"Gene therapy prevents memory problems in mice with Alzheimer's disease"- e! Science News, November 28, 2010.

In a new study on the Alzheimer disease (AD), scientists found out that the memory problems of the patients were closely linked to the reduced levels of an enzyme called EphB2 in their memory centers of their brains. Scientists from the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in San Francisco have been researching about this and they used gene therapy in order to alter the EphB2 levels in the memory centers of the mice. Scientists discovered that normalizing and improving the levels of this enzyme completely fixed the memory of the mice since reducing the levels in healthy mice gave them memory problems similar to the problems in patients with AD.

There is an important process in the body called neurotransmission, which is the communication between neurons (brain cells). In patients with AD, this communication is damaged by a protein called amyloid which is built up in abnormally high levels and it is thought to cause the disease. How these proteins disrupt neurotransmission is still unknown.

"EphB2 is a really cool molecule that acts as both a receptor and an enzyme," said Moustapha Cisse, PhD, lead author of the study. "We thought it might be involved in memory problems of AD because it is a master regulator of neurotransmission and its brain levels are decreased in the disease."

Also, increasing the levels of the EphB2 enzyme in the neurons of mice prevented neurotransmission deficits, memory problems, and behavioral abnormalities. Scientists discovered that the amyloid protein bind with this enzyme directly causing its reduction. This helps explain why in the Alzheimer's disease the levels of EphB2 are decreased.

"Based on our results, we think that blocking amyloid proteins from binding to EphB2 and enhancing EphB2 levels or functions with drugs might be of benefit in AD." said Mucke. "We are excited about these possibilities and look forward to pursuing them in future studies."

What interested me about this article was that it is about a topic that fascinates me a lot, health and medicine. Even though I do not want to be a doctor or a scientist that researches about medicine, it is a topic I like reading about. I think that gene therapy is an interesting process used to research about certain topics, in this case about the EphB2 enzyme, and to treat diseases. The Alzheimer's disease is a very dangerous one that has caused the deaths of many people, and I think it is very important to find a cure or at least a treatment for it. Many useful things have been discovered about the disease that lead to the discovery of the cure. I hope that in the near future, scientists will keep on researching about the disease and find a cure for it.

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/11/28/gene.therapy.prevents.memory.problems.mice.with.alzheimers.disease

"Trapped Mars Rover Finds Evidence of Subsurface Water" Science Daily, October, 28, 2010.

In Mars, where the NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became stuck, there is evidence of the existence of water, perhaps of snow melt, that has been trickling on a regular basis in the subsurface.

In 2004, the Rover Spirit had finished with its mission of examining Mars's surface and underground soil when the NASA decided to send it in a "bonus adventure", and during this mission, the rover got stuck in the subterranean dirt of Mars. With the failed attempts to get it out, the NASA gave up, but as the robot started researching about the soil, it found evidence of the presence of water. Perhaps the water had been in the form of snow or frost and the seepage could have happened during the planet's cyclical climate changes when it tilts farther from it axis. Insoluble materials, such as hematite, silica and gypsum, were found in the surface, while some soluble were found in deeper layers of the planet.

"The lack of exposures at the surface indicates the preferential dissolution of ferric sulfates must be a relatively recent and ongoing process since wind has been systematically stripping soil and altering landscapes in the region Spirit has been examining," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, deputy principal investigator for the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

When in March 22, 2010, the rover stopped communicating to NASA and both its left wheels quit working, engineers expected for it to enter a "low-power, silent hibernation mode", and the NASA began using the Deep Space Network and the Mars Odyssey orbiter to monitor the rover's position and listen if it "reawakens". Before its power levels fell too low for it to keep functioning in February 2010, researchers found soil that could be analyzed if the rover gets back to work. Since Spirit has experienced the coldest temperatures it has ever before, it is very unlikely it will survive. But if it does, it will immediately get back to work, on the studies of Mars's core.

"With insufficient solar energy during the winter, Spirit goes into a deep-sleep hibernation mode where all rover systems are turned off, including the radio and survival heaters; all available solar array energy goes into charging the batteries and keeping the mission clock running," said John Callas, project manager for Spirit and Opportunity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Apart from the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, there have been other NASA missions that have found evidence of water in Mars billions of years ago that could be able to carry life. Spirit is still on the search for more clues to find out about Mars's past and whether or not there was any sort of life.

I find this article very fascinating because it is about a topic I think is interesting and that really means something for humanity. It is a step for the advancement of technology that maybe in the future could develop enough to be able to transport humans to live in Mars. I think it is absolutely amazing how scientists have discovered so many things about Mars with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, and how useful and valuable this information is. In order for technology and scientific research to advance, missions like this one are of huge importance. Maybe in a few years we will all be living in Mars!

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101028125634.htm
• http://www.geek.com/articles/news/incapacitated-spirit-rover-has-found-evidence-of-water-on-mars-20101029/

"Neandertals blasted out of existence, archaeologists propose"- Science News, September 24, 2010.

The Neandertals that existed around 40,000 years ago in western Asia and Europe, archaeologists say they were wiped out due to at least three volcanic explosions. A group of archaeologists lead by Luibov Golovanova, of the ANO Laboratory of Prehistory in St. Petersburg, Russia discovered that these "human-like hominids" were rapidly extinguished from these particular areas. They found, in the Mezmaikaya Cave, an ancient cave in the Russian Caucasus Mountains, these pendants made from animal teeth that appeared right after the volcanic explosions.

The group proposed that the modern humans were not affected by the explosions since they were living in Africa and the southwestern part of Asia, away from the range of the volcanic ashes. As many other archaeologists had assumed, the Homo sapiens, about two thousand years later, went to the Neandertals' land that they were before and did not have to compete for food or anything because for their good luck, the Neandertals were gone. The eruptions devastated their habitats and their populations that were already small.

“For the first time, we have identified evidence that the disappearance of Neandertals in the Caucasus coincides with a volcanic eruption approximately 40,000 years ago,” Golovanova says.

The excavation of this cave started in 1987, but in Golovanova's new studies, he will search for more evidence, seeking for animal bones, stone tools, and focus more on the soil and pollen found in the cave. Studies on the soil of the cave, demonstrate that there were different ash layers found in it, from separate volcanic explosions between 45,000 and 40,000 years ago. The pollen investigations that were carried out, demonstrate that there were very cold and dry conditions in the area of the cave around the time that the ash layers were formed.

Another group of scientists, lead by an anthropologist of the University of Naples in Italy, called Francesco Fedele, discovered that around the same time a massive volcano explosion occurred that caused a "volcanic winter" that destroyed the ecology in the southern and eastern parts of Europe. Research affirms that the Neandertals' populations were severely affected by the first volcanic eruption and wiped out by the second. In the cave there were no signs of animal bones or stone tools made by the Neandertals. The Homo sapiens came about at approximately 38,000 or 37,000 years ago, just after the entire population of Neandertals was gone.

Geologist Biagio Giaccio of the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering in Rome led excavations in other caves around four southern Mediterranean caves and found some interesting data that challenged Golonova's explanations. He found modern human tools that are somewhat older than the ash layers from the volcanic eruption in Italy 40,000 years ago.

"Further work is needed to confirm that Neandertals abandoned Mezmaiskaya Cave before modern humans showed up in the region," Giaccio says.

What interested me about this article was the fact that it was about two topics that interest me a lot, anthropology and archaeology. I find these two topics very fascinating since they are the studies of how humans evolved and the study of the ancient civilizations. I think that the evolution of man is very interesting since it shows us how we were formed and born and how the ancient forms of us, humans, were.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/63734/title/Neandertals_blasted_out_of_existence,_archaeologists_propose

"Galactic super-volcano in action"- Science Daily, Aug. 20, 2010.

The NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NSF's Very Large Array observed that in the massive galaxy M87, there is an active 'super volcano'. This volcano is erupting outwards and it is a black hole that is located in the center of the galaxy and is preventing "hundreds of millions of new stars from forming." Research has found several similarities between this space volcano and one in Iceland. Earlier this year, 2010, the volcano in Iceland, Eyjafjallajokull, erupted and scientists that are involved in the study of the space volcano, found the eruption somewhat similar to the one of this volcano. When pockets of hot gas burst from the volcano, it generated shock waves that could be seen in the smoke, and as the hot gas arose into the atmosphere, it brought the ashes with it. A similar process could be seen when the black hole pumps the energetic particles into the cluster gas. There is a cluster filled with hot gas glowing in X-ray light surrounding the M87 galaxy and when it cools, it starts forming new stars. However, this process is being interrupted because of some energetic particles that are produced by the black hole.

"'Our results show in great detail that supermassive black holes have a surprisingly good control over the evolution of the galaxies in which they live. And it doesn't stop there. The black hole's reach extends ever farther into the entire cluster, similar to how one small volcano can affect practically an entire hemisphere on Earth.' said Norbert Werner of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory."

"'This analogy, between the black hole and the Eyjafjallajokull, shows that even though astronomical phenomena can occur in exotic settings and over vast scales, the physics can be very similar to events on Earth,' said co-author Aurora Simionescu also of the Kavli Institute."

What interested me about this article was that I love everything that has to do with astronomy, stars, planets, black holes, and other weird formations in outer space, like this 'super volcano'. I also liked the fact that it is something I had never seen or heard of before and that I thought "who would ever imagine a volcano in outer space?", so it interested me to see how they related this space volcano with the one in Iceland.

Since this galaxy is relatively close to ours, in millions or even billions of years from now, that black hole can reach the Earth and maybe absorb it.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100819112218.htm