gel

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University say they’ve developed a gel-based treatment that might be incredibly effective at treating an often-fatal brain cancer. In a study of mice released this week, the gel in combination with surgery was found to eradicate 100% of glioblastoma tumors. It will take more research and safety testing before we can think of trying out this method in humans, however.Mental Health Apps Are a Privacy NightmareGlioblastoma is the most common form of brain cancer, accounting for around half of all…

Sometimes science advances at a snail’s pace, but in this case that’s a good thing: researchers have created a squishy material that combines polymers with liquid metal, demonstrated in a snail-like robot. Developers say this electrically conductive gel could be used to make self-healing electronic circuits and biological monitors for measuring heart and muscle activity—and maybe even lead to robot nervous systems.      The composite substance is stretchy and soft like living tissue. If it breaks or tears, the edges can…

Image: Photo: Shutterstock Graphics: Vicky LetaThe invention of birth control provided women with a degree of reproductive freedom that past generations never had, and today there is a great variety of options: pills, rings, gels, vaginal sponges, long-acting implants, surgery, and specialized condoms. Men, on the other hand, only have condoms and the surgical, usually permanent option of a vasectomy. But a team of researchers now believes they’re on the brink of bringing the first novel kind of male contraceptive to the…

Bioelectronics is a burgeoning medical field, but it may have just taken a giant leap forward, with scientists successfully growing electrodes in living tissue, paving the way for fully integrated electronic circuits to treat neurological disorders.Scientists at Linköping, Lund and Gothenburg universities in Sweden have forged electrodes in living tissue using the body’s molecules to trigger them. The researchers are the first to successfully do this without the need for external signals or by modifying genes.In…

Researchers are currently conducting the third phase of a drug that could heal old wounds, even if they happened decades ago. The new gene therapy has had some fantastic results in children suffering from a rare blistering skin disease, New Atlas reports. Additionally, the gel was even seen to heal open wounds that were years old. Reports of the success of the gel have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, and they show that after three months, 71 percent of the patients receiving the active…

Scientists at the University of Maryland have developed a novel material with excellent absorption abilities, which they imagine finding use everywhere from kitchens to operating theaters. The team’s gel sheet can soak up and hold around three times more liquid than your regular paper towel, and can also be used to absorb thicker fluids like blood and syrup.In creating their gel sheets, the scientists set out to walk the line between the two types of materials generally used to soak up liquids, namely hydrogels and porous…

Air India has recently introduced an extensive set of grooming guidelines for its male and female crew members. The rules lay emphasis on everything from the uniform and hair to the make-up of the crew, according to the Times of India.Also Read: Air India Announces New Meal Menu, Other Changes Flyers Will See in FlightsFor the female crew members, the detailed guidelines state that they must wear only gold or diamond round-shaped earrings with no design or ornamentation. The earrings should also not have pearls. Female…

A hospital in the United Kingdom has started up the latest phase of a trial for a cancer-killing gel. King’s College Hospital is currently holding a phase IV clinical trial for liquid radiotherapy. The extremely radioactive gel is placed over the skin cancer. This allows for very targeted treatment, according to a press release on the matter. Once treatment is complete, the gel is then removed from the skin. The results from the cancer-killing gel so far have been so astounding that the doctors believe it…

They tell you to throw them away.They tell you not to eat them.Some might tell you that they're dangerous.But these little packets of silica gel, also known as desiccant, might save the life of your tech. I was reminded of this by a post by my ZDNet tech colleague David Gewirtz, who recently had the misfortune of dunking his AirPods Pro into his morning brew.He took a few silica gel packets, threw them into an airtight box with his dunked AirPods, and left them there for a day.And his expensive earbuds lived to fight…

This is a Nerf blaster unlike any you’ve seen before. It doesn’t shoot reusable foam darts or foam balls, but rather pellets of squishy, water-infused gel. Pellets so small you can fit 800 of them into this blaster, and so cheap it’ll come with 10,000 of them right out of the box. It’ll shoot them fully automatic with an included rechargeable, swappable 7.4V battery you can top up with a USB-C cable — just like a phone. It’s called the Nerf Pro Gelfire Mythic, it’ll cost $79.99 this November, and it’s wild to see it…