Let's have a good old fashion space elevator thread!
>What is a space elevator thread?
A space elevator thread is where anyone can post articles on recent scientific discoveries. We used to have them on /pol/ all the time and they were great for boosting moral.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04816-8
>A machine that maintains livers for transplant at body temperature, instead of in a cold solution on ice, helps to improve tissue quality and reduce the discard rate of organs that are suitable for transplantation.
>In the first randomized clinical trial of its kind, researchers tested the technique head-to-head against cold storage, with the results published in Nature on 18 April1. The method could prolong survival for organ recipients and reduce the death toll among the tens of thousands of patients globally who need donor livers today.
>“This is a line-in-the-sand moment for liver transplantation,” says Darius Mirza, a transplant surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK, who helped to test the device, which is known as metra (Greek for ‘womb’).
>Transplant experts say that the device, and others like it, could boost the supply of livers available for transplant by reducing the number that are discarded.
/mlpol/ - My Little Politics
Archived thread
File (): D1BF88B1F928847003462A80B2D03A96-64487.jpg (63.0 KB, 800x534, d41586-018-04816-8_1569996….jpg)
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04760-7
>A microscope that combines two imaging techniques — including one used by astronomers — now allows researchers to capture 3D videos of living cells inside organisms.
>The approach addresses long-standing problems with imaging cells in living tissue. Because of how light interacts with different shapes and materials, trying to get a picture of a cell alongside its neighbours is like looking through a bag of marbles, says Eric Betzig, a physicist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, who led the team that developed the device. To produce crisp images, conventional microscopes often isolate their subjects on a glass slide or bombard them with potentially harmful amounts of light.
>But observing cells in isolation under glass is like going to the zoo to study lion behaviour, says Betzig. His team’s technique lets researchers observe cells in their natural habitat: the video above depicts an immune cell on the prowl in a zebrafish embryo’s inner ear. Betzig and his colleagues described their process1 on 19 April in Science.
>The technique shows researchers what cellular structures can do without them having to speculate about it first, says biochemist Tom Kornberg of the University of California, San Francisco.
>To produce the immune-cell video — among others — Betzig and his colleagues avoided the intense light that conventional microscopes use, because that can damage or kill living cells. Instead, the team used a technique called lattice light-sheet microscopy, which minimizes cellular damage by repeatedly passing a thin sheet of light up and down living tissue at high speed.
>A microscope that combines two imaging techniques — including one used by astronomers — now allows researchers to capture 3D videos of living cells inside organisms.
>The approach addresses long-standing problems with imaging cells in living tissue. Because of how light interacts with different shapes and materials, trying to get a picture of a cell alongside its neighbours is like looking through a bag of marbles, says Eric Betzig, a physicist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, who led the team that developed the device. To produce crisp images, conventional microscopes often isolate their subjects on a glass slide or bombard them with potentially harmful amounts of light.
>But observing cells in isolation under glass is like going to the zoo to study lion behaviour, says Betzig. His team’s technique lets researchers observe cells in their natural habitat: the video above depicts an immune cell on the prowl in a zebrafish embryo’s inner ear. Betzig and his colleagues described their process1 on 19 April in Science.
>The technique shows researchers what cellular structures can do without them having to speculate about it first, says biochemist Tom Kornberg of the University of California, San Francisco.
>To produce the immune-cell video — among others — Betzig and his colleagues avoided the intense light that conventional microscopes use, because that can damage or kill living cells. Instead, the team used a technique called lattice light-sheet microscopy, which minimizes cellular damage by repeatedly passing a thin sheet of light up and down living tissue at high speed.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161110162840.htm
>For the first time, scientists have shown that probiotics -- beneficial live bacteria and yeasts taken as dietary supplements -- can improve cognitive function in humans. In a new clinical trial, scientists show that a daily dose of probiotic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bacteria taken over a period of just 12 weeks is enough to yield a moderate but significant improvement in the score of elderly Alzheimer's patients on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale, a standard measure of cognitive impairment.
>Probiotics are known to give partial protection against certain infectious diarrheas, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, eczema, allergies, colds, tooth decay, and periodontal disease. But scientists have long hypothesized that probiotics might also boost cognition, as there is continuous two-way communication between the intestinal microflora, the gastrointestinal tract, and the brain through the nervous system, the immune system, and hormones (along the so-called "microbiota-gut-brain axis"). In mice, probiotics have indeed been shown to improve learning and memory, and reduce anxiety and depression- and OCD-like symptoms. But prior to the present study there was very limited evidence of any cognitive benefits in humans.
>Here, the researchers, from Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, and Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, present results from a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial on a total of 52 women and men with Alzheimer's between 60 and 95 years of age. Half of the patients daily received 200 ml milk enriched with four probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, L. fermentum, and Bifidobacterium bifidum (approximately 400 billion bacteria per species), while the other half received untreated milk.
>For the first time, scientists have shown that probiotics -- beneficial live bacteria and yeasts taken as dietary supplements -- can improve cognitive function in humans. In a new clinical trial, scientists show that a daily dose of probiotic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bacteria taken over a period of just 12 weeks is enough to yield a moderate but significant improvement in the score of elderly Alzheimer's patients on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale, a standard measure of cognitive impairment.
>Probiotics are known to give partial protection against certain infectious diarrheas, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, eczema, allergies, colds, tooth decay, and periodontal disease. But scientists have long hypothesized that probiotics might also boost cognition, as there is continuous two-way communication between the intestinal microflora, the gastrointestinal tract, and the brain through the nervous system, the immune system, and hormones (along the so-called "microbiota-gut-brain axis"). In mice, probiotics have indeed been shown to improve learning and memory, and reduce anxiety and depression- and OCD-like symptoms. But prior to the present study there was very limited evidence of any cognitive benefits in humans.
>Here, the researchers, from Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, and Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, present results from a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial on a total of 52 women and men with Alzheimer's between 60 and 95 years of age. Half of the patients daily received 200 ml milk enriched with four probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, L. fermentum, and Bifidobacterium bifidum (approximately 400 billion bacteria per species), while the other half received untreated milk.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180404133518.htm
>Scientists have solved the structure of a photosynthetic protein to reveal how it converts near-infrared light into an electrical charge. The new study gives a pioneering insight into the efficiency and limits of the life-giving process, photosynthesis.
>The new study gives a pioneering insight into the efficiency and limits of the life-giving process, photosynthesis.
>Plants and algae use chlorophyll to absorb energy from the Sun to power photosynthesis at wavelengths up to 720 nm -- which is in the red part of the light spectrum, at the limit of visibility to the human eye. However, some bacteria can push the boundaries of the energy used to wavelengths well in the near-infrared region.
>The pioneering research was performed on a photosynthetic LH1-RC complex from the bacterium Blastochloris viridis, which can harvest and use light at wavelengths over 1,000 nm.
>The structure of this complex, determined using cryo-electron microscopy, shows how it converts near-infrared light into an electrical charge in order to power cell metabolism, which enables this bacterium to live at the extreme red limit of photosynthesis on Earth.
>Scientists have solved the structure of a photosynthetic protein to reveal how it converts near-infrared light into an electrical charge. The new study gives a pioneering insight into the efficiency and limits of the life-giving process, photosynthesis.
>The new study gives a pioneering insight into the efficiency and limits of the life-giving process, photosynthesis.
>Plants and algae use chlorophyll to absorb energy from the Sun to power photosynthesis at wavelengths up to 720 nm -- which is in the red part of the light spectrum, at the limit of visibility to the human eye. However, some bacteria can push the boundaries of the energy used to wavelengths well in the near-infrared region.
>The pioneering research was performed on a photosynthetic LH1-RC complex from the bacterium Blastochloris viridis, which can harvest and use light at wavelengths over 1,000 nm.
>The structure of this complex, determined using cryo-electron microscopy, shows how it converts near-infrared light into an electrical charge in order to power cell metabolism, which enables this bacterium to live at the extreme red limit of photosynthesis on Earth.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180419141503.htm
>Gene editing of bone marrow stem cells in pigtail macaques infected with simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) significantly reduces the size of dormant 'viral reservoirs' that pose a risk of reactivation.
>In 2007, HIV-positive Timothy Brown, also known as the Berlin Patient, received a bone marrow stem cell transplant to treat his leukemia. The procedure eliminated HIV from his system, likely facilitated by a mutation in the gene CCR5 in the donor cells that made them resistant to HIV. However, it is rare to find matching donors with CCR5 mutations, and transplant is considered too dangerous for otherwise healthy HIV-positive patients, due to risk of donor cells attacking patients' cells.
>To address this challenge, Peterson and colleagues are exploring the use of gene editing techniques to introduce the CCR5 mutation into a patient's own stem cells. In previous work, they demonstrated the ability to safely remove bone marrow stem cells from a healthy macaque, edit the CCR5 gene, and transplant the cells back into the macaque, where the CCR5-mutant cells successfully multiplied.
>Now, the research team has performed the same technique in macaques infected with simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) and receiving antiretroviral therapy, making them analogous to HIV-infected people undergoing treatment to keep their HIV levels low. The scientists found that, after transplant, the CCR5 gene-edited cells were able to multiply in the macaques, giving rise to white blood cells that also had the mutation and were therefore resistant to SHIV.
>Gene editing of bone marrow stem cells in pigtail macaques infected with simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) significantly reduces the size of dormant 'viral reservoirs' that pose a risk of reactivation.
>In 2007, HIV-positive Timothy Brown, also known as the Berlin Patient, received a bone marrow stem cell transplant to treat his leukemia. The procedure eliminated HIV from his system, likely facilitated by a mutation in the gene CCR5 in the donor cells that made them resistant to HIV. However, it is rare to find matching donors with CCR5 mutations, and transplant is considered too dangerous for otherwise healthy HIV-positive patients, due to risk of donor cells attacking patients' cells.
>To address this challenge, Peterson and colleagues are exploring the use of gene editing techniques to introduce the CCR5 mutation into a patient's own stem cells. In previous work, they demonstrated the ability to safely remove bone marrow stem cells from a healthy macaque, edit the CCR5 gene, and transplant the cells back into the macaque, where the CCR5-mutant cells successfully multiplied.
>Now, the research team has performed the same technique in macaques infected with simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) and receiving antiretroviral therapy, making them analogous to HIV-infected people undergoing treatment to keep their HIV levels low. The scientists found that, after transplant, the CCR5 gene-edited cells were able to multiply in the macaques, giving rise to white blood cells that also had the mutation and were therefore resistant to SHIV.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180419141530.htm
>Researchers are leveraging gene-editing tools and mini-organs grown in the lab to study the effects of DISC1 mutations in cerebral organoids -- 'mini brains' -- cultured from human stem cells.
>Major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, severe depression and bipolar disorder share a common genetic link. Studies of specific families with a history of these types of illnesses have revealed that affected family members share a mutation in the gene DISC1. While researchers have been able to study how DISC1 mutations alter the brain during development in animal models, it has been difficult to find the right tools to study changes in humans. However, advancements in engineering human stem cells are now allowing researchers to grow mini-organs in labs, and gene-editing tools can be used to insert specific mutations into these cells.
>Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital are leveraging these new technologies to study the effects of DISC1 mutations in cerebral organoids -- "mini brains" -- cultured from human stem cells. Their results are published in Translational Psychiatry.
>"Mini-brains can help us model brain development," said senior author Tracy Young-Pearse, PhD, head of the Young-Pearse Lab in the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at BWH. "Compared to traditional methods that have allowed us to investigate human cells in culture in two-dimensions, these cultures let us investigate the three-dimensional structure and function of the cells as they are developing, giving us more information than we would get with a traditional cell culture."
>Researchers are leveraging gene-editing tools and mini-organs grown in the lab to study the effects of DISC1 mutations in cerebral organoids -- 'mini brains' -- cultured from human stem cells.
>Major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, severe depression and bipolar disorder share a common genetic link. Studies of specific families with a history of these types of illnesses have revealed that affected family members share a mutation in the gene DISC1. While researchers have been able to study how DISC1 mutations alter the brain during development in animal models, it has been difficult to find the right tools to study changes in humans. However, advancements in engineering human stem cells are now allowing researchers to grow mini-organs in labs, and gene-editing tools can be used to insert specific mutations into these cells.
>Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital are leveraging these new technologies to study the effects of DISC1 mutations in cerebral organoids -- "mini brains" -- cultured from human stem cells. Their results are published in Translational Psychiatry.
>"Mini-brains can help us model brain development," said senior author Tracy Young-Pearse, PhD, head of the Young-Pearse Lab in the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at BWH. "Compared to traditional methods that have allowed us to investigate human cells in culture in two-dimensions, these cultures let us investigate the three-dimensional structure and function of the cells as they are developing, giving us more information than we would get with a traditional cell culture."
Let's add something astronomy related.
What will TESS do in orbit?
https://www.space.com/40346-nasa-tess-exoplanet-mission-whats-next.html
I'm personally interested to see what will come out of this mission.
What will TESS do in orbit?
https://www.space.com/40346-nasa-tess-exoplanet-mission-whats-next.html
I'm personally interested to see what will come out of this mission.
When can I get Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in a probiotic drink and will it give me nigger aids?
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180423135054.htm
>In a world first, researchers have identified a new DNA structure -- called the i-motif -- inside cells. A twisted 'knot' of DNA, the i-motif has never before been directly seen inside living cells.
>"When most of us think of DNA, we think of the double helix," says Associate Professor Daniel Christ (Head, Antibody Therapeutics Lab, Garvan) who co-led the research. "This new research reminds us that totally different DNA structures exist -- and could well be important for our cells."
>"The i-motif is a four-stranded 'knot' of DNA," says Associate Professor Marcel Dinger (Head, Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics, Garvan),.who co-led the research with A/Prof Christ.
>"In the knot structure, C letters on the same strand of DNA bind to each other -- so this is very different from a double helix, where 'letters' on opposite strands recognise each other, and where Cs bind to Gs [guanines]."
>In a world first, researchers have identified a new DNA structure -- called the i-motif -- inside cells. A twisted 'knot' of DNA, the i-motif has never before been directly seen inside living cells.
>"When most of us think of DNA, we think of the double helix," says Associate Professor Daniel Christ (Head, Antibody Therapeutics Lab, Garvan) who co-led the research. "This new research reminds us that totally different DNA structures exist -- and could well be important for our cells."
>"The i-motif is a four-stranded 'knot' of DNA," says Associate Professor Marcel Dinger (Head, Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics, Garvan),.who co-led the research with A/Prof Christ.
>"In the knot structure, C letters on the same strand of DNA bind to each other -- so this is very different from a double helix, where 'letters' on opposite strands recognise each other, and where Cs bind to Gs [guanines]."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180306093304.htm
>The earliest oxygen-producing microbes may not have been cyanobacteria. Ancient microbes may have been producing oxygen through photosynthesis a billion years earlier than we thought, which means oxygen was available for living organisms very close to the origin of life on earth. Researchers studied the molecular machines responsible for photosynthesis and found the process may have evolved as long as 3.6 billion years ago.
>The author of the study, Dr. Tanai Cardona, says the research can help to solve the controversy around when organisms started producing oxygen -- something that was vital to the evolution of life on earth. It also suggests that the microorganisms we previously believed to be the first to produce oxygen -- cyanobacteria -- evolved later, and that simpler bacteria produced oxygen first.
>"My results mean that the process that sustains almost all life on earth today may have been doing so for a lot longer than we think," said Dr. Cardona. "It may have been that the early availability of oxygen was what allowed microbes to diversify and dominate the world for billions of years. What allowed microbes to escape the cradle where life arose and conquer every corner of this world, more than 3 billion years ago."
>The earliest oxygen-producing microbes may not have been cyanobacteria. Ancient microbes may have been producing oxygen through photosynthesis a billion years earlier than we thought, which means oxygen was available for living organisms very close to the origin of life on earth. Researchers studied the molecular machines responsible for photosynthesis and found the process may have evolved as long as 3.6 billion years ago.
>The author of the study, Dr. Tanai Cardona, says the research can help to solve the controversy around when organisms started producing oxygen -- something that was vital to the evolution of life on earth. It also suggests that the microorganisms we previously believed to be the first to produce oxygen -- cyanobacteria -- evolved later, and that simpler bacteria produced oxygen first.
>"My results mean that the process that sustains almost all life on earth today may have been doing so for a lot longer than we think," said Dr. Cardona. "It may have been that the early availability of oxygen was what allowed microbes to diversify and dominate the world for billions of years. What allowed microbes to escape the cradle where life arose and conquer every corner of this world, more than 3 billion years ago."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180212121226.htm
>An international team of researchers have discovered egg cases of deep-sea fish near hydrothermal vents. The team believes that deep-sea skates, a relative of sharks and rays, use the warm water near the vents to accelerate the typically years-long incubation time of their eggs.
>Some deep-sea skates -- cartilaginous fish related to rays and sharks -- use volcanic heat emitted at hydrothermal vents to incubate their eggs, according to a new study in the journal Scientific Reports. Because deep-sea skates have some of the longest egg incubation times, estimated to last more than four years, the researchers believe the fish are using the hot vents to accelerate embryo development. This the first time such behavior has been seen in marine animals.
>An international team of researchers have discovered egg cases of deep-sea fish near hydrothermal vents. The team believes that deep-sea skates, a relative of sharks and rays, use the warm water near the vents to accelerate the typically years-long incubation time of their eggs.
>Some deep-sea skates -- cartilaginous fish related to rays and sharks -- use volcanic heat emitted at hydrothermal vents to incubate their eggs, according to a new study in the journal Scientific Reports. Because deep-sea skates have some of the longest egg incubation times, estimated to last more than four years, the researchers believe the fish are using the hot vents to accelerate embryo development. This the first time such behavior has been seen in marine animals.
>>142479
Well this is interesting.
As far as I'm aware plants are more efficient than solar panels. I hope they aim to genetically modify these to a usable product. The biggest hindrance in solar panel tech is not being able to utilize the full spectrum of light. But this is something that plants have come to master.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about this.
Well this is interesting.
As far as I'm aware plants are more efficient than solar panels. I hope they aim to genetically modify these to a usable product. The biggest hindrance in solar panel tech is not being able to utilize the full spectrum of light. But this is something that plants have come to master.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about this.
https://www.harvardprostateknowledge.org/does-frequent-ejaculation-help-ward-off-prostate-cancer
Remember it is a minimum of 21 so anything over is a bone-nus
Remember it is a minimum of 21 so anything over is a bone-nus
>>142852
You might find this interesting.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160411152653.htm
>For the first time ever, researchers have connected nine biological-solar (bio-solar) cells into a bio-solar panel. Then they continuously produced electricity from the panel and generated the most wattage of any existing small-scale bio-solar cells - 5.59 microwatts.
You might find this interesting.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160411152653.htm
>For the first time ever, researchers have connected nine biological-solar (bio-solar) cells into a bio-solar panel. Then they continuously produced electricity from the panel and generated the most wattage of any existing small-scale bio-solar cells - 5.59 microwatts.
File (): CFD08662A69582C3CA0E5935BE9FEE06-1161705.pdf (1.1 MB, , Pigments-from-UV-resistant….pdf)
>>142852
Problem with all bio-stuff be it leds, solar panels or such is their organic degradation and short lifetime from that. This is also reason why there was boom in oled displays in both mobile and tv screens but is more or less dwindled down now. Because in living things there is constant cycle of producing new cells/ compounds and in current organic tech, that is nonexistent.
Problem with all bio-stuff be it leds, solar panels or such is their organic degradation and short lifetime from that. This is also reason why there was boom in oled displays in both mobile and tv screens but is more or less dwindled down now. Because in living things there is constant cycle of producing new cells/ compounds and in current organic tech, that is nonexistent.
>>142726
>Ancient microbes may have been producing oxygen through photosynthesis a billion years earlier than we thought, which means oxygen was available for living organisms very close to the origin of life on earth.
Hello panspermia headcanon.
>>142852
As far as I know, plants a shit. Their efficiency is in the low single-digits percent.
>Ancient microbes may have been producing oxygen through photosynthesis a billion years earlier than we thought, which means oxygen was available for living organisms very close to the origin of life on earth.
Hello panspermia headcanon.
>>142852
As far as I know, plants a shit. Their efficiency is in the low single-digits percent.
File (): C05E7D6147770CCE2FAFAA260F9B7781-167236.jpg (163.3 KB, 1280x720, maxresdefault.jpg)
>>142775
>Still no space elevators
There's just no reason to build one at the moment.
We have all these great ideas for launch technologies, off-Earth industry and colonization on paper, but no economic incentive to actually go and do it; each part more or less requires all other parts to be in place first. Mining the Moon could give us raw materials to build things in orbit, space stations could make it easier to go to Mars, etc - but if no one is sending colonists to other planets or building things in Earth orbit then there's no point in building infrastructure on that scale.
Building an ethnostate orbital habitat, pic and video related, might be one of the few things that could kick off commercial space for real. (It's hard to imagine someone wanting to take the first step, but maybe if you are looking to effectively start a new country you'd be in the market for a large plot of land that is far removed from everyone else.) If someone were to set a goal like that and back it up with real money, then you'd have a reason to go back to the Moon, a reason to want cheap rockets or exotic launch technologies and a reason to actually start building stuff up there.
It would require insane amounts of money though, so it seems pretty unlikely. On the other hand if one could come up with the funding for an asteroid retrieval mission then maybe that could start paying for things.
Isaac Arthur - O'Neill Cylinders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDlSORhI-k
>Still no space elevators
There's just no reason to build one at the moment.
We have all these great ideas for launch technologies, off-Earth industry and colonization on paper, but no economic incentive to actually go and do it; each part more or less requires all other parts to be in place first. Mining the Moon could give us raw materials to build things in orbit, space stations could make it easier to go to Mars, etc - but if no one is sending colonists to other planets or building things in Earth orbit then there's no point in building infrastructure on that scale.
Building an ethnostate orbital habitat, pic and video related, might be one of the few things that could kick off commercial space for real. (It's hard to imagine someone wanting to take the first step, but maybe if you are looking to effectively start a new country you'd be in the market for a large plot of land that is far removed from everyone else.) If someone were to set a goal like that and back it up with real money, then you'd have a reason to go back to the Moon, a reason to want cheap rockets or exotic launch technologies and a reason to actually start building stuff up there.
It would require insane amounts of money though, so it seems pretty unlikely. On the other hand if one could come up with the funding for an asteroid retrieval mission then maybe that could start paying for things.
Isaac Arthur - O'Neill Cylinders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDlSORhI-k
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