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Podcast TranscriptThe Naked Scientists: Science Radio & Science Podcasts |
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Broccoli Harbours a Powerful Antimicrobial Agent
According to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution have found a compound in Broccoli and Broccoli Sprouts that can kill the bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers and cancers. after hearing about people suffering from ulcers who experienced relief after eating 3-day old broccoli, the Hopkins research group began investigating plants and isolateda compound from Broccoli seeds called sulfoprophane. They found that pure sulfoprophane was able to kill 48 strains of bacteria, including some that were resistant to antibiotics. Moreover, the compound killed the bacteria both inside and outside of cells. The results are extremely encouraging although further research is needed to determine if dietary sources of sulfoprophane will be as effective as the pure form. So there you have it - vegetables are good for you !
Show about MRSA, superbugs, phage therapy, bdellovibrio, and antibiotic resistance
1st Jun 2002
Point and Click Touch Sensitive Shop Windows
Interaction expert Joe Paradiso from Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab says that he can turn a shop window into an interactive 'touch screen'. This would allow shoppers to, for example, trigger demonstrations in the window, rotate displays, or pick things from a menu. This can be done, he says, simply by placing microphones in each corner of the window. When a shopper taps on the glass, the time it takes the vibrations to reach each of the microphones in turn can be used to pinpoint where on the glass a person is tapping. A computer can work out which 'button' on the glass the person wants to activate, and so change the display accordingly.
1st Jun 2002
Booby Jacuzi, a Novel Way to Treat Breast Cancer
According to NHS statisctics, 30,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 13,000 will die from it. In fact a woman has a 1 in 9 chance of developing the disease during her lifetime. But now researchers are Duke University Medical Centre have come up with a new treatment to combat breast cancer which has been given the nickname The Booby Jacuzi ! Here's how it works: the women are first treated with doxorubicin, a traditional anti-cancer drug, and then made to lie down on a table with a hole in it for the breasts to go through. The breasts are immersed for one hour in a pool of warm salt-water heated by radio waves. Out of 21 women who were diagnosed with inoperable and inflammatory tumours, after 12 weeks in 7 women the there were no longer any signs of tumours. In the remainder the tumours had shrunk to operable sizes. According to the researchers, the success of the treatment was probably due to 2 things. Firstly, fat bubbles called liposomes, which coat the molecules of doxorubicin, the chemotherapy drug, help to target the drug to the affected area. Secondly, the application of heat to the tissue increases blood flow and hence drug delivery. In fact the researchers found that their approach resulted in a 20 fold increase in the amount of drug delivered to the affected tissue, whilst protecting other areas of the body.
Show featuring cancer expert Fiona Watt
Garlic used in targeted anti-cancer therapy
Bexxar - a radioactive substance attached to an antibody - can be used to selectively target lymphoma
Show featuring oncologist (cancer specialist) Dr. Helena Earl
Genetically modified (GM) herpes virus which can be used to tackle brain tumours and melanoma
Breast feeding and breast cancer
1st Jun 2002
Slim Chance - Animals Find Novel Routes of Escape
A cat that became trapped when a wall collapsed in Ilfracombe, Devon, eventually lost enough weight to allow it to squeeze out through a small gap in the rubble !
1st Jun 2002
What Is Happening to the Kakapo ?
A species of giant parrot from New Zealand, sadly threatened with extinction, is making a comeback thanks to conservation efforts. The number of kakapos, one of the world's rarest birds, have increased from as few as 50 in 1995, to nearly 90 today, thanks to the work of Don Merton and his colleagues from the New Zealand National Kakapo Team. Before people arrived in New Zealand about 1000 years ago, kakapos had only one predator, another bird, and their beautiful mottled green plummage provided ideal camouflage. But the Maoris hunted the birds for food and they also cleared the birds' habitats and eventually other predators such as cats, rats possums and ferrets arrived on the scene. By the late 1960's the birds were on the brink of extinction and by 1995 there were estimated to be as few as 50 left. So what is the conservation team doing to save the kakapo ? Firstly they have moved them to 2 nearby islands (Maud Island and Codfish Island) where there are fewer predators. The birds are also given more food to encourage them to breed, but steps are taken to prevent overfeeding because fatter females produce more female offspring. The team have also found that over 40% of the eggs laid are infertile, a problem them have surmounted by removing the infertile eggs and replacing them with fertile ones taken from other kakapos. The removal of their eggs encourages the fertile birds to lay again. Thanks to their efforts there are now 86 kakapos and scientists plan to continue with the breeding programme until the number reaches 200, at which point they can safely leave the birds to it.
1st Jun 2002
What Meditation Does to your Brain
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania wondered what goes on in the brains on Buddhist Monks when they meditate, so they put 8 of them through a brain scanner whilst they were meditating, in order to find out. Dr. Andrew Newberg and his team used a technique called SPECT (single positron emission tomography) in which a tracer chemical is injected into a vein and used to study blood flow in the brain to pinpoint which brain areas became more or less active during meditation. Active parts of the brain need more energy and oxygen and hence the blood flow through these areas increases, which is detected by the scanner. The team found that when the monks meditated the activity in their frontal lobes - the front parts of the brain concerned with planning and attention - increased significantly, but was mirrored by a corresponding decrease in activity in the parietal lobes at the back of the brain. The parietal lobes process visual and sensory information to help us to relate to and orientate ourselves in our environment. That the monks switched off this part of their brain could explain why people lose their sense of space and time when they meditate deeply. The effects are not confined solely to Buddhist monks since the research team also scanned some Franciscan Nuns engaged in prayer, with the same results. More info on www.andrewnewberg.com
1st Jun 2002
Psychiatrists Show That the Media Influences Eating Habits
A recent study by Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Anne Becker has shown that watching stick-thin actresses on US sitcoms distorts girls' body images and encourages them to develop eating -disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Most models have 10 to 15% body fat compared with 22 to 26% for a normal healthy woma, and are therefore much thinner than the average person. The study looked at the impact of the introduction of satellite TV in Fiji. Dieting was almost unheard of prior to 1995, and the Fijian culture encouraged healthy appetites and largeer body shapes. But within 3 years of watching US shows, girls became obsessed with their weight. Two-thirds of those questioned reported dieting to lose weight, whilst three-quarters felt that they were too fat. 1 in 8 of the girls asked were bulimic. So this proves what we have suspected all along - that the shape of a normal female body is wrongly portrayed by the media.
Show featuring obesity expert Professor Steve O'Rahilly
1st Jun 2002
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Who is sweatier, men or women ? James, from Cottenham, Cambridge |
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Men are definitely sweatier than women. Previously this was put down to the larger male stature, but a team of scientists at University of Dortmund, Germany, led by Barbara Griefahn, say different. In their laboratory they have set up a mock 'sweltering car'. 'Volunteers' sit for up to 2 hours under heat lamps, mimicking the effect of the sun beating down through the windscreen. Under these conditions men lose about 250 mls of sweat per hour during the experiment, 70 mls an hour more than female volunteers. This makes them officially sweatier, even allowing for size and weight, say the scientists. |
June 2002 |
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Can rescue or police dogs still hear their handlers in noisy environments ? Gemma, email |
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No, not at the moment, but thanks to a new invention from a Tokyo company called Temco, that could soon change. The dog receives instructions from its handler transmitted by radio link to a loudspeaker harnessed to the back of its head. The soundwaves from the speaker are transmitted through the skull bones to the ear drums so it can still hear its handler's voice as though they are only a short distance away. |
June 2002 |
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Is there any truth in women saying 'my bum looks big in this' ? Pete, email |
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Yes, there is a scientific reason why wearing some colours will affect the apparent size of your bum. The reason that we look larger in pale colours, and thinner in dark (especially black) ones, is because our perception of the shape of the surface depends upon minute shadows and patterns on the surface. Compare how easy it is to spot a wrinkle in a light coloured shirt compared with a dark one. So if you wear dark trousers you cannot see any shadows, because the background is dark, making it more difficult to perceive the actual shape of the bump underneath. Patterns also play a role. If you wear something with vertical lines that start off parallel, then move apart, then back together again, to form a fish-eye shape, looking at the pattern gives the impression that there is a bump underneath, even though there isn't. |
June 2002 |
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