Seeing for a cure
Harvard scientists have uncovered the mystery behind why the cornea of the eye-the transparent covering of the iris-is free of blood vessels, the phenomenon that makes vision possible. It has been found that the top layer of healthy corneas contains large amounts of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3, a protein that stops the progress of blood vessel growth by binding the growth factors sent by the body to stimulate blood vessels to grow. These results now open up avenues of research in preventing and curing cancers and other diseases where blood vessels grow abnormally or uncontrollably.
-Mayce Al-Sukhni
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Olive oil on the inside
Crystal semiconductor devices for making computer chips, lasers, and digital camera sensors have been ousted-by olive oil. Well, not olive oil alone. Researchers at U of T’s department of electrical and computer engineering first suspended nano-sized semiconductor particles in a flask of extra-pure oleic acid, the main ingredient of olive oil. The liquid was then painted on a glass slide and the oleic acid pulled into a thin film such that semiconductor particles coated the slide. With nothing more than a two-hour methanol bath, the finished product proved to work ten times better than expensive crystal devices at sensing light. The possibilities this presents? High-performance communication devices that cost no more than olive oil.
-Sandy Huen
Source: U of T news service
Too hot to be true
Next time you hear a heat warning issued, be sure to take heed. A new study looking at the implementation of heat warning systems in four cities, including Toronto, found that only half of the people who were aware of a heat warning actually changed their behaviour because of it. “Heat tends to be a stealth killer,” according to Scott Sheridan of Kent State University, and oppressive summertime heat is responsible for more deaths than all other weather-related disasters combined.
-M.S.
Source: Kent State University
