Cool Science

[libby]

Do you get enough sleep? No? Read the following. It just might change your mind.

From today's Washington Post. Absolutely fascinating.

Brains flush toxic waste in sleep, including Alzheimer's-linked protein, study of mice finds

By Meeri Kim, Published: October 19, 2013

While we are asleep, our bodies may be resting, but our brains are busy taking out the trash.

A new study has found that the cleanup system in the brain, responsible for flushing out toxic waste products that cells produce with daily use, goes into overdrive in mice that are asleep. The cells even shrink in size to make for easier cleaning of the spaces around them.

Scientists say this nightly self-clean by the brain provides a compelling biological reason for the restorative power of sleep.

"Sleep puts the brain in another state where we clean out all the byproducts of activity during the daytime," said study author and University of Rochester neurosurgeon Maiken Nedergaard. Those byproducts include beta-amyloid protein, clumps of which form plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

Staying up all night could prevent the brain from getting rid of these toxins as efficiently, and explain why sleep deprivation has such strong and immediate consequences. Too little sleep causes mental fog, crankiness, and increased risks of migraine and seizure. Rats deprived of all sleep die within weeks.

Although as essential and universal to the animal kingdom as air and water, sleep is a riddle that has baffled scientists and philosophers for centuries. Drifting off into a reduced consciousness seems evolutionarily foolish, particularly for those creatures in danger of getting eaten or attacked.

One line of thinking was that sleep helps animals to conserve energy by forcing a period of rest. But this theory seems unlikely since the sleeping brain uses up almost as much energy as the awake brain, Nedergaard said.

Another puzzle involves why different animals require different amounts of sleep per night. For instance, cats sleep more than 12 hours a day, while elephants need only about three hours. Based on this newfound purpose of sleep, neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel speculates in a commentary that the varying sleep needs across species might be related to brain size.
Larger brains should have a relatively larger volume of space between cells, and may need less time to clean since they have more room for waste to accumulate throughout the day.

Sleep does play a key role in memory formation — mentally going through the events of the day and stamping certain memories into the brain. But sleeping for eight hours or more just to consolidate memories seems excessive, Nedergaard said, especially for an animal such as a mouse.

Last year, Nedergaard and her colleagues discovered a network that drains waste from the brain, which they dubbed the glymphatic system. It works by circulating cerebrospinal fluid throughout the brain tissue and flushing any resulting waste into the bloodstream, which then carries it to the liver for detoxification.

She then became curious about how the glymphatic system behaves during the sleep-wake cycle.

An imaging technique called two-photon microscopy enabled the scientists to watch the movement of cerebrospinal fluid through a live mouse brain in real time. After soothing the creature until it was sound asleep, study author Lulu Xie tagged the fluid with a special fluorescent dye.

"During sleep, the cerebrospinal fluid flushed through the brain very quickly and broadly," said Rochester neuropharmacologist Xie. As another experiment revealed, sleep causes the space between cells to increase by 60 percent, allowing the flow to increase.

Xie then gently touched the mouse's tail until it woke up from its nap, and she again injected it with dye. This time, with the mouse awake, flow in the brain was greatly constrained.

"Brain cells shrink when we sleep, allowing fluid to enter and flush out the brain," Nedergaard said. "It's like opening and closing a faucet."

They also found that the harmful beta-amyloid protein clears out of the brain twice as fast in a sleeping rodent as in an up-and-about one. The study was published in the journal Science on Thursday.

New York University cell biologist and Alzheimer's specialist Ralph A. Nixon, who was not involved in the study, said the findings could be of great interest to the Alzheimer's research community. For instance, the overproduction of beta-amyloid could be linked to the development of the disease, but he said these new findings hint that the lack of clearing it out might be the bigger problem.

Other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, are also associated with a backup of too much cell waste in the brain. "Clearance mechanisms may be very relevant to keeping these proteins at a level that isn't disease-causing," Nixon said.

An MRI diagnostic test for glymphatic clearance is in the works by Nedergaard and her colleagues. She also believes that a drug could be developed to force a cleanup if necessary, perhaps by mimicking the sleep-wake cycle.

Meeri Kim is a freelance science journalist based in Philadelphia.
© The Washington Post Company

[Y]

Well then...I know a bunch of people who should get a lot more sleep in order to flush loads of toxic crap outta' their brains!   

[libby]

Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your values
Your values become your destiny

-- Mahatma Gandhi

I came across that while leafing through a book I didn't remember buying: "The Biology of Belief" by Bruce H. Lipton, PhD. But after thumbing through it, I think I know WHY I bought it: this is on the back cover:

"This book will forever change how you think about your own thinking. Stunning new scientific discoveries about the biochemical effects of the brain's functioning show that all the cells of your body are affected by your thoughts. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., a renowned cell biologist, describes the precise molecular pathways through which this occurs. Using simple language, illustrations, humor, and everyday examples, he demonstrates how the new science of Epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of the link between mind and matter and the profound effects it has on our personal lives and the collective life of our species."

[libby]

The following is from yesterday's Washington Post. What a delight for me to read. 

Physics is enjoying a golden age
By Michael Gerson,
Published: February 24, 2014

Each of the GPS satellites that allow me to navigate to a new restaurant carries an atomic clock that needs to be accurate in order to triangulate the speed and position of my moving car. But there are a couple of problems. Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity predicts that clocks hurtling through space at satellite speed will appear to tick more slowly than earthbound clocks by about 7,000 nanoseconds each day (a nanosecond is a billionth of a second). His Theory of General Relativity, on the other hand, predicts that clocks farther from a massive object (the Earth), will advance faster than clocks on the ground, in this case by a little more than 45,000 nanoseconds.

If the GPS system fails to compensate for the 38,000-nanosecond difference predicted by an eccentric German physicist, errors in global positioning would increase by about 6 miles each day. In 23 days, my restaurant in Washington, D.C., might mistakenly show up in Philadelphia. This is the oddness of modern physics invading the everyday world.

Everyone needs a diversion, even from a job they love. My escape from a political world in which Ted Nugent figures prominently (or at all) is to read books on cosmology and quantum theory and then bore my family with scientific trivia. Note that reading is different from understanding. Being mathematically illiterate, I tend to skip the equations, which is like reading music without comprehending the notes. But I understand enough to know that physics, unlike politics, is experiencing a golden age. Microwave receivers detect small variations in the cold, ancient light from the big bang. Vast, underground colliders produce elegantly curved sprays of exotic particles.

Revolution has followed revolution. At the macro level, it was only in the late 1990s that astronomers found, against all expectation, that the expansion of the universe is accelerating instead of slowing down. This led to the postulation of an unseen dark energy in the vacuum of space — a force from the void capable of repelling galaxies. Astronomers have also found that stars on the edges of galaxies move faster than gravitational theory would predict, leading to the theory that (so far) undetectable dark matter keeps galaxies from flinging apart. It is estimated that more than 95 percent of the universe — dark energy plus dark matter — is entirely unseen.

The micro level is even odder. A century of quantum physics still has not fully sunken in. The smallest particles exist not in places but in probability waves that reach across the universe. In the prevailing (but disputed) consensus, they gain a definite position only upon observation. According to Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw in "The Quantum Universe," we inhabit "a world in which a particle really can be in several places at once and moves from one place to another by exploring the entire universe simultaneously."

At every level, from top to bottom, we gain knowledge of the world only by cutting our ties to common sense and intuition. The largest things are hidden from our view. The smallest things defy any coherent mental picture. There is, in fact, a strangeness at the heart of all things.

What are the philosophic implications? Such deep-down contingency does not, for example, prove or disprove theism. But modern physics leaves room for a reality beyond our senses. In the tame, orderly world of Isaac Newton, the motion, position, past and future of every particle, person or planet were predictable and determined. Compare this to Max Tegmark's brilliant, outlandish new book, "Our Mathematical Universe," in which the author argues that probability waves, instead of collapsing, branch off into parallel universes — meaning you and I do as well. He further claims that our external reality is not only described by math, it is actually a mathematical structure — leaving those of us who are mathematically challenged incapable of speaking our mother tongue.

The point here is not that Tegmark's theories are broadly accepted, only that such theories are no longer considered absurd. Physics has seen the return of the unseen — parallel universes, infinitesimal strings, floating and colliding branes — that are reasonably inferred without being physically observed. I can think of other creative forces in that category. Not for centuries has physics been so open to metaphysics, or more amenable to an ancient attitude: a sense of wonder about things above and within.


© The Washington Post Company

[Locutus]

Excellent article!!   Thanks for posting that libby. 

[libby]

  Thanks, Locutus. I thought you'd like it. 

[Bo D]

There is a key sentence in that article that boggles the mind. And is key to why such things fascinate me.

"But modern physics leaves room for a reality beyond our senses."

[Palehorse]

There is a key sentence in that article that boggles the mind. And is key to why such things fascinate me.

"But modern physics leaves room for a reality beyond our senses."

Indeed dude; indeed!

And thanks Libby for posting the article. Those types of things get my wheels turning! 

[libby]

There is a key sentence in that article that boggles the mind. And is key to why such things fascinate me.

"But modern physics leaves room for a reality beyond our senses."

Indeed dude; indeed!

And thanks Libby for posting the article. Those types of things get my wheels turning! 

Yes, Bo D, that sentence: "... modern physics leaves room for a reality beyond our senses." boggles the mind.  And you're welcome, Palehorse. My wheels are also turning. 

[Bo D]

This just boggles the mind. I don't think we will ever be able to comprehend it.

Evidence Spotted for Universe's Early Growth Spurt

The universe was born almost 14 billion years ago, exploding into existence in an event called the Big Bang. Now, researchers say they've spotted evidence that a split-second later, the expansion of the cosmos began with a powerful jump-start.

Experts called the discovery a major advance if confirmed by others. Although many scientists already believed that initial, extremely rapid growth spurt happened, finding this evidence has been a key goal in the study of the universe. Researchers reported March 17, 2014, that they did it by peering into the faint light that remains from the Big Bang.

If verified, the discovery "gives us a window on the universe at the very beginning," when it was far less than one-trillionth of a second old


http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/03/evidence-spotted-universes-early-growth-spurt?et_cid=3829598&et_rid=54725525&type=headline

[Bo D]

Back from the Dead: Frozen for 1,600 years, Antarctic Moss Plant Revives

Scientists have revived a moss plant that was frozen beneath the Antarctic ice and seemingly lifeless since the days of Attila the Hun.

Dug up from Antarctica, the simple moss was about 1,600 years old, black and looked dead. But when it was thawed in a British lab's incubator, something happened. It grew again.

British Antarctic Survey ecologist Peter Convey said the moss was visibly greening with new shoots after three weeks. He said scientists didn't do anything to make it grow except squirt it with distilled water.

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/03/back-dead-frozen-1600-years-antarctic-moss-plant-revives?et_cid=3829598&et_rid=54725525&type=headline

[libby]

This just boggles the mind. I don't think we will ever be able to comprehend it.

Evidence Spotted for Universe's Early Growth Spurt

The universe was born almost 14 billion years ago, exploding into existence in an event called the Big Bang. Now, researchers say they've spotted evidence that a split-second later, the expansion of the cosmos began with a powerful jump-start.

Experts called the discovery a major advance if confirmed by others. Although many scientists already believed that initial, extremely rapid growth spurt happened, finding this evidence has been a key goal in the study of the universe. Researchers reported March 17, 2014, that they did it by peering into the faint light that remains from the Big Bang.

If verified, the discovery "gives us a window on the universe at the very beginning," when it was far less than one-trillionth of a second old


http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/03/evidence-spotted-universes-early-growth-spurt?et_cid=3829598&et_rid=54725525&type=headline

"This just boggles the mind. I don't think we will ever be able to comprehend it. "

Yes!  When I was a girl and interested in astronomy, I used to think that one day I would understand how there could be a beginning or an end to the universe, but here I am, all these years later, still wondering. No answers. Only more questions.   

Universe: All that there is within the space and time dimensions accessible  to us, as well as regions beyond (but still physically connected to) those that we can see. 

--  from an Astronomy Textbook by Professor Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley

[Bo D]

"This just boggles the mind. I don't think we will ever be able to comprehend it. "

Yes!  When I was a girl and interested in astronomy, I used to think that one day I would understand how there could be a beginning or an end to the universe, but here I am, all these years later, still wondering. No answers. Only more questions.   

Universe: All that there is within the space and time dimensions accessible  to us, as well as regions beyond (but still physically connected to) those that we can see. 

--  from an Astronomy Textbook by Professor Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley

"No answers. Only more questions."

So true! The old adage rings true - "the more you know, the more you realize you don't know."

[Bo D]

Would you like that crispy or original? Fries?

'Chicken from Hell'

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/03/sharp-clawed-chicken-hell-dinosaur-unveiled?et_cid=3836791&et_rid=54725525&location=top

SALT LAKE CITY, March 19, 2014 – Scientists from Carnegie and Smithsonian museums and the University of Utah have unveiled the discovery, naming and description of a sharp-clawed, 500-pound, bird-like dinosaur that roamed the Dakotas with T. rex 66 million years ago and looked like an 11 ½-foot-long "chicken from hell."

[Bo D]

Stanford bioengineers have developed a new circuit board modeled on the human brain, possibly opening up new frontiers in robotics and computing.

....

Boahen and his team have developed Neurogrid, a circuit board consisting of 16 custom-designed "Neurocore" chips. Together, these 16 chips can simulate 1 million neurons and billions of synaptic connections. The team designed these chips with power efficiency in mind. Their strategy was to enable certain synapses to share hardware circuits. The result was Neurogrid — a device about the size of an iPad that can simulate orders of magnitude more neurons and synapses than other brain mimics on the power it takes to run a tablet computer.

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/05/circuit-board-modeled-human-brain?et_cid=3917684&et_rid=54725525&location=top

I would think it would be easy to model a circuit board after some human brains - especially some of the brains on here ....