Biofluorescence
Here’s a quick news bite about the discovery of a sea turtle which has a fluorescent shell and possibly parts of the head and limbs. I’ll try to dig up more info and edit the post later.
You can read about bioluminescence and fluorescent proteins here:
Water
I’ll have to read more about this later.
h/t Michael Habib
Originally shared by NASA
Liquid water flows on present-day Mars! Researchers using our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious dark streaks are seen on the Red Planet. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening. This is a significant science discovery on our quest to send humans on a #JourneyToMars. Details: http://go.nasa.gov/1Lh2IvA
That’s it for #SuperBloodMoon .
Clouds have moved back in. That’s it for me.
2015 Lunar Eclipse/Super moon
The clouds cleared but my $%@?! neighbor has his flood light on. My other neighbor’s silver maple is in the way. If only he could kindly move it a few feet.
Ready for the Super moon/Blood moon?
The GIF in this link will help you with the best viewing times in the US.
http://skunkbear.tumblr.com/post/129925688249/when-can-i-see-the-supermoon-eclipse-tomorrow
Progress?
I guess we are making progress. The NASA report from 1971 is stunning. I’m glad the issue of menstruation in space is a non-problem.
http://skunkbear.tumblr.com/post/129303484789/menstruation-in-space
What’s in the fold?
Congratulations! You’re a TIM (triose phosphate isomerase) barrel.
You have multiple talents and can fit in with lots of different social groups. On the surface, you might seem indistinguishable from other TIM barrels, but, in fact, you are totally unique in your subtle way.
We know how fickle some proteins can be, so we developed the all-in-one Amicon® Pro system for protein purification and antibody labeling.
Mentioning Amicon gives me flashback nightmares of grad school, filtering human red blood cell lysate (broken cells) so that I could harvest hemoglobin.
I had to search Protein Database (PDB) to see if I can display a TIM barrel on the 3D wall at work.
You can use the Jmol viewer to explore TIM.
http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/jmol.do?structureId=8TIM&bionumber=1
On the right hand side, where it says Style, you can change between the different types (models) of depicting a structure: ball & stick, cartoon, space-filling, etc. Unfortunately I don’t have time for a lengthy post to explain the different models or to write more about TIM.
On the last question, in case you don’t know who Maud Menton is, she’s the Menton in the Michaelis-Menton equation. She’s also an alum of the University of Chicago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Menten
h/t Rajini Rao
American adults get a D in science; 22% confuse astronomy and astrology
The test isn’t particularly hard but then again, I tend to surround myself with smart friends. Based on some of the nonsense I’ve been reading in the news, it would be interesting to see how some of the presidential candidates would fare on the Pew research test. Try it yourself.
http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/science-knowledge/
I got them all correct. I’d be upset if I got any of them wrong. I’m a scientist for crying out loud.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-science-quiz-americans-pew-20150909-story.html