Science 2.0

In 1956, prize-winning puppeteer Shari Lewis appeared on the Captain Kangaroo children's show and debuted a new...well, it was basically a sock with eyes.(1) She called it Lamb Chop, though, and her ventriloquism was a big hit with kids.

Imagine what she would think if she knew Lamb Chop toys were a big hit with dogs.

It's a science mystery why, but dogs love them. Dogs who like to cuddle are obsessed with it, as are dogs who want to destroy things. They like the squeaks, the softs, and perhaps that it almost resembles an animal. Dogs get obsessive-compulsive a lot, according to a new paper.

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Are kids walking at night on Halloween safe? What's the physics of ghosts? How many toxic chemicals are in that organic pumpkin I bought? Is there a Secret Sadist out there putting razor blades in candy?

You can find out the answers to all those questions and more in Halloween Science 2.0. It covers the history of the holiday, of course, this is Science 2.0, not a textbook, through the lens of biology, anthropology and more!

Conventional genetic analysis methods for genotyping of brain tumors usually require one or two days to obtain results but a new method can determine optimal resection margins during surgery in just a few minutes.

The ability to accurately detect genetic mutations in a brain tumor was demonstrated with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoters, which are markers for diagnosis of diffuse glioma—the most common type of brain tumor. Their system uses a Polymerase Chain Reaction device in combination with their own protocol and it enables DNA extraction using only heat incubation. 

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With this post I would like to present a short update of my personal life to the few readers who are interested in that topic. You know, when I started writing online (over 20 years ago!), blogs used to contain a much more personal, sometimes introspective, description of the owner's private life and actions. Since long, they have been substituted by much more agile, quick-to-consume videos. But the old-fashioned bloggers who stuck with that medium continue to have a life - albeit certainly a less glamorous one than that of today's influencers; so some reporting of personal affairs is not out of place here. 

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A recent study found the first evidence that sperm microRNAs act as carriers of epigenetic information, enabling the intergenerational transmission of paternal exercise capacity and metabolic health, thereby exerting profound effects on offspring development.

The bad news if you want an excuse for your poor fitness is this is epigenetics and only in mice, which means it is only EXPLORATORY. Mice are not little people and epigenetics lacks the same biological foundation as actual evolution and genetics.

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A new cross-sectional analysis estimates that asthma inhalers contribute the same carbon emissions as 530,000 cars each year. That's over over 2 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually from the three types of inhalers approved for asthma or COPD during the years 2014 to 2024. 

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Surely you’ve noticed that many countries are subsidizing births – and others are banning abortions – even as tech lords lament the number of “useless people” in the world. You’ve noted the contradiction, and you’ve asked yourself, “What’s going on here?” Cool Hand Luke might say, “What we have here is a failure (of the two factions) to communicate.”

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We definitely need to DOGE nonsense like acupuncture out of the NIH and use that money for science but I don't want to live in a culture where children's theater doesn't want to have a play about "the ups-and-downs of a lovesick zombie who can’t find a date inthe land of the living."

It may not sound all that kid-friendly but this was a children's theater in Oregon and a stroll down any street in Portland exposes children to a lot worse things than lonely zombies.

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Information freedom is a good thing but there is no question it has been weaponized. Many scientists have been ruined by activists and their trade groups who use Freedom of Information Act rules to find a sentence in correspondence with corporations or trade groups, remove it from context, and claim science is a corporate conspiracy. Then they publish it thanks to politically aligned schools like UC San Fransisco, where Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, will help any attorney wanting to sue companies.

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Ιf you asked a multilingual friend which language they find more emotional, the answer would usually be their mother tongue – the one they used while growing up and probably still use at home. This does not mean they are incapable of expressing emotion in another language, but there is a clear link between first languages and stronger emotional expression.

This has a lot to do with where and how we learn a language. Our first language, which linguists call L1, is usually acquired in the emotionally charged settings of childhood and family. Second languages, known as L2, are often learned in more neutral contexts, such as schools and institutions, making them less emotionally intense.

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In 2003, the Human Genome Project was completed and both Tesla and LinkedIn were founded. Those were all interesting but not revolutionary; cars and job sites already existed, and we knew a lot about DNA, we just didn't have a complete "map" of a genome.

The biggest shift in culture was the introduction of the Pumpkin Spice Latte by Starbucks. In a few short years, it ended the dominance of apple cider to such an extent that unprompted people don't associate autumn with apple cider at all. Despite thousands of years of dominance as the Flavor of Fall.

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Three years into war with Russia and martial law, public services continue to operate and citizens continue to have confidence in them. A new analysis of survey results in Government information Quarterly says trust in public figures and a sense of cooperation are key factors.

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A preamble

Subnuclear physics obeys the laws of quantum mechanics, which are quite a far cry from those of classical mechanics we are accustomed to. For that reason, one might be inclined to believe that analogies based on everyday life cannot come close to explaining the behavior of elementary particles. But that is not true – in fact, many properties of elementary particles are understandable in analogy with the behavior of classical systems, without the need to delve into the intricacies of the quantum world. And if you have been reading this blog for a while, you know what I think – the analogy is a powerful didactical instrument, and it is indeed at the very core of our learning processes.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a former Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer and once such a pillar of the Democratic party that President Obama floated his name to run the Environmental Protection Agency.

Now he controls the agency that controls EPA. That is a big win for anti-science progressives. And because they are playing chess, not checkers, anti-science Republicans think it's their idea.

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New survey results find that sociocultural factors may be involved in how likely someone is to report moderate to severe depression symptoms and get a prenatal depression diagnosis.

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FDA-approved flu treatments target viral enzymes of influenza but the virus mutates, which is why there is a new vaccine each year.

Recent work showed that a cocktail of antibodies offered protection mice from nearly every strain of influenza. Even avian and swine flu. Their cocktail did not allow viral escape, even after a month of repeated exposure.

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People in the northeast of the United States think they have greater "wellness" than everywhere else except California. People in the southern United States think they have more wellness than everywhere else.

Which is right? They both are. Wellness may be in social media ad campaigns and have diets and apps and fads under the umbrella, but it's entirely subjective. The northeast believe they have greater wealth and social standing, which they consider traditional wellness. The south sense of purpose and community identity, which is existential wellness.

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Death rates from non-communicable  diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease continue to decline but you wouldn't know that by corporate media which prints every claim that some useful product is "linked" to shorter lifespans.

Weedkillers, processed food, artificial sugar, you name it and some activist group has weaponized the public against it - and only you sending their lawyers money to sue will prevent it. The drums of the anti-science movement have only gotten louder since one of the pillars of the progressive fringe got a job in, of all places, a Republican administration.(1)

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Rather than encourage smoking cessation and harm reduction, the US Centers for Disease Control have spent over a decade undermining products that were not Big Pharma. That has been and remains a mistake. Smoking kills, and anything that helps reduce or eliminate it, from patches to gums to vaping to hypnosis, should be available.

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If you have spent any time on social media, you have a different kind of bystander effect in action. Psychologists say if many people are around, the bystander effect is why everyone is less likely to help. They believe someone else will be more competent or know something you don't. If you walk by a person laying unconscious in New York City, based on experience they did not have a heart attack and are in peril. They are on drugs or alcohol.

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