295 posts · 161,457 views
I received a PhD in analytical chemistry in Sep 2005, completed postdoctoral research in Jun 2007, and taught chemistry survey and organic chemistry from Sep 2009 - May 2010. I am currently a freelance technical science editor. Phased presents science journalism written for a lay audience. My goal is to discuss technical content (from the technical journals) without sacrificing readability. The topical focus is diverse, but tends to focus on chemistry, technology, and cell biology.
Phased
295 posts
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- May 15, 2010
- 06:00 PM
- 446 views
Probing the Biology of Cell-To-Cell Variability
by Michael Long in Phased
Andreas Schmid (Leibniz-Institut fur Analytische Wissenschaften and Technische Universitat Dortmund, Germany) and coworkers have reviewed progress and future challenges associated with interrogating single cells to extract information that is typically lost in the average behavior of many cells. This news feature was written on May 15, 2010.... Read more »
Schmid, A., Kortmann, H., Dittrich, P. S., & Blank, L. M. (2010) Chemical and biological single cell analysis. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 21(1), 12-20. DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2010.01.007
- May 15, 2010
- 01:40 AM
- 413 views
A Correlation Between Experience and Recognition of Fear and Happiness
by Michael Long in Phased
Tony Buchanan (Saint Louis University, United States) and coworkers have found a link between having experienced certain emotions and being able to recognize the emotion in the facial expressions of others, research which will hopefully facilitate treatment or understanding of social disorders. This news feature was written on May 15, 2010.... Read more »
Buchanan, T. W., Bibas, D., & Adolphs, R. (2010) Associations between Feeling and Judging the Emotions of Happiness and Fear: Findings from a Large-Scale Field Experiment. PLoS ONE, 5(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010640
- May 13, 2010
- 11:55 PM
- 363 views
Strong Evidence of Empathy Among Ravens
by Michael Long in Phased
Orlaith Fraser (University of Vienna, Austria) and Thomas Bugnyar (Konrad Lorenz Forschungstelle, Austria) have presented strong initial evidence of empathy among non-primates. This news feature was written on May 13, 2010.... Read more »
Fraser, O. N., & Bugnyar, T. (2010) Do Ravens Show Consolation? Responses to Distressed Others. PLoS ONE, 5(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010605
- May 12, 2010
- 04:55 PM
- 392 views
Autistic Children Have Difficulty Interpreting Shadows
by Michael Long in Phased
Umberto Castiello (Universita di Padova, Italy) and coworkers' research helps us better understand the possible origins of social difficulties experienced by people with autism. This news feature was written on May 12, 2010.... Read more »
Becchio, C., Mari, M., & Castiello, U. (2010) Perception of Shadows in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. PLoS ONE, 5(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010582
- May 10, 2010
- 03:11 PM
- 426 views
Peripheral Protein Clustering Reorganizes an Artificial Cell Membrane
by Michael Long in Phased
Erin Sheets (University of Minnesota Duluth, United States) and coworkers have utilized peripheral protein clustering to induce lipid clustering in artificial cell membranes, shedding light on the physical basis of lateral organization in living cell membranes. This news feature was written on May 10, 2010.... Read more »
Vats, K., Knutson, K., Hinderliter, A., & Sheets, E. (2010) Peripheral Protein Organization and Its Influence on Lipid Diffusion in Biomimetic Membranes. ACS Chemical Biology, 5(4), 393-403. DOI: 10.1021/cb900303s
- April 25, 2010
- 08:35 PM
- 320 views
Computational Improvement of Carbon Fixation
by Michael Long in Phased
Ron Milo (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) and coworkers have developed theoretical carbon fixation cycles that are improvements over the Calvin-Benson cycle by up to a factor of 3. This news feature was written on April 25, 2010.... Read more »
Bar-Even, A., Noor, E., Lewis, N. E., & Milo, R. (2010) Design and analysis of synthetic carbon fixation pathways. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0907176107
- April 18, 2010
- 10:00 PM
- 418 views
Genetically-Modified Rice for Preventing Iron Deficiency
by Michael Long in Phased
Xin Lei (Cornell University, United States), Huixia Shou (Zhejiang University, China), and coworkers have worked on a practical approach for correcting iron deficiency in resource-limited nations. This news feature was written on April 18, 2010.... Read more »
Zheng, L., Cheng, Z., Ai, C., Jiang, X., Bei, X., Zheng, Y., Glahn, R. P., Welch, R. M., Miller, D. D., Lei, X. G.... (2010) Nicotianamine, a Novel Enhancer of Rice Iron Bioavailability to Humans. PLoS ONE, 5(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010190
- April 12, 2010
- 01:40 PM
- 484 views
Topical Vaccination: No More Needles
by Michael Long in Phased
Victor Yang (University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States) and coworkers have reported a needle-free vaccination protocol that overcomes technical hurdles encountered with many other approaches, and shows great potential for widespread use in resource-limited nations. This news feature was written on April 12, 2010.... Read more »
Huang, Y., Park, Y. S., Moon, C., David, A. E., Chung, H. S., & Yang, V. C. (2010) Synthetic Skin-Permeable Proteins Enabling Needleless Immunization. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200906153
- April 11, 2010
- 05:20 PM
- 409 views
Detecting a Possible Stroke Biomarker in Blood Serum
by Michael Long in Phased
Tetsuo Nagano (University of Tokyo) and coworkers have developed an improved detection protocol for acrolein, a possible indicator of stroke and other medical conditions, which will facilitate rapid diagnosis and medical treatment. This news feature was written on April 11, 2010.... Read more »
Togashi, M., Urano, Y., Kojima, H., Terai, T., Hanaoka, K., Igarashi, K., Hirata, Y., & Nagano, T. (2010) Sensitive Detection of Acrolein in Serum Using Time-Resolved Luminescence. Organic Letters, 12(8), 1704-1707. DOI: 10.1021/ol1002219
- April 10, 2010
- 06:05 PM
- 477 views
Questioning the Value of Recommendations in Peer Review
by Michael Long in Phased
Richard Kravitz (University of California Davis, United States) and coworkers illustrate that although reviewers often don't agree on whether to accept or reject a manuscript, editors nevertheless heavily rely on single-statement recommendations in making the final cut, calling into question the fundamental fairness of recommendations in peer review. This news feature was written on April 10, 2010.... Read more »
Kravitz, R. L., Franks, P., Feldman, M. D., Gerrity, M., Byrne, C., & Tierney, W. M. (2010) Editorial Peer Reviewers' Recommendations at a General Medical Journal: Are They Reliable and Do Editors Care?. PLoS ONE, 5(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010072
- April 4, 2010
- 12:20 PM
- 373 views
Obesity Increases Injury Risk in Motor Vehicle Accidents
by Michael Long in Phased
Shankuan Zhu (Medical College of Wisconsin, United States, and Zhejiang University, China) and coworkers have found an increased risk of injury in motor vehicle accidents due to obesity, especially among male drivers, and provide data that should help safety engineers design more appropriate safety restraints. This news feature was written on April 4, 2010.... Read more »
Zhu, S., Kim, J.-E., Ma, X., Shih, A., Laud, P. W., Pintar, F., Shen, W., Heymsfield, S. B., & Allison, D. B. (2010) BMI and Risk of Serious Upper Body Injury Following Motor Vehicle Crashes: Concordance of Real-World and Computer-Simulated Observations. PLoS Medicine, 7(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000250
- April 1, 2010
- 12:00 PM
- 417 views
Response to Musical Rhythm is an Inherent Ability
by Michael Long in Phased
Marcel Zentner and Tuomas Eerola (University of York, United Kingdom, and University of Jyvaskyla, Finland) have found that preverbal human infants move in response to musical rhythm, with no prior training and no prompting, suggesting that this ability is present from birth. This news feature was written on April 1, 2010.... Read more »
Zentner, M., & Eerola, T. (2010) Rhythmic engagement with music in infancy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(13), 5768-5773. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1000121107
- March 30, 2010
- 12:30 PM
- 587 views
Bottom-Up Assembly of Artificial Tissue
by Michael Long in Phased
John Koh (University of Delaware, United States) and coworkers have fabricated primitive "artificial tissue," which will help shed light on the biochemical consequences of cellular arrangement into defined patterns for tissue and organ assembly. This news feature was written on March 30, 2010.... Read more »
Sauers, D. J., Temburni, M. K., Biggins, J. B., Ceo, L. M., Galileo, D. S., & Koh, J. T. (2010) Light-Activated Gene Expression Directs Segregation of Co-cultured Cells . ACS Chemical Biology, 5(3), 313-320. DOI: 10.1021/cb9002305
- March 23, 2010
- 04:00 PM
- 499 views
Carbon Nanotubes for Successful Late-Stage Chemotherapy
by Michael Long in Phased
Ren'an Wu, Hanfa Zou (Chinese Academy of Sciences), and coworkers have used carbon nanotubes to kill the cancer cells that commonly linger after chemotherapy, which are a major threat to successful treatment. This news feature was written on March 23, 2010.... Read more »
Li, R., Wu, R., Zhao, L., Wu, M., Yang, L., & Zou, H. (2010) P-Glycoprotein Antibody Functionalized Carbon Nanotube Overcomes the Multidrug Resistance of Human Leukemia Cells. ACS Nano, 4(3), 1399-1408. DOI: 10.1021/nn9011225
- March 11, 2010
- 01:00 PM
- 404 views
A Synthetic Nose for Coffee and Other Highly Complex Mixtures
by Michael Long in Phased
Kenneth Suslick (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, United States) and coworkers have discriminated between 10 different brands of coffee, based on the volatile chemicals they emit under roasting, within two minutes with a cheap, disposable synthetic nose. This news feature was written on March 11, 2010.... Read more »
Suslick, B. A., Feng, L., & Suslick, K. S. (2010) Discrimination of Complex Mixtures by a Colorimetric Sensor Array: Coffee Aromas. Analytical Chemistry, 82(5), 2067-2073. DOI: 10.1021/ac902823w
- March 10, 2010
- 12:50 PM
- 577 views
Spent Hydrogen Regeneration in Ammonia Borane Derivatives
by Michael Long in Phased
Shin-Yuan Liu (University of Oregon, United States) and coworkers have addressed a challenge that is often brushed aside in hydrogen fuel cell research, but which is absolutely critical for practical, real-world applications. This news feature was written on March 10, 2010.... Read more »
Campbell, P. G., Zakharov, L. N., Grant, D. J., Dixon, D. A., & Liu, S.-Y. (2010) Hydrogen Storage by Boron−Nitrogen Heterocycles: A Simple Route for Spent Fuel Regeneration. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132(10), 3289-3291. DOI: 10.1021/ja9106622
- March 9, 2010
- 01:00 PM
- 365 views
Finding the Ideal Cricket Mate Increases Lethal Parasitism Risk
by Michael Long in Phased
Cassandra Martin and William Wagner Jr (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States) have clearly demonstrated an indirect, yet lethal, cost shouldered by female crickets that is associated with a behavior commonly thought to enhance reproductive success. This news feature was written on March 9, 2010.... Read more »
Martin, C. M., & Wagner Jr, W. E. (2010) Female Field Crickets Incur Increased Parasitism Risk When Near Preferred Song. PLoS ONE, 5(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009592
- March 6, 2010
- 08:55 PM
- 380 views
Secure Carbon Dioxide Sequestration in Volcanic Rock
by Michael Long in Phased
Dennis Kent (Rutgers University) and coworkers have investigated the potential of underground porous basalt formations along the east coast of the United States for secure, long-term storage of carbon dioxide. This news feature was written on March 6, 2010.... Read more »
Goldberg, D. S., Kent, D. V., & Olsen, P. E. (2010) Potential on-shore and off-shore reservoirs for CO2 sequestration in Central Atlantic magmatic province basalts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(4), 1327-1332. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0913721107
- February 13, 2010
- 06:25 PM
- 451 views
Ant Adaptation to Both Urban and Natural Environments
by Michael Long in Phased
Sean Menke (North Carolina State University) and coworkers have strong evidence that a common ant has become established in urban environments multiple times, a remarkable feat that many species can't even achieve once. This news feature was written on February 13, 2010.... Read more »
Menke, S. B., Booth, W., Dunn, R. R., Schal, C., Vargo, E. L., & Silverman, J. (2010) Is It Easy to Be Urban? Convergent Success in Urban Habitats among Lineages of a Widespread Native Ant. PLoS ONE, 5(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009194
- February 3, 2010
- 12:12 AM
- 708 views
Mild Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Fixation
by Michael Long in Phased
Satoshi Minakata (Osaka University) and coworkers have converted carbon dioxide into a synthetically-useful chemical under mild conditions, providing hope for practical atmospheric cleanup and a halt to global warming. This news feature was written on February 2, 2010.... Read more »
Minakata, S., Sasaki, I., & Ide, T. (2010) Atmospheric CO2 Fixation by Unsaturated Alcohols Using tBuOI under Neutral Conditions . Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 49(7), 1309-1311. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200906352
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