Lifeboat Foundation

You know that spherical ship from 2001: A Space Odyssey that generated its own gravity by spinning around in the cosmic void? We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer.

Microgravity can be detrimental for the human body, because our species just wasn’t made to survive in space without high-tech help. Now aerospace engineer Torin Clark and his team from CU Boulder are turning the artificial gravity tech from movies like 2001 and The Martian into a reality. While an entire ship that makes its own gravity is still light-years away, the team has managed to design a revolving contraption that could save astronauts from too much zero-G exposure.

Continue reading “This artificial gravity machine is right out of 2001: A Space Odyssey” »

As published in a recent study, researchers have discovered that neural stem cells are impeded by the invasion of T cells, immune cells that are not normally present in the neural stem cell niche.

The neural stem cell niches

Our brains contain neural stem cells (NSCs); like their name suggests, these cells are responsible for the formation of new neurons within the brain. This process, which continues throughout life, is known as neurogenesis. These stem cells live in particular niches, which contain a panoply of different cell types, including stem cells in different phases of development and multiple types of immune cells. However, the researchers discovered a startling fact: the brains of older mice contain many specific immune cells known as T cells, while the brains of younger mice contain very few – and, as the study explains, this is true for humans as well.

Electric generators have a plethora of uses—ranging from automotive to aircraft to microgrids. There is currently a strong desire to reduce the size and increase the efficiency of the devices.

Researchers at Purdue University have come up with an effective way to reduce the size and increase the efficiency of the moderate- to low-power electric generators used in those applications.

A wound rotor synchronous machine contains a field winding—a group of insulated current-carrying coils—on the rotor used to create a rotating magnetic field and regulate the output voltage. Associated with this winding are losses, which generate heat that must be removed from the spinning rotor. Permanent magnets can also be used to generate the magnetic field with much less loss and heat generation, but this approach does not facilitate output voltage regulation.

A machine that speeds up evolution is revolutionizing genome design and selection of designer microbes.

For 50 years, evolutionary theory has emphasized the importance of neutral mutations over adaptive ones in DNA. Real genomic data challenge that assumption.

How can bee stings help in the battle against HIV? Could snake venom be used to treat high blood pressure? Kath Nightingale investigates.

The loss of complete segments of the esophagus often results from treatments for esophageal cancer or congenital abnormalities, and current methods to re-establish continuity are inadequate. Now, working with a rat model, researchers have developed a promising reconstruction method based on the use of 3D-printed esophageal grafts. Their work is published in Tissue Engineering, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Eun-Jae Chung, MD, PhD, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea, Jung-Woog Shin, PhD, Inje University, Korea, and colleagues present their research in an article titled “Tissue-Engineered Esophagus via Bioreactor Cultivation for Circumferential Esophageal Reconstruction”. The authors created a two-layered tubular scaffold with an electrospun nanofiber inner layer and 3D-printed strands in the outer layer. After seeding human mesenchymal stem cells on the inner layer, constructs were cultured in a bioreactor, and a new surgical technique was used for implantation, including the placement of a thyroid gland flap over the scaffold. Efficacy was compared with omentum-cultured scaffolding technology, and successful implantation and esophageal reconstruction were achieved based on several metrics.

Dr. Chung and colleagues from Korea present an exciting approach for esophageal repair using a combined 3D printing and bioreactor cultivation strategy. Critically, their work shows integration of the engineered esophageal tissue with host tissue, indicating a clinically viable strategy for circumferential esophageal reconstruction.”

Click on photo to start video.

With that basic research, mankind found the first major clue to the origins of aging and death. They discovered that some cells in our bodies that may never die. These “immortal cells” and the philosophical shift in thinking they engendered, will likely change medicine as we know it.