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.
 |
| 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: @wjsullivanDeMartini 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
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