TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| Japan confirms its first case of new superbug gene By SHINO YUASA 2010-09-07T11:29:15ZTOKYO (AP) -- Japan has confirmed the nation's first case of a new gene in bacteria that allows the microorganisms to become drug-resistant superbugs, detected in a man who had medical treatment in India, a Health Ministry official said Tuesday.... hosted.ap.org |
A surprise from the LHC already! The CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) announced a surprise yesterday which may dramatically change our ideas about quarks, gluons and protonsThere was a special Cern seminar yesterday evening on some new results from the CMS experiment, one of the detectors at the Large Hadron Collider. The result is summarised in this colourful landscape.First imagine this is a contour map of the cylinder CMS makes around the LHC collisions. It has been cut lengthwise and unrolled. Then for each pair of particles in an event, you put one of them at (0,0), and plot the position of the other. (Thanks to GreyBadger for the comment below correcting the initial over-simplified explanation here).The map is the average distribution of the separation between particle pairs for a very special class of events, with very many particles in them. The big peak is something like a "jet" of particles, what we expect when a quark or gluon in the proton undergoes a collision and is scattered off at an angle.Balancing it on the other side is a long ridge. This is an expected feature. You have to have something there to balance energy and momentum.The weird thing is the other ridge (pointed at by the arrow). This shows particles and energy coming out far away from the jet in rapidity (meaning at angles along the LHC beam) but on the same side of it around the cylinder. Our best models of quark and gluon interactions and jet production do not predict such an effect.What is causing it? Well, a similar effect was seen at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the US. There it was interpreted as the quarks and gluons in a collision between heavy nuclei behaving collectively - moving together like a drop of liquid or a plasma. This is the way quarks and gluons behave under extreme temperature and pressure - for instance shortly after the Big Bang.The big surprise is seeing these in proton-proton collisions. As far as I know, it was thought that the temperature, pressure and the sheer number of quarks and gluons would not be enough to cause this. This is why RHIC uses heavy nuclei, not just protons. The LHC will run with heavy ions at some point soon. (In fact the Alice detector is built specifically for this). My guess is that the CMS scientists were making this measurement with protons as a baseline test for future heavy ion measurements. I suspect they are as surprised as anyone else to see that ridge.I expect a lot of theoretical activity over the next weeks and months as people try to digest and interpret these results. And some experimental activity as we on Atlas try to see if we can see the same effect.Jon Butterworthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Today's Mystery Bird for you to identify | GrrlScientist In addition to identifying this mystery bird, can you tell me more about what aspect of this species' lifestyle has had such a profound effect upon the evolution of its feet, and (more challenging) can you tell me what is so special about its feet?Mystery Bird photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas, USA. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Joseph Kennedy, 29 September 2010 [Would you like a look through a 'scope?] Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. This daily mystery bird has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. Its feet are especially distinct, being specialised for its particular lifestyle. In addition to identifying this mystery bird, can you tell me more about what aspect of this species' lifestyle has had such a profound effect upon the evolution of its feet, and (more challenging) can you tell me what is so special about its feet?Daily Mystery Bird Rules: 1. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification, keeping in mind that more than one field mark is often necessary to distinguish between species. IDs without any supporting information are not valid and may be deleted by the moderators. 2. Expert and intermediate level birders: do NOT try to be the first to blurt out the mystery bird's ID. Instead, please provide helpful hints, such as descriptions, literary references, puns, personal anecdotes, and other forms of discussion and assistance for beginning birders and for those following on their iPhones without naming the species. Expert and intermediate birders are free to name the bird species 24 or more hours after it was first published.3. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation. 4. Each bird species will be demystified 48 hours after publication. If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciate audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
UN meeting aims to set species-saving goals By MALCOLM FOSTER 2010-10-17T12:36:46ZTOKYO (AP) -- An international conference aimed at preserving the planet's diversity of plants and animals in the face of pollution and habitat loss begins Monday in Japan, facing some of the same divisions between rich and poor nations that have stalled U.N. climate talks.... hosted.ap.org |
World congress explores soil-borne disease More than 260 scientists and researchers from 16 countries are in Townsville in north Queensland this week as part of the sixth World Melioidosis Congress. abc.net.au |