Nobel prizes have been winning headlines these days. We all dissected President Obama's unlikely award last week, and this morning we got news that Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to win the prize for economics.
Now I'd like to call your attention to an invention that has gained Elena Bodnar the Ig Nobel prize in public health. Elena invented a bra that can be turned into a pair of face masks. According to the patent, each cup has a filter device so the wearer can protect herself while also offering a mask to a lucky bystander. In the case of a serious emergency, I suppose women won't mind ripping of their shirts and sharing their bras with someone else!
Source: Flickr User richard_b
If you've ever wondered how some jellyfish glow green, you're not alone. Three researchers from across the country – Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien – teamed up to discover ways to produce the protein unique to Crystal Jellyfish – called GFP – to help aid in medical research. The discovery was so important that it earned them the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
How would this glowing protein aid the medical community? Formally, certain things have been invisible to the eye – like how cancer cells form and spread – but with this fluorescent protein, we can now see those cells and watch how they develop. What's more, researchers can also see how nerve cells deteriorate as they do in patients with Alzheimer's, which means that a deeper understanding of the disease is possible! Hopefully, this will help form a cure for both cases, and open up a whole new understanding for other medical related issues. Way to go jellyfish!
