Here are photos of the Helix Nebula, a.k.a. the “Eye of God,” that I mentioned in my last post as gracing my collection of computer wallpapers.

Eerie, isn’t it?

Courtesy of NASA http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_486.html

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Tags: Mir Saima

One of my favorite computer wallpapers is an eerie and beautiful turquoise and gold image of the Helix Nebula, famously known as the “Eye of God.” As a kid, I was always mind-boggled by the outer space and in those quintessentially curious and fickle years of my childhood, I often played fancifully with the idea of becoming an astronaut and exploring the celestial heavens to see for myself what Earth’s skies concealed. However, even the most powerful telescope images cannot always tell us everything about the universe. Indeed, some its larger mysteries are rather “dark” indeed, so to speak. In fact, what are known as dark matter and dark energy, though foreign to us in our own home planet, actually constitute the majority of our universe.

Take a look at a (rather fantastically stunning) clip from The History Channel segment on these dark mysteries:

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With 2012 just in its early days and before the dawn of yet another term, a look back at the scientific journals of 2011 brings us articles from both the Journal of Molecular Biology (JMB) and Molecular Cell, respectively entitled The 50^th Anniversary of the Publication of the Operon Theory in the Journal of Molecular Biology: Past, Present and Future and Integrated Gene Regulatory Circuits: Celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of the Operon Model. While Watson and Crick grace many of the historic photos of molecular biology for their discovery of the iconic double-helix that revolutionized much of the thinking in the field today, we must pay great tribute to Jacob and Monod for explaining what Watson and Crick did not and for giving a new regulatory dimension to our view of life at the genetic molecular level in what JMB touts as “still a masterpiece to read.”

The “operon” is familiar term for ardent biology and chemistry concentrators and an increasingly familiar term for physics and engineering students on the interdisciplinary platform that constitutes science today. Rudimentarily defined, the operon is a unit of genes with select genes regulating the other protein-coding genes in the unit. The lactose operon is the premier model for gene regulation and initial characterization in the enteric bacteria E. coli has led to characterizations of more sophisticated gene regulation in higher organisms. It might further issue personal excitement for researchers—not excluding the budding young scientists among us—in the varied fields of epigenetics, stem cells, and systems biology. Moreover, the conception of regulatory circuits inspired by the operon underscores the sheer complexity of living phenomena as nature’s remarkable, robust information processors. Thus, the 50^th anniversary reminds us that with greater breakthroughs in science come even greater questions.

For a short animated overview of the operon:

To briefly read up on the findings of Jacob and Monod and the scientific impacts, check out:

Moshe Yaniv, The 50th Anniversary of the Publication of the Operon Theory in the Journal of Molecular Biology: Past, Present and Future, Journal of Molecular Biology, Volume 409, Issue 1, 27 May 2011, Pages 1-6, ISSN 0022-2836, 10.1016/j.jmb.2011.03.041.

 Shahragim Tajbakhsh, Giacomo Cavalli, Evelyne Richet, Integrated Gene Regulatory Circuits: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Operon Model, Molecular Cell, Volume 43, Issue 4, 19 August 2011, Pages 505-514, ISSN 1097-2765, 10.1016/j.molcel.2011.08.003.

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You can explore, search, and save any combination of virtual human body parts with BioDigital Human, a 3D interactive program developed by BioDigital Systems. BioDigital Human is available free in beta form at http://www.biodigitalhuman.com, and can also be downloaded as a Google Chrome App.

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Tags: anatomy computer education visualization

Image: ISTOCKPHOTO/ERAXION

Since the dawn of HIV epidemic in 1981, the development of an HIV vaccine to protect people from infection has been a priority for many scientists. However, there have been many challenges to developing a vaccine. For example, HIV mutates rapidly to evade immunity, and there are no recovered HIV/AIDS patients, so an immune response induced by a vaccine cannot mimic that of a natural recovery.

Still, there is promising progress being made.

Recently, scientists tested different vaccine combinations on monkeys using a prime-boost approach, where one vaccine is given as a priming dose, and a booster shot is administered 6 months later. To mimic vaccines that would be used in humans, the SIV strain (SIV is the monkey analog to HIV in humans) used to make the vaccines was different from the strain used to infect the monkeys. The SIV strain used for infection was chosen to be particularly difficult to develop vaccines for, because it is resistant to developing neutralizing antibodies. Only neutralizing antibodies can protect against infections, like HIV, that attack the immune system.

This study was the first to show that vaccines that can protect against infection by a neutralization-resistant SIV, and the study showed that the Env surface protein on HIV is an important ingredient in developing a successful vaccine. Compared to sham controls, one vaccine combination in the study reduced the chance of becoming infected per viral exposure by 80%.

One of the successful vaccine combinations is now being developed for early-stage clinical trials in humans.

Reference:
D Barouch et al., Vaccine protection against acquisition of neutralization-resistant SIV challenges in rhesus monkeys. Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature10766 (2012).

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Tags: HIV vaccine

In my humble opinion, this is perhaps the most exciting physics related news of 2011.

First theorized by British physicist Peter Higgs, the Higgs boson, the so called “God particle,” if successfully created, would confirm the Standard Model explaining why every elementary particle has a mass. Two independent teams have been searching for this elusive prize at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva. It is tremendously difficult to create, but scientists were hoping that the collisions of high energy proton beams could do so, that is, if this amazing particle actually exists. But for now, whatever discoveries will have to be posted under the achievements of 2012.

Click here for the latest update on the Higgs boson

Not quite there, but the attempts to find the Higgs boson are still a great undertaking in the science feats of 2011. Courtesy of http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/gallery/2011/dec/18/science-2011-in-pictures#/?picture=383359564&index=19

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Could life possibly exist on Kepler 22b, a planet that resides outside the solar system? Astronomers might think so. Courtesy of http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/gallery/2011/dec/18/science-2011-in-pictures#/?picture=383667914&index=1

A recap of all the amazing findings and achievements of 2011, and looking forward to greater things in 2012

Click here for the full gallery

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Courtesy of: http://earthfirst.com/epa-grows-a-pair-and-toughens-lead-pollution-limits-despite-lobbying/

Think that with all the things going on in the world that the environment has been pushed to the backburner? Think again. These companies have just been asked to retire due to restrictions of EPA policy. And that means fewer smokestacks and higher quality air for us all as we build our snowmen outdoors in the…er…upcoming white Christmas (come on, Boston, snow!)

Check out the list at http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/12/21/list_of_power_plants_retiring_in_face_of_epa_rules/

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“Curiosity”, the biggest Mars rover yet (the size of a 1-ton car) successfully launched from Florida two days ago. Before it figures out if there really is life on the red planet, it first has to land, about 8.5 months from now.

Steps:

1. Descend into the thick Mars atmosphere with your aeroshell heat shield, guided by MEDLI and MARDI.

2. Once you enter the atmosphere (~78 miles altitude at ~5,800 m/sec velocity): Deploy parachute with attached rocket backpack! Drop the heat shield.

3. Extend and fire eight throttleable retrorockets for the power descent after dropping the parachute.

4. The (never before used) sky crane will lower you down gently onto the earth.

5. Pop wheels and suspension into place, say goodbye to descent, and welcome to Mars.

Good luck Curiosity!

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