“Science, My Lad, Is Made Up Of Mistakes, But They Are Mistakes Which It Is Useful To Make, Because

Terraforming Mars

Hello everyone.

Apologies for the long/unexplained absence. I’ve not been doing very well recently and I haven’t quite had the time to be posting. However, a small update is that I’m struggling very much with my mental health but my studies are going very well. I just wanted to thank you all for your kindness and support and I will try update more regularly from now on!

I hope you are all well and looking after yourself, and I’m sending love, hugs and good study vibes 💗

Shedding light on our understanding of the universe.

Until recently, gravitational fields were only known to be generated near black holes, hundreds of light years away. But researchers at IBM’s Zurich lab successfully recreated one right here on Earth. While still theoretical, their findings have the potential to seriously change how we generate and conserve energy, which makes black holes look a little bit brighter.

See how they did it ->

omg thank you so much for putting rosalind franklin in the dna history post!!

And also:

i think it is morecorrect to say that in 1953 Watson and Crick stole Rosalind’s picture to buildtheir model, and when they published it, of course they didn’t gave her anycredit. I think it is important for people to know that Rosalind Franklindiscovered the antiparallel structure of the DNA molecule, but since herstudies and researches were published after Watson and Crick’s, she didn’t getany recognition until many years later. (Sorry for the long message!)

Hello Nonnies!!

We can’t not talk aboutRosalind Franklin. She is an awesome lady that is slowly getting therecognition she deserves in the scientific community.

(We also went to an allgirls catholic highschool with large emphasis on science, and her name alwayscame up in all of the science classes. It’s pretty hard to forget her name now.We are also going to hijack these asks to give a more in-depth biography forRosalind Franklin.)

Franklin was a giftedX-ray crystallographer. She was a research associate at King’s College Londonin 1951, moved to Birkbeck College in 1953. She died at the early age of 37 dueto ovarian cancer. Really she should have gotten the same Nobel Prize thatWatson, Crick, and Wilkins shared in 1962 for the discovery of the DNA doublehelix, but the Nobel Committee are pricks and don’t award prizes posthumously.

Franklin’s the one tofirst contribute the concept of the two forms of DNA; A-DNA (dried, short andfat), and B-DNA (wet, long and thin). Photo 51 (image from Wikipedia) is thex-ray diffraction pattern developed while at King’s College that leads to thediscovery of DNA double helix structure.

There has been some controversies surrounding the nature ofher work being used by Watson and Crick. Allegations where made that Photo 51was shown to Watson by her colleague Wilkins without Franklin’s permission (badscience ethics here) but we are not sure how true that allegation is. Franklindid not gain much recognition for her contribution originally, all that wasmentioned was a footnote acknowledging that it was based on “general knowledge”of Franklin’s unpublished contribution.

Rosalind Franklin is a good example of sexism in science. She’s not gaining a lot of posthumous recognition for her work. I would also like to think that she’s an awesome role model for a lot of girls pursuing science as a field of study.

What does it take to teach a bee to use tools? A little time, a good teacher and an enticing incentive. Read more here: http://to.pbs.org/2mpRUAz

Credit: O.J. Loukola et al., Science (2017)

The Boy Who Grew a Brain

Noah Wall was born with only 2% of a brain (left), spina bifida and severe hydrocephalus. Doctors predicted that even if he survived, he would suffer severe mental disability and have limited mobility for the rest of his life. 

After surviving his birth, Noah only improved with time. His parents worked with him to learn and grow to live as normal a life as possible, and doctors were stunned with the progress he was making. After 3 years, Noah was scanned again and the results showed his brain had grown to over 80% the size of a normal, healthy brain (right). Noah continues to live a happy life and progress even more, and his unusual case sheds light on the incredible capabilities of the human body and brain.

For anyone interested in learning more about this case, there is a great documentary made by Channel 5 (UK) in the Extraordinary People series about Noah (The Boy With No Brain). For those of you outside the UK the doc is also available on Youtube.

How ladybugs unfold their wings

There are SO many types of coders. Do any of these remind you of someone you know? 🤔  Tag em! 

If you’re a white person like me, please take a second to watch this video and learn a little bit about African American death culture.

There’s so much in this video that I didn’t know, but should have. Living in a place like the United States, where there are so many cultures present, everyone should try to educate themselves about the important traditions of other groups.

THIS IS SO COOL - the components of breastmilk can drastically change to fulfil the urgent needs of the baby. In this case, the yellow colour of the milk is due to added antibodies to help fight the baby’s fever.