Category archives: Science

MI weekly selection #147

MI weekly selection #147

Humanities & Social SciencesScienceTechnologyWeekly Selection

By César Tomé

A predicted collision between pair of black holes The prediction late last year of a collision between a pair of supermassive black holes in a galaxy about 3.5 billion light-years from Earth has gotten support from a new study by scientists at Columbia University. Last year, scientists noticed a flickering pulse from the galaxy’s quasar […]

Starving the brain

Starving the brain

Molecular biologyNeurobiology

By Carlos Rueda

Life is sustained by chemical reactions, and the countless reactions that take place in the cells of living organisms that are responsible for every biological process are known as energetic metabolism. Among the others, the brain stands as the most energy-consuming organ, accounting for up to 20 % of the body’s total haul while representing […]

MI weekly selection #146

MI weekly selection #146

Humanities & Social SciencesScienceTechnologyWeekly Selection

By César Tomé

Could we instantly I.D. pathogens by their glow? It can take days to identify pathogens by swabs and cultures. A new technique uses spectroscopy to see immediately the light bacteria emit. Futurity Old, distant galaxy baffles scientists A galaxy described as the oldest and most distant to be observed has perplexed scientists, and may cause […]

Mapping interdisciplinarity

Mapping interdisciplinarity

Philosophy of scienceSociology

By Silvia Román

Some decades ago, the American social scientist Donald T. Campbell imagined interdisciplinary research as a fish-scale structure according to which scholars should make an effort to create links between disciplines, spanning areas ignored by others, in an overlapping pattern aiming to cover the entire web of knowledge. He suggested that scholars should overcome the “ […]

Baker’s Yeast Against Pain: Alkaloids production from glucose  

Baker’s Yeast Against Pain: Alkaloids production from glucose  

MicrobiologyPharmacy

By Daniel Moreno Andrés

Some pharmaceutical painkillers and analgesics like Noscapine, papaverine and tubocurarine or the most famous opioids codeine or morphine are Benzylisoquinoline derivatives. Few of them are used daily for thousands of people to relieve a variety of physical pains. However, due to their rather complex biosynthesis, they are still obtained by processing plant extracts (mainly from […]

The ants’ toilet, please?

The ants’ toilet, please?

Biology

By José Ramón Alonso

Ant nests are complex three-dimensional spaces with particular places allocated for specific functions: egg-laying, care of the brood, food storage… In the chambers and tunnels, many insects live in very confined spaces and are thus especially vulnerable for infectious diseases. Feces are hazardous materials since theoretically at least they can foster bacteria, transmit diseases, and […]

MI weekly selection #145

MI weekly selection #145

Humanities & Social SciencesScienceTechnologyWeekly Selection

By César Tomé

Carbon dating suggests Quran fragments could be older than once thought Fragments of what’s believed to be the world’s oldest Quran may be older than previously thought, even possibly predating the prophet Muhammad, according to researchers at Oxford University. The text was initially tested by Birmingham University, which used radiocarbon dating to suggest the fragments […]