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Podcast TranscriptThe Naked Scientists: Science Radio & Science Podcasts |
| 27th Aug 2000 | < Previous Show | Next Show > | ||||||||
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Interesting Insight Into Hiv and Aids Therapy...
A new discovery this week could help people with HIV and AIDS. A US Army doctor working in Thailand has found that when AIDS patients are infected with a disease called Scrub Typhus, the amount of HIV in their blood falls dramatically, and remains low after they have recovered from the infection. Researchers have described the finding, which has been confirmed by clinical trials, as ‘very exciting’ because usually when an AIDS patients catches another infection the amount of HIV in the bloodstream greatly increases, sometimes by as much as 800%. However, 2 weeks after going into hospital with scrub typhus infection, the amount of HIV in the bloodstreams of 2 out of 10 infected individuals had fallen to undetectable levels. Doctors still do not know why this occurs, but it could lead to a new and highly effective way to treat HIV infection.
27th Aug 2000
Molecular Meatballs Neutralise Chemical Weapons
A cunning molecule shaped like a meatball and studded with molecular bait , could be the answer to combating biological weapons. Deadly viruses are popular candidates for biological warfare, as they can penetrate gas masks and protective clothing. To infect cells, viruses must first attach to their surfaces by binding to specific receptors on the cell surface. However if you create decoys laden with these receptors, you can mop up viruses and some bacteria before they reach the cells. These decoys are called Dendrimers, which are molecules that branch again and again forming spherical blobs, and they have already been shown to prevent flu viruses from infecting blood cells in culture. Such ‘nanodecoys’ could stop viral invaders which have filtered into gas masks or been injected directly into people.
27th Aug 2000
Generous Mersey Magpie
A family in Merseyside are very grateful to a magpie that has come to live in their garden - so far it’s left £1.70 in loose change on the bird-table !
27th Aug 2000
Chocolate Is Good for your Teeth
Good news for women, and other chocolate addicts, chocolate is good for your teeth, a new study has shown. Japanese researchers have found that parts of the cocoa bean used to make chocolate, can thwart mouth bacteria and stop dental decay. Tooth decay starts when Streptococcus mutans bacteria produce a sticky substance called glucan which helps the bacteria anchor themselves to teeth, forming plaque. Bacteria in plaque convert sugars to acids, which eat away the tooth’s surface and lead to cavities. Scientists have found that cocoa bean husk (CBH) – the outer part of the bean – is a potent source of antibacterial agents. Unfortunately, CBH is the part of the cocoa bean that tends to go to waste during chocolate production – but plans are afoot to use CBH extracts in mouthwash and toothpaste’s. Personally, I’d rather have the chocolate!
27th Aug 2000
Personal Helicopter Takes you Away From Traffic Jams...
It is every drivers dream! Stuck in a traffic jam? No problem. Simply strap on your personal helicopter and fly away from it all. The personal flying machine, developed in the US is called the Solotrek. The pilot stands up in the machine and flies it using hand controls and by shifting their body weight. The machine has a 4-cylinder engine and is designed to fly at speeds of 120km/hr, with a range of 250km on just one tank of petrol. Should make travelling to work a bit more fun – unless of course it rains!
27th Aug 2000
A Novel Artificial Battery-operated Artificial Human Heart
Doctors have come up with a new artificial heart pump which has been tested for the first time on a British man. The thumb-sized turbine pump was designed in New York by Robert Jarvik. It is inserted into the left ventricle, the main heart chamber, and pumps blood into the aorta, the bodies main blood vessel. The pump is powered by an external battery connected to an electrode on the patient’s scalp. The man, who is in his sixties, had been given only weeks to live, but thanks to the new pump, which was inserted in June, he is now able to lead a full and active life. Heart disease is one of the biggest killers in the UK, claiming 300,000 lives every year. Over 100,000 people could benefit from a heart-transplant each year, yet only 270 receive them due to severe shortages of donor organs. This means that pumps like this one are likely to make a major impact on a very common and serious disease, helping more people to live a better life.
27th Aug 2000
Novel Weight Loss Strategy for Lardy Longleat Lions !!
Overweight lions at Longleat safari park are being encouraged to exercise to help them shed excess weight. According to a report in the Worcestershire Evening Mail, the lions are forced to grab their food from a fast-moving truck to try and keep them in trim !
27th Aug 2000
Chimps Show Remarkable Food-preparation and Combination Skills
Chimpanzees are on their way to becoming half-decent chefs! Captive chimps in Madrid have begun to puree their own fruits and vegetables, in what looks like the first case of an ape transforming food to improve its taste and texture. Although chimps have traditionally used all sorts of methods to get food such as fishing termites out with sticks and bashing palm nuts open with rocks, these are not cases of transformation of food in the human way! Transformation involves grinding or heating food to make it a tad more a la carte, and a chimp called Linda has started this trend for the more discerning chimp. Although she hasn’t actually got round to demanding a cooker, this toothless chimp made a virtue out of necessity by rubbing fruit or veg on sharp corners, and licking off the puree. Before she knew it all her other mates in the zoo compound were at it, preparing food in a way that changes both its texture and flavour. Watch out Jamie Oliver!
27th Aug 2000
Money-mad Monkeys
Six lucky Norwegian chimpanzees at a zoo in Copenhagen inherited 40,600 pounds this week ! The chimps, called Jimmy, Trunte, Fifi, Trine, Grine and Gigi, were left the cash in the will of an 83 year old women. A spokesman for the zoo said that the money would be used to improve the chimpanzees facilities ! Apparently, despite only being chimpanzees, they behaved a lot better than the dead widow’s relatives when the will was read out in court.
27th Aug 2000
World's First Mosquito Swatting Competition
A village in northern Italy is soon to hold the countries first ever mosquito-swatting contest ! 25 male contestants will be given 5 minutes to swat as many mozzies as they can. Judges will then count up the corpses and the swatter with the most to his name will win a prestigious golden mosquito and a gold medal ! We first highlighted the Italian mosquito problem in early July when it emerged that 25,000 people were bitten whilst watching the Euro 2000 final in Milan. The local authorities responded by stocking lakes and ponds where the mosquitos are breeding with thousands of imported South American Gambusia fish, hoping that they would eat the mosquito larvae before they had a chance to turn into adult mosquitos. In the meantime, locals are obviously taking matters into their own hands !
27th Aug 2000
Russians Caught Stealing Carp From Fish Pond
Two Russians were picked up by Police in Kings Lynn this week for eating carp they caught from a lake in Hilgay, Norfolk. The two men had each paid 5 pounds for a day’s fishing permit and caught 12 fish between them. However, instead of returning the fish to the water, as the law requires, they took the fish away for lunch !
27th Aug 2000
You Are Not Allowed to Take Fish on Buses...and That Includes Fish in Plastic Bags Won at the Fairground
On the subject of fish, apparently rules dictate that anglers are not allowed to take their catches on public buses. However, a 5 year old Joseph Morgan and his grandmother, from Glen Parva, Leicestershire, were surprised to be turned away by the driver of their local bus - because Joseph had a goldfish in a bag of water that he had won at the fair ! The bus company have apparently since offered their apologies to the pair.
27th Aug 2000
Mean Thieves Steal Rare Albino Lobster Specimen
Can you help find this missing lobster ? 15 year old albino lobster ‘Ariel’, so named because he is bright white, has gone missing from Newquay’s Sea-life centre. His absence was discovered earlier in the week by curator Karl Thompson who fears he may have been cooked ! “We found a fire and some flat stones”, said Mr. Thompson. Blue and Black lobsters can live for up 100 years in the wild, but albino lobsters rarely survive in the wild. Ariel was caught 3 years ago by a local fisherman who donated him to the centre where he was a star attraction and a great educational aid.
27th Aug 2000
Global Warming Leads to Detection of Unusual Species in the North Sea
Huge numbers of tiny mediterranean water fleas have been detected for the first time in the North Sea, joining sharks, giant sun-fish and warm-water corals. The findings will trigger fears that global warming is causing permanent changes to the marine life of the region.
27th Aug 2000
Scientists Develop a Chemical Nose Capable of Discriminating Real and Copycat Perfumes
A test for smells that can distinguish between real and counterfeit perfumes has been developed by chemists at the University of Illinois. To make the sensor, scientists impregnated small teflon discs with 24 compounds called metalloporphyrins, which contain metal ions. Because gases cause specific colour changes in each metalloporphyrin, smelly gases can be identified by the colours on the discs. Well it’s nice to be able to see what perfume you’re wearing – sort of like a litmus test for smells…
27th Aug 2000
Runaway Snake Found in Hamster Cage - Thin Enough to Get In, But Too Fat to Get Out !
A happy ending and a not so happy ending for this lost animal now. Busta, a pet snake who went missing 8 months ago has been found safe and sound - in a nearby block of flats, stuck in the cage of a hamster…the reason that he was stuck in the cage was that he had just eaten the hamster and was too fat to get out again !
27th Aug 2000
Why the Germans Look So Down in the Mouth
Do you know a grumpy german, or are you yourself a grumpy german ? Scientists think that may be able to explain why Germans are renowned for their poor sense of humour. Research carried out by psychologist professor David Myers from Hope College, Michigan, suggests that the facial muscles used to make the movements required to speak german are the same muscles used to frown and turn the corners of the mouth down when sad, making the speaker feel depressed ! Speaking English, on the other hand, with sounds like ‘ah’ and ‘ee’ as in ‘car’ and ‘bee’ have the opposite effect, using muscles used to produce smiles and laughter when we are happy. According to Professor Myers, “the facial expression of a person can affect how funny they find things like cartoons - even when speaking, movements of the muscles in the face can change a person’s mood…this could be why German people have got a reputation for humourless and grumpy”
27th Aug 2000
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