science news: hearts, longevity, tectonics, sleep, race

[memegarden]

We can now grow a new heart using a real heart's collagen as a scaffold for new cells, and even get it beating. So far, rat hearts, and only a weak beat, but wow.

Resveratrol, a derivative of red wine, has been found to extend lifespan in humans.

Nasal hormone spray eliminates effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys.

A molecular biologist uses

Comments

[jehannamama]

Thank you for these!

[singingnettle]

Here is another weird little fact related to the heart thing: organ cells recognize each other. If you put a heart and a liver into a blender and press "spin," the cells in the resulting mess will clump together with the cells from the appropriate organ, with possibly the "intention" of re-forming the organ

[memegarden]

Good point about the behavior of cancer cells. Life is indeed marvelously odd.

Also: "ontology recapitulates philology" (a mischievous recasting of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis)