The Real-Life Possibilities Behind the Hit TV Show

Remember how Claire re-grew her little toe? Somehow, the cells on her foot knew how to create new skin cells, new blood vessels, new bone, new cartilage, new flesh, and new toenail. In effect, the cells at the surface of her wound regressed into something like embryonic stem cells: capable of creating many different types of cells.

Real scientific research has been figuring out how to change adult cells into something like embryonic stem cells — called induced pluripotent cells. And Science magazine has put together a very cool short video describing the state of this research, as well as explaining why the magazine decided that this work is the major scientific advance of the year.  Take a look:

Video: Reprogramming Cells — 322 (5909): 1766b — Science.

Cool, cool, cool!

This ability to change cell programming could also tie in to how superpowers work on Heroes: I’ve speculated before that the genetic code for many superpowers is widespread among humans, but that some change in the way that genes are expressed is the key to actually having a power.

Whatever you celebrate at the end of the calendar year, I hope you find it enjoyable, and spend time with the people and places that bring you peace and joy.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we just turned the corner past the winter solstice. Sunday, December 21 was our shortest day of the year. On Monday, the sun set a whole 18 seconds later! (I know, 18 seconds isn’t much, but we’ll take what we can get.)

In honor of the solstice, take a look at Sunday’s NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day, which explains analemmas very well. (I spent years in high school puzzling over exactly what the darn things were, without ever receiving an explanation this clear.)

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081221.html

All the best! -Yvonne

Meredith’s adrenaline blast on Monday reminded me that I never did post a good discussion of the whole “Mohinder isolates the magic enzyme” issue from back at the beginning of the season.

Peggy discusses adrenaline, and Mohinder’s magic enzyme in her Biology in Science Fiction blog — her blog also includes a Holiday Gift Guide (fiction and fact ) that includes some excellent books! (I was delighted and surprised to see “The Science of Heroes” on her list.  Since biology is one of my weak points, I’ll be interested in seeing what she thinks of the book.)

In January, I’ll be speaking and signing The Science of Heroes at both

Arisia (January 16-19, Cambridge, MA)

and then the next weekend at

Vericon (Jan 23-25, Cambridge, MA)!

I can’t wait!

Huh. Sylar gets to do the introductory voice-over.

Ooh, Peter! Good one!

Yay! After all the foreshadowing,

I’m glad we’ve finally gotten to the scene.

Although I’m not crazy about the horror-flick setup. (Then again, I hate horror movies.)

Oh Hiro! Woobie.

Knox and Peter, huh? Strange bedfellows.

<blockquote class=”right”>”Back in a Flash!” says Daphne before she runs off — very very quickly.</blockquote>

Yay Hiro, you saved yourself! And then you save yourself again!

Go Claire!

Huh. If you really want to trash a lab, trash the computers and the big equipment. Reagents can be replaced.

Huh. So a horse-shot full of adrenaline will make someone with powers loose control of them? Well, okay.  What else will adrenaline do?

“Everybody always roots for Peter, but he always ends up losing.” Oh really, Nathan?

Hiro, come on! We’re not going to have any superpowerless characters left., if HRG remains unpowered. Although figuring out Ando’s new superpower is a bit of fun.

Okay HRG, good plan with the glass! Bulletproof glass is usually glass layered with polymers (like polycarbonate). And the glass and polymer don’t expand at the same rate, which means that heating it causes internal stress.

Oh! Ando is a repeater! An amplifier.

Yes, yes, yes! “If you can travel faster than the speed of light, you can theoretically travel back in time” Thank you Matt!

Oh Daphne, you get all the best lines in this episode!

That doesn’t seem very Nathan-like. Although power appears to have corrupted him quite thoroughly.

Although Peter getting his powers back rocks!

Ooh, the hints for the next volume (”Fugitives”) look good! (Also look a lot like some X-Men story lines.  “God Loves, Man Kills” anyone?)

Oh, Kaito and and Mama Nakamura! Woobie!

What do you think, Claire and Hiro as a potential couple?
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Goodbye Elle! You were just getitng interesting.
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Peter faces his moral crisis.

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Whoa, whoa, Tracy is bullding an army, and talking “Intelligent Design”?! That’s … I’m…

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Claire offers to change the baby… but she already has.
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Wait, Sylar… you learned how to pick up abilities without killing….ah, but it feels better that way?
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Oh, come on Claire! You’ve been grilled my Noah Bennet a zillion times in your life! You should be able to BS him excellently by now!

Oh noes! My television is giving out!

But I got to see Hiro’s great family drama. So, wait… the catalyst went from Mama Nakamura to grown up Hiro, which means that it was absent from the world for 16 years? Oops. Nevermind.

Peter and the Haitian and talking about responsibility, sins of fathers (and brothers).

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Re Scott: Uh… that’s not informed consent. That’s the way to create a new villian.

The Science of Heroes is based on looking at Heroes while wearing geek goggles.

North Carolina State University’s Dr. Larry Silverberg, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering is wearing those same geek goggles when he describes how Santa delivers presents.

With his cherubic smile and twinkling eyes, Santa may appear to be merely a jolly old soul, but he and his North Pole elves have a lot going on under the funny-looking hats, Silverberg says. Their advanced knowledge of electromagnetic waves, the space/time continuum, nanotechnology, genetic engineering and computer science easily trumps the know-how of contemporary scientists.

Just a reminder: I’ll be liveblogging “Our Father”! Last week’s episode has been growing on me — I love the ensemble — so I have high hopes for tonight!

Seal of approval! by kyknoord

The most broad-ranging scientific conference that I know of, with talks by top researchers in many many fields, will be in Chicago this February, and they’re having special events for families.

To be more specific, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) will be held from 12-16 February. They’ll be holding Family Science Days, with activities for kids and their parents, as well as “Meet the Scientist” events.

I’ve been to a few of these meetings (and the rumor is true: the speaker really does give out samples with his talk about the chemistry of chocolate!) amd always found it enlightening, amusing, and inspiring.

More info as I get it!

Sylar and Elle, huh? Without powers but still thuggish enough to take what they want… sort of the new Bonnie and Clyde?

Noah Bennet as vigilante isn’t powerless. An ass, but not powerless. How long until Elle and Sylar get guns and this turns into a Western?

“All the wisdom of the world can be found in a comic book store!

The relationship between the eclipse and the the powers is may be, says Mohinder, “Gravity, electron density, maybe just a coincidence.” Okay, gravity yes. Electron density? What the heck does that have to do with anything? Next, he’ll be reversing the polarity of the neutron flow…

Okay, Daphne has a miserable horrible disease, and her powers improved her quality of life more than most of the others. But a disease is not a moral judgment, Daphne.

Oh, Hiro! The Hiro and Ando show has yet to get old. Best day ever!

Oh Peter! How satisfying is it that Peter finally saves Nathan? Been a long time coming.

Sylar: this is not the plan you agreed to. Also, why were you carrying Elle on her good side, rather than on the side of her hurt leg?

Oh dear… I wonder what the body count will be on this episode?

Wait, wait wait, Claire not healing means that her entire immune system fails?

Claire heals, even afer she was more dead than less. With lots of witnesses.

Yay! Re-powered Nathan and The Haitian (oh, this is killing me, not having a name for him! Even though they threw the “names have power” line in) come back for Peter.

Okay, why is the Haitian willing to attack his brother Samedi now, but not before?

Being a hero gives people hope. Go comic book store gurus!

Huh. Nathan makes the argument, basically, that everyone should have a gun power, rather than only a few who could use it as a weapon against the less-powerful. Which… hm. Okay, an understandable position. This was not a concern of his before now? He has been jerked around by the powerful before, although maybe not shackled… He never articulated it that way when he was the one whose family had money, and privilege, and a variety of super- as well as (for want of a better word) secular powers.

Nathan, the bonus points you got for acknowledging that Peter done good? You just lost them again by abandoning him in a different country!

Sigh. Sylar, on the other hand… While I can see him going evil again, I could wish for some more character development to lead up to it. Besides the familiar Noah Bennet mind-games. And I really would have enjoyed Sylar and Elle doing a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style rampage.

Hm. When Hiro decides to move people, he doesn’t waste time, does he?

Still… props for letting so many of our characters interact, and in ways that make sense!

I own a 2001 Prius.

Stop that. Don’t judge me.

As I said, I own a seven-year old car that integrates a whole lot of electronics, a network, and some technology that was close to the cutting edge, when it was manufactured.

Soothing the ruffled chrome-plated feathers of my Prius.

The car has served me faithfully and well for the years I’ve owned it, although we’ve had our ups and downs, like any relationship. But it is showing its age, getting somewhat cranky, occasionally dripping fluids, and developing quirks. That’s fair enough, since I am doing much the same things as I age. Nevertheless, my job is writing, and it’s job is transporting me, and when one of us falls down on the job, it’s time to get help.

The check engine light went on and we had exhausted our usual resources for turning it off.*

This is where I’d love to be Micah, and just sit down and have a non-technology-mediated heart-to-heart: “Prius, baby, what’s bothering you?” Now, admitted I spent some happy hours in my childhood sitting inside the engine compartment of an International Harvester truck, but these days talking to a car is more of an IT issue than a mechanical one.

Luckily, I have a friend, Hobbit, who is a Prius hacker extraordinaire. This is sort of like having the world’s best marriage counsellor as a family friend, when your marriage begins to go south. Which is sort of what this “engine light” issue felt like. He stopped by, and we spent a portion of the day playing with the Prius, musing over the vibrations from different pumps under the hood, checking liquid levels and deciding not to look down the carb (since we’ve done that before and besides, it was sleeting), reading diagnostic codes, re-charging the starter battery when I ran it down (Hobbit jumped the battery from a UPS. How cool is that?), and generally soothing it’s ruffled chrome-plated feathers.

Crossing my fingers and hoping that the relationship stays copacetic through the stressful holiday season.