Bee Vaccine | Wolverine Concrete | Tumor Eraser

Are seagulls the surfer bros of birds? They ride “waves” hovering on invisible currents and literally live for the beach. I think Finding Nemo got its animal personalities mixed up.

-Steve

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BeesVax

This vaccine is the bee's knees. Just approved treatment for protecting honeybees from American foulbrood (AFB), a contagion killing entire hives in as little as 3 weeks.

• AFB is caused by bacteria Paenibacillus larvae

• Pre-vaccine, only burning the hive could stop the spread

• Vaccine is ingested, then transported from workers > queen > baby bees

This new generation of bees will continue the cycle of unknowing hive defense. Good for hives, great for humans hoping to avoid a global food shortage caused by a rapidly dropping pollinator population. Pretty sweet.

It won't sting a little

 Wolverine Concrete

Rome wasn't built in a day, but was constructed with self-healing concrete. Researchers discovered the special trick that makes Roman rock paste more resilient than modern techniques.

• Roman concrete contains lime chunks previously thought to be a quality error

• Chunks were made intentionally brittle to absorb water if cracks occur

• H20 then mixes and hardens into calcium carbonate, plugging the crack

Testing of ancient and modern recipes showed Roman batches fully healed in just 2 weeks, while today's mixture remained broken. Leveraging this will lead to more sustainable concrete structures. "Finally!", exclaimed a Roman scientist from their well-constructed tomb.

When in Rome

Tumor Eraser

Implantable “sponges” are being used to fight cancer. UCLA researchers created SymphNode, a device that shrinks tumors.

• About the size of a no. 2 pencil eraser

• Blocks T cells hijacked by tumors

• Recruits new anti-cancer cells to join the fight

SymphNode prevented metastasis in 100% of breast cancer tests in mice and showed immune system boosts up to 100 days later. The treatment is still a long way from human use, but could drastically change how we tackle cancer. Bonus points for bringing back no. 2 pencil vibes.

SpongeBob got a PhD

Clickables 

• Safely stare into our sun’s fire in 4k

• Microsoft can imitate your voice with just 3 seconds of audio 

• To infinity, and beyond 500 miles in an EV, for $40k?

• How to skip rocks better, with science

• If Peter Piper was a pepper picking robot

st3v on site

PB & Royal Jelly 

Some bees don't like the taste of medicine, so st3v offered his coffee stand as a PB&J vaccine clinic.  (Please inform your server if you'd like the crust removed)

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