Mouse that healed MICE have been genetically modified to have skin that heals faster than usual. Yuichi Oike and his team at Keio University in Tokyo have engineered mice whose keratinocyte cells make extra quantities of a newly discovered protein called angiopoietin-related growth factor (AGF). AGF was discovered in mouse liver cells, but when produced by skin cells … 51¶¯Âþ
Humans Westminster diary ENGINEERS are getting closer to developing safe, low-pressure hydrogen tanks for the next generation of electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells (51¶¯Âþ, 24 May, p 18) . David Jamieson, the Department for Transport's clean fuels minister, agrees that hydrogen storage is still a major challenge. The only near-commercial methods for carrying hydrogen on … Opinion
Dying to go home At first, the young man just seemed miserable. Like any student in a strange town, he found it hard to adjust. Basle was one of Switzerland's greatest cities. The Rhine flowed through its heart. It had a stupendous red sandstone cathedral, a famous university and plenty of distractions for a young man. There was nothing … Features
Isaac Newton by James Gleick Isaac Newton by James Gleick, Fourth Estate/Pantheon, £15/$ 22.95, ISBN 0007163177/0375422331 Reviewed by Graham Farmelo ISAAC Newton cuts a unique figure in history – a pre-eminent scientific genius and, to modern sensibilities, a pre-eminent embarrassment. It is not easy for us to understand what led him to write his million words of alchemical hokum, nor … Books & Arts
Feedback FEEDBACK recently came across the Going Underground website – the "fun London Underground guide" at www.going-underground.com . As we regularly travel on the tube, we particularly enjoyed the page of quotes from tube drivers and station announcers. Some show their sweet-natured and thoughtful side. At Leyton station (where a train was stationary despite a green … Regulars