MI weekly selection #75
Plant that consumes nickel found in the Philippines
A plant that thrives in nickel-rich dirt has been discovered in the Philippines. Rinorea niccolifera can absorb large amounts of nickel through its leaves.
Regrown bone in monkeys using pluripotent stem cells
It could be possible to grow new bone in humans using induced pluripotent stem cells, as seen in an experiment with rhesus macaques. Skin cells from monkeys were transformed into iPSCs, which were transplanted into the monkeys using a bone scaffold. There was no sign of tumor growth after injecting differentiated bone precursor cells, but a type of tumor known as a teratoma formed when undifferentiated stem cells were injected, although the lesions grew 20 times slower than they do in mice.
New quantum mechanics theory alters the multiverse idea
CalTech’s Sean Carroll had developed an approach to quantum fluctuations that helps deal with some problematic ideas related to the multiverse, including the likely formation of disembodied “Boltzmann brains.”
Cell-sorting device could enhance medical research
Researchers in South Korea and Duke University have created a chip-like device that can quickly separate and store hundreds of thousands of cells. Scientists printed thin electromagnetic components onto a slide, creating magnetic tracks that can sort cells tagged with magnetic nanoparticles.
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
Melting of West Antarctic ice sheet can’t be stopped
The ice sheet in West Antarctica is breaking up and its continued melting may be unavoidable, leading to a slow rise of 10 feet, or about 3 meters, in the sea level over the next centuries, according to two separate and independent studies.