“A spray solution of a patient’s own stem cells is healing their severe burns. So far, early experiments under a University of Utah pilot project are showing some remarkable results. What was once a serious burn on Kaye Adkins foot is healing nicely now because of a topical spray. With diabetes as a complication, the small but open wound had not healed after weeks of failed treatments. Dr. Amalia Cochran with the university’s Burn Care Center says, “With a wound that is open for several months, as this patient suffered prior to seeing us in our burn clinic, we worry about a pretty heavy bacterial load there.” But enter the evolutionary world of regenerative medicine, using almost a bedside stem cell technique that takes only about 15 minutes. With red cells removed, a concentrate of platelets and progenitor cells is combined with calcium and thrombin. The final mixture looks almost like Jello. “I woke up and saw them with this big thin, looked like a needle, and I said you’re going to put that in my foot? And they said NO, we’re going to spray,” Adkins said. Though her own skin graft had failed before, the topical spray was used during a second graft. It “took” and healed. “I had never heard of anything like that. It was just amazing,” Adkins said. Adkins burn is healing and so is her heart. Coincidentally, stem cells were used during her bypass surgery five weeks ago to hasten healing for that procedure as well.” w/ video

“This is something different, kinda trivial, but sorta cool. A few years ago, one of the SW model guys mentioned that the initial color of the TIE fighter was a shade of maroon. I thought this was an interesting choice as everything in the movie appears to be a different shade of gray or off white. Technically, it was an interesting choice as well since a maroon model probably wouldn’t be as prone to bluespill as a gray model. Ultimately, he said, they jettisoned the idea because after some comp tests, they discovered that the smaller the TIE got on screen, the more it blended into the black starfield. OK, makes sense. But where are the pictures of this thing?… The Rinzler ‘Making of Star Wars’ had [photos] that actually shows some hulls painted up with the maroon paint.” w/ photos

“There are three times as many stars in the universe as they had previously supposed – and ‘possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars’ – say astronomers. The startling find, published in the British journal Nature, has exciting implications for the discovery of new planets as well as theories on galaxy formation and dark matter. Astronomers Pieter van Dokkum and Charles Conroy found greater than expected numbers of faint, small stars known as red dwarfs in relatively close galaxies as observed with Hawaii’s twin Keck Telescopes. More stars means potentially many more planets, says lead author and astronomer van Dokkum, from Yale University, Connecticut: “There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars,” he said. There are currently 504 known exoplanets, most of which are large gaseous planets similar to or larger than Jupiter. But Earth-like planets have been found around red dwarf stars, including Gliese 581, a red dwarf whose planet count was recently updated to six. The red dwarf stars that the team discovered are typically more than 10 billion years old, old enough for complex life to have evolved, van Dokkum points out. “It’s one reason why people are interested in this type of star.” w/ photo

“Scientists claim to be a step closer to reversing the aging process after rejuvenating worn out organs in elderly mice. The experimental treatment developed by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, turned weak and feeble old mice into healthy animals by regenerating their aged bodies. The surprise recovery of the animals has raised hopes among scientists that it may be possible to achieve a similar feat in humans – or at least to slow down the aging process. An anti-aging therapy could have a dramatic impact on public health by reducing the burden of age-related health problems, such as dementia, stroke and heart disease, and prolonging the quality of life for an increasingly aged population. “What we saw in these animals was not a slowing down or stabilization of the aging process. We saw a dramatic reversal – and that was unexpected,” said Ronald DePinho, who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature. “This could lead to strategies that enhance the regenerative potential of organs as individuals age and so increase their quality of life. Whether it serves to increase longevity is a question we are not yet in a position to answer.” w/ photo

“Sleeping with the light on could leave you in a dark mood the next day, scientists have warned. They say that night light – however dim – may affect the structure of the brain, raising the odds of depression. The eerie glow emitted by a TV or the seemingly reassuring presence of a night light, could be enough to impact on mental health. The warning, presented at a leading American conference, is the latest in a long line about the potential dangers of disrupting the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. There are concerns that shift workers are at higher risk of breast cancer and, only last month, a study linked night time light with weight gain. With complete darkness being hard to achieve in the modern world, the researchers say the findings could have serious implications for health.” w/ photos

“A new approach to the whole paradigm of solar energy is now being researched. An MIT research team has done some initial studies that could lead to an entirely new method for capturing and storing sunlight. It has the potential to make this renewable energy indefinitely storable and transportable. The research is based on a molecule called fulvalene diruthenium. When a fulvalene diruthenium molecule absorbs sunlight, it changes shape into a semi-stable, but perfectly safe, formation. The molecule can stay in the new form indefinitely, without deterioration. When combined with a catalyst, the fulvalene diruthenium molecule snaps back into its original form, releasing the heat. When the energy is released, it can be used to heat a home or made to power appliances. The research team believes there are many ways that fulvalene diruthenium could work at a systems level. One idea is that of a reusable liquid fuel. It could be placed in deep vats out in the sun and stirred, exposing as much of the liquid to solar heat as possible. Once charged it can be pumped and delivered through pipes, or by other means, to the point of use. Since energy in the fluid does not deteriorate, the point of use could be nearby or distant. Once used, the liquid can be recharged by the sun and reused. The process can be repeated over and over again without deterioration or loss of efficiency.” w/ photos

“Hans Rosling’s famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport’s commentator’s style to reveal the story of the world’s past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before – using augmented reality animation. In this spectacular section of ‘The Joy of Stats’ he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers – in just four minutes. Plotting life expectancy against income for every country since 1810, Hans shows how the world we live in is radically different from the world most of us imagine.” — BBC

“Researchers claim they have ‘officially’ discovered the most boring day of the 20th century… April 11, 1954. A team of Cambridge scientists say the day was devoid of any major news events or even the birth or death of any famous people. They made the discovery after developing a new search engine which collates 300 million facts and can reveal what happened on certain days in history. Running a script to compare all days from the beginning of the 20th century April 11, 1954 was revealed as the most uneventful. The ‘highlight’ events included a general election in Belgium and the birth of a Turkish academic… and we thought today was boring.” w/ photo

“Global warming has slowed in the last decade, according to the Met Office, as the world pumps out so much pollution it is reflecting the sun’s rays and causing a cooling effect. The latest figures from more than 20 scientific institutions around the world show that global temperatures are higher than ever. However the gradual rise in temperatures over the last 30 years is slowing slightly. Global warming since the 1970s has been 0.16C (0.3F) but the rise in the last decade was just 0.05C (0.09F), according to the Met Office. Sceptics claim this as evidence man made global warming is a myth. But in a new report the Met Office said the reduced rate of warming can be easily explained by a number of factors. And indeed the true rate of warming caused by man made greenhouse gases could be greater than ever. One of the major factors is pollution over Asia, where the huge growth in coal-fired power stations mean aerosols like sulphur are being pumped into the air. This reflects sunlight, cooling the land surface temperature. Dr Vicky Pope, Head of Climate Change Advice, said pollution may be causing a cooling effect.” w/ photo