This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about tracking tsunamis; strengthening aluminium; cleaning your hands; lie detectors; and more…
Lie to Me—Have brain scans become the new polygraphs—those lie detectors that some in Western legal systems seem intent on employing and believing. Many scientists and bioethicists are sceptical.—Australasian Science.
This article can be found in the September-October issue of Australasian Science
Aluminium as strong as steel?—By smashing an aluminium alloy between two anvils, an international team of researchers—with members from Sydney—has created a metal as strong as steel but much lighter. If the process can be commercialised, it could yield components for aircraft and cars, as well as wearable armour.—Nature Communications
A Science report can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/09/metal-smasher-makes-aluminum-as-.html
Tsunamis leave a trail in the ionosphere—The progress of waves through the open ocean sends vibrations up through the atmosphere, which can allow GPS satellites to monitor them as they sweep across the seas. French geophysicists have been able to use these ionosphere effects to trace three recent tsunamis.—Geophysical Research Letters
A Nature report can be found at http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100914/full/news.2010.467.html
Did Jupiter and Saturn play pinball with Uranus? Uranus may have been batted back and forth between Jupiter and Saturn before being flung out to its present location, according to a French astronomer.—Astronomical Journal
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727785.300-did-jupiter-and-saturn-play-pinball-with-uranus.html
Women with the baby blues process emotion differently—It’s not a hormonal thing. Women with post-natal depression actually process negative emotions differently to new mothers without the condition, American researchers have found.—American Journal of Psychiatry
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727785.100-women-with-the-baby-blues-process-emotion-differently.html
For clean hands, use a paper towel—Rubbing your hands together under a blow dryer leaves them coated with more bacteria than were there just after you washed them, according to a British study. In fact, paper towels proved more efficient at keeping your newly washed hands clean.—Journal of Applied Microbiology
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727785.200-for-clean-hands-dont-rub-scrub-with-a-paper-towel.html
Chemical patterns on DNA mark out obesity genes— It’s starting to look as if chemical changes that happen to your genes over a lifetime—as well as what you inherited from your parents—may be responsible for your body shape. US researchers are gradually filling in the environment part of the genetics of obesity.—Science Translational Medicine
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19458-chemical-patterns-on-dna-mark-out-obesity-genes.html
Social network predicts flu spread—American researchers who tracked flu symptoms in the friends of a group of university students during the 2009 swing flu epidemic, predicted the outbreak in the general college population at least two weeks in advance of public health authorities.—Public Library of Science, ONE
A Science report can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/09/social-network-predicts-flu-spre.html
Streetlights increase male birds ability to hook up—Male blue tits living near streetlights on the edge of the Viennese forest have twice as much extramarital success as their counterparts within the forest, Austrian researchers have found.—Current Biology
A Science report can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/09/scienceshot-streetlights-make-ma.html
Antibiotics play hell with gut flora—Antibiotics can cause long lasting changes in the bacteria living in the human gut, US researchers have shown. And as changes in this gut flora increases the risk of some chronic diseases, each course of antibiotics represents a trade off between short term benefit and long term risk.—Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A New Scientist report can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727785.000-antibiotics-play-hell-with-gut-flora.html