2005 Cy Young Winners Correctly Predicted by Mathematical Model

The official results are in! A mathematical model for predicting the Cy Young award voting results yielded both of the 2005 winners, Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals (National League) and Bartolo Colon of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (American League). However, the model’s inventors made a small human error they would later regret: Prior to the awards, they overrode the model’s American League prediction by saying that New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera would win the title, rather than the model’s choice of Bartolo Colon, who turned out to be the correct pick.

Jupiter’s massive winds likely generated from deep inside its interior

A new computer model indicates Jupiter’s massive winds are generated from deep within the giant planet’s interior, a UCLA scientist and international colleagues report today in the journal Nature. Jupiter’s powerful winds are very different from those on Earth. They continually circle the planet, and have changed very little in the 300 years that scientists have studied them.

Heredity may be the reason some people feel lonely

Heredity helps determine why some adults are persistently lonely, research co-authored by psychologists at the University of Chicago shows. Working with colleagues in The Netherlands, the scholars found about 50 percent of identical twins and 25 percent of fraternal twins shared similar characteristics of loneliness. Research on twins is a powerful method to study the impact of heredity because twins raised together share many of the same environmental influences as well as similar genes, thus making it easier to determine the role of genetics in development.

‘Political’ Science: The Rise of Junk Science and the Fall of Reason

In theory, science is non-partisan. The Earth is goes around the Sun, gravity is a constant, smoking causes cancer, whether you are a Republican, Democrat, conservative, or liberal. In practice, however, as Galileo and many others discovered, science is not always pure or certain, our knowledge is not always complete or correct, and politics sometimes trumps rationality. Unfortunately, in recent years, the creation of deceptive science and false information has become a thriving industry at a time when independent government research budgets are being threatened and cut. And this economy of lies is being supported by major corporations, laundered through seemingly independent organizations, and served to the American public as truth. It is time for scientists and the public to challenge this directly.

From one cell, many possible cures

A single cell with the potential to repair damaged heart muscle tissue . . . regenerate injured bone . . . create new cartilage or skin . . . even reverse nerve damage. Human stem cells offer tremendous hope for the development of revolutionary medical treatments for these and a variety of other human health problems. Up until now, however, stem cell research has been slowed by ethical controversy — as well as by the rarity of the extraordinary cells themselves. That could be about to change: A Florida State University research team in Tallahassee, Fla. reports that it has designed a biomedical device that will allow stem cells derived from adult bone marrow to be grown in sufficient quantities to permit far more research — and allow faster growth of tissues that can be transplanted into patients.

The brain is broadly wired for reproduction

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a vast network of neurons in the brain of mice that governs reproduction and controls the effects of reproductive status on other brain functions. In their studies, the researchers found neural circuits that coordinate a complex interplay between neurons that control reproduction and brain areas that carry the neural signals triggered by odorant molecules and those triggered by pheromones, chemical signals produced by animals.

DNA Chips Spot and Help Track Antibiotic Resistance

A DNA chip, or DNA microarray, is a small glass slide that can reveal the presence or absence of particular DNA sequences in a sample. This tool has allowed clinicians to test for genetic mutations and diseases in people. Now, ARS microbiologists Jonathan Frye, Charlene Jackson, Mark Englen, and Paula Cray have developed a DNA microarray that detects more than 100 antimicrobial-resistance genes in many types of bacteria.

Omega-3 fats help terminal cancer patient

Ron Pardini is not a medical doctor. Yet he is seen as a hero by his cancer-stricken neighbor, “D.H.” Pardini helped the 78-year-old after D.H. was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. “In 2000 he was told by his doctor he had only a few months to live,” said Pardini, a professor of biochemistry and associate director of the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Nevada, Reno. “But five years later, he is still alive, and has even gained a little weight.”