Say What?
DNA breathing \D-N-A BREE-theeng\ n. No, genetic material doesn’t
actually inhale and exhale. Breathing in this case refers to a natural
unzipping of portions of paired DNA strands that happens normally
every few nanoseconds. This unzipping exposes the DNA’s
chemical units, or nucleotides, to potential manipulation by
enzymes. Anny Usheva-Simidjiyska of Harvard Medical School
and her colleagues have discovered that prolonged exposure to terahertz
radiation, a type used in some new airport scanners, can provoke DNA
strands to inappropriately unzip. The change can reprogram certain cellular
functions and nudge stem cells toward becoming fat cells. A paper describing
terahertz effects on DNA breathing appeared in the Dec. 21, 2010 PLoS ONE.
SN Online
www.sciencenews.org
DELETED SCENES BLOG
A leaked LHC study sparks
hubbub, but physicists stay
skeptical of a particle find.
See “Rumors of a Higgs
discovery are just that.”
EARTH
Eyjafjallajökull spit super-sharp ash. Read “Volcanic
ash gets its close-up.”
Science Past | FROM THE ISSUE OF MAY 20, 1961
U. S. SPACEMAN A-OKAY — The United States broke the
space barrier May 5 when Alan B. Shepard, Jr., 37-year-old
astronaut, rode the Mercury capsule 302
miles down-range from Cape Canaveral,
Fla. At 9:34 a.m. ES T the Redstone rocket
carrying the Mercury capsule lifted off
the launching pad and took the astro-
naut for a 15-minute trip that made him
exclaim, “Man, what a ride!” … Shepard
had some difficulty breathing and seeing as he went into
space and back, but no more than he was prepared for.
The stress on his body, including a “grayout” of his eyes,
was less than he had experienced in training.… As he came
back to earth, he experienced as much as 11 times the
gravity of earth, or felt 11 times his normal weight.
Science Future
June 1
The 2011 hurricane season
begins. For storm updates go
to www.nhc.noaa.gov
June 1–5
The World Science Festival
returns to New York City with its
annual fun and ;air. See
worldsciencefestival.com
LIFE
Brain evolution preceded
a diversity boom in one
electricity-emitting fish.
Read “Zap! More fish.”
July 5–10
Watch a 360-degree underwater ;lm and visit exhibits at
the Royal Society’s Summer
Science Exhibition in London.
Learn more at royalsociety.org
The (-est)
Researchers at the University
of Montana in Missoula have
pinpointed the hottest place on
Earth. The Lut Desert in south-
eastern Iran (region shown from
space) beat out contenders for
five out of seven years from 2003
to 2009, with its surface tem-
perature peaking at 70.7° Celsius
(159.3° Fahrenheit) in 2005. The scientists used a sensor aboard
NASA’s Aqua satellite to measure the temperature people would
feel if they touched the ground, a reading that is usually higher
than air temps. Other hot spots included Queensland in Australia
and China’s “Flaming Mountain,” the team reports in an upcoming
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The temperature
in the Lut Desert is the most consistently hot, but it is not the
hottest ever recorded: Past measurements include a 1915 soil test
in Tucson that read 71.5° C (160.7° F).
GENES & CELLS
Some quick-evolving genes
may also shorten human
pregnancies. See “News in
Brief: Genes & Cells.”
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: E. FELICIANO; S. GÍSLASON ET AL/PNAS 2011; E. FELICIANO; IMAGE SCIENCE AND ANALYSIS LAB/JSC/NASA
While federal standards ;ag only low-intensity red LED lights
as hazardous waste (because of their high lead content),
several colors of pin-type LEDs exceed California disposal
limits for silver, nickel and copper, a recent study found.
Only the low-intensity yellow LED passed muster.
Science Stats | ME TALLIC GLOW
Metal content limits exceeded by low-intensity
colored and white LED lights
Copper
Nickel
Silver
Lead
