Working 9 to 5
April 23, 2009
As I make my transition from the world of academia and unpredictable hours to the 9-to-5 structure of the working world, I find myself wondering about how my body will handle the new schedule. I am thrilled about the work that I will be doing at The Scientist, but it’s been years since I woke up to the daily buzz of an alarm. Are we, as humans, built for an 8-hour work day?
In this month’s issue of PLoS Genetics, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that a number of genes in the mouse liver were turned on every 8 or 12 hours, suggesting that animals may be programmed to function on such a schedule.
Most genes’ activation patterns followed a 24-hour cycle, consistent with the 24-hour circadian rhythms that allows organisms to anticipate the daily changes in their environments. But this study is the first to suggest that genes may also function on shorter cycles, such as the 8- and 12-hour activation schedules reported here. Perhaps there is a biological basis to our long-lived tradition of 8-hour shift work.
Notes
A Newtonian twist on an American game
April 10, 2009
To a casual baseball fan, the game may appear peaceful, relaxed, and certainly safe…especially when compared to the other American favorite: the brutally violent game of football. But those who know the sport a little better recognize the inherent dangers, namely that of major league pitching. Hurling a baseball at nearly 100 mph nearly 100 times per game can wreak havoc on the pitcher’s shoulder and elbow.
“Throwing a baseball is one of the fastest and most violent maneuvers that any joint in the body is subjected to. The violent and rapid motion places numerous structures in the shoulder at risk for injury,” Rush University Medical Center sports medicine fellow Dr. Shane Seroyer told ScienceDaily.
Seroyer and colleagues recently analyzed baseball pitching injuries and published their findings in the March/April issue of Sports Health. In addition to a summary of the most common injuries and the success rate of the traditional treatments, the report suggests that catching the injuries early or preventing them altogether is the best way to ensure a long career.
Along these lines, Seroyer suggests efficient throwing mechanics as a key element in reducing the chances of developing a serious injury. This is something retired MLB pitcher and 1974 Cy Young Award winner Mike Marshall (pictured above) has been saying for years. After just one season pitching for the Detroit Tigers, Marshall started noticing a significant decrease in his pitching arm’s range of motion. Understandably aggrivated, Marshall made up his mind to discover how he could change his pitching motion to do less harm to his body.
Armed with only an undergraduate degree in physical education from Michigan State University, Marshall recognized that the traditional pitching methodologies he had learned from the Tigers’ coaching staff contradicted the basic laws of physics. Marshall believes that by understanding Newton’s three laws of motion — articulated nearly 200 years before the first true baseball pitch was thrown — pitchers could learn to correct the mechanical flaws in their pitching that put unnecessary strain on their arms.
With this goal in mind, Marshall returned to MSU to earn a Ph.D. in exercise physiology after completing a successful 14-year career in the major leagues, including setting many new pitching records that still stand today. Marshall was combining what he learned from the game with what Newton learned from an apple to develop a safer and more effective way of pitching. (See his Three Laws of Force Application for Baseball Pitchers for more details.)
While Marshall’s ideas are not yet widely accepted in the baseball community, perhaps if he gets the scientists on his side, this physics-inspired technique could put a new spin on an old sport…and save a few elbows and shoulders in the process.
Notes
Kerno, S.J. (2009) Coached by Newton. Mechanical Engineering: Published online.
Mike Marshall’s Three Laws of Force Application for Baseball Pitchers
Visit Mike Marshall’s website where you can find more information on his baseball pitching methodologies.
A special thank you to III for igniting my interest in pitching mechanics. Without his enthusiasm, my eyes would have glossed over this story, and the application of Newton’s laws to the wonderful world of baseball would have never made it to the readers of Oh, Behave!
The Seahorse Master
April 8, 2009
A brief update on me:
Today I successfully defended my master’s thesis on the mate choice and courtship behavior of the lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus). I decided to take my master’s and leave school early in order to pursue my science writing career. I have accepted a summer internship with The Scientist and will be writing for their website and monthly print publication starting May 4. I would like to thank my committee and in particular my advisor, Mike Wade, for their generous support of this transition.
The Validity of Voodoo
April 6, 2009
As an aspiring science writer, I am extremely interested the ways (and in particular, the rates) that science news is released. For most new findings published in peer-reviewed journals, press releases summarizing the results are available before the publish date, and an embargo is set such that no one is to release anything before a set date. This evens the playing field for all the journalists who want to write a story about the new findings. Knowing scientists is a great way to get a heads up that a great paper is coming and gives you more lead time to prepare your story, but still, you are restricted to the embargo set by the publication in which the paper is being published.
But what if the scientists who did the research decide to release their paper early? In the fantastic age of the internet, a secret told to one person can quickly become millions as the social networks light up like a wild fire. In some ways, this is good: stirring up scientific interest and conversation has long been a goal of the science writing community. But in other ways, it is easy to see how this clearly violates the system to which journalists have become accustomed. So which is it? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? A recent case study in the field of neuroscience has ignited a discussion about just that. What’s your opinion?
A Polar adventure!
April 4, 2009
Join Carin Ashjian of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and a team of scientists an adventure to the Arctic! No really, you can go with them…virtually. Follow their adventures through videos and photo essays on the Polar Discovery Website as they embark on a 38-day expedition in the Arctic’s Bering Sea upon the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy. And hurry…they leave today!
The Bering Sea is thriving with life. Melting sea ice transports nutrients that fertilize the algae that is the primary food source of zooplankton, which in turn feed the countless numbers of larger animals that call these waters home, from fish to whales to seabirds. The researchers are setting out to learn more about how global climate change will affect the ecosystem of the Arctic.
In addition to its ecological significance, the economic importance of this region is also worthy of notice. Hoards of US and Russian fisherman make a living on these seas, pulling hundreds of millions of pounds of fish and crab each year. In an effort to preserve the biodiversity of the Arctic, this mission will look at all parts of the biological web to try to predict exactly how the warming conditions will affect this ecosystem.
Birth control for men
April 3, 2009
Hey ladies, ever start to resent the fact that it is always your job to prevent pregnancy? You have to incur the constant cost of birth control, you have to be religious about taking it at the same time every single day. Wouldn’t it be nice if your man could take some of that responsibility?
Today, the only options for male contraception are condoms and vasectomies. One is not very convenient; the other is a little extreme. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Researchers at the University of Iowa have identified a gene known as CATSPER1 that may cause infertility in men. Identifying the gene is the first step in developing therapies to target that gene and render it inactive. In other words, we’re now one step closer to selectively and temporarily making our men infertile.
CATSPER1 has been shown in mice to affect sperm motility. Specifically, male mice carrying a mutation in this gene have sperm that is unable to produce the vigorous hyperactive motion necessary to enter the egg during fertilization. This new study, published in the April 2 online edition of The American Journal of Human Genetics, found two Iranian families in which the men were infertile. Both families carried one of two mutations in CATSPER1 that were not found in the 576 Iranian individuals who were screened as controls.
This research also has obvious implications for fertility treatments in men would like to conceive children, but the potential for male contraception is equally exciting. One possibility is using immunocontraception: using antibodies that bind specifically to the proteins coded for by the CATSPER1 gene and block their function. This therapy is still in the early stages of development, but so far, it appears to be a promising technique to targeting specific genes. If successful, it may be as simple as a pill a day for men to take part in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
