Newly discovered channels in the skull may provide a shortcut for immune cells going to damaged tissue. Credit: Nahrendorf Lab

Study suggests immune cells rush through channels to get to injured tissue quickly. Bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside most of our bones, produces red blood cells as well as immune cells that help fight off infections and heal injuries. According to a new study of mice and humans, tiny tunnels run from skull bone marrow to the lining of the brain and may provide a direct route for immune cells responding to injuries caused by stroke and other brain disorders. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and published in Nature Neuroscience.

“We always thought that immune cells from our arms and legs traveled via blood to damaged brain tissue...

The new hyperspectral imager contains two cameras and measures just 425 by 200 millimeters. With further miniaturization it could be incorporated into smartphones for personal use.

Innovative imager could find industrial, security, medical, cultural and agricultural applications. Researchers have developed a compact imaging system that can measure the shape and light-reflection properties of objects with high speed and accuracy. This 5D hyperspectral imaging system – so-called because it captures multiple wavelengths of light plus spatial coordinates as a function of time – could benefit a variety of applications including optical-based sorting of products and identifying people in secure areas of airports...

This is a digital reconstruction of a rosehip neuron in the human brain. Credit: Tamas Lab, University of Szeged

‘Rosehip’ neurons not found in rodents, may be involved in fine-level control between regions of the human brain. One of the most intriguing questions about the human brain is also one of the most difficult for neuroscientists to answer: What sets our brains apart from those of other animals? “We really don’t understand what makes the human brain special,” said Ed Lein, Ph.D., Investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. “Studying the differences at the level of cells and circuits is a good place to start, and now we have new tools to do just that.”

In a new study published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Lein and his colleagues reveal one possible answer to ...

A simple liquid-based battery containing a methylene blue solution (left side), and a colorless solution of leuco methylene blue (right), which is methylene blue with added electrons.
Credit: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki/University at Buffalo

Methylene blue is a common ingredient in wastewater from textile mills. But scientists think it may be possible to give this industrial pollutant a second life. In a study, they show that the dye, dissolved in water, is good at storing and releasing energy on cue. This makes the compound a promising material for redox flow batteries, which could store energy for wind farms and solar homes.

“Methylene blue is a widely used dye...