We Will Regrow Human Limbs
* The gold standard for limb regeneration is the salamander, which can grow perfect replacements for lost body parts throughout its lifetime. Understanding how can provide a road map for human limb regeneration.
* The early responses of tissues at an amputation site are not that different in salamanders and in humans, but eventually human tissues form a scar, whereas the salamander’s reactivate an embryonic development program to build a new limb.
* Learning to control the human wound environment to trigger salamanderlike healing could make it possible to regenerate large body parts.
Top Pentagon Scientists Fear Brain-Modified Foes
There’s concern in some corners of the U.S. military about “enemy activities in sleep research,” neuro-pharmaceutical performance enhancement, and “brain-computer interfaces.” And it’s not coming from the Pentagon’s scientific fringe, or from some tin-hat kook with a Defense Department badge. The celebrated scientists on the Pentagon’s most prestigious scientific advisory panel, JASON, are the ones worried about adversaries’ ability “to exploit advances in Human Performance Modification, and thus create a threat to national security.”
In a recent report, unearthed by Secrecy News, the JASONs are recommending that the American military push ahead with its own performance-enhancement research — and monitor foreign studies — to make sure that the U.S.’ enemies don’t suddenly become smarter, faster, or better able to endure the harsh realities of war than American troops.
The JASONs are particularly concerned about (and excited by) new drugs that promote “brain plasticity” — rewiring the mind, essentially, by helping to “permanently
establishing new neural pathways, and thus new cognitive capabilities.” The military has already tested these neuro-modulators as a way to keep troops alert after sleepless nights.
Animal-Human Hybrid Research Approved in the UK
British lawmakers voted on Monday to approve controversial plans to allow the use of human-animal hybrid embryos for stem cell research.
The changes provoked a stormy debate, pitting Prime Minister Gordon Brown and scientists against religious leaders, pro-life campaigners, and a large section of lawmakers.
Prime Minister Brown has said he believes scientists seeking to use human-animal hybrid embryos to treat diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are on a moral mission to improve and possibly save millions of lives.
By allowing hybrid embryo experiments, British officials hope to maintain the U.K.’s reputation as a leading center for stem cell research.
British scientists say the country’s progressive environment has led to many firsts, such as the first test-tube baby and the world’s first cloned animal.
Using Mind Control to Make Flies Sing
An Oxford scientist has used mind control to make female flies belt out male love songs, revealing they have a hidden capacity for masculine behaviour.
The research, which suggests that the sexes are not quite so different as they seem, exploits a remote control method that could provide revolutionary insights into behaviour.
Zombie Caterpillars Controlled by Voodoo Wasps
Having partially developed inside caterpillars, the larvae of the wasps manipulate their hosts into watching over them as a mother or bodyguard might.
A team that has done extensive field studies with infected caterpillars say they have the first conclusive proof that the manipulative behaviour of some parasitoids increases their chance of survival.
Insects Use Plants as Telephones
That’s the underground half of a conversation between bugs on a mustard plant. Scientists have discovered the insects below and above use the plant like a chemical telephone.
A team of researchers led by Roxina Soler, an ecologist at the Netherlands Institute for Ecology, are not sure how widespread the phenomenon is.
Lizards Rapidly Evolve After Introduction to Island
Italian wall lizards introduced to a tiny island off the coast of Croatia are evolving in ways that would normally take millions of years to play out, new research shows.
In just a few decades the 5-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) lizards have developed a completely new gut structure, larger heads, and a harder bite, researchers say.
Extinct Tasmanian Tiger DNA Revived in Mice
DNA from an extinct creature has been resurrected in a live animal for the first time.
Double Your Lifespan with a Drug that Mutates your Ribosomes
It’s been known for a while that restricting your diet will increase your lifespan, but now researchers have shown one reason why: Eating less causes your ribosomes (your cells’ protein factories) to mutate. And it’s looking like mutated ribosomes (pictured here) could be one key to life extension. The good news is that you may not have to starve yourself to mutate your ribosomes anymore. Biologists at the University of Washington have managed to induce the life-extending mutation in ribosomes with a drug that doubles the lifespan of yeast cells.
Surgeions Give Hope to Blind with Successful “Bionic Eye” Operations
Surgeons have carried out the first operations in Britain using a pioneering “bionic eye” that could in future help to restore blind people’s sight.
Two successful operations to implant the device into the eyes of two blind patients have been conducted at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
The Autonomous Nano-Tech Swarm from NASA
ANTS is an acronym for Autonomous Nano-Technology Swarm. ANTS technology builds on and advances recent trends in robotics, artificial intelligence, and materials processing to minimize costs and maximize effectiveness of space operations.
Weather Modification Comes of Age
The practice of cloud seeding to create rain, mitigate hail or even quell hurricanes is now on the road from science fiction to fact, said scientists at the meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the Weather Modification Association (WMA) in Westminster, Colo. on Tuesday.
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