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    Robotic Implants spur Tissue Regeneration inside the body

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

    The esophagus-growing robotic implant. Credit: Damian et al., Sci. Robot. 3, eaaq0018 (2018)

    The esophagus-growing robotic implant. Credit: Damian et al., Sci. Robot. 3, eaaq0018 (2018)

    Mechanical pull stimulates stunted hollow organs to grow; could help treat defects like esophageal atresia and short bowel syndrome. An implanted, programmable medical robot can gradually lengthen tubular organs by applying traction forces – stimulating tissue growth in stunted organs without interfering with organ function or causing apparent discomfort, report researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital.

    The robotic system induced cell proliferation and lengthened part of the esophagus in a large animal by about 75% while the animal remained awake and mobile...

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    Supermassive Black Hole caught burping — twice

    January 14, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This is an image of galaxy SDSS J1354+1327 (lower center) and its companion galaxy SDSS J1354+1328 (upper right). The inset panel to the right is a four-color image that combines Hubble red, green and blue filtered exposures with Chandra X-ray observations colored purple. The Hubble image shows the northern bubble of hot ionized gas in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole. The black hole appears to have blasted out jets of bright light from gas it’s accreting from thecompanion galaxy. This happened twice in the past 100,000 years. While astronomers have predicted such objects can flicker on and off as a result of gas-feeding events, this is the first time one has convincingly been caught in the act. The galaxy pair is 800 million light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA , ESA, and J. Comerford (University of Colorado-Boulder)

    This is an image of galaxy SDSS J1354+1327 (lower center) and its companion galaxy SDSS J1354+1328 (upper right). The inset panel to the right is a four-color image that combines Hubble red, green and blue filtered exposures with Chandra X-ray observations colored purple. The Hubble image shows the northern bubble of hot ionized gas in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole. The black hole appears to have blasted out jets of bright light from gas it’s accreting from thecompanion galaxy. This happened twice in the past 100,000 years. While astronomers have predicted such objects can flicker on and off as a result of gas-feeding events, this is the first time one has convincingly been caught in the act. The galaxy pair is 800 million light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA , ESA, and J...

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    Swarm of Hydrogen Clouds flying away from center of the Milky Way

    January 14, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    GBT reveals hydrogen clouds flying out of the Milky Way in the Fermi Bubbles. Credit: Illustration and Design: V. Vosteen; Photo: S. Brunier (GBO/AUI/NSF)

    GBT reveals hydrogen clouds flying out of the Milky Way in the Fermi Bubbles. Credit: Illustration and Design: V. Vosteen; Photo: S. Brunier (GBO/AUI/NSF)

    A team has discovered what appears to be a grand exodus of >100 hydrogen clouds streaming away from the center of the Milky Way and heading into intergalactic space. This observation, made with the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT), may give astronomers a clearer picture of the so-called Fermi Bubbles, giant balloons of superheated gas billowing out above and below the disk of our galaxy.

    “The center of the Milky Way is a special place,” notes Jay Lockman, an astronomer at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia...

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    Can Muesli help against Arthritis?

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

    Bowl of muesli/oats is full of fiber which can be broken down by the microbiome in SCFAs. Short-chain fatty acids regulate systemic bone mass and protect from pathological bone loss. Nature Communications, 2018; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02490-4

    Bowl of muesli/oats is full of fiber which can be broken down by the microbiome in SCFAs. Short-chain fatty acids regulate systemic bone mass and protect from pathological bone loss. Nature Communications, 2018; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02490-4

    Fiber affects Autoimmune diseases. It is well known that healthy eating increases our general sense of wellbeing. Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have now discovered that a fibre-rich diet can have a positive influence on chronic inflammatory joint diseases, leading to stronger bones. The key to the effect our diet has on our health are intestinal bacteria.

    Every adult carries ~2kg of benign bacteria in their intestines...

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