This learning module presents the proper technique and common errors associated with assessment of blood pressure. The information is targeted at new learners in the clinical and health sciences and can serve as a review for current practitioners. The program includes audio of blood pressure sounds, interactive simulations, and self-assessment tools.

DNA from the Beginning is an animated tutorial on DNA, genes and heredity. The science behind each concept is explained using animations related to DNA topics, an image gallery, video interviews, problems, biographies, and links related to DNA. There are three sections, Classical Genetics, Molecules of Genetics and Organization of Genetic Material. Key features are the clear explanations of classical experiments and the excellent photographs of researchers and their labs.For information and credits on the development of DNA from the Beginning, go to http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/credits.html

VR Molecules presents dynamically and interactively the vibration and rotation modes for 24 molecules (out of a more extensive list) containing up to twelve atoms. It allows the user to create and save on his or her hard disk documents containing, much in the same way as Power Point presentations, up to 10 "pages״, each featuring one or two molecules with specific parameters (viewpoint, active modes, etc.). These presentations can be made available through the Internet, with optional sound and text explanations associated with each page.The latest, augmented version of VR Molecules, called VR Molecules Pro 1.1, is available online as well as in a stand-alone version (Mac and Windows).To view a video of the award winning author, go to View VR Molecules - Chemistry Award Winner 2007 video VR Molécules est un logiciel de simulation (en ligne et en mode local) permettant de visualiser et d'explorer les modes de vibration et de rotation des molécules (24 molécules sont disponibles).Il peut tout aussi bien être utilisé par le professeur pour préparer des démonstrations en classe, intégrer des animations (interactives ou non) dans ses documents HTML, que par les étudiants pour revoir les démonstrations présentées en classe et explorer par eux-mêmes la vibration et la rotation des molécules.La plus récente version (1.12) de VR Molécules, est accessible en deux versions : en ligne et en mode local (à télécharger, pour Mac et Windows).

The entry point to an extensive site concerning the nervous system and neuroscience. The site includes descriptive materials, experiments, activities, links to articles, resources for teaching neuroscience, and a listing of Internet resources related to the neurosciences.

This interactive site allows participants to learn about skeletal anatomy by viewing the bones of a human, chimpanzee, and baboon. Users select a bone from the list of four bone types on the skeletal image, and launch the bone viewer. A detailed look at each bone from six viewing angle options is provided along with the option to select another bone or make a comparison with another species (chimpanzee or baboon). The Comparative Anatomy section enables users to make direct comparisons of bones. The material is appropriate for science teacher education as it illustrates how careful observation leads one to wonder about the dizzying beauty of a planet that works by bringing us one different creature after another.

Here's your chance to mix chemicals without wearing safety goggles. You won't spill any acid on the spectrometer in this lab. Choose solutions from the vast database and mix 'em together till the cloned cows come home. Marvel as the chemical solutions react in real time.

A collection of simulations and virtual labs focusing on first-year college physics. An interview with the award winning author can be found in About us at Phet VideoPhET provides fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena for free. We believe that our research-based approach- incorporating findings from prior research and our own testing- enables students to make connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science, deepening their understanding and appreciation of the physical world. To help students visually comprehend concepts, PhET simulations animate what is invisible to the eye through the use of graphics and intuitive controls such as click-and-drag manipulation, sliders and radio buttons. In order to further encourage quantitative exploration, the simulations also offer measurement instruments including rulers, stop-watches, voltmeters and thermometers. As the user manipulates these interactive tools, responses are immediately animated thus effectively illustrating cause-and-effect relationships as well as multiple linked representations (motion of the objects, graphs, number readouts, etc.) PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado, http://phet.colorado.edu

Educational physics applets designed to be scripted in JavaScript for use in quizzes, homework problems, and Just in Time Teaching activities. Includes applets that can be used in a wide range of classes and at different levels.

The acoustics of musical instruments and the voice. The "Basics" directory introduces and explains general concepts. There are "Introduction to the Acoustics of [instrument name]״, data bases, technical material, web services (including a hearing test) and a FAQ.

MecMovies is an extensive collection of examples, theory, and games designed to complement the entire Mechanics of Materials course. The software features impressive graphics and animation that are highly effective in visually communicating course concepts to students. Special emphasis is placed on developing the learner?s understanding and proficiency in basic concepts and skills through interactive exercises and games. Classroom implementation of the software has produced improved student performance and more positive student attitudes regarding the Mechanics of Materials course. To see a video with the award winning author, go to View MecMovies video

If all the water currently trapped in all the glaciers across the entire world, the sea level would rise far more than most people imagine. Almost everyone living anywhere in the world at an elevation of below about 500 feet with a direct drainage to the sea would be directly affected; The sea level rise itself might be a bit over 300 feet, but oceans tend to migrate horizontally when they rise onto previously uninnundated land surfaces. So if you lived at 500 feet above sea level in most of Maine, you'd have a much shorter walk to the rocky shoreline, but if you lived at 500 feet across much of the Gulf Coast it would only be a matter of time until the eroding sea cliff reached you incorporated you into the offshore sediments.

Having said that, Anthropogenic Global Warming has resulted in only modest sea level rise to date, and it is at this point probably true that warming of the ocean causing thermal expansion has been at the same level of magnitude (or greater) than seas rising because of the influx of melted glacial water.

The problem is, it is very difficult to measure either sea level rise or ice loss very accurately, for a number of reasons. But there is a saving grace. Or should I say, GRACE. GRACE is a NASA project; Twin satellites measure changes in the Earth's gravity field in such a way that it is possible to identify changes in the distribution of water. From the GRACE overview statement:

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Through a weird quirk of scheduling, I haven't actually taught the intro modern physics course since I started writing pop-science books about modern physics. So, this week has been the first chance I've really had to use material I generated for the books to introduce topics in class.

In the approximately chronological ordering of the course, we're now up to the late 1800's, and the next book we're talking about is Einstein's Clocks, Poincar$eacute;'s Maps, which talks about how Einstein and Henri Poincaré were (arguably) influenced by developments in timekeeping as they looked for the theory that became Special Relativity.

This is a much more academic book than the previous readings, and as such has really long chapters and sections. To space things out a little bit (giving them more time to read), and to give them a better idea of what relativity is about (which I think is helpful when reading Galison's discussion), I've spent the last two classes talking about relativity. Monday's lecture introduced Special Relativity and spacetime, and today's lecture introduced the Equivalence Principle and general relativity. Those slides are a little short on words because I was largely copying figures from the book, and because I'm trying to generate less wordy PowerPoints as a general matter. They should give you the right basic idea, though, and if you want more explanation, well, you can pre-order How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog (or enter our Photoshop contest)...

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Actually, they can't, but they're having fun.

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Illumina rejects hostile Roche bid – Merck to submit new insomnia candidate – And Indorama buys Old World

PHARMACEUTICAL – Genome sequencing company Illumina has formally rejected the $5.7 billion (£3.6 billion) hostile takeover bid from Roche which it has described as ‘inadequate’. Chief executive Jay Flatley said: ‘Our industry is nascent, with the promise and potential to experience extraordinary growth in the years ahead as genetic information becomes broadly applied beyond molecular biology research, and into medical diagnostics, reproductive health and cancer management.’ When Roche announced its bid, it stated clearly that it would not raise the offer price. It has responded to the Illumina decision with disappointment. ‘We continue to believe that our offer is full and fair and provides a unique opportunity for Illumina’s shareholders,’ said Roche chief executive Severin Schwan. ‘It remains our preference to enter into a negotiated transaction with Illumina and we stand ready to commence discussions at any time.’

PHARMACEUTICAL – Canadian generics firm Apotex has paid $442 million in damages to Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) for patent infringement relating to blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel). The payment follows an October 2011 ruling in favour of Sanofi and BMS and marks the end of a decade long legal dispute between the companies. Apotex launched a generic version of Plavix in 2006 when the drug was generating sales of about $4 billion per year but it was forced to halt sales shortly afterwards when the courts granted an injunction.

PHARMACEUTICAL – Merck & Co has decided to submit its anti-insomnia drug candidate suvorexant for regulatory approval in the US on the back of results from two Phase III trials. Suvorexant is an orexin receptor antagonist and would be first in a new class of drugs if approved. The company will present the results at a meeting in 2012. In January 2011, GlaxoSmithKline and Actelion abandoned development of almorexant, another orexin receptor antagonist drug candidate, because of disappointing trial data.

CHEMICAL – AkzoNobel and the University of Manchester, UK, have agreed to work together on new coatings to protect a range of materials from corrosion. AkzoNobel says that globally corrosion is a $2.2 trillion problem and that it makes €1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) in annual sales of corrosion inhibition coatings and speciality chemicals. Stuart Lyon will become the AkzoNobel professor of corrosion control at the school of materials and will oversee the research programme.

PHARMACEUTICAL – GlaxoSmithKline is planning to invest $60 million in its site at Boronia in Victoria, Australia, creating 58 new jobs by 2017. The site manufactures a wide range of drugs and related products, including sterile liquid products made using blow fill seal (BFS) technology. The investment will go towards a doubling of the current BFS manufacturing capacity as well as the creation of a pilot plant for new products developed through the ongoing collaboration with the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

CHEMICAL – Thai polymer manufacturer Indorama is to buy the chemical business of privately owned US company Old World Industries. The consumer products business, comprising antifreeze, automotives oils and other automotive products, will continue as a separate entity. The deal is worth $795 million, according to news reports.

Andrew Turley

                  

Last year, we reported on some research that was repurposing personal glucose meters (PGMs; the little devices that detect your blood sugar level) to enable the detection of a variety of other analytes (cocaine and uranium, among other things). Now the same team have adapted the idea to the detection of DNA, with impressive precision and sensitivity.

But before you rush out and set up a street-corner screening service, there’s a little more chemistry involved. The glucose meters are just plain old glucose meters and don’t actually detect DNA; the trick lies in converting the chemical you’re interested in to a glucose response that the PGM can detect.

Effectively, the team have built a sort of chemical transducer that takes a DNA signal and turns it into a glucose signal. The transducer has two parts: an enzyme – DNA invertase – that turns sucrose into glucose, and a magnetic bead. The enzyme and the bead are each connected to DNA strands that match up to the target DNA strand you hope to detect. So, in the presence of the target DNA, the magnetic bead and the enzyme are brought together and you can then remove the whole thing with a magnet, pop it in some sucrose, and in seconds your glucose meter can tell you if you’ve got hepatitis B (or something else, probably, but that’s what these chaps were looking for).

So, in future you might find yourself asking to borrow a diabetic friend’s PGM. ‘I didn’t know you had diabetes,’ they’ll remark, and you can smugly reply, ‘ I don’t – I’ve got hep B’.

Philip Robinson

                  

I have a Google alert set up to let me know whenever my name or the title of one of my books turns up in one of the sources they index. This is highly imperfect, sometimes missing interesting articles, and often blorting out 57 different pages on which my name appears in a sidebar link. It comes in handy from time to time, though, such as this morning, when it coughed up a whole bunch of pages linking to the Polish edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog:

Finally, dogs in the ancestral homeland of my father's family can learn all about quantum physics. I'm a little surprised to learn that the default dog in Poland is a miniature schnauzer ("Frickin' schnauzers..." Emmy grumbles), but it's always nice to see a new edition. I believe we've already sold Polish rights to How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog as well, so there's that to look forward to.

I don't have physical copies of this yet, but I'll presumably get at least one at some point. Which means I'll be all set for Christmas gifts for my aunts and uncles that year...

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A quick reminder: How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog (cover in the left sidebar) will be released at the end of the month. If you'd like to win a signed copy early, though, you can enter our Photoshop contest. Just edit a picture of Emmy into another picture having something to do with physics. Like this:

(See the transcript here for the source of this comment.)

The deadline for entering is this Friday. We've already got some quality entries, but the more the merrier.

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Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup

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5 February 2011: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…

Obama urged to cut FDA ties with Monsanto
Petition pressing President Obama to oust FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods goes viral, garnering over 380,000 signatures

DNA walker strides towards the light
Nucleic acid machines powered by light could one day transport cargo or help synthesise novel nanomaterials

Treating hospital wastewater
Bioreactors could be part of the solution to the problem of drugs entering the water supply

Nano-welding with a light touch
Researchers weld nanowires using just white light as a route to simplify electronics manufacturing

10 out of 10 for boron’s coordinated effort
Chemists create a boron compound with the most coordination linkages ever seen in a planar species

                  

Proving that you can find physics in everything, Sean Carroll points to a strange anomaly in the Super Bowl coin toss: the NFC has won 14 coin tosses in a row. The odds of this happening seem to be vanishingly small, making this a 3.8-sigma effect, almost enough to claim the detection of a new particle, and certainly enough to justify the generation of a press release.

Of course, there are two problems with Sean's analysis, one classical and one quantum. The classical objection is that what we have a record of is one team winning the toss every time, which does not mean that the coin is doing anything wonky. There's probably somebody out there who has a record of whether the coin came up heads or tails in each of those tosses, but that's not the same thing. To calculate the probabilities correctly, you'd need to know something about the distributions of "heads" vs. "tails" calls by super Bowl team captains, which may or may not be 50-50.

More importantly, though, the quantum objection renders this moot: If you believe in a Many-Worlds or multiverse interpretation of quantum physics, the probability of the NFC winning fourteen consecutive coin flips is 100%-- among the effectively infinite branches of the wavefunction of the universe, there must be one in which the 14-in-a-row streak has occurred. And also one where the AFC has won all 45 Super Bowl coin tosses, and one in which the coin has landed on edge 45 times in a row, and so on.

This might seem like a bucket of cold water thrown on an otherwise fun bit of geeking out, but it's actually a cause for hope. After all, if there are all these improbable universes out there with weird things happening in the coin toss, there must also be universes in which weird things happened in the game. But then, we know that already, from Super Bowl history-- two of my Giants' Super Bowl titles came about in a fashion that clearly indicates some quantum fluctuations in action (the third was a thorough drubbing of the Broncos). At least from where I sit, this puts us in the best of all possible football universes. But for those of you who root for other teams, take heart-- somewhere out there in the multiverse, there's a universe in which the 2007 Patriots went 19-0, and even one in which the Buffalo Bills had an unprecedented run of four consecutive titles in the 90's.

Well, OK, maybe that's a little too unlikely, even for quantum physics...

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