The naked mole rat (or Heterocephalus glaber) (see figure 1) is a strange mammal. As their name already implies, they have little hair. Furthermore, their eyes are very small and their visual abilities are mediocre at best. This naked rat is one of only two eusocial mammals (the other one being the Damaraland mole rat, or Fukomys damarensis), with a lifestyle similar to social insects. Living in underground colonies, ruled by the only reproductive female (the ‘queen’), the work is performed by non-reproductive females. A few males hang around, mating with the queen. They live in a huge network of burrows, where they browse around in search of plant tubes, which they eat (see video).

Studying science quantitavely has often taken the form of studying publications, such as citation counts, or identifying author networks. But now, Samuel Arbesman and Nicholas Christakis (2011) argue that there are two fairly recent developments that would enable a new approach to the study of scientific discoveries:

1) Vast computational resources and storage capacity, and

2) Automated science.

This new appraoch would offer potential for a new field that concerns itself with the study of scientific discoveries. In the words of the authors:

Cancer cells, like normal cells, begin to perish as soon as the temperature hits 43°C. So, the obvious challenge is to find out how cancer cells can be heated up without affecting the normal, healthy cells. One idea to deal with it, is known as magnetic hyperthermia. This involves injecting magnetic nanoparticles into the targeted tumors (For another nanoparticle approach to cancer, click here). Subsequently, the patient is put into a magnetic field that reverses direction several thousands of times each second. This excites the nanoparticles, heating them. Since the magnetic particles are only found in the tumors, the healthy tissue is exempt from the damaging heat.

Our own body is covered with entire (albeit tiny) ecosystems. Incredible numbers of bacterial strains live in and on the human body. And the belly button seems to be a place extraordinarily rich in bacterial passengers. The Belly Button Biodiversity Project took samples from the navels of volunteers and went to work, performing DNA analysis on the bacteria that were found there.

(Source: Belly Button Biodiversity Project)