Day: 12/28/2015

Potential New Particle Sparks Flood of theories.

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A reconstruction of a particle-collision event at the ATLAS detector.

Theoretical physicists are churning out papers at a remarkable rate as they rush to analyze tantalizing hints of a new particle in data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Experimenters revealed their observations in a December 15 announcement at CERN, the European laboratory of particle physics that hosts the LHC near Geneva. Since then, 95 research manuscripts have been posted to the preprint server arXiv discussing the hypothetical particle, even though the statistical significance of the findings is low.

The surge of interest was anticipated; Tiziano Camporesi, a spokesperson for the LHC’s CMS experiment, told Nature just after the webcast announcement that he expected to see hundreds of preprints in the next two weeks.  “I am extremely curious to see what our theorist friends will cook up,” he said.

The influx of articles dwarfs two previous events that excited theorists, says Paul Ginsparg, a physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who founded arXiv. One wave of manuscripts followed the controversial announcement that neutrinos could travel faster than light, as spotted by the Italy-based experiment OPERA in 2011; another came after the discovery of gravitational waves using the South Pole-based BICEP2 telescope in 2014. Neither of those claims held up after scrutiny.

It is all the more remarkable in that, unlike the earlier cases, the particle claims from the LHC have not yet been put into writing. “This is all based on the live webcast from the CERN event,” Ginsparg says. Submissions to arXiv made after 16.00 US Eastern Standard Time each day do not appear until the following day — a cut-off time set by arXiv’s operators — and the timing of the submissions shows that physicists are rushing to e-mail in their papers just before this deadline, Ginsparg adds.

SUSY suspect
CERN theorist Gian Francesco Giudice and his collaborators posted a 32-page paper analyzing the findings on the same day as the announcements were made; it already has 68 citations. Giudice says that the hypothetical particle is not easy to reconcile with supersymmetry (SUSY), physicists’ preferred way of extending the currently successful ‘standard model’ of particle physics, which posits that each particle in the standard model has a heavier partner. “It doesn’t smell like SUSY,” he says.

But many of the papers on arXiv have tried to make the particle — which some theorists have dubbed ‘S’ — fit with SUSY anyway, perhaps in the hope that SUSY could yet recover from a disappointing string of ‘non-discoveries’ at the LHC and elsewhere.

Other possibilities are that the particle is a heavier cousin of the Higgs boson, discovered at the LHC in 2012, or that it is a ‘graviton’, a particle that would carry the gravitational force, in a similar way to how photons carry the electromagnetic force.

Although the particle could very well be a fluke signal that disappears as further data from the LHC come in, theorists’ time is still well spent analysing it, says theoretical physicist Lisa Randall of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “It doesn’t necessarily hurt for people to think about what would give you such a signal,” she says. “Even if the signal goes away, you often learn a lot about what’s possible.”

Scientists Find the Real Fountain of Youth

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We have a finite time on this Earth and we all want to make the most of it. However, sometimes the side effects of aging get in the way. Technology is helping in a big way to make aging a more graceful process, but some scientists are seeking something greater: the fountain of youth. Rather than looking for it in some ancient jungle, researchers are trying to find the key within our genome to “edit out” the bad stuff.

Longevity, living longer and maintaining independence has been always been on the minds of scientists. A new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism may have found a key to increasing the lifespan of humans.

Entrepreneur Peter H. Diamandis discusses his work with Human Longevity Inc., which seeks to extend the healthy human lifespan.

Fountain_of_youth

“This study looks at aging in the context of the whole genome and gives us a more complete picture of what aging is,” explained lead author Brian Kennedy in an interview with The Telegraph.

“Almost half of the genes we found that affect aging are conserved in mammals. In theory, any of these factors could be therapeutic targets to extend health span. What we have to do now is figure out which ones are amenable to targeting.”

The researchers used yeast, deleting a single gene among 4,698 strains and then waiting to see which one outlasted the others.

They found deleting a gene called LOS1 helped extend the lifespan of a strain of yeast by 60 percent. This gene is associated with calorie restriction, and a low-calorie diet has been shown to delay or offset certain aspects of aging.

The find is an interesting one, but there are still many secrets yet to unlock when it comes to understanding why and how we age.

If You Know Someone With Cancer, Share This News About Anti-Oxidants

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For years, health experts have raved of the regenerative benefits of antioxidants. From heart disease to eye deterioration, antioxidants have been touted as one of the best preventatives for disease. But now, scientists are wondering if the very mechanisms that allow antioxidants to protect healthy cells may also protect cancer cells.

Before going any further, what exactly is an antioxidant? In layman’s terms, it’s a chemical compound that prevents the oxidation of another molecule, or the loss of electrons. When you’re a molecule and lose electrons, you change chemically; hence, maintaining molecular equilibrium should stave off everything from cancer to skin aging.

But what if that same protective mechanism worked for cancerous cells? New research shows that antioxidants, at high levels, don’t pick a side when it comes to healthy or malignant cells. A group of Swedish scientists found that melanoma, in particular, was especially receptive to a boost of antioxidants.

Does our over-medicated, nutritionally deficient, sleepy culture mean that immigrants would be better off in their home countries? No, not necessarily.

Does that mean that you should forgo blueberries and vitamin C supplements if you have cancer or are cancer prone? Not necessarily. But the multi-million dollar industry of antioxidant pushing may have to rethink itself. For instance, antioxidant phenols (most common among them, resveratrol) have been shown to restructure cells when under attack from pathogens. While resveratrol is an antioxidant, it is also a pro-oxidant and this Jekyll-and-Hyde chemical identity has been argued to be effective in treating cancer. In other words, a glass of wine might be more beneficial than a bowl of berries.

Antioxidants

Of course, the amount of how much (or little) of these enzymes you should take is totally dependent of whom you ask. Famed holistic doctor Joseph Mercola insists that aggressively taking them can be an alternative option for patients experiencing chemo-resistance, while Dr. [Mehmet] Oz argues a daily regiment fights inflammation throughout the body.

Until the scientific community comes to a consensus, Oscar Wilde’s advice — ”everything in moderation, including moderation” — will have to suffice when it comes to antioxidants. Feel free to pour a glass of wine and eat a bowl of cherries.

Viruses Win Approval as Anti-Cancer Treatment | Big Think

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Earlier this week, the FDA approved the first-ever virus as a medical treatment for melanoma. The strain has the mouthful of a name — talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) — but the virus’s debut into the realm of medical science has been long awaited. According to Nature, as far back as the 19th century, scientists noticed that viruses mysteriously shrunk certain tumors and currently in China there is a booming medical tourism industry for the treatment of head and neck cancer with oncolytic adenovirus H101.

Walter_white_copy

So how exactly does virus therapy work? When we get sick from a virus, it invades our bodies and changes the DNA of certain cells, essentially making them zombie cells that do the virus’ bidding. With virus therapy, the same mechanism is at work, except the virus switches off the DNA that is expressing cancer.

While using viruses to treat cancer may sound like science fiction, virology is definitely pushing the boundaries of pathogen study into the realm of fascinating paradox.

What’s fascinating about using virus therapy to cure cancer is the propensity for viruses to cause cancer. In fact, 15 percent of all cancer deaths are caused by a virus, with the most common being human papillomavirus (HPV). What’s even more fascinating is that most of cancer research is done with HeLa cells, or immortal cancer cells that were taken from a woman in the 1950s who contracted the HPV virus.

The strange loops between viruses and DNA point to the growing opportunities in medical research, but also the more nebulous line between virulence and vitality. Already, it is well-known in scientific communities that the genetic disorder sickle cell anemia can prevent mortality in young children who are exposed to the malaria virus. Even stranger is the co-dependence of archaebacteria and viruses deep within the ocean crust, which has even been purported as evidence of life on other planets.

While using viruses to treat cancer may sound like science fiction, virology is definitely pushing the boundaries of pathogen study into the realm of fascinating paradox.

Could deadly viruses’ rapid evolution be turned against them? And could we ever control the pace of our own evolution?

 

Why you should never upload a photo of your boarding pass to Facebook | Metro News

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Why you should never upload a photo of your boarding pass to Facebook
Don’t upload boarding pass pics online .

We get it. Holidays are exciting and we want to make the world envious with our travels.

But before you take a pic of your boarding pass and uploaded it to Facebook, think about this…

Anyone can take a screenshot of your post and upload it to a barcode decoding program.

From this they’ll be able to get personal details about you including you mobile phone number.

The someone can use this data to access your airline account where they can change your seats and even cancel your flight.

The amount of information retrieved by decoding a boarding pass barcode varies by airline.

Experts say you should shred your boarding passes after use.

You have been warned.

Scientists Have Said To STOP Wearing A Bra Right Now.

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Ah bras, those expensive things that women are told to wear underneath their tops. They come in many shapes, sizes, colors, and even materials. October 13th has been dubbed “National No Bra Day,” and was invented in order to promote breast cancer awareness, as well as raise money for research. Some people either swear by bra usage, while others are vehemently opposed to them. They’re often touted for giving support and reducing the sagging of breasts, as well as other things. Bras have become something major in today’s society.


Recently, however, bras have come under fire. The reason for this is that scientific research into the usefulness of bras has been conducted and it has actually shown that bras are detrimental, not beneficial, to breast health. Sports science researcher Jean-Denis Roullion conducted a 15-year study on the effect of women from ages 18 to 35. Within his research, he found that bra usage at a young age actually provided no benefit in terms of breast support. His findings actually showed the complete opposite, stating that there was a 7mm lift in the nipples of women who did NOT use bras. He claims that bras could reduce circulation and breast tone over time.

fire animated GIF

 

Is it time to burn your bras?

The women who showed an improvement in nipple lift were the women who chose, by their own will, to not wear bras (so they weren’t forced to for the study). Another doctor who was not part of the research stated that the removal of bra usage could actually increase collagen production and elasticity, which would then lead to an improved lift in the breasts. While this research is very compelling, the researchers still caution people to take it with a grain of salt. The research does show that bra usage may be potentially harmful, but the research sample was 330 women, so generalizing to every woman across the world would be a bit of a stretch. To conclude, the researchers believe that more research should be done on the harmful effects of bra usage since they believe their research to be “preliminary.” It’s also worth noting that not all women wear bras for breast support. Some women simply don’t want people to see the exposed breast and nipple, so they use bras for a different reason than the study was focused on. Basically, hold off on torching those bras.

Theoretical Physicist Finds “Computer Code” in the Fabric of Space

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The idea that we live in a holographic universethat uses a form of quantum “computer code” to create the physical reality is not a new idea. In the 1940s, some physicists suggested that we live in a “computer generated” universe. In the video at the end of this article, physicists James Gates talks about this form of computer code, which he refers to as “adinkras”.

In my book titled Staradigm (published in 2011), I mentioned about this idea and roughly explained how it worked. It is great to finally hear that physicists of today are finding evidence that the Universe is a giant hologram.

Computer Code Universe

Here is an excerpt from my book that explains how reality works at the fundamental levels:

When we paint a picture or model a three dimensional object using computer software, all the instructions are processed by the CPU and its counterparts before they are projected onto the screen. This process happens almost instantaneously, and it shows that instructions are processed by the CPU before they are used to create the computer generated object. In a sense, our picture or three dimensional model is nothing more than a perception of the CPU.

If we look at the computer from the outside, our artwork looks solid. If we take apart the outside layers of the computer and watch in slow motion how its hardware works beyond the microscopic level, we will see that it is made of vast streams of electrical currents. Electrical currents are another form of energy.

At this level, our artwork will look like flashes of electrical currents. This analogy of how a computer works is similar to how our minds and consciousness create our illusionary external reality. …

If we can go beyond time and space and look down at our third dimensional reality, we will see that our reality is also made of flashes of electrical signals or light. In other words, this is the state of our reality before it is processed by our consciousness. The reason why we perceive things as solid is because our bodies and consciousness encode the energy patterns around us as solid. It is at this moment that we are tricked into believing that our reality is made of solid materials.

Here is an excerpt from my article titled How Frequency and Vibration Create Sacred Geometry and the Structures of Matter and Life that explains this process a little deeper:

The core structures of reality work similar to how a computer works. A computer communicates and operates through the use of binary codes, which are codes that consist of ones (on) and zeros (off). Binary codes are very simple but with the right combinations they can help computers create magnificent things.

For example, when we paint a picture using a computer software, the core state of the colors and shapes in the picture are basically made of ones and zeros. We do not see our picture as ones and zeros, because the central processing unit (CPU) and its counterparts process the binary codes as colors and shapes. The greatest thing about binary codes is that there are no limits to their combinations. …

The simple process of using binary codes to create things within the hardware of computers is very similar to how Creation creates our external reality or material world. The material world works very similar to a virtual reality. At its core, the material world is made of only light (energy) that flashes on and off to create energy codes.

The idea that we live in a holographic universe is very real. With the invention of quantum computers, physicists should soon be able to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt. So, what does it mean that we live in a holographic universe generated by some kind of quantum computer? It means that the Universe was created by an intelligent creator, and therefore it was not created by accident. In other words, the Prime Creator exists!

Here is a synopsis of the video below:

Working on a branch of physics called supersymmetry, Dr. James Gates Jr., discovered what he describes as the presence of what appear to resemble a form of computer code, called error correcting codes, embedded within, or resulting from, the equations of supersymmetry that describe fundamental particles.

Gates asks, “How could we discover whether we live inside a Matrix? One answer might be ‘Try to detect the presence of codes in the laws that describe physics.’” And this is precisely what he has done. Specifically, within the equations of supersymmetry he has found, quite unexpectedly, what are called “doubly-even self-dual linear binary error-correcting block codes.” That’s a long-winded label for codes that are commonly used to remove errors in computer transmissions, for example to correct errors in a sequence of bits representing text that has been sent across a wire.

Gates explains, “This unsuspected connection suggests that these codes may be ubiquitous in nature, and could even be embedded in the essence of reality. If this is the case, we might have something in common with the Matrix science-fiction films, which depict a world where everything human being’s experience is the product of a virtual-reality-generating computer network.”

Watch the video. URL:https://youtu.be/cvMlUepVgbA

Study Assesses Nitroglycerin’s Effect on Hypotension in STEMI Patients

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No difference in NTG-induced hypotension between the inferior and non-inferior STEMIs

 

This study was designed to determine if nitroglycerin (NTG) administration is more likely to cause hypotension in patients with an inferior wall ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) versus one somewhere else in the heart. The authors defined hypotension as systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg. They also examined the frequency of systolic blood pressure dropping more than 30 mmHg after NTG administration.

The information was extracted from retrospective chart review of 1,488 EMS reports that had EMS 12-lead ECGs for which the computer interpretation was “acute MI.” They found that hypotension occurred as often in the inferior STEMI (8.2%) as it did in the noninferior STEMI (8.9%) and that systolic blood pressure dropped more than 30 points in 23.4% of the inferior and 23.9% of the noninferior STEMIs.

The authors concluded that there was no difference in NTG-induced hypotension between the inferior and non-inferior STEMIs and that “computer interpretation of the inferior STEMI cannot be used as the sole predictor for patients who may be at a higher risk for hypotension following NTG administration.”

The goal of the JEMS Games is to present a fun, challenging and educational experience for emergency medical personnel that results in participants being better prepared for the challenges they encounter in the field. The competition introduces its participants to new technologies and techniques that can be used to manage patients of all levels of criticality.

Again, another study that disproves what we prehospital providers are currently taught. It’s just been the last few years that the emphasis on right side ECG leads has become the standard to rule out right ventricular (RV) infarct.

I’m not sure that even with the evidence of this study that it will allow us to disregard the concerns of NTG in RV involvement.

Whether a service can interpret, transmit, or use computer-based reading, EMS is expected to make the best judgment for prompt care prior to ED or cath lab care. And if the patient has chest pain and RV involvement, I don’t see how we can disregard the concern of hypotension.

I’ve personally been met at the door by the cardiologist who asks if I did right-sided chest leads before giving nitro. I can’t imagine telling him the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines and my protocols may not be relevant.

It doesn’t hurt to be cautious when giving nitro to anyone.

And to be honest, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious when giving nitro to anyone. I think it keeps us on our toes. Until I see this change in my protocols and hear it from my medical director, I feel it’s best to keep on keepin’ on with what they know is best practice.

DOC WESLEY COMMENTS

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone say during conference presentation on STEMI, “Don’t give NTG to the inferior MI patient until you’ve done right-sided chest leads to rule out RV infarction.”

It’s become ingrained into many courses and also in the 2010 AHA guidelines, which state: “Administer nitrates with extreme caution, if at all, to patients with inferior STEMI and suspected RV involvement because these patients require adequate RV preload.” But then again, it’s the same AHA guidelines that warn us about giving NTG to patients on erectile dysfunction medication and I know we never forget to ask about that.

But seriously, where did this hysteria over hypotension come from? Let’s look at the percentages. Almost half of all heart attacks occur in the inferior wall that’s supplied by the right coronary artery. Half of inferior MIs involve the right ventricle. Theoretically, if the right ventricle is weakened from an infarct, it won’t function well. Since it functions best when provided sufficient pre-load (blood returning to the heart), it should be more seriously jeopardized by hypotension.

But that’s where the theory doesn’t follow reality. NTG is an equal arterial and venodilator; therefore, it should affect equally those with inferior and non-inferior STEMIs, which is exactly what the authors of this study found. But what about the patients who are already hypotensive?

It stands to reason that if you’re hypotensive, NTG is contraindicated. In fact, in his study almost half the prehospital STEMIs didn’t get NTG. Why not? Perhaps they were already hypotensive or their pain had diminished.

Researchers are figuring out how our brains cope with so much data – ScienceAlert

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The human brain is a wonderful thing. Consider the way it can recognise faces and objects despite a multitude of variations: we can always identify an “A” as an “A” for example, no matter what colour, size, or shape it comes in. And now researchers have come up with an algorithm that could show just how clever the brain’s way of working is, and how we’re able to process so much data all at once.

A team from Georgia Tech has discovered that a human brain can categorise data using just 1 percent or less of the original information. “We hypothesised that random projection could be one way humans learn,” said one of the team, Rosa Arriaga. “The short story is, the prediction was right. Just 0.15 percent of the total data is enough for humans.”

As part of the experiment, test subjects were asked to view several original, abstract images, and were then challenged to identify the same images when shown a small portion of each one.

The researchers then came up with a computational algorithm based on the idea of random projection. The random projection technique compresses information in a certain way, sacrificing accuracy for speed of processing. Using the technique, the AI was able to complete the tests just as well as human participants.

This shows that the human brain network and artificial neural networks are in fact very similar in their behaviour, the team says, adding that both human and machine found the same types of data difficult to process.

“We were surprised by how close the performance was between extremely simple neural networks and humans,” said one of the researchers, Santosh Vempala. “The design of neural networks was inspired by how we think humans learn, but it’s a weak inspiration. To find that it matches human performance is quite a surprise.”

While the study’s results aren’t enough to prove that the brain naturally uses a random projection as a way to process information, the findings are enough to indicate that it’s a “plausible explanation” for what’s happening inside our minds.

Learning based on random projection already plays a role in computers involved in the processing of large amounts of data, and the new research could lead to further developments in the same area.

“How do we make sense of so much data around us, of so many different types, so quickly and robustly?” says Vempala. “At a fundamental level, how do humans begin to do that? It’s a computational problem.”