What's New August 20, 2009

There has been much talk about different uses for stem cells lately. Most of us have heard that they can be made into almost any other cells, such as those in our hearts. Recently a new use has been found for them and that use has to do with vision. In an experiment, doctors coated contact lenses with a person's own stem cells. The results were amazing. Two people that got the lenses were blind in one eye and a third person that got them had limited vision in one eye. He could only see the biggest letters on the eye chart. It took time, but after about two weeks of use, the two people that were blind in one eye regained vision in that eye to the extent that they could now see the largest letters on the eye chart. The third person was able to improve his vision to the point where he qualified for a driver's license. So far the results have remained stable for the last 18 months.

The Brain
Photo Source: Stock.xching

Doctors have found a way to perform delicate brain surgery using sound waves. While it may not be suitable for all types of brain surgery, it seems to work fine for some. It employs a new ultrasound device and an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine. It was tested on nine patients in Switzerland. What is so great about this, is the it doesn't harm the skull or skin. One doctor was quoted as saying, "The groundbreaking finding here is that you can make lesions deep in the brain--through the intact skull and skin--with extreme precision and accuracy and safety," The ultrasound beam, which is not of the type ordinarily used for diagnostic tests, is able to burn away the diseased tissue.

Google, most of us know the name. They are the people that run the most successful search engine on the Internet. They have also been introducing all sorts of applications that they believe might even replace such powerful programs as Microsoft Word. An example would be a free online application for word processing. Now Google has gotten even more ambitious with their new operating system. They are working on an operating system that is the same as the one that runs their Chrome web browser. Can it really offer competition to Windows? Many think not, because the programs that it would have to run would be at least some of the important Microsoft programs, like their office suite. I guess time will tell on this one, but before Google can succeed, they will have to win over the business world.

Fiber Optics
Photo Source: Stock.xching

There is a big push to improve optical components. It seems that the push is paying off. It has been found that light can repel or attract much as a magnet does with another magnet. One of the great advances of this type of device will be faster communications. This light force only works on a microscopic scale however. When optical fibers are used in multiplexing, multiple light waves are sent through the fibers and they have to be converted to electrical signals and then back to light. This new discovery will allow light to travel all the way, eliminating the electrical step and thus increasing transmission speed.

A company in California that specializes in pharmaceutical cannabis now claims that it has produced a non toxic whole cannabis lozenge. While this itself may not mean much, it goes on to say that this lozenge may relieve many of the symptoms of swine flu. They have contacted the Homeland Security Agency and offered to help the government with their medicine. The president of the company stated, "We have the science and preliminary anecdotal results confirming the anti-inflammatory properties of our new lozenges and indicating they may present an effective and non-toxic treatment for minimizing the symptoms and harm from influenza infections. “

USS Independence
Photo Source: US Navy

The US Navy is about to receive its second trimaran littoral ship. Here we go again. Without taking anything away from this ship, it was supposed to cost 220 million, but now the cost is well over 600 million. First it is important to understand what littoral means. That is the area of the ocean that is near the shoreline of a country. In this area ships are subjected to numerous batteries, missiles and natural hazards. The navy doesn't like the idea of risking an expensive ship in that area, so it wanted a cheaper, smaller, more maneuverable one to send it. Here is the kicker. We are being told that the contractor has the navy convinced that if they buy more of these ships, the price will PROBABLY come down. I think that we have had enough of this nonsense. We should give the contract to someone else with the understanding that if prices increase more than 10% FOR ANY REASON, they too will lose the contract. By the way, the US Navy wants to buy 55 of these ships. An officer who didn't want to be named stated, that this is, “the only way the Navy gets bigger.” Presently there are 280 combat ships in the US Navy.

Another use has been found for stem cells. It is so simple that you would have thought that someone would have thought of it already. Here is how it works. A patient's stem cell are embedded on surgical thread. The thread is used to close wounds, or suture up the patient after an operation. The advantage of doing this is that the patient heals faster. It is said that the thread makes quite a difference when it is used to repair things like ruptured tendons. It is also said to reduce the chance of reinjury.

A discovery has been made at the Children's Hospital in Boston. They have discovered how to regenerate injured heart tissue. This is very helpful in patients after a heart attack, heart failure, or in children with congenital heart defects. The entire story can be viewed in the July 24 issue of Cell.