Research Watch

Albert-László Barabási, the physicist and network theory guru whose work we’ve covered over the years, has a new book that promises to show how human behavior is predictable. Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do, due out April 29, is based on a study of the electronic trails we all leave behind.

The key finding is that the pattern of our activities is ordered rather than random. Our behavior is bursty, like network traffic. In other words, there are long periods with little going on punctuated by bursts of activity.

Barabási has developed an online game, BuRSTS, as part of the book’s promotion. Once you register, you can adopt one of the book’s 84,245 words, which allows you to see all the words other people have adopted. My word is “staircase”, the 1,146th word adopted. You win points by guessing unadopted words and by inviting people to register. The top guesser and top inviter each day wins a signed copy of the book.

BuRSTS is also an experiment. Here’s how Barabási describes it:

“BuRSTS is an experiment designed to take advantage of the opportunities defined by the layout of a book…  It is designed to bring the text alive and create a collective burst similar to the one described in the book. It is also a game of cooperation and prediction, creating an imprint of human activity.”

Check it out and let me know what you think at eric [at] trnmag [dot] com.

Do you know of similar research? How about other collective online activities that could be used to illustrate Barabási’s idea? And if you join the game, let me know what your word is.

A nice column in the New York Times by biologist Aaron E. Hirsh explains the rise of Big Science — massive, centralized projects with large staffs and expensive equipment — and the emerging trend of distributed citizen science.

Hirsh lauds the participation of nonscientists for providing the widespread fieldwork needed to study planetary-scale phenomena like climate change. He also said it should give people greater appreciation for and a sense of participation in the Big Science research their tax dollars help pay for.

Hirsh said the Internet is tailormade for supporting citizen science. People can use the Net to log their observations at home, on vacation and even on the go. I hope the trend, and the attention columns like Hirsh’s bring to it, spurs scientists to develop online toolkits and worksheets to help us nonscientists do the job right. It’ll ensure more thorough data collection and lighten the load on the data crunchers. It’ll also make people more likely to participate.

Confirmation hearings for Steven Chu, Obama’s pick for energy secretary, were today. ERN posted a Q&A with six energy researchers looking at the challenges ahead. Also check out the related blog item about the confirmation hearings.

Make sure to check out this week’s ERN: energy-storing wind turbines, self-repairing biological solar cells, tiny fuel cells and more.

Make sure to check out this week’s ERN: wind-powered vehicles, titania leaves, coffee grounds and more.

Turns out that stovetops produce a lot of very small nanoparticles that are a threat to respiratory and cardiovascular health.

Researchers have known that burners on gas and electric stovetops emit nanoparticles when they’re used, but until now they hadn’t been able to measure the smallest nanoparticles — those under 10 nanometers. A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that stovetops produce as much as 10 times as many particles under 10 nanometers as nanoparticles over that size.

Nanoparticles readily enter the bloodstream through the lungs, pass through cell membranes and accumulate in organs. Nanoparticle toxicity is related to its surface; nanoparticles of a substance are more toxic than the same mass of larger particles of the same substance.

I guess we’ll have to update the old saying. If you can’t stand the nanoparticles, get out of the kitchen.

Interesting news from around the science press:

A locked-in syndrome patient with an electrode implanted in his brain was able to control a speech synthesizer with his thoughts, according to an item in Nature News. He was able to produce vowel sounds, and people could eventually “speak” whole sentences this way. Talk about speaking your mind.

Marijuana has the potential for warding off the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, according to an item in Scientific American. It looks like pot improves memory by reducing inflammation and stimulating the growth of new brain cells. What was that about short-term memory loss?

Infrared light stimulates the inner ear nerve cells responsible for hearing, according to an item in New Scientist. It’s possible that future laser-based cochlear implants could significantly improve the quality of hearing aids. I guess that’d be called hearing the light.

An item in the current issue of our sister publication ERN spotlights a growing debate in the biofuels community about whether net energy — the amount of energy a fuel produces minus the energy it consumes — is helpful or harmful as a measure of a biofuel’s sustainability. Some researchers say a broader set of metrics is needed.

A pair of items in the current issue of our sister publication ERN point out that the installed base of gasoline and diesel engines are getting some attention from energy researchers.

One item puts a twist on the idea of using electric fields to manipulate fluids. Researchers have experimented with using electric fields to control smart fluids for decades. Researchers at Temple University are sending fuel through an electric field to boost automobile mileage.

The other item is about a method for making everyday gasoline, diesel and jet fuel green, or at least as green as liquid hydrocarbon fuels can be.

The physics of light is at the fore of the current TRN. The lead item, Quantum weirdness promises better imaging, reveals a new application of quantum physics. The item Reversing time promises invisibility could open a practical route to invisibility shields.

Speaking of light, take a look at the current ERN. You’ll find six advances in drawing energy from sunlight. My favorites have to do with bugs and plants.