research

Grow a Heart

- Adam Clare

A team of international scientists have successfully grown heart tissue from embryonic stem cells. This is great news for people who have had all sorts of heart problems. Except perhaps a broken heart, for them perhaps a hug would work best.

More on the stem cell derived heart:

The researchers created the cells by supplying embryonic stem cell cultures with a cocktail of growth factors and other molecules involved in development.
By supplying the right growth factors at the right time, they encouraged the cells to grow into immature versions of three different types of cardiac cell.
The three cell types they created – cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells are each important constituents of heart muscle.

Students Conceive of Plan to Protect Earth from Space

- Adam Clare

NASA asked researchers to look into what to do if an asteroid targeted earth. Some enterprising students have decided that gravity is the most efficient (and cheapest) way to deflect big rocks from destroying our small planet. What’s more is that the students have designed their device to perform research on the asteroid as the spacecraft does it thing.

The equipment will collect data on the location and composition of the asteroid and relay it back to Earth. It is considered very unlikely that Apophis will collide with Earth. However, if required, the craft will be sent to it again in 2025 and, using its gravity, will begin to divert the asteroid from its path. Due to the difference in mass between the asteroid and the spacecraft, it will not be able to divert the asteroid with enough force and will need the assistance of the Earth’s mass. Since in 2029, the asteroid is supposed to pass near the Earth, the spacecraft will use the Earth’s mass in order to divert it.

Ovarian Cancer Testing Improved

- Adam Clare

The CBC is reporting that researchers at Yale have found a more effective way to detect ovarian cancer.

A new blood tests has been developed that Yale researchers say can detect ovarian cancer with 99 per cent accuracy.

The test uses six protein biomarkers to identify proteins in the bloodstream that signal an ovarian tumour is present in the body. The test is 99.4 per cent effective.

Previous tests for ovarian cancer only used four protein biomarkers and recognized only 15 to 20 per cent of new ovarian tumours.

Dreaming in Green

- Adam Clare

The Guardan has a well written article that looks at the emergence of academic green thinking in the UK. The article looks at the advancements being made, but does so in a way that ensures we keep our feet on the ground.

Fortunately, he points out, students are starting to take action for themselves, with campaigns including student organisation People and Planet’s Green League Table last summer, which gave universities degrees according to their environmental awareness. The results were surprising. Oxford and LSE both got 2.1s, while York and Glasgow scraped 2.2s: the top three were Leeds Metropolitan, Plymouth and Hertfordshire. “That really shook a few vice-chancellors,” says Patton, smiling. “I imagine that resolutions were made not to come that far down again.”

But the biggest problem is that, in the end, this is not just an issue for universities. This is going to be a problem for all of us. Paul Allen, development director at the Centre for Alternative Technology, is very anxious about the blindness of the academics. “Do they realise that we need to have a huge reskilling for Britain, that in the years ahead we are going to have to learn how to do things very differently? Are they planning courses that are going to re-educate our young people? No. They’re teaching young people in buildings where the lights are on all the time, in buildings where the energy is badly managed, where no one has even thought about approaching green electricity providers.”

Live 14 Years Longer

- Adam Clare

A new study has reached the conclusion that by making a small change in your diet you can live up to 14 years longer. Oh, you’ll have to exercise regularly as well. The key is to limit alcohol consumption, not smoke, exercise, and eat your veggies.

The study, published Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine, included about 20,000 healthy people in the United Kingdom between the ages of 45 to 79. Lead researcher Kay-Tee Khaw, of the University of Cambridge, said people who followed the four rules lived on average 14 years longer than their peers who continued to indulg
…
“These results may provide further support for the idea that even small differences in lifestyle may make a big difference to health in the population and encourage behaviour change,” the study said.

Scroll To Top