Science Saturday: Beautiful Phytoplankton + Sunken Champagne + VULCAN diffractometer + Healing Nanites & Gel + Laser Backpack

Welcome back to Science Saturday! This week, take a look at a gorgeous phytoplankton bloom, partake in 200-year-old champagne, use a VULCAN to design a car, watch nanites fight cancer, and apply some goop to what ails you. All this and more, plus our gadget of the week: the 3D model creating laser backpack!

Phytoplankton Make Gorgeous Bloom Off Iceland
On June 24, 2010, the NASA Aqua Satellite captured an image using its MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) of a splash of blue-green color off the coast of Iceland. The colorful swirl was caused by millions of microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. This isn’t an unexpected event however. Every year, a massive phytoplankton bloom spreads across the North Atlantic, moving from south to north and peaking in late spring. The full sized image, hosted at NASA’s Earth Observatory website, is super high-resolution. Click the image to see it full size.

Click to embiggen

Diver Discover Oldest Drinkable Champagne in Shipwreck
Divers recently discovered what is thought to be the oldest drinkable champagne in existence. The bottles are believed to be from the 1780’s making them over 200 years old. The divers brought the first bottle up from a depth of 200 feet and were surprised to see bubbles when they popped the cork. They tasted the vintage bubbly before even making it back to shore. According to diving instructor Christian Ekstrom, it was tasty wine, too. “It tasted fantastic. It was a very sweet champagne, with a tobacco taste and oak,” he said. Apparently, the deep sea is a perfect storage place for champagne – in the dark at a constant, cold temperature.

200+ year old champagne. Now that’s vintage bubbly!

Cutting-Edge Science From VULCAN
Everyone’s favorite pointy-eared, logic-bound race is the namesake for some new cutting-edge science being utilized by the U.S. Department of Energy. The VULCAN diffractometer is a tool capable of “seeing” inside a material and making 3D maps of the distance between atoms. Scientists can use these maps to tell whether atoms are being squished together or pulled apart, which in turn tells them if the material is experiencing stress or strain. This data is being used to engineer materials like turbine blades from a jet engine and a frame from a car. Read more specs and technical jargon on the VULCAN from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

A look inside the VULCAN diffractometer

Wesley’s Nanites or Cancer Fighting Nanomachines?
It looks like an early version of Wesley Crusher’s nanites are in the works. But, these nanomachines weren’t created as a plot device to sabotage the Enterprise computer, they were built to fight cancer. Many new cancer fighting techniques focus on targeting only harmful cancer cells, rather than irradiating all of a person’s cells as with chemotherapy. These molecular machines do just that. They can target living cancer cells and are able to release drugs into them when remotely triggered by an oscillating magnetic field. “The ability to deliver anti-cancer drugs only to the cancer cells without affecting healthy cells is of key importance,” says one of the developers. The next step in the research is to test this technique in a living organism, with the ultimate goal being applicability to treatment of human cancer patients.

The nanites doing their job

Nexagon: New Wound-Healing Gel Gets Dr. Phlox’s Approval

Trial studies for a new wound-healing gel aimed at chronic wounds have been the answers to some peoples prayers. Sufferers of chronic pain have been testing out the new gel, named Nexagon, which works by interrupting how cells communicate and prevents the production of proteins that block the healing process. Is this the precursor to Dr. Phlox’s magical dermal regeneration gel? So far, it has been tested on 100 people. If successful, it could lead to the treatment of everything from scrapes and bruises to diabetes ulcers. Thanks, David, for the tip!

Dr. Phlox approves this early version of dermal regeneration gel

Gadget of the Week: Laser Backpack Creates 3D Maps of Buildings
The same group that develops 3D models for Google Earth is now taking that technology indoors. Where’s Google Earth’s models require GPS, a technology that doesn’t work well indoors, a team of researchers at Cal Tech have developed an analog system using lasers, cameras, a backpack, and a human to lug all of that stuff around. Simply, one wears this gigantic mechanical backpack, wanders the halls of any building, and the backpack does all the work — it captures a 3D model of where you are instantaneously with no input from the human! In the future, Google Street View may allow a user to actually enter buildings and storefronts to have a look around. Check out the video below to see this thing in action.

#FollowFriday

If you are on Twitter, you know there are plenty of amazing people out there tweeting away. And, many of them are scientists! Every Friday I’ll be bringing you a new list of great scientists, techies, and trekkies to follow on Twitter. As the Captain of the USS Party House, I invite you to follow my crew:

• @KalofXeno: First Officer (Number One)
• @TrekGuy62: Chief Engineer, and owner of all cool electronic gizmos (He has an iPadd!)
• @emilia9: Ship’s Counselor and creator of all of those paintings of space from seasons 1-3 of TNG. There’s actually a really interesting back story there…
• @BikeWithMe: Ship’s Tactical Officer — the Queen of strategy
• @kaylai: Yours truly, your humble Captain.

Science Quickies
Not enough science for you? Here’s a warp-speed look at some more science tid-bits that are worth a look.

• How satellites are tracking Moscow forest fires
• Your DNA determines how you are unique

TrekMovie’s Science Friday is an homage the the great NPR radio show Science Friday. Science Friday® is a registered service mark of ScienceFriday Inc.