Discovery News reports that a cure for diabetes is just around the corner.
Apparently the biologists can now arbitrarily induce, or cure, diabetes in rats by using pig cells. The factor is rapidly being isolated, and after extensive testing, a human version is planned in which a person can receive an injection, and thereafter not have diabetes.
I'm pleased with what science hath wrought today.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Moral Strength
Psychology Central, and many other publications, are reporting today that one way to make yourself at least temporarily stronger is to be extremely moral.
Participants who first either did or imagined something extremely good, like volunteering at a soup kitchen, were able to lift heavier weights, and keep them up for a longer period of time.
Equally curious was the fact that people who imagined themselves doing extremely evil things, (like setting a puppy on fire) also gained this same boost in strength and stamina.
Not sure what to make of this.
Participants who first either did or imagined something extremely good, like volunteering at a soup kitchen, were able to lift heavier weights, and keep them up for a longer period of time.
Equally curious was the fact that people who imagined themselves doing extremely evil things, (like setting a puppy on fire) also gained this same boost in strength and stamina.
Not sure what to make of this.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Automated Mushroom Care
Cultivated mushrooms actually need a lot of attention. They grow best when the humidity is just so and the temperature is just right. So mushroom farmers have to spend a lot of time measuring and adjusting.
Hack a day brings my attention to one guy who automated the entire process. Computer sensors monitor the mushroom's environment, and turn on or off heaters, humidifiers, air pumps, and vents, to make the mushroom's growing environment exactly perfect. The mushroom farmer need only plant the mushrooms, and harvest them when they're ready to go.
I'm hoping this means more and cheaper mushrooms on the market, since no part of this is particularly expensive, and saves loads and loads of time and effort....
Hack a day brings my attention to one guy who automated the entire process. Computer sensors monitor the mushroom's environment, and turn on or off heaters, humidifiers, air pumps, and vents, to make the mushroom's growing environment exactly perfect. The mushroom farmer need only plant the mushrooms, and harvest them when they're ready to go.
I'm hoping this means more and cheaper mushrooms on the market, since no part of this is particularly expensive, and saves loads and loads of time and effort....
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Tooth Harvest
Millions of people require surgery when their "wisdom teeth," an extra set of molars that grow in people's mid-20s, grows in improperly and requires removal. These are thrown away. In the past, people would have found those teeth useful, as it would have replaced one that had fallen out. Now, we tend to keep all our teeth, and the extra ones just don't fit in our jaws. Now, these extracted teeth will be the source of massive lines of stem cells, ready to help medicine in a big way.
The scientists claim that a tooth extracted from a Japanese person will produce cells compatible with 20% of the Japanese population. (The compatibility is probably higher because of the unusual homogeneity in the Japanese population.) They seek to raise this percentage through biological reverse-engineering.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Bone Glue
Repairing broken bones is a tricky proposition. They have to be kept exactly in place until they heal. If they heal wrong, the only remedy is to break them again and this time keep them in place. Simple fractures can be held together by keeping the area rigid, using a cast. More complex fractures have to be held together with a series of pins and screws, which will be removed after the bone has healed. And if the bone is totally shattered? Surgeons would like to use glue, but since the inside of the human body is like seawater, glue would never dry. Only wash away.
Discovery news reports that a species of worm that lives in the ocean makes a glue like substance that it uses to stick sand into complex structures. This glue somehow applies in a liquid state, evaporates something to "dry," and hardens to permanently bond structures together. All while underwater.
Biochemists are frantically working to reverse-engineer this sea-glue. The final compound would be applicable as a liquid, but would solidify on short order, holding bones together until the body re-absorbed the glue proteins, which it would do after the bone successfully healed. This would be a miracle in bone-fracture treatment, allowing treatment of injures that were previously inoperable.
Discovery news reports that a species of worm that lives in the ocean makes a glue like substance that it uses to stick sand into complex structures. This glue somehow applies in a liquid state, evaporates something to "dry," and hardens to permanently bond structures together. All while underwater.
Biochemists are frantically working to reverse-engineer this sea-glue. The final compound would be applicable as a liquid, but would solidify on short order, holding bones together until the body re-absorbed the glue proteins, which it would do after the bone successfully healed. This would be a miracle in bone-fracture treatment, allowing treatment of injures that were previously inoperable.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Install CD V2
Long ago I put out a cd for installing linux, which would load itself into memory, thus allowing you to eject the disk, and get about on your installation. It had bugs. The graphics didn't work, it required a bloated 900MB of RAM, at least, to run, and the options were confusing.
I have fixed it. The second version requires 600MB to run, has leaner, more efficient versions of everything, and has proven to work in simulation. Better compression makes for a much shorter download, and it's just all around better. It also comes with DHCP, which may automatically configure the computer for networking the instant you turn it on. (DHCP requires a certain amount of infrastructure, namely a dedicated server. If not, you can configure networking manually.)
You can download it now, if you know how to use Linux....
I have fixed it. The second version requires 600MB to run, has leaner, more efficient versions of everything, and has proven to work in simulation. Better compression makes for a much shorter download, and it's just all around better. It also comes with DHCP, which may automatically configure the computer for networking the instant you turn it on. (DHCP requires a certain amount of infrastructure, namely a dedicated server. If not, you can configure networking manually.)
You can download it now, if you know how to use Linux....
Water Touch
A Japanese computer scientist has come up with an interesting, soft, 3d touch screen that one can happily poke all day with no chance of sore fingers. Namely, a tank of water. Wait, what?
It works with a tank of water, and a webcam. The screen is projected to the bottom, and the camera can detect distortions in the water, and infer from them how the water was touched. From there, simple multitouch-screen software can send the input back to the computer, translating it into the manipulation of information.
While you'll never develop sore fingers, or carpal tunnel syndrome, from this setup, it does have the disadvantage of only working in one orientation (namely, the screen straight down from your perspective), and I can't imagine it's easy to type on. Still, Hack a Day described it as the most relaxing interface ever, which it effectively is.
It works with a tank of water, and a webcam. The screen is projected to the bottom, and the camera can detect distortions in the water, and infer from them how the water was touched. From there, simple multitouch-screen software can send the input back to the computer, translating it into the manipulation of information.
While you'll never develop sore fingers, or carpal tunnel syndrome, from this setup, it does have the disadvantage of only working in one orientation (namely, the screen straight down from your perspective), and I can't imagine it's easy to type on. Still, Hack a Day described it as the most relaxing interface ever, which it effectively is.
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