From the ‘It’s ok to be smart’ video series.
Joe Hanson, Ph.D. is a curious group of atoms in a curious universe, and he’s here to tell you how it all works. We officially live in the future, and everyone should know that it’s okay to be smart!
Subscribe to his channel for new science videos every week.
Recent News
Efficiently smuggling drugs into cells
Modern vaccines such as those against Sars-CoV-2 use tiny lipid spheres to transport genetic information into cells and let the body build up an immune defense against the virus. [...]
B.C.’s biotech sector plays key role in developing COVID-19 treatments and vaccines
By early 2020, concern was mounting about a new, deadly coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization had declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency [...]
Graphene-coated Face Masks: COVID-19 Miracle or Another Health Risk?
As a COVID-19 and medical device researcher, I understand the importance of face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. So I am intrigued that some mask manufacturers [...]
Scientists Uncover Nanoplastics and Other Pollutants Released from Disposable Face Masks
Swansea University scientists have uncovered potentially dangerous chemical pollutants that are released from disposable face masks when submerged in water. The research reveals high levels of pollutants, including lead, [...]
Nanotechnology offers new hope for bowel cancer patients
Bowel cancer survival rates could be improved if chemotherapy drugs were delivered via tiny nanoparticles to the diseased organs rather than oral treatment. That's the finding from Indian and [...]
Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment pill could be available by year’s end
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says his company’s experimental COVID-19 treatment, a pill that can be taken at the first sign of the illness, could be available before the end of the year. Speaking [...]
New “Nanotraps” Could Capture and Destroy Coronavirus Within the Body
At the University of Chicago, scientists have developed an absolutely innovative, promising treatment for COVID-19 in the form of nanoparticles with the ability to trap SARS-CoV-2 viruses inside the [...]
Nanobodies inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection, including emergent variants
Australian researchers have identified neutralizing nanobodies that block the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering cells in preclinical models. The discovery paves the way for further investigations into nanobody-based treatments for [...]
DNA robots designed in minutes instead of days
Someday, scientists believe, tiny DNA-based robots and other nanodevices will deliver medicine inside our bodies, detect the presence of deadly pathogens, and help manufacture increasingly smaller electronics. Researchers took [...]
Scientists’ horror over ‘escape mutation’ of new COVID strain
Experts have discovered what they believe is the world’s most mutated COVID strain – and there’s one detail in particular that has scientists worried. Scientists have detected what is [...]
Coronavirus Does Not Infect the Brain but Still Inflicts Damage
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, likely does not directly infect the brain but can still inflict significant neurological damage, according to a new study from neuropathologists, neurologists, and [...]
Research finds a potential new ‘silver bullet’ nanoparticle to treat brain cancer
ANSTO has contributed to a comprehensive investigation of a promising type of nanoparticle that could potentially be used for intractable brain cancers in a combined therapy. The study, which [...]
Trial to study effect of immune system on Covid reinfection
The immune response needed to protect people against reinfection with the coronavirus will be explored in a new human challenge trial, researchers have revealed. Human challenge trials involve deliberately [...]
Duke working on developing flu shot using new CoV vaccine technology
Researchers from Duke University are developing a flu shot with the new technology that was used for two coronavirus vaccines. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna shots use part [...]
Long-acting injectable medicine as potential route to COVID-19 therapy
Researchers from the University of Liverpool have shown the potential of repurposing an existing and cheap drug into a long-acting injectable therapy that could be used to treat Covid-19. [...]
Superbug killer: New nanotech destroys bacteria and fungal cells
Researchers have developed a new superbug-destroying coating that could be used on wound dressings and implants to prevent and treat potentially deadly bacterial and fungal infections. The material is [...]
US recommends ‘pause’ for J&J vaccine over clot reports
The U.S. is recommending a "pause" in administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots. In a joint statement Tuesday, [...]
S. African COVID variant better at bypassing Pfizer/BioNTech jab: Israeli study
The South African coronavirus variant is better at "breaking through" the defences of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine than other forms of the virus, Israeli experts said Sunday. However, one of [...]
Artificial intelligence to explore the biomolecular world
EPFL scientists have developed AI-powered nanosensors that let researchers track various kinds of biological molecules without disturbing them. The tiny world of biomolecules is rich in fascinating interactions between [...]
Why SARS-CoV-2 replicates better in the upper respiratory tract
A team of researchers from the Institute for Infectious Diseases (IFIK) at the University of Bern and the Federal Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) have assessed virus growth [...]
Brown University creates first wireless, implanted brain-computer interface
Researchers at Brown University have succeeded in creating the first wireless, implantable, rechargeable, long-term brain-computer interface. The wireless BCIs have been implanted in pigs and monkeys for over 13 [...]
A New Generation of Vaccines Is Coming, Some With No Needles
The coronavirus outbreak made household names of companies like Moderna Inc. and BioNTech SE, whose shots offered hope for ending the pandemic. Now a new wave of vaccines is on the [...]
Scientists use nanotechnology to detect bone-healing stem cells
Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a new way of using nanomaterials to identify and enrich skeletal stem cells—a discovery which could eventually lead to new treatments [...]
Biotech start-up working overtime to develop a mutation-resistant Covid-19 vaccine
In March 2020, Hannu Rajaniemi pivoted his biotech company Helix Nanotechnologies' focus from cancer therapies to Covid-19 vaccines. The role biotech start-ups can play in a pandemic Rajaniemi originally co-founded Helix [...]
Nanotech-powered testing strategy can accelerate global recovery from pandemic
The rapid mass testing strategy costing just £1 a day per child can get children back to school and economies up and running, according to experts. That is [...]
Nasal Spray Vaccine Could Be Key to Stopping the Spread of Covid-19
Covid-19 vaccines are incredibly good at preventing severe symptoms and hospitalization, but they’re probably less effective at stopping transmission. To do that, we might need a different kind of [...]
Did coronavirus leak from a lab? These scientists say we shouldn’t rule it out
For many scientists, challenging the idea that SARS-CoV-2 has natural origins is seen as career suicide. But a vocal few say it shouldn't be disregarded or lumped in with conspiracy [...]
Could ULTRASOUND be used to treat Covid-19?
Ultrasound scans like those used to track the growth of a foetus can destroy coronavirus cells by forcing their surface to split apart and implode, new research suggests. MIT [...]
Non-invasive skin swab samples are enough to quickly detect COVID-19
The most widely used approach to testing for COVID-19 requires a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which involves taking a swab of the back of the throat and far [...]
Roche launches SARS-CoV-2 variant test to monitor emerging coronavirus mutations
The cobas SARS-CoV-2 Variant Set 1 Test is designed to detect key spike mutations in virus variants associated with increased human-to-human transmission Accurate detection and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2 mutations [...]
COVID-19 side effect – Some patients developing sudden onset diabetes
Among all the manifestations and complications of COVID-19, yet another puzzling question is emerging — is the virus triggering cases of diabetes? Like many doctors around the world, Dr. [...]
Covid: New antibody drug ‘reduces hospital admission and deaths by 85 per cent’
A drug containing a lab-produced ‘antibody’ reduces hospital admission or death from Covid-19 by 85 per cent, its maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced. VIR-7813, created by GSK and Vir Biotechnology, is a new [...]
Novovax vaccine prevents 96% of infections and all deaths, data shows
A new Covid-19 vaccine soon to be approved in Australia appears to be even better than all others on offer, with new data showing it could prevent all deaths from [...]
Pfizer vaccine may be effective against all coronavirus variants
The Pfizer vaccine may be effective against the Brazil, UK and South Africa coronavirus variants, a new study suggests. The research also indicates the Pfizer vaccine generated an antibody response against the [...]
Europe staggers as infectious variants power virus surge
The virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent elementary school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with amazing speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children [...]
Large Number of COVID-19 Survivors Will Experience Cognitive Complications
A research review led by Oxford Brookes University has found a large proportion of COVID-19 survivors will be affected by neuropsychiatric and cognitive complications. Psychologists at Oxford Brookes University [...]
Virus detection method is versatile and accessible
A safe, fast and cheap testing method that uses magnetic nanoparticles to detect viruses in both clinical and wastewater samples has been developed by KAUST researchers. The centrifuge-free approach [...]
First complete coronavirus model shows how the spike proteins move cooperatively
The COVID-19 virus holds some mysteries. Scientists remain in the dark on aspects of how it fuses and enters the host cell; how it assembles itself; and how it [...]
Researchers discover potential new therapeutic targets on SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted considerable investigation into how the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein attaches to a human cell during the infection process, as this knowledge is useful in designing [...]
Tricking the novel coronavirus with a fake ‘handshake’
Scientists have developed protein fragments—called peptides—that fit snugly into a groove on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein that it would normally use to access a host cell. These peptides effectively trick the virus into "shaking hands" with [...]
Leave A Comment