For Just One Day

The time is here once again to take a science break and escape the politics of the day for a bit is upon us one and all. Pull up that comfy chair, rest yourself, and prepare for some exciting and tantalizing news in the realm of science. New discoveries. New takes on old knowledge. The base of information and knowledge grows at a rate much too fast to keep up with all that is happening.

Over the fold are some of my favorite selections the past week from a few of the many excellent science news sites around the world. Today’s tidbits include sperm created from embryonic stem cells, rare sheep may aid laboratories in the developing world, increased danger from super-sized deposits of arctic carbon, how plastic harms the environment and human health, farthest ever supernova detected, and Galileo possible discoverer of Neptune. Follow down the yellow brick road for one more session of science education and entertainment.

In the news comes one more advance in embryonic stem cell research with the creation of human sperm in the laboratory.

The embryonic stem cells were cultured in a new medium containing vitamin A derivative (retinoic acid), in a new technique established by the team. Based on this technique, the cells differentiated into germline stem cells.

The process offers many new possibilities for studying the functions and development of sperm. In addition the effects of various toxins on sperm may be studied. If or not the process is useful for human reproduction remains to meet the test of laws, ethics, and functionality.

The hair sheep (a misnomer if ever there was one since the animal has less hair than our domestic species) may be a source of blood for use in laboratory testing procedures in the developing world.

Identifying microbes from a patient’s urine or sputum requires growing those microbes in culture dishes filled with gelatinous agar and a small amount of blood.

The blood of these heat tolerant sheep functions well in the testing procedures and offers both meat and milk as added benefits. In areas where horses are too expensive and conventional sheep too difficult to manage these sheep may be a real boon.

New studies estimate the amount of carbon stored in Arctic ice to be more than double previous estimations.

the existence of these super-sized deposits of frozen carbon means that any thawing of permafrost due to global warming may lead to significant emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.

And the beat goes on and on. Can humankind take enough action in time to save our planet and our species?

In a lengthy summary article the harmful effect of plastic on the environment and human health is discussed.

Plastic’s problems extend beyond the human body, according to the report. More than one-third of all plastic is disposable packaging like bottles and bags, many of which end up littering the environment.

More than 60 scientists contributed to the new report, which aims to present the first comprehensive review of the impact of plastics on the environment and human health, and offer possible solutions.

A giant supernova many times farther away than other well known similar structures is being reported by researchers using a new technique of image comparison.

The supernovae Cooke and colleagues found occurred 11 billion years ago. The next-farthest large supernova known occurred about 6 billion years ago.

Astronomers are beginning to see the very earliest stars formed in our billions of years old universe. We shall see what the creationists will make of this bit of news.

Did Galileo discover Neptune some 400 years ago?

Galileo was observing the moons of Jupiter in the years 1612 and 1613 and recorded his observations in his notebooks. Over several nights he also recorded the position of a nearby star which does not appear in any modern star catalogue.

If confirmed this discovery is 234 years before the official date we use today.

Bonus Stories
Budget constraints may endanger manned spacewalks in the future.
Sunspots return.
The world’s oldest Bible, Codex Sinaiticus, goes online.
Dogs and humans put heads together to solve the mystery of brain cancer.
Glass used as a structural element.
Robo-bats next generation of surveillance tools?
Animals of the disappearing mangroves (with slide show).
Psychological treatments may not prevent PTSD.
“15-year-high” for rhino poaching.
Dramatic Arctic ice thinning revealed by NASA satellite images.

For even more science news:

General Science Collectors:
Eureka Science News
New Scientist
LiveScience
PhysOrg.com
Science Daily
Space Daily
BBC News Science and Environment
Scientific American

Blogs:
A Few Things Ill Considered Techie and Science News
Cantauri Dreams space exploration
Deep Sea News marine biology
Laelaps more vertebrate paleontology
List of Geoscience Blogs
ScienceBlogs
Space Review
Techonology Review
Tetrapod Zoologyvertebrate paleontology
Wired News
Science RSS Feed: Medworm
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe–a combination of hard science and debunking crap

NASA picture of the day. For more see the NASA website. These pictures are evidence of your tax dollars hard at work.

Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, Public Domain

Quote of the Day:
There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.–Hippocrates

Peace.