Genedy

The Japanese are great when it comes to science and technology. They were the pioneers in developing a two legged walking robot and a robotic dog. Now, they are here again to build and improve lifesize companion female dolls. The dolls developed by Unison-Direct (http://www.unison-direct.jp) are not yet fully autonomous but they are lifesize, lifelike and it is also equipped with a functional sex organ. The limbs, arms and legs are fully movable because it is built under a steel armature and a silicone skin. For now, the application of this doll is mainly for sexual gratification or just a super expensive sex doll (costs about 600,000+ Yens for the Maya model). In the future, these life like dolls could become the exterior part of a fully autonomous humanoids.

Scientists are planning to store carbon dioxide in porous rocks beneath the ground. Porous rocks are known for its ability to absorb water. If you get a porous rock and pour water on top of it, you will see that water disappears as it gets absorbed by the rock. The idea for carbon dioxide storage on porous rocks is the same. All you have to do is pump out CO2 on underground porous rocks and the water trapped in those porous rocks gets pushed out and CO2 gets in. The technology is very useful for the reduction of greenhouse gases

Researchers generated “natural killer” cells from the human embryonic stem cells. As part of the immune system, natural killer cells normally are present in the blood stream and are play a role in defending the body against infection and against some cancers.

“This is the first published research to show the ability to make cells from human embryonic stem cells that are able to treat and fight cancer, especially leukemias and lymphomas,” said Dan Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Stem Cell Institute and Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota and lead author of the study.

“We hear a lot about the potential of stem cells to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. This research suggests it is possible that we could use human embryonic stem cells as a source for immune cells that could better target and destroy cancer cells and potentially treat infections,” Kaufman added.

The results also provided the researchers with a model of how the immune system develops.

Next, the researchers will test whether the human embryonic stem cell-derived natural killer cells can target cancer cells in animal models.

This research was done on two of the federally approved embryonic stem cell lines. Kaufman said, however, that if the research would lead to a treatment for people, new lines would have to be developed. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Society of Hematology.

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