Gizmorama!

Good Morning,

An interesting study conducted by German scientists finds
that the human brain could potentially be energy efficient.
Read all about this amazing new find and how this process
would work in the first article.

Until Tomorrow,
Erin

Study: Brains can be energy efficient

FRANKFURT, Germany - German scientists say they’ve discovered
human brains have the ability to be energy efficient. Scien-
tists said brain cells generate and propagate nerve impulses
by controlling the flow of sodium and potassium ions — an
action requiring energy. The amount of energy was previously
estimated using a giant nerve cell from a squid. But now a
study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Brain
Research in Frankfurt, Germany, shows squid cell studies
overestimated the amount of energy necessary to generate an
action potential by nearly a factor of four. That, said the
researchers, suggests human brains also have the same poten-
tial to be energy efficient. The study, published in the
journal Science, was reviewed by F1000 Biology members
Venkatesh Murthy, a professor of molecular and cellular bio-
logy at Harvard University, and Jakob Sorensen, a professor
of neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
Murthy said the researchers recorded the voltage generated by
nerve cells to “show that a rather subtle separation between
the timing of sodium entry and potassium exit during action
potentials can determine how much energy is expended to main-
tain the ionic gradients.” Murthy said the results are im-
portant, not just for a basic understanding of brain metabo-
lism, but also for interpreting signals detected by non-
invasive brain imaging techniques.” Added Sorensen, “The
amazing thing is that we didn’t realize the result a long
time ago.”

Spacecraft obtains new view of our galaxy

PASADENA, Calif. - The U.S. space agency says scientists have
made the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and
its location in the Milky Way galaxy. NASA said the map was
made possible by data collected by its Interstellar Boundary
Explorer spacecraft known as IBEX. Officials said the map
will change the way researchers view and study the interac-
tion between our galaxy and sun. “The sky map was produced
with data that two detectors on the spacecraft collected
during six months of observations,” NASA said. “The detectors
measured and counted particles scientists refer to as ener-
getic neutral atoms (that) are created in an area of our so-
lar system known as the interstellar boundary region. “This
region is where charged particles from the sun, called the
solar wind, flow outward far beyond the orbits of the planets
and collide with material between stars,” NASA scientists
said, noting the atoms travel inward toward the sun from
interstellar space at velocities ranging to more than 2.4
million mph. “For the first time, we’re sticking our heads
out of the sun’s atmosphere and beginning to really under-
stand our place in the galaxy,” said David McComas of
the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, the OBEX
project’s principal investigator. NASA released the sky map
image (available at http://www.nasa.gov/ibex) in conjunction
with publication of the findings in the journal Science.

Stem cell creation progress reported

LA JOLLA, Calif. - U.S. scientists say they’ve been able to
dramatically improve the creation of stem cells from human
adult tissue without using embryonic cells. The researcher
team, led by the Scripps Research Institute, said its new
technique that uses three small drug-like chemicals is 200
times more efficient than, and twice as fast as, conventional
methods for transforming adult human cells into stem cells.
“Both in terms of speed and efficiency, we achieved major
improvements over conventional conditions,” said Scripps
Research Associate Professor Sheng Ding, who led the study.
“This is the first example in human cells of how reprogram-
ming speed can be accelerated. I believe that the field will
quickly adopt this method, accelerating (stem cell) research
significantly.” In addition to its significant practical
advantages, the scientists said their technique deepens the
understanding of the biology behind the transformation of
adult human cells into stem cells. The findings are reported
in the early online edition of the journal Nature Methods.