Blindness eased by historic stem cell treatment - health - 25 January 2012
For the first time since they were discovered 13 years ago, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have shown medical promise. Two people with eye degeneration both say their vision improved in the four months after they received implants of retinal pigment epithelial cells made from hESCs. The treatments were also safe, with no sign that the cells triggered aggressive tumours called teratomas, no sign of immune rejection of the cells, and no inflammation. Discovered in 1998, hESCs had previously failed to deliver on their medical promise. The new procedures, performed by Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology of Marlborough, Massachusetts, and colleagues, could represent a turning point for hESC therapies. One of the women in the trial had Stargardt disease, an inherited form of eye degeneration in which the pigment cells wither and die. "That doesn't really capture the difference it's made in her life," says Lanza. Stem cell boost Former US president George W. More From New Scientist
Researchers evolve a multicellular yeast in the lab in 2 months
When we think of life on Earth, most of us think of multicellular organisms, like large mammals or massive trees. But we're only aware of three groups of complex, multicellular organisms, which suggested it might be a major hurdle. Now, a new study describes how researchers evolved a multicellular form of yeast (the same species that contributes to bread and beer), and were able to see specialized cell behaviors and reproduction in as little as 60 days. The authors lay out the problem very simply in their introduction, stating that, "Multicellularity was one of the most significant innovations in the history of life, but its initial evolution remains poorly understood." But that's about as far as these experiments went. The new study attempts to follow more the behavior of simple multicellular groups more closely. Their method was pretty simple. But the clusters didn't simply keep growing indefinitely.
Are smart people ugly? The Explainer's 2011 Question of the Year
Illlustration by Charlie Powell. It's been a few weeks since we posted the questions that the Explainer was either unwilling or unable to answer in 2011. Among this year's batch of imponderables were inquiries like, Are the blind sleepy all the time? and Does anyone ever get a sex change back? We asked our readers to pick the question that most deserved an answer in the Explainer column. In third place, with 6.6 percent of the total votes, a bit of speculative evolutionary biology: Let's say that a meteor never hits the earth, and dinosaurs continue evolving over all the years human beings have grown into what we are today. In second place, with 7.5 percent, an inquiry into pharmacokinetics: Why does it take 45 minutes for the pharmacy to get your prescription ready—even when no one else is waiting? And in first place, with the support of 9.4 percent of our readers, the winner by a landslide and Explainer Question of the Year for 2011: Why are smart people usually ugly?
Study Finds Alcohol and Tobacco More Harmful than Marijuana, LSD, or Ecstasy (Revisited) : The Scientific Activist
Back in August, I reported on an ACMD study buried in the back of a UK government report. The study gave strong evidence that the current drug classification scheme in the UK was fundamentally flawed and was not based on the actual danger of a given drug. The study has now been published in this week’s issue of The Lancet. The Guardian also has a nice piece on it today. The bottom line is that the current unscientific drug classifcations that the UK (and the US) currently rely on need to change. Here’s what I originally wrote: (1 August 2006) Yesterday, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee released a report entitled Drug Classification: Making a Hash of It? The conclusions of the report were based on findings from extensive observations and oral and written testimony. In the US, drugs are classified primarily by schedules, which divide up drugs into five schedules based on their relative medical utility compared to their potential for abuse and dependence.
BBC Nature - Chimpanzees consider their audience when communicating
29 December 2011Last updated at 17:01 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The chimps made soft "hoo" sounds to warn individuals that had not seen the threat Chimpanzees appear to consider who they are "talking to" before they call out. Researchers found that wild chimps that spotted a poisonous snake were more likely to make their "alert call" in the presence of a chimp that had not seen the threat. This indicates that the animals "understand the mindset" of others. The insight into the primates' remarkable intelligence will be published in the journal Current Biology. The University of St Andrews scientists, who carried out the work, study primate communication to uncover some of the origins of human language. To find out how the animals "talked to each other" about potential threats, they placed plastic snakes - models of rhino and gaboon vipers - into the paths of wild chimpanzees and monitored the primates' reactions. "They also tend to sit in one place for weeks.
NASA Beams Beatles' 'Across the Universe' Into Space
NASA Beams Beatles' 'Across the Universe' Into Space For the first time ever, NASA beamed a song -- The Beatles' "Across the Universe" -- directly into deep space at 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 4. The transmission over NASA's Deep Space Network commemorated the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of NASA's founding and the group's beginnings. The transmission was aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is located 431 light years away from Earth. "Amazing! Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, characterized the song's transmission as a significant event. "I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe," she said. -- Sir Paul McCartney It is not the first time Beatles music has been used by NASA; in November 2005, McCartney performed the song "Good Day Sunshine" during a concert that was transmitted to the International Space Station (› Related Story).
Breathingearth - CO2, birth & death rates by country, simulated real-time
Does taking medication for cold symptoms delay your body's ability to fight the illness? : askscience
Features of a successful therapeutic fast of 382 days' duration -- Stewart and Fleming 49 (569): 203 -- Postgraduate Medical Journal
Postgraduate Medical Journalpmj.bmj.com 1973;49:203-209 doi:10.1136/pgmj.49.569.203 Case report Abstract A 27-year-old male patient fasted under supervision for 382 days and has subsequently maintained his normal weight. Articles citing this article
