The ‘magic’ hi-tech window

Posted on December 9, 2015 by adminedit

Researcher have revealed the ultimate window one that can block out sound, but let fresh air in. It could be the answer to any city dweller's dreams. The double glazed windows have holes designed to let air in but block the most annoying frequencies. That tends to be the range of artificial sounds, leaving the natural sounds in the 0-500 Hz range largely undisturbed. After sending sound waves of 80 decibels, which is louder than a vacuum cleaner, through both windows, the pair discovered that th...

Flexible, implantable device could block pain signals

Posted on November 27, 2015 by adminedit

Building on wireless technology that has the potential to interfere with pain, scientists have developed flexible, implantable devices that can activate and, in theory, block pain signals in the body and spinal cord before those signals reach the brain. The researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said the implants one day may be used in different parts of the body to fight pain that doesn’t respond to other therapi...

Scientists discover how to trap cancer cells before they spread.

Posted on October 20, 2015 by adminedit

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Copenhagen have discovered a new way to 'fence in' a tumor and help stop cancer cells from spreading. Tumors cause cells called fibroblasts to stiffen the surrounding tissue so that cancer cells can grip it, allowing them to tunnel through to the blood stream and spread around the body. They showed that adding experimental drugs, reprogrammed fibroblasts helped in stopping them from 'stiffening' the tissue around tumors. This he...

Killing HIV by targeting its sweet tooth

Posted on October 9, 2015 by adminedit

Scientists have discovered that HIV has a voracious sweet tooth, which may be its Achilles’ heel, reports a new study from Northwestern Medicine and collaborators. After the virus invades an activated immune cell, it craves sugar and nutrients from the cell to replicate and fuel its wild growth throughout the body. Teams from Northwestern University and Vanderbilt University have reportedly discovered a way to block the virus from feasting on the glucose in an infected patient’s bloodstream. ...

A new sunblock that does not penetrate the skin

Posted on October 6, 2015 by adminedit

Researchers at Yale have developed a sunscreen made with bioadhesive nanoparticles that is not only waterproof, but does not penetrate the skin barrier, eliminating the health concerns associated with commercial sunscreens. While sunblocks are good at preventing sunburn and decreasing the risk of skin cancer from sun exposure, nanoparticles designed to reflect or absorb cancer-causing ultraviolet light, can go below the skin’s surface and enter the bloodstream. As a result, they pose possible...