by Captain Skellett | Jul 28, 2011 | Recent Research, Sex and Reproduction
In Lewis Carroll’s Through the looking-glass- a whacky book if I ever read one – the laws of physics don’t really apply. Hills can become valleys, straight can become curvy, and forward is really backward. In one scene, Alice chases after the Red...
by Captain Skellett | Nov 17, 2010 | Just for Fun, Recent Research
Nobody loves sudoku like my granddad, unless it’s these Tokyo scientists. They genetically engineered e-coli to let them solve sudoku puzzles. The puzzle was a 4×4, not quite the 9×9 that we’re used to. An example is shown in the picture. Each...
by Captain Skellett | Nov 4, 2010 | Science Art
This art is made of film degraded by bacteria. It’s a self-portrait of the artist Erno-Eric Raitanen. The bacteria was harvested from his own body and cultivated on the gelatin surface of photographic film. It’s a similar process to growing bacteria on a...
by Captain Skellett | Jul 13, 2010 | Drugs, How Things Work, Recent Research, Science at Home
You’re at the doctors with a suspected infection, but instead of offering penicillin or erythromycin, they prescribe honey. Would you switch toast toppings? Take a honey pill? How about letting the doctor smear medical grade honey over the infected area? People...
by Captain Skellett | May 22, 2010 | How Things Work, Recent Research
Two days ago scientists at J. Craig Venter announced the creation of the first self-replicating synthetic cell, a bacteria with DNA made in a lab. How did they do it, and what does it mean for us in the future? First up, the scientists didn’t make life out of...