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China introduces new ‘bone glue’ inspired by oysters for fast fracture repairing

A Chinese research team in East China’s Zhejiang Province unveiled an innovative product called “Bone 02” bone glue on Wednesday. Inspired by oysters, this glue can treat fractures with a single injection and bond shattered bone fragments in just three minutes, according to local media Zhejiang Online.

The team leader, Lin Xianfeng, an associate chief orthopedic surgeon at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital affiliated with the renowned Zhejiang University, said the adhesive can achieve precise fixation within two to three minutes, even in a blood-rich environment. In one trial case, the procedure was completed in less than three minutes — whereas traditional treatment would have required a large incision to implant steel plates and screws, Zhejiang Online said.

Laboratory tests confirmed that ‘Bone-02’ performed strongly in both safety and effectiveness. It demonstrated a maximum bonding force of over 400 pounds, a shear strength of about 0.5 MPa, and a compressive strength of around 10 MPa. These properties suggest it has the potential to replace traditional metal implants, while also reducing the risks of foreign-body reactions and infection, said the report.

Physicists demonstrate 3,000 quantum-bit system capable of continuous operation

One often-repeated example illustrates the mind-boggling potential of quantum computing: A machine with 300 quantum bits could simultaneously store more information than the number of particles in the known universe.

Now process this: Harvard scientists just unveiled a system that was 10 times bigger and the first quantum machine able to operate continuously without restarting.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, the team demonstrated a system of more than 3,000 (or qubits) that could run for more than two hours, surmounting a series of technical challenges and representing a significant step toward building the super computers, which could revolutionize science, medicine, finance, and other fields.

The promise of a quantum computing revolution

Integrated circuits form the basis of modern ‘classical’ computing. There can be hundreds of these microchips in a laptop or personal computer. Their size has meant that now mobile phones have computing power thousands of times faster than the most powerful supercomputers built in the 1980s.

Since the 1990s, supercomputers have come into their own. The most powerful supercomputer in the world, Frontier based in the US, has a million times more computing power than top-tier gaming PCs. But these devices are still based on the classical technology of integrated circuits and are therefore limited in their capabilities.

Quantum computers promise to be able to process calculations thousands, even millions of times faster than modern computers.

This Popular Diet Seems to Reduce Gum Disease, Scientists Say

There’s something rather special about the Mediterranean diet: already associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, early death, poor mental health, and more besides, a new study links the diet to better gum health too.

The study, carried out by researchers from King’s College London and the University of Catania in Italy, involved 195 participants with an average age of 49, who were given a health check-up and quizzed on their dietary habits.

Those participants who stuck more closely to the plant-rich Mediterranean diet were less likely to have gum disease, the data showed – especially those who didn’t eat much red meat.

A review of the sufficient conditions for consciousness

In a recently published article, I reviewed over 100 years of neuroscience research to see if some brain regions are more important than others for consciousness. What I found suggests scientists who study consciousness may have been undervaluing the most ancient regions of human brains.

Consciousness is usually defined by neuroscientists as the ability to have subjective experience, such as the experience of tasting an apple or of seeing the redness of its skin.

The leading theories of consciousness suggest that the outer layer of the human brain, called the cortex (in blue in figure 1), is fundamental to consciousness. This is mostly composed of the neocortex, which is newer in our evolutionary history.

The human subcortex (figure 1, brown/beige), underneath the neocortex, has not changed much in the last 500 million years. It is thought to be like electricity for a TV, necessary for consciousness, but not enough on its own.

There is another part of the brain that some neuroscientific theories of consciousness state is irrelevant for consciousness. This is the cerebellum, which is also older than the neocortex and looks like a little brain tucked in the back of the skull (figure 1, purple). Brain activity and brain networks are disrupted in unconsciousness (like in a coma). These changes can be seen in the cortex, subcortex and cerebellum.

As part of my analysis I looked at studies showing what happens to consciousness when brain activity is changed, for example, by applying electrical currents or magnetic pulses to brain regions.

These experiments in humans and animals showed that altering activity in any of these three parts of the brain can alter consciousness. Changing the activity of the neocortex can change your sense of self, make you hallucinate, or affect your judgment.

Continue reading “A review of the sufficient conditions for consciousness” | >

Our actions are dictated by ‘autopilot’ not choice, finds study

Habit, not conscious choice, drives most of our actions, according to new research from the University of Surrey, University of South Carolina and Central Queensland University.

The research, published in Psychology & Health, found that two-thirds of our daily behaviors are initiated “on autopilot”, out of habit.

Habits are actions that we are automatically prompted to do when we encounter everyday settings, due to associations that we have learned between those settings and our usual responses to them.

Scientists achieve electrically driven perovskite laser using dual-cavity design

In a recent Nature study, scientists have demonstrated an electrically driven perovskite laser using a dual-cavity design, addressing a challenge that has persisted in the field for over a decade.

The dual-cavity laser device developed by a team from Zhejiang University shows a lasing threshold an order of magnitude lower than state-of-the-art electrically driven organic lasers and offers superior operational stability with rapid modulation capabilities.

Phys.org spoke with the research team about their work.

New Huntington’s Disease Therapy Slows Patients’ Disease by 75%

Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder that is caused by an unusual number of repeats in the huntingtin gene; there make the gene too long, and lead to the production of a toxic protein in brain cells. Symptoms of the disease tend to arise when a person is in their 30s or 40s and it is typically fatal within 20 years. New work may change that, however.

Scientists Identify Brain Signal Disruptions Behind Voices in Schizophrenia

A new study reveals a missing area of brain activity in the minds of people with schizophrenia who hear voices.

The analysis of brain wave data suggests a combination of two neurological functions could trigger auditory verbal hallucinations.

Researchers from China found evidence of a breakdown in the ability to prepare the senses for specific words to be spoken. This on its own, however, isn’t enough; another area that filters our brain’s internal chatter is also enhanced in those with schizophrenia who experience unsettling auditory hallucinations.

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