It's a mystery that presented itself unexpectedly: The radioactive decay of some elements sitting quietly in laboratories on Earth seemed to be influenced by activities inside the sun, 93 million miles away.
Is this possible?
Researchers from Stanford and Purdue University believe it is. But their explanation of how it happens opens the door to yet another mystery.
Lab made cornea offers new hope for restored vision
Corneas made in the laboratory have dramatically improved the sight of 10 Swedish patients with significant vision loss.
Produced entirely from synthetic collagen, the implants offer the tantalising possibility for a replacement to human donor tissues.
The custom-made corneas work by prompting regeneration of the nerves and cells in the eye.
The synthetic cornea thing makes me excited. I have keratoconus, and while it's not serious, if it ever progressed I would need to wear rigid contact lenses.
The synthetic cornea thing makes me excited. I have keratoconus, and while it's not serious, if it ever progressed I would need to wear rigid contact lenses.
The artificial cornea is just one of several breakthroughs in recent years for the blind.
Doctors have also grown corneas using a patient's own stem cells. In Italy, researchers studied a technique to repair damaged corneas by using patients' unscathed stem cells to grow new tissue that was grafted into the patient's own eye. It was successful in 78 percent of patients, according to researchers, who followed the patients for 10 years after the procedure.
It's a mystery that presented itself unexpectedly: The radioactive decay of some elements sitting quietly in laboratories on Earth seemed to be influenced by activities inside the sun, 93 million miles away.
Is this possible?
Researchers from Stanford and Purdue University believe it is. But their explanation of how it happens opens the door to yet another mystery.
This is very interesting to me as I am in the field of Nuclear Medicine and therefore we deal with radioactive medical isotopes.
However, if this is proven correct it could have wide-ranging implications for all of science. For example, scientists would have to decide how accurate radioistope dating techniques can be considered and if there is a way to adjust for these changes in decay rate.
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Scientists observing a small group of Australian lizards very closely, believe they may be watching evolution happen right before their eyes.
A variety of Australian skink - like snake but with four tiny legs - is slowly starting abandon egg laying and beginning to give birth to live offspring like a mammal does.
Lab made cornea offers new hope for restored vision
Corneas made in the laboratory have dramatically improved the sight of 10 Swedish patients with significant vision loss.
Produced entirely from synthetic collagen, the implants offer the tantalising possibility for a replacement to human donor tissues.
The custom-made corneas work by prompting regeneration of the nerves and cells in the eye.
Crazy and slightly scary video since it shows how many objects are out there close to Earth.
Anyone catch the first episdoe of Bad Universe? It's a new Discovery channel show featuring the guy who writes the Bad Astromy blog, Phil Plait. There was some interesting stuff about the possibilty of asteroids/comets hitting Earth and how little man power we have actually looking for the ones that could result in mass extinction. Also didn't know how comets could suddenly change direction without warning.
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Thorium is a naturally occurring, slightly radioactivemetal. It is estimated to be about three to four times more abundant than uranium in the Earth's crust. It has been considered a waste product in mining rare earths, so its abundance is high and cost low.
Advocates of the use of thorium as the fuel source for nuclear reactors, such as Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia, state that they can be built to operate significantly cleaner than uranium-based power plants as the waste products are much easier to handle.[4] According to Rubbia, a ton of thorium produces the same energy as 200 tons of uranium, or 3.5 million tons of coal.[5]Edward Teller, co-founder and director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, promoted thorium energy until his death, and scientists in France, Japan, India, and Russia are now creating their own thorium-based power plants.[6] One leading commentator is calling for the creation of a new Manhattan Project, stating that the use of thorium fuel for energy would "reinvent the global energy landscape . . . and an end to our dependence on fossil fuels within three to five years."[5]
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The great bowerbird’s taste for interior design seems quite Spartan compared to his relatives. He creates an avenue of sticks leading up to a courtyard, decorated with gray and white objects, such as shells, bones and pebbles. The male performs in the courtyard while the female watches from the lined avenue. Her point of view is fixed and narrow, and according to Endler, the male knows how to exploit that.
He found that the males place the largest objects towards the rear of the courtyard and the smallest objects in the front near the avenue. This creates forced perspective. From the female’s point of view, the bigger objects that are further away look to be the same size the smaller objects that are close by. If bowerbird vision is anything like humans, the courtyard as a whole looks smaller to a watching female, the opposite effect to the one that Disney visitors experience.
Cool!!
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Originally Posted by atb;2661865Anyone catch the first episdoe of Bad Universe? It's a new Discovery channel show featuring the guy who writes the [URL="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/"
Bad Astromy blog[/URL], Phil Plait. There was some interesting stuff about the possibilty of asteroids/comets hitting Earth and how little man power we have actually looking for the ones that could result in mass extinction. Also didn't know how comets could suddenly change direction without warning.
one of my newest favorite shows is Through The Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. very captivating stuff, though some of the themes like time travel are hard to wrap my brain around
