Here First - Science and Technology Blog

Scientists at Stanford University say they have managed to erase traumatic memories of mice while they were sleeping. The study aims to help people suffering from post-traumatic stress, says Nature. The standard treatment involves recollecting and talking about the painful events over and over again, in order to overcome this moment and learn to accept it.  In their study, scientists have induced this disease in mice. Every time they were exposed to jasmine scent, rodents were shocked. Then, half of the mice received the conventional treatment. While they were sleeping, they were exposed to the smell of jasmine, but not accompanied by the electric shocks. These mice, just like humans with post-traumatic stress, tended to regain the symptoms of the disease. The other group of animals was tested with an innovative technique. Researchers gave mice a drug to block production of a protein in an area of ​​the amygdala. That's a part of the brain associated with fear causing ...

Men of science arrange Particles of Iron in Stem Cells and then applied Magnets to Guide Stem Cells To Damaged Heart. "Stem cell therapies show great promise as a treatment for heart injuries, but 24 hours after infusion, we found that less than 10 percent of the stem cells remain in the injured area," said Eduardo Marbán, M.D., director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. "Once injected into a patient's artery, many stem cells are lost due to the combination of tissue blood flow, which can wash out stem cells, and cardiac contraction, which can squeeze out stem cells. We needed to find a way to guide more of the cells directly to the area of the heart that we want to heal." Read more here

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) alleged that it would try to accomplish ultra high energy collisions between 2 infinitesimal beams of particles at a fused accelerate of 7.0 TeV (teraelectronvolts) in the world's most knock-down particle accelerator next Tuesday. "Just lining the beams up is a challenge in itself: it’s a bit like firing needles across the Atlantic and getting them to collide half way," said CERN’s Director for Accelerators and Technology, Steve Myers. The 3.9 billion euro (5.6 billion dollars) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was resumed after a winter break down  and it's ready for this new stage of the experiment. It is believed that it might take a few hours up to a few days to accomplish the collisions once the experiment starts. CERN's previous, much less powerful energy collider took three days to record collisions in 1989 from the moment the attempt started. In order to recreate the big bang at a micro - scale, the...

A team of researchers in California Institute of Technology in Pasadena have produced tiny nanoparticle robots that can move through human blood and into tumours where they deliver a therapy that puts off an crucial cancer gene. The tiny polymer robots are covered with a protein addressed as transferrin that search out a receptor or molecular doorway on numerous different types of tumors. When the nano robots ascertain the cancer cell and get inside, they collapse, expelling minuscule intrusive RNAs or siRNAs that block a gene that constructs a cancer growth protein called ribonucleotide reductase. "In the particle itself, we've built what we call a chemical sensor," Mark Davis, a professor of chemical engineering, who led the study said in a phone interview. In the first phase of this experimental treatment, the team of researchers applied doses of the pointed nanoparticles 4 times across 21 days in a 30-minute intravenous infusion. Tumour samples acquired of...

Recently, NASA foretold the winners of 12 honours for analysing the biologic consequences of radiation. In the top of the list is a $1.75 million project to irradiate eighteen squirrel monkeys in an attempt to determine how space radiation affects the central nervous system. If its accepted, the experimentation it's going to be the first NASA-funded primate project to start after more than 30 years. The experimentation is destined to enquire the effects of solar flares and astronomic cosmic irradiations: both will bombard cosmonauts with burdened particles in heavier numbers once they leave the protective cover of Earth's magnetosphere. Since 2004, the United States has started the big plan of returning the astronauts to the moon, with the ultimate goal of attending Mars. You can find evidence that space irradiation impacts the brain, but it's not very clear the real level of danger it poses to deep-space adventurers. NASA states the new experiment will show what it...

There are a lot of people out there who are very excited when they can use the full potential of a computer. When Intel released the monster 3.33GHz Core i7 975 processor, the Intel 3.2 965 was the highest performing desktop CPU on the market. The Core i7 975 brought with it the new D0 stepping which brought slightly cooler temperatures, tightened up memory timings and lowered operating voltage requirements . But that was not enough! The enthusiasts also noticed another plus of the new CPU: higher overclocking capability. Intel's Extreme Edition processors are designed and sold to a very small segment of the market because it just don't make much sense for everyday use. People who buy Intel's Core i7 tend to push their hardware a lot harder than we do. These are the kind of people that usually spend more time overclocking and tweaking the system rather than operating it. The 975 features small speed bump at its stock settings. Let's not forget about the unlocked multipl...

This is amazing! Scientists are taking a random group of individual rat neurons, hooking them up to a computer via electrodes, and then watching as the neurons eventually form into a thinking brain which is able to fly an airplane simulator.