Artificial Heart

Studies have shown that heart diseases kill almost 17 million people a year.

There are few those who accept for their organs to be donated after their death, so French scientists have decided to create an artificial heart. They have recently brought to light a working prototype of an artificial heart, created using satellite and airplane technology.

This prototype is the only one in the world which is fully functional and is capable to replace the original and successfully take over all its functions and respond to the same signals a natural heart does every day.

The artificial heart imitates natural heart beats quite well and uses electric sensors for the regulation of the blood flow and heart rate.

The producing company is called Carmat and its representatives have made a brief description of how the artificial heart works last week, at a press conference in Paris. They said it uses air pressure and altitude sensors which should establish immediately the right quantity of blood the patient needs.

The prototype is made out of pig tissue and polymer, amongst other materials, and so far it has been tested only on animals. The company is waiting for approval to start clinical trials.

Chandraayan 1

The first Indian space mission is off to a good start. The Chandrayaan 1 has successfully taken off this morning, from a launch pad in Andhra Pradesh.

The Moon mission will last two years, during which the spacecraft will orbit the Moon in order to obtain various sets of images, and analysis of the surface and of the soil composition.

The $78 million mission has several purposes: to detect the water-ice sub-surface, and the Helium 3 deposits – a rare isotope believed to be useful in nuclear power production.

This programme is of extreme importance to India, as it will bring the country at level of other Asian countries. The country’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has expressed his joy and excitement about the event and has brought official thanks to the team of scientists who have made this possible.

The launch was broadcast on national television in order to make everyone aware of this major event, and Indian citizens are pleased with the programme.

Martin Chalfie, 2008 Nobel Prize Laureate

As of yesterday, it has become official that all three 2008 US Nobel Prize Laureates want Obama as president, and encourage people to vote for him on National Election Day, on the 4th of November.

The initiators of the Nobel Prize Laureates support group are Martin Chalfie, Roger Tsien – who won the prize in Chemistry – and Yoichiro Nambu, who was rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics.
An open letter has been sent yesterday to all media, on behalf of 65 North American Nobel Prize Laureates, which states the reasons for which Obama gets the endorsement of some of the greatest scientific minds in America.

They all see in Obama the man of vision that the country needs, the leader who will ensure the continuous development of science and technology and with whom they would be happy to work in finding solutions to some of the country’s greatest issues: environment, security, economy.

The scientists also make known in the paper their opinion on the Bush government and on the chaos he has turned America into.

Aspirin

A major medical study proved that aspirin and ibuprofen may reduce breast cancer risk.

Specialists tested 2.7 million women in 38 separate studies. The result of the test was encouraging: women who took aspirin had a 13% lower risk of getting breast cancer than women who didn’t take, and women who took ibuprofen presented a 21% lower risk.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

If you want to try to use more of these pain relievers in order to reduce your own risk of getting breast cancer, you have to know that researchers mentioned that the pills can cause bleeding in your digestive tract.

Although studies show that women who take aspirin and ibuprofen have a lower risk of getting breast cancer, specialists declare that it is better not to use these pills to reduce the risk of breast cancer, but to use these pain relievers for their normal prescription.

Specialists say that some other factors are mainly responsible for the reduction of cancer risk. All in all, experts still work on finding out what other ways there are to reduce breast cancer risk.

Toyota Eco-car

Eco-cars are the latest trend in eco-vehicles. The eco-cars of the new generation are based on electric energy. Toyota intends to launch a hybrid vehicle, which uses electric energy.

By the end of 2009, Toyota is planning to introduce a hybrid car, equipped with a lithium-ion battery. These new vehicles will be available in the U.S., Japan and Europe. The mass-production of Toyota eco-cars will be delivered in 2010. 

After creating an eco-car that uses a lithium-ion battery, the next challenge will be to develop long-lasting batteries. With a sale of more than 1.5 million hybrid cars worldwide, Toyota is the leader in eco-cars. The company believes that their eco-vehicle system is superior to other of the same kind, because with the Toyota system, the car charges itself while being driven.

Toyota also wants to expand its eco-car production to least one million a year by 2020. The goal of the Japanese company is to have a future without petrol cars.