Science Cookies!!!

As a lover of both science and cookies, I was blown away by Not so Humble Pie's collection of science cookies. Below are a few of my favs, but be sure to check out her site for more inspiration!!!

This labware is not approved by EH&S but it is approved by me!

Nerves, delicious nerves!

So beautiful, so edible!

My God! I think they have finally sequenced the gene for yumminess!

-Skye Long

Blood Sucking Freaks!!!!!! Part 3 of 4

Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite…………or you will die???????

With all the chatter about bed bugs you would think these things carry the plague, but actually they do not transmit any disease to human hosts. This is pretty strange if you think about it, most human parasites that consume blood are vectors to some pretty nasty stuff. Mosquitoes transmit Malaria, Encephalitis, West Nile Virus, Dengue fever and Yellow fever and are responsible for over one million deaths worldwide per year! Ticks also carry devastating diseases, such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. If you want to get your 2011 Hypochondria a kick start see the CDC page on tick borne diseases. I feel itchy, and I might have a fever.

 Scientists don’t know why bedbugs don’t carry disease, though I am sure the National Institute of Health would give you money to find out. Hint, hint future grad students. And actually it could be a pretty interesting story; bedbugs have been co-evolving with us for thousands of years, just like mosquitos and ticks. So, why are they forces of pestilence and bedbugs aren’t?

                They may not carry any disease, but they can leave you covered in itchy red bumps and their shed exoskeletons can cause allergic reactions. Most clinicians agree that a lot of damage comes from the psychological trauma of being feasted on while you sleep. For a very emotionally damaging story about a bedbug infestation that will have you combing your mattress with a magnifying glass and tweezers Monk style, listen to This American Lice, oops, Life episode 361: Fear of Sleep. If you are still not examining every red bump on your body with enough bedbug fervor see the 2006 thriller “BUG”. Your neuroses will thank me.

After they die, blood-sucking insects are sorted according to thier ability as disease vectors.

Leaving it all behind: autotomy in animals

Surviving from predation is one of the most critical tasks for an animal. There are a number of ways to achieve this goal. One is to make sure that predators never gets you. As a result, some animals evolve superior locomotor ability to run away from predators, whereas others evolve astonishing camouflage so that predators can’t even find them. However, if a predator does get a grip on an animal, does that mean it is doomed? Well, in some cases there might still be some hope. Some animals can voluntarily discard certain body parts when it is caught by a predator. Which body part is disposable, however, varies among species. Some animals, such as insects and spiders, can discard their legs; other animals, such as lizards, can shed their tails. This amazing phenomenon, which biologists named it autotomy, provides the animal with a last-minute way of escape. You might wonder if the animal loses the body part forever after autotomy. Fortunately, the lost body part can be regenerated within a relatively short period of time. 

 

-Chi-Yun Kuo

What? Your petunias don’t talk to you?

So maybe it is a bit strange when your plants send you messages. But it is only a matter of time before communicating plants become our next weapon in the fight against terrorism. Professor Medford at Colorado State University and her team of biologists are modifying plant proteins that react to specific chemicals. Once the receptors of the proteins are modified to react with the chemicals of choice, these proteins then activate physiological changes that modify the plant’s appearance rapidly, such as turning all of its leaves white. With this technique, flowers and ferns could send us visual signals when in proximity of trace bomb chemicals or toxins in the air. With funding from Darpa, the Office of Naval Research, and the Defense Threat Agency, Medford says it will only be about 4 years until these plants are used in airports instead of the backscatter technology we all love. Follow this link for the publication or click here for an interview with Medford.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0016292;jsessionid=9E6895D8F62E08DA00CA29E1E6705A22.ambra02

http://youtu.be/kObTt_dR7IM

- Michael Rosario