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Dec 4, 2018

Reverse Brain Death with Stem Cells

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Who isn’t interested in new ways to apply stem cell therapy these days?

Speaking of, have you heard about the scientists in Philadelphia, PA, who have been injecting stem cells directly into the spinal cords of medically brain-dead people in order to revive them?

In a page taken from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the idea of “bringing people back from the dead” is a little too much like “playing God” for some critics to appreciate.

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Dec 4, 2018

“Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” Goldman Sachs analysts ask

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, business, genetics, sustainability

Analyst Salveen Richter and colleagues laid it out:

The potential to deliver “one shot cures” is one of the most attractive aspects of gene therapy, genetically engineered cell therapy, and gene editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies… While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow.

For a real-world example, they pointed to Gilead Sciences, which markets treatments for hepatitis C that have cure rates exceeding 90 percent. In 2015, the company’s hepatitis C treatment sales peaked at $12.5 billion. But as more people were cured and there were fewer infected individuals to spread the disease, sales began to languish. Goldman Sachs analysts estimate that the treatments will bring in less than $4 billion this year.

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Dec 4, 2018

Exclusive: Sparkly, opal-filled fossils reveal new dinosaur species

Posted by in category: futurism

Australian miners uncovered the gem of a find—a dog-size herbivore named Weewarrasaurus pobeni.

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Dec 4, 2018

Hello Mars, Farewell Mars

Posted by in category: space

Not only did NASA’s Insight probe make it down to the surface of Mars, but part of the support system for the mission took their first, and last, close up peek at the red planet. https://bit.ly/2UgwmHY&h=AT1M4EEI8SBcHDGIg7qDLpkauTEHcWZ6QCn…HKZoQvgkWA


As NASA’s InSight mission lands on Mars, its companions sail onward.

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Dec 4, 2018

How China’s ‘social credit score’ will punish and reward citizens

Posted by in categories: business, government

By 2020, China plans to assign each of its 1.4 billion citizens a “social credit score” that will determine what people are allowed to do, and where they rank in society.

It’s part of a broad effort in China to build a so-called reputation system that will measure, in theory, the credibility of government officials and businesses, in addition to citizens. The Chinese government says the system will boost “trust” nationwide and build a culture of “sincerity.”

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Dec 4, 2018

The 2018 Update on The Future of Everything

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, virtual reality

Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), Haptics and Holographics, are all in gradual market diffusion stage as of 2018, after having long been the stuff of science fiction content. Even so, even as of 2018, the misconceptions remains overwhelmingly widespread and strong, that these are for gaming, entertainment, leisure and recreation. None of these technologies or interface methods, however, were ever meant to be for just that alone.

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Dec 4, 2018

These Astronaut Photos of a Soyuz Launch from Space Are Just Incredible!

Posted by in category: space

Astronaut Alexander Gerst captured incredible photographs of the launch of his new companions to the International Space Station.

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Dec 4, 2018

Explaining the power of curiosity – to your brain, hunger for knowledge is much the same as hunger for food

Posted by in categories: food, neuroscience

Always hungry 🙈.


By Christian Jarrett. Researchers provoked curiosity in their volunteers using magic and obscure trivia questions.

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Dec 4, 2018

Early Puberty Mystery Linked to Family Exposure to Household Chemicals

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A merican girls are now going through puberty significantly earlier than in decades prior, a trend that’s been linked to physiological and psychological risks. The various factors thought to drive early puberty include obesity, toxic stress, and environmental elements. A landmark study published Monday looks at one particular type of environmental element — the chemicals in household items.

A long-running study on mothers and children published in Human Reproduction determined that the onset of female puberty is associated with exposure to chemicals like phthalates, parabens, and the antibacterial agent triclosan. These products in personal care products, like some brands of perfumes, cosmetics, and toothpaste. The same result was not found in populations of boys, whose timing of puberty was also examined in this study.

“We have known for the past 15 to 20 years that girls are entering puberty at an earlier age than they used to in the past,” lead author and University of California, Berkeley associate professor Kim Harley, Ph.D. tells Inverse. “We certainly know that obesity plays a role in that but now we also know that the hormone-disrupting chemicals that are in our homes and in our environment could be an additional factor that’s contributing to this.”

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Dec 4, 2018

Two experimental cancer drugs team up after unexpected discovery

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Researchers at MIT have used two experimental cancer drugs in tandem to fight melanomas. The team paired protein kinase inhibitors with ribonuclease drugs and set them loose onto tumors, and found that the combination worked better than either drug does alone. The discovery could help reduce side effects of cancer treatments and make them more effective.

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