New antibiotic discovered in the human nose

German researchers have found bacteria in the human nose that produce a novel antibiotic which is effective against multiresistant pathogens.



A potential lifesaver lies unrecognised in the human body. Scientists at the University of Tübingen and the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF) have discovered that Staphylococcus lugdunensis (which colonises inside the human nose) produces a previously unknown antibiotic. As tests on mice have shown, the substance which has been named Lugdunin is able to combat multi-resistant pathogens, where many classic antibiotics have become ineffective. The study results were published on 27th July in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.
Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria – like the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which colonises on human skin – are among the leading causes of death worldwide. The natural habitat of harmful Staphylococcus bacteria is the human nasal cavity. In their experiments, Dr. Bernhard Krismer, Alexander Zipperer and Professor Andreas Peschel from the Interfaculty Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine Tübingen (IMIT) observed that Staphylococcus aureus is rarely found when Staphylococcus lugdunensis is present in the nose.
"Normally, antibiotics are formed only by soil bacteria and fungi," explains Professor Andreas Peschel. "The notion that human microflora may also be a source of antimicrobial agents is a new discovery." In future studies, researchers will examine whether Lugdunin could actually be used in therapy. One potential use is introducing harmless Lugdunin-forming bacteria to patients at risk from MRSA as a preventative measure.

Staphylococcus lugdunensis (white) colonise on human nasal epithelial cells (pink) and combat the Staphylococcus aureus pathogen (yellow) by producing Lugdunin. Graphic: Professor Andreas Peschel.

Researchers from the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Tübingen closely examined the structure of Lugdunin, noting that it consists of a previously unknown ring structure of protein blocks and thus establishes a new class of materials.
Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem worldwide. "There are estimates which suggest that more people will die from resistant bacteria in the coming decades than cancer," says Dr. Bernhard Krismer. "The improper use of antibiotics strengthens this alarming development" he continues.
As many of the pathogens are part of human microflora on skin and mucous membranes, they cannot be avoided. Particularly for patients with serious underlying illnesses and weakened immune systems they are a high risk – these patients are easy prey for the pathogens. Now the findings made by scientists at the University of Tübingen open up new ways to develop sustainable strategies for infection prevention and to find new antibiotics – also in the human body.
"If we can understand why they are living there [the nose] we may find new ways to combat bad bacteria, eradicate the spread of infection and maybe even find new therapeutic concepts, because we are in desperate need for new antibiotics," he concludes.

1 terabit per second achieved in optical fibre trial

Terabit-per-second data transmission using a novel modulation approach in optical fibre has been announced by researchers in Germany.



Nokia Bell Labs, Deutsche Telekom T-Labs and the Technical University of Munich have achieved unprecedented transmission capacity and spectral efficiency in an optical communications field trial with a new modulation technique. This breakthrough could extend the capability of optical networks to meet surging data traffic demands in the future.
Their research has shown that the flexibility and performance of optical networks can be maximised when adjustable transmission rates are dynamically adapted to channel conditions and traffic demands. As part of the Safe and Secure European Routing (SASER) project, the experiment over a deployed optical fibre network achieved a net 1 terabit (TB) transmission rate. This is close to the theoretical maximum information transfer rate of that channel and thus approaching the Shannon Limit discovered in 1948 by Claude Shannon, the "father of information theory."
The trial of this novel modulation approach – known as Probabilistic Constellation Shaping (PCS) – uses quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) formats to achieve higher transmission capacity over a given channel, to significantly improve the spectral efficiency of optical communications. PCS modifies the probability with which constellation points (the alphabet of the transmission) are used. Traditionally, all constellation points use the same frequency. However, PCS cleverly uses constellation points with high amplitude less frequently than those with lesser amplitude, sending signals that are overall more resilient to noise and other potential disruption. This allows the data transmission rate to be tailored to ideally fit the transmission channel, delivering up to 30% greater reach.
This research is a key milestone in proving that PCS could be used in the future to improve optical communications. With 5G wireless technology forecast to emerge by 2020, today's optical transport systems must evolve to meet the exponentially growing demand of network data traffic, increasing at a cumulative annual rate of 100%. PCS is now part of this evolution, allowing increases in optical fibre flexibility and performance that will move data traffic faster and over greater distances without increasing the network complexity.
Marcus Weldon, President of Nokia Bell Labs and the Chief Technology Officer, commented: "Future optical networks not only need to support orders of magnitude higher capacity, but also the ability to dynamically adapt to channel conditions and traffic demand. Probabilistic Constellation Shaping offers great benefits to service providers and enterprises, by enabling optical networks to operate closer to the Shannon Limit to support massive datacentre interconnectivity and provide the flexibility and performance required for modern networking in the digital era."

World's first 1 terabyte SD card is announced

Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital has announced the first 1 terabyte capacity SD card at Photokina 2016.



Western Digital Corporation (WDC), which acquired SanDisk for US$19 billion in May, has unveiled a 1 terabyte (TB) SDXC card prototype at the world's leading trade fair for photo and video professionals. With ever-increasing demand for high resolution content, such as 4K and 8K, the company continues to push the boundaries of technology and to demonstrate the power of exponential growth.
"Showcasing the most advanced imaging technologies is truly exciting for us," said Dinesh Bahal, Vice President of Product Management. "16 years ago we introduced the first SanDisk 64MB SD card and today we are enabling capacities of 1TB. Over the years, our goal has remained the same: continue to innovate and set the pace for the imaging industry. The SanDisk 1TB SD card prototype represents another significant achievement as growth of high-resolution content and capacity-intensive applications such as virtual reality, video surveillance and 360 video, are progressing at astounding rates."
Since the introduction of a record-breaking 512GB memory card at Photokina 2014, Western Digital has proven it can nearly double the capacity in the same SD card form factor using proprietary technology. Higher capacity cards expand the possibilities for professional videographers and photographers, giving them even greater ability to create more of the highest quality content, without the interruption of changing cards.
"Just a few short years ago, the idea of a 1TB capacity point in an SD card seemed so futuristic," said Sam Nicholson, CEO of Stargate Studios and a member of the American Society of Cinematographers. "It's amazing that we're now at the point where it's becoming a reality. With growing demand for applications like VR, we can certainly use 1TB when we're out shooting continuous high-quality video. High-capacity cards allow us to capture more without interruption – streamlining our workflow, and eliminating the worry that we may miss a moment because we have to stop to swap out cards."

Dubai to build tallest tower by 2020

A futuristic new tower in Dubai will surpass the height of the current world record holder – the Burj Khalifa – and utilise the most advanced technology, engineering and materials available.

Credit: Emaar Properties

Emaar Properties has announced a "glittering new icon" that will redefine Dubai's skyline when completed in time for the 2020 World Expo. The tower is set to rise in the heart of Dubai Creek Harbour, to the east of the city's current tallest skyscraper and world record holder, the Burj Khalifa. The exact height of this proposed megaproject remains a secret and will be revealed at a later date, but its developers claim it will be the tallest in the city. It is, however, likely to be surpassed in height by the Jeddah Tower, currently under construction in Saudi Arabia and planned to reach 1,008 m (3,307 ft).
The unnamed building, currently known as simply "The Tower", will serve as the vibrant core of Dubai Creek Harbour – a 6 sq km world-class masterplannned development twice the size of Downtown Dubai and located 10 minutes from Dubai International Airport. The waterfront development is centred off Dubai Creek, the cradle of history and culture for this region, and in close proximity to Ras Al Khor National Wildlife Sanctuary, protected by UNESCO and home to nearly 70 species of water birds.

Credit: Emaar Properties

Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, said: "The Tower in Dubai Creek Harbour is our tribute to the positivity, energy and optimism that Dubai and the UAE celebrate, led by a leadership committed to all-round progress. A shining beacon of hope for the world, celebrating diversity and human achievements, this new iconic landmark further highlights the country's ambition and futuristic vision and enhances our nation's pride. It will be the destination for the world to visit, enjoy and celebrate life, as Dubai prepares to host the Expo 2020."
He added: "The design by Santiago Calatrava, chosen after a competitive pitch from the world's top architects, was a perfect fit to our requirement for a landmark that defined our urban core for Dubai Creek Harbour. It integrates not just design excellence but also strong environmental and smart-tech considerations. With The Tower, we are delivering a compelling destination that will add long-term economic value to Dubai and the UAE. It will also position Dubai Creek Harbour as one of the most desired residential, leisure and touristic attractions, providing visitors and residents with a modern, luxurious and sustainable environment in which to live, work, learn and entertain."

Credit: Emaar Properties

"From the beginning, my team and I have tried to put the best of ourselves into this project, since it is very special and is a great honour to participate," said architect Santiago Calatrava Valls. "The collaboration with such a prestigious firm as Emaar Properties makes it even more exciting and demanding. The design has clear reference to the classic art from the past and the culture of the place while serving as a great technological achievement. In my whole career, I have perceived technology as a vehicle to beauty and to art. This project envisages an artistic achievement in itself, inspired by the idea of welcoming people, not only from Dubai and the UAE, but from the entire world. It is a symbol of an abiding belief in progress."
Calatrava's previous works include the World Trade Centre Transportation Hub in New York, Calgary Peace Bridge, Olympic Sports Complex in Athens and the Turning Torso Tower in Malmö that was recently awarded the Ten Year Award from the Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

Credit: Emaar Properties

The Tower will feature green technology and sustainability measures that serve as industry benchmarks. An environment-friendly tram service will be integrated for effortless access, while on-foot visitors will have a multitude of access points onto the plaza. A number of green corridors are envisaged for pedestrian access and effortless connectivity with Dubai Creek Harbour.
The crowning glory of the $1 billion tower will be a "Pinnacle Room" with 360 degree views of the city and beyond. Observation garden decks will recreate the splendour of the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In addition, fully glazed rotating balconies will extend outward and move around the external facade.

Credit: Emaar Properties

The Tower will serve mainly as an architectural structure, as opposed to a fully occupied working building – but will include about 20 upper floors used for a hotel, restaurants and function rooms, as well as the interior garden space and observation decks. The surrounding Dubai Creek Harbour project – being developed in a joint venture with Dubai Properties – will feature a 4.5km boardwalk, retail, nine lifestyle districts, 22 hotels, a yacht club, a marina and harbour.
In addition to hosting the World Expo, the UAE plans to launch the first Arabian mission to Mars the following year, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the country's formation. To diversify its economy away from reliance on hydrocarbon exports, several billion dollars are being invested in the space sector and the creation of a regional hub for satellite construction. It is clear that the UAE has big ambitions for the future.

Scarf, as protection against paparazzi

How to protect celebrities from intrusive paparazzi? Proposed a method of protection using scarf ISHU adding fibers with nano spherical crystals which reflect light from the photo flares leaving a luminous image cloth on a dark background. Useful property of accessory, which costs 290 pounds, already rated stars such as Cameron Diaz, Joe Jonas and Paris Hilton. Another, wishing to escape the flashes of photographers  have to wait, as the first batch of “magic” shawls already sold out..
The idea to create such clothes came in 2009, when one of the pictures
were damaged the reflectors, mounted on bicycle wheels. Now the designer willing to offer from fabric not only scarves but also hats, suits and cases for smartphones. But do not forget that without the flash, pictures obtained, as before.

Designer Saif Siddiqui

The future of architecture Rising house 2025

The future of architecture Rising house, which themselves can be repaired

Military research agency DARPA is investing in technologies,that will create materials,that will grow on command, and independently be to repaired, if damaged.
Now all building materials is quite difficult to manufacture, transport and assemble. Moreover, they deteriorate and disintegrate over time. The idea of DARPA is to create materials that can grow by acquiring the specified form, to repair themselves or to adapt and change themselves for the environment. The new program called “Creating a living material”
It sounds like something out of science fiction, but itself is repaired materials already produced. Recently, the first experiments on the three-dimensional printing of tissue were placed. Independently repaired homes can stand for centuries, without needing to be repaired by the people. Entire buildings can be built from scratch, using a minimum of material and nothing is spending on transportation.
Perhaps the most interesting goal of the program is to develop materials that are adapted to the environment. For example, the DARPA offers tiles, which can passively monitor the air flow, keeping the house cool in summer and warm – winter.
All this is still in the stage of the project, but DARPA knowing the reputation of turning science fiction into scientific fact, maybe it’s just in time and in a few years self-healing growing houses construction will deprive companies  of the lion’s share of the work.

The first passenger the train of the future on hydrogen

The first passenger the train of the future on hydrogen

The electric vehicles have a number of advantages over hydrogen counterparts, but environmentally friendly fuel are actively interested on the railroad. Already in 2017, in Germany, will begin to run the world’s first passenger train on hydrogen, developed by engineers of the French company Alstom. Lokomotiv Coradia iLint accelerates to 140 km / h and can travel on a full tank of 600 to 800 kilometers, while highlighting the only water and steam.
Coradia iLint will ride on non-electrified sections of routes, on which usually ply diesel trains. For more efficient flow of hydrogen fuel a manufacturer established lithium-ion batteries, which store the “extra” energy. Her can be used at any time, for example, for charging mobile gadgets passengers. The train of the future does not produce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, and during movement the system produces much less noise than diesel. The illustrated model has 150 seats and is designed to transport 300 people.
Coradia iLint launch in North Germany in December 2017. Along with the purchase of environmentally friendly rail trains, operators will have to invest in the creation of a network of hydrogen filling stations.

GIGS.2.GO: Portable Tear and Share USB Flash Drives

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you desperately needed a flash drive but couldn’t find one to save your life? It’s times like these where something like the GIGS.2.GO would’ve been useful.
The question is, what’s GIGS.2.GO? It’s about the size of a credit card and it’s basically just four USB drives arranged into one neat little package.

The premise that Kurt Rampton and the BOLTgroup were working with when they designed GIGS.2.GO was to provide people with emergency thumb drives that they can just keep in their wallet.
Thanks to the “Tear and Share” technology, the card of drives will come in especially handy for people who work with large teams. Just tear off a drive, save your data, and pass it along to whoever needs it.

GIGS.2.GO is designed to be produced from 100% post-consumer molded paper pulp, so they can be labeled easily with a pen or marker.

Solar Window Socket: Stick up and Plug in

If only harnessing the power of the Sun could be as simple as sticking an outlet with a solar panel onto your window. That’s the idea designers Kyuho Song and Boa Oh are pushing for with their Window Socket concept design.

It’s basically an outlet you fasten onto any clear window so that it charges up by absorbing the sun’s solar energy. When you want to power something up, simply stick the plug into the socket and that’s it.

The design description indicates that the solar energy will be transformed into electrical energy by a converter, although I can’t really see where they could have crammed that circuitry inside of the small puck-like device.

18-Year Old Invents Supercapacitor that Charges Cellphone Batteries in 30 Seconds

How fitting is it that a high school student may have found the answer to longer lasting and faster charging mobile devices? The promising invention was made by Eesha Khare, an 18-year old student from Saratoga, California. It’s a supercapacitor that, according to Intel, “fits inside cell phone batteries, allowing them to fully charge within 20-30 seconds.”

Supercapacitors have significantly higher durability and rate of charging (and discharging) compared to rechargeable batteries, but the downside to them is that they have a low energy density. That’s why they’re mainly used in devices that need short bursts of power. But in the video below, which was uploaded by Santa Barbara Arts TV on YouTube, you’ll hear Khare mention that her supercapacitors have “a special nanostructure, which allows for a lot [sic] greater energy per unit volume.”

 For her invention, Khare won $50,000 (USD) and was awarded one of the runners-up honors at the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The first place went to a 19-year old who developed an AI for a low-cost self-driving car.

Machine Keeps Human Liver Alive And Functioning Outside The Body For 24 Hours

This could double the amount of livers available for transplant and save thousands of lives. Livers for everyone! 

A new machine can keep human livers warm and functioning outside the body for 24 hours before successfully transplanting them, a team of Oxford scientists announced last week. The breakthrough could double the number of livers available for transplant.
Livers are normally kept on ice to slow down their metabolism, a risky process that only buys doctors about 14 hours of time before they need to be transplanted. More than 2,000 livers are tossed every year because of oxygen deprivation or damage endured in the cold preservation process, according to the CEO of OrganOx, the company created around the new device. In the U.S. and Europe, there are about 30,000 patients awaiting new livers, many of whom will die before they can get one.

Staying Alive:  Oxford University

The machine, developed by biomedical engineering professor Constantin Coussios and Peter Friend of the Oxford Transplant Centre, keeps the liver alive at normal body temperature through perfusion, or supplying it with oxygenated red blood cells. While connected to the device, the liver regains its normal color and produces bile just like it would in the human body. The team has been working on the technology since 1994.
Two successful transplants at King's College Hospital in London last month indicate the device could become the go-to method for liver transplants, increasing the amount of time livers could be preserved for transport. The livers were only kept alive for 10 hours in those transplants, but the researchers say their other experiments have shown the machine to work for periods up to 24 hours.

Living Liver:  Oxford University

Having a little wiggle room in the timeframe could allow doctors to assess how well the organ is working and maximize the likelihood of a successful transplant.
Coussios and Friend plan to run a pilot with 20 patients, and pending success, have the machine on the market by 2014.

The Fastest DNA Sequencer

DNA sequencing has revolutionized medicine and biomedical research. For example, DNA analysis can tell doctors which drug might work best against a particular cancer. But current technology usually sequences only short stretches of DNA and can take hours or days. To sequence anything longer than a few hundred base pairs, scientists mince up thousands of copies of the target DNA, sequence all the fragments, and use software to painstakingly reconstruct the order of the DNA bases by matching overlap within fragments. A new approach, called nanopore sequencing, can handle long strands of DNA at once, eliminating the need for overlap analysis. As a result, nanopore sequencers could be cheaper, faster, and more compact than other DNA sequencers. They can also accurately sequence stretches with many repeating base pairs. The MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies connects to a USB port. Soon, anyone with $1,000 and a computer will be able to sequence DNA.

1) Drop the DNA sample on a chip.
Researchers place pretreated samples—blood from a patient or purified DNA, for example—into a small port. Within the device is a silicon chip with many thin membranes studded with tiny pores.

2) Unzip the DNA.
An enzyme shuttles the DNA to the membrane’s nanopore. It then unzips the twin strands of DNA and feeds one end into the pore. The pore is a set of proteins arranged in a ring and derived from bacteria. The inner diameter of the pore is a couple of nanometers wide: 100,000 times thinner than a human hair.

3) Block the ion current.
Electrodes send an ionic current, a flow of ions, through the open nanopore. As a group of a few DNA bases—the As, Ts, Cs, and Gs—threads through the neck of the pore, it blocks the ions and interrupts the current. A sensor records the electrical disturbance.

4) Determine the sequence.
Software in an attached computer analyzes the electrical signal recorded for every group of bases. Because each combination of bases blocks the current in a distinctive fashion, the software can deduce the identity and sequence of the individual bases in the group. As the DNA strand feeds through the pore, the software stitches together the sequence of bases on the entire strand.

5) Check for errors.
The device can determine the sequence of a single strand of DNA, but for greater precision, it can also read the complementary strand. Once the first strand of the DNA ratchets through the pore, a small stretch of DNA called a hairpin structure acts as a tether to draw the matching half into the pore as well.

STATS

Price: Less than $1,000
DNA Read Length: 70,000 base pairs
Human Genome Size: 3 billion base pairs

9 Reasons To Avoid Sugar As If Your Life Depended On It

The harmful effects of sugar go way beyond empty calories.
Added sugar is so unhealthy that it is probably the single worst ingredient in the modern diet.
Here are the top 9 reasons to avoid sugar as if your life depended on it (it does).

1. Added Sugar Supplies a Large Amount of Fructose

The reason added sugar (and its evil twin… High Fructose Corn Syrup) is bad for you, is that it supplies a very large amount of fructose.
Sugar (and HFCS) are half glucose, half fructose. Glucose is essential and can be metabolized by pretty much every cell in the body. If we don’t get it from the diet, our bodies make it from proteins and fat.
Fructose, however, is not essential to our functioning in any way.
The only organ that can metabolize fructose is the liver, because only the liver has a transporter for it (1).
When large amounts of fructose enter the liver and it is already full of glycogen, most of the fructose gets turned into fat (2).
This process is probably one of the leading causes of the epidemics of many chronic, Western diseases.
I’d like to point out that this does NOT apply to fruit, which are a real food with vitamins, minerals, fiber, lots of water and are very difficult to overeat on.
Bottom Line: The only organ that can metabolize fructose is the liver. When we eat a lot of fructose, many things in the body start to go wrong.

2. Sugar Doesn’t Contain Any Vitamins or Minerals (Empty Calories)

Sugar IS empty calories. No doubt about that.
Most high-sugar foods like pastries, sodas and candy bars contain very little essential nutrients.
People who eat them instead of other more nutritious foods will probably become deficient in many important nutrients.
Bottom Line: Most products with added sugars in them contain very little nutrients and can therefore be classified as “empty” calories.

3. Sugar Causes Deposition of Fat in The Liver

When we eat fructose, it goes to the liver.
If liver glycogen is low, such as after a run, the fructose will be used to replenish it (3).
However, most people aren’t consuming fructose after a long workout and their livers are already full of glycogen.
When this happens, the liver turns the fructose into fat (2).
Some of the fat gets shipped out, but part of it remains in the liver. The fat can build up over time and ultimately lead to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (4, 5, 6).
Bottom Line: Eating a lot of added sugar (fructose) can cause deposition of fat in the liver and lead to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

4. Sugar Harms Your Cholesterol and Triglycerides

Most of the fat generated in the liver gets shipped out as Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) particles.
These particles are rich in triglycerides and cholesterol.
In a controlled study, people were assigned to drink 25% of calories as either a glucose-sweetened drink or a fructose-sweetened drink for 10 weeks (7).
The fructose group had:
Increases in blood triglycerides.
Increases in small, dense LDL and oxidized LDL (very, very bad).
Higher fasting glucose and insulin.
Decreased insulin sensitivity.
Increased fat in the abdominal cavity (visceral fat).
Basically, 25% of calories as fructose significantly harmed blood lipids and caused features characteristic of the metabolic syndrome, which is a stepping stone towards obesity, heart disease, diabetes and a (short) lifetime of poor health. 
Bottom Line: Consuming a large part of calories as fructose can lead to serious adverse effects on blood markers in as little as 10 weeks.

5. Sugar Causes Insulin Resistance

The main function of insulin is to drive glucose from the bloodstream into cells.
But when we eat a Western diet, the cells tend to become resistant to the effects of insulin.
When this happens, the pancreas start secreting even more insulin to remove the glucose from the bloodstream, because elevated blood glucose is toxic.
This is how insulin resistance leads to elevated insulin levels in the blood.
But insulin also has another important function… it tells the fat cells to pick up fat from the bloodstream and to hold on to the fat that they already carry.
This is how insulin causes obesity.
When the body becomes even more resistant to insulin, the beta cells in the pancreas eventually become damaged and lose the ability to produce sufficient insulin. This is how you get type II diabetes, which now afflicts about 300 million people worldwide.
Excess fructose is a known cause of insulin resistance and elevated insulin in the blood (8, 9, 10).
Bottom Line: Excess fructose consumption can lead to insulin resistance, a stepping stone towards obesity and diabetes.

6. Sugar Raises Your Risk of Western Diseases

Excess sugar consumption has been associated with many Western diseases.
If anything, sugar is the single largest contributing factor to the poor health of affluent nations.
Every time sugar (and refined flour and vegetable oils) enter a population’s diet, these people become sick.
Sugar has been associated with:
Obesity. Sugar causes weight gain via various mechanisms, including elevated insulin and leptin resistance (11, 12).
Diabetes. Sugar is probably a leading cause of diabetes (13, 14, 15).
Heart disease. Sugar raises the bad cholesterol, triglycerides and causes various other issues that can ultimately lead to heart disease (16, 17).
Bottom Line: Excess sugar consumption has been associated with many serious diseases, including obesity, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

7. Sugar Doesn’t Cause Proper Satiety

n area in the brain called the Hypothalamus is supposed to regulate our food intake.
In a study published in 2013, two groups drank either a glucose-sweetened drink or a fructose-sweetened drink (18).
The glucose drinkers had decreased blood flow in the hypothalamus and felt satiated, while the fructose drinkers had increased blood flow in this area of the brain.
The fructose drinkers felt less satisfied and were still hungry.
Another study revealed that fructose didn’t reduce levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin like glucose. The more ghrelin, the hungrier you are (19).
Bottom Line: Studies comparing fructose and glucose show that fructose does not induce satiety like glucose, which will contribute to a higher calorie intake.

8. Sugar is Addictive

When we eat sugar, dopamine is released in the brain, giving us a feeling of pleasure.
This is actually how drugs of abuse like cocaine function (20).
Our brain is hardwired to seek out activities that release dopamine. Activities that release an enormous amount of it are especially desirable.
In certain individuals with a certain predisposition to addiction, this causes reward-seeking behavior typical of addiction to abusive drugs.
Studies in rats demonstrate that they can in fact become physically addicted to sugar (21).
This is harder to prove in humans, but many people consume sugar and other junk foods in a pattern that is typical for addictive, abusive compounds.
Bottom Line: Sugar, due to its powerful effects on the reward system in the brain, can lead to classic signs of addiction.

9. Sugar Causes Resistance to a Hormone Called Leptin

Leptin is a hormone that is secreted by our fat cells. The more fat we have, the more leptin is secreted.
This is supposed to function as a signal to tell the brain that we’re full and need to stop eating. It is also supposed to raise our energy expenditure.
Obese individuals actually have high levels of leptin, but the problem is that the leptin isn’t working.This is called leptin resistance and is a major reason why people eat more calories than they burn and become obese.

Scientists map 3-D structure of telomerase enzyme – key actor in cancer, aging

Like finally seeing all the gears of a watch and how they work together, researchers from UCLA and UC Berkeley have, for the first time ever, solved the puzzle of how the various components of an entire telomerase enzyme complex fit together and function in a three-dimensional structure.



The creation of the first complete visual map of the telomerase enzyme – which is known to play a significant role in aging and most cancers – represents a breakthrough that could open up a host of new approaches to fighting disease, the researchers said.

"Everyone in the field wants to know what telomerase looks like, and there it was. I was so excited, I could hardly breathe," said Juli Feigon, a UCLA professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a senior author of the study. "We were the first to see it."
The scientists report the positions of each component of the enzyme relative to one another and the complete organisation of the enzyme's active site. In addition, they demonstrate how the different components contribute to the enzyme's activity, uniquely correlating structure with biochemical function. Their research is published in Nature.
"We combined every single possible method we could get our hands on to solve this structure and used cutting-edge technological advances," said co-first author Jiansen Jiang, a researcher who works with Feigon. "This breakthrough would not have been possible five years ago."

"We really had to figure out how everything fit together, like a puzzle," said co-first author Edward Miracco, a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow in Feigon's laboratory. "When we started fitting in the high-resolution structures to the blob that emerged from electron microscopy, we realized that everything was fitting in and made sense with decades of past biochemistry research. The project just blossomed, and the blob became a masterpiece."

The telomerase enzyme is a mixture of components that unite inside our cells to maintain the protective regions at the ends of our chromosomes, which are called telomeres. Telomeres act like the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces, safeguarding important genetic information. But each time a cell divides, these telomeres shorten, like the slow-burning fuse of a time bomb. Eventually, the telomeres erode to a point that is no longer tolerable for cells, triggering the cell death that is a normal part of the aging process.

While most cells have relatively low levels of telomerase, 80 percent to 90 percent of cancer cells have abnormally high telomerase activity. This prevents telomeres from shortening and extends the life of these tumorigenic cells — a significant contributor to cancer progression.

The new discovery creates tremendous potential for pharmaceutical development that takes into account the way a drug and target molecule might interact, given the shape and chemistry of each component. Until now, designing a cancer-fighting drug that targeted telomerase was much like shooting an arrow to hit a bulls-eye while wearing a blindfold. With this complete visual map, the researchers are starting to remove that blindfold.
"Inhibiting telomerase won't hurt most healthy cells but is predicted to slow down the progression of a broad range of cancers," said Miracco. "Our structure can be used to guide targeted drug development to inhibit telomerase, and the model system we used may also be useful to screen candidate drugs for cancer therapy."

The researchers solved the structure of telomerase in Tetrahymena thermophila, the single-celled eukaryotic organism in which scientists first identified telomerase and telomeres, leading to the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology. Research on Tetrahymena telomerase in the lab of co-senior author Kathleen Collins, a professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, laid the genetic and biochemical groundwork for the structure to be solved.

An illustration of how telomerase elongates telomere ends progressively. Credit: Uzbas, F

"The success of this project was absolutely dependent on the collaboration among our research groups," said Feigon.

"At every step of this project, there were difficulties," she added. "We had so many technical hurdles to overcome, both in the electron microscopy and the biochemistry. Pretty much every problem we could have, we had – and yet at each stage these hurdles were overcome in an innovative way."

One of the biggest surprises, the researchers said, was the role of the protein p50, which acts as a hinge in Tetrahymena telomerase to allow dynamic movement within the complex; p50 was found to be an essential player in the enzyme's activity and in the recruitment of other proteins to join the complex.

"The beauty of this structure is that it opens up a whole new world of questions for us to answer," Feigon said. "The exact mechanism of how this complex interacts with the telomere is an active area of future research."

Battery concept

Continuance is a battery that can power pretty much anything. It’s a rechargeable, AA-sized cell with a USB port in the side. The concept — designed by Haimo Bao, Hailong Piao, Yuancheng Liu and Xiameng Hu — is meant to make it easy to power any device, whether it takes batteries or has its own USB port.

Physically lockable USB flash drive "Crypteks"

Featuring a sleek all-metal solid-aluminum alloy construction, the Crypteks USB storage is physically locked inside its housing encrypted with a user-created password that is input by twisting five rings displaying all 26 letters of the alphabet. There is a clear resemblance between the cryptex device featured in The Da Vinci Code and the Crypteks flash drive’s locking mechanism – hence the name. And if that’s still not secure enough, it also offers 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption. Its aluminum housing features five twisting rings with letters of the alphabet which need to be set in the right combination in order to remove the stick from inside.

After removing the USB stick, you can also remove all the outer rings and then place them back with a new code set accordingly between the couple of red dots. The outer pass-code is user customizable and is easy to change. The device offers some 14,348,907 possible combinations and if you happen to forget your password, the Crypteks can be sent back to its maker to have the code reset. Security aside, the durable solid-aluminum design also features anodized layer that helps to deal with fingerprints and dust, as well as a retractable USB tip.
Its dimensions are 3.1 x 1.1 in (7.8 x 2.7 cm). Offered in 4, 8 and 16 GB capacities, the Crypteks supports USB 2.0 and offers 24 MB/s read and 10 MB/s write speeds. Initially, two versions can be purchased, the 8 GB for the price of US$130, or 16 GB for US$160.