Hot Flash in the Deep Blue Sea

Killer whales are normally associated with Sea World or Free Willy, not with the science of reproduction. And yet, they are among the few species in the world, including humans, that undergo menopause, and enjoy a long lifespan thereafter. The origins of killer whale menopause are still hazy, but a recent study, making use of a 40-year killer whale census, applies human evolutionary hypotheses to killer whale data, and in turn finds that conflict for food might be at the root of killer whale menopause.

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics: strange math, pretzels, and superfluids

Nerd Christmas continued with the announcement of the Nobel Prize for Physics on October 4^th, 2016. This year’s winners are Drs. David Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane, and J. Michael Kosterlitz. They won by using an esoteric branch of theoretical math, called topology, to explain the physical behaviors of very thin, very cold sheets of atoms. Their discoveries, which began in the 1970’s, are remarkable because they explain previously inexplicable behaviors of matter at extremely cold temperatures. They are further remarkable because at the time, these discoveries were completely theoretical, and have since been backed up by experimental proof.

Topology is not everyday math.

The Nobel for Medicine is eaten up by autophagy

The Nobel Prizes are back! This week, which is Christmas for scientists (though, it must be said, only some of us), will see the awards for Physiology or Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry bestowed on some of the top scientists in the world. Given the significance of the awards and the tremendous amounts of work and insight they represent, I’d like to explain the basics of the science behind each award, starting with the prize for Physiology or Medicine.

 

The Swedish Academy announced Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine on October 3rd.

Diamonds under pressure

Earth’s core is a roiling furnace, where temperature and pressure exist at extremes that alter the basic behavior of solid matter. These physical extremes cause changes in matter down to the molecular level, where complex crystals form and unusual atomic interactions take place. These behaviors are normal deep inside the earth, but stay hidden under miles of rock. Thus, to learn about matter at environmental extremes, those extremes must be created in a lab—and doing so may hold lessons about Earth and its celestial neighbors.

Enter Natalia Dubrovinskaia, a full professor at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, and pioneer in the field of high-pressure studies.

The birth of proteins, uncovered

In 1956, Francis Crick set forth the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology: our genomic material, DNA, is used to produce mRNA, the mobile instructions for protein synthesis. In the years since Crick’s pronouncement, our knowledge of the dogma has only grown more intimate: we’ve discovered complex networks of gene regulation, DNA sequences that do not make proteins, and the ability to visualize DNA replication and the creation of mRNA. However, translation, the process by which cells create proteins using an mRNA template, remained difficult to see until recently, when several groups published methods for viewing new proteins as they are born

Stick your carbon dioxide where the sun don’t shine

Climate change is a big problem—literally Earth-sized—and its cause is thought to be humans and our highly industrialized societies. To stave off the coming massive climate shift, scientists are developing many technologies, each with the promise to help reduce humanity’s environmental impact. These technologies include cleaner energies, improved industrial practices, and carbon sequestration strategies, among others. The least famous of these, carbon sequestration, is a method of removing carbon from circulation, and may provide a way to store massive amounts of carbon in the crust of the earth.

Science fiction meets reality in the photothermal nanoblade

Say it with me: the mitochondrion is the powerhouse of the cell.

Mitochondria are the cellular organelles that evolved to provide energy to our cells. Most organelles evolved in the cells they inhabit, but mitochondria are different: they began their evolutionary life as separate organisms. As a result, mitochondria possess their own genome. Using this genome, they produce the proteins necessary for energy production, so when errors occur in the mitochondrial genome, cellular metabolism is put at risk.

What is a prion and why might plants have them?

In biology, nearly everything resists easy classification. Take, for example, the prion. The name is unassuming, but their behavior is vicious: these misfolded proteins cause Mad Cow disease and sometimes pass to humans through our food supply. Once misfolded, prions recruit other, normal copies of themselves and cause more misfolding, which leads to nasty aggregations of prions in the brain. The effect of these masses on the brain is evidenced in the medical name of Mad Cow disease: bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which roughly translates to “spongy brain disease.”

Prions, however, are not always delinquents.

Mobile DNA prefers a more flexible option

DNA is frequently presented as simply a book of instructions for the creation of life. We see it as a sleek, gently twisting ladder comprised of parallel rungs, called bases. In the right sequence, these bases make up the genes that color our hair and shape our features. That’s all DNA is, right?

Brewing is complicated

I brewed a batch of beer on Sunday, my first batch in a long time. My brewing partner and I use all-grain recipes when we brew. We like all grain because our recipes are more customizable and the beer turns out better.

Aside from forgetting careful sanitation, we have found that the easiest way to screw up a batch of beer is to be lazy about the way we add the yeast to the unfermented beer. I’m happy to report that we pitched our yeast correctly this time, and in a few weeks we will have some delicious beer to help us herald the arrival of summer.

Some brewers don’t have to worry so much about their microbes.