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    Human Retinas grown in a Dish explain how Color Vision develops

    October 14, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Temporally regulated TH signaling specifies cone subtypes. (A) Embryonic stem cell–derived human retinal organoids [wild type (WT)] generate S and L/M cones. Blue, S-opsin; green, L/M-opsin. (B) Organoids that lack thyroid hormone receptor β (Thrβ KO) generate all S cones. (C) Early activation of TH signaling (WT + T3) specifies nearly all L/M cones. (D) TH-degrading enzymes (such as DIO3) expressed early in development lower TH and promote S fate, whereas TH-activating regulators (such as DIO2) expressed later promote L/M fate.

    Temporally regulated TH signaling specifies cone subtypes.
    (A) Embryonic stem cell–derived human retinal organoids [wild type (WT)] generate S and L/M cones. Blue, S-opsin; green, L/M-opsin. (B) Organoids that lack thyroid hormone receptor β (Thrβ KO) generate all S cones. (C) Early activation of TH signaling (WT + T3) specifies nearly all L/M cones. (D) TH-degrading enzymes (such as DIO3) expressed early in development lower TH and promote S fate, whereas TH-activating regulators (such as DIO2) expressed later promote L/M fate.

    Biologists at Johns Hopkins University grew human retinas from scratch to determine how cells that allow people to see in color are made...

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    World’s Fastest Camera Freezes time at 10 trillion frames per second

    October 14, 2018, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    The trillion-frame-per-second compressed ultrafast photography system. Credit: INRS

    The trillion-frame-per-second compressed ultrafast photography system. Credit: INRS

    What happens when a new technology is so precise that it operates on a scale beyond our characterization capabilities? For example, the lasers used at INRS produce ultrashort pulses in the femtosecond range (10-15 s) that are far too short to visualize. Although some measurements are possible, nothing beats a clear image, says INRS professor and ultrafast imaging specialist Jinyang Liang. He and his colleagues, led by Caltech’s Lihong Wang, have developed what they call T-CUP: the world’s fastest camera, capable of capturing ten trillion (1013) frames per second. This new camera literally makes it possible to freeze time to see phenomena – and even light! – in extremely slow motion.

    In recent years, the jun...

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    Icy Moon of Jupiter, Ganymede, shows evidence of past Strike-Slip Faulting

    October 13, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The solar system's largest moon, Ganymede, is captured here alongside the planet Jupiter in a color picture taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 3, 2000. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    The solar system’s largest moon, Ganymede, is captured here alongside the planet Jupiter in a color picture taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 3, 2000.
    Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    A recently published study led by researchers at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology reveals Ganymede, an icy moon of Jupiter, appears to have undergone complex periods of geologic activity, specifically strike-slip tectonism, as is seen in Earth’s San Andreas fault. This is the first study to exhaustively consider the role of strike-slip tectonism in Ganymede’s geologic history.

    Plate tectonics is the process on Earth that has created many familiar large scale features – oceanic and continental crust, mountain ranges, mid-ocean ridges, for example...

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    Engineers develop process to 3D print cells to produce Human Tissue such as Ligaments and Tendons

    October 13, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    This image of cells that were made fluorescent shows how they are printed in complex structures for the purpose of producing tissue such as tendons and ligaments. Credit: Robby Bowles/University of Utah College of Engineering

    This image of cells that were made fluorescent shows how they are printed in complex structures for the purpose of producing tissue such as tendons and ligaments.
    Credit: Robby Bowles/University of Utah College of Engineering

    Scientists have developed a method to 3D print cells to produce human tissue such as ligaments and tendons to greatly improve a patient’s recovery. A person with a badly damaged ligament, tendon, or ruptured disc could simply have new replacement tissue printed and ultimately implanted in the damaged area.

    “It will allow patients to receive replacement tissues without additional surgeries and without having to harvest tissue from other sites, which has its own source of problems,” says University of Utah biomedical engineering assistant professor Robby Bowles, who co-a...

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