Futurity.org » Brown University

Flower sex safeguards against dud sperm

David Orenstein-Brown — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:24:42 +0000

BROWN (US) — Discovering how flowers manage the distribution of sperm among female gametes helps biologists explain why they are so widespread.

In pollination, hundreds of sperm-carrying pollen grains stick to the stigma suspended in the middle of a flower and quickly grow a tube down a long shaft called a style toward clusters of ovules, which hold two female sex cells.

This could be a chaotic frenzy, but for the plant to succeed, exactly two fertile sperm should reach the two cells in each ovule—no more, no less. No ovule should be left out, either because too many tubes have gone elsewhere, or because the delivered sperm don’t work.

Clergy fight HIV in ‘faith-friendly’ way

David Orenstein-Brown — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:25:25 +0000

BROWN (US) — By offering messages about getting tested and staying on treatment, black clergy could break through barriers imposed by traditional preaching about HIV prevention.

The public health community has long struggled with how best to reduce HIV infection rates among black Americans, which is seven times that of whites. In a new paper published in the journal PLoS One, a team of physicians and public health researchers report that African-American clergy say they are ready to join the fight against the disease by focusing on HIV testing, treatment, and social justice–a strategy that is compatible with religious teaching.

Paralyzed woman uses mind to move robot arm

David Orenstein-Brown — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:16:52 +0000

BROWN (US) — Two people with paralysis were able to control robotic arms using only their thoughts—and the help of a new interface system.

One participant used the system to serve herself coffee for the first time since becoming paralyzed nearly 15 years ago.

Feeding tube may flare some ulcer risks

David Orenstein-Brown — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:10:18 +0000

BROWN (US) — Gastric feeding tubes may do more harm than good for bedridden dementia patients, new research shows.

As reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, an analysis of thousands of nursing home patients reports that percutaneous endoscopic gastric (PEG) feeding tubes, long assumed to help bedridden dementia patients stave off or overcome pressure ulcers, may instead make the sores more likely to develop or not improve.

Brainless brittle stars move (sort of) like us

David Orenstein-Brown — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:48:15 +0000

BROWN (US) — Even without a brain, the thick-spined brittle star moves in fundamentally the same way we do.

Though not bilaterally symmetrical like people and many other animals, brittle stars have come up with a mechanism to choose one of five limbs to direct movement on the seabed.

Quantum ‘nail polish’ yields laser lights

David Orenstein-Brown — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:35:09 +0000

BROWN (US) — Engineers can now produce red, green, and blue laser light from a single type of nanoscale crystal, which could lead to more colorful digital displays.

The size determines color, but all the pyramid-shaped quantum dots are made the same way of the same elements. In experiments, light amplification required much less power than previous attempts at the technology. The team’s prototypes are the first lasers of their kind.

Red, green, and blue lasers have become small and cheap enough to find their way into products ranging from BluRay DVD players to fancy pens, but each color is made with different semiconductor materials and by elaborate crystal growth processes.

Were bones ‘Tums’ for early land crawlers?

David Orenstein-Brown — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:40:52 +0000

BROWN (US) — In the move from water to land 370 million years ago, early land crawlers may have used bone in their skin and scalp to shed carbon dioxide and prevent acid build-up, an approach still used by some animals today.

The “dermal bones” within the skin—especially the bones covering the skull roof and forming part of the shoulder girdle of these early land animals—had a highly complex surface of ridges and furrows called “dermal sculpture.”

With RNA edits, fly guys lose mating skill

David Orenstein-Brown — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:18:24 +0000

BROWN (US) — Scientists find that “locking down” RNA’s self-editing process at two extremes creates strange behaviors in fruit flies.

Because a function of RNA is to be translated as the genetic instructions for the protein-making machinery of cells, RNA editing is the body’s way of fine-tuning the proteins it produces, allowing us to adapt. The enzyme ADAR, which does this editing job in the nervous system of creatures ranging from mice to humans, even edits itself.

Brain cells tag objects as new or known

David Orenstein-Brown — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:41:57 +0000

BROWN (US) — A new study offers a possible explanation of how two classes of neurons play distinct roles to help the brain recognize objects.

Confronted with new things, the brain effortlessly moves from an initial “What’s that?” to “Oh, that old thing” after a few casual encounters.

To save energy, fold wings on the up-flap

David Orenstein-Brown — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:33:56 +0000

BROWN (US) — Bats take advantage of their flexibility by folding in their wings on the upstroke to save inertial energy, a strategy that might help design winged vehicles.

The research from Brown University suggests that engineers looking at flapping flight should account for wing mass and consider a folding design.