Human cells implanted into monkey embryos<\/h2>\n ![\""Macaque\"]( "\\"\"Human\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Human cells were implanted into the embryos of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis<\/em>) \u00a9 Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nA bold and controversial study, published in the journal Cell<\/em> in April, reported how researchers at the Salk Institute in San Diego had inserted human stem cells into the embryos of monkeys<\/a>. The embryos survived in the lab, outside of an animal, for up to 20 days \u2013 longer than in any similar experiment. The researchers also noticed communication pathways form, which may explain how human cells could better integrate with non-human cells in future experiments.<\/p>\nWork on this kind of hybrid organism, known as a chimera, is conducted for two main reasons. First, it could allow researchers to create \u2018model\u2019 human cells to study disease and new drugs, without breaching the ethical codes that prevent the same work being carried out on actual humans. Second, it could enable the growth of new organs for human transplant.<\/p>\n
Researchers have tried the same thing with other animals, such as sheep and pigs, in the past, but the chimeras didn\u2019t survive for long. Pairing the human cells with a non-human primate is both the reason it worked better (because we\u2019re closer in evolutionary terms) and the reason the work is controversial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe closer your model gets to being human, well, the closer your model gets to being human,\u201d said Prof Henry Greely<\/a>, director for the Center of Law and Biosciences at Stanford University. He co-authored a response to the Salk study, laying out some of the ethical questions this kind of work raises.<\/p>\n ![\""An\"]( "\\"\"An\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> An embryo with human and macaque cells highlighted in different colours \u00a9 Weizhi Ji\/Kunming University of Science and Technology<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n\u201cXenotransplantation is one of the long-term goals here: to make human organs in another animal and use them for human transplants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a big deal if you can pull it off. But on a journey of 500 miles, this is a step of one metre. The ethics side is exciting, but depends largely on what happens next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greely believes that as long as you\u2019re growing the embryos in a dish, it\u2019s not a big deal, as far as ethics are concerned. But what if the work advances, and goes from being an embryo in a dish, to one growing in a womb, with a significant number of human cells, which continue to survive?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat becomes a really interesting question. One is animal welfare: do you let these things be born? What are they? I don\u2019t think they\u2019re humans, but it\u2019s hard to know.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s say one of them is born and has an enlarged skull and a big brain that looks pretty human. What do we do with that? I think a good starting point for society to come to is [to say]: \u2018Yeah, we may want to play around with these, but we don\u2019t want to implant them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
While this kind of biotechnology remains some way off, the field is developing rapidly and Greely says that existing bioethical and legal frameworks are struggling to keep pace. He\u2019d like to see more \u2018horizon-scanning\u2019 groups, whose job it is to look at the direction of travel for a particular kind of research and ensure society is having the required ethical conversations in good time.<\/p>\n
Solar telescope captures most detailed view of a sunspot ever<\/h2>\n ![\""Sunspot"\"]( "\\"\"Sunspot\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Sunspot \u00a9 DKIST<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nStaring at the Sun is never a good idea, but we\u2019ll excuse astronomers using the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii. This year they released the most detailed view of a sunspot ever captured<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe innovative telescope captures higher resolution solar imagery than ever before and uses a technology called adaptive optics to correct some of the distortions, caused by Earth\u2019s atmosphere, that would normally fudge the image. The result: a frightening-but-fascinating look at our star\u2019s behaviour, which could eventually help us predict GPS-bothering solar flares. Looks a bit like the Eye of Sauron, no?<\/p>\n
Pythagoras\u2019 Theorem was in use 1,000 years before his birth<\/h2>\n ![\""The\"]( "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> The 3,700-year-old tablet \u00a9 UNSW Sydney<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nLike 1066 and oxbow lakes, Pythagoras\u2019 Theorem was one of the things we all picked up at school. But it seems that Pythagoras wasn\u2019t the first person to suss it out.<\/p>\n
(A quick refresh: the sides of a right-angled triangle follow the equation a2<\/sup> + b2<\/sup> = c2<\/sup>. So if you add the squared lengths of the sides that form the right angle, you\u2019ll get the squared length of the hypotenuse.)<\/p>\nAugust saw Australian mathematician Dr Daniel Mansfield<\/a> publish his analysis of a 3,700-year-old tablet found in Iraq. It showed that Babylonians were using the same rule<\/a> to mark and divide up land over 1,000 years before Pythagoras was born.<\/p>\nIs it high time for psychedelic therapies?<\/h2>\n ![\""Scientist\"]( "\\"\"Scientist\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Scientist working with magic mushrooms \u00a9 Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nAfter years of mainstream resistance, the world is, in more ways than one, beginning to change its mind on psychedelic drugs. The therapeutic benefits of magic mushrooms, LSD and other hallucinogens are increasingly supported by hard-to-ignore evidence, as the substances become the subject of a major research focus. In 2021, we may even have reached a tipping point of acceptability, not least because of the stark results from one study at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.<\/p>\n
It found that psilocybin, a substance derived from magic mushrooms, was at least as effective in treating depression as escitalopram<\/a>. All the patients also received psychological support during the trial. This was a randomised, controlled, double-blind study, and the head-to-head design suggests that psilocybin offers better outcomes for patients than escitalopram, which is one of the most commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.<\/p>\n\u201cOn almost all measures, psilocybin worked significantly better and faster than escitalopram and was at least as well tolerated,\u201d said Prof David Nutt<\/a>, one of the study\u2019s authors. The measures include self-reported symptoms, chance of remission and adverse side effects.<\/p>\nPsilocybin remains a class A drug in the UK and possession is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Elsewhere, however, its legal status is being reassessed. \u201cIn the US, many places are removing the illegal status of magic mushrooms in part to accelerate research and treatment,\u201d Nutt says. \u201cThe UK is lagging behind despite our being leaders in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps spurred on by the success of medical cannabis (economic as well as therapeutic), there\u2019s a growing sense of normalisation about the substances and their therapeutic potential. Multiple studies on a wide spectrum of conditions are either planned or underway all over the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have started our trial of psilocybin in anorexia nervosa and will start one on obsessive compulsive disorder and pain in the new year,\u201d Nutt said.<\/p>\n
He and his colleagues are also researching other psychedelics, such as LSD and DMT, while another strand of investigation focuses on the therapeutic practicalities of using these drugs.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, researchers at University of California, Davis, reported work on a psychedelic compound that may not have hallucinogenic side effects. This could be important as those kinds of side effects require that patients receive a lot of hands-on psychological support before and after treatment.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a team at the University of Copenhagen found that psilocybin enhances our emotional response to music \u2013 something they say should be considered if the drug is approved for clinical use.<\/p>\n
CRISPR gene editing injected directly into bloodstream<\/h2>\n ![\""Illustration\"]( "\\"\"CRISPR\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> CRISPR \u00a9 Science Photo Library<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nGene editing is a branch of science developing at paradigm-shifting speeds and this year, the milestones in human health kept coming. In June, researchers announced extraordinary results from an extraordinary new technique, where the CRISPR Cas-9 gene editor was \u2013 for the first time \u2013 injected directly into the bloodstream of a patient with a rare inherited disease.<\/p>\n
Normally, CRISPR works by extracting cells from a patient, editing them in a lab and returning them to the body. It\u2019s costly, time-consuming and hard on patients who sometimes undergo chemotherapy as part of the process.<\/p>\n
The CRISPR technique was relatively quick, and successful too: the treatment saw a huge decline in destructive proteins that build up in the body\u2019s organs and tissues in the previously untreatable condition transthyretin amyloidosis.<\/p>\n
Cats love to sit in imaginary boxes<\/h2>\n ![\""Cat\"]( "\\"\"Cat\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Cat sitting in an imaginary box \u00a9 Gabriella Smith\/Columbia University<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nIf I fits, I sits. Cat lovers everywhere know how much felines enjoy sitting in a box. The behaviour, observed in big cats as well as domestic moggies, is believed to make them feel safe and concealed \u2013 handy, because they evolved as ambush hunters.<\/p>\n
Now a citizen science project led by researchers at Columbia University in New York has found just how deep-rooted the behaviour is. The project found that cats will even sit in imaginary boxes<\/a>. Cat owners created square shapes on the floors in their homes, using stickers or tape, and watched as their pets plonked themselves in the middle of them.<\/p>\nHumanoid robot learned to lip-sync<\/h2>\n ![\""The\"]( "\\"\"The\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> The lip-syncing robot, Euclid \u00a9 Dr Carl Strathearn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nWatch out Cyberdyne Systems! This year roboticists at Edinburgh Napier University developed a humanoid robot that can lip-sync with speech<\/a>. The robot, which one of the designers modelled on his dad, borrows technology first developed for 3D animated characters.<\/p>\nUsing an algorithm that recognises patterns in speech, the robot interprets that data as jaw and lip movements, accurately mimicking the way a mouth moves to produce speech. Despite the warnings of James Cameron\u2019s back catalogue, researchers say this kind of robot will help people interact with technology in new ways.<\/p>\n
- Podcast: Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-sync<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
A blindness treatment is in sight<\/h2>\n ![\""An\"]( "\\"\"An\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> An RPE implant embedded in the sub-retinal space of a monkey \u00a9 Su, Xinyi<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nHope continues to grow that we will soon be able to treat and reverse blindness, with a number of promising avenues of research showing progress. This year, researchers successfully transplanted human retinal cells into the eyes of monkeys<\/a>. The researchers that carried out the procedure found no signs of unwanted side effects, such as light sensitivity or dangerous immune responses.<\/p>\nGrown from human stem cells donated to science, the cells began to take over control of some functions of the monkeys\u2019 eyes. Human trials may not be far away, but researchers at Icahn School of Medicine in New York say that first the technique needs to be tested on monkeys with impaired vision.<\/p>\n
Artificial titanium hearts could save lives<\/h2>\n ![\""BiVACOR\"]( "\\"\"BiVACOR\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> BiVACOR artificial heart \u00a9 Peter Adams<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nResearchers have been trying to build an artificial heart for more than 50 years. Now, an Australian team is planning human trials for a design that could have huge implications for our health.<\/p>\n
BiVACOR is revolutionary because it doesn\u2019t attempt to work exactly like a real heart \u2013 it tries to one-up evolution instead with an efficient and sustainable way to pump blood around the body. It utilises spinning disc technology, which sees a circular pump suspended between magnets in an artificial heart made of titanium<\/a>.<\/p>\nSo far, the technology has only been tested in animals and temporarily in heart transplant patients, although a full human trial is on the horizon. If it works, it could be massive \u2013 a quarter of all UK deaths result from heart disease.<\/p>\n
Pigs taught to play video games<\/h2>\n
![\""Macaque\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/Macaque-7914538.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Human\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>A bold and controversial study, published in the journal Cell<\/em> in April, reported how researchers at the Salk Institute in San Diego had inserted human stem cells into the embryos of monkeys<\/a>. The embryos survived in the lab, outside of an animal, for up to 20 days \u2013 longer than in any similar experiment. The researchers also noticed communication pathways form, which may explain how human cells could better integrate with non-human cells in future experiments.<\/p>\n Work on this kind of hybrid organism, known as a chimera, is conducted for two main reasons. First, it could allow researchers to create \u2018model\u2019 human cells to study disease and new drugs, without breaching the ethical codes that prevent the same work being carried out on actual humans. Second, it could enable the growth of new organs for human transplant.<\/p>\n Researchers have tried the same thing with other animals, such as sheep and pigs, in the past, but the chimeras didn\u2019t survive for long. Pairing the human cells with a non-human primate is both the reason it worked better (because we\u2019re closer in evolutionary terms) and the reason the work is controversial.<\/p>\n \u201cThe closer your model gets to being human, well, the closer your model gets to being human,\u201d said Prof Henry Greely<\/a>, director for the Center of Law and Biosciences at Stanford University. He co-authored a response to the Salk study, laying out some of the ethical questions this kind of work raises.<\/p>\n \u201cXenotransplantation is one of the long-term goals here: to make human organs in another animal and use them for human transplants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a big deal if you can pull it off. But on a journey of 500 miles, this is a step of one metre. The ethics side is exciting, but depends largely on what happens next.\u201d<\/p>\n Greely believes that as long as you\u2019re growing the embryos in a dish, it\u2019s not a big deal, as far as ethics are concerned. But what if the work advances, and goes from being an embryo in a dish, to one growing in a womb, with a significant number of human cells, which continue to survive?<\/p>\n \u201cThat becomes a really interesting question. One is animal welfare: do you let these things be born? What are they? I don\u2019t think they\u2019re humans, but it\u2019s hard to know.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s say one of them is born and has an enlarged skull and a big brain that looks pretty human. What do we do with that? I think a good starting point for society to come to is [to say]: \u2018Yeah, we may want to play around with these, but we don\u2019t want to implant them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n While this kind of biotechnology remains some way off, the field is developing rapidly and Greely says that existing bioethical and legal frameworks are struggling to keep pace. He\u2019d like to see more \u2018horizon-scanning\u2019 groups, whose job it is to look at the direction of travel for a particular kind of research and ensure society is having the required ethical conversations in good time.<\/p>\n Staring at the Sun is never a good idea, but we\u2019ll excuse astronomers using the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii. This year they released the most detailed view of a sunspot ever captured<\/a>.<\/p>\n The innovative telescope captures higher resolution solar imagery than ever before and uses a technology called adaptive optics to correct some of the distortions, caused by Earth\u2019s atmosphere, that would normally fudge the image. The result: a frightening-but-fascinating look at our star\u2019s behaviour, which could eventually help us predict GPS-bothering solar flares. Looks a bit like the Eye of Sauron, no?<\/p>\n Like 1066 and oxbow lakes, Pythagoras\u2019 Theorem was one of the things we all picked up at school. But it seems that Pythagoras wasn\u2019t the first person to suss it out.<\/p>\n (A quick refresh: the sides of a right-angled triangle follow the equation a2<\/sup> + b2<\/sup> = c2<\/sup>. So if you add the squared lengths of the sides that form the right angle, you\u2019ll get the squared length of the hypotenuse.)<\/p>\n August saw Australian mathematician Dr Daniel Mansfield<\/a> publish his analysis of a 3,700-year-old tablet found in Iraq. It showed that Babylonians were using the same rule<\/a> to mark and divide up land over 1,000 years before Pythagoras was born.<\/p>\n After years of mainstream resistance, the world is, in more ways than one, beginning to change its mind on psychedelic drugs. The therapeutic benefits of magic mushrooms, LSD and other hallucinogens are increasingly supported by hard-to-ignore evidence, as the substances become the subject of a major research focus. In 2021, we may even have reached a tipping point of acceptability, not least because of the stark results from one study at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.<\/p>\n It found that psilocybin, a substance derived from magic mushrooms, was at least as effective in treating depression as escitalopram<\/a>. All the patients also received psychological support during the trial. This was a randomised, controlled, double-blind study, and the head-to-head design suggests that psilocybin offers better outcomes for patients than escitalopram, which is one of the most commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.<\/p>\n \u201cOn almost all measures, psilocybin worked significantly better and faster than escitalopram and was at least as well tolerated,\u201d said Prof David Nutt<\/a>, one of the study\u2019s authors. The measures include self-reported symptoms, chance of remission and adverse side effects.<\/p>\n Psilocybin remains a class A drug in the UK and possession is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Elsewhere, however, its legal status is being reassessed. \u201cIn the US, many places are removing the illegal status of magic mushrooms in part to accelerate research and treatment,\u201d Nutt says. \u201cThe UK is lagging behind despite our being leaders in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps spurred on by the success of medical cannabis (economic as well as therapeutic), there\u2019s a growing sense of normalisation about the substances and their therapeutic potential. Multiple studies on a wide spectrum of conditions are either planned or underway all over the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have started our trial of psilocybin in anorexia nervosa and will start one on obsessive compulsive disorder and pain in the new year,\u201d Nutt said.<\/p>\n He and his colleagues are also researching other psychedelics, such as LSD and DMT, while another strand of investigation focuses on the therapeutic practicalities of using these drugs.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, researchers at University of California, Davis, reported work on a psychedelic compound that may not have hallucinogenic side effects. This could be important as those kinds of side effects require that patients receive a lot of hands-on psychological support before and after treatment.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a team at the University of Copenhagen found that psilocybin enhances our emotional response to music \u2013 something they say should be considered if the drug is approved for clinical use.<\/p>\n Gene editing is a branch of science developing at paradigm-shifting speeds and this year, the milestones in human health kept coming. In June, researchers announced extraordinary results from an extraordinary new technique, where the CRISPR Cas-9 gene editor was \u2013 for the first time \u2013 injected directly into the bloodstream of a patient with a rare inherited disease.<\/p>\n Normally, CRISPR works by extracting cells from a patient, editing them in a lab and returning them to the body. It\u2019s costly, time-consuming and hard on patients who sometimes undergo chemotherapy as part of the process.<\/p>\n The CRISPR technique was relatively quick, and successful too: the treatment saw a huge decline in destructive proteins that build up in the body\u2019s organs and tissues in the previously untreatable condition transthyretin amyloidosis.<\/p>\n If I fits, I sits. Cat lovers everywhere know how much felines enjoy sitting in a box. The behaviour, observed in big cats as well as domestic moggies, is believed to make them feel safe and concealed \u2013 handy, because they evolved as ambush hunters.<\/p>\n Now a citizen science project led by researchers at Columbia University in New York has found just how deep-rooted the behaviour is. The project found that cats will even sit in imaginary boxes<\/a>. Cat owners created square shapes on the floors in their homes, using stickers or tape, and watched as their pets plonked themselves in the middle of them.<\/p>\n Watch out Cyberdyne Systems! This year roboticists at Edinburgh Napier University developed a humanoid robot that can lip-sync with speech<\/a>. The robot, which one of the designers modelled on his dad, borrows technology first developed for 3D animated characters.<\/p>\n Using an algorithm that recognises patterns in speech, the robot interprets that data as jaw and lip movements, accurately mimicking the way a mouth moves to produce speech. Despite the warnings of James Cameron\u2019s back catalogue, researchers say this kind of robot will help people interact with technology in new ways.<\/p>\n Hope continues to grow that we will soon be able to treat and reverse blindness, with a number of promising avenues of research showing progress. This year, researchers successfully transplanted human retinal cells into the eyes of monkeys<\/a>. The researchers that carried out the procedure found no signs of unwanted side effects, such as light sensitivity or dangerous immune responses.<\/p>\n Grown from human stem cells donated to science, the cells began to take over control of some functions of the monkeys\u2019 eyes. Human trials may not be far away, but researchers at Icahn School of Medicine in New York say that first the technique needs to be tested on monkeys with impaired vision.<\/p>\n Researchers have been trying to build an artificial heart for more than 50 years. Now, an Australian team is planning human trials for a design that could have huge implications for our health.<\/p>\n BiVACOR is revolutionary because it doesn\u2019t attempt to work exactly like a real heart \u2013 it tries to one-up evolution instead with an efficient and sustainable way to pump blood around the body. It utilises spinning disc technology, which sees a circular pump suspended between magnets in an artificial heart made of titanium<\/a>.<\/p>\n So far, the technology has only been tested in animals and temporarily in heart transplant patients, although a full human trial is on the horizon. If it works, it could be massive \u2013 a quarter of all UK deaths result from heart disease.<\/p>\n![\""An\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/Embryo-with-human-and-macaque-cells-9dedb7b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C620"\" "\\"\"An\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Solar telescope captures most detailed view of a sunspot ever<\/h2>\n
![\""Sunspot"\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/Sunspot-e0f7d9d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C620"\" "\\"\"Sunspot\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Pythagoras\u2019 Theorem was in use 1,000 years before his birth<\/h2>\n
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/08\/1-UNSW-SYDNEY-crop-85dd195.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C350"\" "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Is it high time for psychedelic therapies?<\/h2>\n
![\""Scientist\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/Scientist-working-with-magic-mushrooms-2101568.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Scientist\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>CRISPR gene editing injected directly into bloodstream<\/h2>\n
![\""Illustration\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/CRISPR-2facc9e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"CRISPR\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Cats love to sit in imaginary boxes<\/h2>\n
![\""Cat\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/Cat-sitting-in-box-outline-76e27f4.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C299"\" "\\"\"Cat\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Humanoid robot learned to lip-sync<\/h2>\n
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/Euclid-robot-aceacbd.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"The\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>A blindness treatment is in sight<\/h2>\n
![\""An\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/Retinal-cell-96d8567.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C402"\" "\\"\"An\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Artificial titanium hearts could save lives<\/h2>\n
![\""BiVACOR\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/12\/BiVACOR-artificial-heart-6f1319f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C485"\" "\\"\"BiVACOR\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Pigs taught to play video games<\/h2>\n