This Week in Science!!!

Here's the occasional wrap-up of anything noteworthy in the world of science.

Starting off with the Dr. Pigeon, M.D:


story one:

Today: radiologist pigeons. Tomorrow: pigeon overlords.

Your future radiologist.

The next time you see a flock of pigeons in your way on an open concourse, remember this: Your future radiologist might be amongst them.

Professors Richard Levenson  and Edward Wasserman studied 16 pigeons and their ability to differentiate between benign and malignant breast tissue on a touchscreen image, and what they found might surprise. Not only do pigeons still strut like Mick Jagger while under study, but they can detect malignancy with surprising accuracy

On day one of testing, a pigeon's detection ability is no better than chance--50%. But within 13-to-15 days that percentage increases to 85%, or, as the professors note, "a task that can perplex inexperienced human observers who typically require considerable training to attain mastery."

Pigeon doctors. Once they learn to handle a scalpel, we're all goners.



story two:

Scientists bioengineer vocial cords; still can't help Selena Gomez's singing.

The real thing looks like raw steak.

Hot air isn't for balloons and your grandpa anymore. Starting with human cells, scientists have created, for the first time, vocal cords that actually properly vibrate when air is pushed through, dooming us to bad pop music for eternity.

Using the two main cell types that appear in vocal cords, scientists placed them in a 3D collagen matrix (a thing that mimics conditions in the body), and grew a vocal cord. After implanting the newly grown cords in cadaver dogs (not Fido!!), they pushed air through to find that the cords vibrated, and sounded, strikingly similar to regular vocal cords.

Said associate professor Nathan Welham, who led the development team: "I remember holding it and thinking, gosh, this feels like the real thing, which has a distinct feel—sort of like Jell-O but stronger and able to return to its shape if you deform it." Mmm, deformed Jell-O vocal cords. Sounds tasty! I'm ready for dessert!



story three:

It's alive! It's aliiiiiive!

Mmm, delicious Frankenfish.

The FDA has approved genetically engineered salmon. This is not to be confused with farm-raised salmon, which is normal salmon that wears plaid and overalls.

Critics claim the genetically engineered variety is a 'Frankenfish,' a creation blending chromosomes from an Atlantic salmon, a growth hormone from Chinook salmon, and a gene from the eel-like ocean pout, electric bolts not included.

While the FDA and most outside experts agree the new fish is safe to eat, the environmental impact is up for debate. The eggs for the fish are developed at a facility in Canada, for which a lawsuit remains. The fear? What happens if Frankenfish's eggs escape the Prince Edward Island facility?

If it follow's Mary Shelley's book, it goes on a casual murderous rampage before drifting away on an ice flow. How dramatic!



story four:

"I said a hip-hop, a hippity to the hippity hip-hip-hop..."

Nick Williams, a high school science teacher out of the San Francisco area, was awarded a $25,000 prize for promoting the sciences to his students. How? He raps occasionally.

From a sea of over 100,000 educators up for the Milken Educator Award, Williams was one of 40 selected to win a cash prize.

Let's see him in action:



He went with the finger-to-the-temple move and an "okay/three/West Coast" symbol! Man means business.

If he was an English teacher, he'd politely remind you to use a semicolon properly--in a whisper, quietly ashamed, weeping in a corner.