This month’s top five Pacific Northwest science stories from “All Science. No Fiction.”
In this new, monthly OPB review, “All Science. No fiction.” Creator Jes Burns presents the most interesting, wondrous and hopeful science to come from the Pacific Northwest.
And remember: science builds on science that came before. See the article : ESA – Promoting Earth Science. No study tells the whole story.
A vaccine for breast cancer
It’s not often that someone can say they’ve cured cancer, but researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine may be very close. They are starting a phase 2 human clinical trial for a vaccine that targets so-called “HER2” breast cancer – a particularly aggressive type that accounts for 20%-30% of breast cancers. Read also : Excellence in science communication | UNH today. The vaccine is designed to stimulate the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells.
A 13-year phase one trial involving 66 women showed promising results: the vaccine was on par with the COVID vaccines in terms of side effects, and anecdotally significantly improved survival rates. Given these results, researchers say the vaccine has the potential to prevent or treat these cancers. The university is currently recruiting a larger cohort for the phase 2 trial; then phase 3 would follow if results continue to show promise.
Read the paper from JAMA Oncology here.
Bike Boxes FTW
This virtual reality-style setup allowed researchers to identify the safest intersection for cycling in traffic
David Hurwitz, OSU College of Engineering On the same subject : China’s Barriers to Becoming a Science Superpower.
Crowds of people in the Pacific Northwest commute by bike. Eugene, Portland and Corvallis have some of the highest numbers in the country. It’s great for the environment, but bike accidents are not uncommon.
Researchers from Oregon State University and Portland State University are trying to figure out how to make that trip safer. They considered three different types of bike-friendly intersections: mixing zones where bikes and vehicles share the same lane, bike signals that only allow bikes to cross, and bike boxes that are separated from the front of the lane by color to encourage vehicles to hang back . Using a virtual reality-style setup with a stationary bicycle, the researchers tracked cyclists’ eye movements, stress levels and trajectories as they passed through each type of intersection.
It turned out that bike boxes provided the best balance of safety without lulling cyclists into a false sense of security.
Read the article from Accident Analysis & Prevention here.
How do we hear? No really. How do we hear?
What actually happens at the molecular level when the inner ear converts vibrations into sounds? The truth is, no one knew… until now.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University recently found the answer by studying roundworms, which at a fundamental level have very similar hearing parts to humans. Five years and 60 million worms later, the team was able to discover and describe the “molecular machinery” responsible for our sense of balance and what we perceive as sound.
This discovery opens up a whole new world of possible treatments for hearing loss, which affects nearly half a billion people worldwide.
Read the paper from the journal Nature here.
Tiny bubbles … make me feel fine
Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Lab have developed a method to detect ambient airborne COVID-19 viruses. Tiny specially designed bubbles pop on contact with the virus, creating a faint electrical pulse that is far easier to detect than the virus itself.
Sarah Levine / Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Detecting viruses has been a challenge – they are tiny, dispersed and require really sensitive sensors. But wouldn’t it be nice to know if there are, say, the COVID-19 viruses floating around in the room you’re in?
Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Lab have come up with a way to do just that – with tiny bubbles (200 bubbles = the width of a human hair). When the COVID interacts with the specially designed surface of the bubble, it causes the bubble to burst, releasing the salts that were trapped inside. These salts and the electronic signal they create are much easier to detect than the virus itself.
Scientists say their technology is faster, more sensitive and more accurate than other methods. And finally, the bubbles could be modified to detect other substances in the air.
Read the article from MRS Communications magazine here.
A cure for the “Oh Dears!”
More than 11,000 deer and elk are hit by motorists in Oregon and Washington each year. It is a great harm to ungulates, people and cars. A research team from the University of Washington has identified a way to reduce those numbers: stick to daylight saving time year-round.
The team looked at trends in vehicle-deer collisions and how they corresponded to the twice-yearly change in weather. The earlier it gets dark, the more deer will be hit. This is especially true of fall in the week after we “retire.” Collisions are up 16%, in part because deer rutting season is in full swing. The analysis found that collisions could be reduced by 2.3% – that’s close to 40,000 deer across the country – just by keeping to daylight saving time.
Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California have all indicated they want to repeal the time changes, but they need congressional approval to do so.
Read the paper from Current Biology here.
Check out more videos from “All Science. No fiction.” about the science of sleep, a drone that can smell things, and how solar panels can help sheep and the farmers who raise them.
