice age. It is far from land, so winds would be much more steady.

The shallowest parts are only 15 meters below sea level making it an ideal place to build artificial islands (a bit like the Chinese artificial islands in the South China sea) and build sea turbines like this. The turbines could be towed into place as is already done for offshore wind. This video briefly describes it:

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In today's politicization of science news, California, which just got scolded by EPA for trying to put cancer warning labels on a weedkiller (of all things) pivoted to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos.

Last year, the scientifically wacky 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California - the most overturned appeals court by the Supreme Court of the United States - tried to order EPA to ban chlorpyrifos even though they hadn't seen any data showing it causes any defects in people. 

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In 2009, broad new authority for FDA over tobacco products didn't include e-cigarettes because they were just a blip. Later, they took off in popularity. The free market is always mysterious but I liken it to Wi-fi and Bluetooth. While a centralized committee drawn from large companies came up with Bluetooth for the wireless future, then were years late in rolling out a product that didn't work very well, Wi-fi took off thanks to small players and public uptake in the free market.

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