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    Planetary Collision that formed the Moon made Life possible on Earth Study:

    January 25, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space


    A schematic depicting the formation of a Mars-sized planet (left) and its differentiation into a body with a metallic core and an overlying silicate reservoir. The sulfur-rich core expels carbon, producing silicate with a high carbon to nitrogen ratio. The moon-forming collision of such a planet with the growing Earth (right) can explain Earth’s abundance of both water and major life-essential elements like carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, as well as the geochemical similarity between Earth and the moon.
    Credit: Image courtesy of Rajdeep Dasgupta

    Planetary delivery explains enigmatic features of Earth’s carbon and nitrogen. Most of Earth’s essential elements for life – including most of the carbon and nitrogen in you – probably came from another planet.

    Earth most likely received the b...

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    CRISPR/Cas9 used to Control Genetic Inheritance in Mice

    January 24, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    UC San Diego researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 to control genetic inheritance in mammals for the first time.
    Credit: Cooper Lab, UC San Diego

    Technology offers powerful new genetic tools for human disease research in rodents. Using active genetics technology, biologists have developed the world’s first CRISPR/Cas9-based approach to control genetic inheritance in a mammal. The achievement in mice lays the groundwork for further advances based on this technology, including biomedical research on human disease. Future animal models may be possible of complex human genetic diseases, like arthritis and cancer, which are not currently possible.

    Scientists around the world have been using CRISPR/Cas9 in a variety of plant and animal species to edit genetic information...

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    Birth of Massive Black Holes in the Early Universe

    January 24, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A 30,000 light-year region from the Renaissance Simulation centered on a cluster of young galaxies that generate radiation (white) and metals (green) while heating the surrounding gas. A dark matter halo just outside this heated region forms three supermassive stars (inset) each over 1,000 times the mass of our sun that will quickly collapse into massive black holes and eventually supermassive black holes over billions of years. Credit: Advanced Visualization Lab, National Center for Supercomputing Applications

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    New 3D Nanoprinting strategy opens door to revolution in Medicine, Robotics

    January 24, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Health/Medical, Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Biology/Biotechnology

    Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have created the first 3D-printed fluid circuit element so tiny that 10 could rest on the width of a human hair. The diode ensures fluids move in only a single direction — a critical feature for products like implantable devices that release therapies directly into the body.
    Credit: DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-36727-z

    UMD engineers demonstrate their approach by printing the smallest-known 3D microfluidic circuit element. Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have created the first 3D-printed fluid circuit element so tiny that 10 could rest on the width of a human hair. The diode ensures fluids move in only a single direction – a critical feature for products like implantable devices that release therapies directly into the body.

    The...

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