Gizmorama - July 21, 2014

Good Morning,

No, this not a scene from a James Bond movie, but scientists blasted a diamond with the world's biggest laser. They did this to better understand what conditions are like deep inside giant, carbon-rich planets and not in an attempt to take over the world.

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

P.S. Did you miss an issue? You can read every issue from the Gophercentral library of newsletters on our exhaustive archives page. Thousands of issues, all of your favorite publications in chronological order. You can read AND comment. Just click GopherArchives

***
*-- Research suggests marijuana compound reduces tumor growth --*
NORWICH, England (UPI) - New research suggests tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC -- the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana -- works to slow tumor growth.

Previous studies have demonstrated such effects in lab experiments involving mice with brain tumors, but researchers say the newest research isolates the tumor-shrinking mechanism. The latest study involved mice featuring tumors grown from human breast cancer cells.

When tumors were exposed to THC they once again shrank and eventually died. But researchers were able to discern where the anti-cancer action was happening, the CB2 and GPR55 receptors.

"By identifying the receptors involved we have provided an important step towards the future development of therapeutics that can take advantage of the interactions we have discovered to reduce tumor growth," said Peter McCormick, a researcher at the University of East Anglia's School of Pharmacy and author of the new study, published this week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

McCormick says these revelations don't mean cancer patients should start smoking pot.

"Our research uses an isolated chemical compound and using the correct concentration is vital," McCormick added. "Cancer patients should not use cannabis to self-medicate, but I hope that our research will lead to a safe synthetic equivalent being available in the future."

The federal government still classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug -- on par with heroin and LSD -- with "no currently accepted medical use."


*-- Researchers crush diamond with biggest laser in world --*
LIVERMORE, Calif. (UPI) - Scientists wanted to better understand what conditions are like deep inside giant, carbon-rich planets. To find out, they blasted a diamond with the world's biggest laser.

"The goal of the shots is to try and create planetary core conditions on Earth," explained Ray Smith, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. "And by that I mean very high pressure and relatively low temperature."

Smith and his research colleagues replicated the conditions at the center of Saturn using the world's biggest laser at the U.S. National Ignition Facility. Scientists directed the giant laser -- actually 176 separate laser beams -- onto a tiny sliver of diamond, compressing the diamond to the density of lead.

Though the recent experiment gives planetary scientists and astrophysicists a better idea of how matter behaves at extreme pressure, they say its not quite analogous to the formation of gas giants.

"Planets form over many millions of years, whereas the reported dynamic ramped compression procedure is over in a flash," study author Chris Pickard, a researcher at the University College London, wrote in an article accompanying the study in the journal Nature.

"It is not clear whether these experiments, despite reaching relevant temperatures and pressures, are able to closely model the largely equilibrated, dense rocks and ices existing within giant planets."

Still, the experiment suggests scientists are at least on the right track.

"The discovery of multiple planets beyond our Solar System, many of which are much larger than Jupiter and Saturn, has left to a dramatic change in our picture of the Universe," Pickard explained. "Understanding the make-up and evolution of these exoplanets requires the development of theoretical models, which depend on the pressure-density equations of state of the most likely planetary materials. Until now, these equations of state have been largely determined by extrapolating from terrestrial data."

Missed an Issue? Visit the Gizmorama Archives