Ear Power

Taking power for a living organism is not a new thing for scientists and researchers to do but recently they have discovered how to take the inner ear of a guinea pig and use it for energy and sensory purposes.  Usually scientists use enzymes to transform catalytic energy into electric energy but this new way apparently just "steals" energy that the body produces by itself.  The cochlea of the inner ear converts sound pressure waves into electrical waves that are sent to the brain so you can process what it is you are hearing.  The new chip that the scientists came up with just takes out that electrical energy without disturbing the hearing of the organism.

Scientists from Harvard and MIT connected electrodes to the fluids in the cochlea.  They connected these electrodes to small sensors right outside the guinea pigs ear and took about 1 nanowatt.  These sensors are small enough to put in humans but the energy extracted is not enough to power a device to help with deafness.  Scientists have previously been using biofuel cells, creating energy from blood glucose but this energy doesn't last forever like the energy from the ear would.  The ultimate goal is to gain knowledge about how and why people have deafness and possibly to help cure the diseases of the ear.

The Debate Rages On

The idea of evolution, that people developed overtime from apes or monkeys into the human beings we are today, has long been debated by scientists and theologists alike and now we have more evidence to support the scientist side or the argument.  While studying the shoulders of a 3.3 million year old fossilized hominin known as Australopithecus afarensis, scientists found evidence that suggests that it climbed a lot of trees, supporting the evolution theory.  Australopithecus afrarensis is a species that is between an ape and and a human.  The shoulder blade that was studied suggests this species spent more time climbing around trees than it did on the ground, although it could walk upright on two legs.

The scientists studying the shoulder found that the shape and joint angles matched up closer to those of an ape instead of those of a human being.  Bones grow in different ways based on what you are continually doing with them so it is obvious that this A. afarensis was doing a lot of tree climbing.  Still there remain doubters with some people saying that they believe this shoulder is just a product of natural genetics, that is that since this species is in between apes and humans that they just have that particular shoulder shape naturally.  It is truly a never ending debate.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/33017/title/Acrobatic-Ancestors-/

More Approvals are Good

Recently the US Food and Drug Administration heard a proposal from The President's science advisors who hope to double the amount of prescription drugs for some specific diseases such as obesity.  Many of the drugs that get tested and have some poor side effects get turned down by the FDA and they wish that these drugs will instead get approved despite the negative side effects.  The President's science advisors only want people who have no other option to be able to get the drug and not have it available for the entire population.

Many people see this as a negative because of the negative side effects that the people who take the drug might obtain.  These drugs are not completely tested and have not worked out all the kinks in order to be given out to a mass number of people.  I disagree and believe this is a good thing because if people with obesity have tried other drugs that have not helped then maybe it is time to move on and try something new.  They know there will be side effects but it is their life.  If they are going to die anyway then why not give them something that could help save them.  It won't hurt anything. 
Another problem people saw was how to control the drug and make sure it is only given to the people who really need it and not those with only mild obesity.  I do not think this is a big deal either because how is this problem different from that of every other drug that people try to obtain due to addiction or recreational purposes when they don't really need it.



http://the-scientist.com/2012/10/01/government-urges-fda-to-speed-drug-approvals/

South America is the home of the largest bumblebees in the world, known as the "giant bumblebee" or its scientific name "Bombus dahlbomii."  These bees are found throughout Patagonia (the southern area of South America) but recently they have come into danger.  In 1997 European white-tailed bumblebees, B. terrestris, were brought into Chile for pollinating purposes.  Around 2006 the European bees escaped their secluded habitats and got into the wild, while at the same time the giant bees began to disappear from the area.  Many scientists believe the reason for this disappearance is due to a fatal single-cell parasite that came over to South America with the European bees, much like how Europeans brought diseases such as smallpox to America in the 16th and 17th centuries.  The parasite, Apicystis bombi, starts with a gut infection and then spreads to the rest of the body causing behavioral disorders. 

Some scientists still believe this parasite from the invading bees is not the reason for the decline in the giant bee population.  These people argue that it is because there is now more competition for food and other resources in the area.  To this the scientists who support the parasite theory say that there would not be competition for food because the two different species of bees have different eating habits that would prevent them from sharing the same types of foods.  There is some worry about the effect the parasite could have on other things such as plant life in the area.

MO Sleep MO Knowledge

In Israel, scientists have recently conducted studies that help to prove that people can gain new knowledge during sleep.  They conducted the experiment by playing music tones in the ears of sleeping people while they waft different smells in their noses.  The better something smelled the strong the sleeping individual would sniff.  When the smells were taken away and people were just left with the tones the scientists found that people were still sniffing to certain tones, even after waking up, although they didn't know what had happened while they were sleeping.

This opens up the door for a complete new way of learning information.  We can now unconsciously gain knowledge.  People who have trouble focusing on learning in normal atmospheres might have another option.  The scientists recognize that there are limitations to what people will be able to learn while they are sleeping but they expect that the limitations will be less than what they presently think.  One aspect that was focused on was getting people to unconsciously overcome an addiction.  Being aware of a habit and trying to get rid of it can be very hard for many people.  If they can overcome this addiction in their sleep then it could have a much bigger affect.