WIMPs and Anti-Aging Rats

• Scientists studying the universe are coming up with exciting new discoveries about its composition. Sophisticated analyses of motion between stars and new measurements of gravitational interactions between visible objects in space are changing our view of the universe. Recent evidence suggests that most of the universe is not composed of the electrons, protons, and neutrons we learned about in high school. According to new findings, these particles, and the atoms into which they can assemble, make up only around 4 percent of space matter, mainly the stuff we can visualize in telescopes. But there’s much more to the universe we don’t see, and evidence suggests that 90 percent of it is occupied by “dark matter” and “dark energy,” the presumed existence of which is known only because of their interaction with other cosmic material. The name given to these mysterious particles is WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). The WIMP search is on by a number of underground particle accelerator labs. The earth over these accelerators absorbs cosmic particles that might interfere with the detectors trying to pick up WIMP fingerprints. (Scientific American, Oct. 11, 2011; Ray Stonecipher, retired astrophysics professor; http://www.science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy; http://www.map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_matter; http://www.lmgsrc.hubblesite.org)

• Malaria kills more than 700,000 people a year, and the type caused by an organism named Plasmodium falciparum is the most deadly. This species belongs to a group of one-celled animals characterized by a complex life cycle involving two hosts, the first being mosquitoes. Thanks to a number of foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a new vaccine has been developed that is effective against P. falciparum parasites. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 6,000 infants received the vaccine. The treatment “reduced the risk of clinical malaria by 56 percent and severe malaria by 47 percent.” (The Economist, Oct. 22, 2011)

• Scientists have succeeded in establishing the gene sequence in one of the ugliest and most unusual animals on earth, Heterocephalus glaber, or Naked Mole Rat (aka, Sand Puppy or Desert Mole Rat). These hairless-appearing rodents are 3-4 inches long with short, skinny legs, and a pair of protruding buck teeth. Nearly blind, they look like sausages with big teeth at one end (the teeth are used for digging). They spend their lives living in clusters under the tropical grasslands of East Africa. Their system of complex tunnels can stretch up to two or three miles in length.

So what’s so special about these ugly rats? Their physiology and longevity are why scientists wanted to know more about their genes. They live longer than any known rodent (up to 30 years), they can tolerate low oxygen levels and an environment with high carbon dioxide levels, they are resistant to cancer, they don’t feel many kinds of pain, and they don’t show age-related physical changes. Scientists hope to better understand the genes that prevent them from showing such changes. (Sciencedaily.com/releases, Oct. 10, 2011; Nature, published on line, Oct. 12, 2011)

• On September 23 of this year researchers at Europe’s main physics lab made a claim that, if true, will shake the foundation of modern physics. They announced that subatomic particles called neutrinos had traveled 450 miles to a detector deep underground 60-billionths of a second faster than the speed of light. Most physicists doubt that this discovery holds up and that Einstein’s theory of light will prevail. (The Economist, Oct. 1, 2011; other sources)

• One of the “hottest” areas of cosmic study is called “astrobiology,” and such scientists may be on the verge of demonstrating life on other planets. Stay tuned.