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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2020 at 12:02pm

The Health Risks of Space: Scientists Just Unveiled The Biggest Study Yet

Space is a hostile place. We may have developed the technology to launch astronauts into orbit and get them home safely, but scientists are still figuring out how space travel affects human health, especially over the long haul. 

That's essential before any planned missions to Mars go ahead, to assure the health and safety of the astronauts aboard those momentous flights.

We already know from astronaut studies – perhaps most famously, NASA's Twins Study co-starring identical twins Scott and Mark Kelly – that extended space time affects blood flow to the brain, alters the gut microbiome, increases inflammation and causes blurred vision, brittle bones, and muscle wasting. 

Mouse studies simulating spaceflight have also suggested that heading into space ages the immune system and damages the brain.

Now, in a huge collective effort, scientists have published a giant trove of almost 30 papers investigating the health risks associated with space travel.

The collection amounts to the largest set of space biology data ever produced, and features some hefty analyses of observations from space-going flies, worms, mice, and of course, astronauts.  Some of the results reaffirm what we knew about space-related health problems, while other studies provide new insights, clarify previous results, or have found ways to improve future experiments.

The health perils of space travel start with the G forces felt by astronauts on lift-off, and continue with the exposure to hazardous space radiation and microgravity while in space.

On the treacherous journey to Mars, for example, astronauts will go far beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere and be exposed to cosmic radiation during the significant stretch of time it will take for them to venture out to our nearest planetary neighbour and return. Many of the studies published in this collection have pooled or re-analysed data from previous experiments made available to researchers through open-access data portals 

https://www.cell.com/c/the-biology-of-spaceflight

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-mass-dump-of-30-new-papers-explores-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2020 at 11:28am

Novel magnetic spray transforms objects into millirobots for biomedical applications

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2020 at 11:25am

Is it a bird? Is it a bee? No, it's a lizard pollinating South Africa's 'hidden flower'

How a chance encounter with a ‘weird plant’ in the Drakensberg mountains led to a startling discovery

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/25/is-it-a-bird-is...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2020 at 11:18am

Physicists invent printable superconducting device

Superconducting devices such as SQUIDS (Superconducting Quantum Interferometry Device) can perform ultra-sensitive measurements of magnetic fields. Leiden physicsts invented a method to 3-D-print these and other superconducting devices in minutes.

How to Print a Quantum Device in Less than 30 Minutes

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2020 at 10:11am

Gut microbes: The key to normal sleep

A detailed study in mice revealed the extent to which bacteria can change the environment and contents of the intestines, which ultimately impacts behaviours like sleep.

Researchers gave a group of mice a powerful cocktail of antibiotics for four weeks, which depleted them of intestinal microorganisms. Then, they compared intestinal contents between these mice and control mice who had the same diet.

Digestion breaks food down into bits and pieces called metabolites. The researchers found significant differences between metabolites in the microbiota-depleted mice and the control mice. They found more than 200 metabolite differences between mouse groups. About 60 normal metabolites were missing in the microbiota-depleted mice, and the others differed in the amount, some more and some less than in the control mice.

The team next set out to determine what these metabolites normally do. Using metabolome set enrichment analysis, they found that the biological pathways most affected by the antibiotic treatment were those involved in making neurotransmitters, the molecules that cells in the brain use to communicate with each other. For example, the tryptophan–serotonin pathway was almost totally shut down; the microbiota-depleted mice had more tryptophan than controls, but almost zero serotonin. This shows that without important gut microbes, the mice could not make any serotonin from the tryptophan they were eating. The team also found that the mice were deficient in vitamin B6 metabolites, which accelerate production of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. The team also analyzed how the mice slept by looking at brain activity in EEGs. They found that compared with the control mice, the microbiota-depleted mice had more REM and non-REM sleep at night—when mice are supposed to be active—and less non-REM sleep during the day—when mice should be mostly sleeping. The number of REM sleep episodes was higher both during the day and at night, whereas the number of non-REM episodes was higher during the day. In other words, the microbiota-depleted mice switched between sleep/wake stages more frequently than the controls.

So blame your gut microbes if you can't sleep properly and thank them if you can!

Yukino Ogawa et al. Gut microbiota depletion by chronic antibiotic treatment alters the sleep/wake architecture and sleep EEG power spectra in mice, Scientific Reports (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76562-9

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-gut-microbes-key.html?utm_so...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2020 at 7:16am

Immune responses during embryo development could increase risk of schizophrenia

 Research has often highlighted the effects that immune activation in pregnant women can have on the development of human embryos, for instance increasing the risk of a child developing psychiatric disorders later in life. The neural mechanisms underpinning these effects, however, remained largely unclear till now.

Researchers  have recently carried out a study investigating the impact that the activation of microglia (i.e., a specialized cell population that removes damaged neurons or infections) can have on an embryo's development of a specific class of neurons that regulates information processing, known as cortical interneurons. Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggest that activated microglia can cause metabolic disruptions that adversely impact the development of cortical interneurons. Interestingly, in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia these disruptions could persist when the microglia are no longer activated.

They found found that the metabolism of cortical interneurons is compromised under inflammatory condition during development, which showed prolonged impact in cortical interneurons derived from schizophrenia iPSCs but not healthy control iPSCs. These findings highlight the existence of interactions between schizophrenia genetic backgrounds and environmental risk factors.

Activated microglia cause metabolic disruptions in developmental cortical interneurons that persist in interneurons from individuals with schizophrenia. Nature Neuroscience(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-00724-1

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-immune-responses-embryo-schi...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 28, 2020 at 6:54am

Understanding Skull Base Tumors

https://www.uhhospitals.org/health-information/health-and-wellness-....

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Periodic table: scientists propose new way of ordering the elements

https://theconversation.com/periodic-table-scientists-propose-new-w...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 27, 2020 at 11:44am

Miniscule robots of metal and plastic

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 27, 2020 at 11:42am

**   Pregnancy stress may shape baby brain

Stress levels in mothers – measured by a hormone linked to anxiety and other health problems – is related to changes in areas of the infant brain associated with emotional development, the study suggests. Doctors say the findings highlight the urgent need for women to be better supported with their mental and physical health before and during pregnancy, and could help them spot mums and babies who need help. The experts add that pregnant women who feel stressed or unwell should seek help from their midwife or consultant and that with support, most health issues can be well managed in pregnancy. Maternal stress is known to influence the development of the child’s behaviour and ability to regulate its emotions as it grows. This is usually measured by questionnaires, which are not always reliable. The new study is the first time that scientists have used an objective measure – levels of the hormone cortisol – in the mother to study links with baby brain development.

https://researchnews.cc/news/3791/Pregnancy-stress-may-shape-baby-b...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 27, 2020 at 11:29am

Moth wings sport acoustic camouflage

Moths draped in stealth acoustic cloak evade bat sonar

Moths can hide from the sonar of feeding bats using their acoustically camouflaged wings. Their evolved stealth adaptation is the result of an array of scales attached to their wing membranes that absorb ultrasound frequencies emitted by hunting bats, and are the first acoustic metamaterials found in nature.

A University of Bristol team discovered that sound waves from bats that hit the fork-shaped scales found on two species of moth cause them to bend and twist, dissipating the energy. ‘Less sound is reflected back to the bat, and the moth thereby disappears or partially disappears from the bat’s sonar screen

Z Shen et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2018, 115, 12200 (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1810025115)

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/moths-draped-in-stealth-acousti...

Scales on the wings of moths form acoustic camouflage that hides the insects from the sonar of bats. Researchers examined the Chinese tusar moth (Antheraea pernyi) and Dactyloceras lucina, a large African moth. These species have no ears to hear approaching predators. Instead, they defend themselves using a dense array of tiny, thin scales that each resonate at a particular frequency. Together, the scales absorb at least three octaves of sound — the first known natural acoustic metamaterial. The intricate arrangement and structure of the scales could inspire ultrathin sound-absorbing materials: think sound-absorbing wallpaper instead of panels, say researchers.

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