Sustainable Flourishing
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We’ve all felt the sting of guilt when fruit and vegetables go bad before we could eat them. Now, researchers from MIT and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) have shown they can extend the shelf life of harvested plants by injecting them with melatonin using biodegradable microneedles.
That’s a big deal because the problem of food waste goes way beyond our salads. More than 30 percent of the world’s food is lost after it’s harvested — enough to feed more than 1 billion people. Refrigeration is the most common way to preserve foods, but it requires energy and infrastructure that many regions of the world can’t afford or lack access to.
The researchers believe their system could offer an alternative or complement to refrigeration. Central to their approach are patches of silk microneedles. The microneedles can get through the tough, waxy skin of plants without causing a stress response, and deliver precise amounts of melatonin into plants’ inner tissues.
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Imagine if doctors could precisely print miniature capsules capable of delivering cells needed for tissue repair exactly where they are needed inside a beating heart. A team of scientists led by Caltech has taken a significant step toward that ultimate goal, having developed a method for 3D printing polymers at specific locations deep within living animals. The technique relies on sound for localization and has already been used to print polymer capsules for selective drug delivery as well as glue-like polymers to seal internal wounds.
Previously, scientists have used infrared light to trigger polymerization, the linking of the basic units, or monomers, of polymers within living animals. “But infrared penetration is very limited. It only reaches right below the skin,” says Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering at Caltech and a Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator. “Our new technique reaches the deep tissue and can print a variety of materials for a broad range of applications, all while maintaining excellent biocompatibility.”
Gao and his colleagues report their new in vivo 3D-printing technique in the journal Science. Along with bioadhesive gels and polymers for drug and cell delivery, the paper also describes the use of the technique for printing bioelectric hydrogels, which are polymers with embedded conductive materials for use in the internal monitoring of physiological vital signs as in electrocardiograms (ECGs). The lead author of the study is Elham Davoodi, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Utah, who completed the work while a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech.
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The volunteers running the experiment were not completely hands-off. Submitted ideas were screened according to a moderation policy, and redundant ideas were not posted. Ford says that 51% of ideas were published, and 31% were deemed redundant. About 6% of ideas were not posted because they were either completely off-topic or contained a personal attack.
But some researchers who study the technologies that can make democracy more effective question whether soliciting input in this manner is a reliable way to understand what a community wants.
One problem is self-selection—for example, certain kinds of people tend to show up to in-person forums like town halls. Research shows that seniors, homeowners, and people with high levels of education are the most likely to attend, Fung says. It’s possible that similar dynamics are at play among the residents of Bowling Green who decided to participate in the project.
“Self-selection is not an adequate way to represent the opinions of a public,” says James Fishkin, a political scientist at Stanford who’s known for developing a process he calls deliberative polling, in which a representative sample of a population’s residents are brought together for a weekend, paid about $300 each for their participation, and asked to deliberate in small groups. Other methods, used in some European governments, use jury-style groups of residents to make public policy decisions.
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Researchers have unraveled the complex network that cells use to repair their genetic material.
By examining thousands upon thousands of genetic interactions, the team has discovered new vulnerabilities in cancer cells that could be exploited therapeutically in the future.
The DNA of human cells consists of a sequence of about 3.1 billion building blocks. Cells go to great lengths to maintain the integrity of this vast store of information. They constantly untangle knots in the DNA strand and create new chemical bonds when a strand of DNA breaks somewhere in the nucleus.
“When people read about repairing genetic material, they often think of it being in response to exposure to toxins or radiation,” says Jacob Corn, professor of genome biology at ETH Zurich.
However, repair mechanisms not only defend against external threats; they also play a crucial role in helping cells survive the challenges they face in their daily fight for survival.
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A new approach to AI’s “thinking” mimics the human brain and has the potential to revolutionize the AI industry.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can perform complex calculations and analyze data faster than any human, but to do so requires enormous amounts of energy. The human brain is also an incredibly powerful computer, yet it consumes very little energy.
Suin Yi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering, is on a team of researchers that developed “Super-Turing AI,” which operates more like the human brain.
This new AI integrates certain processes instead of separating them and then migrating huge amounts of data like current systems do.
The “Turing” in the system’s name refers to AI pioneer Alan Turing, whose theoretical work during the mid-20th century has become the backbone of computing, AI, and cryptography. Today, the highest honor in computer sciences is called the Turing Award.
The findings appear in Science Advances.
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A research team from TU Graz and the Vellore Institute of Technology in India is developing a 3D-printed skin imitation equipped with living cells in order to test nanoparticles from cosmetics without animal testing.
Directive 2010/63/EU laid down restrictions on animal testing for the testing of cosmetics and their ingredients throughout the EU. Therefore, there is an intense search for alternatives to test the absorption and toxicity of nanoparticles from cosmetics such as sun creams. A team of researchers from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in India is working on the development of skin imitations that mimic the native three-layer tissue structure and biomechanics of human skin. Such imitations can be produced using 3D printing and consist of hydrogel formulations that are printed together with living cells.
Hydrogels in which skin cells survive and grow
“The hydrogels for our skin imitation from the 3D printer have to fulfil a number of requirements,” says Karin Stana Kleinschek from the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Biobased Systems. “The hydrogels must be able to interact with living skin cells. These cells not only have to survive, but also have to be able to grow and multiply.” The starting point for stable and 3D-printable structures are hydrogel formulations developed at TU Graz. Hydrogels are characterised by their high-water content, which creates ideal conditions for the integration and growth of cells. However, the high-water content also requires methods for mechanical and chemical stabilisation of the 3D prints.
New solar cells from the 3D printer – chemeurope.com
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Quantum ‘sandwich’ achieved by fusing two impossible materials – Interesting Engineering
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This Quantum Breakthrough Could Unlock Strange Metals – And the Future of Superconductors – SciTechDaily
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AI breakthrough: New tech can predict cardiac arrest, save lives – Daijiworld.com
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Scientists invent robot made from pig parts that could change our vision of the future: ‘We need these robots to disappear‘ – Yahoo
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Architects unveil shape-shifting design that will redefine future housing: ‘Transformational environments’ – Yahoo
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