Origin of 2014 Ebola Outbreak

"The Ebola epidemic of 2014, which has now totaled almost 20,000 cases and at least 7,708 deaths, began quietly in southeastern Guinea slightly more than a year ago. News of the outbreak reached the wider world last March, and within weeks a multidisciplinary team that included ecologists and veterinarians traveled to the affected area.

The team focused on a village called Méliandou, in Guinea—the index village, where the human outbreak began. A young boy, Emile Ouamouno, was the earliest known victim. He died with Ebola-like symptoms in Méliandou back in December 2013, followed soon by his mother, sister, and grandmother.

During eight days in Méliandou, the team gathered testimony from survivors and collected samples. From these data emerged a new hypothesis: Maybe the reservoir host was a bat. 

“These bats are reportedly targeted by children,” the new paper recounts, “who regularly hunt and grill them over small fires.” Imagine a marshmallow roast, except the marshmallows are mouse-size bats devoured by protein-hungry children. 

The researchers then uncovered another clue: a large hollow tree, which had recently been set afire, producing as it burned what someone recalled as “a rain of bats.” The team collected soil samples at the base of that tree, which eventually yielded traces of DNA assignable to Mops condylurus, commonly called the Angolan free-tailed bat." (Quammen)

Next, a video that explains in more detail how Ebola spread and affect humans:

For more information about this very interesting subject, check the link:

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141230-ebola-virus-origin-insect-bats-meliandou-reservoir-host/

Works Cited:

Quammen, David. "Insect-Eating Bat May Be Origin of Ebola Outbreak, New Study Suggests". National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 30 Dec 2014. Web. 11 Jan 2015.

The use of Willow trees to purify contaminated soil...

      A recent study lead by the University of Eastern Finland has found that the planting of willow trees can be used as a cost-efficient and effective method of purifying contaminated soil.
The study shows that willow trees can clean soil from zinc, in as little as 6 years, from nickel in 10 years, and chromium, copper, & in 10-15 years. Willows have the ability to grow in highly acidic soil, and could be such a grey method of purification if people planted them in polluted areas, especially in or near landfills. This study has only been observed in Finland and in Russia, and its only a matter of time before this project will take off and spread around the world, hopefully resulting in a less-contaminated and cleaner environment.

For more information, go to:

http://www.uef.fi/en/metsa/-/paju-puhdistaa-saastuneita-maa-alueita-kustannustehokkaasti

Scientist creates lifelike cells out of metal.

  Scientist creates lifelike cells out of metal.
By: Bryan Nelson

        A scientist has created a living cell made out of metal instead of carbon. This scientist has a theory that life could be made from another element apart from carbon.

      In the University of Glasgow  Lee Cronin created lifelike cells from metal and says they maybe replicating and evolving.

       The cells he has created are made from large polyoxometalates derived from a  range of metal atoms, like tungsten. He mixes such metals in a specialized saline solutions and he  has called the results as "inorganic chemical cells" or iCHELLS. The features that this iCHELLS  resemble are the same as a real cell making them function really alike. For example, he built the iCHELLS with a membranes capable of selectively allowing chemicals in and out according to size, like it happens with the walls of real cells. This metal cell also develops organelles, and some are being equipped with the ability to carry photosynthesise. The most amazing thing this ICHELLS can do is evolve, but they do not have DNA so they can´t replicate the same way as real cells do. This discovery improves the odds of finding life somewhere else in the universe. Life could potentially be built from other elements.

 

Read more: http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/scientist-creates-lifelike-cells-out-of-metal#ixzz3Jm2HYeaI

Plug it on the window.

Plug it on the window!

      This window socket is an amazing invention in which solar energy is used as a plug socket allowing us to charge electronic devices or turn them on. This invention is a great alternative is you want to be eco-friendly.It is wondeful for traveling because of its convenient small size and you can place it on any window.


Designers: Kyuho Song & Boa Oh
Source:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/23kM0K/2mD+U@7j:iOm-6oBY/www.yankodesign.com/2013/04/26/plug-it-on-the-window/

Nobel Prize in Physics Rewarded for Invention of blue LEDs

The Nobel Prize for physics of 2014 has been rewarded to a group of Japanese and American scientists for an invention that took place in the early 1990s. The scientists are Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura. These three are responsible for inventing the blue LED ( light-emitting iodide) which changed the world by allowing us to create white LED, which may seems simple to us now but had not been previously achieved with ease.

The three scientists are now sharing the prize of 8 million kronor ($1.24M) and have been praised by the Nobel Prize committee, where a professor mentioned that "these uses are what would make Alfred Nobel happy". It has also been brought to attention that unlike many Nobel Prizes in physics, this one can actually be usefully applied today.

Although red and blue LEDs were already well known in the 1990s, many scientists and businesses had tried and failed to create a blue one. Being necessary for white LEDs, its invention allowed technology to come up with some major advancements such as LED lamps, which are more energy efficient, long-lasting and hence better for the environment. As for day to day uses, blue LEDs can be found in Blu-ray players and LCD powered backlit smartphones—something most of us don't imagine living without.

For more information, go to http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29518521 or https://www.yahoo.com/tech/how-blue-leds-changed-the-world-99498121614.html

Sensor that tracks your health

Researchers at the University in Illinois and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have built a patch made of flexible electronics that sticks to human skin and could calculate body temperature, monitor blood circulation and even tell you when you need to wear sunscreen.

It´s made of plastic and thousands of tiny liquid crystals, which change color in response to body heat, and since there are around 3,600 of them, they can actually depict a heat map.

The device could reveal problems such as poor circulation in the extremities, which can be a symptom of diabetes, or an early sign of heart disease. It could also be used to detect some types of injuries in the skin and tissue just underneath the sensor; and all data would be presented in a very useable format. A device like this that could be attached to a person´s skin, and since it is so unobtrusive that people forget they are wearing it, it would be a great help to physicians, researchers say.

The device is so small that it doesn't need a battery. There's a wireless and flexible power system on the back, which can run on power from a remote source. The most important part is that the cost of the device should be relatively low, since the sensor doesn't use any exotic materials or parts. We would be talking about a few dollars.

to view the full article go to:  http://www.livescience.com/48109-flexible-skin-sensor-track-health.html

Surprising lake bigger than West Virginia inside the Greenland ice

Unlikely liquid water may hold clues to the effects of Global Warming

A vast aquifer lake lies trapped under southeastern Greenland. This discovery may help the scientific community to find reasons for the climate´s changing. The fact that there exists an aquifer 27,000 square miles under the Greenland region is a matter of scientific interest.

Lora Koening of NASA´s Goddard Space Flight Center said it is a magnificent discovery, because even thought water percolates down the surface when the ice melts, the water did not refreeze. Koening and a group of colleges went to Greenland to take core samples, and to prove if there exists life in Greenland´s aquifer.

The fact that melt water can remain in liquid form, provides information about how long it takes the water to get to the sea, and can determine how much and how fast the sea level will rise, which is of vital importance to the communities who live on the coasts.

For more info:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140102-greenland-ice-sheet-lake-global-warming-science/