Life Sciences Commons^™

It’s not often that Metal Powder Report departs from the path of hard facts into the somewhat ‘mushier’ area of metaphysics, but opportunities crop up. While recognising that science has its fair share of charlatans, one such opportunity was presented by a paper submitted by an Indian researcher in which he details work aimed at probing the effects on powder samples where changes were apparently generated by thought. Some will laugh, others will cry, but perhaps among our readers there are those who might be able to help elucidate further the phenomena described…

The maiden proposed research project should demonstrate that the present study will add a significant knowledge on the subject. The main objective of the literature research is to allow that the statement of the research need will clearly establish the objective of the new study.

Forisomes are ATP-independent, Ca2+-driven contractile protein bodies acting as reversible valves in the phloem of plants of the legume family. Forisome contraction is anisotropic, as shrinkage in length is associated with radial expansion and vice versa. To test the hypothesis that changes in length and width are causally related, we monitored Ca2+- and pH-dependent deformations in the exceptionally large forisomes of Canavalia gladiata by high-speed photography, and computed time-courses of derived geometric parameters (including volume and surface area). Soybean forisomes, which in the resting state resemble those of Canavalia geometrically but have less than 2% of the volume, were also …