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    Now you can ‘Build your own’ Bio-Bot

    February 13, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Biology/Biotechnology

    Bio-bot design process overview.

    (a) Bio-bot design is inspired by biological design in the body. (b) Bio-bot skeletons and muscle bioactuator injection molds are designed using computer-aided design (CAD) software (Steps 1 and 2), (c) tested using finite element analysis (FEA) software (Steps 20–25), and (d) manufactured via stereolithographic 3D printing (Steps 3–10). (e) Muscle rings are tissue-engineered and coupled to bio-bot skeletons (Steps 11–16), and assessed via (f) immunohistochemical staining (Step 26) and (g) externally stimulated force production (Step 19). Each step of the design process (a–g) is iterative, and feedback from each step is used to improve the functionality of the bio-bot with each iteration. Scale bars, 2 mm (e); 500 μm (f). a,c,f adapted with permission from ref...

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    Giant Radio Galaxy discovered by astronomers

    February 13, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Background SDSS image (composite from bands g, r and i) overlaid with white MSSS contours of the GRG at 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 times the RMS noise (34 mJy/beam). NVSS contours are overlaid in red at 3, 5, 10 and 20 times the RMS noise (0.55 mJy/beam) revealing a bright part of the radio jet towards the north-east. The beam sizes are shown in the lower left. Credit: Clarke et al., 2017. Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-02-giant-radio-galaxy-astronomers.html#jCp

    Background SDSS image (composite from bands g, r and i) overlaid with white MSSS contours of the GRG at 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 times the RMS noise (34 mJy/beam). NVSS contours are overlaid in red at 3, 5, 10 and 20 times the RMS noise (0.55 mJy/beam) revealing a bright part of the radio jet towards the north-east. The beam sizes are shown in the lower left. Credit: Clarke et al., 2017.

    An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new giant radio galaxy (GRG) associated with the galaxy triplet known as UGC 9555. The newly discovered galaxy turns out to be one of the largest GRGs so far detected. Located 820 million light years away from the Earth, UGC 9555 is a part of a larger group of galaxies designated MSPM 02158...

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    New data from NOAA GOES-16’s Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) instrument

    February 13, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist's concept of the GOES-16 aircraft is shown. Credit: NASA

    Artist’s concept of the GOES-16 aircraft is shown. Credit: NASA

    The new Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) instrument onboard NOAA’s GOES-16 is working and successfully sending data back to Earth. A plot from SEISS data showed how fluxes of charged particles increased over a few minutes around the satellite on January 19, 2017. These particles are often associated with brilliant displays of aurora borealis at northern latitudes and australis at southern latitudes; however, they can pose a radiation hazard to astronauts and other satellites, and threaten radio communications.

    Information from SEISS will help NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center provide early warning of these high flux events, so astronauts, satellite operators and others can take action to protect lives and equipment...

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    Epilepsy Drug discovered in Fish Model shows promise in Small Pediatric Clinical Trial

    February 12, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    A zebrafish model of Dravet syndrome, a severe form of pediatric epilepsy, may help scientists quickly find drugs for the devastating disease. Credit: Image courtesy of Scott Baraban, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco

    A zebrafish model of Dravet syndrome, a severe form of pediatric epilepsy, may help scientists quickly find drugs for the devastating disease. Credit: Image courtesy of Scott Baraban, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco

    A study in the journal Brain describes what could be considered a direct “aquarium-to-bedside” approach, taking a drug discovered in a genetic zebrafish model of epilepsy and testing it, with promising results, in a small number of children with the disease. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. “This is the first time that scientists have taken a potential therapy discovered in a fish model directly into people in a clinical trial,” said Vicky Whittemore, Ph.D...

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