Science and Tech | Sunstone Online

Russian Scientists Resurrect 32,000 Year-Old Plant

A team of Russian scientists claims to have successfully generated living plants from the fruit of a small arctic flower that died 32,000 years ago. The fruit of the narrow-leafed campion was frozen, stored in a ground squirrel’s burrow on the Tundra of northern Siberia.

The fruit, excavated a number of years ago, is the oldest tissue on record to produce a living plant, if the claim is true. Scientists are familiar with the concept of seeds and cells surviving long periods when exposed to the right conditions. However, previous experiments involving extreme longevity were often failures, when the original seeds were tested by the radiocarbon method and found to be modern. These attempts include tales of wheat grown from seeds stored in the pyramids, as well as Lupines grown from seeds in a Yukon lemming burrow that was over 10,000 years old. Both specimens proved to be modern contaminators.

The current legitimate record is held by a date palm germinated from a seed that was found amongst the ruins of the ancient fortress of Masada, in Israel. That seed was a bit more than 2,000 years old.

The Russian experiment, mind-blowing in proportion to previous findings, is indeed supported by a firm radiocarbon date. It has also been tested in the field of DNA, though some discredit the method’s accuracy.

The experiment team included Svetlana Yashina and David Gilichinsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences research center. The outcome of their efforts was released in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the U.S.

Dr. Zazula of the Yukon Paleontology program said “This is an amazing breakthrough. I have no doubt in my mind that this is a legitimate claim.” Zazula’s confirmation of the report is especially significant, as he was the scientist to discredit the Lupine seeds found a number of years ago.

The Russian team was unable to germinate the actual seeds, and so removed cells from the ancient fruit’s placenta. These they grew in culture dishes, and produced 36 ancient plants. The specimens seemed identical to modern day narrow-leafed campions, though their flowers proved to have narrower, more “splayed-out” petals.

For additional details about the experiment, see the full article here.

Osteoporosis and Technology

Some years ago, people were so debilitated by osteoporosis – the bone-thinning disease – that all they could do was lie on their beds in pain and await the inevitable. Today, it looks like that is changing, thanks to amazing technological advances.

A microchip is currently being tested on seven women with osteoporosis to help restore bone density. Implanted in their abdomens, it has been working via a radio signal to deliver pacemakers using a prescription plan so that they can consume their drugs more easily. Results from the study showed that all women had a bone density increase. This is fantastic news for osteoporosis sufferers, although the device is still awaiting FDA approval, which is only anticipated after 2016. For the future, there are even greater plans for the device, such as it being able to deliver daily doses for 365 days.

Low-Tech Solution

Of course, there are some in the medical field who argue that diet, supplements and exercise alone are adequate to control and fight osteoporosis. For example, by regularly adding calcium, Vitamin D, magnesium and strontium to one’s diet, one can battle – or even prevent – the onset of osteoporosis. In addition, weight-bearing (walking) and strength-training (weight-lifting) exercise is vital in this battle. Most of this is quite well-known, but it is a less-well-known fact that strontium citrate supplements can dramatically help the development of bone density and prevention of osteoporosis.

Middle-Tech Solutions

Until now, osteoporosis patients have been using daily injection pens to help with their condition. But this could be replaced once the microchip comes into general use and thus patients will be able to control their medication by pushing a remote-controlled button.

It may not be readily available now, but in the near future it looks as if osteoporosis sufferers will be able to access a much more effective way of dealing with their disease.

Massage: The Scientific Proof

For years, masseuses and those being massaged have claimed unequivocally that massages help relieve pain. But until now, there has never been any scientific evidence to back this up. This changed when a test compared the muscle biopsy data from leg muscles that received a massage and ones that didn’t. The legs massaged for 10 minutes had substantially less inflammation and additional energy production than those that did not get a massage. Both signs are indicative of less pain and speedier muscle recovery.

Good News

Why is this good news? Well, first it will show that massages provide far more than just a surface level treatment since it is now known that they treat muscles on a cellular level. Second, for those who are seeking non-invasive pain relief, they may turn to massage if they know it has a proven positive impact. Third, for practitioners, since massages will likely soon be treated as a recognized medical procedure, it is set to become more popular and gain increased credibility.

At some later point, more research will be conducted to enable a comparison of different types and lengths of massages to further link massage therapy to pain relief.

17 ½ Hour Old Has Open Heart Surgery

The youngest baby to ever have open heart surgery was a mere 17-and-a-half hours old. The surgery took place a few months ago at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, UK where parents Jo and James were warned their newborn baby daughter only had a 15 percent chance of survival. Beating the odds however, it now appears baby Jasmine Carr will be home by April 2012.

Baby Jasmine needed the surgery as, at a 20-week scan, it was found that she had hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is when one side of the heart doesn’t develop properly, so, at 37 weeks, they induced labor and Jasmine weighed in at 5 lb 13 oz with a heart that was only the size of a walnut. During the 11-hour surgery, Dr. Asif Hasan re-plumbed the heart so that the right side could do the work of the left. The day after, Jasmine suffered a cardiac arrest and for three months thereafter, was confined to intensive care. But then, in mid-December, she moved to a high dependency ward and now doctors are confident she will make a complete recovery.

She has now undergone further surgery in order to widen an artery. In the next few months, it is hoped – and expected – she will be able to go home. Jasmine breaks records since the youngest baby before her to undergo this surgery was 36-hour-old Rudy Maxwell-Jones who was operated on in July 2011.

Hundreds of Dolphins Stranded on Cape Cod Beaches

Cape Cod’s beaches have become a beaching ground for more than one hundred common dolphins, 84 of which have died.

For the past twelve years, an average of 37 dolphins are stranded on the beach on an annual basis. Scientists are baffled with the sudden spike this year, and are looking into various explanations including geography, weather changes and prey behavior. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Mike Booth, numerous dolphins are lurking right off the Cape, and more beachings are likely. This time of year is generally known as a “high season” for dolphin stranding in the area, but the unusual numbers are a mystery.

In the meantime, more than 300 volunteers and staff have been working to aid the stranded dolphins, and are campaigning for federal funding for the project.

B. Sharp, stranding coordinator for IFAW, said “This might be the largest dolphin stranding geographically speaking that we’ve had.”

Kissing Your Robot?

It’s one thing to really love your robot (well, that’s a bit weird too), but kissing it? That’s just mega-weird. The “Kissinger” is around the same size and shape as a softball and comes with a pair of touch-sensitive lips that works out how each partner delivers their kiss and then does it in their stead. Developed by AI Singaporean researcher Hooman Samani, the robot’s virtual mouth can help create intimacy in a long-distance relationship, or add some excitement to a video game.

Samani argues that not only will the Kissinger be able to provide assistance in those long-distance relationships, it will also be able to bring a link in virtual worlds that will result in a whole new dimension of gaming. He said that humans will be able to “kiss virtual characters while playing games and receive physical kisses from their favorite virtual characters.” In addition (and this really sounds weird), a “more intimate relationship” will be able to develop between humans and robots.” He added: “kissing is a very important mode of human communication that involves joining lips in order to express many deep felt positive emotions such as affection, respect, greeting, farewell, good luck, romantic affection or sexual desire.” And now, technology has the answer; it is providing us with an upgraded interaction.

Samani has had other – similar in weirdness – creations. He developed a pair of cabbage patch doll “surrogates” which mimic the human voice and movements online through motion-tracking-sensors, microphones and speakers. So one could wake up to a doll waving at them, chanti ng “good morning.” Makes one wonder why one needs to find a mate in life…