Discovery: Happy accidents litter the annals of scientific discovery

[Dante]

Happy accidents litter the annals of scientific discovery.


Van Allen probes spy third band of radiation before it disappears

Here’s another: NASA probes that are exploring the treacherous twin Van Allen radiation belts encircling the Earth spied a third, unexpected band of radiation that burst into view and then disappeared, scientists reported Thursday.

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[Dante]

Scientists detect brain signature of losing consciousness under anesthesia - Science In Mind - Boston.com



The work is one step in a much larger body of work by Dr. Emery Brown of MIT and Mass. General, who has been working to understand how anesthesia drugs alter the brain. Brown, Purdon, and colleagues realized that to study the question in detail, they needed to slow the process down. Instead of the fast, minute-long descent into unconsciousness that typically occurs when patients are given anesthesia, the researchers stretched the process into an hour. Every four seconds, they prompted the study participants with clicking noises or words, to see whether they could pinpoint the precise moment when consciousness was lost.

“They’d respond for a little while, then stop responding, and then come back, kind of like a flickering light bulb,” Purdon said. “Slowly, but surely, the light bulb went off.”