Category Health/Medical

Kristen L. Knutson, Malcolm von Schantz. Associations between chronotype, morbidity and mortality in the UK Biobank cohort. Chronobiology International, 2018; 1 DOI: 10.1080/07420528.2018.1454458

Evening types have 10% higher risk of dying than morning counterparts. Night owls” – people who like to stay up late and have trouble dragging themselves out of bed in the morning – have a higher risk of dying sooner than “larks,” people who have a natural preference for going to bed early and rise with the sun, according to a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom (UK). In the study sample, 50,000 people were more likely to die in the 6½ -year period sampled.

“Night owls trying to live in a morning lark world may have health consequences for their...

Comparison of sugar and lipid concentration fluctuations in blood in a dysbiosis mouse model and non-antibiotic administered mice. Both sugar and lipid concentrations decreased in mice that received antibiotics only. Credit: Professor Sumio Ohtsuki

Intestinal bacteria have attracted recent attention since they were discovered to influence various physiological functions and diseases in humans. Researchers from Kumamoto University in Japan analyzing the influence of changes in intestinal bacteria on sugar and lipid metabolism have found that secondary bile acids produced by the bacteria can influence blood glucose and lipid concentrations as well as parts of their molecular mechanisms...

The gripper can also porous objects, like this rock. Credit: JPL

A team of California researchers has developed a robotic gripper that combines the adhesive properties of gecko toes and the adaptability of air-powered soft robots to grasp a much wider variety of objects than the state of the art. Researchers will present their findings at the 2018 International Conference on Robotics and Automation May 21 to 25 in Brisbane, Australia. The gripper can lift up to 45lbs. and could be used to grasp objects in a wide range of settings, from factory floors to the International Space Station, ISS.

Geckos are known as nature’s best climbers because of a sophisticated gripping mechanism on their toes...

fMRI is used to highlight select implant sites in the somatosensory cortex. Electrodes implanted in this region were able to stimulate neurons that produced physical sensations, like a squeeze or tap, in the arm of a paralyzed man. Credit: Courtesy of the Andersen lab

For the first time, scientists at Caltech have induced natural sensations in the arm of a paralyzed man by stimulating a certain region of the brain with a tiny array of electrodes. The patient has a high-level spinal cord lesion and, besides not being able to move his limbs, also cannot feel them. The work could one day allow paralyzed people using prosthetic limbs to feel physical feedback from sensors placed on these devices.

The research was done in the laboratory of Richard Andersen, James G...