Russian Team Reports New Life in Antarctica's Lake Vostok

Summary:

Lake Vostok in Antarctica contains life – this includes at least one form of life not found elsewhere on Earth, Russian scientists announced today. Analyses of water samples that were collected from the lake earlier this year have revealed a species of bacteria not belonging to any known subkingdoms. "We call it unidentified and 'unclassified' life," the team's leader, Sergei Bulat of the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti. The bacteria's DNA was less than 86% similar to known bacterial DNA, indicating that it was a new species, Bulat said. The Russian team retrieved the samples in January, one year after successfully completing the 4000-meter drilling through ice to reach the lake's surface. To confirm the preliminary finding, the team plans to collect new samples of water from the lake during a return expedition, reportedly in May, although that's the middle of the Antarctic winter.

Correlation:

                Well later in the semester we will be talking about life on this planet and Lake Vostok has been thought to be barren for decades. If we are finding new species that are existing in extremely cold places then maybe there is hope that there is life on another planet!

Personal Reaction:

I love anything that the Russians do because they are always finding interesting things. I think it would be cool if they found a new species because that will lead to more excursions in the future. It might also help identify things found on other planets.  

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/03/russian-team-reports-new-life-in.html?ref=hp

Growing New Teeth With the help of Mice

Summary:

                How would you feel if you lost an adult tooth? You would probably be angry because you would have to get dentures to replace the tooth because adults can’t grow new ones – unless you have a mouse kidney handy! In new research studies, researchers are injecting human gum tissue that was extracted during oral surgery into the molars of fetal mice. After giving the cells a week to get used to each other, the scientists then implant the chimeric conoction into the protective tissue surrounding the kidneys of living mice. 20% of the cells developed into objects recognizable as teeth. They are complete with the root structures missing from artificial tooth implants. The next step is to transplant these so-called “bioteeth” back into human mouths and see if they grow into something that we can chew on! The research is still underway and results will be published soon.

Correlation:

                Last week we talked about stem cells being in our teeth and if we lose an adult tooth that has valuable stem cells it is nice to know there is a way to get them back. It is also nice not to have to be toothless.

Personal Reaction:

                I would definitely use mouse kidneys to get a tooth back. Stem cells are important. I would if this means they can grow more teeth if they could use the stem cells from these teeth too. That would be helpful. Either way I am just glad to know that if I lose an adult tooth dentures don’t have to be my first option.   

 

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/03/scienceshot-growing-new-teeth-wi.html?ref=hp

Facebook Preferences Predict Traits

Summary:

Everyone knows about the “Like” button on Facebook. Well what most people don’t know is that this simple button can tell a lot about your personality traits. They can reveal things such as sexual orientation, drug use, and religious affiliation, according to a study that analyzed the online behavior of thousands of volunteers. What you like defines you and researchers have known for decades that the people’s person attributes – gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, and personality type – correlate with their choice of products, concepts, and activities. You know there is a difference of people who go to the Opera as opposed to a NASCAR race. Michal Kosinski, a psychologist at the University of Cambridge, and Microsoft Research led a team to discover just how much the like button on Facebook predicts our personality traits. To get the data on intelligence so that Kosinski would have something to compare with the likes on Facebook he came up with a myPersonality app on Facebook. The volunteers of the myPersonality app answer survey questions and take a series of psychological tests that measure things such as intelligence, competitiveness, extraversion versus introversion, and general satisfaction with life. Kosinski and his team will not only get this data but also data from the user’s profile and friends network. Facebook likes are an amazingly good predictor of personal attributes. The most accurate predictions were for gender (93%) and race (95%). However, it was still able to predict more sensitive personal attributes such as homosexuality (88% men, 75% women), religion (82%), political party (85%), and even use of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs (73%, 70%, and 65%). When Facebook’s in-house social scientist were contacted about this discovery they were hardly surprised. Facebook allows you to share things you fine interesting and it also allows you to login on to third party sites so you can take your likes with you everywhere.

Correlation:

We have been speaking about the brain and how it works. This correlates directly with that topic because we are unknowingly “liking” things on a social media site that defines us. This really brings to new light how things we find interesting online plays in our personalities.

Personal Reaction:

I find this a bit scary because this is public information and employers can look at this data and can judge how you will work based on things you like on Facebook. We might not need to come in for interviews or meet people in person for them to know what we are like. And I’m not sure just how accurate this research is because sometimes I like something on Facebook to acknowledge what a person has said not that I necessarily agree with it. It’ll be interesting to see this research in more depth.     

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/03/facebook-preferences-predict-per.html?ref=hp