It's Okay To Be Smart

HA! So, today’s my last day working in my lab, today’s Dilbert...

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:08:37 -0500

HA! So, today’s my last day working in my lab, today’s Dilbert is amazingly appropriate, eh? :)

On to bigger and better things! I’ll be working the science beat at Wired Magazine in San Francisco this summer, and my PBS YouTube show continues on and on.

Thanks, everyone. In a way, I feel like we did this together. Let’s see what else we can learn! (Or at least pretend to learn)

-Dr. Joe

My last day in lab. Goodbye, lab bench! I’m leaving good vibes...

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:56:08 -0500

My last day in lab. Goodbye, lab bench! I’m leaving good vibes for your next resident. The tools of a biologist are humble, and rather liquidy, when viewed all together.

(Just kidding! It’s all water, the secret’s out!!)

Sound in Space - The B-Sides - Voyager 1, The Symphony It’s time...

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:26:55 -0500

Sound in Space - The B-Sides - Voyager 1, The Symphony

It’s time for another Episode Extra! (which is where you special blog readers get to check out really cool stuff to go along with my YouTube videos, like special features on a DVD, only way more special-er)

In this latest episode of It’s Okay To Be Smart, we got to explore some musical and sonic art projects that were not only inspired by space, but created from space.

Voyager 1, the most distant manmade object ever created, a day anda half of light travel away from our sun, is approaching 18.5 billion kilometers from Earth as it makes its way out of our solar system. That’s a heck of a road trip. Like everyone knows, a good road trip needs good tunes, right?

Well, Domenico Vicinanza has converted actual magnetic field sensor data from Voyager 1 into music! Like yesterday’s goosebump-worthy choral suite written to the words of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, this one is a more creative take on space sonification.

There’s real data beneath these sounds, with a particular level on the magnetic field sensor set to a particular note, but the instruments and rhythms are modified by human hands. It’s a never-before-heard blend of sound inspired by space, and made from space.

Music credit: Sonification run on the GEANT network through EGI

(This question is in reference to this post) I would read that...

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:11:55 -0500

(This question is in reference to this post)

I would read that magazine.

But yeah, they are most definitely a thing. I’ve covered them here before.

When solar systems are forming, and young planets condense out of gases and debris, their orbits are not always stable. Either because of collisions (like the one that created our moon) or extreme elliptical orbits at the distant edges of their star system, they can be catapulted out of regular orbits and sentenced to a life among the darkness.

It would look something like this:

infinity-imagined: Exoplanets orbiting stars near the...

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:18:42 -0500

infinity-imagined:

Exoplanets orbiting stars near the Sun.

Hopefully no one takes this to mean that other stars, and their attendant planets, revolve around us, right? I mean, we’re cool, but we’re not THAT cool.

Although the number of confirmed exoplanets is only in the hundreds, the number of estimated exoplanets could be as high as 100 billion (or more?), or one for every star in the Milky Way.

And that doesn’t count the cold, presumably dead, rogue planets wandering interstellar space, forever alone.

AsapSCIENCE wins the internet with their new periodic table...

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:52:07 -0500

AsapSCIENCE wins the internet with their new periodic table song.

Enjoy!

Here’s some of my other periodic table-related favorites.

In the “Atoms In Motion” introduction to Richard...

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:57:00 -0500

In the “Atoms In Motion” introduction to Richard Feynman’s famous Lectures on Physics (which you can actually watch, thanks to Microsoft), there’s a very interesting footnote. I saw it in the condensed and immensely enjoyable Six Easy Pieces, which everyone should read:

“One can burn a diamond in air”

That took me by surprise. But it’s true! The video above from Theodore Gray (who is really good at burning stuff) shows that diamond will ignite if brought to a certain temperature and given enough oxygen to latch on to. Like Feynman said, those carbon atoms and oxygen atoms love each other, and want to snap together (which gives off heat), but enough input energy must be applied first to break down the diamond crystal, (which also makes carbon atoms pretty happy).

Interesting note about cheap old zirconium in there, too …

(tip of the torch to Freelance Astrophysicist, where I found the video)

via thekidshouldseethis: From medicalschool, watch this time...

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:07:56 -0500

via thekidshouldseethis:

From medicalschool, watch this time lapse clip of how bacteria reproduce by dividing into two every 20 minutes.

Bacteria are microscopic single-cell organisms that are found in the air, inside and on our bodies, in the dirt, and everywhere in nature. There are both harmful and beneficial kinds. Some cause diseases, while others help our bodies function. For example, there are more than 400 types of bacteria live in the human digestive system. There are also kinds that are used to make medicines, and others that make foods like cheese and yogurt. (Might anyone know what kind of bacteria this is?)

More mentions of bacteria are in these videos.

And thanks to those little bugs’ ability to grow so unbelievably fast, scientists like Richard Lenski have ben able to recreate eons of evolution in just a couple decades. Check out one of the longest-running experiments ever: The E. coli evolution experiment.

Sound In Space - The B-Sides - Cosmos, A Choral Suite It’s...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:49:00 -0500

Sound In Space - The B-Sides - Cosmos, A Choral Suite

In this latest episode of It’s Okay To Be Smart, we got to explore some musical and sonic art projects that were not only inspired by space, but created from space. Actual astronomical data, from planetary orbits to solar wind, converted into music! Unfortunately, I couldn’t feature all of the great space sound projects out there, so I’m going to put up the extras this week. Lucky you!

We’ll start with perhaps my favorite piece choral music ever: Kenley Kristofferson’s three movement tribute to Carl Sagan and his poetic opus: Cosmos. I get honest-to-goodness chills (all the way from my nebula to my black hole, I tell ya) when I hear them sing this line:

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

Perhaps it’s not sound created from space, per se, but it’s inspired by the wonder of cosmic discovery. That is truly something to marvel, with our ears and our eyes.

More Space Sounds B-sides coming your way this week! Share this beautiful mix of science and art with a friend, and be sure to stay curious.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your nanogarden...

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:56:00 -0500

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your nanogarden grow?

Harvard engineer Wim Noorduin has a green thumb. Only his thumb is only a few microns wide. By carefully controlling gradients of chemicals, he guided the construction of flower-like crystal structures to match their larger biological forms. It’s certainly art, but it also demonstrates a masterful manipulation of chemistry on the nano scale.

Just how small are they? As NPR reports, these flowers could fit in the lapel of the tiny Abraham Lincoln statue on the back of a penny (back when pennies had the Lincoln Memorial on them, anyway). These electron microscope images are false colored to recreate fantastic flowers, and these manipulations will one day help control the construction of useful microstructures.

If you’re seriously engineering-inclined, here’s the original research as it appears in Science.

Ever seen the hairy tongue of a nectar-feeding bat lap up its...

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:17:24 -0500

Ever seen the hairy tongue of a nectar-feeding bat lap up its liquid lunch in high-speed video? You’re gonna like it.

It’s the first detailed analysis of these prickly papillae at the tip of bat tongues, showing how they expand to catch the most of their sugary snack. Yet another example of amazing evolution, particularly in a class of life that one can argue was not really intended to hover and fly while they eat (AKA “mammals”)

(via Wired Science)

Nominate your favorite science audio and video projects for...

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:00:31 -0500

Nominate your favorite science audio and video projects for Science Studio’s “Best Of” collection!

I love science multimedia, you love science multimedia, everyone loves science multimedia (or at least they do if they want to be friends with us). That’s right, YouTube videos, animations, radio, podcasts, professional or indy … it’s all fair game. And Science Studio will be choosing the best and brightest for their anthology later this year.

Anything published in 2012 is fair game, which sadly means that MY YouTube channel is not eligible (boo-hooooooo :( I know you wanted to nominate all my videos).

Go submit your favorites! Or your favourites*! They deserve it.

*I’m bilingual.

Is This the Future of Flu Vaccines? See that picture up above?...

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:48:43 -0500

Is This the Future of Flu Vaccines?

See that picture up above? You’re looking at one of the most advanced weapons (to fight a microscopic enemy) the human race has ever created. It’s a nanoparticle (in gray) coated with synthetically produced coat proteins (HA, to be precise) from the influenza virus. Normally, flu mashes its coat proteins together like so:

The nanoparticles may be a major step toward a universal vaccine, which, of course, would be an awesome thing to have, save millions of lives, help us prevent a mass pandemic, etc.

Because flu viruses mutate, shuffle and swap their genes so frequently, the precise shape of the proteins that make up their spiky suit of armor is constantly being tweaked. It’s like how, from afar, a Sarahan sand dune might appear the same shape and height from day to day, but when you look closely, the precise contours of its windswept dimpled have been changed ever so slightly by erosion. On and on it changes, never the same twice.

Our immune system relies on sentry proteins called antibodies in order to recognize foreign invaders like flu based on their binding to those precise contours and shapes, like tiny chinks in the armor. The exact set of antibodies that killed last year’s flu are stored in your immune system’s memory, ready to keep you safe from that infection in the future. Because the flu virus shuffles and tweaks its shape from year to year, we are constantly playing catch-up, reacting to new armor every year. It’s like going home to find the lock changed, every day having to cut a new key.

If we could just make antibodies that bind to an unchanging part of the viral protein, like the trunks of those blue protein trees up there, we might be able to defend ourselves from future mutants with a single vaccination. But the virus keeps those parts hidden just enough to keep otherwise universal antibodies from attacking it.

That’s where this new research from Gary Nabel and his group might come in handy. By attaching the HA coat protein (again, the blue thing) from influenza to nanoparticles, their Achilles Heel is exposed and strong, universal antibodies are amplified and stored in your body’s defense bank. They built this nanoparticle vaccine from a 1999 strain’s HA protein, and it protected animals from a half-century’s worth of H1N1 viruses! It’s as close to universal as I’ve ever heard.

Point: humans. But, these are tricky bugs, and we shouldn’t get cocky, especially without human trials (yet). But we have brains, and they don’t. That’s really our best weapon, no?

Ed Yong has more at Nature News, and you can check out the original research in Nature.

You bet I do! I know that feeling. How can you pick a favorite...

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:32:00 -0500

You bet I do!

I know that feeling. How can you pick a favorite branch of science? WHY would you pick a favorite?

Well, I don’t have much first-hand knowledge about the inner workings of the 13-year-old mind (some things are beyond even science), but did you guys know I have a list of science book recommendations on my blog? I’ve recently updated it! Check ‘em out here.

It’s impossible to create a comprehensive list, but you can always tweet me or email me (itsokaytobesmart at gmail) if there’s something I should add or if you have a really special favorite Tumblr users can reply below?

Wee Yeasty Beasties Fungi are like Rodney Dangerfields of the...

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:43:41 -0500

Wee Yeasty Beasties

Fungi are like Rodney Dangerfields of the microbial world. Funny looking, often oddly round, and they get no respect.

I mean, their name suggests that they’d be rather enjoyable to hang out with*. A new survey of the human skin ecosystem has identified some of their diverse influence on human health and biology.

For as much attention as our microbiome gets these days (need a microbiome introduction? I made a video about it), the bacteria receive most of the publicity. But as the photo above shows, many regions of our bodies are teeming with yeast and other fungi (the blue dots are yeast on a human hair). Understanding their diversity is essential to figuring out who’s a good fungi and who’s a yeast beast.

Not only is it important to understand how these various species lead to medical annoyances like toenail infections, athlete’s foot, dandruff, diaper rash, and, of course, yeast infections, but also how they interact with or are held in check by our bacterial copilots. With as many as 60 to 80 different species living on your feet, who’s welcome and who’s a ticking time bomb for a locker-room itch-fest?

*That’s a “fun guy” joke. I hope you got it. Not the fungus. The joke.

Pruney fingers: A gripping story Mark Changizi brings you this...

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:10:57 -0500

Pruney fingers: A gripping story

Mark Changizi brings you this lesson from TED Ed all about pruney fingers. Why do we have such an odd anatomical adaptation? Is it simple swelling of wet skin, like a rehydrated sponge?

Well, that doesn’t make much sense, because we know that people with nerve damage in their hands don’t get pruney fingers. So there’s some sort of active process going on.

The current theory says that our pruney fingers are like rain treads on tires, channeling water away and helping us grip in wet conditions.

Mark Changizi should know. He wrote a paper all about this wrinkly research!

staceythinx: Another day at the beach with collage artist Lynn...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:24:09 -0500

staceythinx:

Another day at the beach with collage artist Lynn Skordal

I did not consent to the use of my derriere in an artistic creation holding what appears to be the moon on my shoulder. Damn paparazzi!

Early developmental stages of Xenopus laevis embryos. This is a...

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:41:34 -0500

Early developmental stages of Xenopus laevis embryos. This is a frog commonly used in biological labs, and the favorite amphibian of Nobel Prize winner John Gurdon, whose work on these embryos led to this week’s announcement of human embryonic stem cells made from somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Half a century apart, it’s all connected.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:20:01 -0500

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

"On its own, it is a wonder, but viewed in isolation its complexity and very existence is..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:15:00 -0500

“

On its own, it is a wonder, but viewed in isolation its complexity and very existence is inexplicable. Darwin’s genius was to see that the existence of something as magnificent as a blade of grass can be understood, but only in the context of its interaction with other living things and, crucially, its evolutionary history. A physicist might say it is a four-dimensional structure, with both spatial and temporal extent, and it is simply impossible to comprehend the existence of such a structure in a universe governed by the simple laws of physics if its history is ignored.

And whilst you are contemplating the humble majesty of a blade of grass, with a spatial extent of a few centimeters but stretching back in the temporal direction for almost a third of the age of the Universe, pause for a moment to consider the viewer, because what is true of the blade of grass is also true fro you. You share the same basic biochemistry, all the way down to the detail of proton waterfalls, and ATP, and much of the same genetic history, carefully documented in your DNA. This is because you share the same common ancestor. You are all related. You were once the same.

”

- Brian Cox channels Richard Feynman in this reminder that viewing science through any single lens is an incomplete view of its magnificence. In other words, physics is beautiful, but it’s a periscope view of life’s majesty.

From his new book to accompany the BBC series, Wonders of Life.

via Brain Pickings