New molecule rearranges itself

THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

Share on print The synthetic molecule is made up of 60 simple components that are able to reorganise themselves to produce new functions. Image: BlackJack3D/iStockphoto The discovery of a synthetic molecule, made up of 60 simple components that are able to reorganise themselves to produce new functions, will lead to better understanding of nature's processes. The incredibly complex structure of the pentagonal prismatic molecule was discovered when researchers working at The University of Queensland (UQ), The University of Cambridge, and Randolph-Macon College in the USA, formed the structure by transforming a tetrahedral molecule into a second structure - a barrel-like pentagonal prism. Understanding the structure of synthetic molecules which are able to reorganise themselves is important as it helps scientists to understand natural processes in molecules such as viruses which are assembled from small parts. The finding was published this month in the journal Nature Chemistry and the researchers have produced a movie showing the molecule and its 60 simple components to assist readers to understand its complexity. In synthesising the molecule, the researchers used a technique known as “self-assembly”, which regulates many of the complex and functional components in biological systems like DNA, to prepare a molecular tetrahedron from twenty-two simple building blocks. The building blocks employed were then chemically programmed to spontaneously react together to form the desired molecule. UQ's School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences Dr Jack Clegg said in addition of a chemical template, the tetrahedral molecule was reconfigured into a new barrel-like structure composed of an impressive 60 smaller molecules. “Up until now we've only be able to do this on a very basic level,” Dr Clegg said. "We've succeeded in preparing and characterising a new chemical system that is capable of structural reconstitution on receipt of one molecular signal to create a tight binding pocket for a chloride anion."  The study was published in Nature Chemistry (DOI:10.1038/NCHEM.1407, published online 5 August 2012). Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Why people reject science

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Share on print The results showed that free-market ideology was an overwhelmingly strong determinant of the rejection of climate science. Image: janrysavy/iStockphoto Researchers from The University of Western Australia have examined what motivates people who are greatly involved in the climate debate to reject scientific evidence.  The study Motivated Rejection of Science, to be published in Psychological Science, was designed to investigate what motivates the rejection of science in visitors to climate blogs who choose to participate in the ongoing public debate about climate change. More than 1000 visitors to blogs dedicated to discussions of climate science completed a questionnaire that queried people's belief in a number of scientific questions and conspiracy theories, including:  Princess Diana's death was not an accident; the Apollo moon landings never happened; HIV causes AIDS; and smoking causes lung cancer.  The study also considered the interplay of these responses with the acceptance of climate science, free market ideology and the belief that previous environmental problems have been resolved.  The results showed that those who subscribed to one or more conspiracy theories or who strongly supported a free market economy were more likely to reject the findings from climate science as well as other sciences. The researchers, led by UWA School of Psychology Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, found that free-market ideology was an overwhelmingly strong determinant of the rejection of climate science.  It also predicted the rejection of the link between tobacco and lung cancer and between HIV and AIDS. Conspiratorial thinking was a lesser but still significant determinant of the rejection of all scientific propositions examined, from climate to lung cancer. "Blogs have a huge impact on society and so it's important that we understand the motivations and the reasoning of those who visit blogs to contribute to the discussion.  There has been much research pointing to the role of free-market ideology in rejecting climate science, but this is the first time it's been shown that other scientific facts, such as the link between HIV and AIDS, are also subject to ideological rejection," Professor Lewandowsky said. By contrast, a major determinant of the acceptance of science was the perceived consensus among scientists.  The more agreement among scientists, the more people were likely to accept the scientific findings. "It is important to understand the role of perceived consensus because it highlights how damaging the media's handling of climate issues can be when they create the appearance of a scientific debate where there is none: More than 90 in 100 climate researchers agree on the basic fact that the globe is warming due to human greenhouse gas emissions," Professor Lewandowsky said. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

Milky Way twins found

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Share on print The image shows one of the 'twin' galaxies with its neighbouring Magellenic Clouds. Image: Dr Aaron Robotham, ICRAR/St Andrews/GAMA Research presented at the International Astronomical Union General Assembly in Beijing has found the first group of galaxies that is just like ours, a rare sight in the local Universe. The Milky Way is a fairly typical galaxy on its own, but when paired with its close neighbours - the Magellanic Clouds - it is very rare, and could have been one of a kind, until a survey of our local Universe found another two examples just like us. Astronomer Dr Aaron Robotham, jointly from the University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the University of St Andrews in Scotland, searched for groups of galaxies similar to ours in the most detailed map of the local Universe yet, the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey (GAMA). "We've never found another galaxy system like the Milky Way before, which is not surprising considering how hard they are to spot! It's only recently become possible to do the type of analysis that lets us find similar groups," says Dr Robotham. "Everything had to come together at once: we needed telescopes good enough to detect not just galaxies but their faint companions, we needed to look at large sections of the sky, and most of all we needed to make sure no galaxies were missed in the survey" Sophisticated simulations of how galaxies form don't produce many examples similar to the Milky Way and its surrounds, predicting them to be quite a rare occurrence. Astronomers haven't been able to tell just how rare until now, with the discovery of not just one but two exact matches amongst the hundreds of thousands of galaxies surveyed. "We found about 3% of galaxies similar to the Milky Way have companion galaxies like the Magellanic Clouds, which is very rare indeed. In total we found 14 galaxy systems that are similar to ours, with two of those being an almost exact match," says Dr Robotham. The Milky Way is locked in a complex cosmic dance with its close companions the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which are clearly visible in the southern hemisphere night sky. Many galaxies have smaller galaxies in orbit around them, but few have two that are as large as the Magellanic Clouds. Dr Robotham's work also found that although companions like the Magellanic Clouds are rare, when they are found they're usually near a galaxy very like the Milky Way, meaning we're in just the right place at the right time to have such a great view in our night sky. "The galaxy we live in is perfectly typical, but the nearby Magellenic Clouds are a rare, and possibly short-lived, occurrence. We should enjoy them whilst we can, they'll only be around for a few billion more years," adds Dr Robotham. Dr Robotham and colleagues have been awarded further time on telescopes in New South Wales and Chile to study these Milky Way twin systems now that they've been found. The Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey is an international collaboration led from ICRAR and the Australian Astronomical Observatory to map our local Universe in closer detail. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.