Ever played the game Operation? Sure you have – but have you ever played it with a surgical robot?
Johns Hopkins graduate student Carol Reiley has access to the da Vinci surgical robot, and put it to good use…
Continue reading… “Playing Operation With the da Vinci Surgical Robot”
A compound found in chocolate outperforms over-the-counter and codeine-based cough-suppressants in clinical trials. The compound, theobromine, was written up in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal following a small placebo-controlled study at Imperial College London. Our GP told us that the best thing for a cough was a spoonful of honey, and it’s pretty much all we use around our house (well, that and the vile, repulsive, disgusting, incredibly effective Buckley’s Mixture — but that’s a last resort).
Continue reading… “Chocolate Compound Beats Codeine for Cough-Suppression”
Scientists from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan cultivated embryonic stem cells in a test tube and added proteins to coax them into developing. They had wanted it to form a recognizable organ, but were stunned to find that over 10 days, the stem cells had formed an embryonic eye:
Professor Yoshiki Sasai, lead author said: “What we’ve been able to do in this study is resolve a nearly century-old problem in embryology, by showing that retinal precursors have the inherent ability to give rise to the complex structure of the optic cup.”
Continue reading… “Scientists Created Embryonic Eye in Test Tube”
As trippy as mind-control still seems to us, we’ve already seen it implemented in everything from wheelchairs to pricey gaming (and car driving!) headsets. But the problem is that they measure brain activity outside the skull — you know, the thing we’ve evolved to shield the murky goings-on in our minds from prying EEG sensors.
Now, though, a team of Washington University researchers appears to have happened upon a more effective — albeit, invasive — approach…
Continue reading… “Test Subjects With Electrode Implants Use Mind Control To Move A Cursor”
The chemical which summons stem cells from bone marrow to the site of a wound has been discovered by scientists in the UK and Japan.
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, identified the distress signal – HMGB1.
The authors believe it can be used to put “a megaphone in the system” to improve the treatment of injuries such as burns and leg ulcers…
Continue reading… “Chemical Discovered Which ‘Makes Bone Marrow Repair Skin’”
Nanostructures are introduced to traditional antibiotic drugs they make them much more effective.
Powerful new antibiotics are being developed that act like magnets to destroy bacteria and disease, according to a new study. Researchers from IBM, the computer giant, say they are working on tiny particles known as nanostructures that are attracted to infected cells but do not destroy healthy ones.
Women could have womb transplants as early as next year.
Womb transplants that would allow childless women to have babies could be available as early as next year, a leading researcher said last night.
Continue reading… “Womb Transplants for Childless Women Could be Available Next Year”
Sperm grown in test tube is an important step toward curing male infertility.
Sperm has been grown in a test tube for the first time in a “small but important step” towards curing male infertility, a study claims. Researchers removed stem cells and cultured sperm in the laboratory in a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments and drugs for men currently unable to have children.
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Scientists in the US have developed a new technique that sprays a burn patient’s own cells on the burn to help regenerate the skin and drastically reduce recovery time. The gun has been under development since 2008 and has now been used to successfully treat more than a dozen patients.
Continue reading… “Amazing Skin Gun Heals Severe Burns in Days”
Two years ago, a yellow spongiform robot named Keepon became a minor YouTube sensation when one of its creators programmed it to do a squishy, twisty dance in time to the Spoon song ‘I Turn My Camera On.’
Now Keepon’s creators are turning the robot’s attention to a more serious task: to study how children with autism spectrum disorders interact socially and to see if the robot may be able to help in therapy…
Continue reading… “Robots To Fight Autism”
Want your child to turn that frown upside down? By any means necessary? This feels like it belongs on Arrested Development, alongside the injury-inducing cornballer, but amazingly enough it’s areal thing. And there’s only a “slight twitch side effect!” Hooray for science!
Continue reading… “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.
