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Do Gut Bugs Make You Fat?
By Elizabeth Pennisi
ScienceNOW Daily News
20 December 2006
If the scale has tipped too far in the wrong direction, perhaps you should blame the bugs living in your gut. Some microbes are better at wringing calories out of those holiday meals than others, researchers report in two papers in today's Nature. Transferring such high-octane bugs into lean mice causes the rodents to plump up, suggesting a microbial contribution to obesity.
Genetics certainly play a role in obesity, which is on the rise in many countries. But there's more to the problem. In 2004, Jeffrey Gordon from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and his colleagues demonstrated that intestinal bacteria could also contribute to weight gain in mice. A year later, microbial ecologist Ruth Ley, a postdoctoral fellow working in Gordon's lab, discovered that lean and obese mice have different microbial communities in their gut. Now Gordon and his colleagues have shown this difference exists in people as well, and that diets can shift the microbial balance.
Ley put a dozen obese volunteers on either a low-fat or a low-carbohydrate diet for a year. At regular intervals, she surveyed their intestinal microbial communities--which can contain hundreds of species--by sequencing part of a gene for ribosomal RNA that all species have. At the onset, Firmicutes, a type of gram-positive bacteria, represented more than 90% of the microbes present in the volunteers, while gram-negative Bacteroidetes species barely made up 3%. (By contrast, Ley found, Bacteroidetes account for some 30% of microbes in people of healthy weight.) After a year, the volunteers had lost 2% to 6% of their weight, the Firmicutes had dropped to 73%, and the Bacteroidetes increased to about 15%, irrespective of the diet followed, Ley and her colleagues report. It's not clear whether obese people had excess Firmicutes before they were obese, or if those bacteria became more common as the pounds piled on.
A second paper suggests the microbes themselves help determine weight. Gordon's graduate student Peter Turnbaugh analyzed the genomes of gut microbes in two pairs of mice. In each pair, one mouse was healthy, while the other, a sibling, carried two mutant copies of a gene called leptin,which made it obese. Microbes from the obese mice had more genes for processing starches and complex sugars and produced more simple sugars and fatty acids--that is, calories--for the gut to absorb. When the researchers transplanted microbes from the obese mice into germ-free mice, the recipients had a 47% increase in body fat over 2 weeks. In contrast, germ-free mice supplied with microbes from lean mice had only a 27% increase, says Gordon.
Microbiologist Jeremy Nicholson from Imperial College London believes the researchers are onto something of "exceptional interest and importance. ... The obesity epidemic cannot be explained in human genetic or even simple lifestyle change terms alone," Nicholson says. "There has to be another dynamic factor, and that is the gut microbes."
Source: ScienceMag
By Elizabeth Pennisi
ScienceNOW Daily News
20 December 2006
If the scale has tipped too far in the wrong direction, perhaps you should blame the bugs living in your gut. Some microbes are better at wringing calories out of those holiday meals than others, researchers report in two papers in today's Nature. Transferring such high-octane bugs into lean mice causes the rodents to plump up, suggesting a microbial contribution to obesity.
Genetics certainly play a role in obesity, which is on the rise in many countries. But there's more to the problem. In 2004, Jeffrey Gordon from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and his colleagues demonstrated that intestinal bacteria could also contribute to weight gain in mice. A year later, microbial ecologist Ruth Ley, a postdoctoral fellow working in Gordon's lab, discovered that lean and obese mice have different microbial communities in their gut. Now Gordon and his colleagues have shown this difference exists in people as well, and that diets can shift the microbial balance.
Ley put a dozen obese volunteers on either a low-fat or a low-carbohydrate diet for a year. At regular intervals, she surveyed their intestinal microbial communities--which can contain hundreds of species--by sequencing part of a gene for ribosomal RNA that all species have. At the onset, Firmicutes, a type of gram-positive bacteria, represented more than 90% of the microbes present in the volunteers, while gram-negative Bacteroidetes species barely made up 3%. (By contrast, Ley found, Bacteroidetes account for some 30% of microbes in people of healthy weight.) After a year, the volunteers had lost 2% to 6% of their weight, the Firmicutes had dropped to 73%, and the Bacteroidetes increased to about 15%, irrespective of the diet followed, Ley and her colleagues report. It's not clear whether obese people had excess Firmicutes before they were obese, or if those bacteria became more common as the pounds piled on.
A second paper suggests the microbes themselves help determine weight. Gordon's graduate student Peter Turnbaugh analyzed the genomes of gut microbes in two pairs of mice. In each pair, one mouse was healthy, while the other, a sibling, carried two mutant copies of a gene called leptin,which made it obese. Microbes from the obese mice had more genes for processing starches and complex sugars and produced more simple sugars and fatty acids--that is, calories--for the gut to absorb. When the researchers transplanted microbes from the obese mice into germ-free mice, the recipients had a 47% increase in body fat over 2 weeks. In contrast, germ-free mice supplied with microbes from lean mice had only a 27% increase, says Gordon.
Microbiologist Jeremy Nicholson from Imperial College London believes the researchers are onto something of "exceptional interest and importance. ... The obesity epidemic cannot be explained in human genetic or even simple lifestyle change terms alone," Nicholson says. "There has to be another dynamic factor, and that is the gut microbes."
Source: ScienceMag
Use Galactic Gravitational Lenses to Really See the Universe
December 22nd, 2006
To see any distance in space, you need some kind of telescope. We’ve got some pretty powerful ones here on Earth, but nature has us beat with gravitational lenses. This is a phenomenon when a relatively nearby object passes directly between us and a more distant object. The gravity from the nearby object acts as like a telescope lens to bend light and magnify the more distant object.
Until now, these gravitational lens have been single stars or distant galaxies, but now a new class of lens is being called into service: entire groups of galaxies. The research is being done as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Legacy Survey. which will devote 500 nights of telescope time over the next 5 years. They intend to view approximately 1% of the visible sky from their perch in Hawaii.
The survey is about 25% right now, but the team has already turned up several gravitational lensing arcs around galaxy groups. These arcs are highly magnified distant galaxies, which allow scientists to study their light. This survey will allow astronomers to make direct observations, and chart the formation of these structures in the early Universe. They also hope to understand the role of dark matter in their evolution.
Source: Universe Today
December 22nd, 2006
To see any distance in space, you need some kind of telescope. We’ve got some pretty powerful ones here on Earth, but nature has us beat with gravitational lenses. This is a phenomenon when a relatively nearby object passes directly between us and a more distant object. The gravity from the nearby object acts as like a telescope lens to bend light and magnify the more distant object.
Until now, these gravitational lens have been single stars or distant galaxies, but now a new class of lens is being called into service: entire groups of galaxies. The research is being done as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Legacy Survey. which will devote 500 nights of telescope time over the next 5 years. They intend to view approximately 1% of the visible sky from their perch in Hawaii.
The survey is about 25% right now, but the team has already turned up several gravitational lensing arcs around galaxy groups. These arcs are highly magnified distant galaxies, which allow scientists to study their light. This survey will allow astronomers to make direct observations, and chart the formation of these structures in the early Universe. They also hope to understand the role of dark matter in their evolution.
Source: Universe Today
blut wump
New member
Nasa and Google form cosmic union
Detailed 3D images of the Moon and Mars will soon be just a click away for web users, following a deal between search giant Google and US space agency Nasa. The Space Agreement Act, signed on Monday, will put "the most useful of Nasa's information on the internet". Real-time weather data and the positions of the International Space Station and shuttle could be included.
The deal will also see scientists from both institutions working together to solve complex computational problems. "This agreement between Nasa and Google will soon allow every American to experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through the canyons of Mars," said Nasa administrator Michael Griffin. The deal will make "Nasa's space exploration work accessible to everyone," he added.
The deal formalises a partnership started last year when Google agreed to build a research centre at the Nasa Ames Research Center. The two organisations said they will now collaborate in a variety of areas including adding data collected by Nasa to the online mapping tool Google Earth.
Other projects could include finding new ways for humans to interact with computers as well as utilising Google's expertise to accelerate the process of searching the massive amounts of data collected by the space agency every year. "Even though this information was collected for the benefit of everyone, and much is in the public domain, the vast majority of this information is scattered and difficult for non-experts to access and to understand."
The internet's leading search engine already provides some Nasa data through programs such as Google Mars, an interactive map that allows users to explore maps of the red planet's surface.
Another service, Google Moon, lets users view the sites of moon landings. The two organisations said they are now finalising a series of new collaborations including "products, facilities, education and missions". "We're pleased to move forward to collaborate on a variety of technical challenges through the signing of the Space Act Agreement," said Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6192523.stm?ls
Detailed 3D images of the Moon and Mars will soon be just a click away for web users, following a deal between search giant Google and US space agency Nasa. The Space Agreement Act, signed on Monday, will put "the most useful of Nasa's information on the internet". Real-time weather data and the positions of the International Space Station and shuttle could be included.
The deal will also see scientists from both institutions working together to solve complex computational problems. "This agreement between Nasa and Google will soon allow every American to experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through the canyons of Mars," said Nasa administrator Michael Griffin. The deal will make "Nasa's space exploration work accessible to everyone," he added.
The deal formalises a partnership started last year when Google agreed to build a research centre at the Nasa Ames Research Center. The two organisations said they will now collaborate in a variety of areas including adding data collected by Nasa to the online mapping tool Google Earth.
Other projects could include finding new ways for humans to interact with computers as well as utilising Google's expertise to accelerate the process of searching the massive amounts of data collected by the space agency every year. "Even though this information was collected for the benefit of everyone, and much is in the public domain, the vast majority of this information is scattered and difficult for non-experts to access and to understand."
The internet's leading search engine already provides some Nasa data through programs such as Google Mars, an interactive map that allows users to explore maps of the red planet's surface.
Another service, Google Moon, lets users view the sites of moon landings. The two organisations said they are now finalising a series of new collaborations including "products, facilities, education and missions". "We're pleased to move forward to collaborate on a variety of technical challenges through the signing of the Space Act Agreement," said Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6192523.stm?ls
Preparing For The Biggest Experiment On Earth
Source: Imperial College London
An international team of over 2,000 scientists, led by Professor Tejinder Virdee from Imperial College London's Department of Physics is stepping up preparations for the world's largest ever physics experiment, starting next year at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.
The enormous CMS particle detector is being assembled piece by piece under the supervision of Imperial's Professor Tejinder Virdee.
Professor Virdee is the lead scientist on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) particle detector experiment, which will aim to find new particles, detect mini black holes and solve some of the mysteries of the universe such as where mass comes from, how many dimensions there are and what constitutes dark matter. Particles are the building blocks of matter and are even smaller than atoms. Scientists hope the CMS experiment may also help them progress towards a unified theory to explain all physical phenomena – a theory that has eluded scientists up until now.
The CMS experiment has so far involved thousands of scientists and engineers working for 15 years to design and build the massive particle detector, which is currently being lowered – huge bit by huge bit - into a chamber 100 metres below the French town of Cessy, near the Swiss border. Next year, CERN's Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator will be switched on for the first time, accelerating beams of particles around a 27km circular tunnel underneath the Swiss/French countryside. These particles then collide with each other – with higher energies than in any experiment ever before – at the precise location where the particles are passing through the CMS detector.
Professor Virdee explains: "When the particles smash into each other inside the CMS detector the high energy conditions created in these collisions will be similar to those that occurred in the first instants of the universe, immediately after the Big Bang. The unique conditions created by these collisions will create many new particles that would also have existed in those early instants. Resultant particles will fly away from the site of the collision in all directions. The different layers of our complex detector will measure the properties of these particles, track their paths, and measure their energies. An extremely powerful magnet built into the detector will bend the paths of electrically charged particles, which will help us identify the different types of particles produced in the collisions."
One of the particles that Professor Virdee and his colleagues are hoping to detect is the Higgs-Boson, a particle which has been theorised but never actually recorded. "It would be a real coup if we recorded, for the first time ever, the existence of the Higgs-Boson particle," says Professor Virdee. "Scientists believe the Higgs-Boson is the particle that gives the property of mass to other particles such as electrons and so on. If we can prove that it exists and that this is the case, we will have taken a big step towards a much fuller understanding of how the universe works, and indeed, what happened in the instants immediately after it was formed."
The CMS detector is one of four experiments sited at different locations on the 27km ring of CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The construction of CMS is an international effort, with different parts of the various layers of the detector being made by scientific collaborators from 37 different countries.
Constituent parts of CMS, weighing up to 2000 tonnes, are currently being lowered, by a specially-adapted shipbuilding crane, down 100 metres into the cavern where they will be re-assembled and prepared for data taking over the course of the next year. It is anticipated that the particle accelerator will be switched on just before Christmas 2007, at which time data will begin to be recorded.
Source: Imperial College London
An international team of over 2,000 scientists, led by Professor Tejinder Virdee from Imperial College London's Department of Physics is stepping up preparations for the world's largest ever physics experiment, starting next year at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.
The enormous CMS particle detector is being assembled piece by piece under the supervision of Imperial's Professor Tejinder Virdee.
Professor Virdee is the lead scientist on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) particle detector experiment, which will aim to find new particles, detect mini black holes and solve some of the mysteries of the universe such as where mass comes from, how many dimensions there are and what constitutes dark matter. Particles are the building blocks of matter and are even smaller than atoms. Scientists hope the CMS experiment may also help them progress towards a unified theory to explain all physical phenomena – a theory that has eluded scientists up until now.
The CMS experiment has so far involved thousands of scientists and engineers working for 15 years to design and build the massive particle detector, which is currently being lowered – huge bit by huge bit - into a chamber 100 metres below the French town of Cessy, near the Swiss border. Next year, CERN's Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator will be switched on for the first time, accelerating beams of particles around a 27km circular tunnel underneath the Swiss/French countryside. These particles then collide with each other – with higher energies than in any experiment ever before – at the precise location where the particles are passing through the CMS detector.
Professor Virdee explains: "When the particles smash into each other inside the CMS detector the high energy conditions created in these collisions will be similar to those that occurred in the first instants of the universe, immediately after the Big Bang. The unique conditions created by these collisions will create many new particles that would also have existed in those early instants. Resultant particles will fly away from the site of the collision in all directions. The different layers of our complex detector will measure the properties of these particles, track their paths, and measure their energies. An extremely powerful magnet built into the detector will bend the paths of electrically charged particles, which will help us identify the different types of particles produced in the collisions."
One of the particles that Professor Virdee and his colleagues are hoping to detect is the Higgs-Boson, a particle which has been theorised but never actually recorded. "It would be a real coup if we recorded, for the first time ever, the existence of the Higgs-Boson particle," says Professor Virdee. "Scientists believe the Higgs-Boson is the particle that gives the property of mass to other particles such as electrons and so on. If we can prove that it exists and that this is the case, we will have taken a big step towards a much fuller understanding of how the universe works, and indeed, what happened in the instants immediately after it was formed."
The CMS detector is one of four experiments sited at different locations on the 27km ring of CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The construction of CMS is an international effort, with different parts of the various layers of the detector being made by scientific collaborators from 37 different countries.
Constituent parts of CMS, weighing up to 2000 tonnes, are currently being lowered, by a specially-adapted shipbuilding crane, down 100 metres into the cavern where they will be re-assembled and prepared for data taking over the course of the next year. It is anticipated that the particle accelerator will be switched on just before Christmas 2007, at which time data will begin to be recorded.
