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One Stem Cell Injection to Target Inflammation Slashed Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke By 58%: Dr. Perin holds up the stem cell treatment – Texas Heart Institute A large trial showed that a single injection of a patient’s own stem cells into their heart was able to reduce inflammation and risk of heart attack and stroke by 58% if they had heart failure. It’s the largest clinical trial of cell therapy for heart disease to date and demonstrated several positive results. The therapy technique was developed by cardiologists at the Texas Heart Institute to address the inflammation associated with heart disease. The process involves taking stem cells taken from a patient’s bone marrow called mesenchymal precursor cells, which are replicated in a lab via proprietary methods developed by a pharmaceutical company called Mesoblast and injected straight into the heart. In the trial, the treatment not only was tolerated well by patients but also increased the ability of their hearts to pump higher blood volumes. Moths Are More Efficient Pollinators Than Bees, Shows New Research: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Moths are more efficient pollinators at night than day-flying pollinators such as bees according to new research from the University of Sussex. Studying 10 sites in the South East of England throughout July 2021, the Sussex researchers found that 83% of insect visits to bramble flowers were made during the day. While the moths made fewer visits during the shorter summer nights, notching up only 15% of the visits, they were able to pollinate the flowers more quickly. Stressed Plants Make Ultrasonic Clicking Noises: Using ultrasonic microphones (pictured), scientists detected clicking noises made by various types of plants. OHAD LEWIN-EPSTEIN Dry tomato and tobacco plants emit distinct ultrasonic clicks according to scientist’s research in the research journal Cell. The study was performed by Alexandre Ponomarenko and her colleages at Tel Aviv University by using ultrasonic microphones to capture sounds emitted by plants when stressed. Various plants including tobacco, tomato plants, wheat, and others were contained withing sound dampening boxes and were put under stresses for water and cutting, with the control being unaffected. What they found was plants emitting sounds like popping bubble wrap and the sounds differed in frequency by plant type, the type of stress (cuts of the plant, water and nutrient stresses, ext), and the magnitude of the stress (where cuts were performed, how much water and nutrient stress was applied). An algorithm created by another team also determined that plants even may have their own distinct voices. While nothing is completely for certain, the research is an interesting step forward for our understanding of plants and can help us monitor them for agricultural purposes. Sources: One Stem Cell Injection to Target Inflammation Slashed Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke By 58% (goodnewsnetwork.org) Moths are more efficient pollinators than bees, shows new research (phys.org) Stressed plants make ultrasonic clicking noises (sciencenews.org)

Twin Paramedics Whose Dad Died of Cardiac Arrest Saved a Man Suffering Same Condition the First Time Working Together: Steve and Angie Mills Paramedic twins – SWNS Paramedic twins whose dad died of a cardiac arrest 21 years ago saved a man suffering the same condition in a tag-team effort, only a day after the anniversary of his death. Angie Mills and her brother Steve Mills were only working together by chance during a rare joint shift as part of the same ambulance crew when they resuscitated the patient, whose heart had stopped beating for five minutes. Steve works for the London Ambulance Service as an Emergency Medical Technician, but Angie is a 999 call handler, so the pair are not part of the same team. But they were out in the same ambulance earlier this month when Angie decided to shadow a frontline crew for the day. The twins, from southeast London, were initially called to a man who had fallen, but soon after arriving both had to jump into action to save his life. Thanks to their quick thinking, the man was revived and began talking again, despite having no heartbeat for five minutes. Newborn Calf with Smiley-Face Markings is Named ‘Happy’ and Will Graze on a Farm For Rest of His Life: Happy the Cow – Bellbrooke Holsteins, released Happy the cow was never destined for greatness, born as he was a bull on a dairy farm. Yet despite his inability to produce milk, Happy had another valuable skill that began working the minute he dropped onto the grass of Barry Coster’s dairy—making people smile. The Holstein calf was born with a smiley face on one side of his body, a result of the naturally random black and white markings typical of their breed. Rather than joining the mating bull herd, Happy’s unique markings have landed him a role on the farm in perpetuity. Mr. Coster said many workers were keen to have him around as a mascot. So Happy is continuing to make people smile and is one heck of a natural lawnmower. Almost Every Cat in Viral Tik Tok Video is Adopted from the Kansas City Animal Shelter: Credit: Wayside Waifs Animal Shelter / Tiktok With the knowledge that dogs are easier to adopt out than cats, a Kansas City animal shelter took to social media with a simple, yet clever video to even the odds. But Wayside Waifs Hospital and Shelter did more than even them, they managed to get all but two of their shelter cats adopted after the video went viral on TikTok, garnering a million views, and 2,500 shares. Sources: Twin Paramedics Whose Dad Died of Cardiac Arrest Saved a Man Suffering Same Condition the First Time Working Together - Good News Network Newborn Calf with Smiley-Face Markings is Named ‘Happy’ and Will Graze on a Farm For Rest of His Life (goodnewsnetwork.org) Almost Every Cat in Viral Tik Tok Video is Adopted from the Kansas City Animal Shelter (goodnewsnetwork.org)

New Brain Implant Device Could Restore Function in Paralyzed Limbs: University of Cambridge Department of Engineering and Clinical Neurosciences A brain implant that can restore arm and leg movements has been developed by British scientists to boost connections between neurons and the paralyzed limbs, offering hope to accident victims. The device combines flexible electronics and human stem cells to better integrate with the nerve and drive limb function. By sandwiching a layer of muscle cells reprogrammed from stem cells between the electrodes and the living tissue in rats, the researchers found that the device integrated with the host’s body and the formation of scar tissue was prevented. While extensive research and testing will be needed before it can be used in humans, the device is a promising development for amputees or those who’ve lost function in limbs. For Stressed-Out Grad Students, Mindfulness Makes Big Difference: Phase 1 significant effects. Graphical representations of significant effects observed between pre- and post-test means in four measures for intervention and control groups. The vertical bars represent standard error of the mean. Credit: PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281994 A new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has discovered that normalizing mindfulness practices in graduate students improves overall well-being. Their results showed that regular, sustained mindfulness activities can play an important role in improving engineering graduate students' emotional well-being. In the study, engineering graduate student cohorts participated in an hour-long, instructor-led mindfulness training program once a week for eight weeks. Each week is built upon the last giving training for activities such as mindfulness meditation and strategies for changing responses to your emotions. In post-training surveys, students reported significantly improved emotional well-being, a more positive outlook, fewer negative emotions, and increased mindfulness. Compared to the control group, the mindfulness training group rated themselves significantly higher for overall well-being. Scientists Have Now Recorded Brain Waves From Freely Moving Octopuses: By implanting wireless devices into three octopuses like this one (Octopus cyanea, also known as the big blue octopus), researchers are now able to study the famously intelligent cephalopods’ brain activity during natural behaviors. MICHAEL KUBA For the first time, scientists at the University of Naples Federico have recorded brain waves from freely moving octopuses. The research done by Tamar Gutnick and colleagues adapted portable data loggers typically used on birds, and surgically inserted the devices into three octopuses. The researchers also placed recording electrodes inside areas of the octopus’s brain that deal with learning and memory. The team then recorded the octopuses for 12 hours while the cephalopods went about their daily lives sleeping, swimming, and self-grooming in tanks. Some of the brain waves recorded were similar to those in the human hippocampus (responsible for memory consolidation) and those associated with sleep were similar to other animals. However, the most interesting find was unusually slow and strong brain waves, cycling just two per second, or 2 hertz. While this research has some great findings, more experiments will have to be done to have more conclusive results. Sources: Indian Startup Uses Rice Crop Waste to Make Biodegradable Foam Packaging–Instead of Burning it (goodnewsnetwork.org) For stressed-out grad students, mindfulness makes big difference (phys.org) Scientists have now recorded brain waves from freely moving octopuses (sciencenews.org)