Old Drugs Hint at New Ways to Beat Chronic Pain

Visualizing pain in mouse sensory neurons. Mouse sensory neurons are shown in magenta. BH4, the molecule driving chronic pain, is shown in green. Hence, the neurons “in pain” are seen in green/white. ©Cronin/IMBA

A newly identified link between chronic pain and lung cancer in mice offers hope for pain management. A new study points to possible new treatments for chronic pain with a surprising link to lung cancer. Findings of the research, conducted in laboratory mouse models, open up multiple therapeutic opportunities that could allow the world to improve chronic pain management and eclipse the opioid epidemic.

Pain is an important alarm system that alerts us to tissue damage and prompts us to withdraw from harmful situations...

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Unraveling the Mysteries of the Night Sky with AI

Unraveling the mysteries of the night sky with AI
Stitched raw video material of the camera arrangement of the AllSky7 system using an observation at the Sonneberg station. The source data are available online [cp. AllSky7 Fireball Network Germany (2020)]. Credit: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2022). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac1948

Technische Universität Ilmenau (Germany) is using artificial intelligence to improve the detection and classification of unidentified phenomena in the night sky. The research team of the group for data-intensive systems and visualization collaborated with the American Meteor Society, which initiated the AllSky7, an international network of scientists and amateur astronomers that permanently observes the night sky with specially designed cameras and classifies and assigns all events...

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Researchers find Spaceflight may be associated with DNA mutations and increased risk of developing Heart Disease and Cancer

Goukassian

A new study could lead to ongoing health monitoring of astronauts to assess possible health risks and prevent disease progression. Astronauts are at higher risk for developing mutations – possibly linked to spaceflight – that can increase the risk of developing cancer and heart disease during their lifetimes, according to a first-of-its kind study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

A team of researchers collected blood samples from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts who flew space shuttle missions between 1998 and 2001. They discovered DNA mutations, known as somatic mutations, in the blood-forming system (hematopoietic stem cells) in all 14 astronauts studied...

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New way found to turn Number Seven Plastic into Valuable Products

Closeup of two 3D-printed figurines.
The WSU research team, including postdoctoral researcher Yu-Chung Chang, used PLA plastic waste to create a high-quality resin for 3D printing.

A method to convert a commonly thrown-away plastic to a resin used in 3Dprinting could allow for making better use of plastic waste.

A team of Washington State University researchers developed a simple and efficient way to convert polylactic acid (PLA), a bio-based plastic used in products such as filament, plastic silverware and food packaging to a high-quality resin.

“We found a way to immediately turn this into something that’s stronger and better, and we hope that will provide people the incentive to upcycle this stuff instead of just toss it away,” said Yu-Chung Chang, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Mechanical and Mat...

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