2009 Top 10 Most Watched Scientific Videos

Here are the best and the most watched scientific videos of 2009. These are breathtaking, amazing, bizarre and things you have never seen before. Please watch and enjoy.

1. Restored Moon Landing Video Amazes Anew

“Dumbo,” Other Deep-Sea Oddities Found:

New Species Found at Great Barrier Reef

Sea Monsters” Surfacing in Utah

The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken

“Psychedelic” Fish Hops on Seafloor

Whale Fossil Found in Kitchen Counter

Deep-Sea Eruption, Odd Animals Seen

Longest Solar Eclipse Coming Wednesday — Sneak Preview

Fish With Transparent Head Filmed

Pregnant Robot Trains Students

Stem Cells May Be Used as Skin Grafts

For many years scientists were trying to figure out a way to re-grow body parts using our own stem cells. Many experiments showed successful results such as the one I talked about few months ago, when group of scientists used a patient’s own stem cell to restore eye sight.

A group of scientists in France led by Hind Guenou, PhD, concluded from their study that Human embryonic stem cells can be used to produce skin grafts for people who have been seriously burned.

The idea of using the patients own stem cell started to become more accepted among the medical professional because this would eliminate the rejection by the patient.

The current medical treatment for severely burned patients is getting skin from a deceased donor, but availability is limited, and the tissue often is rejected by the patient.

So the scientists in this study, employing a pharmacological treatment over 40 days, seeded feeder cells with human embryonic stem cells. The treatment drives the human embryonic stem cells toward forming an epidermis, the outer layer of skin the researchers report.

The team says it was able to generate a population of cells that showed the characteristics of the epidermis. Once manipulated on an artificial surface, the cells were able to form a layer of skin, the scientists say.

In 12 weeks, after grafting it onto five mice, the skin layer that came from human embryonic stem cells had a structure the “consistent” with human skin.

“We have shown that keratinocytes can be derived from [human embryonic stem cells],” the researchers write. “Growing human epidermis from [human embryonic stem cells] could have clinical relevance as an unlimited resource for temporary skin replacement in patients with large burns awaiting” grafts from their own newly grown cells.

Whether this technology can be used to extend the period needed to grow enough cells for a permanent graft is not known and future research is needed to see if it is, the researchers say.

Via – WebMD

Medicinal Ice Cream Combat Cancer

Over 2 Million dollars spent on cancer project that might help cancer patients cope with their disease. The research study results was revealed last week at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

With the assistance of dairy giant Fonterra, the researchers developed whats called “medicinal ice cream” which has shown encouraging signs in combating the side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer sufferers. The Daily Telegraph reported today.

ReCharge, the name of the ice cream, shown to relieve diarrhoea, anaemia and lack of appetite in people undergoing chemotherapy. Participants ate 100 100 gram of strawberry-flavored ice cream each day. “The two bio-active milk components developed for ReCharge have the unique potential to assist the body in coping with the side effects of chemotherapy,” Fonterra’s chief technology office Jeremy Hill said in a statement.

There was not much information regarding the study, but the bottom line is that this kind of ice cream “ReCharge” helps cancer patients combat the side effects of chemotherapy treatments.

MythBusters: Just the Facts

Moira Gunn – Moira Gunn is host of the radio programs “Tech Nation” and “BioTech Nation,” aired by National Public Radio. “Tech Nation” episodes are normally based on an interview with the author of a science- or technology-related book. “BioTech Nation” is based on interviews with significant figures in the field of bio-technology, as well as regular discussions with science journalist David Ewing Duncan.

“Tech Nation” and “BioTech Nation” programs are also published as podcasts by IT Conversations.

Gunn’s early career included work at NASA on large-scale scientific computation and global communications, with special emphasis in infrared satellite image processing, computational fluid dynamics, and global climate and weather modeling. She also did work in robotics engineering at IBM, Morton Thiokol, United Technologies/Pratt and Whitney, Lockheed-Martin, Rolls-Royce, and the US Navy.

Gunn has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an M.A. in computer science.
Jamie Hyneman – Hailing from Indiana farm country, Jamie Hyneman is a multifaceted man: wilderness survival expert, boat captain, diver, linguist, animal wrangler, machinist and cook, to name a few. His career has been as equally diverse: Hyneman earned a degree in Russian languages and ran a sailing/diving charter business in the Caribbean for several years before he moved over to the visual-effects industry.

Once he had joined that field and had worked for several special-effects companies, Hyneman found his way to Colossal Pictures’ model shop, where he managed the production of models and special effects for hundreds of commercials and movies. Then, 16 years ago, Hyneman took over the shop and created M5 Industries Inc.

Hyneman has worked on over 800 commercials for major automobile manufacturers, soft-drink companies, athletic shoe companies and numerous other products. And in the midst of all this activity, Hyneman’s company diversified into toy prototyping and research and development in a variety of other areas as well.

The holder of several patents and the winner of numerous industry awards, Hyneman is also a long-standing Screen Actors Guild member.

Today, while “MythBusters” occupies the majority of Hyneman’s professional activity, M5 is active with developing cutting-edge technologies for a variety of industries ranging from defense to green vehicle design. In Hyneman’s own words, “At this point, with over 130 episodes under our belts, I feel that we have evolved into different people than we were when we started Mythbusters. You can’t go through all the mayhem we have been into on the show without it changing you. I feel like we are just getting warmed up.”
Adam Savage – Adam Savage has spent his life gathering skills that allow him to take what’s in his brain and make it real. He’s built everything from ancient Buddhas to futuristic weapons, from spaceships to dancing vegetables, from fine art sculptures to animated chocolate and just about anything else you can think of.

The son of a filmmaker/painter and psychotherapist, Savage has been making his own toys since he was allowed to hold scissors. Having held positions as a projectionist, animator, graphic designer, carpenter, interior and stage designer, toy designer, welder, and scenic painter, he’s worked with every material and process he could get his hands on – metal, paper, glass, plastic, rubber, foam, plaster, pneumatics, hydraulics, animatronics, neon, glassblowing, mold making and injection molding, to name just a few.

Since 1993, Savage has concentrated on the special-effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and a dozen feature films, including Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest, Terminator 3, A.I. and the Matrix sequels. He’s also designed props and sets for Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Lexus and a host of New York and San Francisco theater companies.

Not only has he worked and consulted in the research and development division for toy companies and made several short films, but Savage has also acted in several films and commercials – including a Charmin ad, in which he played Mr. Whipple’s stock boy, and a Billy Joel music video, “Second Wind,” in which he drowns.

Today, in addition to co-hosting Discovery Channel’s “MythBusters,” Savage teaches advanced model making, most recently in the industrial design department at the San Francisco Academy of Art. Somehow, he also finds time to devote to his own art – his sculptures have been showcased in over 40 shows in San Francisco, New York and Charleston, W.Va.

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