This Week in Science
A polar bear roams on the remote Svalbard archipelago between Norway’s northern tip and the North Pole, Sept. 1, 1998. The thousands of polar bears that prowl the archipelago are one of the main reason visitors venture to the frozen islands, which are as far north as one can go on a regularly scheduled airline. The huge and aggressive animals rarely come into Longyearbyen, the capital of the Svalbards, but local authorities recommend that visitors who head out of town take along high-powered rifles,which can be rented at local stores. (AP Photo/Scanpix)
Polar bear populations expected to fall 30% by 2050
According to the journal Biology Letters of the Royal Society, polar bear populations are expected to fall 30% by 2050 due to the depleting Arctic sea ice. Other studies found similar results, including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature which is an organization that tracks endangered species.
Polar bears rely on sea ice for hunting. They swim out to sea ice and wait for seals to come to up breath, the grab them. Without sea ice, the polar bears will have to swim to deeper waters and swim to deeper waters.
Then, once they are in the deeper waters, they will need to catch sea lions in the water. Sea lions are much better swimmers than polar bears, making it virtually impossible for polar bears to catch them. So, without sea ice, the polar bears will starve.
For more information: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-polar-plunge-sea-ice.html
Spray on Skin
RenovaCare, a biotechnology company that focuses on regenerating human organs via stem cell therapies, developed a “gun” that sprays adult stem cells on damaged skin, primarily due to burns. This device is called “SkinGun”. First stem cells are isolated from the patient’s skin using flow cytometry. Click the following link for more info: (http://www.abcam.com/protocols/introduction-to-flow-cytometry).
After the stem cells are removed, they are suspended in a water-based solution and sprayed onto the skin. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells, meaning that they are not specialized for a specific job. Then they divide and form cells for organ they came from. So, the stem cells from the skin will differentiate into cells specific for skin. When these cells are sprayed onto the skin, the start to divide and form differentiated cells, replacing the damaged ones.
Usually, skin grafting leaves patients with scars, however, this method did not leave noticeable scars. So far the FDA did not approve the SkinGun for clinical trials, but the human trials in Argentina are yielding good results.
For more information: http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/07/health/skingun-burn-care-technologies/
Garbage Collector in Space
On December 9th, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched a cargo ship to the International Space Station. However, this was no normal mission. As well as the food and the other supplies headed for the ISS, this vessel contained HTV-6, an experimental satellite that will hopefully slow down the “space junk” and redirect it towards the earth’s atmosphere, where it will burn up.
HTV-6, once in orbit, will release 20 kilograms of weight attached to a 700 meter magnetic tether. They will be observing the behavior of the tether and its effect on the debris orbiting. If this alters the trajectory of the debris, JAXA will develop a new one with a larger tether. It is critical that a method of removing space junk is discovered. Currently, there is an estimated 100 million pieces of junk orbiting the earth at extremely high speeds. Even a relatively small piece can inflict a huge amount of damage if it collided with a satellite.
For more information:
http://phys.org/news/2016-12-japan-space-junk-collector.html