ScienceIQ.com

It's a Supernova

Scientists have discovered that one of the brightest gamma ray bursts on record is also a supernova. It's the first direct evidence linking these two types of explosions, both triggered by the death of a massive star. NASA's High-Energy Transient Explorer satellite (HETE) initially detected the burst on March 29, 2003, in the constellation Leo. For ...

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ItsaSupernova
Engineering

A Quick Guide To Gliders

A glider is a special kind of aircraft that has no engine. Paper airplanes are the most obvious example, but gliders come in a wide range of sizes. Toy gliders, made of balsa wood or styrofoam, are an ... Continue reading

AQuickGuideToGliders
Medicine

Mother Nature's Own Brand of Bioterror

We've been hearing a lot about smallpox lately, as a possible bioterror attack. But Mother Nature has her own brand of bioterror. Smallpox has been with us for about ten thousand years, since the ... Continue reading

Bioterror
Biology

Cloning and Ethics

Cloning technology today is far from perfect: it requires many attempts and only 1%, if any, of the cloned eggs become embryos and then survive. For example, the first cloned sheep, Dolly, was ... Continue reading

CloningandEthics
Geology

What is Volcanic Ash?

Small jagged pieces of rocks, minerals, and volcanic glass the size of sand and silt (less than 1/12 inch or 2 millimeters in diameter) erupted by a volcano are called volcanic ash. Very small ash ... Continue reading

VolcanicAsh

What Are Blood Types, and Why Are They Important?

BloodTypesIf your medical report reads A, Rh+, M, s, P1, Lua, K+, Kp(a-b+), Le(a-b+). Fy(a+), Jk(a+b+), don't run for a foreign language dictionary. The letters aren't Greek. They are simply the names given to various proteins that may or may not be present on the membranes of your blood cells. The proteins are grouped under names such as the Lutheran, Kell, Lewis, Duffy, and Kidd systems.

The most familiar blood proteins - and the first to be typed - are today known as the A-B-O blood groups. People with type A blood have the A protein (also called antigen) in their blood, but not the B. Type B blood means the B protein is present, but not the A. If both proteins occur, the type is called AB. Type O means neither protein is present. Another well-known blood protein is named Rh. If you are Rh+ (read R H positive), you have the protein. Rh- (read R H negative) means you don't.

In most cases, the presence or absence of these antigens means nothing in terms of health. The types are simply differences among healthy people. There are, however, exceptions. For example, it's not likely that you are missing both of the Duffy system proteins, Fy a and Fy b, unless you live in a country where malaria is common. In such countries, many more people have the Fy(a-b-) Duffy type. They enjoy a certain degree of immunity against malaria that people who are positive for either protein lack. Why? Because the organism that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, uses the Duffy antigens to enter red blood cells. Without them, the malarial parasite cannot infect.