Studies Begin to Shape New Image of DNA
>> 20091028
Most of us carry a mental picture of DNA in its iconic form – the famous double helix unveiled by Francis Crick and James Watson. But HHMI researchers are beginning to develop a new picture of DNA that shows the molecule’s more dynamic side, which is capable of morphing into a large number of complex shapes. This shape-shifting ability permits proteins to attach and read the right region of DNA so genes can be turned on or off at the proper time.
The findings show that proteins are adept at reading nuances in the shape of the double helix. Those variations in shape transmit information about where proteins need to bind to make sure the right genes are activated or silenced during development.
Research published in the October 28, 2009, issue of Nature.
HHMI investigator: Barry Honig, Columbia University
Full story: HERE
The findings show that proteins are adept at reading nuances in the shape of the double helix. Those variations in shape transmit information about where proteins need to bind to make sure the right genes are activated or silenced during development.
Research published in the October 28, 2009, issue of Nature.
HHMI investigator: Barry Honig, Columbia University
Full story: HERE
Read more...
A Carta de Satanás
>> 20091025
"Este é um lugar estranho, um lugar extraordinário e interessante.
Não há nada que se assemelhe por aí.
As pessoas são todas loucas, os outros animais são todos loucos, a terra é louca, a própria Natureza é louca.
O homem é uma curiosidade maravilhosa. Quando está no seu melhor, é uma espécie de anjo niquelado de baixa categoria; no seu pior, é inqualificável, inimaginável; e, tudo considerado e a toda a hora, é um sarcasmo. Apesar disso, intitula-se, de modo lisonjeiro e com toda a sinceridade, a "mais nobre obra de Deus". É a verdade isto que vos conto. E esta ideia não é novidade nele: ele tem-na discutido ao longo dos tempos e acreditado nela. Acreditado nela, e não encontrou ninguém em toda a sua raça que se risse disso."
"Cartas da Terra", Mark Twain
Não há nada que se assemelhe por aí.
As pessoas são todas loucas, os outros animais são todos loucos, a terra é louca, a própria Natureza é louca.
O homem é uma curiosidade maravilhosa. Quando está no seu melhor, é uma espécie de anjo niquelado de baixa categoria; no seu pior, é inqualificável, inimaginável; e, tudo considerado e a toda a hora, é um sarcasmo. Apesar disso, intitula-se, de modo lisonjeiro e com toda a sinceridade, a "mais nobre obra de Deus". É a verdade isto que vos conto. E esta ideia não é novidade nele: ele tem-na discutido ao longo dos tempos e acreditado nela. Acreditado nela, e não encontrou ninguém em toda a sua raça que se risse disso."
"Cartas da Terra", Mark Twain
Read more...
notas para o diário
>> 20091023
deus tem que ser substituído rapidamente por poemas, sílabas sibilantes, lâmpadas acesas, corpos palpáveis, vivos e limpos.
Al Berto
Al Berto
Iberian Wolf
>> 20091022
Spanish photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez has won the 2009 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year award with his photo of an Iberian wolf leaping over a gate. He used an infrared camera trap to capture the moment.
"Iberian wolves have been persecuted by people who see them as a threat to game and livestock and because of ignorance about the supposed danger they pose… In Spain, the population of Iberian wolves – a subspecies of the grey wolf – is thought to number 1000-2000 in the north, with a few tiny, isolated populations in the south… What José Luis hopes is that his picture, ’showing the wolf’s great agility and strength,’ becomes an image that shows just how beautiful the Iberian wolf is and how the Spanish can be proud of this emblematic animal."
Hasselblad 503CW with a 6x6 Fujichrome backing + Planar 80mm lens; 1/30 sec at f11; ISO 50; purpose-made Ficap infrared camera trap.
Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009
Precooked apologize...
>> 20091018
Getting hideously drunk at a dinner party and embarrassing yourself is certainly nothing new. As far back as the 9th Century, the beautifully named 'Dunhuang Bureau of Etiquette' insisted that local officials use the following letter template (dated 856) when sending apologies to offended dinner hosts. The guilty party would copy the template text, enter the dinner host's name, sign the letter and then deliver with head bowed. The letter was discovered, alongside thousands of other documents, in a sealed cave library in western China.
Translation follows:
"Yesterday, having drunk too much, I was intoxicated as to pass all bounds; but none of the rude and coarse language I used was uttered in a conscious state. The next morning, after hearing others speak on the subject, I realised what had happened, whereupon I was overwhelmed with confusion and ready to sink into the earth with shame."
Link: LETTERS
Read more...
Llifelogger's new toy
>> 20091017
New camera promises to capture your whole life
A camera you can wear as a pendant to record every moment of your life will soon be launched by a UK-based firm.
Originally invented to help jog the memories of people with Alzheimer's disease, it might one day be used by consumers to create "lifelogs" that archive their entire lives.
Worn on a cord around the neck, the camera takes pictures automatically as often as once every 30 seconds. It also uses an accelerometer and light sensors to snap an image when a person enters a new environment, and an infrared sensor to take one when it detects the body heat of a person in front of the wearer. It can fit 30,000 images onto its 1-gigabyte memory.
The ViconRevue was originally developed as the SenseCam by Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK, for researchers studying Alzheimer's and other dementias. Studies showed that reviewing the events of the day using SenseCam photos could help some people improve long-term recall.
Now Vicon, based in Oxford, UK, which specialises in motion-capture technology for the movie industry, has licensed the technology for the camera from Microsoft and intends to put it into large-scale production.
(...)
For consumers, the gadget will provide an easy way to become a "lifelogger" – someone who attempts to electronically record as much of their life as possible. Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell has made his life an experiment in lifelogging, recording everything from phone calls to TV viewing, and uses a SenseCam wherever he goes.
Journal reference: Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
Growing up
>> 20091016
And i've learned to appreciate the things that surprise me, touch me, make me laugh, provoke me and make me think.
Life is a perpetual randomness.. Hence, there's something to be discovered at every passing moment. Read more...
Tempo útil
>> 20091003
Para uma amigo tenho sempre um relógio
esquecido em qualquer fundo da algibeira.
Mas esse relógio não marca o tempo inútil.
São restos de tabaco e de ternura rápida.
É um arco-íris de sombra,quente e trémulo.
É um copo de vinho com o meu sangue e o sol
esquecido em qualquer fundo da algibeira.
Mas esse relógio não marca o tempo inútil.
São restos de tabaco e de ternura rápida.
É um arco-íris de sombra,quente e trémulo.
É um copo de vinho com o meu sangue e o sol
AAR
Keith Tyson: 'Nature is better at painting than I am'
Tyson says it's purely coincidental that his paintings end up looking organic: like a geological formation, a collection of tissues on a medical slide or an artist's impression of a black hole.
The title of this work refers to the way he creates the art, he says, rather than what it ends up looking like.
"Nature does its stuff instantly, at all scales, everywhere. There's no part of the painting that can be lazy. It all has to obey the laws of physics," says Tyson.
"You zoom into them and they retain their level of detail, but with a painting done by hand you can always get down to the brush marks. The paintings look as good close up as they do far away.
"Nature's better at painting than I am."
Tyson's "Nature" paintings are part of his exhibition Cloud Choreography and Other Emergent Systems, showing at the Parasol Unit gallery in London until 11 November. Read more...
Tempo
Existe somente uma idade para a gente ser feliz,
somente uma época na vida de cada pessoa em que é possível
sonhar e fazer planos e ter energia bastante para realizá-los a
despeito de todas as dificuldades e obstáculos.
Uma só idade para a gente se encantar com a vida e
viver apaixonadamente
e desfrutar tudo com toda intensidade
sem medo nem culpa de sentir prazer.
Fase dourada em que a gente pode criar e recriar a vida à nossa
própria imagem e semelhança
e vestir-se com todas as cores
e experimentar todos os sabores
e entregar-se a todos os amores
sem preconceito, nem pudor.
Tempo de entusiasmo e coragem
em que todo desafio é mais um convite à luta que
a gente enfrenta com toda disposição de tentar algo novo, de
novo e de novo, e quantas vezes for preciso.
Essa idade tão fugaz na vida da gente chama-se PRESENTE e
tem a duração do instante que passa.
Mário Quintana
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