“One emerging treatment for diabetes involves converting stem cells into beta cells that secrete insulin. Now scientists have developed a more efficient method, and implanting these cells in diabetic mice functionally cured them of the disease.” | learn more
“The discovery of the CPR [Candidate Phyla Radiation] superphylum was (and remains) one of the most remarkable developments in our growing realization that the genetic diversity of the microbial world is unimaginably vast.” It’s thought to contain a quarter of […]
This is a must-read for anyone with an interest in science who doesn’t already know all the gory details of its troubles. “This week, here are three intertwined stories about positional scarcity from this strange world: 1. How an “indentured […]
“…[T]he Wisconsin team used much smaller electrodes to precisely target the central lateral thalamus. They also designed the electrodes to match this region’s shape. When they flipped on the stimulation, it had an immediate effect on the monkeys.” | learn more
From birth to old age. National Geographic discusses how the relationship between us and our microbes changes over the various stages of life. [This might be paywalled now, but it worked for me somehow.] | learn more
“Researchers have discovered an immune T-cell with the ability to target a variety of different cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells.” | learn more
“To understand how people use digital media, researchers need to move beyond screen time and capture everything we do and see on our screens.” Probably true, but yikes! Also, fun play on the name of the Human Genome Project. | learn more
Hope is on the horizon for a new weapon against antibiotic resistance: “magnetic nanoparticles that physically tear them to shreds.” | learn more
The 2nd order consequences scare me here: what will people choose to eat if they can really just melt away body fat after bad diet choices? “It sure sounds like an online pop-up ad, but Harvard scientists have created and […]
“Swimming at the low Reynolds numbers experienced by bacteria would be like humans swimming through molasses. … But motile microbes are unhampered. The fastest bacterium … moves at … a showstopping sixty body lengths per second that puts Phelps to […]