The 3-D Printed Trachea Splint Image courtesy of University of Michigan Health System The infant's 3-D printed trachea will fully absorb into his body in two to three years. We've seen plenty of 3-D printed medical implants for patients that require replacement tissues, but this use of 3-D printed biopolymer to augment and correct an existing tissue highlights just how amazing the convergence of 3-D printing and medicine is (and will be). Kaiba Gionfriddo was born apparently a normal, healthy […]

Ellesmere Island Wikimedia Commons Bacteria discovered at -15ºC, the coldest temperature bacteria have ever grown in, could indicate bacteria survive under similar conditions on Mars. A team of researchers in the Canadian Arctic is reporting on an interesting find: bacteria that thrive at -15 degrees Celsius. That is the coldest environment bacteria have ever been found to grow in. The McGill University researchers traveled to Ellesmere Island in (far, far) north Canada. There they collected […]

A default is defined as an option that applies if the chooser does nothing. The good news is that setting greener choices as defaults can automatically nudge people into more sustainable behavior.

Hours after a powerful tornado tore through an Oklahoma suburb, killing dozens, some renewed speculation about such storms’ connection to climate change. In recent years, researchers have been working to assess what causes these storms and whether manmade global warming could be affecting them. Plain geography is a factor. Moore, Oklahoma, is in the middle of what is known as Tornado Alley—an area where cold,…

Axolotl via Treehugger Regeneration, salamander-style In an attempt to recreate the plot of multiple recent superhero movies, a team of Australian scientists is looking into the regenerative properties of salamanders--and into how humans can pull off the same trick. Salamanders, specifically the axolotl, are vertebrates that can regenerate limbs and organs, which sure would be a useful technique for humans to have, too. So researchers, led by James Godwin, of the Australian Regenerative […]