Biobag
25-Apr-2017: Scientists create ‘Artificial Womb’
Scientists have created an "artificial womb" in the hopes of someday using the device to save babies born extremely prematurely.
So far the device has only been tested on fetal lambs. The device appears effective at enabling very premature fetuses to develop normally for about a month.
The group hopes to test the device on very premature human babies within three to five years. What we tried to do is develop a system that mimics the environment of the womb as closely as possible. "It's basically an artificial womb."
The device consists of a clear plastic bag filled with synthetic amniotic fluid. A machine outside the bag is attached to the umbilical cord to function like a placenta, providing nutrition and oxygen to the blood and removing carbon dioxide.
The device could also help scientists learn more about normal fetal development. The device in the fetal lamb experiment is kept in a dark, warm room where researchers can play the sounds of the mother's heart for the lamb fetus and monitor the fetus with ultrasounds.
Previous research has shown that lamb fetuses are good models for human fetal development. If we can just use this device as a bridge for the fetus then you can have a dramatic impact on the outcomes of extremely premature infants.
But others say the device raises ethical issues, including many questions about whether it would ever be acceptable to test it on humans.
Grassoline
2-Apr-2017: Grassoline - Aviation fuel from grass
Scientists have developed ‘Grassoline’ — a biofuel derived from grass that could one day power aircraft.
Researchers investigated methods that can disintegrate and treat grass until it can be used as a fuel. Right now the amount of biofuel that can be made from grass is still limited to a few drops. The current process is very expensive, and engines should be adapted to this new kind of fuel.
To improve biodegradability, the grass is pre-treated at first. Then bacteria are added which convert the sugars in the grass into lactic acid and its derivatives. This lactic acid can serve as an intermediate chemical to produce other compounds such as biodegradable plastics (PLA) or fuels. The lactic acid was then converted into caproic acid, which was further converted into decane. Decane can be used in aviation fuel.
If we can keep working on optimising this process in cooperation with the business world, we can come down on the price. And maybe in a few years we can all fly on grass!.
Belle-II experiment
11-Apr-2017: Belle-II ‘rolls in’ to collision point
The High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation (KEK) completed the ‘rolling-in’ of the Belle-II experiment in Tsukuba, Japan. This experiment is designed to study violations of the Standard Model and dark matter.
A grand collaboration of 700 scientists from 23 countries, Belle-II has a significant Indian participation both on experimental and theoretical sides. The fourth layer of the six-layer, highly sensitive particle detector, which is at the heart of Belle-II, has been built by Indian scientists, led by Tariq Aziz and Gagan Mohanty, who are with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. In 1998, when Indians [in this field] were working mostly with CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), KEK first wanted us to participate in this experiment, which had a complementary approach.
Belle-II has better sensitivity, some 50 times higher, than its predecessor, Belle. Initially, we did not have the chance to build the detector, and this is the second step — to work with the inner part of the detector, where the resolution has to be high. We are happy we did it and are now among four important groups in the world that can build such detectors.
Scientists from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Guwahati and Hyderabad; the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai; Punjab University; Punjab Agricultural University; MNIT (Malaviya National Institute of Technology), Jaipur; IISER (Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research) Mohali; and TIFR, Mumbai, are participating in this research.
Complementary to the direct search experiments being carried out at the Large Hadron Collider in CERN, Belle-II will indirectly probe new physics using intense electron-positron beams and a sensitive detector. Indian scientists led by TIFR have built a part of the highly sensitive silicon vertex detector, which will be attached to the set up at a later date, now that the rest have been successfully integrated. The silicon vertex detector has a six-layered structure and the fourth layer was constructed by Indian scientists.