The Friday Five

Highlighting some of the coolest science news we’ve seen lately.

1. We recently reported on the usage of stem cells to produce insulin. A new study published in the Lancet shows that injection of stem cells into the eyes of nearly blind patients helped improve vision in several of them.

2. A paralyzed man has been able to walk again after a pioneering therapy that involved transplanting cells from his nasal cavity into his spinal cord.

Scientists did the reverse experiment and made his nose run!

3. We live in a sea of information and “scientific studies”. How can you tell the good ones from the bogus ones? Here are some good rules of thumb, even if you do not have a background in science.

 

4. Sex has been around a long time, but sex that involved one member of the species penetrating another is now thought to have appeared about 385 million years ago in Scotland among armored fish called Microbrachius dicki (of course). You can read about the study here and even watch an imagination of the fish sex below (it doesn't take long...they're Scottish after all!).

5. Did all of that ancient fish sex get you overheated? Cool off now with some crazy (but risky!) experiments you can do with dry ice.
 

BONUS!

In our ongoing coverage of celebrities getting newly found organisms named after them, here is the latest:  a new species of tarantula from South America was named Bumba lennoni to commemorate John Lennon.

Science quote of the week:

“Captain, the most elementary and valuable statement in science, the beginning of wisdom, is, ‘I do not know’.” -- Lt.Cmdr. Data, Star Trek The Next Generation

Contributed by:  Bill Sullivan

Follow Bill on Twitter: @wjsullivan
 

Schwartz, S., Regillo, C., Lam, B., Eliott, D., Rosenfeld, P., Gregori, N., Hubschman, J., Davis, J., Heilwell, G., Spirn, M., Maguire, J., Gay, R., Bateman, J., Ostrick, R., Morris, D., Vincent, M., Anglade, E., Del Priore, L., & Lanza, R. (2014). Human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium in patients with age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt's macular dystrophy: follow-up of two open-label phase 1/2 studies The Lancet DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61376-3

Long, J., Mark-Kurik, E., Johanson, Z., Lee, M., Young, G., Min, Z., Ahlberg, P., Newman, M., Jones, R., Blaauwen, J., Choo, B., & Trinajstic, K. (2014). Copulation in antiarch placoderms and the origin of gnathostome internal fertilization Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature13825

Perez-Miles, F., Bragio Bonaldo, A., & Miglio, L. (2014). Bumba, a replacement name for Maraca Pérez-Miles, 2005 and Bumba lennoni, a new tarantula species from western Amazonia (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae) ZooKeys, 448, 1-8 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.448.7920

The Friday Five

Highlighting some of the coolest science news we’ve seen lately.

1. People living with type I diabetes may have something to celebrate as scientists have successfully used human embryonic stem cells to generate beta cells. These insulin-producing cells could one day be transplanted into humans.

2. How do you ward off the obnoxious guy who won’t leave you alone in a bar? Female squid of the species Doryteuthis opalescens can steer males away by turning on fake testes. Interestingly, when the females turn on the testes, they also get a pay raise at work.

Since human females can’t turn on testes like a squid, a fake moustache might be sufficient to keep unwanted men away.

3. Blinded by the light? Neuroscientists have successfully erased specific memories in mice…using light. But they are not using this knowledge for evil, they used it to demonstrate how different parts of the brain - the hippocampus and cortex - work together to retrieve memories.



Bono remembers everything about the ‘90s because he adequately shielded his eyes from the light.

4. Still “cleaning” your ears with Q-tip swabs? Learn more about your ear wax and why you should not interfere with it.

5. Check out these amazing photos of flowers that look like other things.

A kiss from a rose...

Science quote of the week:

“Science moves with the spirit of an adventure characterized both by youthful arrogance and by the belief that the truth, once found, would be simple as well as pretty.” – James D. Watson

Contributed by:  Bill Sullivan

Follow Bill on Twitter: @wjsullivan

Tanaka, K., Pevzner, A., Hamidi, A., Nakazawa, Y., Graham, J., & Wiltgen, B. (2014). Cortical Representations Are Reinstated by the Hippocampus during Memory Retrieval Neuron DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.09.037

DeMartini DG, Ghoshal A, Pandolfi E, Weaver AT, Baum M, & Morse DE (2013). Dynamic biophotonics: female squid exhibit sexually dimorphic tunable leucophores and iridocytes. The Journal of experimental biology, 216 (Pt 19), 3733-41 PMID: 24006348

Pagliuca, F., Millman, J., Gürtler, M., Segel, M., Van Dervort, A., Ryu, J., Peterson, Q., Greiner, D., & Melton, D. (2014). Generation of Functional Human Pancreatic β Cells In Vitro Cell, 159 (2), 428-439 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.09.040