Tag: david-pescovitz

Beautiful video inside a zebrafish embryo brain

Researchers borrowed optical techniques from astronomy and ophthalmology to dramatically improve imaging of biological samples. This video, created by scientists at the HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus, shows neurons in the brain of a living zebrafish embryo. You can see the difference in quality when their new technique of “adaptive optics” is switched on and off. According to physicist/engineer Eric Betzig who led the research, “The results are pretty eye-popping.” Yes. Yes they are. ( HHMI News , via National Geographic )

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Beautiful video inside a zebrafish embryo brain

Nigerian restaurant busted for cannibal cuisine

A hotel restaurant in Onitsha, Nigeria was reportedly shuttered after authorities confirmed it was selling dishes containing human meat. According to the Naija Zip , self-described as an er, “gossip news” site, police discovered two human heads on the premises along with weapons and ammunition. “I went to the hotel early this year, after eating, I was told that a lump of meat was being sold at N700, I was surprised,” a pastor who tipped off the cops was quoted as saying. “So I did not know it was human meat that I ate at such expensive price.”        

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Nigerian restaurant busted for cannibal cuisine

Star Wars: Episode VII coming December 18, 2015

Star Wars: Episode VII will be released December 18, 2015. “We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII, where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture,” announced Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn over at StarWars.com . JJ Abrams is of course directing and also writing the script with Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.) Importantly, John Williams will score the new film!        

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Star Wars: Episode VII coming December 18, 2015

Buildings built by bacteria

Over at Fast Company, our pal Chris Arkenberg wrote about how advances in synthetic biology and biomimicry could someday transform how we build our built environments: Innovations emerging across the disciplines of additive manufacturing, synthetic biology, swarm robotics, and architecture suggest a future scenario when buildings may be designed using libraries of biological templates and constructed with biosynthetic materials able to sense and adapt to their conditions. Construction itself may be handled by bacterial printers and swarms of mechanical assemblers. Tools like Project Cyborg make possible a deeper exploration of biomimicry through the precise manipulation of matter. David Benjamin and his Columbia Living Architecture Lab explore ways to integrate biology into architecture. Their recent work investigates bacterial manufacturing–the genetic modification of bacteria to create durable materials. Envisioning a future where bacterial colonies are designed to print novel materials at scale, they see buildings wrapped in seamless, responsive, bio-electronic envelopes. ” Cities Of The Future, Built By Drones, Bacteria, And 3-D Printers ”        

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Buildings built by bacteria

Making brains transparent

Stanford University researchers developed a process to make a mouse brain totally transparent. The brain has to be, er, removed from the mouse first but it’s still an amazing process that enables scientists to see the entire brain in great detail, without chopping it up. Brilliant bioengineer, Karl Deisseroth, a pioneer in the field of optogenetics, postdoc Kwanghun Chung, and their colleagues have used the same technique, called CLARITY, to make fish and, yes, bits of human brains transparent as well. The process involves replacing the fatty molecules, called lipids, with a hydrogel. As a result, the brain can be studied with visible light and chemical markers with unprecedented clarity and resolution. Check out the stunning fly-through of the rodent’s brain above. ” Getting CLARITY: Hydrogel process developed at Stanford creates transparent brain ”        

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Making brains transparent

3D printed synthetic tissue folds itself into shapes

University of Oxford chemists custom-built a 3D printer that fabricates “synthetic tissue,” or rather structures with tissue-like functions. Eventually, the technology could be used to crank out replacement tissue that could replace damaged human tissue or be used in new drug delivery systems. The material consist of a network of water droplets encapsulated in lipids, or fat molecules. “The droplets… form pathways through the network that mimic nerves and are able to transmit electrical signals from one side of a network to the other,” says Oxford University chemistry professor Hagan Bayley. Amazingly, the material can be chemically “programmed” to fold into various shapes as water is transferred around in the network. (Video above.) ” 3D printer can build synthetic tissues ” (Univ of Oxford, via Science News ) ” A Tissue-like Printed Material ” (Science)        

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3D printed synthetic tissue folds itself into shapes