Newborn Dinosaur Discovered In Maryland

Posted by Biomechanism 
No, this isn’t Jurassic Park. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with help from an amateur fossil hunter in College Park, Md., have described the fossil of an armored dinosaur hatchling. It is the youngest nodosaur ever discovered, and a founder of a new genus and species that lived approximately 110 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Era. Nodosaurs have been found in diverse locations worldwide, but they’ve rarely been found in the United States.  The findings are published in the September 9 issue of the Journal of Paleontology.

Fossil of the baby nodosaur. Credit: Ray Stanford

“Now we can learn about the development of limbs and the development of skulls early on in a dinosaur’s life,” says David Weishampel, Ph.D., a professor of anatomy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “The very small size also reveals that there was a nearby nesting area or rookery, since it couldn’t have wandered far from where it hatched. We have the opportunity to find out about dinosaur parenting and reproductive biology, as well as more about the lives of Maryland dinosaurs in general.”

The fossil was discovered in 1997 by Ray Stanford, a dinosaur tracker who often spent time looking for fossils close to his home; this time he was searching a creek bed after an extensive flood.

Stanford identified it as a nodosaur and called Weishampel, a paleontologist and expert in dinosaur systematics. Weishampel and his colleagues established the fossil’s identity as a nodosaur by identifying a distinctive pattern of bumps and grooves on the skull.

They then did a computer analysis of the skull shape, comparing its proportions to those of ten skulls from different species of ankylosaurs, the group that contains nodosaurs. They found that this dinosaur was closely related to some of the nodosaur species, although it had a shorter snout overall than the others. Comparative measurements enabled them to designate a new species, Propanoplosaurus marylandicus. In addition to being the youngest nodosaur ever found, it is the first hatchling of any dinosaur species ever recovered in the eastern United States, says Weishampel.

The area had originally been a flood plain, where Weishampel says that the dinosaur originally drowned. Cleaning the fossil revealed a hatchling nodosaur on its back, much of its body imprinted along with the top of its skull. Weishampel determined the dinosaur’s age at time of death by analyzing the degree of development and articulation capability of the ends of the bones, as well as deducing whether the bones themselves were porous, as young bones would not be fully solid.

Size was also a clue: the body in the tiny fossil was only 13 cm long, just shorter than the length of a dollar bill. Adult nodosaurs are estimated to have been 20 to 30 feet long. Weishampel also used the position and quality of the fossil to deduce the dinosaur’s method of death and preservation: drowning, and getting buried by sediment in the stream. Egg shells have never been found preserved in the vicinity, and by the layout of the bones and the size of some very small nodosaur footprints found nearby, led Weishampel to believe that the dinosaur was a hatchling, rather than an embryo, because it was able to walk independently.

“We didn’t know much about hatchling nodosaurs at all prior to this discovery,” says Weishampel. “And this is certainly enough to motivate more searches for dinosaurs in Maryland, along with more analysis of Maryland dinosaurs.”

Stanford has donated the hatchling nodosaur to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, where it is now on display to the public and also available for research.

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This study was funded by the Johns Hopkins Center of Functional Anatomy and Evolution.

Valerie DeLeon, also of the Center of Functional Anatomy and Evolution, was an additional author.

Yale researchers use uterine stem cells to treat diabetes

Posted by Biomechanism
Controlling diabetes may someday involve mining stem cells from the lining of the uterus, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study published in the journal Molecular Therapy. The team treated diabetes in mice by converting cells from the uterine lining into insulin-producing cells.

Caption: This is a slide of insulin-producing cells. Credit: Hugh Taylor, Yale University

The endometrium or uterine lining, is a source of adult stem cells. These cells generate uterine tissue each month as part of the menstrual cycle. Like other stem cells, however, they can divide to form other kinds of cells.

The Yale team’s findings suggest that endometrial stem cells could be used to develop insulin-producing islet cells, which are found in the pancreas. These islet cells could then be used to advance the study of islet cell transplantation to treat people with diabetes.

Led by Yale Professor Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., the researchers bathed endometrial stem cells in cultures containing special nutrients and growth factors. Responding to these substances, the endometrial stem cells adopted the characteristics of beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Over the course of a three-week incubation process, the endometrial stem cells took on the shape of beta cells and began to make proteins typically made by beta cells. Some of these cells also produced insulin.

After a meal, the body breaks food down into components like the sugar glucose, which then circulates in the blood. In response, beta cells release insulin, which allows the body’s cells to take in the circulating glucose. In this study, Taylor and his team exposed the mature stem cells to glucose and found that, like typical beta cells, the cultured cells responded by producing insulin. The team then injected diabetic mice with the mature, insulin-making stem cells. The mice had few working beta cells and very high levels of blood glucose.

Mice that did not receive the stem cell therapy continued having high blood sugar levels, developed cataracts and were lethargic. In contrast, mice that received the cell therapy were active and did not develop cataracts, but the animals’ blood sugar levels remained higher than normal.

Taylor said that the next step in the research will be to verify how long this treatment remains effective. “We will also investigate how changing the nutrient bath or increasing the dose of injected cells could make this treatment more effective,” he said. “Endometrial stem cells might prove most useful for Type 1 diabetes, in which the immune system destroys the body’s own insulin-producing cells. As a result, insulin is not available to control blood glucose levels.”

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Other Yale authors on the study included Xavier Santamaria, Elfi E. Massasa, Yuzhe Feng, and Erin Wolff.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Citation: Molecular Therapy doi:10.1038/mt.2011.173

New Planet HD 85512 b

Three Reasons to Visit New Planet HD 85512 b

Kelly Schwarze

Good news, hopeful future space travelers, the European Southern Observatory announced the discovery of over 50 planets outside our solar system and currently in orbit around stars of their own. One of these planets, named simply HD 85512 b, has scientists excited, as its orbit location in relation to its star offers the possibility of an Earth-like environment.

Though HD 85512 b is 35 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Vela, we've been daydreaming about the travel possibilities if the planet is one day deemed visitable and accessible by humans. Here's why we can't wait to visit this new planet.

• Tropical paradise — HD 85512 b is speculated to have a climate similar to Washington DC in the Summer (hopefully, minus any pollution). After months of mugginess, East Coast residents may be weary of such weather, but there can be some health benefits to a humid climate. It may be just the place for those who suffer from arthritis and joint pains, as humidity promotes healthy joints and muscles. Plus, no need for a stop at the spa during vacation; the moisture in the air is all the facial treatment you need.
• Possible water planet — Earth is considered the Goldilocks planet for its perfect combination of planet resources and its place within the habitable zone of the sun's orbit. Meaning, it's in the "narrow area around a star where water can exist in liquid form." HD 85512 b also orbits within the habitable zone of its star, indicating the possibility for water if the planet is rocky and has more than 50 percent cloud cover. Though we love Mars, we're not sure it's a vacation destination until water is confirmed, so we'll add HD 85512 b to our dream space destinations as a backup.
• Intrepid space exploration — In tech circles, people love to be early adopters, waiting days in line to be the first with the newest Apple product. The excitement of space travel has us clamoring to see worlds few other humans have witnessed. Don't worry, we'll take loads of pictures and report back.

Watch the video on the discovery of HD 85512 b and other news from the European Southern Observatory after the break.

Source: European Southern Observatory

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Dyson Hot Review: Now We're Innovating

By adding heat to its nifty, puzzling Air Multiplier bladeless fan, Dyson has found the most naturally useful application for its latest engineering trick

By John Mahoney

The Dyson Hot Showing off its full range of oscillation Dan Bracaglia

If you've seen his vacuum commercials, you know James Dyson loves nothing more than solving a deceptively simple engineering problem. Oh, how it delights him. But when his company introduced its nifty but ultimately confounding Air Multiplier fan last year, it solved a problem suffered by no one: the "uncomfortable buffeting" of air flowing from a common, bladed desktop fan. The engineering involved in shooting air forcefully and smoothly from the Multiplier's eye-catching ring was impressive, but its reason for being fell flat.

As it turns out, all it takes to turn a good-looking but ultimately strange product into something legitimately, usefully innovative is the addition of hot air. The Dyson Hot—essentially an Air Multiplier fan with a heating element—is proof.

WHAT'S NEW

As stated previously, the Hot takes the same turbojet-forced-through-a-window-crack airflow technology found in the original Air Multiplier and adds two traditional ceramic heating elements to the sides of the hoop—hence its comparatively ovoid shape. Of course, you can turn these heating elements off, giving you a useful device for the summertime, too.

WHAT'S GOOD

With the heat element added, the Hot (a bit awkwardly named, no?) becomes capable of actively changing the climate of a room, as opposed to moving around the air that's already present. And as it turns out, I have the dubious good fortune to know of an excellent place to test such a thing, even in late summer—inside my absurdly air conditioned office. Due to an unfortunate combination of thermostat and air duct placement, it's been sweater weather inside my office all summer long. So setting aside the absurdity and wastefulness of combating extreme A/C with a space heater, the Dyson did quite well bringing the temperature of my work space into the habitable zone.

While I've not yet had the gall to bring a conventionally fanned (or fanless) electric heater into my office in the middle of summer for comparison (but boy have I considered it), the Hot warmed my approximately eight by eight foot space quickly and easily. Since the heat elements are fully enclosed in ABS plastic and insulation, there is a significantly reduced risk of catching anything on fire (don't laugh—thousands of house fires annually are caused by space heaters gone awry). Plus—no dust burning smell. All I caught was a subtle initial aroma of warm electronics, which is a smell I quite enjoy.

At its hottest point: The heating elements are well insulated, keeping the plastic shell mostly cool to the touch. This was among the higher readings we could find, right at the air aperture's opening.  John Mahoney

Brandishing a trusty infrared spot thermometer, the hottest surface I could pick up was the plastic immediately surrounding the fan ring's aperture. And the highest reading I found was around 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Certainly very hot to the touch, but you'd have to hold your finger there a long time to suffer a burn. And this was right at the aperture's opening—the immediately surrounding plastic was much cooler. And readings just about everywhere else on the fan were innocuous—80 to 90 degrees, tops. Just in case, a tilt-sensor shuts the power down if the fan is knocked over.

In operation, the Hot is full of the clever, simple design touches that have become Dyson's norm. The controls are minimal—a button each for power and rotation, and two-way toggles for thermostat temperature and fan speed are all you see. The fan automatically pauses mid-rotation if you forego the included remote and make an adjustment to its buttons while it's in motion, waiting a few courteous seconds after your final button press to resume its rotation.

WHAT'S BAD

It's $400, which is mighty pricey for a space heater (at least it's a fan in warmer months, though). And while heating, it consumes 1500 watts of power—fairly typical for a space heater, but not an area where Dyson chose to innovate here.

Additionally, I found the thermostat to be a bit inconsistent. There were times I felt my office creep back down into the uncomfortably chilly range, and yet the Hot failed to kick back in on its own. Curiously, goosing the temperature gauge up to start the flow of air and then immediately setting it back down to the previous temperature would cause the fan to run for an extended period, making me think it hadn't kicked back on soon enough. Granted, my clash of two climate control systems is probably not a typical use case, so your mileage may vary.

THE PRICE

Yeah. $400.

THE VERDICT

The Hot seems to be the ideal implementation of Dyson's bladeless fan tech—so much so that we wondered if the Air Multiplier was just a practice run.

"We launched it in winter," Dyson told us, speaking of the original heatless Air Multiplier fan. "And we certainly said, 'This is absolutely mad, we should be doing a heater.' It's kind of an obvious extension, being able to circulate the air in a room very well, to not just do it with cold air but to do with hot air. It's sort of an obvious thing to do."

After testing, I agree.

Researchers Capture "Natural Killer" White Blood Cells in Action in Highest Resolution Ever

By Dan Nosowitz

Natural Killer Cell Imperial College London

Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford have pioneered a new technique to see exactly how our body's "natural killer" white blood cells do their dirty work. It's the first time we've seen how this element of the body's natural defences actually works.

There are myriad difficulties in trying to observe this kind of event. For one thing, the cells are tiny and execute their, well, executions (that's an apt description, as you'll see) very quickly. Then there's the problem that the cells are three-dimensional (of course), while the high-speed microscopes used for this are only capable of seeing the horizontal plane. (3-D cameras are not, at the moment, quick enough to work for this.) Previously, researchers would have to painstakingly capture many 2-D images and then stack them on top of each other- not very efficiently or particularly effectively.

So, how did these researchers pull it off? Professor Paul French of Imperial College London says, "Using laser tweezers to manipulate the interface between live cells into a horizontal orientation means our microscope can take many images of the cell contact interface in rapid succession. This has provided an unprecedented way to see dynamic molecular processes between live cells directly." But by taking lots of images at once, the researchers can reconstruct a 3-D image with ease.

What's going on in that video above is an execution. Inside the "natural killer" or "NK" cell, enzyme-filled granules organize, ready to stream out as soon as the cell creates a portal. Then, the granules attack the diseased cells. In this case, the NKs, like a bungee cord, use membrane nanotubes to pull them in.

NKs are used by the body to attack all kinds of damaged cells, from tumours to viruses, though they also sometimes attack transplanted organs. By understanding the intricacies of this operation, the scientists hope to create better medical treatments--they might use NK cells in medicine or discover ways to stop them from attacking foreign but welcome tissue.

[Imperial College London via Gizmodo]