Old Skin Cells Reprogrammed to Regain Youthful Function

Research from the Babraham Institute has developed a method to “time jump” human skin cells by 30 years, turning back the aging clock for cells without losing their specialized function. Work by researchers in the Institute’s Epigenetics research program has been able to partly restore the function of older cells, as well as rejuvenating the molecular measures of biological age. The research is published today in the journal eLife, and while this topic is still at an early stage of exploration, it could revolutionize regenerative medicine.

What is regenerative medicine?

As we age, our cells’ ability to function declines and the genome accumulates marks of aging. Regenerative biology aims to repair or replace cells including old ones...

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Astronomers have Spotted the Farthest Galaxy ever

Harikane et al.

An international team of astronomers, including researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, has spotted the most distant astronomical object ever: a galaxy.

Named HD1, the galaxy candidate is some 13.5 billion light-years away and is described Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal. In an accompanying paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters, scientists have begun to speculate exactly what the galaxy is.

The team proposes two ideas: HD1 may be forming stars at an astounding rate and is possibly even home to Population III stars, the universe’s very first stars — which, until now, have never been observed...

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Astronomers Detect ‘Galactic Space Laser’

Artist’s impression of a hydroxyl maser. Inside a galaxy merger are hydroxyl molecules, composed of one atom of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. When one molecule absorbs a photon at 18cm wavelength, it emits two photons of the same wavelength. When molecular gas is very dense, typically when two galaxies merge, this emission gets very bright and can be detected by radio telescopes such as the MeerKAT. © IDIA/LADUMA using data from NASA/StSci/SKAO/MolView

A powerful radio-wave laser, called a ‘megamaser’, has been observed by the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa. The record-breaking find is the most distant megamaser of its kind ever detected, at about five billion light years from Earth.

The light from the megamaser has travelled 58 thousand billion billion (58 followed by 21 z...

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New technique uses the Body’s Naturally Occurring Ions to help Transmit Data Wirelessly

Ionic communication: (Top left) Cross-sectional schematic illustration of an ionic communication device consisting of an implanted transmitter electrode pair inside biological tissue and a receiver electrode pair on the surface of the tissue. (Top right) Frequency responses of ionic communication highlighting is capacity to operate at megarhertz frequencies. A 10-link ionic communication transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) array conforming to the surface of an orchid petal. Credit: Dion Khodagholy/Columbia Engineering

Implantable bioelectronics are now often key in assisting or monitoring the heart, brain, and other vital organs, but they often lack a safe, reliable way of transmitting their data to doctors...

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