Apr 14, 2020
A Mathematical Model Unlocks the Secrets of Vision
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: mathematics
Mathematicians and neuroscientists have created the first anatomically accurate model that explains how vision is possible.
Mathematicians and neuroscientists have created the first anatomically accurate model that explains how vision is possible.
Students from Australia have unearthed a trove of rare treasures at a site in Israel and may have solved the mystery to King David’s long-lost city of Ziklag.
Strange particles observed by an experiment in Antarctica could be evidence of an alternative reality where everything is upside down.
A nightly jaunt on the exercise wheel enhances muscle-repair capabilities in old mice, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford School of Medicine.
Only older mice saw this benefit, which the researchers found is due to the rejuvenation of the animals’ muscle stem cells.
“The effect in old animals is very significant,” said Thomas Rando, MD, Ph.D., professor of neurology and neurological sciences and director of Stanford’s Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging. “We found that regular exercise restores youthfulness to tissue repair. Their muscle stem cells start to look and behave like those of much younger animals.”
“We were very pleased to find out that even though life span is a very complicated trait caused by variation on a large number of loci, which is true for most complex traits, the number of loci that are in common is a totally finite number. So, we can imagine going on to the next stage and investigating one gene at a time and in combination,” Mackay said.
Scientists believe about 25 percent of the differences in human life span is determined by genetics—with the rest determined by environmental and lifestyle factors. But they don’t yet know all the genes that contribute to a long life.
A study published March 5, 2020, in PLOS Biology quantified variation in life span in the fruit fly genome, providing valuable insights for preserving health in elderly humans—an ever-increasing segment of the population. The paper titled “Context-dependent genetic architecture of Drosophila life span” is the culmination of a decade of research by Clemson University geneticists Trudy Mackay and Robert Anholt.
Continue reading “Geneticists zeroing in on genes affecting life span” »
Circa 2015
Coupling electromagnetic waves to mechanical waves has led to a remarkable miniaturization of wireless communication technologies. Now, spin waves could provide us with technologies that are small and reprogrammable.
Circa 2017
Insulin-producing cells have been restored in mouse models of type 1 diabetes using a new genetic engineering technique.
American scientists adapted the gene editing technology known as CRISPR (clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat) to successfully treat mouse models of type 1 diabetes, kidney disease and muscular dystrophy.
Continue reading “CRISPR has success in treating mice with type 1 diabetes” »
Circa 2019
Researchers at Hanyang University, South Korea, have used the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes in mice, a development that could eventually benefit humans. The therapy specifically reduced fat tissue and reversed obesity-related metabolic disease in the animals.
Fusion research began in earnest in the 1960s, when scientists developed mirror machines. These linear tubes have pinched magnetic field lines on either end that act like mirrors, reflecting the charged plasma particles inward and retaining them and their heat in the machine. American researchers halted mirror research three decades ago, mainly due to an inability to contain the plasma.
WHAM will essentially take the team’s research back to the mirror machine days, but with significant upgrades.
“We hope to go well beyond what was done in the mirror program because we have access to very-high-field superconducting magnets like those being built by our partners for toroidal (donut-shaped) plasmas,” Forest says. “These magnets and heating systems simply weren’t available 20 years ago. It’s a new look at an older concept using new technology.”