Mouse vs Scorpio. Fight !

Being a scorpion fan and being a Scorpio, this totally pissed me off. The fight between the scorpion and the "rodent" results in the death of the unfortunate scorpion. We all know here that scorpions are "equipped with this powerful venom that could easily take the life of a human child/ elderly. On a side note, the deadliest scorpion is called the "deathstalker" which is responsible for 75% of the total scorpion kills. The deathstalker lives in Africa and in the middle east and has a yearly of 5000+ human kills. (GOOD JOB!). I personally saw this majestic scorpion in Lebanon while camping in the mountains. It got near my tent, fortunately I was able to maintain a safe distance.

Anyways, back to molecular Biology! Unfortunately the fight resulted in the death of the scorpion. Anyone wondered why? The fight was conducted between a grasshopper mouse and a bark scorpion whose stings are incredibly fatal for mice given their small size. "when humans get stung, they say the pain's like having a cigarette stubbed out on your skin, followed by hours of throbbing, the toxin should easily be powerful enough to kill a rodent. The rodent viciously eats the scorpion and when it gets stung, it gets stung a lot. It barely seems to notice" Now the why part. We all know that venom or poison usually activates many pain neurons. Rodentwise, the venom attach to a protein called NAV.1.7 which is found on the surface of pain-sensing nerves cells. When the poison sticks to NAV.1.7, The protein changes its confirmation and acts like a doorway for sodium ions to flow in the neuron which cause the nerve to fire! (then we say Ouch, arghh or start to curse!). But what happens with this specific rodent? Another protein called NAV.1.8 (I see no creativity in proteins' naming here!) attach to venom (which is already attached to NAV.1.7) and this prevents the sodium from flowing in. It blocks the door! 

To read more and view the deadly fight click below:

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/24/this-mouse-turns-agonising-scorpion-venom-into-a-painkiller/

New Biology Law

Well, This is not the fourth Newton's law, it is the new law of urination! Ta-da! Yes you have read right: scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology coined a new rule:

"All Mammals takes about 21 seconds to urinate"

According to Patricia Yang "this law of urination applies across a wide range of animal sizes". The question is how she did the research? She got to the Atlanta zoo and closely "observed" animals from goats, cow, dogs to elephants. As the result of these strenuous observations and research she concluded that "every animal took an average of 21 seconds to relieve itself, despite bladders that varied in volume from 100 milliliters to 100 liters"

What was the most surprising is the elephant which is expected to have a longer urination time because of its massive bladder size. On a side note the elephant has a urethra of one meter long with a diameter of 10 cm. How could elephants empty their bladder in about the same time as goats, dogs or even humans (mid-sized mammals) ?  The answer is simple: due to this long urethra the elephant allows its urine to pick more up speed. When the flow rate increases, it allows the elephant to reach a very similar urination time compared to smaller size mammals.

So why is this important. I found this article entertaining and weird. I then realized that this study could provide a proof that mammals used to have a common ancestor. Evolution could do magic in terms of size, look, intelligence but not in terms of urination!

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/19/4855076/the-law-of-urination-mammals-take-21-seconds-to-pee

Ice finger of death!

The Antarctic hides many dangers. Right now, an icy tube of water is forming underwater fast enough that it can be seen forming with the human eye. This tube can elongate and become several meters in length. When it reaches the seabed it extends tendrils freezing everything in its grasp. It is called the icicle of death or named brinicle by scientists. The brinicle was first described in 1960s but was caught on camera for the first time by the BBC using new technology called timelapse. This occurs both in northern and southern seas. Here is how it is formed.  Like all other bodies of water, only the surface of the water freezes forming a thick sheet of ice. But the salt in the water does not freeze and accumulate in several small spaces inside the icy sheet. The salty mixture, the brine, seeps to the underwater through cracks in the ice.  Since brine is denser than water and freezes at lower temperature than water, the brine sinks and freezes the water that it comes in contact with, forming an underwater tube. With time, the tube becomes thicker and longer until it reach the seafloor. When it hits the seabed, an icy web spreads its tendrils across the floor.  The organisms living there will be frozen in their places mainly seas stars and urchins and fish that are too slow to escape it.  The brinicles have left hundreds of aquatic skeletons. Dr. Thurber, one of the scientists that saw the brinicles growing, described them: “They look like upside-down cacti that are blown from glass,” he says, “like something from Dr. Suess’s imagination. They’re incredibly delicate and can break with on the slightest touch.”

Check the video below:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2065401/Brinicle-forms-beneath-sea-kills-path.html
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/swimming-beneath-the-brinicles-in-antarctica/

The lake of doom

"No do not approach this lake you will get decomposed. its cursed!" This is what we are most likely hear in movies and books BUT not in real life!
 In Tanzania, lake Narton is pretty much the lake of "doom": almost every animal dies and calcifies if it makes any contact with the treacherous water. Weirdly birds are attracted to this lake. Below you can see pictures of these unfortunate animals:

Narton is an actual naturally compound made of sodium carbonate (with minute amounts of bicarbonate). Volcanic ash contain sodium carbonate and unsurprisingly this lake is within the grip of a famous neighboring volcano. Awkwardly, photographers liked these pictures that they made portraits out of them. Photographer Nick Brandt said I could not help but photograph them.

Now the question is: what is the principal cause of animal calcification? 

Due to the big amount of sodium bicarbonate inside water, the overall PH of the lake increased dramatically to PH 10. Also  water temperatures could reach 70 degrees Celsius. So this combination of PH, Temperature extremes makes the lake inhabitable for animals. According to theverge: "With a pH that ranges from 9 to 10.5, and water temperatures that can reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the lake is so inhospitable that it kills most wildlife that wind up in its depths".  Why animals are attracted to this lake? Scientists noticed that the lake's surface has an unprecedented glow. Reflection confuses birds that they crash into the lake. 

On the other side, one special fish called alcolapia alcalica (which is an alkaline tilapia) has this ability to live under these extreme and harsh conditions. More research are being conducted to understand how they could survive very alkaline environments. What do you think? would you take a swim?

Reference:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/2/4794408/lake-natron-calcifies-animals-nick-brandt-photographs

Full Moon or Bad Sleep

Even the researcher could not believe the results, searching for any slight error. The chronobiologist Christian Cajochen determined in his study that the moon really affects us. He recorded several sleep parameters on 33 volunteers and found out that the full moon is disturbing their sleep. Volunteers took 5 more minutes to fall asleep than usual and their total sleeping time was reduced by 20 minutes. Even melatonin levels, a hormone synthesized by our brains mainly at night, were reduced during this night. He recorded the electrical activity of the volunteer brains and noticed a drop in delta waves, which are emitted only during deep sleep. This was a characteristic of poor sleep. 

What could be the reason? Was it the change in the magnetic field or a change of gravitation? The changes in those fields were very small to affect us. Or was it the light reflected by the moon? This was not possible since the volunteers had to spend several nights inside the lab and could not see the moonlight. The chronobiologist suggested that this was the result of an evolutionary. Our ancestors took the advantages of the full moon light to hunt. This habit implemented in us an internal clock that is set for 29.5 days and we are still following it till this day? Has anyone noticed this effect? And what do you think is the cause of this? The next time you see the full moon, do not expect to change into werewolves, but prepare yourselves for a sleepless night

http://www.livescience.com/38435-full-moon-affects-sleep.html

Love potion

No they didn’t found the love potion yet… but they are quiet close. An article entitled “Gene switches make prairie voles fall in love” in Nature caught my eye the other night. A study on certain specie of rodents (prairie voles) proved the involvement of epigenetics in love. These rodents are monogamous in nature and cohabit for a few hours before mating. The mating process triggers a chemical reaction in their brain making them more attached and loyal to one another. Here is what happens. DNA is a negatively charged molecule and is packed in the nucleus using a positively charged molecule called histone. To increase the expression of a certain gene, histone is acetylated, making it less positive and unwinds from DNA, increasing genetic expression. This what mating triggers in these rodents. It increases the expression of the receptors of vasopressin and oxytocin, two hormones known in their involvement in enhancing the feeling of closeness and attachment to another person in human beings.  A drug called trichostatin A was injected in the brain of the rodents and triggered a similar chemical reaction. The drug is a histone deacetylase inhibitor. It prevents the removal of acetyl groups from the DNA, hence enhancing the expression of the hormones. So a drug can induce the feeling of attachment and loyalty towards the partner. Did we find the ultimate love potion? Unfortunately no. The drug only works after cohabitation has occurred for several hours before. It only replaced mating as the trigger. So seduction and flirting are still a must.

http://www.nature.com/news/gene-switches-make-prairie-voles-fall-in-love-1.13112

In vitro Burger?! Blog #3

Last month, I came across a horror video about how chicken and cows are converted to the hamburger you starve for at Macdonald’s.  I was horrified and saddened by the pictures I saw.  It was indeed inhumane, cruel and disgusting that I became a strict vegetarian. Chicken were massively strangled by machines while cows were put ALIVE in a place that tears them apart into pieces. Many said to me: well its already killed so abstaining yourself from meat doesn’t change the fact that million of animals were treated this way in factories.  Buying a burger for me is like encouraging people to continue this slaughter for the sake of paper money. So I continued my practices hoping someday this will change.

It actually did: YAY! I came across the most awkward research you could ever find. Growing animal muscle cell in the lab in vitro to meet your meat “needs”. (meet, meat it rhymes also!) 

Dr. Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands unveiled the culmination of five years of research: a lab-grown “test tube” beef burger, cooked in a pan. According to Post “A few cells that we take from a living cow can be turned to 10 tons of meat” Post also posted the an animated procedure on how could that be done:


In other words, we could get meat by extracting cells from a living cow and clone them to get a nice burger! The most important thing that it is quite easy to do, doesn't break any moral values concerning animal abuse and mass slaughtering. on the bright side this research was actually funded by Google's CEO (a million $) and we hope that this continues!

Many doesn't seem to feel concerned about the topic: they will continue to get their daily meat meal like usual but it is a great discovery for us vegetarians, for fighting the worldwide hunger, and lowering high meat price! Also real meat does have high probability of contamination of Ecoli! So you should be concerned guys! The post suggest that more than 50% of greenhouse gases are emitted from these animal factories.

 The taste! Yea everyone  is wondering what about the taste? is it the same than actual meat you usually have everyday? Well I am not going to answer that question. I am going to leave to it to your curiosity. To watch the video with all the details about this experiment go to: 

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/13/4605528/your-meat-addiction-is-destroying-the-planet-but-we-can-fix-it