GLIMPSES OF THE
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Male Baldness 'Cure' - Yet Again On and off, I seem to have been writing about forthcoming male baldness 'cures' for over 30 years, but a real 'cure' seems to be very elusive (but then, so did a cure for male impotence at one time). Now, researchers at Yale University have made a discovery that could lead to genuine new treatments for baldness. While men with male pattern baldness still have stem cells in their follicle roots, they need signals from within the skin to grow new hair. Until recently, the source of those signals that trigger hair growth has been unclear, but the Yale researchers claim to have now discovered it. When hair dies the researchers observed that the layer of fat in the scalp that comprises most of the skin's thickness shrinks. When hair growth begins, the fat layer expands in a process called adipogenesis. They identified a type of stem cell - adipose precursor cells - within the skin's fatty layer that is involved in the creation of new fat cells. They showed that these cells' production of molecules called PGDF (platelet derived growth factors), was necessary to spur hair regrowth in mice The researchers are now trying to identify other signals produced by adipose precursor stem cells that may play a role in regulating hair growth. "If we can get these fat cells in the skin to talk to the dormant stem cells at the base of hair follicles, we might be able to get hair to grow again," announced the research team. Check back with me in 30 years. Computer Algorithms Increase Their Trades In British Stock Markets Algorithmic trading, including high frequency trading (HFT), is rapidly replacing human decision making, according to a U.K. government panel which warned that the right regulations need to be introduced to protect stock markets. Around one third of share trading in the UK is conducted by computers fulfilling commands based on complex algorithms, said the Foresight panel in a working paper published recently. Nevertheless, this proportion is significantly lower than in the US, where three-quarters of equity dealing is computer generated Better Fish Farming In A 'Pod' A new system of fish farming that involves raising fish in mesh spheres that float in the open ocean is claimed to sidestep many of the drawbacks of traditional marine aquaculture (fish farming). The project is being carried out by marine biologists from Kampachi Farms in Hawaii. They are experimenting with raising hatchery-born Almaco jack fingerlings (similar to yellowtails) in a 22-foot (6.7-meter) diameter Aquapod, a floating spherical brass mesh fish pen. Instead of being moored in one place, the pod is drifting in eddies that carry it 3 to 150 miles (4.8 to 241.4 km) off the island's west coast, in waters up to 12,000 feet (3,657.6 meters) deep. The Aquapod is tethered to a tender vessel, which houses marine biologists who feed and monitor the fish. The boat's engine is occasionally run to make course corrections, although it mostly just drifts with the pod. Its location is tracked at the project's land-based headquarters using GPS. Because the pod is drifting in the open ocean, with the current flowing through it, the fish waste and uneaten food is continuously carried off and dispersed. The brass mesh resists biofouling, so anti-algal chemicals aren't needed, and the Almaco jack (also known as Kampachi) are native to the region. Also, much of the fish meal and fish oil in their feed has been replaced with sustainable agricultural proteins such as soy. Robot Tractor Replaces Farmers The horse replaced the ox for ploughing (it was four times faster), then the tractor replaced the horse (it was three times faster than the horse). Now the farmer-driver himself has been replaced by a robot tractor developed by a team from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) and Flanders' Mechatronics Technology Centre (FMTC) in Belgium. Although it might look pretty simple to the untrained eye, keeping a tractor on track over inconsistent terrain can take a bit of skill say the researchers. "Only experienced tractor operators have the skills needed to work a field with precision," they explain. "The job of an operator is really quite complex: he observes the tractor's current position, makes a judgment based on terrain conditions and the route to be followed, and, based on all this, decides the speed and orientation of the tractor." To develop their tractor navigation system the team started by installing a linear propulsion system to press the tractor's accelerator and steer. They then added a computer and various positional sensors, including a GPS system. Because traditional navigation systems aren't good at dealing with multi-terrain conditions, different settings must be calibrated for each terrain type to enable the tractor to drive on both hard and wet terrain.
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Salt Water Could Unlock Hydrogen Fuel From Wastewater A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or using grid electricity, U.S. researchers have claimed. “This system could produce hydrogen anyplace that there is wastewater near sea water,” said Bruce E. Logan, Professor of Environmental Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. “It uses no grid electricity and is completely carbon neutral. It is an inexhaustible source of energy.” Microbial electrolysis cells that produce hydrogen are the basis of this recent work, but previously, to produce hydrogen, the fuel cells required some electrical input. Now, Logan and his team are using the difference between river water and seawater to add the extra energy needed to produce hydrogen. Synthetics Could Replace Oil For Chemical Industry One of the noble uses of oil is in the petrochemical industry (think cosmetics, shampoos and plastics). Now vats of blue-green algae could one day replace oil wells in producing raw materials for the chemical industry. Shota Atsumi of University of California, Davis, is using synthetic biology to create cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), which convert carbon dioxide in the air into complex hydrocarbons. Cyanobacteria are single-celled organisms that, like green plants, can use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugars and other carbohydrates. The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal of obtaining a quarter of industrial chemicals from biological processes by 2025. Today, 99 percent of the raw materials used to make paint, plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and other chemical products come from petroleum or natural gas, according to Atsumi. Computers Start To Write Journalism (But Not Very Well) “WISCONSIN appears to be in the driver’s seat en route to a win, as it leads 51-10 after the third quarter. Wisconsin added to its lead when Russell Wilson found Jacob Pedersen for an eight-yard touchdown to make the score 44-3 ... . ” Those words began a news brief written within 60 seconds of the end of the third quarter of the Wisconsin football game recently. They may not seem like much - but they were written by a computer (not on a computer). The clever code is the handiwork of Narrative Science, a start-up in Evanston, Illinois, that offers proof of the progress of artificial intelligence - the ability of computers to mimic human reasoning. It also proves that human sports reporters are so cliche-ridden and unimaginative in their writing style that computers can now take over. Gel Allows Doctors To Join Blood Vessels Without Stitches A synthetic, temperature-sensitive gel could help surgeons reconnect blood vessels more quickly, safely, and easily. The new gel, successfully tested in rats, could also enable more complex robotic surgery as well as minimally invasive surgery. There have been few advances in the art of reconnecting blood vessels since French surgeon Alexis Carrel received the Nobel Prize in 1912 for his method of sewing them together. About a decade ago, surgeon Geoffrey Gurtner found himself longing for a substance that could be poured into the tiny blood vessels he was struggling to reconnect in order to prop them open while he sewed them together. "A lot of surgeries require reconnecting vessels," he says. "For two-thirds of operations, this would be helpful." When Gurtner took a post at Stanford University, he partnered with a group of Stanford chemical engineers and biomaterials experts who adapted a substance called Poloxymer 407, which is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for internal use, to do the job. The trick was to tweak the properties of the substance so that it changes from a liquid to a solid state a few degrees above body temperature. The group used a halogen lamp to heat up the area around a severed blood vessel in rats, added the poloxymer, and then sealed the two ends with surgical glue. Back issues of 'Glimpses' are archived here. |