Below are more animations of DNA, RNA, and proteins in action.
Stepping back from the micro into the macro, the mass of the universe is 75% hydrogen, 23% helium, and 2% of all the heavier elements. And a lot of activities that involve these matter would pertain to their burning in nuclear furnaces called stars.
For sure the physics and chemistry of nuclear fusion in stars is amazing. But on the other hand it would appear that that process when compared to what goes on under our skin would appear drab.
Click the triangle in the middle of the screen above to play the animation.
If the intricate molecular activity at the level of just one gene is not mind-boggling enough, consider the following: there are about 25,000 genes per human cell and the human body contains about 100 trillion cells!
The animator, Drew Berry, is one of the world's leading animators in biomedical visualization. His focus is on animating the behavior and physical properties of DNA, bio-molecules and proteins.
Drew Berry describes his work:
"If a device were possible that could magnify objects 100 million times, we could directly watch the writhing, dynamic molecular world of DNA. However, even with the most advanced imaging technology, the biggest bio-molecules are resolved as static blurry shapes, with scientists relying on other techniques to determine how they interact and accomplish their roles in creating life. Drawing upon this fragmentary evidence from all fields of biomedical research, my quest is to holistically construct the most accurate, insightful visualisations of cellular and molecular worlds that have ever been produced. With clarity and detail never before seen, the animations are enlightening visual explanations of how cells, DNA and bio-molecules perform the essential tasks at the basis of life.
"Each of the animations is founded on the latest scientific data sets, such as X-ray crystallography, so that details such as molecular shapes, sizes and real-time dynamics are distinctively accurate. Through the animations, an audience can be placed face-to-face with a neuron pulsing with electric messages, or inside an artery to view the rush of blood cells, or hover above the growing knot of flesh in a tumour.If a device were possible that could magnify objects 100 million times, we could directly watch the writhing, dynamic molecular world of DNA. However, even with the most advanced imaging technology, the biggest bio-molecules are resolved as static blurry shapes, with scientists relying on other techniques to determine how they interact and accomplish their roles in creating life. Drawing upon this fragmentary evidence from all fields of biomedical research, my quest is to holistically construct the most accurate, insightful visualisations of cellular and molecular worlds that have ever been produced. With clarity and detail never before seen, the animations are enlightening visual explanations of how cells, DNA and bio-molecules perform the essential tasks at the basis of life.
"Each of the animations is founded on the latest scientific data sets, such as X-ray crystallography, so that details such as molecular shapes, sizes and real-time dynamics are distinctively accurate. Through the animations, an audience can be placed face-to-face with a neuron pulsing with electric messages, or inside an artery to view the rush of blood cells, or hover above the growing knot of flesh in a tumour."
"Space epics almost always play fast and loose with science, treating the laws of physics like suggestions. Sound in space, unprotected bodies splatting in vacuum, and alien planets that all look just like Calabasas. But some movies dismember Newton and Einstein with way more gusto than others. We rated 18 movies based on how many laws of physics they mangled, and here's our report card."
Click here to view the entire 'report card'. Therefrom, find out why Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff were found faithful to science, while Star Wars would be on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog has a similar list (with a more colorful discussion).
Are the laws of physics meant to be observed to the letter in film-making?
It all depends on the context. Non-fiction and historical fiction should stick to the rules, while all others should be allowed leeway.
So in the case of the latter some form of "agnosticism" can be a good thing. As in ignorance is bliss ...
[Image above is from the movie's poster. It is believed that the use of a limited number of web-resolution screenshots for identification and/or critical commentary qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law.]
The famous surrealist painter, Salvador Dali [1904-1989], had come up with a way to remember what he saw in those moments. Legend has it that Dali will deprive himself of days of sleep, sit on a chair with a spoon in his hand, and after the clang of the spoon had waked him up, he'd start painting what he saw.
And who will not forget Archimedes' [287-212 BC] discovery of the principle of buoyancy while on a bath tub. Or August Kekulé's [1829-1896] discovery of the ring shape of the benzene molecule after having a reverie of a snake seizing its own tail. And everybody knows the story of Newton and the apple and Einstein's lazy days at the Swiss patent office.
If one has the flexibility, one can try what the industrial designer Philippe Starck does. All of his creative work are done when he's on holiday three months in a year.
Glad to have you on board, Sirhemlock, Unclesharkey, Xiaoyu, Dr. Alfred Bennun, Andrea, Debamboozler, Jeff Mitchell, Ian Kemmish, James Redford, Jerry Thornton, Rob MacRiner, M. Simon, Ken, Douglas, Peter, Clement, syk0saje, et al.
Thank you (and to the other regular commenters as well of course) for making the discussion even more interesting.
We are all certainly trying to do better than Calvin and Hobbes above.
And Sirhemlock, we browsed through your website/s and they are quite an interesting read.
More (layman-level) coverage of quantum mechanics was supposed to have been made this year. But that didn't happen so let's see if we'll have better 'luck' this time.
Work continues to get in the way :) just the same, all efforts will be made to share info that are found interesting.
Dr. Robert Bussard is a PhD from Princeton and former Asst. Director of the Atomic Energy Commission.
The video on inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IEC) is 1.5 hours long. It was delivered by Dr. Robert Bussard last November 9, 2006.
Here's the abstract of the talk, from Google Video:
"This is not your father's fusion reactor! Forget everything you know about conventional thinking on nuclear fusion: high-temperature plasmas, steam turbines, neutron radiation and even nuclear waste are a thing of the past. Goodbye thermonuclear fusion; hello inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IEC), an old idea that's been made new. While the international community debates the fate of the politically-turmoiled $12 billion ITER (an experimental thermonuclear reactor), simple IEC reactors are being built as high-school science fair projects. "Dr. Robert Bussard, former Asst. Director of the Atomic Energy Commission and founder of Energy Matter Conversion Corporation (EMC2), has spent 17 years perfecting IEC, a fusion process that converts hydrogen and boron directly into electricity producing helium as the only waste product. Most of this work was funded by the Department of Defense, the details of which have been under seal... until now. "Dr. Bussard will discuss his recent results and details of this potentially world-altering technology, whose conception dates back as far as 1924, and even includes a reactor design by Philo T. Farnsworth (inventor of the scanning television). "Can a 100 MW fusion reactor be built for less than Google's annual electricity bill? Come see what's possible when you think outside the thermonuclear box and ignore the herd."
A summary of the talk can be seen from Karl Schroeder's website. An excerpt:
"They're that small and lightweight. But most importantly, his primary design does not even produce nuclear radiation. A nuclear fusion reactor that doesn't produce nuclear radiation? Yes, you read that rightly. By fusion boron instead of hydrogen, an IEC device can produce pure electricity plus an exhaust of helium atoms--neutron free. Boron is literally as common as mud, so we'll never run out of it. And a fusion reactor that produces no radiation cannot be used to create nuclear weapons."
Dr. Bussard passed away last October 2007. The community that has developed is supposed to ensure that Bussard's work will continue to be pursued: EMC2 Fusion, IEC Fusion, etc.
Excerpts from the 'Religion and Social Issues' portion --
"Global publics are sharply divided over the relationship between religion and morality. In much of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, there is a strong consensus that belief in God is necessary for morality and good values. Throughout much of Europe, however, majorities think morality is achievable without faith. Meanwhile, opinions are more mixed in the Americas, including in the United States, where 57% say that one must believe in God to have good values and be moral, while 41% disagree.
"The survey finds a strong relationship between a country's religiosity and its economic status. In poorer nations, religion remains central to the lives of individuals, while secular perspectives are more common in richer nations. This relationship generally is consistent across regions and countries, although there are some exceptions, including most notably the United States, which is a much more religious country than its level of prosperity would indicate. Other nations deviate from the pattern as well, including the oil-rich, predominantly Muslim -- and very religious -- kingdom of Kuwait."
Can the above be the reason why the Bible said that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God"?
The material Carrey used was a 1999 paper from the Harvard physics department entitled, "Stochastic Phase Switching of a Parametrically Driven Electron in a Penning Trap."
Gerald Gabrielse of Harvard, one of the paper's authors, said that it was 'perhaps the most obscure paper I've ever written'.
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