mind? what mind?

So Dr. Steven Wolf of Brooke Army Medical Center is quoted in the CNN news article by Larry Shaughnessy, titled Salamander-inspired therapy may aid injured vets. 

Story Highlights

“Regenerative medicine” pursued by the Pentagon, top U.S. and medical facilities

Key to regeneration is powder nicknamed “pixie dust”

Powder forms a microscopic “scaffold” that helps cells grow into desired tissue

This is very exciting; let’s hope that the trials prove this medical advancement to be every bit as productive as it is hoped it will be.

Very interesting…  But I have to wonder just how much power is needed to run the RF generator…

Cribbed from NASA.gov

+ High resolution (20Mb TIF)

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took two images of the larger of Mars’ two moons, Phobos, within 10 minutes of each other on March 23, 2008. This is the first, taken from a distance of about 6,800 kilometers (about 4,200 miles). It is presented in color by combining data from the camera’s blue-green, red, and near-infrared channels.

The illuminated part of Phobos seen in the images is about 21 kilometers (13 miles) across. The most prominent feature in the images is the large crater Stickney in the lower right. With a diameter of 9 kilometers (5.6 miles), it is the largest feature on Phobos.

The color data accentuate details not apparent in black-and-white images. For example, materials near the rim of Stickney appear bluer than the rest of Phobos. Based on analogy with materials on our own moon, this could mean this surface is fresher, and therefore younger, than other parts of Phobos.
A series of troughs and crater chains is obvious on other parts of the moon. Although many appear radial to Stickney in this image, recent studies from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter indicate that they are not related to Stickney. Instead, they may have formed when material ejected from impacts on Mars later collided with Phobos. The lineated textures on the walls of Stickney and other large craters are landslides formed from materials falling into the crater interiors in the weak Phobos gravity (less than one one-thousandth of the gravity on Earth).

In the full-resolution version of this image, a pixel encompasses 6.8 meters (22 feet), providing a resolution (smallest visible feature) of about 20 meters (about 65 feet). The image is in the HiRISE catalog as PSP0077699010.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

This is an old one, posted originally to NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day web site November 30, 2006.  The image was taken in 1994 by the STS-69 (Endeavour).

Aurora Astern
Credit: STS-68 Crew, NASA

Explanation: Sailing upside down, 115 nautical miles above Earth, the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour made this spectacular time exposure of the southern aurora (aurora australis) in October of 1994. The aurora, also known as the northern and southern lights, appear as luminous bands or streamers of light which can extend to altitudes of 200 miles. They are typically visible from the Earth’s surface at high latitudes and are caused by high energy particles from the Sun. The delicate colors are caused by energetic electrons colliding with oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere. In this picture, the rear structure of the Space Shuttle is visible in the foreground with the vertical tail fin pointed toward Earth. Star trails are visible as small streaks above Earth’s horizon.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) — Lizards with hairy feet are the inspiration for a new medical product that could help surgical patients heal better and might even replace sutures some day.

Geckos’ remarkable feet are the inspiration for a new kind of bandage.

Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have created a new kind of surgical adhesive, formed in a shape that, at the microscopic level, mimics the feet of geckos.

Gecko feet are a worthy model to imitate, because the lizards are masters of adhesion — the force that makes two substances stick together on contact.

“The gecko has the amazing ability to walk up walls and hang from a single foot,” said Jeff Karp, a researcher at Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. “They have hundreds of thousands of hairs on the surface of their feet and then on each one of those hairs they have these tiny nanopillars.” Watch geckos’ feet in action »

The nanopillars, one hundredth as thick as a human hair, provide an enormous amount of contact surface, and that leads to remarkably strong adhesion, Karp told CNN.

By copying that structure as a shape for their glue-coated polymer, the MIT scientists think they can build a material that will cling tightly to tissue.

It will be especially useful for applications inside the body, said Dr. Bob Langer, another researcher on the project, calling it “an internal Band-Aid.”

“For example, it might be used in holding tissues together that normally couldn’t be held together … say, in hernia repair,” Langer said. It could also be used to prevent leaks in gastric bypass operations, Karp said.

The new product will be stretchy and will stay stuck even in wet places inside the body, according to the MIT researchers. It can be adapted to different applications and could incorporate antibiotics or other drugs, they said — like a transdermal patch worn on the inside. It will dissolve inside the body over time, and the scientists can tweak the rate at which that happens, they said.

Karp said the new bandage material could be particularly useful in laparascopic procedures, where a surgeon operates through a very small incision.

“Our surgical collaborators think that this may even replace sutures one day,” he said. “Sutures are very difficult to place within laparoscopic procedures. When working in very small spaces it’s difficult to tie a knot.”

There are medical glues currently in use, but they have some problems, Karp said.

“Although they provide very strong levels of adhesion, they are very difficult to work with. They have poor mechanical properties, they are very brittle, and they also induce a very strong inflammatory response,” he said.

The MIT researchers said the gecko-inspired bandages could be in clinical trials within two to five years.

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.485696&w=425&h=350&fv=bgColor%3DFFFFFF%26file%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstatic.videoegg.com%2Fted%2Fmovies%2FJILLTAYLOR-2008-2_high.flv%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26fullscreenURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstatic.videoegg.com%2Fted%2Fflash%2Ffullscreen.html%26forcePlay%3Dfalse%26logo%3D%26allowFullscreen%3Dtrue] from www.ted.com posted with vodpod

The galaxy M104, or NGC 4594, also popularly known as the “Sombrero Galaxy”, is an unbarred spiral galaxy and is one of the largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.  It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its disk.  With this bulge and large dust lane, the galaxy takes on the appearance of a sombrero.  The unusually large bulge, the dust lane and the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole attract the attention of professional astronomers, while it’s brightness - it has an apparent magnitude of 9.0 - means it can easily be seen with amateur telescopes.  The Sombrero Galaxy is about 50,000 light years across, and 28,000,000 light years, or 9 megaparsecs, from Sol (our sun).  Fifty thousand light years across and twenty-eight million light years away.  Them’s big numbers; one light year is roughly equivalent to 9,460,730,472,580.8 kilometers or 5,878,625,373,183.61 statute miles.  So just how many kilometers away is it?  Well… you do the math; I’ve got to go sort out my ear wax collection.

For more information about this Hubble Mosaic of the Sombrero Galaxy, visit the Hubble Heritage Project web site.

The International Space Station Expands Again
Credit: STS-122 Shuttle Crew, NASA

Explanation: The developing International Space Station (ISS) has changed its appearance again. Last month, the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis visited the ISS and added components that included the Columbus Science Laboratory. The entire array of expansive solar panels is visible in this picture taken by the Atlantis Crew after leaving the ISS to return to Earth. The world’s foremost space outpost can be seen developing over the past several years by comparing the above image to past images. Also visible above are many different types of modules, a robotic arm, another impressive set of solar panels, and a supply ship. Construction began on the ISS in 1998.

Eclipsed Moonlight
Credit & Copyright: Jerry Lodriguss (Catching the Light)

Explanation: Moon watchers blessed with clear skies over the Americas, Europe, Africa and western Asia enjoyed a total lunar eclipse this week. Catching eclipsed moonlight, astroimager Jerry Lodriguss offers this view of the inspiring celestial event with the shadowed Moon accompanied by wandering planet Saturn at the left, and bright Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo, above. The engaging composite picture was made by combining a filtered, telephoto image of the Moon and surrounding starfield with a telescopic exposure. The combination dramatizes the reddened moonlight while clearly showing the variation of brightness and color in Earth’s not-so-dark shadow across the lunar surface.

There will be a total lunar eclipse this evening, visible from most of North and South America. 

Map showing the global visibility of the Total Lunar Eclipse of February 21, 2008. Note: the date shown on this map is based on GMT time.  For North America, this event takes place the evening of February 20, 2008.

The event begins with a partial eclipse at approximately 19:43 hrs (7:43 PM) Central Time, Wednesday, February 20, 2008 (01:43 hrs. GMT, 02/21/2008).

For more information, please refer to NASA’s web site for this event.