Good morning, Gnusies! Welcome to today’s roundup.
I got a call from Our Revolution this week; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of my personal heroes, will be in town on Saturday to help canvass in support of Nina Turner, one of the twelve (12!!!) Democratic candidates running to replace Marcia Fudge, now the confirmed!!! Secretary of of Housing and Urban Development. While there are all of two, count them, one, two, candidates on the RepugnantCon side, this district leans so far blue it may as well be out to sea.
I don’t know a lot about Nina Turner; I did get to hear her speak once, when she opened for Bernie Sanders when he campaigned here in Cleveland back in ‘16. I was very impressed, and would be tickled pink to have her as my representative just from what little I heard and the company she keeps, politically speaking.
I can’t go, due to a combination of logistical issues and mental health reasons, but the fact that AOC is coming here to canvass has me on Cloud 9, and I had to share despite my avoidance of politics in general.
Anyways! Onward to good news!
Music to read to:
Type 1 diabetes, which arises when the pancreas doesn’t create enough insulin to control levels of glucose in the blood, is a disease that currently has no cure and is difficult for most patients to manage. Scientists at the Salk Institute are developing a promising approach for treating it: using stem cells to create insulin-producing cells (called beta cells) that could replace nonfunctional pancreatic cells.
In a study published on June 7, 2021, in the journal Nature Communications, the investigators reported that they have developed a new way to create beta cells that is much more efficient than previous methods. Additionally, when these beta cells were tested in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes, the animals’ blood sugar was brought under control within about two weeks.
“Stem cells are an extremely promising approach for developing many cell therapies, including better treatments for type 1 diabetes,” says Salk Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, the paper’s senior author. “This method for manufacturing large numbers of safe and functional beta cells is an important step forward.”
“All creatures great and small” may have been referenced in the article, but a certain Seussian line came to mind for me. (Just call the patient Kermit.)
"It's the smallest animal that I've ever done surgery on," Dr Barrow told ABC Radio Brisbane.
"This graceful tree frog is less than two centimetres long and less than half a gram in weight.
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"One of our vet nurses found him on some leaves ... that had been brought in to feed some of our koalas.
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Dr Barrow managed to close up the hole with a single, dissolvable suture and a day after the surgery, the frog was hopping around and had his colour back.
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The frog was released into the wild a week later.
The procedure required anesthetic and painkillers, both of which had to be diluted to 1/1000 strength.
Many of you probably saw this earlier this week, but I had to post it here:
The responses have been pretty gratifying; I know someone was cutting up onions near me when I was paging through the replies.
Related:
A Trans Woman on Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue Cover Will Explode Some Conservative Heads
From the “To Infinity, and Beyond!” files:
Now, spectacular images of galaxies just next door to the Milky Way, captured by an international team of astronomers, are allowing us to do exactly that. To the trained eye, every golden spark and purple haze contained in these "galactic fireworks" pinpoint where new stars are emerging and reveal the intricate processes that shape their birth.
This is called using your platform. Intentionally or not.
Art aficionados have picked up on some of Beyoncé's decor — recognising the background as a painting from Western Desert artist Yukultji Napangati.
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The Western Desert artist is associated with Papunya Tula, an Aboriginal-owned and directed art centre whose artists live in small remote communities scattered around Central Australia.
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It all started in the early 1970s in the remote Aboriginal community of Papunya, north-west of Alice Springs.
Groundbreaking artworks — some of them painted on recycled materials — went on to fetch huge sums at auctions, and are today stored as prized collections in galleries and even represented at Parliament House.
I couldn’t do this justice in five paragraphs. Just go read:
‘We heard a faint tapping’: Goose Finds Injured Mate at Wildlife Hospital and Won’t Budge From the Door
This is a really profound way to use stimulus funds. It will continue to provide benefits for generations.
Last week, South Carolina’s only Historically Black College or University (HBCU) announced it would renounce their claim to around $9.8 million in incoming student loan repayments from the accounts of 2,500 continuing students after having received the difference from the federal government, offering vital relief to students trying to work them off in the hardships of the post-pandemic economy.
“We are committed to providing these students with a clear path forward so they can continue their college education and graduate without the burden of financial debt caused by circumstances beyond their control,” said acting SCSU President Alexander Conyers.
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“This is a tremendous weight I won’t have to carry,” Romaun Myers, a junior at SCSU, told the university press. “I’m a first-generation college student, one of the only boys on my mom’s side of the family. I have to make it so I can provide for my family.”
Other students mentioned the news was “a really big blessing” and brought “tears to [the] eyes,” and that it would allow them to “realize their dreams.”
Music to lift your spirits and dance into the best comment section on the Interwebs: