This Week's Sci-lights

In this week’s Sci-Lights, we find that much of science fiction has become science fact. From monsters dwelling in the depths of the ocean to tractor beams manipulating objects, what’s possible is increasingly limited by only the boundaries of the imagination.

First up, scientists at the University of St. Andrews have developed a system of light beams with the ability to attract microscopic objects through their unique curvature.

Although the team is staying tightlipped on the subject of the beams exact mechanics, the possibilities of such a “tractor beam” are immense. Dr. Tomas Cizmar, a researcher on the project, said, “Eventually this could be used to separate white blood cells, for example.”

For the full article, follow this link to BBC.

Next, a breakthrough in the understanding of the amnesic brain’s interpretation of hunger had shed light on the mental role in craving food. Researchers for PLOS One have discovered that humans and mice with amnesia, the inability to recall recent memories, relate how hungry they feel to the last time they ate. Those who were told they had not eaten were willing to eat again, even though they had actually eaten as recently as 5 minutes earlier. Similarly, those who hadn’t eaten, but were told they had, did not feel the need to eat.

This shows how much control the mind actually has over our natural instincts, such as the drive to fund and eat food. This could shed light on the future of diet research to lead to better management, among other medical and psychological uses.

For the full article, follow this link to Scientific American.

Lastly, 14 year-old science aficionado, Kirill Dudko, recently uncovered footage of an Elephant Seal preying upon a Hagfish at the remarkable depth of 894 meters. Very few mammals other than the Elephant Seal have known to dive to these crushing depths, and this is the first time it has ever been recorded on video.

Kirill discovered the video by viewing livestream footage of the Canadian seafloor cameras, while researching monitoring the tapes overlooked the footage itself.

For more information, you can find the full article and the YouTube video at this link to NEPTUNE Canada.