⚕️MIT'S new cancer therapy, the 100-the real culprit behind the Jurassic extinction, and a new type of sustainable concrete

INTERESTING ENGINEERING SHOP

MIT researchers are tackling cancer in the lab as those with advanced cancer undergo several rounds of treatments that aren’t that effective and cause undesirable side effects.

Searching for a novel approach, they created miniature particles that can be inserted directly into a tumor that provide two forms of therapy simultaneously: thermal and chemotherapy.

Not only could it prevent the side effects commonly associated with intravenous chemotherapy but the two treatments combined could increase a patient’s lifespan more so than as separate treatments. Dive deeper into this Must-Read.

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MUST-READ

⚕️MIT’s new cancer therapy combines tumor destruction, chemo in single implant

Phototherapy is an innovative method that targets tumor cells by implanting or injecting particles that are heated by an external laser. But a team from MIT wanted to administer phototherapy and chemotherapy at the same time.

They worked molybdenum sulfide, an inorganic substance, that transforms laser light into heat. At a certain temperature, the heat kills cancer cells. As this substance melts, it administers a little of the chemotherapy drug.

Testing the strategy on mice, the tumors were completely eradicated, and they lived much longer than those who received no treatment or who were given chemotherapy and phototherapy as separate treatments.

🦖 Dinosaurs’ rise 200 million years ago linked to volcanic winter, not fire

201.6 million years ago, the Triassic period ended and the Jurassic began, which was one of the Earth’s major extinction events, killed off ¾ of the Earth. But it did give way to the rise of the dinosaurs.

Scientists believed that the extinction was caused by a slow build up of greenhouse gases released by volcanic eruptions. Well, it turns out, evidence shows, that it wasn’t fire that spawned the great beasts of the ancient past but rather a worldwide freezing known as a volcanic winter.

Smaller creatures such as early feathered dinosaurs, turtles, lizards, and mammals survived the rapid cooling and ended up flourishing in the Jurassic period.

🌬️ Graphene-infused 3D-printed concrete may slash carbon emissions by 31%

The University of Virginia just 3D printed a new type of concrete for the purposes of constructing sustainable buildings. The new material is a composite made from limestone, calcined clay cement, and graphene.

This new concrete is thus far the most successful attempt of its kind as a material and as a 3D printed material, so it makes 3D concrete construction technology more sustainable.

This breakthrough has the potential to advance the construction industry, enabling the creation of complex structures with reduced waste and energy consumption.

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