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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Second Nature"
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96 kbps
(90 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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MAKIN' COPIES... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IT'S OUR NATURE: WHEN SOMETHING GOES BAD, WE REPLACE IT WITH A NEW ONE. YOU'RE ABOUT TO HEAR HOW NATURE ITSELF MAY HELP US TO MAKE NEW ORGANS TO REPLACE FAILING ONES, THROUGH "PRINTING"; AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA, THEY'RE REFINING THE PROCESS. IF YOU'RE GOING TO PRINT, YOU NEED PAPER--A SPECIAL BIO-PAPER--ORGANIC AND CELL-FRIENDLY. THEN, BIO-INK PARTICLES--EACH CONTAINING 10-THOUSAND TO 40-THOUSAND CELLS--ARE "PRINTED" ON THE PAPER. GIVEN TIME, THE CELLS FUSE, TO FORM A SINGLE STRUCTURE. NOW, THE HARD PART: GETTING ALL THE INDIVIDUAL CELLS TO FUNCTION TOGETHER, AS THEY WOULD IN A WORKING ORGAN. THIS IS WHERE NATURE TAKES OVER. USING CELLS FROM A CHICKEN HEART AS BIO-INK TO PRINT, THE SCIENTISTS FOUND THAT EACH CELL AUTOMATICALLY "KNEW" WHERE TO GO, AND WHAT TO DO; THEY SYNCED-UP--AND STARTED BEATING, JUST AS A HEART DOES. THE RESULT: A FULLY FUNCTIONING COPY OF THE ORGAN TISSUE. HUMANS COME WITH ORIGINAL FACTORY EQUIPMENT; SOMEDAY, PRINTING MAY HELP US MAKE "AFTERMARKET" PARTS THAT ARE AS GOOD AS NEW--SORT OF, "NATURE" AND "SECOND NATURE". THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
