Lightsabers may no longer be a figment of George Lucas’ imagination. Harvard physics professor Mikhail Lukin and MIT physics professor Vladan Vuletić are the closest yet to making the Lightsaber — a laser beam-bladed sword and every Star Wars fan’s weapon of choice — a reality. If the research produces tangible results, they will look and feel nothing like the light-up plastic versions sold nationally in toy sections; Lukin and Vuletić are working on the real deal.

Within the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Lukin and Vuletić have been conducting a highly isolated experiment in which they’ve bombarded super-cooled clouds of matter with a photon stream, causing the photons to bind together in a molecular manner.

For those of you that don’t know, photons have traditionally been defined as the basic, elementary mass-less particles of light that exist independently of each other. They curiously behave as both waves and particles, a concept proposed by Albert Einstein in his Quantum Theory of Light. The key point to the experiment is that photons have the capacity to enter into what is called a “photonic-bound state,” a rarely observed theoretical condition upon which Lukin and Vuletić based their research.

“Photons have long been described as mass-less particles that don’t interact with each other. Shine two laser beams at each other and they simply pass through one another,” Dr. Lukin said.

The Harvard Crimson website mentioned that researchers found that the photon light elements could be “manipulated into acting as if they had mass” after they had been subject to the super-cooled cloud of matter. It would appear that the photons entered the bound state upon encountering their target.

The result? A malleable aggregation of light quanta-trapped within the designated particle cloud.

The research team headed by Lukin and Vuletić continue to capitalize on the photonic ability to enter into a bound state and are attempting to create units of “colliding beams of light,” similar to those employed by the Jedi and Sith (members of the dark force) in the Star Wars Saga.

Though the development of a real-life lightsaber is still in the distant future, Star Wars fanatics can rest assured that these fantastical physical properties of photons aren’t limited to our favorite galaxy far, far away.

EMILY SEFEROVICH can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

Breasts. They’re pretty important. Do you know why? If Sports Illustrated comes to mind, you may need to rethink how you view these masses of adipose tissue. Don’t worry — you aren’t the only hominid to have forgotten that mammals (with our root meaning breast; see: mammogram) evolved to use the organs on our chests.

This is causing a crisis among women who are new to parenting. In fact, Laurie A. Nommsen-Rivers and colleagues from UC Davis recently reported that breastfeeding problems are very common among first-time mothers, leading these women to add formula or abandon breastfeeding overall.

The study, which involved women in different stages of pregnancy and childbearing, revealed a myriad of problems associated with breastfeeding. Among these issues were breast pain after feeding, perception of insufficient breast milk and concerns infants were not feeding well enough at the breast. The survey revealed that while 75 percent of American mothers initiate breastfeeding, less than 13 percent follow through with the six months recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In an email correspondence, Nommsen-Rivers spoke on behalf of the UC Davis research team about this issue. She believes that women certainly have access to information on breastfeeding in the classroom and online, but the problem stems from a lack of vicarious learning.

This means that women do not usually observe others breastfeeding. The research team correlates this with societal attitudes against breastfeeding. They write, “As a society, we can help to ensure that all expectant mothers have … learning opportunities by being a more breastfeeding friendly culture. For example, it is important that mothers feel welcomed to breastfeed wherever they may go with their baby — whether it be at a restaurant, the park, the mall, etc.”

This fear of mammary glands is both new and alarming. Breastfeeding has been a part of the human life cycle since we evolved, as seen in our animal relatives. It is very important for making healthy humans. One of the biggest benefits of breastfeeding stems from the immune system boost mothers pass to their children. A woman can pass up to half a gram per day of Immunoglobulin A antibodies via her milk. These end up in the intestines of the infants and help fight infection.

Over the last few hundred years, breasts have become centers of attention for different reasons. Why this occurred is hard to say, but the researchers recommend help for the concerned, new mothers. The scholars suggest plans to evaluate breastfeeding and make mothers more comfortable with their role in childbearing. Perhaps the lactation rooms on our very own campus can help set this in action.

“I’ve seen [the lactation rooms] around but I’ve never seen them in use,” said Amy Chyan, a second-year neurology, physiology and behavior major.

While not many of the younger student population may take advantage of these rooms, Lonna Hampton, the lactation specialist at WorkLife on campus, knows the true importance of the lactation rooms.

“The rooms benefit students, staff and faculty who are separated from their infants during their time on campus, as they provide excellent quality breast pumps and a private place in which to pump,” Hampton said in an email.

CATHERINE MAYO can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

Forget me not. The impact of Alzheimer’s disease continues to grow. Fortunately, a recent Medicare-sponsored study conducted at UCLA offers some promise of earlier detection and better outcomes for Alzheimer’s patients. Dr. Daniel H. Silverman, the lead investigator of the study, a clinical professor and the head of the Neuronuclear Imaging Section of the Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division at UCLA, proposes that Alzheimer’s patients who are offered a FDG-PET scan earlier in their diagnosis fare better than patients who aren’t offered a scan.

The study is unique in the sense that it is the first Medicare-approved trial in which the value of performing FDG-PET scans is assessed on patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

“This is the first time anybody has ever done a clinical trial with a level of rigor on the evaluation of brain imaging for Alzheimer patients,” Dr. Silverman said.

In the blind study, the FDG-PET scan — a brain imaging tool that evaluates brain function region by region — was performed on all of the participants, but the interpretation of the scan results were randomized. In one group, the results of the brain scans were released immediately to physicians, and in the other, such information was withheld for two years. During the course of the two years, participants were assessed on their health and cognitive abilities every six months.

“Parts of the brain that are more active take up more glucose and more FDG … and if the brain is affected by Alzheimer’s it shows how it is decreased by the disease,” Dr. Silverman said, when discussing the value of an FDG-PET scan.

Evidently, aside from an autopsy, it is the single most effective way of determining whether or not someone has been affected by the disease.

“If someone has a normal pattern of FDG, there is a 95 percent chance that they don’t have Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Silverman said.

Thus, early signs of Alzheimer’s can be detected through the use of the scan.

The control group whose doctors were provided with the brain scan results saw the warning signs of Alzheimer’s and prescribed their patients with proper medication within the first six months of the study. However, the group whose doctors were not given the brain scan results immediately did not prescribe their patients with medication within the first six months. The prescription of medication by the end of the first year was also very slim.

Therefore, the results of the study indicate that when physicians are provided with as much information about a patient’s brain function, the more likely they are to prescribe an appropriate medicinal regimen at an earlier stage of diagnosis.

Although the results of the study are based on 63 participants out of the 710 approved, research is one medium that provides intervention to patients with Alzheimer’s, but sometimes isn’t fast enough to improve lives.

However, intervention at both the individualistic and the assisted-living levels are not to be discounted. According to Bruce R. Reed, a professor of neurology and the associate director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, non-drug interventions are just as important.

“Supervision, companionship, social stimulation, activities at an appropriate level, providing for good nutrition, medical care and safety in daily activities – these are things that are extremely important,” Reed said in an email interview.

Patients of Alzheimer’s tend to do poorly on their own, regardless of the severity of the disease.

It is important to note that Alzheimer’s is a very complicated disease, involving both genetic and environmental influences. According to Laurel Beckett, a research specialist and biostatistician also at the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Alzheimer’s has many modifiable risk factors.

“Vascular damage to your brain … seems to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s or brings on the damage and symptoms earlier. We can actually prevent or treat a lot of the risk factors for vascular damage, through: smoking, hypertension and type 2 diabetes,” Beckett said.

The study is still in progress, however. In the meantime,  individualistic interventions can be made, such as modifying poor behaviors (for example, quitting smoking) and seeking continuous support from caretakers.

JASBIR KAUR can be reached at science@theaggie.org.