We take a look at a possible new Multiple Sclerosis treatment, an ancient comet strike, a reality show that might win you a trip to space, an update on the meteorite that hit Ruia last year, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.
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— Show Notes —
New Multiple Sclerosis Treatment
- Scientists have identified a set of compounds that may be used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) in a new way
- The newly identified compounds, a Parkinson\’s disease drug called benztropine, was highly effective in treating a standard model of MS in mice, both alone and in combination with existing MS therapies
- The compounds boost a population of progenitor cells that can in turn repair MS-damaged nerve fibers
- Another Study SciByte Recently Looked At
- In trial, a MS patients\’ own specially processed white blood cells were used to stealthily deliver billions of myelin antigens into their bodies so their immune systems would recognize them as harmless and develop tolerance to them
- SciByte 97 | CoQ10 & Smart LEGO – Multiple Sclerosis Treatment | June 11, 2013
- SciByte Does Not Approve Self Medicating
- Benztropine is a drug with dose-related adverse side effects, and has yet to be proven effective at a safe dose in human MS patients
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- MS currently affects more than half a million people in North America and Europe, and more than two million worldwide
- The precise cause isunknown, but certain infections and a lack of vitamin D are thought to be risk factors
- In MS, immune cells known as T cells infiltrate the upper spinal cord and brain, which causes inflammation and ultimately the loss of an insulating coating called myelin on some nerve fibers
- As nerve fibers lose this myelin coating, they lose their ability to transmit signals efficiently, and in time may begin to degenerate
- Current therapies aim to suppress the immune attack that demyelinated nerve fibers. But they are only partially effective and are apt to have significant adverse side effects
- The New Study
- Aims at restoring a population of progenitor cells called oligodendrocytes
- These cells normally keep the myelin sheaths of nerve fibers in good repair and in principle could fix these coatings after MS damages them
- In MS oligodendrocyte decline sharply in number, due to a still-mysterious problem with the stem-like precursor cells that produce them
- The team screened a library of about 100,000 diverse compounds for any that could potently induce OPCs to mature or \”differentiate.\”
- Several compounds scored well but benztropine, had already been well characterized and was already FDA-approved for treating Parkinson\’s disease
- Tests show benztropine had a powerful ability to prevent autoimmune disease and also was effective in treating it after symptoms had arisen
- Benztropine on its own worked about as well as existing treatments, it also showed a remarkable ability to complement these existing treatments
- In Conjunction With Current Therapies
- The two first-line immunosuppressive therapies are interferon-beta and fingolimod
- Adding even a suboptimal level of benztropine allowed to cut the dose of fingolimod by 90% for the same effect as a normal dose
- The reduction could translate into a big reduction in potentially serious side effects
- The Test
- Researchers confirmed that benztropine works against disease in this mouse model by boosting the population of mature oligodendrocytes
- This allowed the oligodendrocytes to restore the myelin sheaths of damaged nerves even while the immune continues to attack
- The benztropine-treated mice showed no change in the usual signs of inflammation, yet their myelin was mostly intact, suggesting that it was probably being repaired as rapidly as it was being destroyed
- Researchers hope to learn more about how its molecular structure might be optimized for this purpose
- Multimedia
- YouTube | Multiple Sclerosis | AsapSCIENCE
- Further Reading / In the News
- New strategy to treat multiple sclerosis shows promise in mice
- Multiple sclerosis breakthrough: Trial safely resets patients\’ immune systems and reduces attack on myelin protein| MedicalXPress.com
— NEWS BYTE —
Ancient Comet Strike Evidence
- Comet fragments have not been found on Earth before except as microscopic sized dust particles in the upper atmosphere and some carbon-rich dust in the Antarctic ice.
- Now the first ever evidence of a comet entering Earth\’s atmosphere and exploding, raining down a shock wave of fire which obliterated every life form in its path, has been discovered
- Comet Strike?
- The comet entered Earth\’s atmosphere above Egypt about 28 million years ago
- As it entered the atmosphere, it exploded, heating up the sand beneath it to a temperature of about 2,000C [3,632F]
- That resulted in the formation of a huge amount of yellow silica glass which lies scattered over a 6,000 sq km [2,316 sq mi] area in the Sahara
- One specimen of the glass, polished by ancient jewellers, is in Tutankhamun\’s brooch with its striking yellow-brown scarab
- Impact Produced Microscopic Diamonds
- The impact of the explosion also produced microscopic diamonds
- A mysterious black pebble found years earlier by an Egyptian geologist in the area of the silica glass
- After conducting highly sophisticated chemical analyses on this pebble it was concluded that it represented the very first known hand specimen of a comet nucleus
- The team have named the diamond-bearing pebble \”Hypatia\” in honour of the first well known female mathematician, astronomer and philosopher, Hypatia of Alexandria
- Further Reading / In the News
- First ever evidence of a comet striking Earth | Phys.org
— TWO-BYTE NEWS —
Reality TV Meets Space!?!?!?
- The executive producer behind Survivor is planning to host another reality competition that will land the winner a rocket trip to space
- What?
- A press release simply promises a “groundbreaking, elimination competition series where everyday people compete for the ultimate prize”
- It doesn\’t say what might competitors might have to do to win the competition
- It\’s Important To Know
- This is just an agreement so far and nothing firm has been decided
- Virgin says its first spaceflight with SpaceShipTwo will be in 2014, and soon after it will open the manifest to the more than 600 folks who have purchased tickets.
- In 2000, Burnett announced another deal with NBC to host a space reality show (Destination Mir), with the winner visiting the Russian space station Mir
- That idea fell apart when the Russian Federal Space Agency elected to deorbit the aging station in 2001
- Multimedia
- Virgin Galactic YouTube Channel
- YouTube Virgin Galactic\’s Second Rocket Powered Test Flight | Virgin Galactic
- Further Reading / In the News
- NBC ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE SERIES WITH SIR RICHARD BRANSON\’S VIRGIN GALACTIC AND MARK BURNETT\’S ONE THREE MEDIA | virgingalactic.com
- Virgin Galactic Ticket To Space Promised In New Reality Show Deal | UniverseToday.com
— Updates —
Russian Meteor
- Russian scientists appear to have pulled up a half-ton charred meteorite from the bottom of a murky Siberian lake originating from the meteor that exploded in the skies above the southern Urals in February.
- As Seen On …
- SciByte 82 | Meteorites & Asteroids – 2013 Russian Meteorite Strike | February 19, 2013
- SciByte 83 |
Tiny Exo-planet & Medical Glue – Russian Meteorite Orbital Calculations | February 26, 2013 - SciByte 84 |
HIV & SpaceX Troubles – Russian Meteorite Chunk Found | March 5, 2013 - When It Happened
- On February 15, 2013 at 9:20 am (0320 GMT), an object was observed above Chelyabinsk which flew by at great speed and left a trail behind. Within two minutes there were two bangs,” regional emergencies official said
- It traveled through the atmosphere for about 30 seconds before breaking apart and producing violent airburst ‘explosion’ about 20-14 km (12-15 miles) above Earth’s surface
- Meteor Details
- The Russian meteor, officially named 2011 EO40, exploded about 25 miles (40 kilometers) above the city of Chelyabinsk
- It entered the atmosphere at speeds up to 31,000 miles per hour (50,000 kilometers per hour).
- The power of the explosion was estimated to be at least 20 times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945
- The resulting air blast damaged buildings and injured some 1,600 people.
- The New Recovered Piece
- A piece of meteor recovered this week weighs at least 1,257 pounds (570 kilograms).
- It is only a fragment of the original impactor that is estimated to have been about 17 meters (54 feet) across, with a mass of about 10,000 metric tons before it shattered
- Locals directed scientists to Lake Chebarkul-45 miles west of the city of Chelyabinsk-to a 25-foot (8-meter) hole punctured in the ice by the meteor
- The fragment was so large it broke into three pieces during removal and broke the scale scientists used to weigh it, once the scale reached the 570-kilogram mark.
- Now What
- It is now being transferred to a local natural history museum, so perhaps it\’ll go on display soon.
- The dive seems to be part of an ongoing effort to pull meteorite pieces out of the lake for study
- Divers previously recovered 12 rocks from the lake, but scientists confirmed only five of those were actually meteorite fragments
- Multimedia
- YouTube | Divers recover chunk of Russian meteorite | deutschewelleenglish
- YouTube | The video from Revolutionary Square in Chelyabinsk
- YouTube Russian meteor explosion: Spectacular dash cam video of meteorite fireball falling in Urals| RussiaToday
- YouTube | Preliminary Orbit of the Chelyabinsk Meteoroid.mp4 | Jorge Zuluaga
- YouTube | Multi Video Compilation | Meteorite crash in Russia: Video of meteorite explosion that stirred panic in Urals region
- YouTube Clip Meteorite blast wave blows out doors, window, and loading bay door| RussiaToday
- Further Reading / In the News
- Giant Chunk of Russian Meteor Recovered | News Watch National Geographic
- Half-Ton Fragment Of Russian Meteorite Recovered From Lake | Popular Science
— CURIOSITY UPDATE —
- Examination of the Martian atmosphere by NASA\’s Curiosity Mars rover confirms that some meteorites that have dropped to Earth really are from the Red Planet
- Exact Measurements
- A key new measurement of the inert gas argon in Mars\’ atmosphere by Curiosity\’s laboratory provides the most definitive evidence yet of the origin of Mars meteorites while at the same time providing a way to rule out Martian origin of other meteorites
- The new measurement is a high-precision count of two forms of argon — argon-36 and argon-38 — accomplished by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument inside the rover.
- These lighter and heavier forms, or isotopes, of argon exist naturally throughout the solar system
- On Mars the ratio of light to heavy argon is skewed because much of that planet\’s original atmosphere was lost to space
- The lighter form of argon was taken away more readily because it rises to the top of the atmosphere more easily and requires less energy to escape
- That left the Martian atmosphere relatively enriched in the heavier isotope, argon-38
- Past analyses by Earth-bound scientists of gas bubbles trapped inside Martian meteorites had already narrowed the Martian argon ratio to between 3.6 and 4.5
- Measurements by NASA\’s Viking landers in the 1970s put the Martian atmospheric ratio in the range of four to seven
- The new SAM direct measurement on Mars now pins down the correct argon ratio at 4.2
- What\’s Next?
- The Curiosity measurements do not directly measure the current rate of atmospheric escape
- NASA\’s next mission to Mars, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN), is designed to do so, which is being prepared for a launch-opportunity period that begins on Nov. 18
- Multimedia
- Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
- Social Media
- Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
- Further Reading / In the News
- Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite | NASA
- Mars Science Laboratory: NASA Rover Confirms Mars Origin of Some Meteorites | mars.jpl.nasa.gov
SCIENCE CALENDAR
Looking back
- October 27, 1780 : 233 years ago : First U.S. astronomy expedition views eclipse : The first U.S. astronomical expedition to record an eclipse of the sun observed the event which lasted from 11:11 am to 1:50 pm. The observers left about three weeks earlier, on 9 Oct from Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., for Penobscot Bay, led by Samuel Williams. A boat was supplied by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the four professors and six students. Although the U.S. was at war with Britain, the British officer in charge of Penobscot Bay permitted the expedition to land and set up equipment to observe the predicted total eclipse of the sun. The expedition was shocked to find itself outside the path of totality. They saw a thin arc of the sun instead of its complete obscuration by the moon
Looking up this week
- Keep an eye out for …
- Thursday, Oct 24 | 10-11 pm | Jupiter will be to the left / lower left of the rising Moon
- Planets
- Venus | SW at Dusk | It will be moving gradually higher over the next few weeks
- Mars | rises 2-3am local | It is still near the blue star Regulus, and both will be high in the Eastern sky by dawn. Mars and Regulus are now starting to separate, on Oct 26 they will be 6.5* apart (5* ~ your three middle fingers at arms length)
- Comet ISON | Near Mars but still only a dim telescope object
-
Jupiter | 11pm local | Rises in he E-NE, and rises high in the S sky by dawn. After it rises about 8* to it\’s left are the stars Castor and Pollux (orange) of the constellation Gemini
-
Further Reading and Resources
- Sky&Telescope
- SpaceWeather.com
- StarDate.org
- For the Southern hemisphere: SpaceInfo.com.au
- Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere : astronomyonline.org
- Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand : rasnz.org.nz
- AstronomyNow
- HeavensAbove