This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about using your beach towel to charge your MP3 player; carrying brains overseas; flu vaccinations; healthy fruit extracts; and more…
1. Flu vaccine responsible for child convulsions—The Department of Health and Ageing has reported that this year’s flu vaccination with CSL’s Fluvax was “causally related” to fever and convulsions in 99 children. All the children recovered, and medical researchers maintain that the benefits of flu vaccines certainly outweigh the risks.—New Scientist
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19539-australia-blames-a-flu-vaccine-for-child-convulsions.html
2. Thighs and abs have a different take on fat—Your thighs and abdomen store fat in different ways, American researchers have confirmed. While abdominal fat cells grow larger, those in the thighs multiply. The end result can be very different.—Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19546-thighs-and-abs-have-a-different-take-on-fat.html
3. Audio zoom picks out lone voice in the crowd—A new microphone system, developed in Norway, will allow broadcasters to zoom in on sounds, picking out a single conversation in a crowd—or on a sports field. And it can be linked to TV cameras.—New Scientist
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19541-audio-zoom-picks-out-lone-voice-in-the-crowd.html
4. Fruit extracts help exercise recovery and asthma—Natural fruit compounds may balance the impacts that exercise can have on the body, and also help breathing in some types of asthma, according to New Zealand researchers. They have discovered that blackcurrant extract can counter lack of oxygen, minimise muscle damage, and enhance the immune response.—Australasian Science
This story can be found in the September/October issue of Australasian Science.
5. Working light twice as hard to produce cheap solar cells—American researchers have developed a device which can double the current generated by the most energetic components of light. Now, if they can just bring the cost of manufacture down…Science
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19532-work-light-twice-as-hard-to-make-cheap-solar-cells.html
6. Charge your iPod from a beach towel—Meanwhile, as you lie on a beach, your MP3 player is running low on juice. In future, you might be able to plug into your towel. Several groups in the US and Australia are developing coatings that act as solar cells and can be sprayed on fabrics or painted on buildings.—Energy and Environmental Science
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827806.100-charge-your-phone-with-a-beach-towel.html
7. Large brains bust baggage allowance for migratory bats—Migratory bats have smaller brains than their sedentary cousins, suggesting they cannot afford the luxury of lugging large, energetically expensive brains on long-haul flights. The same thing might also be true of birds, say Canadian and Danish zoologists—Biology Letters
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827804.700-large-brains-bust-baggage-allowance-for-migratory-bats.html
8. Social sensitivity trumps IQ in group intelligence—If you’re a headhunter looking for someone to work in a group, you might want to stop searching for the smartest candidate, says an American researcher. She has found that group efficiency depends less on how intelligent individuals are, and more on social sensitivity.—Science
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19530-social-sensitivity-trumps-iq-in-group-intelligence.html
9. The slippery slope to obesity—Reward pathways in the brains of overweight people become less responsive as they gain weight—which means they have to eat more to get the same pleasure from food. It’s akin to drug addiction, say American researchers—Journal of Neuroscience
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827805.100-the-slippery-slope-to-obesity.html
10. A better way to reprogram cells—US molecular biologists have developed a clever new way to reprogram adult cells into embryo-like stem cells. It is more efficient and harbours less potential side effects than previous methods.—Cell Stem Cell
A Science report can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/09/a-better-way-to-reprogram-cells.html
11. Keep on looking for extinct mammals—A comprehensive Australian study of mammal species officially listed as missing or extinct shows that nearly a third of them are eventually rediscovered.—Proceedings of the Royal Society B
A Science report can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/10/keep-looking-for-that-extinct.html
12. How penguins got their water wings—A 36-million-year-old fossil penguin skeleton found on a cliff-face in Peru has provided US researchers with an insight into how penguin feathers adapted from flight to swimming. It’s all to do with structures inside cells known as melanosomes which are thought to affect the shape of feathers and make them better adapted to water.—Science
A Nature report can be found at http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100930/full/news.2010.506.html
13. Shrimp armour can take a beating—Mantis shrimp armour acts like a punching bag, and absorbs the energy of blows, rather than resisting them. Interestingly those throwing the biggest punches are more likely to be rival shrimps, than predators.—Journal of Experimental Biology
A Science report can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/10/scienceshot-mantis-shrimp-armor.html