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A 3D-printed swallowable robot could perform gastrointestinal procedures

Recent technological advances have opened new possibilities for the development of advanced medical devices, including tiny robots that can safely move inside the human body. Some of these systems could help to simplify complex medical procedures, including delicate surgeries and the targeted delivery of drugs to specific sites.

THE MINIMAX lab at University of Texas (UT) Austin specializes in the development of tiny robots for medical, environmental, and other applications. In a recent preprint paper on arXiv, researchers from this lab introduced a new 3Dprintable and magnetically steerable capsule robot that could potentially help to diagnose and treat some gastrointestinal (GI) conditions.

“My motivation for GI health monitoring is deeply personal,” Fangzhou Xia, director of ...

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Jupiter’s Galilean moons may have gained life’s building blocks at birth

SwRI, collaborators offer new insights into potential for life in Jovian system

Southwest Research Institute was part of an international team that demonstrated how complex organic molecules (COMs), key chemical precursors to life, could have been incorporated into Jupiter’s Galilean moons during their formation. The team’s findings have resulted in complementary studies published in The Planetary Science Journal and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, offering new insights into the potential for life in the Jovian system.

How complex organics can form
Carbon-rich compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen and other elements are necessary for living matter to form...

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The Moon is still shrinking and it could trigger more moonquakes

A small mare ridge in Northeast Mare Imbrium taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The shrinking Moon is still cracking—and scientists just found where it might quake next. Researchers have created the first worldwide map and detailed study of small mare ridges (SMRs), subtle geological features that signal tectonic activity on the Moon. The findings, published in The Planetary Science Journal, come from scientists at the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies and their collaborators.

For the first time, scientists show that these ridges are relatively young and spread widely across the lunar maria, the broad, dark plains visible from Earth...

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Early signs of Parkinson’s can be identified in the blood

Early signs of Parkinson’s can be identified in the blood
A team led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology has succeeded in identifying biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease in its earliest stages – before extensive brain damage has occurred. The biological processes leave measurable traces in the blood, but only for a limited period. The discovery reveals a window of opportunity that could be crucial for future treatment, but also early diagnosis via blood tests.
The image shows a blood sample prepared for a lab test.

Credit
Nicola Pietro Montaldo

A team led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has succeeded in identifying biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease in its earliest stages, before extensive brain damage has occurred...

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