A green source of surprise

'Green mice' as a source of ubiquitous green cells.

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) is responsible for the green bioluminescence of the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. Many classes of GFP mutants exist that display modified fluorescence spectra and an increased extinction coefficient. We produced transgenic mouse lines with an 'enhanced' GFP (EGFP) cDNA under the control of a chicken beta-actin promoter and cytomegalovirus enhancer. All of the ...

Element of Surprise? Rice as a Source of Arsenic in Children’s Diets

© B ub bl es P ho to lib ra ry /A la m y Element of Surprise? Rice as a Source of Arsenic in Children’s Diets Last winter, the discovery of arsenic in foods containing organic brown rice syrup, including toddler formulas, made headlines. Members of the same research team now report higher urinary arsenic concentrations in children who eat any type of rice than in children who don’t, suggesting ...

Bacteria spring a surprise

Elastic forces within DNA drive the segregation of chromosomes in bacteria.

A Computational Model of Surprise

The computation of surprise is one factor necessary for the computational detection of creativity in product design. An original computational model of surprise is proposed. A demonstration program was written to demonstrate the model’s validity. An experiment on human subjects was performed to test the program’s accuracy. The results of the experiment are analyzed, the model is assessed, and c...

A Surprise Follow-Up.