Regrowing Damaged Nerves Hinges on Shutting Down Key Genes


Mouse neurons are shown with the cell bodies in the center and long tendrils radiating outward. Valeria Cavalli, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, used such neurons to study how cells regrow after injury. Her findings could one day lead to better treatments for spinal cord injury.

Injured neurons temporarily revert to immature state. Neurons in the brain and spinal cord don’t grow back after injury, unlike those in the rest of the body. Cut your finger, and you’ll probably be back to using it in days or weeks; slice through your spinal cord, and you likely will never walk again.

Now, working in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St...

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NASA’s Voyager 2 Probe enters Interstellar Space


 Position of NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, outside of the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the Sun that extends well past the orbit of Pluto. Voyager 1 exited the heliosphere in August 2012. Voyager 2 exited at a different location in November 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For the second time in history, a human-made object has reached the space between the stars. NASA’s Voyager 2 probe now has exited the heliosphere – the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun.

Comparing data from different instruments aboard the trailblazing spacecraft, mission scientists determined the probe crossed the outer edge of the heliosphere on Nov. 5...

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What’s behind Mediterranean Diet and Lower Cardiovascular Risk?

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Assessment of Risk Factors and Biomarkers Associated With Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among Women Consuming a Mediterranean DietJAMA Network Open, 2018; 1 (8): e185708 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.5708

Investigators identify, assess underlying mechanisms that may explain diet’s 25% reduction in cardiovascular risk for American women. A new study by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offers insights from a cohort study of women in the U.S. who reported consuming a Mediterranean-type diet. Researchers found a 25 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease among study participants who consumed a diet rich in plants and olive oil and low in meats and sweets...

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Method to Transfer entire 2D circuits to any Smooth Surface


Illustration of flexible, 2-D circuit.
Credit: Zehua Jin/Rice University

What if a sensor sensing a thing could be part of the thing itself? Rice University engineers believe they have a 2D solution to do just that. Rice engineers led by materials scientists Pulickel Ajayan and Jun Lou have developed a method to make atom-flat sensors that seamlessly integrate with devices to report on what they perceive.

Electronically active 2D materials have been the subject of much research since the introduction of graphene in 2004. Even though they are often touted for their strength, they’re difficult to move to where they’re needed without destroying them.

The Ajayan and Lou groups, along with the lab of Rice engineer Jacob Robinson, have a new way to keep the materials and their associate...

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