My Boarding Pass to Planet Mars

NASA's newest spacecraft, Orion, will be launching into space for the first time in December 2014, on a flight that will take it farther than any spacecraft built to carry humans has gone in more than 40 years and through temperatures twice as hot as molten lava to put its critical systems to the test.

The Leapfrog Project Team will start the "Living Ball" rolling in the Philippines this July

In the aftermath of super Typhoon Haiyan that devastated huge parts of Central Philippines, a post-disaster rehabilitation program is set to take on the enormous task of rebuilding. The Leapfrog Project, initiated by Filipino-American architect Lira Luis, is now organized to respond to the call of rebuilding. It rallies a number of Filipino and international professionals from various industries and sectors to collaborate and team up for the noble mission of helping Tacloban rebuild with resilience and serve as model of post-disaster reconstruction to the rest of the country and perhaps, the world. Through a Philippine-based online crowdfunding campaign, donors from around the world contributed to the core target of 10 randomly scattered Living Ball installations, enabling the Leapfrog Project to reach 100 percent of its first milestone goal. The installations will symbolize the vision for a future city development where each piece demonstrates resiliency in rebuilding (e.g., bio-mimicry, living skins, etc).

The Living Ball installations—a derivative from the Living Wall project of Archt. Luis, is intended to light up the city as it begins rebuilding. It’s inspired by the Japanese Marimo ball, a rare growth form of the species where the algae grow into large green balls. In collaboration with some professors from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, one installation would explore using a bioluminescent plankton native to the Philippines that likely ‘glow’ when disturbed, allowing for controlled lighting. Another installation would explore the use of photo luminescent paint that produces an eight-hour afterglow requiring only 10 minutes of solar irradiation even on a cloudy day. The paint is made from natural light-storing mineral crystals that are non-radioactive, toxic-free, and can be recharged an infinite number of times.

The ultimate objective of the Leapfrog Project is to transfer the attention received from this unique architecture installation into a fundraising effort to build and replace the 10 structures, a template for rebuilding the city of Tacloban. The final structures will be determined and built based on the needs of the selected recipient community. By doing so, we are enabling an effort to leapfrog into innovation for sustainable development that engages different schools of thought in design, science, business, and technology, and at the same time, contributing towards a more caring, charitable, and vitality-enhancing experience and cultivation of a generative space that allows them to flourish in their current and future endeavor.

Collaborators leapfrogging to action 

*A press release furnished by ALLL for immediate release.

Cell deaths: A new lease on life

CELLS THAT NEVER DIE CAN KILL YOU!

Cells are the tiniest form of life — the structural and functional units of all living things. The human body consists of an estimated 30-trillion cells. These cells are composed of various structures called organelles, which are built largely from proteins. Biochemical reactions in cells are guided by specialized proteins (enzymes) that speed up chemical reactions. The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains the hereditary information for cells, while the ribonucleic acid (RNA) works with DNA to build scores of proteins the cells need.

Cells are monitored by a myriad of mechanisms that keep them working in cooperation with other cells. When impairment prevents them from doing so, they either repair themselves or perish.

Death of Cells

Millions of times per second in the human body, cells perished as an essential part of the normal cycle of cellular replacement. There are two ways in which cells perish. It is either that their death might be caused by injurious agents or they are induced to commit suicide.

Death by injury

Cells can die as a result of unpredictable traumatic events, such as infection or exposure to toxic chemicals. This unplanned cell death, called “necrosis”, induces cells to undergo a characteristic series of changes. During necrosis, the cell’s outer membrane loses its ability to control the flow of liquid into and out of the cell. The cell swells up and eventually bursts, releasing its contents into the surrounding tissue. A cleanup crew composed of immune cells then moves in and mops up the mess, but the chemicals the cells use cause the surrounding tissues to become inflamed and sensitive.

Death by suicide

The intrinsic pattern of events in death by suicide is so systematic that the process is often called programmed cell death (PCD) or “apoptosis”. Apoptosis is a form of cell death necessary to make way for new cells and to destroy cells that represent a threat to the integrity of the organism. During apoptosis, the cell shrinks and pulls away from its neighboring cells. Then, it develops bubble-like blebs on its surface, with fragments breaking away and escaping like bubbles from a pot of boiling water. The DNA in the nucleus condenses and breaks into regular-sized fragments, and soon the nucleus itself, followed by the entire cell, disintegrates. A cellular cleanup crew rapidly mops up the remains.

Signaling pathways that regulate programmed cell death

Apoptosis is regulated by the integrated activity of a variety of signaling pathways, some acting to induce cell death and others acting to promote cell survival. The balance between survival and death is of such importance that the cell spends considerable energy maintaining it. There are three mechanisms by which a cell commits suicide by apoptosis.

Intrinsic pathway

Intrinsic or mitochondrial pathway is generated by signals arising within the cell. In the intrinsic pathway, DNA damage induces release of cytochrome C from the intermembrane space. The apoptotic protease activating factor 1 (APAF-1) activates caspase-9 through cleavage, and caspase-9 generates a signaling cascade of caspase cleavage that results in direct DNA fragmentation. The intrinsic pathway is antagonized by the mitochondrial anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, which inhibit the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Bak.

Extrinsic pathway

The extrinsic pathway, which is triggered by external signals, begins with the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) death receptors, which causes formation of the death inducing signaling complex (DISC). Once activated, caspase-8 activates effector caspases such as caspase-3. Inhibition of the extrinsic pathway occurs through cellular Fas-associated protein with death domain-like IL-1 b-converting enzyme-inhibitory protein (cFLIP) function, which is a procaspase-8 or procaspase-10 homolog that prevents caspase-8 recruitment to the DISC.

Apoptosis-inducing factor

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) is a protein that is normally located in the intermembrane space of mitochondria. AIF is caused by dangerous reactive oxygen species and does not use caspases to self-destruct. When the cell receives a signal telling it that it is time to die, AIF is released from the mitochondria, migrates into the nucleus, and binds to DNA, which triggers the destruction of the DNA and cell death.

Alternative pathways that regulate programmed cell death

Although apoptosis is the most common form of PCD, recent research has shown that cell death can also occur by alternative, non-apoptotic mechanisms.

Autophagy

Autophagic cell death does not require caspases, and rather than possessing the distinct morphological features of apoptosis, the dying cells are characterized by an accumulation of lysosomes. Autophagy recycles cell components and degrades proteins. It is stimulated by starvation, cytokine, caspase inhibition, and drug treatment.

On the other hand, the p53 (a protein of 53,000 daltons) may positively or negatively regulate autophagy. The p53 is a critical regulator of cell cycle checkpoints, senescence, and apoptosis. Hence, it is no surprise that nearly 50 percent of all human cancers harbor mutated or deleted p53. The fundamental regulation of autophagy by p53 lies in its localization: nuclear p53 leads to autophagy and autophagic cell death, while cytoplasmic p53 hinders it.

Regulated necrosis

It appears that some forms of necrosis can be programmed cellular response, rather than simply representing uncontrolled cell destruction as the result of an acute injury. In contrast to unregulated necrosis, these forms of regulated necrotic cell death are induced as a programmed response to stimuli such as infection or DNA damage. Necrosis is regulated by poly ADP-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP-1), a DNA repair protein. Hyperactivation of PARP-1 by DNA damage through alkylating agents can deplete cytosolic nicotinamide adenine dincucleotide (NAD) and trigger necrosis.

When cells achieve immortality

A normal cell has a mortality rate of about 40 to 50 cell divisions, which is controlled in part by telomeres. These protective segments at the ends of the cell’s DNA shorten with each cell division until they can no longer protect the DNA. At this point cell division severely damages the DNA, ultimately killing the cell.

Cancer cells, however, escape this protective mechanism by producing a protein called telomerase, which extends the length of telomeres indefinitely, rendering the cells immortal and capable of never-ending cell division.

Cell proliferation and tumorigenesis

Tumorigenesis is literally the creation of cancer. It is a process by which normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. When mutations build up within a cell, the cell will usually self-destruct. If this fails to occur, the cell may divide and give rise to mutated daughter cells, which continue to divide and spread, gradually forming a malignant mass called a “tumor”.

Benign tumors do not invade other tissues and are limited to one site, making surgical removal possible and the odds for a full recovery excellent. On the other hand, malignant tumors invade neighboring tissues and travel to distant sites, forming secondary growths known as “metastases”.

Role of cell death pathways in cancer therapy

Chemotherapy, the term most commonly refers to the treatment of cancer using specific drugs, is designed to destroy cancer cells by slowing or reversing the growth rate of tumors. Many of the chemotherapeutic drugs used today are cytotoxic (cell-killing) for both malignant and normal cells.

As normal cells die off, an unpleasant side effects commonly result, such as hair loss, mouth sores, nausea or vomiting, among others. These have prompted biomedical scientists to continually pursue more effective chemotherapeutic agents that specifically attack cancer cells without affecting healthy cells. Moreover, there are other approaches being developed that are designed to rescind the longevity of cancer cells. Since some forms of cancer do not respond well to cancer drugs, the approach is to target the cell death pathways to render a cancer cell once again sensitive to regulated cell death

Drugs targeting the intrinsic pathway

Many chemotherapeutic agents are currently in development that target and induce apoptosis at various stages of the intrinsic pathway, like the first class drug antisense oligonucleotides targeting anti-apoptotic genes, the second class small molecule inhibitors, and the small mitochondria-derived activator of caspases (SMAC) mimetics.

Drugs targeting the extrinsic pathway

Present therapeutic strategies targeting the extrinsic pathway are based on two primary approaches: TRAIL-receptor recombinant ligands and agonist antibodies. Recombinant human TRAIL (rhTRAIL) can trigger apoptosis in a p53-independent manner in 50 percent of cancer cell lines and has little, if any, effect on non-malignant cells. Meanwhile, the monoclonal antibodies, available for both the TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2 receptors, have demonstrated increased anticancer activity and long term tumor control. These results emphasize that identifying the specific location of the defects in a cell death pathway has a profound impact on treatment.

Drugs targeting autophagy

Temozolomide is a drug that has been shown to induce autophagic cell death. Clinical trials of temozolomide, in combination with thalidomide or cisplatin, showed a modest six month progression-free survival (PFS) for cancer patients. Adding temozolomide to radiotherapy increases the median survival and the two-year survival in newly diagnosed cancer patients.

Drugs targeting necrosis

Necrosis is activated by photodynamic treatment (PDT), in which PDT selectively targets abnormal cells while preserving normal surrounding tissues. The preferential accumulation of certain photosensitizing compounds in tumor cells and the ability to treat only the defined tumor make PDT a promising therapeutic approach.

Non-drug cancer treatment

Aside from cancer drug administration, oncologists also employ the use of radiation to destroy cancer cells and use of surgery to remove tumors. Surgery and radiation are local treatments only, but they are mainly useful for attacking a specific tumor and any cancerous threat in immediately surrounding tissue.

A new lease on life

The existence of cellular defects in many cancers has contributed to an acquired resistance to apoptotic cell death, lowering the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The mechanisms by which cells achieve this resistance to treatment are still being studied. Scientists believe that a more precise understanding of cancer-specific regulation of cell death may facilitate the development of the “antibiotics for cancer” in the near future.

References:

1/ http://www.exploratorium.edu

2/ http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/Apoptosis.html

3/ http://www.ajcr.us

4/ http://www.nigms.nih.gov

5/ http://www.wonderquest.com/CellsLifeSpan.htm

6/ http://www.nature.com/cdd/journal/v15/n9/full/cdd200891a.html

7/ http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cbbc/courses/bio4/bio4-lectures/theCell.html

**Unpublished write-up by Ludwig Ritchel A. Kalambacal for The Core Group Publishing.

Greatest Architects of Modern Times (Online Poll)

Archikonst, the Philippines' longest-running architecture and construction magazine, is conducting an online poll about the world's greatest architects of modern times. The result of this poll will be published in its next issue. Below is the invitation from the magazine's editorial team:

Please take a few moments to answer this short survey. Your opinion matters to us. Top respondents with the most number of nominated architects that make it to the magazine's final list of greatest architects will receive complimentary copies of Archikonst magazine. Click here to take survey

Einstein Goes to Heaven

Einstein dies and goes to heaven only to be informed that his room is not yet ready.

"I hope you will not mind waiting in a dormitory. We are very sorry, but it's the best we can do and you will have to share the room with others", he is told by the doorman.

Einstein says that this is no problem at all and that there is no need to make such a great fuss. So the doorman leads him to the dorm. They enter and the doorman introduces him to all of the present inhabitants.

"See, here is your first room mate. He has an IQ of 180!"

"Why that's wonderful! We can discuss mathematics!", said Einstein.

"And here is your second room mate. His IQ is 150!"

"Why that's wonderful! We can discuss physics!", said Einstein.

"And here is your third room mate. His IQ is 100!"

"That Wonderful! We can discuss the latest plays at the theater!", said Einstein.

Just then another man moves out to capture Einstein's hand and shake it. "I'm your last room mate and I'm sorry, but my IQ is only 80."

Einstein smiles back at him and says: "So, where do you think interest rates are headed?"

:)

Stephen Hawking's bet over "God's particle"

The author of the book on the history of the universe ("A Brief History of Time") and renowned British astrophysicist, Stephen Hawking, has bet US$100 that the most complex scientific experiment this week will not find the Higgs particle - also known in the scientific world as "God's particle". Although, the Higgs is everywhere but remains frustratingly elusive.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be switched on Wednesday (Sept. 10) to accelerate sub-atomic particles to nearly the speed of light before smashing them together in an effort to discover the holy grail of cosmic science. It was Peter Higgs, a British physicist, came up with this idea in 1964. Particles passing through the LHC would acquire mass by being dragged through a mediator. Physicists have long puzzled over how particles acquire mass.

Hawking, the 66-year-old Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University which was diagnosed with the muscle-wasting motor neuron disease at the age of 22, was quoted as saying in some media release, saying:

"I think it will be much more exciting if we don't find the Higgs. That will show something is wrong, and we need to think again. I have a bet of 100 dollars that we won't find the Higgs."

While questioning the likelihood of finding the Higgs; nonetheless, Hawking said the experiment could discover superpartners - particles that would be "supersymmetric partners" to particles already known about.

Social networking myths debunked

Based from industry estimates, two of the most popular English-language social networking sites have posted about 250-million combined visitors in June of this year – more than 132-million people visited Facebook and about 118-million landed on MySpace.

Well, it seems everyone is social networking. Or are they?

To find the answer to this myth, global market researcher Synovate has surveyed over 13,000 respondents in 17 markets across the globe to find out who's connected and who's not. The result is surprising as per Synovate's Consumer Insight Group.

In its main survey question: "Do you know what online social networking is?" Among the numerous global respondents surveyed, only 42% of them know what online social networking is, and the majority 58% don't know it. Thus, it turns out social networking is not taking over the world.

Likewise, about 26% of all the markets surveyed are members of social networking sites. The Netherlands is leading the pack with 49% membership level, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 46% and Canada at 44%. The US is only at fourth spot with about 40% membership level. Thus, it only means that social networking is not US-centric.

Below is the tally table showing the top three social networking sites per market respondent in terms of membership.

Understanding the trader's mind

There was a new research study released earlier this year by the Cambridge University, co-authored by John M. Coates, which showed that the bullish confidence and risky attitudes displayed by traders during a market boom can be boiled down to the male sex hormone – the testosterone. Meanwhile, the jittery risk aversion on show during a market bust accompanies high levels of cortisol, the so-called "stress hormone".

Coates' research team measured the hormone levels of 17 male traders working in London's business district, taking saliva samples at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. every day for eight days. By comparing the results with each trader's profit and loss for the day, the research team concluded that higher levels of testosterone added confidence and led to greater profit and risk taking. However, during a stressful or volatile downturn, the higher levels of cortisol are likely to make traders unwilling to take risks, even if rational analysis suggests that the market is in favorable condition.

The practical suggestion made by the research study is to make the trading floor more diverse by employing more women, or at least a wider age range of men. Although, judging by the competitive spirit of the trading floor, it seems strange to suggest that an injection of nubile young women would have a calming effect on traders' hormone levels.

In a somewhat related studies, way back in 2004, Stanford University psychology professor Brian Knutson has discovered that our primal pleasure circuits can, and often do, override our brain's frontal cortex, the so-called "seat of reason".

Knutson's research team sent student volunteers through a high-power magnetic resonance imaging machine called an fMRI. It was then that he observed that blood is rushing to the brain's pleasure center whenever students executed mock trading in equities and bonds. And it appeared on the study that the pleasure of orgasm, the high from prohibited drugs, and the craving for profits are all governed by the same neural network in the brain.

The results of Knutson's study has paved the way to the creation of a controversial field called neuroscience. It deals mainly on mapping the human brain in hopes of understanding investor behavior. Proponents of "the next great frontier on Wall Street" are hoping that one day they maybe able to develop psychoactive medicines, or neuroceuticals, that make more-profitable traders.

Meanwhile, the idea of something other than reason sometimes drives trading decisions is not new. From the tulip frenzy in Holland in the early 17th Century, where the flower bulbs traded higher than prices of gold, to the collapse of Barings and other great financial institutions, up to the speculative dot-com era in the 1990s, the recent subprime crisis, and major commodities' record-breaking rallies nowadays, all of these incidents have shown how otherwise intelligent people sometimes succumb to mass idiocy.

According to a Nobel laureate in economics, Daniel Kahneman, investors systematically make judgment errors or mental mistakes because of their "herd mentality", excessive trading, and slow reaction to unexpected news. The world famous currency speculator, George Soros, on the other hand, has a theory about why market players behave the way they do, and he calls it reflexivity.

But according to the "Father of Modern Physics" Albert Einstein, who was quoted as saying during the time when his shares in the South Sea Co. went to a serious dive:

"It is easy to calculate the movements of heavenly bodies, than the madness of mankind."

Update on Mars: Water, being a crucial ingredient for life, found in the red planet

Featured news headline at Yahoo.com today:

NASA: Mars is wet

The space agency confirms that water exists on the red planet's surface.

To read the news, click this link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080731/sc_nm/space_mars_dc

POST-SCRIPT:

In light of this discovery, it seems that we are now moving towards about finding other habitable planets in our solar system.

From dust to diamonds

Coffins, mummies and urns are out, diamonds are in. Thanks to a peculiar chemical transformation that turns human ashes into sparkling diamonds. For a fee, a company in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubuenden, Algordenza, offers a service to make "human diamonds". Some would surely shudder at the idea, but there are people who find such as a "brilliant" invention for they could now attain eternity when they die. According to Algordenza co-founder, Rinaldo Willy, it would only take about 500 grams, or one pound, of ashes to make a diamond, and the human body leaves behind, on average, two to three kilograms of ashes. About 85% of the human ashes are made up of potassium and calcium, which are then separated from the carbon. The said carbon will be subjected to extreme heat, reaching as high as 1,700°C – a process which compresses it into graphite. After which, more pressure and heat are applied to the graphite to turn it into the hardest allotrope of carbon. The crude carbon is now ready for cutting and polishing. The entire process takes about six to eight weeks to complete, hardly a fraction of the time it takes for the formation of natural diamonds that take thousands of years, and costs between Swf4,500 and Swf17,000 (between US$4,400 and US$16,700), depending on the weight of the resulting stone.

NASA gathering one million names to be sent to the moon

Since May 1, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has invited the public to join the excitement of the first mission in its exploration program to return humans to the moon by 2020.

According to the NASA website, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which is scheduled to launch on the last part of this year, will map the moon surface in extraordinary detail and help future human missions to the moon locate safe landing sites and vital resources on the moon.

I just sent my name this morning in support of the program, and got my electronic certificate of participation after a very short while. To join, click this link and submit your name as per instruction: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html

The names will be placed on a microchip that will be installed on the LRO spacecraft and travel to the moon. The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008.

So, hurry! There are only few days left.

Space tourism provider Virgin Galactic to unveil WhiteKnightTwo

The suborbital tourism company Virgin Galactic, hoping to give ultra-rich adventurer the rides of their lives, will launch its first WhiteKnightTwo mothership for its planned fleet of SpaceShipTwo spaceliners on July 28 of this year.

Virgin Galactic has ordered two WhiteKnightTwo motherships and five SpaceShipTwos. The first mothership is named “Eve” in honor of the mother of Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic. It will be unveiled at a hangar of Scaled Composites located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California. WhiteKnightTwo is touted to be the the world's largest all carbon composite aircraft. With a unique dual-boom design, the mothership sports a wingspan of about 140 feet (42 meters) with each outboard cabin mounted about 25 feet (7.6 meters) from its centrally moored SpaceShipTwo payload.

On the other hand, the reusable spaceliner fleet SpaceShipTwo, designed by aerospace veteran Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites, is an air-launched suborbital spacecraft derived from Rutan's US$10-million Ansari X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne design. It is also designed with the capability to haul unmanned rockets in place of a crew-carrying vehicle, and could one day be used to launch low Earth orbiting satellites or even cargo into space, according to a Virgin Galactic executive. With its 18-inch (46-cm) windows and roomy 7.5-foot (2.2-meter) wide cabin, the suborbital vehicle could be used for suborbital science experiments in addition to leisure trips. SpaceShipTwo is slated to be unveiled early next year.

A joyride to suborbital space costs around a whopping US$200,000 a seat. Nonetheless, about 254 people have already paid a total of about US$36-million in down payments to assure their SpaceShipTwo seats once the spacecraft begins operational flights.

After going around-the-world wide web, Google co-founder will now attempt going to outer space

New York Times reported last Wednesday (June 11) that Google co-founder Sergey Brin has booked a flight to space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket for 2011.

The space journey was arranged by Virginia-based Space Adventures, and Brin had made a staggering US$5-million deposit for the future flight, the report said. Space Adventures has already sent five ultra-rich tourists into space.

When asked for statements, Brin was quoted as saying: "I am a big believer in the exploration and commercial development of the space frontier, and am looking forward to the posibility of going into space”.

Global attitudes to cash

Understanding peoples' attitude to money becomes more important in times like these where money and markets are getting uncertain.

Global market researcher Synovate, in a research it had conducted to discover how consumers around the world define financial success, their attitudes to cash and what actions they take to get more of it, have found out that not all people would agree with the statement that they would be happier if they had more money. About 2/3 of Argentinians and Russians, for instance, disagreed with it as per the research study.

On the other hand, the same research had shown that Britons are more inclined to rely on luck. But with regard to Italians and Indians, majority of them agreed to the statement that “the time it takes to become financially successful is not worth the time it takes away from other more important things”.

Clearly, attitudes to money are just as dependent on culture as they are on what people actually have. Money may be universal, but how people feel about it is most certainly not.

The world's billionaires may have a different definition of financial success as compared to most of us. So much so that people living in developed countries may have contrasting view with people in emerging markets.

The research had shown that the number one definition of financial success to people in developed countries is by having no debt. This was especially the case in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also very evident in Australia, Netherlands and Canada. But people in emerging markets are far more likely to attribute financial success to good luck, and are also more likely to think about money and how to get it. About 72% of Indians believe that financial success is due to good luck, and 83% percent of Indonesians are found to be the most obsessed to money, followed by 76% of Malaysians.

Overall, nearly half of all respondents globally say they buy lottery tickets or join raffle contests in an effort to boost their financial success.

The research study was conducted by Synovate in January and February 2008 using online, telephone and face-to-face methodologies. The market research firm spoke with over 12,500 adult consumers in 16 markets across the globe, which include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

*Source: Synovate In:Fact

Virtual Memory

I wonder how such a familiar face suddenly played hide-and-seek in the nooks and crannies of my mind. I almost forgot her name. But thanks to technology for reminding me.