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A better way to make muscle cells from human stem cells

No required genetic modifications, which would prohibit future clinical applications
March 26, 2014

suzuki_muscle_cellESC

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have discovered a new way to make large concentrations of skeletal muscle cells and muscle progenitors from human stem cells.

The new method, described in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, could be used to generate large numbers of muscle cells and muscle progenitors directly from human pluripotent stem cells. (Pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic (ES) or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells,… read more

Topics: Biotech

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MRI technique reveals genes’ roles in learning and memory

Viewing brain activity at the molecule level
March 26, 2014

mri_contrast_protein

MIT bioengineers have adapted MRI to visualize gene activity inside the brains of living animals.

Tracking these genes with MRI would enable scientists to learn more about how the genes control processes such as forming memories and learning new skills, says Alan Jasanoff, an MIT associate professor of biological engineering and leader of the research team.

“The dream of molecular imaging is to provide… read more

Topics: Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Multi-party quantum communication now possible, physicists demonstrate

March 26, 2014

u_waterloo_quantum_nonlocality

Physicists at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo have demonstrated the distribution of three entangled photons at three different locations (Alice, Bob, and Charlie) several hundreds of meters apart for the first time, proving quantum nonlocality for more than two entangled photons.

The findings of the experiment, Experimental Three-Particle Quantum Nonlocality under Strict Locality Conditions, are published in… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Internet/Telecom | Quantum

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MIT engineers design hybrid living/nonliving materials

March 26, 2014

mit_living_materials

MIT engineers have coaxed bacterial cells to produce biofilms that can incorporate nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots.

These “living materials” combine the advantages of live cells — which respond to their environment, produce complex biological molecules, and span multiple length scales — with the benefits of nonliving materials, which add functions such as conducting electricity or emitting light.

This approach could one… read more

Topics: Biotech | Electronics | Energy

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A zoomable 360-degree view of our galaxy

March 25, 2014

Milky-Way---featured

NASA’s new zoomable, 360-degree mosaic,  presented Thursday at the TED 2014 Conference in Vancouver, allows for exploring the Milky Way interactively.

The panorama of our galaxy is constructed from more than 2 million infrared snapshots taken over the past 10 years by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

The 20-gigapixel mosaic uses Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope visualization platform. It captures about three percent of our sky, but because it… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology

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Humans can distinguish at least one trillion different odors

March 25, 2014

Discriminable sensory qualities

 

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists  have tested the olfactory capacity of human volunteers and found that humans are capable of discriminating at least one trillion different odors — not just 10,000 different odors, a  number first proposed decades ago and not backed by data.

HHMI investigator Leslie Vosshall, who studies olfaction at the Rockefeller University, and Andreas Keller, a senior… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Holographic imaging for rapidly sorting stem cells, cancer cells

New microscopy technique captures 3-D images of cells as they flow through a microfluidic channel
March 25, 2014

3d_images_living_cells

MIT scientists have developed a way to image cells (without fluorescent markers or other labels) as they flow through a tiny microfluidic channel for sorting.

This is an important step toward cell-sorting systems that could help scientists separate stem cells at varying stages of development, or to distinguish healthy cells from cancerous cells, the scientists say.

Other cell-sorting methods require adding a fluorescent molecule that highlights… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Electric ‘thinking cap’ can help you learn faster, better

March 25, 2014

vanderbilt_thinking_cap

In a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience,  Vanderbilt psychologists  show that it is possible to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current.

The medial-frontal cortex is believed to be the part of the brain responsible for the instinctive “Oops!” response we have when we… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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Anti-counterfeit patterns made from nanowires are ‘nearly impossible’ to replicate

March 24, 2014

nanoscale fingerprint

Nanoscale unique patterns* made from tiny, randomly scattered silver nanowires  could authenticate goods, dealing with the growing problem of counterfeiting, say South Korea researchers.

The patterns are made by randomly dumping 20 to 30 individual nanowires, each with a diameter of about 70 nanometers and an average length of 10 to 50 microns, onto a thin plastic film, and could be used to tag a variety of goods from electronics and… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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How to explode brain-cancer cells

May also work for other cancers, researchers say
March 23, 2014

delivering vesicles

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University have discovered that a substance called Vacquinol-1 makes cells from glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumor, literally explode.

When mice were given the substance, which can be given in tablet form, tumor growth was reversed and survival was prolonged. The findings are published in the journal Cell.

The established treatments for glioblastoma are… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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A DIY medical diagnosis app

March 23, 2014

colorimetric test featured

Colorimetrix, a new app developed by University of Cambridge researchers, turns a smartphone into a portable medical diagnostic device.

The app could make monitoring conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, diabetes, kidney disease, and urinary tract infections clearer and easier for both patients and doctors, and could eventually be used to slow or limit the spread of pandemics in the developing world, the researchers say.… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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Why Earth remains capable of supporting life despite CO2 greenhouse gas emissions

It's all in the rocks
March 23, 2014

WEB_Peru-Valley.jpg

“Fresh” rock — nature’s atmospheric carbon dioxide regulator — explains why the Earth has become neither sweltering like Venus nor frigid like Mars. So say researchers from USC and Nanjing University in China.

Scientists have long known that “fresh” rock pushed to the surface via mountain formation effectively acts as a kind of sponge, soaking up the greenhouse gas CO2.

Left unchecked, however, that process would… read more

Topics: Environment/Climate

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Android coming to wearables — watches first

March 22, 2014

Moto 360 Android Wear-powered watch (credit: Motorola)

Google has announced Android Wear, a project that extends Android to wearables, starting with two watches, both due out this Summer: Motorola’s Moto 360 and LG’s G Watch.

Android Wear will show you info from the wide variety of Android apps, such as messages, social apps, chats, notifications, health and fitness, music playlists, and videos.

It will also enable Google Now functions… read more

Topics: Electronics | Social Networking/Web

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Microplasma transistors for extreme environments, like nuclear reactors

March 21, 2014

PlasmaTransistor2

University of Utah electrical engineers fabricated the smallest plasma transistors that can withstand the high temperatures and ionizing radiation found in a nuclear reactor.

Such transistors someday might enable smartphones that take and collect medical X-rays on a battlefield, and devices to measure air quality in real time.

“These plasma-based electronics can be used to control and guide robots to conduct tasks inside the nuclear reactor,”… read more

Topics: Electronics

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Fierce solar magnetic storm barely missed Earth in 2012

"Perfect storm" could have knocked out the electrical grid and disabled satellites and GPS, costing trillions worldwide
March 21, 2014

cme

According to University of California, Berkeley, and Chinese researchers, a rapid succession of coronal mass ejections — the most intense eruptions on the sun — sent a pulse of magnetized plasma barreling into space and through Earth’s orbit.

Had the eruption come nine days earlier, when the ignition spot on the solar surface was aimed at Earth, it would have hit the planet, potentially wreaking… read more

Topics: Space | Survival/Defense

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