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For the scientists out there ...
For the scientists out there ...
http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/56IumhcXH5I/music-to-do-lab-work-by.html
http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/56IumhcXH5I/music-to-do-lab-work-by.html
Really interesting stuff but these top economists don't seem very positive on the future.
Really interesting stuff but these top economists don't seem very positive on the future.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16090055?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16090055?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
This has really helped clarify what was going on when Cameron used his EU veto.
This has really helped clarify what was going on when Cameron used his EU veto.
http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-has-cameron-saved-the-city-from-sarkozy/8766
http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-has-cameron-saved-the-city-from-sarkozy/8766
Smallest rotary motor in biology, the ATP synthase.
Originally shared by Rajini Rao
Smallest rotary motor in biology, the ATP synthase. All the work done in your body is fueled by breaking a chemical bond in ATP, the “currency of energy”. Did you know that you convert your body weight (or an estimated 50 kg) of ATP per day?!
Where does this ATP come from? It is synthesized by an incredibly sophisticated molecular machine, the ATP synthase, embedded in the inner membrane of our mitochondria. Energy from the oxidation of food results in protons being pumped across the membrane to create a proton gradient. The protons drive the rotation of a circular ring of proteins in the membrane that in turn move a central shaft. The shaft interacts sequentially with one of 3 catalytic sites within a hexamer, making ATP (little butterflies in the movie!). The ATP synthase rotates about 150 times/second
To visualize the rotation under a microscope, a very long fluorescent rod (actin filament) was chemically attached to the central shaft. Watch real movies (not animations!) of the enzyme spinning here: http://www.k2.phys.waseda.ac.jp/F1movies/F1long.htm
Notice the rotation is slower with longer rods. The rotor produces a torque of 40 pN nm (40 pico Newtons x nanometer), irrespective of the load. This would be the force you would need to rotate a 500 m long rod while standing at the bottom of a large swimming pool at the rate shown in the movie.
How did this amazing rotor evolve? The hexameric structure is related to DNA helicases that rotate along the DNA double helix, using ATP to unzip the two strands apart. The H+ motor has precedence in flagella motors that use proton gradients to drive rotation of long filaments, allowing bacteria to tumble through their surroundings. At some point, a H+ driven motor came together with a helicase like hexamer to create a rotor driving the hexamer in reverse, to synthesize ATP.
The 1997 Nobel prize in Chemistry was awarded to John Walker and Paul Boyer for solving the structure and cyclical mechanism of the ATP synthase, respectively. This amazing enzyme was also the subject of my own Ph.D. thesis, and my first love!
For #ScienceSunday curated by Allison Sekuler and Robby Bowles .
First in a new series on the basics of statistics in the Guardian. Seems a good start.
First in a new series on the basics of statistics in the Guardian. Seems a good start.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/02/biased-sample-statistics
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/02/biased-sample-statistics
Beatboxing + Cello is the coolest cello thing you'll see today
Originally shared by Carter Gibson
Beatboxing + Cello is the coolest cello thing you'll see today
Despite having been a cellist for over 13 years, I could never do this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T36A-H8dPhI
Beatboxing + Cello is the coolest cello thing you'll see today
Despite having been a cellist for over 13 years, I could never do this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T36A-H8dPhI
Only Spain and Portugal have had bigger cuts than the UK (approximately). What about Italy and Greece?
Only Spain and Portugal have had bigger cuts than the UK (approximately). What about Italy and Greece?
http://fullfact.org/blog/europe_government_cuts_spending_borrowing-3165
http://fullfact.org/blog/europe_government_cuts_spending_borrowing-3165
Prof David H Phillips' valedictory lecture
Yesterday I went to the valedictory lecture by Prof David H Phillips,
his swan song after thirty years of service before heading off to Kings
College. It was a great lecture full of wit and humour and reminded me
of how important environmental factors are in the cause of cancer.
Obesity alone causes huge increases in risk (50-100%) of developing a
large range of cancers (http://www.nature.com/nrc/journal/v4/n8/abs/nrc14
Yesterday I went to the valedictory lecture by Prof David H Phillips, his swan song after thirty years of service...
Yesterday I went to the valedictory lecture by Prof David H Phillips, his swan song after thirty years of service before heading off to Kings College. It was a great lecture full of wit and humour and reminded me of how important environmental factors are in the cause of cancer. Obesity alone causes huge increases in risk (50-100%) of developing a large range of cancers (http://www.nature.com/nrc/journal/v4/n8/abs/nrc1408.html). He ended with a group sign song of "When The Music's Over" by The Doors! Obviously a class chap and I feel honoured that I have done bits of work with him over the years. Just a shame that the institute doesn't value preventive cancer research any more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plRgOw5uxLo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plRgOw5uxLo
Hacked
So I thought I had solved the problem with my mail server sending out spam messages by closing it as an open relay, but no the spam kept on pouring out. I spent ages trying to work out where on earth it was coming from and eventually decided to look at the apache logs. From there is was clear that a file called sm5so7.php was accessed every time a mail got sent out. It turns out that there was a nasty exploit in zenphoto the gallery software that I run on the server. More information can be found here:
- http://www.zenphoto.org/news/alert-security-hole-in-zenphoto-1.4.1.4
- http://www.zenphoto.org/news/security-alert-part-2
- http://www.zenphoto.org/support/topic.php?id=9951#post-58366