In a world’s first researchers have converted adult cells into stem cells that regenerated into different cell types of human skin and hair follicles. The follicles produced hair shaft and could be used for hair regeneration. Is this the end of baldness?
According to a recent editorial by three researchers specializing in human biology, while physical activity can stave off the effects of several common and debilitating diseases, when it comes to weight loss, the devil is in the diet.
"A recent report from the UK's Academy of Medical Royal Colleges described 'the miracle cure' of performing 30 min of moderate exercise, five times a week, as more powerful than many drugs administered for chronic disease prevention and management," they write. "Regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and some cancers by at least 30 percent. However, physical activity does not promote weight loss."
Infant swaddling, an old practice that has recently gained popularity in the United States, may be linked to increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). A new review of 760 SIDS cases in the journal Pediatrics found that infants who were swaddled - wrapped in light cloth with only the head exposed - were about a third more likely to die from SIDS. The risk was higher among infants sleeping on their stomachs or sides, positions already known to be more dangerous for sleeping babies. SIDS risk among swaddled infants was also higher for children older than 6 months, suggesting that swaddling should be stopped when babies are able to start rolling over. The researchers cautioned that these results should be taken with a grain of salt ...
Surgeons have successfully replaced a patient’s skull with a 3D-printed version. Three months after the operation the patient, a 22-year-old woman with a rare disorder that thickened her skull and gave her poor eyesight as well as headaches, has recovered her eyesight and has gone back to work.
Sky gazers will be treated to a rare convergence of celestial events on 31 January — a blue moon, a supermoon, and a total lunar eclipse, all in one. The phenomenon, which hasn’t happened since 1866, graces the sky when the second full moon of the month (known as a blue moon) is in its closest position to Earth, making it appear even larger than usual — a supermoon.
The seldom-seen event will be visible in western North America, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere across the Eastern Hemisphere. So, if you’re in one of those lucky locations and want to see an event that’s literally once in a blue moon, here’s your chance.
Imagine a battery the size of the one in your cell phone with enough juice to jump-start a car. It's actually not too far-fetched. Scientists at the University of Illinois have been developing microbatteries. Only a few millimeters long, these batteries may pave the way for electronics to become smaller and thinner, while still providing enough energy to be highly effective. The best part is that it recharges 1000 times faster than current batteries. Good things do come in small packages ...
Researchers have discovered that sun exposure gives skin cells a postsunshine hangover that lasts for hours. In fact, UV rays damage skin cells for hours after you've stepped out of the sun - and even if you're in complete darkness!
The residents of Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow), saw the final sunset for 2018 last Sunday. The city is currently in complete darkness until the sun rises on January 23, 2019, which is when residents begin to see touches of light over the horizon again (due to the refraction and scattering of the atmosphere).
Between November 18 and January 23, there is a decreasing amount of twilight each day (see illustration below) during the first half of the polar night, and on the winter solstice (around December 21 or December 22), civil twilight in Utqiagvik lasts for a mere 3 hours. By January 27 or 28, the sun rises completely over the horizon.
Utqiaġvik is one of the northernmost public communities in the world and is the northernmo ...
Sometimes, the Sun itself seems to dance. On just this past New Years Eve, for example, NASAs Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft imaged an impressive prominence erupting from the Suns surface. The dramatic explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in the above time lapse video covering four hours. Of particular interest is the tangled magnetic field that directs a type of solar ballet for the hot plasma as it falls back to the Sun. The scale of the disintegrating prominence is huge -- the entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing curtain of hot gas. A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month, and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection expelling hot gas into the Solar System. The energy mechanism that creates a ...
Meet Solar Impulse 2, an aircraft that can fly for up to five days straight and will reportedly be able to fly around the world. The plane is an impressive feat of engineering, with wings as wide as a 747, but weighing only a little more than the average car. Tests of the aircraft will begin in a few weeks, with the round-the-world attempt planned for next March.
Snow has fallen in Cairo, Egypt for the first time in over a century. Other countries including Turkey, Syria and Israel have also been suffering the worst winter storm in decades.
A manned mission to Mars will inevitably consist of a few people living in incredibly close quarters in a constantly stressful environment.
Starting next summer, Mars Society will be conducting a mock Mars mission in the Canadian Arctic. Six participants will live in a facility 7.6 meters tall (25 feet) and 8.3 meters wide (27 feet). For one full year, they will perform a great deal of geological experiments similar to work that would be done on Mars. Spacesuits will be worn to help simulate Mars-like conditions.
Though similar studies have been done in the past, this is the most stressful and will be more true to actual conditions on Mars. The goal of the experiment is to determine leadership structure and what equipment will be necessary. ...
A Judean date palm plant was planted in 2005 using seeds that were hidden away for 2000 years. While other species of date palms thrive around the world, this particular species was thought to be extinct for 1800 years.
Date palms are either male or female, and this one, nicknamed Methuselah, is a male, so it will not produce fruit. However, the plant is alive and well, and is the oldest known seed to successfully germinate.
Human trials are now planned. If successful, the simple, cheap HIV vaccine could be taken as a probiotic-like drink.
The new vaccine works in the opposite way to most vaccines - by suppressing, rather than triggering, an immune response. This is because HIV and SIV actually require immune cells known as CD4 T-cells in order to proliferate and establish an infection in the body.
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