Tag Archives: Science
Science And Technology: “3D Printing With Living Organisms” (MIT Video)
A method for printing 3D objects that can control living organisms in predicable ways has been developed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at MIT and elsewhere. This technique may lead to 3D printing of biomedical tools that can be customized to fit the physical body and biomarkers of its users.
(Learn more: http://news.mit.edu/2020/3-d-bioprint…)
Listen to an explainer on 3D bioprinting and biohybrid materials: https://soundcloud.com/mitnewsoffice/…
Science Podcasts: Stress Turns Hair Grey, Giant Sloths, Fake Whiskeys And Climate Change (Nature)
Hear the latest science news, brought to you by Nick Howe and Benjamin Thompson. This week, why stress makes mice turn grey, and how to think about climate change.
In this episode:
00:45 Going grey
Anecdotal evidence has long suggested stress as a cause of grey hair. Now, a team of researchers have showed experimental evidence to suggest this is the case. Research Article: Zhang et al.; News & Views: How the stress of fight or flight turns hair white
08:39 Research Highlights
Ancient bones suggest that giant ground sloths moved in herds, plus an atomic way to check for whiskey fakes. Research Highlight: A bone bed reveals mass death of herd of giant ground sloths; Research Highlight: Nuclear-bomb carbon unmasks fraudulent luxury whisky
10:40 Climate optimism
To tackle climate change, the former UN secretary for climate change argues that the biggest change needs to be mindset. Comment: Paris taught me how to do what is necessary to combat climate change
18:09 News Chat
The latest on a new virus from Wuhan in China, and insights from ancient African genomes. News: China virus latest: first US case confirmed; Research Article: Lipson et al.
Research: Scientists Find Protein To Regulate Immune Attacks, Reduce Rheumatoid Arthritis
From a New Atlas online article:
Scientists have just discovered a new mechanism that can be key in regulating these immune attacks, raising new hopes of drugs that can protect against joint inflammation and the ailments it can bring.
Through the use of the CRISPR gene-editing tool, the Karolinska Institutet scientists have now shed further light on the role they play in inflammation. The technology enabled the team to make adjustments to a set of hand-picked immune cell genes as a way of learning how those tweaks can impact the behavior of the cells.
“The results we obtained using CRISPR were key to quickly understanding how the system under study is regulated,” says Dr Wermeling. “I have high hopes that the experimental use of CRISPR will be hugely important to our understanding of how immune-cell behavior is regulated, and that this can guide us in the development of new efficacious drugs.”
Nature & Science: Making Flowers Of Food Plants More Attractive To Insect Pollinators (Cambridge)
A rising world population means we’ll need more food in the coming years. But much of our food relies on insect pollination, and insects are in decline around the world. Can we make flowers better at being pollinated, to help solve this problem?
Research from the Glover Lab (https://twitter.com/Beverley_CUBG) in the Department of Plant Sciences (https://twitter.com/PlantSci)
Top New Science Podcasts: Lack Of Clinical Trial Reporting, Gut Microbe Links To Chronic Disease
Though a law requiring clinical trial results reporting has been on the books for decades, many researchers have been slow to comply. Now, 2 years after the law was sharpened with higher penalties for noncompliance, investigative correspondent Charles Piller took a look at the results. He talks with host Sarah Crespi about the investigation and a surprising lack of compliance and enforcement.
Also this week, Sarah talks with Brett Finlay, a microbiologist at the University Of British Columbia, Vancouver, about an Insight in this week’s issue that aims to connect the dots between noncommunicable diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer and the microbes that live in our guts. Could these diseases actually spread through our microbiomes?
Weather Science: NASA Launches “IMPACTS” Campaign To Study East Coast Winter Storms
This winter, NASA is sending a team of scientists, a host of ground instruments, and two research aircraft to study the inner workings of snow storms. The Investigation of Microphysics Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms, or IMPACTS, field campaign will be the first comprehensive study of East Coast snowstorms in 30 years.
Music credit: “Snowfall” by Andy Blythe [PRS], Marten Joustra [PRS], “Snow Blanket” by Benjamin James Parsons [PRS] from Universal Production Music
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Katie Jepson (USRA): Lead Producer, Narrator
Ellen T. Gray (ADNET): Lead Writer
Jacquelyn DeMink (USRA): Lead Animator
Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Project Support
LK Ward (USRA):Project Support
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support
This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13519
