Do you even science bro?
I can’t tell you how much I f#!&ing love this article from The Allium. I even read the title.
Thanks to Rajini Rao for pointing me to The Allium.
ETA
I should mention the Do you even science bro? joke is from Nic Hammond from this post.
Yes cephalopods can be cute.
I would vote for Opisthoteuthis Adorablisis. I need to make a trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium next time I visit my dad. Make sure you watch the video unless you already know what an oviducal gland is.
#ScienceEveryday
Originally shared by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
What do you call a tiny octopus with big eyes, gelatinous skin and is cute as a button? Nobody knows quite yet! Stephanie Bush of MBARI aims to classify and name this presently undescribed deep-sea cephalopod using preserved specimens and a clutch of eggs housed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
#CephalopodWeek starts Friday! Stay tuned for 8 whole days of cephalopods!!! Watch this video from Science Friday about Stephanie Bush’s research:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/video/06/15/2015/isn-t-this-octopus-adorabilis.html
Moringa oleifera Seeds can clean water
Dr. Stephanie Velegol and colleagues recently published their work on explaining how a protein from the seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree can kill bacteria. It was known for some time that women in Egypt would use the seeds to clean dirty water. Since modern filtration systems are expensive and difficult to get to rural areas, understanding how the Moringa oleifera seeds work is important. Using cryo-TEM and simulations (among other techniques), they were able to demonstrate how the Moringa oleifera cationic protein (MOCP) kills bacteria. It fuses the inner and outer bacteria membranes.
☼ cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM)
Cryo-EM (transmission EM in this case) is a technique where the sample is cryogenically frozen and then sliced for the EM scope. There are two main types of EM: transmission and scanning. In transmission EM, the electrons go through the sample. In scanning EM the electrons go over the sample. Unlike optical (common) microscopes, EM, as you probably guessed, use electrons instead of light. You can read more here:
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/electronmicroscopes.html
☼ Simulations
Using data from multiple techniques, the researchers simulated what was going on with the MOCP and a test bacteria, E. coli. The data suggest that the MOCP cause flocculation and fusion of the inner and outer membranes. Within 50 seconds the MOCP cause flocculation (like aggregation) of the bacteria. The simulations also suggest how the structure of the MOCP functions during the fusion process.
You can read the news blurb from Penn State here:
The full article is here (behind a paywall).
The Flocculating Cationic Polypetide from Moringa oleifera Seeds Damages Bacterial Cell Membranes by Causing Membrane Fusion.
Shebek K, Schantz AB, Sines I, Lauser K, Velegol S, Kumar M.
Langmuir. 2015 Apr 21;31(15):4496-502. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b00015. Epub 2015 Apr 10.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25845029
#ScienceSunday
h/t Gnotic Pasta and rasha kamel
I’m glad my friends like Buddhini Samarasinghe, Rajini Rao, and Allison Sekuler are Tweeting away about how wrong Dr. Hunt is. I hope to catch Buddhini on BBC Radio.
ETA Nice fake apology.
ETA 2 Here’s more from Buddhini
https://plus.google.com/+BuddhiniSamarasinghe/posts/arRaTcZSd8s