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Everybody Loves Science!
Skewbrow:
--- Quote from: Carl-E on 21 May 2013, 21:42 ---
The point is that math is so freaking specialized that, unless you're one of the two or three people in the world working directly on a particular problem, you're going to have a rough time understanding any of it!
--- End quote ---
A related Spiked Math comic. Actually I somewhat disagree with the two rightmost bars. The mathematicians know better, and the rightmost bar might fit better how undergrads feel (IIRC?) after a course in complex analysis and Galois theory. And after a lifetime of work, a mathematician surely absorbed a few PhDs worth. True, they have forgotten half of the stuff from graduate school...
The author that strip was in grad school at the time of the drawing.
cesium133:
Of what I've seen in experimental physics, undergrads know virtually nothing but think they know everything, graduate students know the most about how the experiment works but are convinced they know nothing, and the professor knows everything except the details of how to get the experiment to actually work, and thinks he knows absolutely everything.
edit -- I should note that my description may be biased. :psyduck:
Akima:
According to The Economist carbon-fibre lift cables are a real thing. YMMV on how exciting mile-high skyscrapers would be*, but even baby steps towards a space-elevator interest me.
*Though if they're technically feasible, I'm certain Pudong will soon have a few. Cue soundtrack by Vangelis. Image spoilered for size: (click to show/hide)Incidentally, that big skyscraper in the foreground? There is now a new one, 28% taller, under construction next door, that will beat Guangzhou's Canton Tower for tallest structure in China. At least until the Ping An Tower in Shenzen is completed... Come on Shanghai, get building! You know you owe it to yourself to have the tallest skyscrapers! :laugh:
J:
space elevators would be awesome, but mile-high archology towers are pretty cool too.
GarandMarine:
The Nanopatch, as it's been named, is used as a replacement for the traditional method of administering vaccines—injection with needle and syringe.
Currently a vaccine is injected into muscle tissue where it encounters immune cells, triggering a response. In contrast, the Nanopatch, which has thousands of projections on the skin side, injects the vaccine just under the skin, where Kendall notes, there are more immune cells. This means, he added, that less vaccine is needed to accomplish the same goal which in turn means each dose would cost far less.
One of the major problems with current injectable vaccines is that they are water based, which means they have be kept chilled to prevent spoilage. This can be a major problem for vaccination programs in areas where there is limited refrigeration facilities. Kendall cited recent reports that suggest up to half of the vaccines administered in Africa don't work properly due to refrigeration issues. With the Nanopatch, the vaccine is dry, thus it doesn't have to be kept chilled. Each patch is silicone based and has 20,000 micro-sized projections on its underside that deliver the vaccine—it's smaller than a typical postage stamp. Because the projections are so small, they cannot be felt piercing the skin, making the application of the vaccine completely painless. Thus far, testing of the Nanopatch by the development team has involved administering the flu vaccine to volunteers.
Kendall added that another advantage of the nanopatch is that it requires the use of much less adjuvants—chemicals added to vaccines to provoke a better immune response. Some of these adjuvants have been suspected of causing health problems, and in some cases autism, though no proof has ever been found. Looking ahead, Kendall said he believes the Nanopatch will soon become available for use against malaria infections as well.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-nanopatch-syringe-needle-unveiled-tedglobal.html
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