The latest scientific discoveries in haiku form – sciku!
The drink of the gods
curbs oxidative stress through
clever conversions
The energetic demands of flying causes muscular oxidative damage. Whilst some foods have antioxidants, nectar doesn’t – a potential issue for flying nectar-feeding animals. To get around this issue hawkmoths appear to be able to “generate antioxidant potential by shunting nectar glucose to the pentose phosphate pathway”. Levin et al, 2017.
Complete locked-in state.
Infra-red plus oxygen:
Communication!
Complete locked-in state is a condition where patients are suffering from motor paralysis but retain their mental processing abilities. The inability to control their own body movements has made communication with people suffering from this condition effectively impossible. However, by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy measure changes in frontocentral oxygenation patients were able to answer yes and no questions. Chaudhary et al, 2017.