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Image1: A map of Mars that includes the unually high elevation region LSU researchers are studying called Thaumasia Planum.Photo Credit: Wikimedia 2. LSU Mars researchers study the Kilauea Iki lava lake on Hawaii, which offers a similar geological environment to Mars.Photo Credit: Don Hood, LSU

Researcher Don Hood from LSU and colleagues from collaborating universities studied an unusual region on Mars – an area with high elevation called Thaumasia Planum. They analyzed the geography and mineralogy of this area they termed Greater Thaumasia, which is about the size of North America. They also studied the chemistry of this area based on Gamma Ray Spectrometer data collected by Mars Odyssey Orbiter, launched in 2001...

Comparison of approaches to obtain fetal DNA in ongoing pregnancies, including amniocentesis, chorionic villous sampling (CVS), cell-free fetal DNA, and trophoblast retrieval isolation from the cervix (TRIC). Sources of fetal DNA throughout early pregnancy are illustrated according to their accessibility during gestation. Credit: Jain et al., Science Translational Medicine (2016)

The latest developments in prenatal technology conceived by scientists at the Wayne State University School of Medicine that make it possible to test for genetic disorders a little more than 1 month into pregnancy were revealed this week...

DanielSimon and Theresia Arbring Sjöström. Credit: Image courtesy of Linköping Universitet

With a microfabricated ion pump built from organic electronic components, ions can be sent to nerve or muscle cells at the speed of the nervous system and with a precision of a single cell. “Now we can start to develop components that speak the body’s own language,” says Daniel Simon, Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University. Certain substances, such as GABA, are important signal substances throughout the CNS. 18 months ago, researchers at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics demonstrated an ion pump which researchers at the Karolinska Institutet could use to reduce the sensation of pain in awake, freely-moving rats. The ion pump delivered GABA directly to the rat´s spinal cord.