Toroidal Vortices (video)

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Wired Science: The Living Roof (video)

747 lifted in place by strong winds

My Wife and I Have Been Offered a New Prototype DNA Test for Our Pregnancy

Doctors here in Northern Virginia offered to give us a prototype DNA test for my wife's pregnancy (10 weeks into the pregnancy). This is a brand new technology that detects chromosome issues such as Down's Syndrome and Edwards/Trisomy 18. Currently tests such as amniocentesis and the CVS test are used to detect these issues. Our OBGYN says this new test may replace those older tests within 5 years or so. Because they are invasive, amnio and cvs carry some risk of miscarriage. This new test analyzes fetal DNA in the mother's blood and therefore is virtually risk free.

We used IVF (In vitro fertilisation) in order to get pregnant. I have an incredibly bizarre mild form of cystic fibrosis. Normally people with CF die before reaching adulthood. I'm 40. Johns Hopkins is still scratching their heads. As my wife always suspected, I'm a mutant. CF in mild cases causes males to not develop the vasa deferentia tubes that deliver sperm, so I essentially had a natural vasectomy. My wife does not have CF, and isn't a carrier, so there's no increased chance of our child having it. Also, it looks like they are closing in on a cure. The doctors had to extract sperm from my testicles using a needle (called a testicular aspiration). Men out there, I can tell you - needles in the balls is not a fun thing at all. After being extracted, the sperm was then cryogenically frozen (ala Han Solo :^) ).  The fertility doctors also gave us the option to cryogenically freeze embryos. I expressed concern over potential birth defects because of this and was surprised to learn that cryogenically frozen embryos tend to have *LESS* of a chance of birth defects. I hypothesized that maybe only the stronger survive the freezing process. Researched this and indeed this appears to be the likely reason.

All of this genetic testing has me thinking about various science fiction, e.g. Gattaca lately, whether in the near future it will be used for "designer babies". I used to have this "let nature do what nature's going to do" way of thinking in regards to genetic engineering. Lately, I'm not so sure. Is it so much to ask to want a healthy child?

My previous post about genetic testing, etc.

Scientists "switch off" brain cell death in mice

(Reuters) - Scientists have figured out how to stop brain cell death in mice with brain disease and say their discovery deepens understanding of the mechanisms of human neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. More>

Will Gattaca Come True?

As someone who's having to use IVF to have a child, I've seen first hand how this science is advancing, and I've been wondering about this movie quite a bit lately, and if people will be having designer babies - Eddie

(Slate) Noninvasive, early fetal tests for sex, paternity, and chromosomal conditions will change pregnancy dramatically—and raise tricky ethical questions. More> 

Pattern: Sci-fi tech and stories coming true.

Update: New post: My Wife and I Have Been Offered a New Prototype DNA Test for Our Pregnancy

Brain Scans Give Glimpse of How Your Dog Thinks

(Wired Science) Brain scans of dogs could give researchers a new tool for studying what happens in the mind of man’s best friend.
“I think it could open a whole new type of research on cognition,” said neuroscientist Greg Berns of Emory University, lead author on a dog-scanning study that will be published in Public Library of Science One.
Berns described the initial findings, in which brain regions expected to become active in anticipation of reward did just that, as a proof-of-concept to show that studying a dog inside a functional magnetic resonance imager was logistically feasible. More>

Scientists Solve Mystery of Ireland's Moving Boulders

(slashdot.org) "How has a 78-ton boulder traveled 130 meters inland from the sea since 1991? Live Science reports that geologists have puzzled for years over the mysterious boulders that litter the desolate coastline of Ireland's Aran Islands that somehow move on their own when no one is looking. The sizes of the boulders in the formations range 'from merely impressive to mind-bogglingly stupendous,' writes geoscientist Rónadh Cox. more>