1

Physiology & Medicine / Why did AIDS become known as HIV-AIDS in medical news?

« on: 25/11/2011 14:22:01 »

Science and medical podcasts often refer to the disease HIV-AIDS. Is there a virological reason for the name of the virus getting stuck to that of the disease, while it doesn't happen to other viral illnesses? Should we say "HAV-hepatitis"?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How does the moon appear from different places on Earth?

« on: 10/02/2010 18:57:42 »

just to make sure I got it: the moon follows the equator, approximately?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How does the moon appear from different places on Earth?

« on: 01/02/2010 17:01:36 »

wow, this really IS complicated! i'll spend many nights with this in mind trying to really understand it.
Thanks!

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General Science / What are the white 'things' that appear in your fingernails?

« on: 01/02/2010 16:54:36 »

the patches would be some nutritional deficit, according to one answerer, and what are the moons?? i've heard that they reflect an excess of protein in one's diet, is there any truth to that?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How does the moon appear from different places on Earth?

« on: 29/01/2010 11:30:01 »

Maria Guimarães  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Hi Chris,
 
In the Southern hemisphere, where I live, the crescent moon appears as a C in the sky. On the same day, you will see the opposite: a D without the straight part. I keep trying to represent sun, earth and moon alignments but can't figure it out. And how is it on the Equator? U and inverted U? And what about the poles?
 
Thanks, Maria

What do you think?

6

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Which chopping boards are safest?

« on: 13/08/2009 17:36:23 »

what is the antibacterial coating?? do I want to eat fragments of it?

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Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Which chopping boards are safest?

« on: 11/08/2009 12:30:02 »

Maria Guimarães  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Dear naked scientists,
 
A few years ago I read that - counter to commercial claims - the good old wooden cutting boards are safest. Bacteria would get stuck inside the board, not multiply and eventually die. On plastic boards, though, bacteria would sit in the slits just waiting to infect the next piece of food.

Does that really hold? Has new research proven differently or confirmed that?
 
Thanks, Maria

What do you think?

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Question of the Week / Re: QotW - 09.09.06 - Do plants have immunity?

« on: 05/08/2009 16:54:49 »

The first line of defense that plants have against bacterial infection is performed by the stomata, the same structures on the leaf surface which are mostly associated with regulating gas exchanges between the plant and the atmosphere.
Maeli Melotto, from the University of Texas at Arlington, studies how the stomata close when faced with a potential bacterial infection, and how bacteria counter that. I wrote about it for Pesquisa, a Brazilian magazine. It has been translated to English here: http://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/?art=1850&bd=1&pg=1&lg=en.

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General Science / Should I keep the windows open to keep my house cooler on a hot day?

« on: 12/03/2009 22:30:02 »

Maria Guimarães  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Dear Chris and other naked scientists,
 
I live in Brazil and it's been quite hot here lately. I hope you can help me solve an argument I face at home: to keep the temperature as pleasant as possible in the house, is it better to close all doors and windows to keep the air out, or to let the (hot) breeze sweep through?
 
Thank you! Maria

What do you think?

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Question of the Week / QotW - 08.12.07 - Why do we laugh when we find something funny?

« on: 11/12/2008 19:39:01 »

I was much surprised to hear that laughing stems mostly from social cues.
I often can't make myself stop laughing when I'm reading or see something funny - even if I'm alone. I have even awoken myself by laughing at something hilarious that happened in a dream. And sometimes have laughing fits in very inconvenient situations, even though I'm no longer a teenager! And I profoundly dislike it when people laugh at unfunny things...
I bet there is more to it than the researcher states.