A little more than a year after University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists showed they could turn skin cells back into stem cells, they have pulsating proof that these "induced" stem cells can indeed form the specialized cells that make up heart muscle. 

In a study published  in Circulation Research, the team showed that they were able to grow working heart-muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) from induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells. 

The heart cells were originally reprogrammed from human skin cells by James Thomson and Junying Yu, two of Kamp's co-authors on the study. 

BARCELONA, Spain, February 13 /PRNewswire/ --

Stantum Technologies (www.stantum.com), a pioneer developer of multi-touch sensing technology, is demonstrating at the Mobile World Congress (Hall 2.1, Stand 2.1F67) next week a unique new finger-pressure detection capability for its patented PMatrix(TM), a resistive multi-touch detection platform that lets users simultaneously move an unlimited number of fingers, fingernails or utensils (such as styli) on a screen.

In all the hype surrounding the Large Hadron Collider during the last few years, it was easy to miss the fact that low energy physics was still accomplishing a lot - and that no one was sure what the LHC could really do because we didn't know what needed discovering.
 
What we think it will do  is based on the success of the indirect approach in science.   Darwin's evolution by natural selection, for example, gained early acceptance because without it nothing much in biology made sense.  Later discoveries including genetics and a detailed fossil record reaffirmed that what makes the most sense can often be true.  

I recently spoke to biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher about her groundbreaking work on the chemical basis of our personality and its influence on who we fall in love with.  As it turns out, science can shed a lot of light on a topic previously dominated by doubt, horoscopes, and what our mama told us.

 “So have you read the book?” asked Fisher.  “What ‘type’ are you?” 

 “Explorer/Negotiator.  Are you sizing me up according to my ‘type’ now?” I teased.

The Brits are always thinking ahead and we could learn a thing or two from them on this side of the pond.   Those cheeky blokes are ditching pricey baubles in favor of if-we-keep-printing-money-we-will-be-Zimbabwe type ways of romancing loved ones this Valentine's Day - that is to say, without throwing out a lot of dough.    

Research from a voice-to-text company over there called SpinVox claims almost two thirds of men (65%) have made huge cuts in spending this Valentines day.   1.6 million even claim they are following in the footsteps of Byron, Keats, and Shakespeare; not just by being poor, struggling lotharios getting by on charm but also by penning their own love poems this February 14th.

LONDON, February 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Government today (Friday) took a decision which benefits hundreds of sufferers of the fatal asbestos cancer, mesothelioma. The people affected were exposed to asbestos by Turner Newall (TN) the UK's largest asbestos company which went into Administration in 2001.

It was also understood that TN claimants were entitled to the state payment under the Pneumoconiosis 1979 Act. It was further understood that the sum of both payments fell well short of the total amount claimants should have received.

MALMO, Sweden, February 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Teleca, a world-leading supplier of software services to the mobile industry (Nordic Exchange, Small cap: TELC B) and TAT, a Swedish user interface software technology company offering attractive UI differentiation and user experiences on mobile devices, today announced a cooperation whereby Teleca will become a partner of TAT for integration and customization services worldwide.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090213/337889 )

Teleca will integrate and customize TAT Cascades products for device manufacturers, using its offshore capabilities in Russia. This speeds up integration work and decreases costs, enabling the mobile OEM/ODM a faster and more cost-efficient global solution.

LONDON, February 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Fears have been expressed that the government has jettisoned a five-year old policy that every secondary school in England should have a specialist school nurse in place by 2010.

Unite, the largest union in the country, will be asking ministers what they mean by 'a school nurse team' in every local area, as outlined in the government's new Vision for a 21st century children's health service.

In the government's Choosing Health White Paper, produced in 2004, it was stated that every one of the 3,300 secondary schools in England and its cluster of primary schools would have a specialist school nurse in post by 2010 - just ten months away.

PLANO, Texas, February 13 /PRNewswire/ --

Telmar Network Technology has announced it has been awarded a multi-vendor spare parts management contract by Telefonica O2 Germany, which is part of Telefonica group.

The managed services contract covers multiple service level agreements in which Telmar offers in-country warehousing and logistics services and on-site delivery of network replacement units. In the agreement, Telmar will also provide multi-vendor hardware repair, 24/7 call desk support, and end-to-end vendor, warranty and contract management services to Telefonica O2 Germany.

I am a firm believer in the possibility and promise of embryonic stem cells. In a politically, religiously and even scientifically charged climate, this is a risky thing to announce. But as a journalist, I must divorce myself from my own personal opinions and biases and present the facts.  That being said, it is still satisfying writing upon a topic that you believe in. This was the case when I wrote an article about Geron Pharmaceuticals recently launched human clinical trials using embryonic stem cell research to repair spinal cord damage.