Underlining the ecological value of forests assets, this is, in scale terms, an unexpected example of Nature’s magnificent ability to compensate for challenges mankind throws at it. It isn’t just that tropical cyclones in the SE United States have been found substantially to increase forest photosynthesis/growth – and thus uptake of carbon. Nor is it that […]
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Opinion and Comment on Intellectual Property, Business, Science & Technology and others issues which fascinate us
Will US Congress see Criminal Rule 41 as Dystopian or as a great move against Cybercrime
The law should keep pace with technology on all fronts or society can’t be regulated effectively. Cybercrime ought to be near the top of lawmakers’ agendae, and not just in the US. But the feverish debate that’s started is whether things have gone too far, particularly as regards the fairly unrestrained jurisdictional geography Rule 41 […]
“Fantastic Voyage” of the Blood Clotter
More testing to do but an elegant step by University of British Columbia towards addressing life-threatening intraoperative or traumatic internal bleeding (also see http://tinyurl.com/qdmrjp5). Micro-particles of calcium carbonate mixed with solid acid generate carbon dioxide gas through contact with blood. The gas propels the particles in the bloodstream to the bleed site. With the particles […]
Two degree Celsius warming locks in sea level rise for thousands of years
Quotes can be powerful things; in this piece, one scientist states: “Without significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the next couple of decades, we will commit the Antarctic ice sheet to ongoing and widespread melting for the next few thousand years. Is that something for which we really want to be responsible?” No doubt, […]
Lotus leaf-inspired feature helps drug dosage form stay in GI tract
Fascinating how the lotus leaf model has been applied in a number of fields – here, its remarkable hydrophobicity features in the sustained drug release field. One face of this group’s dosage form adheres to the gastrointestinal mucosa. The exposed face emulates the lotus leaf’s surface micro-/nano-structure, as well as being fluoropolymer-coated, to repel GI contents […]
Historical STI’s may explain humans transiting from polygyny to monogamy
As an adjunct to mainstream Darwinian evolutionary theory, this is a fascinating piece of work focusing on socially mediated, or at least socially sustained, evolution as early humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist society. The referenced 2015 Nature Communications paper (http://tinyurl.com/z6gcd4o) fills some gaps although it’s a bit of a demanding read for the non-expert. […]
Salk scientists take a step forward towards pancreatic cell replacement therapy for diabetes
This looks like the crossing of a threshold in the effort to produce replacement human pancreatic beta cells that are glucose-responsive and transplantable as a personalized cell replacement therapy for diabetes. Read Story Here
Record-breaking steel could be used for body armor, shields for satellites
Another terrific advance in materials science – extraordinary performance from amorphous steel alloy, withstanding >1.8 million psi without permanent deformation. A well-deserved slot in March Nature’s Scientific Reports (http://tinyurl.com/jqmecbl). Read Story Here
Liquid hydrocarbon fuel created from CO2 and water in breakthrough one-step process
Terrific piece of cutting edge chemistry from “oil country”, which looks beyond proof of concept to using solar-generated heat and full spectrum light to drive a single-step, clean, commercial process producing fuel-value hydrocarbons + oxygen from carbon dioxide + water. Key to the future commercial model of what they’re calling “reverse combustion” appears to be […]
Promising new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease
Very neat piece of science reporting on the use in a worm model of the small molecule anti-cancer drug bexarotene for precision intervention early in the peptide self-assembly process normally leading to beta amyloid fibrils and Alzheimer’s disease. See the linked Science Advances paper and the possibility of broader application of this group’s findings to […]