Discovered by Elmar Fuchs from the Graz University of Technology in Austria, this strange phenomenon will allow water to cross an empty space as long as 25 millimeters between 2 water sources by exposing them to a high-voltage electric field.
When exposed to a high-voltage electric field, water in two beakers climbs out of the beakers and crosses empty space to meet, forming the water bridge. The liquid bridge, hovering in space, appears to the human eye to defy gravity.
Upon investigating the phenomenon, the scientists found that water was being transported from one beaker to another, usually from the anode beaker to the cathode beaker. The cylindrical water bridge, with a diameter of 1-3 mm, could remain intact when the beakers were pulled apart at a distance of up to 25 mm.
Why water would act this way was a surprise, Fuchs told PhysOrg.com. But the group’s analyses have shown that the explanation may lie within the nature of the water’s structure. Initially, the bridge forms due to electrostatic charges on the surface of the water. The electric field then concentrates inside the water, arranging the water molecules to form a highly ordered microstructure. This microstructure remains stable, keeping the bridge intact.
Yes, we at Geeks are Sexy have discovered the cure for cancer! And for this, we ask for nothing more in return than your eternal gratitude.
Ok, ok, so there are two small problems in the first sentence of this post. First of all, we’re a blog, not a well funded group of scientists (well actually I’m a scientist, but that’s another matter). Second, and more importantly, the hypothetical “cure for cancer” that is often tossed about in conversation is a misleading concept. Let’s explore this second point a little further.
The other day I read a great webcomic about the day to day life of a cancer researcher and I realized that a huge number of people still have no idea what cancer is or how we might combat it. To the general public, cancer is a dark cloud that affects the old and those exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. It is seen as a disease that afflicts humans without warning or consideration for the human condition.
This view, while not necessarily wrong, has lead to the concept of a single “cure for cancer,” much like that found in I Am Legend (it causes the zombies, if you’ve forgotten). Unlike other afflictions, cancer is not the result of a foreign invader or an injury. Instead, it is the failure of the body’s natural growth controls.
Most body cells will grow and replicate, but only up to a certain point. With each replication (in a process called mitosis, depicted on the right), their genomes grow shorter until they reach a point where replication can no longer occur. There are instances where the DNA can be extended repeatedly and the cell can essentially be “immortalized.” Unfortunately, immortality in the world of cell biology is known as cancer.
Beyond just the “first steps” of cancer, the actual disease experienced by millions every year surfaces after a cancerous cell has multiplied and begun to essentially form a new organ, a tumor. The tumor will redirect blood and nutrients toward itself and eventually colonize new areas of the body (a stage called metastasis).
So what can we do to “cure” cancer? Well essentially cancer forming cells occur naturally in the body of every human over the course of his or her lifetime. Normally these cells either recognize the error and “commit suicide” (apoptosis) or the immune system notices them and neutralizes them. It is only in the rare instance of a mutation that allows a cell to replicate endlessly AND evade the immune system that cancer can develop. Those seeking to treat the disease can either target cells that are rapidly dividing (this is the strategy behind chemotherapy) or remove tumors once they become large enough to target surgically.
Something that the aforementioned webcomic discusses is the plight of the molecular biologists researching cancer. There is not just one type of cancer, but instead there are many (The National Cancer Institute’s general list of cancers will give you some idea, but the number is in the hundreds). Every normal body cell can become cancerous and each of those cells has a different interaction with the body. Some cancers have already been cured while others remain a challenge to obtain funding for. Personally, as a young biologist, I’ve thought about taking my new career toward cancer research, and believe me, it’s fairly daunting. Cancer’s very definition as a complex regulatory disease means there will be no simple solutions and few big breakthroughs. Progress has been made, but only through many years of painstaking experimentation, both in and out of the lab.
I hope those of you not in the biological sciences have gotten a little better understanding of cancer than you had when you began reading this article. If we get good feedback we hope to make “Science is Sexy” a regular feature on GaS that will inform, entertain, and even occasionally editorialize in regards to a broad array of science topics. I am a PhD student in Microbiology (starting next semester), so topics in the life sciences will probably be more common, but hopefully we can branch out into other fields as well. Please, please, please leave your thoughts about this article and ideas for future articles in the comments section below!
Other installment of the “Science is Sexy” series:
Warner Bros is offering HD-DVD buyers the chance to replace their movies with Blu-ray copies for $4.95. But the deal is plagued by restrictions which will likely mean it does little more than irritate buyers who backed the wrong horse.
The basics of the deal sound fine: you simply mail in the cover art from the disc packaging along with your payment, and Warner sends you a Blu-ray replacement. Each customers can replace up to 25 discs.
However, the deal is not only limited to Warner-produced discs, but to just 128 specific titles. And the conditions note that not only is there no guarantee you’ll get the same DVD extras (so watch out for special editions being replaced by bare-bones versions), but the disc you get might be in fullscreen rather than widescreen editions. That might not be a problem for some buyers, but the chances are that most people who’ve splashed out on both an HD television and a next-generation DVD player won’t be too happy with a 4:3 picture.
With these restrictions, the deal looks less like a generous gesture to help the casualties of a format war, and more like a chance for Warner to shift unwanted stock which had been produced on the mistaken assumption that Blu-ray buyers would pay extra for picture quality but try to save a few bucks on features.
It also doesn’t really help that Warner is marketing the scheme with the tagline “Upgrade your Warner Bros. HD-DVD titles for new industry-leading Blu-ray discs”. Leaving aside the argument about whether Blu-ray is an upgrade to HD-DVD, using that wording is likely to make HD-DVD buyers once again feel they’ve been tricked into wasting their money and that the $4.95 per disc charge is their penalty.
There is at least some good news for the next-generation DVD industry, however. Blu-ray sales for the first three months of 2009 were around 9 million units, close to double that for the same period last year. That’s likely down to a drop in Blu-ray player prices (and the resulting increase in sales as Christmas gifts), plus the confidence of buyers that the format will stick around.
Oh, wait – writing on the Wall is a Facebook thing. But increasingly, so is MySpace’s business. The erstwhile king of social media sites has been deposed by Facebook, which now has over 200 million profiles. Everybody has a Facebook page – but who do you know who is still on MySpace but who isn’t a member of a struggling band with shockingly bad taste in web design?
MySpace’s loss of popularity has not been lost on its owner, News Corp. With Google’s advertising deal expiring next year and unlikely to be renewed under the same terms, they’ve realized that they need to make some changes. So they’ve unceremoniously given the boot to the backside of (now former) CEO Chris DeWolfe, who will “serve as a strategic advisor” (translation: “when we want any more of your bright ideas, we’ll toss you a nickel, Chris”). Tom Anderson, the founder and president will be euphemistically “assuming a new role in the organization.”
Eating anything that crumbles over a keyboard is gross. Anyone who has managed a small or large fleet of office computers will agree with me. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a short experience that will enlighten you. Take your keyboard, put one of its extremities on your desk, and tap it gently a few times. I can GUARANTEE that about 90% of you guys will have crap coming out of it: chips, crackers, paper clips, and other various dried up food items. But this is nothing compared to what Gizmodo’s Adam Frucci has done. He has committed the unthinkable: Eat the world’s largest Cheeto Over the world’s most expensive keyboard.
Adam, you officially just became one of the world’s grossest geeks… ok, maybe not, but at least, you made us laugh.
Apple has pulled an iPhone application which simulated shaking a baby until it fell asleep. But the firm hasn’t given a clear explanation as to how it was approved in the first place.
The application was produced by third-party firm Sikalosoft and approved for sale through the App store section of the iTunes store. Costing 99c to download, the app was promoted with the line “See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!”
Players were presented with a drawing of a child and could then shake the phone until the child’s eyes were covered with red crosses.
As you’d imagine, news of the app caused outrage. Jennipher Dickens, a spokeswoman for the Sarah Jane Brain Project and a mother of child left brain damaged after being shaken, said “Words do not even adequately describe how much [the app] disheartens me.”
Sikalosoft isn’t commenting on the app. Apple has confirmed it went on sale on Monday and was withdrawn yesterday, but hasn’t answered any other questions, including how it got approval or how many copies were sold.
It’s the latest in a long string of confusing decisions by Apple over its vetting process, which can take several weeks. The firm has rejected apps including an official South Park clips app (despite the same content being available on iTunes), an internet radio station app which had been approved three times in previous editions, an app allowing users to download podcasts wirelessly to the iPhone, and a movie listing service.
However, it has approved a Google voice search app (which contravenes a ban on using the phone’s sensor which smaller firms have had to follow), an app turning the iPhone into a wireless modem (which breaches the service agreement US users have with AT&T), and a screensaver retailing at $999.
Get up, dress in full business attire, cook and eat breakfast, all this within 5 minutes. Can you do it? Trust the Japanese to come up with something like this and show it on television.
Most body cells will grow and replicate, but only up to a certain point. With each replication (in a process called 
Warner Bros is offering HD-DVD buyers the chance to 
Apple has pulled an iPhone application which simulated shaking a baby until it fell asleep. But the firm hasn’t given a clear explanation as to how it was approved in the first place.