Hot Recent Science & Technology Articles (33)

Posted: 2/20/2017

Labels: science & technology, exponential technological progress, natural science

1. Carbon Monoxide Is Toxic, but Could It Treat Tissue Damage?  A few early-stage clinical trials are underway (“... researching a protein called heme oxygenase, or HO-1. It’s an enzyme that converts heme, a central element of hemoglobin, into a slew of chemicals: iron, a pigment called biliverdin that’s responsible for the greenish color of bruises, and — last but not least — carbon monoxide. Every day our bodies naturally generate about 10 milliliters of carbon monoxide through this process. … a Phase I clinical trial that aims to investigate the safety of low-dose carbon monoxide on approximately 48 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life threatening lung condition. The protocol calls for exposing patients to the gas through a respirator for 90 minutes daily for five days. … One such study, which wrapped up in May of 2015, assessed the safety of low-dose carbon monoxide in patients with the terminal lung condition idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The results suggested that low doses of the gas are indeed safe for these patients. This study will progress later this year to a Phase II trial, meant to determine whether exposure to carbon monoxide actually helps the patients”)
2. Human Cells Eat Nanowires (“... It appears that the cell’s outer membrane folds itself like a pocket, grabs the [silicon] nanowire, and envelops it in a membrane-lined bubble. The process is called phagocytosis; ...  Once the nanowire is inside, the cell’s machinery then shuttles it through its system with sudden bursts of speed—up to 99.4 nanometers per second—and deposits it just outside the cell’s nucleus. … The specialized tool they designed to observe the cells, called a scatter-enhanced phase contrast, or SEPC, enabled them to simultaneously see not only the cellular components, but also the inorganic nanowires. … It uses phase contrast imaging for observing the cell and dark-field imaging for observing the nanowires. … That brings hope that pharmaceutical molecules that normally couldn’t get into endothelial cells will now have a new route: on the backs of silicon nanowires. … The tool also gives researchers a way to electrically stimulate inside a cell in precise ways ”)
3. Fat tissue can ‘talk’ to other organs, paving way for possible treatments for diabetes, obesity (“Scientists have identified hormones made by fat that signal the brain to regulate eating, but this new study ... takes a fresh look at another possible messenger: small snippets of genetic material called microRNAs, or miRNAs. ... But [miRNAs] tumble freely through the bloodstream, bundled into tiny packets called exomes. There, high levels of some miRNAs have been associated with obesity, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. ... So they decided to investigate whether fat uses miRNAs to communicate with other tissues, ... They developed a method to measure cross-talk using a human miRNA. In one group of mice, they engineered brown fat cells to produce the human miRNA and package it in exosomes; in another, they engineered liver cells to produce a fluorescent molecular target for the miRNA. Injecting exosomes from the first group of mice into mice from the second group caused a drastic drop in liver cell fluorescence, because the miRNA bound to the fluorescent target and suppressed its production. This confirmed that fat tissue, through exosomes, can communicate with the liver and regulate gene expression. Exosomal miRNAs from brown fat were also found to regulate expression of an important metabolism gene, Fgf21, in liver cells.”)
4. Yeast in the gut boosts asthma risk (“So far, genetic sequencing of the microbiome has largely focused on bacteria, ….  But fungal cells have been estimated to be orders of magnitude more abundant in the human body. ”)
5. Simpler, safer treatment hailed as ‘breakthrough’ against drug-resistant TB (A new cocktail is borne! “Called Nix-TB, the trial has had 34 people in South Africa with XDR [extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis] on three antibiotics that have never been combined before to treat TB: bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid. Bedaquiline, which was designed for TB but has not been used much, came to market in 2012. Pretomanid is also designed for TB but is still experimental. Linezolid is mainly used for skin infections and pneumonia. After 6 months, the TB bacillus could not be cultured from anyone’s sputum, … ”)
6. Researchers are first to see DNA 'blink' (Nanoscopy supplants microscopy? “The Northwestern tool features six-nanometer resolution and is the first to break the 10-nanometer resolution threshold. It can image DNA, chromatin and proteins in cells in their native states, without the need for labels. ...  "With our super-resolution imaging, we found that DNA and other biomolecules do fluoresce, but only for a very short time. Then they rest for a very long time, in a 'dark' state. ... "Insights into the workings of the chromatin folding code, which regulates patterns of gene expression, will help us better understand cancer and its ability to adapt to changing environments," ... In contrast, the Northwestern technique, called spectroscopic intrinsic-contrast photon-localization optical nanoscopy (SICLON), allows researchers to study biomolecules in their natural environment, without the need for these fluorescent labels.  ... When excited with the right wavelength, the biomolecules even light up better than they would with the best, most powerful fluorescent labels.”)
7. How to stop brain cancer—with rabies (Cancer is history!)
8. Could this pollinating drone replace butterflies and bees? (This could be huge! “... researchers ordered a small drone online and souped it up with a strip of fuzz made from a horsehair paintbrush covered in a sticky gel. The device is about the size of a hummingbird, and has four spinning blades to keep it soaring. With enough practice, the scientists were able to maneuver the remote-controlled bot so that only the bristles ... brushed gently against a flower’s stamen to collect pollen—in this case, a wild lily (Lilium japonicum), they report today …  To ensure the hairs collect pollen efficiently, the researchers covered them with ionic liquid gel (ILG), a sticky substance with a long-lasting “lift-and-stick-again” adhesive quality—perfect for taking pollen from one flower to the next.  ...”)
9. Finding a synthetic nanoparticle in a haystack (Will help to dampen the hysteria about nanoparticles “Scientists from Austria and Switzerland have developed a new way to distinguish engineered nanoparticles from naturally occurring nanoscale particles in soil samples. The method works even at concentrations orders of magnitude below natural background levels. … ”)
10. Up, up and away: Chemists say 'yes,' helium can form compounds (Helium, a noble gas no more!)
11. Water evaporation generates electrical energy
12. Decaying atoms feel a tiny frictional force, say physicists (Wilhelm Roentgen revived!)
13. Researchers investigate the potential of metal grids for future electronic components (Next generation computer design? “ ... have shown how a cobalt grid can be reliably programmed at room temperature. In addition, they have discovered that for every hole ("antidot"), three magnetic states can be configured in a nanometer-scale magnetic perforated grid.  … designed a special grid structure in a thin layer of cobalt in order to program its magnetic properties. … produced the grid using a photolithographic process … Approximately 250 nanometer-sized holes, so-called antidots, were created at regular intervals with interspaces of only 150 nanometers in the cobalt layer. In order to be able to stably program it, … which specified a metal layer thickness of approximately 50 nanometers. … discovered that with the aid of an externally applied magnetic field, three distinct magnetic states around each hole could be configured. The scientists called these states "G", "C" and "Q." … has potential use in computers that would work with spin-waves instead of the electric current. … would use far less power than today's processors … Many magnetic states can be realized in the perforated grid so that the spin-waves can, for example, be assigned specific directions. This could allow for a higher processing speed …”)
14. Tuberculosis-resistant cows developed for the first time using CRISPR technology (China - a giant awakens! When will India catch up? “The researchers, from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University in Shaanxi, China, used a modified version of the CRISPR gene-editing technology to insert a new gene into the cow genome with no detected off target effects on the animal's genetics (a common problem when creating transgenic animals using CRISPR). … CRISPR/Cas9n to successfully insert a tuberculosis resistance gene, called NRAMP1, into the cow genome. We were then able to successfully develop live cows carrying increased resistance to tuberculosis.”)
15. Quantum phase transition observed for the first time (“One example of a phase transition at the quantum level is the photon-blockade breakdown, which was only discovered two years ago. … First-order phase transitions are characterized by a coexistence of the two stable phases when the control parameter is within a certain range close to the critical value.  … The experimental results … give insight into the quantum mechanical basis of this effect in a microscopic, zero-dimensional system. Their setup consisted of a microchip with a superconducting microwave resonator acting as the cavity and a few superconducting qubits acting as the atoms. The chip was cooled to a temperature astoundingly close to absolute zero—0.01 Kelvin—so that thermal fluctuations did not play a role. To produce a flux of photons, the researchers then sent a continuous microwave tone to the input of the resonator on the chip. On the output side, they amplified and measured the transmitted microwave flux. For certain input powers, they detected a signal flipping stochastically between zero transmission and full transmission, proving the expected coexistence of both phases had occurred. "We have observed this random switching between opaque and transparent for the first time and in agreement with theoretical predictions," says lead author Johannes Fink from IST Austria.”)
16. Neutrons identify critical details in bacterial enzyme implicated in gastric cancer (“... Neutron crystallography at HFIR's IMAGINE instrument allowed researchers to accurately visualize the positions and predict the movements of hydrogen atoms in HpMTAN [H. pylori 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase], especially those involved in the critical stages when the enzyme binds to its substrate and then proceeds with the catalytic reaction. ...”)
17. Edgar Allan Poe--Cosmologist? The treatise Eureka, which he published the year before his death in 1849, anticipates a surprising amount of modern science (Fascinating blog post! Never read or really hears about Eureka)
18. Low level of oxygen in Earth's middle ages delayed evolution for two billion years (“The model suggests atmospheric oxygen was likely at around 10% of present day levels during the two billion years following the Great Oxidation Event, and no lower than 1% of the oxygen levels we know today.”)
19. Ancient DNA reveals 'continuity' between Stone Age and modern populations in East Asia (“The findings indicate that there was no major migratory interruption, or "population turnover", for well over seven millennia. Consequently, some contemporary ethnic groups share a remarkable genetic similarity to Stone Age hunters that once roamed the same region. The high "genetic continuity" in East Asia is in stark contrast to most of Western Europe, where sustained migrations of early farmers from the Levant overwhelmed hunter-gatherer populations. This was followed by a wave of horse riders from Central Asia during the Bronze Age.”)
20. Study reveals substantial evidence of holographic universe (“”)
21. Viral protein transforms as it measures out DNA (“”)