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| Update:
June 23, 2008 |
| AROUND THE WORLD
By Pam Eastlick
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| By Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line |
| Welcome to The Deep science and technology column where we cover topics from the deep sea to deep space and beyond. |
We'll start today's column with some space news, past and future. The 'past' news concerns one of the first satellites launched into space.
AROUND THE WORLD IN A YEAR AND A HALF
Meet Zac Sunderland, a self-possessed and mature 16-year old who has just started the adventure of a lifetime. He's making a well-backed bid to become the youngest person to ever sail solo around the world.
We've featured many circumnavigators (one of my favorite words by the way) here in The Deep column. The founder of The Deep, Jim Sullivan, was attempting a circumnavigation when a typhoon blew him into Guam. We had several phone interviews with female round the world sailors on the radio show The Deep. But if Zac Sunderland succeeds, he'll making sailing history.
Zac has a sailing background. His father manages yachts and the family (which includes seven children) has made many long cruises. Zac came to his desire to sail around the world very early.
His boat, a 36' yacht called Intrepid, was purchased used, but Zac and his family have spent many long hours completely refurbishing it and installing sophisticated navigation equipment, a new engine, a satellite phone and e-mail and web capabilities. He's doing a daily blog of his adventures at his website www.zacsunderland.com.
Zac left Marina del Rey in California last week on the first and longest leg of his trip.
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He's headed for Majuro in the Marshall Islands and he'll be sailing almost 5000 miles. The trip should take him about a month. It may take a little longer however. In his blog at his website, he says that there is no wind and he's becalmed until it picks up again. Nothing like a little adversity at the beginning of the trip. We'll be featuring Zac and his adventures in the column from time to time and you can follow them yourself at the website. Fair winds, following seas and clear night skies to this amazing young man! And now, I've noticed that the 'Medicine' section of the file box where I stuff all my column ideas is beginning to bulge at the seams so it's off to the wonderful world of what ails us.
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A 3-D VIEW
Researchers at Perdue University have recently taken the most detailed three-dimensional picture of a virus ever accomplished. The resolution on their picture is 4.5 angstroms. To give you an idea of just how small this baby is, a human hair is about 1 MILLION angstroms.So who cares what the little darlings look like? Well, if we understand the system, how the virus particles assemble and how they infect a host cell it will help researchers to understand it.
The team obtained a three-dimensional map of the outer shell, of a bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria (and not you). Bacteriophages are the most abundant life forms on Earth.
So how did they take this amazing picture? In electron microscopy, a beam of electrons takes the place of the light beam used in a conventional microscope. The use of electrons instead of light allows the microscope to "see" in much greater detail.
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The particular imaging method used by the scientists is called Cryo-EM. It cools specimens to temperatures well below the freezing point of water. This decreases damage from the electron beam and allows the specimens to be examined for a longer period of time. Longer exposure time allows for sharper, more detailed images. So what does a bacteriophages look like? Here it is!
So we now know what a virus looks like, but where do they come from? Well, apparently from some of our closest neighbors at least in the case of the influenza virus.
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OUT OF ASIA
Although we live in a global age now, it was only recently that we've actually had access to some very important information. For thousands of years, there was no clear pattern that described how influenza viruses migrate around the world. According to some proposed scenarios, the viruses were thought to migrate between the Northern and Southern hemispheres following the seasons, or to spread from the tropics into the temperate zones where they were thought to continuously circulate. Recent studies show that they come mainly from China.
The recent study published in the journal Science shows that in every year since 2002, influenza A (H3N2) viruses have migrated out of China and Southeast Asia and from there spread around the world.
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Why Asia? For reasons that aren't well understood, flu epidemics break out during the rainy seasons in the tropics of China and Southeast Asia. On continents at higher latitudes, on the other hand, flu season simply occurs for a few months during the wintertime. Within Asia, different regions experience the rainy season at different times of year.
Annual influenza epidemics are thought to result in 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness, and between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. Well, at least the next time you get sick, you'll know who to blame!
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BRING ON THE JELLO!
All of you who have diabetes know what a literal pain it is to stick needles in your arms and legs for your insulin. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you didn't have to do that any more? Researchers in Texas report development of a gel-like material that could help speed the long-awaited arrival of insulin that can be taken in pill form instead of injections.
Stomach acid destroys insulin, preventing its oral administration. Many different research groups worldwide are searching for ways to overcome that obstacle. However, an ideal material for safe, effective oral delivery remains elusive.
The new study describes a promising candidate in the form of a hydrogel that responds to changes in pH levels. In laboratory tests, the gel-like substance containing insulin expands in the acidic environment of the stomach and prevents the stomach acid from destroying the drug.
When the enlarged pill reaches the small intestine, the site of insulin absorption, the alkaline environment there causes the polymer to shrink and release its cargo of insulin. Here's hoping it works and is on the market soon!
And now for all you pika fans out there!
A HOT TIME AT THE DENTIST
Remember your last trip to the dentist? Dental treatment has certainly come a long way since I was a child. They don't hurt you any more, but the numbness left after they work on you can cause you to want to hide your face until it wears off.
That numbness could soon be history. Researchers at the Harvard Medical School have developed a combination of two agents that can block pain without producing numbness or motor paralysis (you know, when your lips don't work right while the numbness is wearing off). One of the agents is the local anesthetic lidocaine and the other is capsaicin, the pain-producing component in chili peppers!
Local anesthetics are pain killers that allow patients remain alert during the procedure. Unfortunately, they affect all the neurons in the area, not just the ones that cause pain. As a result, not only are pain receptors blocked but also the touch receptors which produces numbness. If enough local anesthesia is used, the neurons that control muscles are silenced as well, producing temporary paralysis.
The researchers used a positively charged form of lidocaine that ordinarily can't pass through the cell membrane and is therefore completely ineffective as a painkiller. Then they combined it with capsaicin. Capsaicin causes pain and targets only the pain receptors. Eating chili peppers may make you feel like you're numb and paralyzed, but you really aren't!
When the two drugs are used in combination, the capsaicin opens the channels to the pain receptors, which allows the charged lidocaine to affect only those receptors; not the touch receptors or the receptors that control muscle movement.
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There is, however, one disadvantage to the current research. Capsaicin activates the sensors for pain and heat. In order to use this newfound wonder drug, scientists must figure out a way to open the channels for the lidocaine without allowing the capsaicin to start a fire in your mouth until the lidocaine can get into the cell and kill the pain. The researchers are working on it but I’m not sure it’s really necessary here on Guam. There are lots of people here who enjoy the burn! |
Cruise on over to the Deep Website at www.thedeepradioshow.com to learn more about these and many other topics. Enjoy!
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