Fat cells used to grow blood vessels

New research shows that fat cells can be used to promote the growth of new blood vessels. This could have enormous medical applications, such as repairing clogged arteries, or growing new cardiovascular tissue in people with poor circulation. The fat used to grow new blood vessels could simply be derived from liposuction, say scientists. Researchers injected immature fat cells, called stromal cells, into the hind legs of rats. Their circulation improved by five times. It seems that the fat cells secrete a mixture of growth hormones that promote the growth of vessels. Stromal cells are very similar to stem cells, so much so that some researchers aren’t even sure if they are two different cell types. If stromal cells are equivalent to stem cells, the excess fat of the western world could serve as an alternative to embryos for stem cell research.
-Zoe Cormier
Source: Nature

Liquid lenses

Electronics giant Philips has developed a new kind of lens that uses liquids instead of solid glass pieces to create a focus. Conventional lenses work by adjusting the distance between two glass plates-this new lens uses electric currents. The lens consists of a glass cylinder with two liquid layers inside it-a layer of an electrically conducting water soluble solution and a layer of a non-electrically conducting fat soluble solution. The two liquids cannot mix and create two distinct layers. The inside of the cylinder is coated with a material that repels the watery solution but not the fatty one, causing the interface between the two liquids to curve towards the center. When an electric current is applied the material becomes less repellant, and the curve between the two liquids changes. Researchers say a liquid based lens could be on the market as soon as 2005-although due to the nature of the design the lenses could be no bigger than one centimeter in diameter.
-ZC
Source: New Scientist

Super-cooling atoms

Physicists in Germany have managed to super-cool a single rubidium atom down to perhaps 100 microkelvins, just a hair above absolute zero, using light and mirrors. The scientists injected a single atom into a cavity about 100 microns wide that had been pumped free of all other matter, a vacuum, with mirrors lining the sides. They then beamed light into the space with an infrared laser. The light bounced back and forth across the cavity. When the photons hit the atom, the atom lost some of its energy and hence cooled down. The photons eventually escaped from the vacuum, carrying their extra energy with them and leaving a super-cooled atom behind.
-ZC
Source: New Scientist

Million dollar wool

Australian farmers have created the finest, softest, most valuable wool ever produced. The wool strands are less than 12 microns thick, about one-fifth the diameter of human hair and three-fifths the thickness of the average wool sold on the market. A 90 kilogram ball of the wool has been priced at about a million Australian dollars. The wool came from sheep owned by two Australian brothers, Bim and Richard Goodrich, who apparently feed their animals luxury food, keep them in a climate-controlled pen, and even play them soft ambient music.
-ZC
Source: BBC News