Technology Tuesday: April 14, 2015
Mars has liquid water just below its surface, according to new measurements by Nasa’s Curiosity rover.
Until now, scientists had thought that conditions on the red planet were too cold and arid for liquid water to exist, although there were known to be deposits of ice.
The extent of Arctic sea ice in March hit a record low for the month in the satellite era, according to the latest update from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Back on February 25, a record low winter ice extent was set.
A team of Cornell scientists has shown that stem cells confined inside tiny capsules secrete substances that help heal simulated wounds in cell cultures, opening up new ways of delivering these substances to locations in the body where they can hasten healing.
The capsules need to be tested to see if they help healing in animals and humans, but they could eventually lead to “living bandage” technologies: wound dressings embedded with capsules of stem cells to help the wound regenerate.
By stimulating both major branches of the immune system, researchers from MIT were able to halt the growth of a very aggressive form of melanoma in mice.
The human immune system is poised to spring into action at the first sign of a foreign invader, but it often fails to eliminate tumors that arise from the body’s own cells. Cancer biologists hope to harness that untapped power using an approach known as cancer immunotherapy.
Could genome sequencing newborns give valuable insight or do harm? That’s the question US doctors are trying to answer in a pioneering trial starting this month
IF YOU could gaze into a crystal ball and discover whether your newborn baby might have health problems, would you want to know? This month, doctors in Boston will begin sequencing the genomes of healthy babies for the first time to explore the benefits and risks of sequencing at birth.
Know any interesting stories we missed?Let us know in the comments!#Cancer #Mars #WateronMars #Health #StemCells #Space #TechTuesdays #ArcticIce #GeneSequencing #GlobalWarming #Technology #Science