Kersey Sturdivant

Fun Science FRIEDay – The Universe Sings a Song, and Humans Can Finally Listen

February 12, 2016February 12, 2016 Kersey Sturdivant

Science

(Photo Credit: Underwood & Underwood / Corbis / Kara Gordon / The Atlantic)

The interwebs have been going crazy the past few days with the recent announcement that scientists have for the first time detected gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago. In terms of scientific advancement, to quote Joe Biden, “This is a big fucking deal!” Bigger than the discovery of the subatomic Higgs boson particle (i.e., the god particle), and it has been suggested this discovery is comparable only to “Galileo taking up the telescope and looking at the planets.” – Penn State physics theorist Abhay Ashtekar

Photo credit: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory

Fun Science FRIEDay – Bionic Eye

February 5, 2016February 9, 2016 Kersey Sturdivant

Science, Uncategorized

Every year modern medicine brings more and more surprises. It really does seem that the limitations of man’s achievements are solely limited to our creative ability to dream what is possible. This week we bring you the bionic eye. As part of an ongoing trial at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital surgeons implanted a micro electric chip into a patients eye restoring part of her sight.

Fun Science FRIEDay – Theory of Relative… easiness??

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Science, Uncategorized

This week’s FSF is a bit different. Instead of talking about some relatively new discovery or research endeavor, we are going to focus on an old adage, the Theory of Relativity. The Theory of Relativity is one of those concepts that is hugely important but very poorly understood outside of the physics community. Instead of … Read More “Fun Science FRIEDay – Theory of Relative… easiness??” »

Fun Science FRIEDay – Virus be good!

November 6, 2015November 6, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

“The era of the oncolytic virus is… here.” Stephen Russell, Cancer researcher and haematologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnessota

…. and let me be the first to welcome our new virus overlords!

Viral-based cancer therapy: T cells (orange) are recruited to attack malignant cells (purple). (Photo credit: Dr. Andrejs Liepins/SPL)

Last week the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a decision that received little fanfare, but has huge implications for modern medicine and how we approach cancer treatment in the US. That decision? The FDA granted their approval for a genetically engineered virus to be used to treat cancer. That virus was the herpesvirus called talimogene laherparepvec, and its use is for the treatment of melanoma lesions in the skin and lymph nodes. This huge decision makes it the first oncolytic virus to receive market approval and could pave the way for more oncolytic viruses to enter the “market.”

Fun Science FRIEDay – Dude, I’m Glowing!

October 2, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

Happy Fun Science FRIEDay! After a brief hiatus, due to life, hoping this installment represents the regular…err, semi-regular, occurrence of FSF. So this hit the interwebs pretty big earlier this week, the first documented reptile to glow. That honor belongs to the Hawksbill a sea turtle, observed first by David Gruber, of City University of … Read More “Fun Science FRIEDay – Dude, I’m Glowing!” »

Fun Science FRIEDay – “A cold-water fish with a warm heart!”

May 15, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

OPAH, OPAH, OPAH!

Recently scientists at NOAA’s South West Fisheries Science Center made a stunning discovery, the worlds first known warm-blooded fish, the moonfish, opah (Lampris guttatus). Until this recent discovery all fish were considered cold-blooded ectotherms – allowing their body temperature to fluctuate with the change in ambient ocean temperature. However, opah’s are different, in that these largely solitary fish regulate their internal body temperature above the ambient temperature of their environment like mammals and birds (other warm-blooded animals).

Opah off the coast of southern California. (Photo credit: Ralph Pace Photography)

Happy Fun Science FRIEDay – Glass Frogs

May 1, 2015April 17, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

Raise your hand if you realized there were frogs so translucent you could see their innards? Ok if you actually raised your hand while reading this, kudos, but put it down now. Glass frogs are tiny green organisms whos organs are visible from their underside given the translucent nature of their bellies. There were 148 … Read More “Happy Fun Science FRIEDay – Glass Frogs” »

Advice About Applying to Graduate School

April 29, 2015April 29, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

In 2013 a colleague and I were commissioned by Cambridge University Press to write a book about applying to graduate school in the sciences. A large part of the approach was to source knowledge from others with experience in this process (both from admissions offices and former applicants), and to use that information to drive … Read More “Advice About Applying to Graduate School” »

Fun Science FRIEDay – Snap, Crack, Pop

April 24, 2015April 17, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

You’ve been there before. You are sitting or standing around and get a mental sensation that you need to “pop your knuckles”. A swift squeeze of your fingers and the tension is relieved. Crisis averted. But why do knuckles make that popping sound when you crack them? If questions like this keep you up at night… maybe you need to reevaluate your priorities. But, if the start of this article has piqued your interest, you will be pleased to know that a a team of researchers, led by the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, have confirmed the reasons for knuckle popping.

Pull My Finger experiment. The radiofrequency coil inside the clear housing (left). The metocarpophaangeal (MCP) joint of interest centred over the bore of the radiofrequency coil (middle). The participant’s hand within the imaging magnet (right). (Photo credit: Kawchuck et al. 2015, PLoS ONE) — Pull My Finger experiment. The radiofrequency coil inside the clear housing (left).
The metocarpophaangeal (MCP) joint of interest centred over the bore of the radiofrequency coil (middle). The participant’s hand within the imaging magnet (right). (Photo credit: Kawchuck et al. 2015, PLoS ONE)

Fun Science FRIEDay – The Moby Dick of Sperm Whale Encounters

April 17, 2015 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

Happy FSF Folks!

So this news has been making the rounds, and it is too amazing not to include for FSF. So if you missed it, you are in luck because we highlight it again here. A giant sperm whale was captured by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) piloted as part of Bob Ballard and the Corps of Exploration’s Nautilus cruise. The whale was captured by the ROV Hercules at 598 meter (1,962 ft) below the sea surface in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana.

Sperm whale captured at 598 meter (1,962 ft) depth by the ROV Hercules. (Photo Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust)