Regenerating Hair Follicle Stem Cells

Mouse hair follicle.
Underneath the mouse hair follicle, dermal papilla cells (green) produce the Gas6 molecule that activates hair follicle stem cells. Credit: Hsu Laboratory, Harvard University

Harvard University researchers have identified the biological mechanism of how chronic stress impairs hair follicle stem cells, confirming long-standing observations that stress might lead to hair loss.

In a mouse study published in the journal Nature, the researchers found that a major stress hormone causes hair follicle stem cells to stay in an extended resting phase, without regenerating the hair follicle and hair...

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Smart Glass has a Bright Future

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Micromirrors in open and closed scenario, shown in (a), (b) schematics and (c), (d) SEM micrographs, respectively. The smart glass pane is integrated into a double insulation glazing in Ar atmosphere and sealed by butyl.

Light modulation via optical MEMS microshutter and micromirror arrays could provide huge energy savings. Substituting the inefficient glazing areas of buildings with energy-efficient smart glazing windows has great potential to decrease energy consumption for lighting and temperature control.

Buildings are responsible for 40 percent of primary energy consumption and 36 percent of total CO2 emissions. And, as we know, CO2 emissions trigger global warming, sea level rise, and profound changes in ocean ecosystems...

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Early Earth’s Hot Mantle may have led to Archean ‘Water World’

An artist’s rendering of Earth during the Archean eon, with a hazy atmosphere, few landmasses and a global ocean. Credit: Alec Brenner, Harvard University

Earth’s sea level has remained fairly constant during the last 541 million years, but a new study suggests the planet may have been covered by a vast global ocean 4 to 3.2 billion years ago.

The new findings challenge earlier assumptions that the size of the Earth’s global ocean has remained constant over time and offer clues to how its size may have changed throughout geologic time, according to the study’s authors.

Most of Earth’s surface water exists in the oceans. But there is a second reservoir of water deep in Earth’s interior, in the form of hydrogen and oxygen attached to minerals in the mantle.

A new study in AGU ...

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Selenium Supplementation Protects against Obesity and may Extend Lifespan

mice

Adding the nutrient selenium to diets protects against obesity and provides metabolic benefits to mice, according to a study published today in eLife.

The results could lead to interventions that reproduce many of the anti-aging effects associated with dietary restriction while also 1allowing people to eat as normal.

Several types of diet have been shown to increase healthspan—that is, the period of healthy lifespan. One of the proven methods of increasing healthspan in many organisms, including non-human mammals, is to restrict dietary intake of an amino acid called methionine.

Recent studies have suggested that the effects of methionine restriction on healthspan are likely to be conserved in humans...

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