Science Breakthroughs

Despite my penchant for worry and bemoaning the fate of humankind, I am an eternal optimist who believes science holds the answers to most of humanity’s problems. So, to enlighten and brighten your day, I present a few encouraging breakthroughs that may end up saving us all.

Help for frog

amputees

Once again, science fiction becomes a reality. While common in some animals such as starfish, salamanders and flatworms, regrowing arms and legs has proven impossible in most animals, including frogs. However, research studies at Tufts University show promise for the regrowth of limbs, as reported in a recent Science Advances article. Frog hindlimbs were amputated (humanely) and a silicone dome containing a cocktail of five drugs covered the wound for 24 hours. During the next 18 months, a fully functional limb grew into place but not in untreated frogs. This study provides hope that humans may eventually regrow replacement parts without resorting to stem cell therapy or nanotechnology.

I will just put this out there before I hear from readers with the same idea: Could this also increase the supply of frog legs for human consumption? No more hunting bullfrogs at night or messy preparations, just chop off their legs, apply the drug cocktail (sauce?), keep them happy in a bucket and repeat the procedure in a few months. I’m sure if it were up to the frogs, they would rather lose a limb and stay alive than be killed.

Frog-Enstein

In other frog-related news, the same Tuft scientists reportedly made “living machines” from blobs of frog skin cells. Clumps of cells removed from frog embryos organized into clusters and grew. These “machines” swam, swept up debris and healed themselves when injured. These “exobots” exhibit the potential to clean liquid environments, perhaps be incorporated into sewers and water facilities for maintenance purposes. Who knows, maybe these synthetic frog machines can clean the cholesterol plaques out of human arteries?

Pigs — mankind’s heroes?

Late last year, surgeons successfully attached a pig kidney to a human. The organ functioned normally for more than 50 hours. Previous attempts at such transplants resulted in rejected organs. However, genetic modifications to the donor pig resulted in a diminished immune response, thus protecting the organ from rejection by the human body. If researchers can show that such operations are safe in the long term, animal organs may potentially save human lives. But, of course, there are ethical concerns about using animals as organ donors. Also, we may have to derive a new meaning for the term “saving our bacon.”

Moos in the loo

Back on the farm, we must deal with pollution caused by raising feedlot animals. The average cow produces tens of liters of urine per day, and there are over a billion cows worldwide. Researchers in Germany detailed an ingenious way of dealing with the problem by training cows to use a small artificial turf area as a bathroom stall, allowing farmers to collect and treat cow urine. The components of the urine can be separated and used for fertilizer. So, how does one potty-train a cow? Place the cow in a stall, wait for it to pee, then give it a treat. The cow eventually connects peeing in the booth with a reward and independently enters the stall. Based on previous research, if 80 percent of cow pee were collected, associated ammonia emissions would be cut in half. Having read to this point in the article, don’t be surprised if you feel a potty break is needed.

Problems? Just sleep on it

Thomas Edison was a prolific problem-solver — and catnapper. He often fell asleep in a chair holding a steel ball in each hand, a metal pan below. Then, as he drifted off, his hands would fall into the pans, causing the balls to clatter, and he would awake, allowing him to remember his dreams, which were often the source of his inventive ideas. This story was the inspiration for a neuroscientist at the Paris Brain Institute. Volunteers were asked to solve a math problem that contained an easy trick. Once found, the trick would cut the time needed to solve the problem. After doing many trials on a computer, the volunteers would earn a 20-minute break in a recliner in a darkened room. They also held a light drinking bottle in their hand and were encouraged to rest or sleep. Electrodes monitored their brain waves.

Half of the volunteers stayed awake, 24 fell into a light sleep, 14 others fell into a deeper sleep stage. After resting, those who fell asleep lightly were three times more likely to solve the trick than those who did not sleep and six times more likely than those who fell into a deeper sleep. Apparently, the twilight stage between wakefulness and deep sleep can help the brain resolve certain problems.

So, the next time the boss catches you napping at your desk, beer bottle in hand, explain that, despite appearances, your brain is hard at work resolving those work-related problems. Science says so.