'Bionic' cardiac patch developed

Harvard scientists have developed a new “bionic” cardiac patch – nanoscale electronic scafforlds seeded with cardiac cells – that can act like a pacemaker. Doctors in recent years have made vast leaps in the treatment of cardiac problems – particularly with the development of “cardiac patches,” swaths of engineered heart tissues that can replace heart muscle damaged during a heart attack. “I think one of the biggest impacts would ultimately be in the area that involves replacement of damaged cardiac tissue with pre-formed tissue patches,” said Charles Lieber, from Harvard University. The bionic patch could act like a pacemaker – delivering electrical shocks to correct arrhythmia, Lieber said.

Using sewage sludge to make concrete?

Dried sewage sludge could be recycled by adding it to cement to make concrete, scientists in Malaysia have discovered. Sludge is what’s left after treating sewage water. Sludge disposal options are limited in Malaysia due to strict environmental norms, including a ban in burying it in soil due to the high heavy metal content. According to the researchers from University technology MARA, while there is a “potential” to use dried sludge to make concrete, more research is needed to yield a better quality product.

NASA is sending a 3D printer and a fire starter to the ISS

While NASA creates with one hand, it destroys with other. The next supply ship for the International Space Station will carry an advanced 3D printer and a test of how fire spreads in space when it blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The unscrewed Cygnus spacecraft is the fifth cargo delivery by spacecraft firm Orbital ATK and the second since one of the company’s rockets exploded on launch in 2014. In addition to carrying food, water and other regular supplies to the ISS, the craft will loft the Additive Manufacturing Facility, an upgraded version of the 3D printer already in use on the station. The printer that’s already up there is basically a prototype. The second printer will be able to print with multiple materials, has about eight times the print volume and faster with higher resolution. NASA will use the printer to manufacture objects in orbit, but made in space will also take orders from other paying customers who want to access to the ISS. Launching anything to the ISS is expensive and you have to wait for room on spacecraft like Cygnus, but plans for 3D printers can simply be emailed – it’s the closest thing we’ve got to teleportation. Eventually, made in Space plans to produce entire satellites. Also launching on Cygnus is NASA’s Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or Saffire. Once the spacecraft has reached the ISS and been unloaded by the astronauts, it will be stuffed full if waste and sent back down to Earth to burn up in the atmosphere. On the way down NASA researchers will start a fire inside a 1 meter-long box inside the craft and watch how it behaves. It will be the largest manmade fire ever created in space, and understanding how it spreads will help NASA design safety features to mitigate the risk of fire in crewed spacecraft.

 

Weather records broken as world faces alarming levels of change

Last year broke weather records left, right and centre, according to a new statement by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on the status of global climate in 2015. This is included the highest level of ocean warming on record and the most extensive melting of winter sea ice in the Arctic. A billion people in South Asia also suffered an unprecedented killer heat wave. The alarming rate of change we are now witnessing in our climate as a result of green – house gas emissions is unprecedented in modern records. The WMO says that new temperature records are already being set this year, with average global air temperatures in January and February the highest for those months on record. The startlingly high temperatures so far in 2016 have sent shockwaves around the climate-science community, said David Carlson, head of the WMO’s World Climate Research Programme. But while air temperatures fluctuate with the mercury soaring in 2015 partly because of a major El Nino event – the WMO says the real signifiers of global warming are the oceans. From more than 3000 oceans temperature sensors established at the start of the century, it says that global ocean heat content reached record levels to a depth of at least 2000 meters in 2015. More than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere by rising concentration of greenhouse gases finds its way into the oceans.

Artificial Pancreas may be available by 2018

Artificial pancreas – a device which monitors blood glucose in patients with diaberes and automatically adjusts levels of insulin entering the body – is likely to be available by 2018. Currently available insulin pumps deliver insulin to people with diabetes after taking readings from glucose meters, but these two components are separate. It is the joining together of both parts into a “closed loop” that makes an artificial pancreas, researchers said. “In trials, users have been positive about how use of an artificial pancreas gives them ‘time off’ or a ‘holiday’ from their diabetes management since the system is managing their blood sugar without constant monitoring,” said Roman Hovorka of the University of Cambridge.

Greenhouse gases making Indo-Pacific Pool hotter

Greenhouse gas emission have caused the Indo-Pacific warm pool –largest area of warm water in the world-to get hotter and increase in size, scientists have warned. The pool stretches about 14,484 km along the Equator and 2,414 km from north to south. It is an area of ocean with an average temperature of more than 28 degrees Celsius. Researchers, including those from commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia and Ocean University of China, also found that if Indian Ocean section of the warm pool expands more than the Pacific part, it leads to an increase in rainfall in Western Indian Ocean. But if this reversed, it results in a decrease in rainfall over East Asia.

A robot therapist to treat muscle strains

Suffering from back pain? A robotic massage therapist developed by a Singapore-based start up may help relieve muscle strains and injuries. Emma, or short for Expert Manipulative Massage Automation, a robotic arm with a 3D-printed massage tip, can resolve some of the challenges faced by sport therapy clinic, such as a shortage of trained therapists and a need deliver high quality therapy consistently.

                Developed by AiTreat, a start-up company founded by Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) graduate Albert Zhang, Emma is undergoing user trials at a medical institution that offers sports injury rehabilitation and pain management.

                Emma has a user-friendly interface and recommended guidelines for various sports injuries. The robot consist of a single, 6-axis robotic arm capable of highly articulated movements, a 3D-stereoscopic camera for vision, and a customized, fully rotatable 3D-printed massage tip. Several safety features which work in tandem with pressure sensors are also in-built, to ensure comfort and the safety of patients.