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Electrons take flight at the nanoscale.

In the 1950s, geologist Marie Tharp turned depth measurements into detailed maps of the ocean floor. It led to her discovery of the Mid-Atlantic rift.

There is a largely untapped energy source along the world’s coastlines: the difference in salinity between seawater and freshwater. A new nanodevice can harness this difference to generate power.

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has reported a design for a nanofluidic device capable of converting ionic flow into usable electric power in the journal Nano Energy. The team believes that their device could be used to extract power from the natural ionic flows at seawater-freshwater boundaries.

“While our design is still a concept at this stage, it is quite versatile and already shows strong potential for energy applications,” said Jean-Pierre Leburton, a U. of I. professor of electrical & computer engineering and the project lead. “It began with an academic question—’Can a nanoscale solid-state device extract energy from ionic flow?’—but our design exceeded our expectations and surprised us in many ways.”

In a dramatic 13-minute plunge back to Earth, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule safely landed in Utah after seven years in space.

As we age, our muscles and other tissues break down in much the same way as degenerative diseases progress. What we learn from studying degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy could help researchers develop new interventions to fight common age-related ailments and chronic illnesses.

With help from NIA, biotechnology company Juvena Therapeutics has begun unlocking the secrets of proteins for regenerative medicine. Juvena scientists are using a form of muscular dystrophy — myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM-1) — as a model to sift through proteins that are produced by the body’s stem cells. These cells have the potential to become any type of cell in the body, from liver tissue to skin cells. The goal is to find proteins that encourage tissue growth and repair, ultimately designing new drugs to prevent and treat degenerative diseases like DM-1. As part of this process, Juvena hopes to learn more about how to reduce the effects of aging on muscles and other tissues, too.

A new biotech trying to establish itself can feel isolated from the larger scientific community. For example, Juvena is unable to submit findings for publication before taking care of intellectual property protections. But NIH’s peer-review process offered confidential, scientifically rigorous feedback to fill that critical gap, and the NIA Small Business Programs staff offered helpful advice.

Continue reading “Funded Small Business Spotlight: Juvena Therapeutics Unlocking the Secrets of Tissue Regeneration” »

Lithium-ion batteries could get a significant boost in energy density from disordered rock salt (DRX), a versatile battery material that can be made with almost any transition metal instead of nickel and cobalt.

DRX cathodes could provide batteries with higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion battery cathodes made of nickel and cobalt, two metals that are in critically short supply.

Continue reading “New Consortium to Make Batteries for Electric Vehicles More Sustainable” »

A 58-year-old patient with terminal heart disease became the second patient in the world to receive a historic transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart on September 20. He is recovering and communicating with his loved ones. This is only the second time in the world that a genetically modified pig heart has been transplanted into a living patient. Both historic surgeries were performed by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) faculty at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).

The first historic surgery, performed in January, 2022, was conducted on David Bennett by University of Maryland Medicine surgeons (comprising UMSOM and UMMC), who are recognized as the… More.

After world’s first successful transplant in 2022, also performed at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), this groundbreaking transplant team per.

Continue reading “UM Medicine Faculty-Scientists and Clinicians Perform Second Historic Transplant of Pig Heart into Patient with End-Stage Cardiovascular Disease” »

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Continue reading “Simulation: The Great Escape — Official Trailer” »

Scientists can now create realistic human embryo models in the lab, leading some to suggest that we rethink how we legally define an embryo.