Fed2 Star - June 24, 2018 - page 2 (of 2)
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Fiona Craig
Jun 24, 2018, 6:26:04 AM6/24/18
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Fed2 Star
Earthdate June 24, 2018
[This is a subscription mailing list. Details about how to stop
receiving it are at the foot of the email.]
For a fancy formatted version go the Fed2 Star website:
http://www.ibgames.net/fednews/current/index.html
Official News part two
REAL LIFE NEWS: 3D PRINTING CREATES NEW HUMAN CORNEAS
by Hazed
The cornea is the outermost layer of the eye, but it can get damaged in
a number of ways – disease, burns, lacerations and so on – leading to
blindness. The only remedy is corneal transplant, but there is a
shortage of corneas available for transplantation.
So the news that human corneas have been produced by 3D printing is very
exciting. It could mean that in the future there will be an unlimited
supply of corneas for transplant.
Proof-of-concept research has been recently published, reporting that
the scientists mixed stem cells from a healthy donor cornea with
alginate and collagen, to produce a ‘bio-ink’ solution that could be
printed.
A low-cost 3D bio-printer was used to extrude the bio-ink in concentric
circles to form the shape of a human cornea, taking just ten minutes.
Che Connon, Professor of Tissue Engineering at Newcastle University,
explained “Our unique gel – a combination of alginate and collagen –
keeps the stem cells alive whilst producing a material which is stiff
enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be squeezed out the nozzle
of a 3D printer.
“This builds upon our previous work in which we kept cells alive for
weeks at room temperature within a similar hydrogel. Now we have a ready
to use bio-ink containing stem cells allowing users to start printing
tissues without having to worry about growing the cells separately.”
This method of producing corneas means they can be tailored to the shape
and dimensions of the recipient’s eye.
Now there will be several years of tests, but if all goes well, they
could soon become available for transplants.
Source:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2018/05/first3dprintingofcorneas/
REAL LIFE NEWS: SEE, I TOLD YOU EXERCISE WAS BAD FOR YOU (AGAIN)!
by Hazed
A teenage boy became a casualty of exercise when he suffered a dangerous
condition called rhabdomyolysis after just one intense workout.
The 17-year-old from Texas lifted weights for 90 minutes. It was his
first session, but he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father
and brother, who had been lifting weights for many years. Jared
Shamburger said, “I gotta catch up to them and get as big as them. I
have to go hard fast.”
Big mistake. After the workout, Jared complained of muscle soreness and
swelling that just wouldn’t go away. “Everything hurt. It hurt to the
touch. It was swollen,” he said.
His mother consulting the internet and found information that matched
his symptoms – a condition called rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle breaks
down extremely rapidly. It happens when skeletal muscle tissue gets
damaged, swells up, and starts rapidly breaking down, leaking various
molecules into the bloodstream. One of those substances is a protein
called myoglobin, which normally sits in muscle tissue binding iron and
oxygen. When it starts coursing through the bloodstream, it clogs up the
kidneys, which is why rhabdo can lead to kidney failure if not treated.
Jared was hospitalised for five days, but he’s expected to recover fully.
So be warned: don’t exercise too hard!
Source:
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-teenage-boy-exercised-so-hard-he-landed-in-hospital-with-a-rare-condition
REAL LIFE NEWS: OH NO, WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF BEER!
by Hazed
Terrible news – the UK is going to run out of beer!
The problem is not with beer itself, but with the CO2 that is used to
put the fizz into beer and other sparkling drinks, and to run the pumps
that serve the beet in pubs. There may be an abundance of CO2 in the
atmosphere, but the industrial stuff used to make drinks sparkle is
produced by just two plants in the UK, and right now one of them is
closed for maintenance.
That is terrible timing, with a hot summer on the cards and the World
Cup currently under way both ramping up demand.
It’s not just in the UK that CO2 plants are closed – at least five
across northern Europe are offline for maintenance. Carbonated drinks
producers are reported to be “desperate” as the shortage worsens.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has written to CO2 suppliers
asking them to do something, and one producer has said it will be able
to get limited production back on stream by the start of next month.
It does seem quite short-sighted of them not to have realised that
demand would be high this year!
Of course, lovers of traditional “real” ale which doesn’t have the
slightest bit of fizz in it will not be affected by the shortage. Lager
drinkers may just have to switch to cask ales instead.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44545010
ROBOT OF THE WEEK: ROBOBUTLER IRONS YOUR CLOTHES
by Hazed
We’ve all been waiting for a robot that will perform all the household
chores that we hate doing ourselves. Now one robot has been developed
that can do one of those boring jobs: the ironing.
The TEO robot was originally developed in 2012 at the Carlos III
University of Madrid in Spain. It learned to climb stairs and open
doors, which is a good start. But it’s also learning how to iron clothes.
TEO needs a human to assist by putting an item of clothing onto an
ironing board. Then the robot uses a camera built into its head to
create an image that represents the garment and ironing board. It
detects wrinkles on the clothing, then runs the iron over them. Then it
runs its wrinkle-detection software again and repeats the process, as
many times as necessary, until all the wrinkles are gone.
It’s a good start. Now can I please have a robot that will change the
duvet cover for me!
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138264-this-handy-robot-will-iron-your-clothes-so-you-dont-have-to/
(Note: this article is a year old but I only just came across it.)
PICTURES OF THE WEEK: SPACE WOMEN
by Hazed
Only 11% of astronauts have been women, but initiatives around the world
are aiming to change that. Here is a gallery showing pictures of women
who are involved in the space industry – some of them have made it into
space, others are scientists working on space missions.
Take a look at the pictures of women in the space industry here:
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2018/06/women-of-nasa-past-present-and-future/
Earthdate June 24, 2018
[This is a subscription mailing list. Details about how to stop
receiving it are at the foot of the email.]
For a fancy formatted version go the Fed2 Star website:
http://www.ibgames.net/fednews/current/index.html
Official News part two
REAL LIFE NEWS: 3D PRINTING CREATES NEW HUMAN CORNEAS
by Hazed
The cornea is the outermost layer of the eye, but it can get damaged in
a number of ways – disease, burns, lacerations and so on – leading to
blindness. The only remedy is corneal transplant, but there is a
shortage of corneas available for transplantation.
So the news that human corneas have been produced by 3D printing is very
exciting. It could mean that in the future there will be an unlimited
supply of corneas for transplant.
Proof-of-concept research has been recently published, reporting that
the scientists mixed stem cells from a healthy donor cornea with
alginate and collagen, to produce a ‘bio-ink’ solution that could be
printed.
A low-cost 3D bio-printer was used to extrude the bio-ink in concentric
circles to form the shape of a human cornea, taking just ten minutes.
Che Connon, Professor of Tissue Engineering at Newcastle University,
explained “Our unique gel – a combination of alginate and collagen –
keeps the stem cells alive whilst producing a material which is stiff
enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be squeezed out the nozzle
of a 3D printer.
“This builds upon our previous work in which we kept cells alive for
weeks at room temperature within a similar hydrogel. Now we have a ready
to use bio-ink containing stem cells allowing users to start printing
tissues without having to worry about growing the cells separately.”
This method of producing corneas means they can be tailored to the shape
and dimensions of the recipient’s eye.
Now there will be several years of tests, but if all goes well, they
could soon become available for transplants.
Source:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2018/05/first3dprintingofcorneas/
REAL LIFE NEWS: SEE, I TOLD YOU EXERCISE WAS BAD FOR YOU (AGAIN)!
by Hazed
A teenage boy became a casualty of exercise when he suffered a dangerous
condition called rhabdomyolysis after just one intense workout.
The 17-year-old from Texas lifted weights for 90 minutes. It was his
first session, but he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father
and brother, who had been lifting weights for many years. Jared
Shamburger said, “I gotta catch up to them and get as big as them. I
have to go hard fast.”
Big mistake. After the workout, Jared complained of muscle soreness and
swelling that just wouldn’t go away. “Everything hurt. It hurt to the
touch. It was swollen,” he said.
His mother consulting the internet and found information that matched
his symptoms – a condition called rhabdomyolysis, in which muscle breaks
down extremely rapidly. It happens when skeletal muscle tissue gets
damaged, swells up, and starts rapidly breaking down, leaking various
molecules into the bloodstream. One of those substances is a protein
called myoglobin, which normally sits in muscle tissue binding iron and
oxygen. When it starts coursing through the bloodstream, it clogs up the
kidneys, which is why rhabdo can lead to kidney failure if not treated.
Jared was hospitalised for five days, but he’s expected to recover fully.
So be warned: don’t exercise too hard!
Source:
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-teenage-boy-exercised-so-hard-he-landed-in-hospital-with-a-rare-condition
REAL LIFE NEWS: OH NO, WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF BEER!
by Hazed
Terrible news – the UK is going to run out of beer!
The problem is not with beer itself, but with the CO2 that is used to
put the fizz into beer and other sparkling drinks, and to run the pumps
that serve the beet in pubs. There may be an abundance of CO2 in the
atmosphere, but the industrial stuff used to make drinks sparkle is
produced by just two plants in the UK, and right now one of them is
closed for maintenance.
That is terrible timing, with a hot summer on the cards and the World
Cup currently under way both ramping up demand.
It’s not just in the UK that CO2 plants are closed – at least five
across northern Europe are offline for maintenance. Carbonated drinks
producers are reported to be “desperate” as the shortage worsens.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has written to CO2 suppliers
asking them to do something, and one producer has said it will be able
to get limited production back on stream by the start of next month.
It does seem quite short-sighted of them not to have realised that
demand would be high this year!
Of course, lovers of traditional “real” ale which doesn’t have the
slightest bit of fizz in it will not be affected by the shortage. Lager
drinkers may just have to switch to cask ales instead.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44545010
ROBOT OF THE WEEK: ROBOBUTLER IRONS YOUR CLOTHES
by Hazed
We’ve all been waiting for a robot that will perform all the household
chores that we hate doing ourselves. Now one robot has been developed
that can do one of those boring jobs: the ironing.
The TEO robot was originally developed in 2012 at the Carlos III
University of Madrid in Spain. It learned to climb stairs and open
doors, which is a good start. But it’s also learning how to iron clothes.
TEO needs a human to assist by putting an item of clothing onto an
ironing board. Then the robot uses a camera built into its head to
create an image that represents the garment and ironing board. It
detects wrinkles on the clothing, then runs the iron over them. Then it
runs its wrinkle-detection software again and repeats the process, as
many times as necessary, until all the wrinkles are gone.
It’s a good start. Now can I please have a robot that will change the
duvet cover for me!
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138264-this-handy-robot-will-iron-your-clothes-so-you-dont-have-to/
(Note: this article is a year old but I only just came across it.)
PICTURES OF THE WEEK: SPACE WOMEN
by Hazed
Only 11% of astronauts have been women, but initiatives around the world
are aiming to change that. Here is a gallery showing pictures of women
who are involved in the space industry – some of them have made it into
space, others are scientists working on space missions.
Take a look at the pictures of women in the space industry here:
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2018/06/women-of-nasa-past-present-and-future/
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