Kim Weaver (b. 1964) is an astrophysics professor and astronomer. She is an expert in x-ray astronomy and has worked for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
She obtained her PhD in astronomy in 1993 from the University of Maryland. After that, she was a research scientist at Penn State and John Hopkins University. Her honours include the Presidential Early Career Award and the NASA Peer Award.
I just read that bees don't have lungs how do their respiratory system works??
Correct. Insects do not have lungs they breathe through spiracles (tiny openings) that can open and close, as well as having filters to keep dust and other external contaminants out.
The spiracles run across their abdomen connecting to tracheae which is where oxygen exchange takes place (In mammals this happens in the blood), that then connect to tracheole. The air sacs expand and collapse so force the air in the spiracles and into the trachea and almost function in that they can reserve air in them so insects can conserve water.
Honey bees have 10 pairs of spiracles, 3 pairs on the thorax and 7 pairs on the abdomen. Bees can use and accelerate the passage of air in their bodies via their air sacs, contacting them and increasing their respiration rate.
This adaptive function of their respiratory system actually helps them to fly and the first few spiracles are used for air to exit while the others for air entering, they also have valves to prevent backflow. This also allows the bee to cool down or heat up if it needs to, which is why you’ll see bees abdomens wiggling while they’re resting. They’re forcing air in and out of their bodies in order to rapidly cool down or heat up, which is important for flight.
Colleen Conway-Welch (1944-2018) was an American nurse, known for her public health advocacy and numerous projects. She served as Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing for almost 30 years.
She received her doctorate from New York University and went on to work in various hospitals and universities throughout the United States. Under her leadership at VUSN, the university introduced an accelerated master’s programme and a PhD programme. She was named a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing.
There was a sensitive pragmatic question which needed to be answered, however. To put it bluntly: Was Arya going to be naked on camera? Many cast members have appeared nude on the show, though typically signed on when they were at least 18 years old (and often agreed to nudity as part of their deal). The 22-year-old Williams joined Thrones when she was 11 and has grown up in front of fans. Williams says the showrunners let her decide precisely how much to show. “David and Dan were like: ‘You can show as much or as little as you want,’” Williams says. “So I kept myself pretty private. I don’t think it’s important for Arya to flash. This beat isn’t really about that. And everybody else has already done it on the show, so…”
Still, when it came time to film the encounter, Williams had to be naked-ish on set, and that was a naturally a bit awkward. “In the beginning, everyone was really respectful,” she says. “No one wants to make you feel uncomfortable which kind of makes you feel more uncomfortable, because no one wants to look at anything that they shouldn’t look at which in turn makes you feel like you look awful because everyone is kind of like—” [Williams averts her eyes]. “You want people to act more normal.”
Continues Williams: “Then [the scene] was rushed. We were [directed by] David Nutter, who has a habit of speaking fast anyway. By the end we’re rushing to finish the scene and David is going, ‘Okay, you’re going to come in and do this and do that and, great, take your top off’ — and then walked off. And I’m like … ‘Okay. Let’s do it.”
Dempsie suggested the experience was strange for him too for given how long he’s known Williams, who’s about a decade younger than him. “It’s obviously slightly strange for me because I’ve known Maisie since she was 11, 12 years old,” says the 31-year-old actor. “At the same time, I don’t want to be patronizing toward Maisie — she’s a 20-year-old woman. So we just had a lot of fun with it.”
But Williams says what’s most important to her about Arya’s battle-eve night of romance wasn’t reading the scene or even filming it, but rather what this moment meant for her character. Year after year, Arya has been laser-focused on survival and training and revenge. Being with Gendry meant that, for one night at least, Arya had an experience that put her back in touch with her humanity.
“It was really interesting because it’s a very human relationship for Arya,” Williams says. “This is something she’s stayed away from, an emotion we’ve never really seen her engage with. David and Dan were like, ‘It’s the end of the world, what else would you have her do?’ This may be is a moment where Arya accepts death tomorrow, which she never does — ‘Not Today.’ So it was that moment where she says, ‘We’re probably going to die tomorrow, I want to know what this feels like before that happens.’ It’s interesting to see Arya be a bit more human, speak more normally about things people are scared of.” — Maisie Williams discusses Arya’s surprise Gendry scene
Thunderstorm from space
This photo was taken from the International Space Station during a project to capture photos of clouds. Here a large anvil supercell (some 200 km across) is silhouetted against the limb of our blue orb, revealing clearly the layers of the atmosphere somewhere over northern Australia around 1,500 km from the station, which was then flying over Papua New Guinea.
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Steering Stem Cells with Magnets
Magnets could be a tool for directing stem cells’ healing powers to treat conditions such as heart disease or vascular disease.
By feeding stem cells tiny particles made of iron oxide, scientists at Emory and Georgia Tech can use magnets to attract the cells to a particular location in the body after intravenous injection.
The results are published online in the journal Small and will appear in an upcoming issue.
Human Adipose Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells
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I’ll be dead before the day is done (x)
My best friend is defending next month, and he has decided to dedicate his thesis to his son and daughter (who are cats) and to his godson (who is my cat). I will never be sad again. This has cured all that ails.
Urine sediment from a 6 year-old, male-intact, Rottweiler. The patient has a multi-year history of recurrent urinary tract infections. He recently presented to his primary care veterinarian for being unable to urinate. Radiographs showed no bladder stones, but a penile ultrasound showed many obstructing the urethra. The dog was then referred for surgery to relieve the obstruction…
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The surgeons were kind enough to snag us some urine! The urine was full of these hexagonal crystals….consistent with cystine crystals! Yes, the amino acid cystine. In addition, there were all shapes of sperms (see them swimming in the background!) along with many inflammatory cells and some bacteria.
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Diagnosis: Cystine crystalluria. This is a very rare occurrence in veterinary medicine! Such patient’s often have a genetic defect in the metabolism or transport of cystine, allowing the amino acid to accumulate in blood. Once it filters into urine, cystine will polymerize into crystals and sometimes form stones. Cystine stones do not obstruct x-rays…hence they cannot be found on standard radiographs (termed radiolucent). The patient is recovering well following surgery, and may require a special diet to help with his disease.
An assortment of scientific things from the wonderful world of biology
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