Maxwell’s Atomic Coilgun: The Quest for Absolute Zero

Scientific American’s March 2011 article entitled “Demons, Entropy, and the Quest for Absolute Zero” by Mark G. Raizen reveals just how low of temperatures can now be reached with Maxwell’s Atomic Coilgun and what implications this has in modern science. The second law of thermodynamics deals with entropy, and how natural processes always go toward lower order; entropy is disorder. Maxwell and his atomic coilgun aim to turn that law on its head to realize an idea from the nineteenth century. This idea involved “Maxwell’s demon and appeared to violate the second law of thermodynamics because it could lower the entropy of the gas while expending a negligible amount of energy” (58). A man named Szilard talked Maxwell’s demon out of this paradox in a very complex manner. Just know that it did not violate the second law of thermodynamics.

The way modern scientists go about getting gas atoms and some gas molecules to such low temperatures starts with using a vacuum. They launch this gas into a vacuum at super-high speeds, making temperature decrease drastically. This gets the gas’s temperature to around 1/100 a degree above (barely) absolute zero. Next, these scientists use magnetic brakes called an atomic coilgun to reduce the speed of these atoms/molecules. These atomic coilguns were originally designed to do the opposite, accelerating particles and large projectiles using the same magnetic field. This technology is applied in reverse to slow the particles this time. Most elements have north and south magnetic poles, and all elements that do can be controlled by these atomic coilguns.

That was stage one of cooling; here is step two. At this point, an atomic coilgun would have cooled down atoms/molecules to 1/100 of a degree above absolute zero. Some might say that this is close, but no cigar. Wiser men would realize that this new achievement in science will allow us to discover much about matter that is currently unknown, and possibly not just about matter’s properties, but maybe about antimatter and its properties. This list could go on and on; nobody knows. Anyhow, at stage two of cooling, the temperature is brought down to one-millionth of a degree above absolute zero, or even lower! Here, scientists use a technique called single-photon cooling, which “appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics” (59). This method uses a one-way gate once proposed by Maxwell in 1871 in a thought experiment. This gate compresses atoms down to a smaller volume, all the while without raising their temperature! The gate follows by letting the atoms expand to the initial volume. This, however, lowers their temperature.

This has opened many doors in research. One is to study chemical reactions at a quantum level. Another possibility of utility of this research would be to work to lift the barriers of the current ultrahigh-precision spectroscopy and make it even more precise. Two more would be to measure the mass of a neutrino, and maybe even that of an antineutrino. This applies for antihydrogen as well, which will tell us more about antimatter and its reactions to gravity. One more is to aid in the separation of isotopes. Yet another is to help us better understand how atoms look down to the nanometer. This list may go on forever.

Posted by Derek Melzar (2).

men can also get HPV?

The virus known for causing cervical cancer in women also turns up in men and can go on unnoticed for months or even years, researchers states in Lancet.

There are many different types of HPV and more than 40 that can be transmitted sexually. vaccines, Merck’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix, protect against cancer-causing HPV and both vaccines are recommended for young women. Gardasil is also recommended for boys up to age 18 and its protection extends to two additional types of HPV that cause genital warts in males and females.

In 2005, Giuliano of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and an international team of researchers got together more than 4,000 men living in Brazil, Mexico and Florida into a study of HPV. The average age was 32 and none had been vaccinated against HPV. Swabs of the penis and genital area of each man revealed that 50 percent were infected with at least one HPV type upon enrollment.

The researchers repeated these exams every six months, and the men completed personal-history questionnaires. Over a median of 28 months, the group acquired 1,572 new HPV infections.

The human immune system can clear HPV out of the body, and the men wiped out most of their new infections during the study period. But it took a median 7.5 months. Median clearance times didn’t vary substantially among the countries, but did vary between HPV types. Some cases lingered as long as 24 months in the men.

The data also states that men who reports having 10 or more sexual partners in their lifetimes had roughly twice as many HPV infections as did men who had had one partner.

Giuliano says many insurance programs cover HPV vaccination in boys up to age 18.

“HPV vaccination in men will protect not only them but will also have implications for their sexual partners”

Posted by Cleopatra Duque

Dwarfism Linked to Cancer and Diabetes Prevention

Who said good things didn’t come out of unfortunate situations? That is certainly not the case for the genetic disorder that is revolutionizing research on cancer and diabetes. Laron syndrome is a fairly rare ­autosomal recessive disorder, currently affecting about three-hundred people worldwide. Its distinguishing symptom includes insensitivity to growth hormone causing dwarf-like stature. Scientific American has recently introduced Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, an unofficial doctor in Ecuador. He has the unique opportunity there to study the one-third of the world’s population affected by Laron Syndrome who reside in southern Ecuador. His studies on those with Laron Syndrome have led him to make some remarkable observations that could potentially change medicine as we know it: In a community with a 5% diagnosis rate of diabetes and a 17% diagnosis rate of cancer, virtually none of his patients have been diagnosed with either.

Laron’s Syndrome is associated with a mutation in the growth hormone receptor gene (GHR). The individuals also have unusually low levels of insulinlike growth factor 1 (IGF1), which is a hormone that rapid multiplication of cells and inhibits apoptosis. Studies have been done that suggest protection from oxidative damage to DNA by toxins actually comes from a lack of IGF1. Other research has proven that dwarf mice with the same GHR mutation also have decreased rates of cancer, higher protection against diabetes, and even increased life spans. The molecular studies have collaborated with Guevara-Aguirre’s, making the overall research the first time deficiency in GHR has been studied on humans. Growing from research done strictly on lab mice, we can now conclude that IFG1 is undoubtedly an important determining factor of cancer.

There is no doubt these findings will take us to great places. In the near future, doctors may be able to prescribe IGF1-lowering drugs to protect those at risk for cancer and diabetes, similarly to what they would do for those with high levels of cholesterol. Additional research being done on IGF1 and GHR is expected to be done and will hopefully bring us to the day when millions of lives can be spared by a single drug.

Posted by Brianna Lee (2)

Interest in Music has Biological Roots

A recent study has shown that a person’s enthusiasm for music is neurological. At the University of Helsinki a research team studied how a persons neurological makeup affects their interest in music. The team studied 437 people from varying musical backgrounds and age groups. The participants were separated into groups of active listeners and passive listeners. The people in the study were subjected to three tests that measured their musical aptitude and DNA samples were taken.

Researchers have found that there is a connection between sound perception and social communication in humans and other species. This suggests that there is in fact a connection between interest in music and genetics. The participants that were listed as active listeners (frequent concert attendees) tended to have a higher music aptitude regardless of music education.

This particular study is part of a greater project that is studying the biological impact on musical aptitude. This research effort is one of the first of its kind and is still in progress. As an avid music listener I will be very interested to see how it progresses.

Posted by Jessica Kusmirek (2)

Player Suicide Reinvigorates Debate Over Neurological Safety of NFL Athletes and Fellow Football Players Alike

For years, the NFL vehemently resisted any and all forms of medical investigation into symptoms and complications associated with concussions.With each passing day, neurological studies of the brains of former players provide more and more damning evidence against the League's unscrupulous behavior. This week, debate regarding the link between concussions and early onset neurodegenerative diseases now finds itself in Nature following the suicide of former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson. Duerson apparently felt so psychologically ravaged by mental injuries he sustained during his playing days that the only note he left for his family read, "Please, see that my brain is given to the NFL's brain bank". He then shot himself in the chest, ensuring that his brain remained undamaged. Though Duerson's brain has yet to be examined, the drastic measures to which he resorted in order to alleviate his psychological anguish is consistent with the severe damage these players endure throughout their careers.

The NFL brain bank to which Duerson referred, located at Bedford VA Medical Center here in Massachusetts, has spent the last several years examining former athletes' brains for indicators of a neurodegenerative condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE arises from accumulation of Tau protein, which normally stabilize the neural microtubules. The pathology of CTE is highly similar to other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, more commonly known as prion diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Creutzfelt-Jakob disease, and as such sufferers of CTE experience symptoms of dimentia such as memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression. These symptoms may appear within months of the trauma or many months later. So far, of the 12 of the 321 brains of NFL players who died between February 2008 and June 2010 inspected by medical examiners at the VA medical center, all 12 have shown unmistakable signs of CTE.

As science erodes long-accepted dogma and conventional wisdom, there exists a moral imperative on the behalf of society to replace their antiquated beliefs with verifiable fact-based theories. This is no less true of the NFL who, in order to make amends for their past transgressions, must redouble its feeble efforts to ensure the safety of its players and the millions of young kids who seek to emulate them. Recent reforms to its player post-concussion protocol is a excellent first step, but much more must be done to ensure that America's Game will continue to flourish as America's citizens become increasingly aware of the health risks that football poses for their children.

Posted by Connor Finnerty (2)

In Vitro Meat: Food of the Future

Over the past few years, researchers have been working on methods to make in vitro meat by growing animal muscle cells in a dish. These scientists hope that this “lab meat” could eliminate wasteful production of farm animals for food by developing slabs of steak from a small Petri dish. Mark Post, a researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, is the forerunner of this research. Using myosatellite cells, adult stem cells that are responsible for muscle growth and repair, and regular cell-culture medium to grow his in vitro meat. This medium contains fetal calf serum, which kind of defeats the point of synthetic meat since it comes from dead cows. This serum also contains antibiotics and anti-fungal agents that could be harmful to humans if ingested. Unfortunately, there is no other economically reasonable medium available for him to use currently, but other researchers are close to developing a cheap, animal-free growth serum. In addition to this, the myosatellite cells usually only divide about a dozen times because their telomeres weaken with age. Ways to get around this include adding a gene for the repair enzyme telomerase or adding a tumor-growth-promoting gene. Of course, the latter might be hard selling point to future consumers, but this research is still in its infancy so there is no telling what might happen.

After multiplying the cells by using the growth media, the cells are then grown onto something resembling a scaffold which causes these cells to fuse into myofibers. These myofibers then bundle together to make up muscle. Unfortunately, these “lab muscles” are weak and textureless. Post uses electrical shocks and assembles the myofibers between anchor points to help strengthen them. What about texture and taste? Fortunately, myosatellite cells can turn into fat, which adds to taste. Researchers also believe that if they can get the texture right, more taste will follow, especially when flavoring is added. Besides developing the taste, scientists also need to devise a way to add important nutrients such as iron or vitamin b to this meat. The main obstacle that is preventing this research from progressing is funding. Scientists interested in this research are having a difficult time finding organizations willing to pay for the costly expense that arise in this field. It makes you wonder how expensive it will be to commercialize in vitro meat if research and development were to ever take it that far.

Article can be found here.

Posted by Kevin McLaughlin (2)

PTSD: More Than Psychological

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term we commonly associate with those involved in war-related experiences. However, it can affect people in all sorts of traumatic situations, such as assault, childhood mistreatment, or injuries. A new study suggests that some people may be more prone than others to experience PTSD after a traumatic experience. About 10-20% of people who have experienced trauma develop chronic PTSD as a result, depending on the severity and amount of time the individual was exposed to this event. Now scientists may have a way to determine who is more likely to be permanently affected by these horrific situations.

Scientists selected patients who had been exposed to some sort of trauma in their life and found that people with higher levels of PACAP, a receptor for stress signals, were more likely to have PTSD; however, this correlation was only seen in women. They also found a genetic variant to also correspond with PTSD in these patients, but this was also limited to women. This may suggest why PTSD is seen more commonly in women than in men, but does not draw a definite conclusion.

One of the most interesting findings, however, was the effects of childhood maltreatment in patients, both men and women. It was found that in patients who had suffered childhood maltreatment, genes involved in stress response were methylated or suppressed. This methylation changes the gene expression in these patients, making them less able to effectively deal with stressful situations. This not only shows how trauma in childhood can be devastating, but also suggests why PTSD can permanently affect a person’s life.

While these discoveries are certainly eye-opening, they currently have little effect on the treatment of PTSD. The neurological understanding of PTSD is still very limited, and so the results of this study cannot yet be translated into effective treatments. With further research in both the genetic and neurological fields of this disorder, there seems to be a possible brighter future for those unfortunately exposed to horrific events in their lives.

Posted by Marlena Grasso (2)