Brain Melt | Tardigrade Rx | Brain Builder

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Brain Melt

Bad news: Your brain could turn to glass. Good news: It’s only happened once, that we know about.

• The 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius eruption created a uniquely perfect glassing situation

• 1 victim’s skull held glass w/ evidence of brain tissue

• But glass creation requires rapid heating and cooling not offered by lava flows

Recent evidence suggests a super-heated ash cloud preceded the lava and hit the minimum 950°F required to kick-start glassing. This finding directly challenges previous beliefs that extreme heat always incinerates soft tissue. Talk about a hot topic.

Glassified Smarts

Tardigrade Rx

Tardigrades want to help us fight cancer. Scientists are reviewing how the water bear’s Dsup proteins could protect healthy cells during radiotherapy.

• Tardigrades = micro-animals that survive in extreme environments

• Dsup = damage suppressing

• Limits radiation-induced DNA damage

Dsup proteins form a shield around DNA so it can't be shredded by the same radiation targeting cancer cells. Further research will confirm long-term safety and effectiveness for humans. Imagine thousands of tardigrade shields...

Micro Phalanx Formation 🛡️🛡️🛡️ 

Brain Builder

Axolotls are so smart, they can regrow their brains. Researchers mapped the telencephalon region, then removed a section to learn exactly how these dragon-like salamanders regenerate brain tissue.

• Telencephalon has a large impact on animal behavior/cognition

• Phase 1: Specialized progenitor cells begin healing

• Phase 2: Those cells turn into neuroblasts (newly discovered in axolotl)

Regeneration is completed in phase 3, when neuroblasts become the exact neurons that were removed. Learning how these slippery salamanders build their brains back could lead to advances in regenerative medicine research.

Extra brains? More like “ask-a-lot-ls”
Related: Why is axolotl Mexico’s most beloved amphibian?

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Unnatural Selection

Last week: “Which is more fun?”

Am I the only one who always forgets how much mental-math each of these requires? 😆 

st3v on site

Group Photo

First evidence of a tardigrade saying “cheese”.

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