Category Biology/Biotechnology

During the eclipse (L-R) Mimosa previously exposed to 72 hours of dark showed no response to totality. Mimosa exposed to 72 hours of light was partially closed during totality. Mimosa with prior normal light exposure closed completely during totality. Oxalis leaves opened up and the flowers did not fold. Credit: University of Missouri Academic Support / Stephanie L. Sidoti

On August 21, 2017, about 215 million American adults watched one of nature’s most dramatic events: a total solar eclipse. The University of Missouri-Columbia lies directly on that path of totality. Scientists there knew they had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to study how a total eclipse affects plants. During the event, there would be 45 minutes of gradually decreasing light. Temperatures would also fall...

A radio frequency identification tag. Credit: Cornell University

What if your vital signs could be gathered, without contact, as you sit in the waiting room or the comfort of your own home? Cornell University engineers have demonstrated a method for gathering blood pressure, heart rate and breath rate using a cheap and covert system of radio-frequency signals and microchip “tags,” similar to the anti-theft tags department stores place on clothing and electronics.

The cracker-sized tags measure mechanical motion by emitting radio waves that bounce off the body and internal organs, and are then detected by an electronic reader that gathers the data from a location elsewhere in the room. The system works like radar, according to Edwin Kan, professor of electrical and computer engineering...

Electricity, eel-style. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Michigan

Inspired by the electric eel, a flexible, transparent electrical device could lead to body-friendly power sources for implanted health monitors and medication dispensers, augmented-reality contact lenses and countless other applications. The soft cells are made of hydrogel and salt, and they form the first potentially biocompatible artificial electric organ that generates more than 100 volts. It produces a steady buzz of electricity at high voltage but low current, a bit like an extremely low-volume but high-pressure jet of water. It’s perhaps enough to power a small medical device like a pacemaker.

While the technology is preliminary, Michael Mayer, a professor of biophysics at the Adolphe Merkle Institute of the Uni...

This figure displays the cells grown on polymeric fibers created by 3D near field electrospinning. Image: Justin Brown / Penn State

A team of Penn State engineers believe they have a way to create the structural framework for growing living tissue using an off-the-shelf 3D printer. “We are trying to make stem-cell-loaded hydrogels reinforced with fibers like the rebar in cement,” said Justin L. Brown, associate professor of biomedical engineering. “If we can lend some structure to the gel, we can grow living cells in defined patterns and eventually the fibers will dissolve and go away.”

The researchers’ report in a recent issue of the Journal of Advanced Healthcare Materials that their aim is to create a novel, low-cost and efficient method to fabricate high-resolution and repeatable 3D po...