“In many biomedical applications, waveguides must interface directly with living cells and tissues, requiring the waveguide constituent to be biocompatible. Biodegradability is also desirable,”… “The use of a biocompatible, biodegradable polymer like silk to guide light opens up new opportunities in biologically based modulation and sensing along with an opportunity to integrate light delivery within living tissue.”…” Full Slice

“Subtle connections between the 11-year-solar cycle, the stratosphere and the tropical Pacific Ocean work in sync to generate periodic weather patterns that affect much of the globe, according to research results…The findings will help scientists get an edge on predicting the intensity of certain climate phenomena, such as the Indian monsoon and tropical Pacific rainfall, years in advance.

“It’s been long known that weather patterns are well-correlated to very small variations in total solar energy reaching our planet during 11-year solar cycles,”…”With the help of increased computing power and improved models, as well as observational discoveries, we are uncovering more of how the mechanisms combine to connect solar variability to our weather and climate,”…” Full Slice

“Researchers report…that they have found a surprising but reliable marker of colony collapse disorder, a baffling malady that in 2007-2008 killed off more than a third of commercial honey bees in the U.S.

Their study…is the first to identify a single, objective molecular marker of the disorder, and to propose a data-driven hypothesis to explain the mysterious disappearance of American honey bees….” Full Slice

“A new study shows that nervous system integrity and axonal properties may play a key role in prion diseases…Despite growing awareness of prion diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the molecular mechanisms responsible for their development are still not completely understood….” Full Slice

“New…research has literally and figuratively poked holes in single-band Hubbard physics–a model that has been used to predict and calculate the behavior of high-temperature superconductors for 20 years.

The findings are the first compelling evidence challenging the model under certain conditions, and could necessitate entirely new theoretical approaches to explaining superconductivity in cuprate materials, one of the outstanding mysteries in condensed-matter physics….” Full Slice

“…The research team focused on p53 and ATM, two proteins active in cancer that have long been known to play some role in a cancer’s response to chemotherapy. P53 is a tumor suppressor gene that activates repair systems when DNA is damaged and induces apoptosis when damage if irreparable. ATM is known to help regulate p53 and is involved in controlling the cell’s response to DNA damage. Mutations in one or both are often seen in tumor cells.

The new study shows that when both p53 and ATM are abnormal, tumors are highly susceptible to DNA-damaging chemotherapy. Tumors in which ATM is mutated but p53 is not, are highly resistant to chemotherapy. Tumors in which p53 is mutated but ATM is not seem to be less responsive to chemotherapy.

“This is a case where two common markers, when taken together, were very predictive…It didn’t come from looking at patients it came from very basic research.”…” Full Slice

Stewart Brand via TED Talks on how to ease the stink of man.

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