TIZER'S SCIENCE NEWS

[Tizer]

Whippy, plastic objects in the sea get abraded in the same way that rocks are slowly ground down to pebbles and result in fine plastic particles. It's these that are accumulating in living organisms and being passed up the food chain.

[Stanley]

Must have missed a post there from Pluggy. And have I heard that the fine plastic particles form a sub-strate that encourages the growth of harmful bacteria?

[Tizer]

Don't know about specifically harmful bacteria but most bacteria and algae like to have a surface to anchor to and the greater the surface area the more bugs can anchor to it...so fine particles will accommodate more bacterial cells than coarse particles. Once they attach to the surface they secret sticky molecules to create a `biofilm' which protects them from being washed away and gives some defence against predators (and our disinfectants). There's a lot of research focusing on biofilms now.

[Stanley]

I think that is the mechanism I heard explained. In other words it means a bigger bacterial load can be carried in the gut.

[Tardis]

Cornell University physicists worked out the best strategy for swinging a playground swing…

[Tizer]

More feverish excitement in the news media world this morning with, for example, the BBC announcing that "fish oil is to be made from plants". How daft can you get? You can't get `fish' oil from a plant - what you can do is to genetically engineer a plant so that it produces some of the same fatty acids in its seeds as those found in fish, specifically the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. The work has been going on at Britain's Rothamsted Research Station, renowned for its agricultural science, for many years and the objective is to provide an alternative food for farmed fish whose diet must contain these fatty acids. The BBC should have mentioned that Australian scientists have been working on this for a long time too and they are modifying rapeseed to contain these fatty acids.

The BBC story...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25873931

The Australian work...
http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Struct ... ation.aspx

[Stanley]

Agreed Tiz but they have to reduce the concept to LCD Speak in order to get it across. Big problem for a long time has been the shortage of long chain Omega3, not enough for everyone to get their RDA. Hence the EU setting the recommended daily dose at half what we actually need for full effect. No mention of the balance between Omega3 and Omega6 which is even more important, now that would be too complicated!

[Stanley]

See this LINK for 'news' that short person syndrome actually exists. Funny, but I think I always knew that!

[David Whipp]

At a little over 5ft, I think paranoia is quite healthy!

[Stanley]

They're still out to get you....
So interbreeding with Neanderthal Man is responsible for some of our troubles! (LINK)
Peanut allergy. It looks as though we now have a viable treatment for it. (LINK) Good news for many parents.

[David Whipp]

Peanut allergy. It looks as though we now have a viable treatment for it. (LINK) Good news for many parents.

The interview on Radio 4 with a young participant in the trial had a lovely snippet when the allergy sufferer said he had to eat five peanuts a day to keep the allergy at bay; he could eat up to 12, but he didn't like them!

[Stanley]

Another said she thought peanut bars are disgusting.... But, she said life was much better now she wasn't in fear of going into shock.

[Stanley]

See this LINK for encouraging news in the field of stem cell research. If this technique can be shown to be able to produce stem cells from a patient's own cells without side effects it solves many of the ethical and rejection problems associated with harvested stem cells.

[Tizer]

Press release from the Publishers' Licensing Society, 3rd Feb 2014.
Walk-in access to high quality academic research available in UK public libraries
`Access to Research' 2-year pilot launches today
"Students, independent researchers and small businesses can now access many of the world’s best academic papers across science, technology, medicine and other disciplines through their local libraries. This is the result of a unique collaboration between librarians and publishers, who have made their journal content available for free to UK libraries under a new initiative,"
Read the press release here: http://pls-news.org.uk/178E-25KI5-E8BK12-WO0D2-0/c.aspx

[Bodger]

Anyone for a "big mac"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ducts.html

[Stanley]

See this LINK for more reasons not to trust processed food. The analysts admitted that they had selected foods that were already suspect but said they had little doubt that similar studies in any other part of the country would give the same results. Over a third of the samples were not as advertised. So, buy natural ingredients, cook your own and use small local butchers who know where their meat originates. Simples!!

[Stanley]

NICE are once more pushing statins for almost everyone. (LINK) I have refused them because as far as I am concerned the jury is still out and I don't need them. See Rod Bilton on the subject.....

[Tizer]

Anyone for a "big mac"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ducts.html

It's typical of the Daily Wail to fail to include the important words "in the USA" in its headline - you have to read further down to find that the story isn't relevant to Europe. All the media stories are making a big thing about it being a chemical "used in making shoe rubber and yoga mats". So what, that in itself doesn't make the chemical bad for using in food - you can use olive oil to fuel your car if you wish. I'm not saying I support it's use in food but I object to these misleading claims being used to stir up opposition.

The push for more statins is interesting when you take into account the report in the last few days on how the drug industry uses its money and its clout to influence political decisions.

[Stanley]

Surely you're not suggesting that they are using their clout to lobby for increased use of statins......???

[Tizer]

Surely you're not suggesting that they are using their clout to lobby for increased use of statins......???

Now, would I do that, Stanley?

[Stanley]

Yes!

[Stanley]

See this LINK. There was a nice piece on World Service this morning. Fascinating things these neutrinos.....

[Tizer]

I wonder if this electric charge can account for the ignition in some powder explosions such as in flour mills and coal mines?
`Clue to earthquake lightning mystery'
Mysterious lightning flashes that appear to predict earthquakes could be sparked by movements in the ground below, US scientists say. Unidentified glowing objects were spotted moments before major quakes in China and Italy recently. These flickers could be triggered by shifting soil layers which generate huge electrical charge, say scientists. Using a tub of plain kitchen flour, they discovered an entirely new physical phenomenon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26462348

[plaques]

I can't just remember the exact details but I'm sure NikolaTesla had hit on this phenomenon when he had the idea of transmitting power round the world. He also calculated the Earth's natural frequency for which a Nobel prize was given some years later to another scientist. The Nobel committee were somewhat embarrassed when this was pointed out.

[Stanley]

Explosions in Flour mills and mines.... During the course of my research into the causes of the plane crash which killed Big Harry in August 2003 I spoke to a very good man who worked on Mine Regulations at Bootle. He told me that I was right about the dangers of aluminium used in bronze bearing alloys in explosive atmospheres. The regulations ban any alloy containing more than 10% Aluminium because of the danger of sparking if there was any mechanical impact. This has been noted in impacts on rusty iron pillars painted with aluminium paint as well, in one known case a fire was started by the impact from the rim of a 45 gallon steel barrel being rolled across the floor. Coal dust, flour dust and cotton dust can all generate explosive atmospheres and in flour mill and cotton mill gearing rope drives were favourites because there is less chance of electrostatic or mechanical sparking. The most unlikely explosive event I came across was in empty oil tankers when tanks were being cleaned using high pressure water sprays. After several mysterious explosions it was found that they were being caused by electrostatic build up on the nozzles of the sprays generating a spark. Another instance of this, though not dangerous if non-flammable liquid is being pumped, is in high speed centrifugal pumps. In this case it is cavitation that causes bubbles which, when they collapse, produce point temperatures of up to 10,000 degrees and an electrical charge. This is the crackling noise you hear when such a pump is running and it triggers corrosion cells in the pump casings. A similar mechanism erodes ships propellers at high speed. It's fascinating what can cause a spark, even simply combing your hair!