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Welcome to this week's episode of brainstorm, where we give you a glimpse into the world
of science, for Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 Our top story comes from the world of materials
science. Some researchers from UT Arlington have designed and tested micro windmills,
and believe they could serve as a potential source of clean energy. Given how big wind
turbines are, you might think that micro windmills are something like a few feet tall. But no,
these are pretty close to micro, being 1.8 millimeters at their widest point. Normally
something like this wouldn't work because materials used in this kind of application
are too brittle. However, they used a special nickel alloy which gave them incredible flexibility,
enough to withstand the force of strong artificial wind. They had been working with the company
to develop the production process. Actually incorporating origami techniques so that these
tiny 3-D structures could be fabricated from a flat sheet of metal. These researchers previously
worked on other micromechanical systems, including gears, actuators, and sensors with a focus
on microscale surgical tools. But after coming up with this wind turbine idea they are extremely
excited about the energy potential. Obviously each windmill cannot generate much power,
but they can be easily mass fabricated by the thousands. For mobile devices the idea
is that a case covered in these windmills could charge a phone by waving it around or
exposing it to outdoor wind. On a larger scale, they hoped that massive arrays could also
be applied to the roof or walls of buildings to generate clean energy from wind, since
this technology can go many places that conventional wind turbines cannot.
Next is a quick update from the world of chemistry. This story could have been considered biology,
but it's kind of a blurry line. Since scientists in the Netherlands have created the first
artificial cells with a working organelle. We've talked about artificial cells before,
and they are essentially just small sacks of chemicals that vaguely resemble a cellular
membrane. The goal with this kind of technique is to one day gain the efficiency and potentially
even self-sufficiency of biological systems, but without some of the difficulties of dealing
with actual organisms. Toward that end, the scientists created tiny compartments filled
with chemicals, and then placing those compartments in a droplet of water. The entire droplet
was then coated in a polymer to again simulate a cellular membranes. The chemicals reacted
in their respective compartments and then released into the general droplet fluid. Working
with this they were able to actually create a successful cascade of chemical reactions
in these compartments. It's nowhere near the complexity of natural organelles and cells,
but is an important step in the right direction and could greatly boost the efficiency of
certain chemical production techniques. As an added bonus, this kind of research may
also reveal insights into how life originally formed.
We end with exciting news from the world of medicine. A team from Vanderbilt University
have developed a material they believe could accelerate wound healing. The key ingredient
in this material was nanoparticles that released tiny molecules of RNA. Many groups are investigating
this type of therapy called RNA interference, where small molecules of RNA are used to silence
target genes. In this case, the gene was related to the growth of new blood vessels. It is
possible to boost regeneration by directly applying growth factors and other compounds,
but by increasing the growth of blood vessels they assist the body in naturally delivering
these molecules to the site of an injury. So by blocking a gene that inhibits blood
vessel growth, they create a cascade of events that boost healing. But it wasn't that simple,
they needed to develop an effective way of delivering these nanoparticles for varying
lengths of time. To prevent them from being diluted throughout the whole body, they embedded
the nanoparticles in a biodegradable tissue scaffold. To this they also added a substance
called trehalose, which creates pores in the scaffold over time. Experiments in mice showed
a threefold increase in blood vessel volume when using this new material on a wound. But
the team also emphasizes that this is essentially a platform technology, with a variety of applications
possible by simply switching the target gene of the nanoparticles. Next they plan to test
on diabetic mice which have a higher likelihood of developing chronic wounds, and eventually
human testing. Well hope you enjoyed this episode. What genes
would you target to be used in this kind of material? Let us know your thoughts on that
and all the stories in the comments.