Automated conception, using a production line version of IVF treatment, is being developed in Japan. Scientists are working on a miniature ‘womb-on-a-chip’ which can churn out early-stage embryos after being fed with sperm and eggs. Once manufactured, the pinhead-sized embryos could then be implanted into a woman’s womb, or frozen. advertisement The researchers, from the University of Tokyo, hope the device will boost the success rate of in-vitro fertilisation. Conventional IVF involves moving or washing eggs or embryos with culture fluid, causing changes in temperature and acidity. This can lead to problems, resulting in failed treatment cycles. To improve the process Dr Teruo Fujii’s team in Tokyo has produced a ‘lab-on-a chip’ just two millimetres across in which up to 20 eggs can be fertilised at a time. Within the device, which acts like an automated artificial womb, embryos are grown until they are ready for implantation. Endometrial cells, which line real wombs, are also grown in the womb chip so that the chemicals they produce can nourish the embryos. ‘We are providing the embryos with a much more comfortable environment, mimicking what happens in the body,’ Dr Fujii told New Scientist […]
The left was once the principal enemy of radical Islamism. So how did old enemies become new friends? The approaching fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States highlights an issue much in evidence in the world today, but one that receives too little historically-informed and critical analysis: the relationship between militant Islamic groups and the left. It is evident that the attacks, and others before and since on US and allied forces around the world, have won the Islamist groups responsible considerable sympathy far beyond the Muslim world, including among those vehemently opposed from a variety of ideological perspectives to the principal manifestations of its power. It is striking, however, that – beyond such often visceral reactions – there are signs of a far more developed and politically articulated accommodation in many parts of the world between Islamism as a political force and many groups of the left. The latter show every indication of appearing to see some combination of al-Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizbollah, Hamas, and (not least) Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as exemplifying a new form of international anti-imperialism that matches – even completes – their own historic project. This putative […]
In a move sure to impress environmentalists and further cement his Earth friendly image, Governor Schwarzenegger is set to launch a multimillion dollar research effort into a revolutionary new source of clean non-polluting power. The reactor works by using Quasi-spherical magnetic fields that trap injected energetic electrons to form a spherical negative potential well. Fusion ions trapped in this spherical well focused through central region oscillate across the ‘core’ until they are reacted. The project is focused on the Inertial Electrostatic Fusion reactor invented by the award winning American physicist Dr. Robert W. Bussard. The Radiation Free Fusion Reactor has the potential to change the whole landscape of energy generation, which is usually a choice between bad and worse options that include Nuclear, Coal and Natural Gas systems. The State of California peak energy usage is about 40,000 Megawatts and is only expected to grow steadily over the coming years . Fusion opens a whole new avenue of cheap clean energy that could not on ly satisfy growing energy needs but also fuel massive water desalination plants that could help solve California’s acute water shortages. Fusion is the energy that powers everything in the universe. The […]
Dozens of common household cleaning products contain hidden toxic chemicals linked to fertility disorders in lab animals, according to data gathered by a women’s research group. A type of glycol ether is frequently found in popular cleaning products such as Windex Aerosol, Formula 409, Lemon Fresh Pine-Sol and Simple Green All Purpose Cleaner, says the report released Tuesday by Women’s Voices for the Earth, a Montana-based nonprofit working to eliminate or reduce toxic chemicals in the home. The chemical, called ethylene glycol butyl ether or EGBE, is on California’s list of toxic air contaminants. Some animal studies indicate that it produces reproductive problems, such as testicular damage, reduced fertility, death of embryos and birth defects. People exposed to high levels of EGBE for several hours have reported nose and eye irritation, headaches, vomiting and a metallic taste in their mouths, studies show. It’s difficult for consumers to know whether their favorite cleaner contains the chemical because manufacturers aren’t required to list it on the label. Neither the state nor the federal government regulates indoor air pollution, for instance how the cleaners might degrade air inside a home. ‘These are products that women are using in their […]
WASHINGTON — It’s boom time for planet hunters. Astronomers are bagging new worlds at an average rate of more than two a month. As of July 20, the latest available date, 246 extrasolar planets had been detected circling other stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Among them are 25 alien ‘solar systems’ consisting of two, three or four bodies orbiting single suns. Four new exoplanets, as they’re also called, were reported just this month; three were reported in May and 28 during the last 12 months. The smallest known exoplanet, only twice as wide and five times heavier than Earth, was revealed in April. ‘Ten years ago, we knew of no extrasolar planets,’ said John Bally, an astronomer at the University of Colorado in Boulder. ‘Now we’re discovering planets almost weekly.’ ‘Extrasolar planets are everywhere in the sky,’ said Sylvain Korzennik, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. In addition to simply boosting the count of planets, new technologies are letting scientists begin to analyze the chemical makeup of their finds. Water molecules have been spotted in the atmosphere of at least one new planet. The fingerprints of elements such as […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
