New discovery reveals how sugar disrupts gut bacteria, leading to obesity

A new animal study has demonstrated one way sugar can contribute to metabolic diseases such as diabetes is by causing disruptions to the gut microbiome. The novel findings home in on exactly how certain gut bacteria can protect against the harmful effe… Continue reading New discovery reveals how sugar disrupts gut bacteria, leading to obesity

New wireless tech lets implants transmit data through ions in tissue

Transmitting data from medical implants in the body can be tricky, but researchers at Columbia University have now developed a new technique that essentially writes data to ions in human tissue, where it can then be read from a receiver outside the bod… Continue reading New wireless tech lets implants transmit data through ions in tissue

“Invisibility cloak” hides cancer-killing bacteria from the immune system

Scientists exploring a novel but highly promising avenue of cancer treatment have developed a type of “invisibility cloak” that helps engineered bacteria sneak through the body’s immune defenses. The result is more powerful delivery of anti-cancer drug… Continue reading “Invisibility cloak” hides cancer-killing bacteria from the immune system

Lasers could bring the precision of 3D printing to the cooking of food

Even though it’s now possible to 3D-print foods into millimeter-precise shapes and forms, cooking those printed foods is still a fairly inexact process. Scientists are trying to change that, by using lasers to cook foods to specific optimized standards… Continue reading Lasers could bring the precision of 3D printing to the cooking of food

Fatty “blast shield” masks a weakness in aggressive cancer cells

The body’s immune cells do a tremendous job of pouncing on pathogens or dangerous cells that might do us harm, attacking them with proteins and enzymes that pick apart their protective membranes. One mystery surrounding these natural killer cells is wh… Continue reading Fatty “blast shield” masks a weakness in aggressive cancer cells

EVA robot identifies and copies people’s facial expressions

If you smiled at someone and they didn’t smile back, you’d probably find it off-putting. Well, that’s what usually happens if you smile at a humanoid robot … but not in the case of the expression-mirroring EVA.Continue ReadingCategory: Robotics, Techno… Continue reading EVA robot identifies and copies people’s facial expressions

New evidence ultrasound pulses can treat high blood pressure

New results from a clinical trial testing a novel ultrasound therapy for hypertension show the experimental treatment can deliver clinically meaningful reductions in blood pressure. The treatment is based on an old hypothesis that disrupting signals fr… Continue reading New evidence ultrasound pulses can treat high blood pressure

Diamond liquid impurities provide new insights into ancient Earth

Geologists have studied tiny pockets of fluids trapped inside diamonds to get a better understanding of how old humanity’s favorite rocks might be. In doing so, they identified three distinct periods of diamond formation in Africa over the past few bil… Continue reading Diamond liquid impurities provide new insights into ancient Earth

World’s smallest single-chip system can be injected into the body

The continuing miniaturization of electronics is opening up some exciting possibilities when it comes to what we might place in our bodies to monitor and improve our health. Engineers at Columbia University have demonstrated an extreme version of this … Continue reading World’s smallest single-chip system can be injected into the body